Attendances.

[Colin C No.3]

7,396 at the game on saturday.

Rotherham's home gate against Colchester was 7,096.

We're playing Championship football having just been promoted as Champions. What does it take to get some support through the turnstiles?

It just beggars belief that the club 'down the road' who currently lie 10th in Lg 1 can attract just 300 supporters less than us.

It's embarrassing, frustrating & totally incomprehensible to me, gawd knows how JR feels.

Sequentia, investment, Premiership football......who for? One man & his bloody dog. 

[RedJ]

My dad's bigger than their dads though.

[Surrey Rover]

7,396 at the game on saturday.

Rotherham's home gate against Colchester was 7,096.

We're playing Championship football having just been promoted as Champions. What does it take to get some support through the turnstiles?

It just beggars belief that the club 'down the road' who currently lie 10th in Lg 1 can attract just 300 supporters less than us.

It's embarrassing, frustrating & totally incomprehensible to me, gawd knows how JR feels.

Sequentia, investment, Premiership football......who for? One man & his bloody dog. 

The chances are they actually attracted more home fans than Rovers because I doubt Colchester's away following came anywhere close to the number Brighton fetched with them.

I feel more demoralised about our attendances than the current results because the results can change for the better overnight, the support sadly will not. 

[Padge_DRFC]

There ground is better than ours in my opinion. More elevated, not set back away from the pitch and the acoustics sound better. Probably more than 5 people sing.

[IDM]

Oh god here we go again.  We're 20th in the division, and had just lost the previous game with a poor display on sky tv.

I could understand your point if it was DRFC fans, or potential fans, going to Rotherham, but I guess it isn't.  Decent performances and winning football matches will bring some fans back.  How many? that's another matter...

[silent majority]

Rotherham's prices are £22 and £24 on the day as well. Are they any better off than we are? Are their fans blaming prices for their low turnouts?

[newyankee]

 The question is SM " where are they going?" or "what are they doing instead of watching Rovers? "

 I noticed recently that Doncaster Council is looking to cut 109 million from its budget, which will mean big job losses,. How many of those people are going to find it difficult to get another job and how many are Rovers supporters?

 In an area already decimated by job losses, or so I am led to believe, how will this affect attendances in the future?

[graingrover]

A lot of folk were away .. school holidays

[steve@dcfd]

We had 8081 home fans against Notts Forest, but the game before, Bournemouth and three following have all averaged 6400 home fans. It's the lead up to Christmas, money will be tight therefore why should the floating voters spend their money on rovers, when they see no significant improvement in the squad or home results.

Only us season ticket holders and existing supporters will do that.

[Beerseller]

A lot of folk were away .. school holidays

My town centre business saw a 15% drop in sales last week Monday to Friday and we put that down to the school holiday.  However, Saturday was back up to normal - but we usually get a boost on a match day so its hard to say.  Maybe there was no-one around to buy a ticket in advance during the week?

I would guess the reasons for the poor attendance were a mix of school hols, bad weather and bad previous results.

As far as Rotherham are concerned, they are having a good early season in an almost new stadium our crowds were great during our first 2 or 3 years in the KM.  If they drop to lower table with a couple of bad results behind them, lets see what happens then.  I know they have slipped from their form of the first few matches but they are still only 2 points off a play-off place.  I reckon if we'd had their start in our division we'd be getting 10,000 plus through the gate.

My Dad (a dingle fan) always used to say Rovers fans were the most fickle in Yorkshire.  During the bad years of the 70s his pet theory was that Barnsley attendances were up or down by a few hundred depending on form while Rovers attendances could differ by a couple of thousand from a similar average base.  Don't know if its something Dutch Uncle could shed any light on?

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Very good observations there. Over my lifetime of watching Rovers since the sixties our attendances have fluctuated by some big numbers from game to game, season to season, with no logical explanation at times so it's nothing new. 

[andysly]

Perhaps we need to look at something far simpler in our perceived poor home support, we lose far too many home games. Already 4 in the league this season plus Leeds in league cup, last season despite going up as Champions saw us lose 8 league games at KM and god knows how many we lost in the relegation season.
Safe to say in the last 50 odd home league matches we've lost nearly half of them, nobody likes watching a team lose so often.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Spot on andysly. Patience is bound to wear thin when the odds of seeing a home win are getting longer.

Perhaps we should introduce a more direct dynamic pricing, linked to results. Start at £20 and if we lose, price drops £2 and visa-versa.   

[Milepostuk]

Perhaps we need to look at something far simpler in our perceived poor home support, we lose far too many home games. Already 4 in the league this season plus Leeds in league cup, last season despite going up as Champions saw us lose 8 league games at KM and god knows how many we lost in the relegation season.
Safe to say in the last 50 odd home league matches we've lost nearly half of them, nobody likes watching a team lose so often.

Some one put the numbers up for this the other day. I think we had won 36 times in the last 3 yrs at home.

[BigColSutherland]

2013/14 Champ.   P7,   W2,   L4 - loss rate 57.14%
2012/13 League 1 P23, W10, L8 - loss rate 34.78%
2011/12 Champ.   P23, W4,   L11 - loss rate 47.83%
2010/11 Champ.   P23, W7,   L7 - loss rate 30.43%
2009/10 Champ.   P23, W9,   L7 - loss rate 30.43%

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

They are interesting stats and definitely show that our disappointing home form from last year has become really quite poor.  It's bizarre how poor we seem to be at home under most of our managers, it should be much better.

Clearly this must have an effect on attendances and thus atmosphere and in essence the three are probably in a circle with each affecting the other.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Whilst the economy and job uncertainty are affecting the majority, should we have an upturn in results I don't think there is too much to prevent an upturn in attendances. Prices are reasonable and there are low prices for families. There are a few initiatives being looked at to refine ticketing options for next season. I think we also need a new statement of intent whether that comes with new inestment or revenue streams or not. Three wins on the bounce will go a long way to solving our short term woes!

[Drover]

7,396 at the game on saturday.

Rotherham's home gate against Colchester was 7,096.

We're playing Championship football having just been promoted as Champions. What does it take to get some support through the turnstiles?

It just beggars belief that the club 'down the road' who currently lie 10th in Lg 1 can attract just 300 supporters less than us.

It's embarrassing, frustrating & totally incomprehensible to me, gawd knows how JR feels.

Sequentia, investment, Premiership football......who for? One man & his bloody dog. 

Actually,not long ago,it was a very similar situation in reverse,I used get great pleasure in teasing one of my workmates who supported rotherscum that we got almost the same crowd has they did.This was when we was in league 2 and they was near bottom of the Championship.Swings and roundabouts.All that really matters is that the club treat the fans well and we continue to build with community.

[since-1969]

The club is doing nothing to address is this , no advertising no obvious bill boards . We move from an obvious advantage point at Belle Vue a BUS ROUTE to a back water , it needed addressing a5 years ago it still DOES.

[RedJ]

The club is doing nothing to address is this , no advertising no obvious bill boards . We move from an obvious advantage point at Belle Vue a BUS ROUTE to a back water , it needed addressing a5 years ago it still DOES.

There's two bus stops on the road the Keepmoat's on and one just down that road between the factories. There's also a bus stop at the Lakeside Village which is hardly a massive trek.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

The club doesn't need billboards, the results are speaking for themselves. An average of 11,959 managed to find their way to the Keepmoat in 2008, so I don't think finding and getting to the place is too much of an issue.

[Padge_DRFC]

8000+ season tickets that year.

[albie]

The difference between active and passive support is the issue here.

Many who do not attend every game still follow the club. Some are exiles, others working, some not in work so can't afford it.

All DRFC can do is make sure the outreach marketing is well targeted, and deliver entertainment on the park. Nothing gets bums on seats like home wins, or at least the liklihood of total commitment to the win. People need to feel that they get value for money.

I could have posted this in the "next generation" thread. Same story really!

[BillyStubbsTears]

2013/14 Champ.   P7,   W2,   L4 - loss rate 57.14%
2012/13 League 1 P23, W10, L8 - loss rate 34.78%
2011/12 Champ.   P23, W4,   L11 - loss rate 47.83%
2010/11 Champ.   P23, W7,   L7 - loss rate 30.43%
2009/10 Champ.   P23, W9,   L7 - loss rate 30.43%

Interesting figures, but we do need to keep this season's stats in perspective.

Our home matches this season have been against the sides currently in 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 9th, 12th and 15th. In that context, a return of 7 points from 7 games is perfectly acceptable.

As I've said on other threads, I struggle to figure out what fans expect. We seem to have a generation (and some older ones who should know better but don't) which expects success regardless of context.

To me, a point a game from those matches IS success.

[normal rules]

price is a big factor, and its been done to death on here recently, myself being a part of that thread I admit.
as long as there are clubs charging what they do it has a negative impact on the whole game, for those considering going home and away. for instance there would have been fans who went to Hillsborough and paid the stupid amounts they charged, then decided - im not going to watch the next home game in order to balance my affordability.

so high prices will have an effect on home games too which is why it is so important that they are more reasonable across the board.

go to a couple of high priced away games (ill use Ipswich and leeds as an example) and you would have the same money to go to three home games and still have change.

high prices are squeezing the life out of ALL attendances - not just those at mega expensive grounds.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Paul Goodwin writes in the DFP.....

n essence it’s an innovative, exciting idea. In a town where apathy rules, it might just help create the kind of sporting identity and togetherness that Doncaster so desperately needs.

You absolute clown. In a paper where only last week the headline news was about council cuts, a week later he writes this showing he must be completely out of touch with reality.

In times where many people, including myself, are just about keeping our heads above water, it may appear that people don't give a toss. The reality is many people/families have to make tough financial decisions. I'm a season ticket holder, mainly because paying for matches this way means I don't have to shell out as much as I would do if I was paying game by game.

I often joke that I don't go to away matches because I'm fearful of putting the hoodoo on the team. The reality is I can't afford it. It hurts but there you go.

Now Mr Goodwin, for many many years until a few weeks ago I used to buy of the Free Press every week however, as it now costs 95p per issue, it has had to go. Now if that's apathy then let's see your view on this when your jobs on the line due to poor sales.

Have another think about this and write something that better reflects the times we are in...or redefine apathy!!!

[keepmoatfaithful]

guy's a prat, end of