What can we do to get more fans at home?

[roversdude]

BB strange isn't it our group followed throughout the years when we were pants
I honestly feel that the success we had ruined our long standing fan base, but obviously built up a new layer of fans who then only know our recent history

[knockers]

Why did Murrant leave?

He was shown the door

[Campsall rover]

have a look at the "all time" figures

league position - average attendance

rovers  -  64th  -  7061

luton  -  44th  -  10317

argyle  -  49th  -  12301

lincoln  -  61st  -  5606

that includes seasons out of the football league, as 10th in the conference equates to a position of 102nd or whatever

so, by the numbers, we're pretty much on a par lincoln but can forget competing with the other two

other factors - trophies won, relative quality of players based on something quantitive like the total number of international caps won while at each club, possibly - but i can't quite be arsed to work all that out right now

however, what can be said absolutely unequivocally is that red and white hoops are a far, far better kit than green, orange, or whatever lincoln might be poncing about in, so on that basis, they can all get to f**k, really....

;-)

Right thanks for those stats Herman. It's a shame Mr Frost can't come up with anything at all to substansiate his statements.

[IDM]

I don't think the Mansfield fixture itself needs marketing at all, nor any individual match.

Anyone with a passing interest in Doncaster Roves can easily find out about the fixture and how to get a ticket.  We managed well enough in the days before the internet and social media, so can do so now.

Where marketing promotions can and would help, IMHO, is if there is a ticket offer on.  That is a different matter altogether.

That's very naive.

No, it isn't..

What were our average attendances in seasons 1980/81 and 1984/85?

I can't vouch for the source quickly but one place I found http://european-football-statistics.co.uk/attnclub/donr.htm suggests 5412 and 4103 respectively.

In each of those seasons we had a "big" game, the promotion clincher vs Bournemouth in 1981 with 11,373 there http://www.11v11.com/matches/doncaster-rovers-v-afc-bournemouth-02-may-1981-46421

And in 1985 our biggest game for a decade was the FA Cup tie vs QPR, when 10,583 were there.  http://www.thestar.co.uk/retro/retro-1985-cup-run-for-doncaster-rovers-1-6697062

I was at both games, as many on here would be too.  Both fixtures doubled the average attendances and no social media marketing etc. 

[knockers]

Most people got all of their info from the Doncaster evening paper in those days. In fact I'd hazard a guess that most households bought one so we actually would have had more media exposure but it will all have in the same place.

[Herman Hessian]

Right thanks for those stats Herman. It's a shame Mr Frost can't come up with anything at all to substansiate his statements.

i'm paid (a significant amount) to do his dirty work for him...

 

[MrFrost]

have a look at the "all time" figures

league position - average attendance

rovers  -  64th  -  7061

luton  -  44th  -  10317

argyle  -  49th  -  12301

lincoln  -  61st  -  5606

that includes seasons out of the football league, as 10th in the conference equates to a position of 102nd or whatever

so, by the numbers, we're pretty much on a par lincoln but can forget competing with the other two

other factors - trophies won, relative quality of players based on something quantitive like the total number of international caps won while at each club, possibly - but i can't quite be arsed to work all that out right now

however, what can be said absolutely unequivocally is that red and white hoops are a far, far better kit than green, orange, or whatever lincoln might be poncing about in, so on that basis, they can all get to f**k, really....

;-)

Right thanks for those stats Herman. It's a shame Mr Frost can't come up with anything at all to substansiate his statements.

I told you to look at each clubs history for the evidence. If you'd done what I'd said you'd have found the evidence for yourself.

Fact is, I was right either way.

[Belle_Vue]

I believe Murrant is at motherwell now

[MrFrost]

I don't think the Mansfield fixture itself needs marketing at all, nor any individual match.

Anyone with a passing interest in Doncaster Roves can easily find out about the fixture and how to get a ticket.  We managed well enough in the days before the internet and social media, so can do so now.

Where marketing promotions can and would help, IMHO, is if there is a ticket offer on.  That is a different matter altogether.

That's very naive.

No, it isn't..

What were our average attendances in seasons 1980/81 and 1984/85?

I can't vouch for the source quickly but one place I found http://european-football-statistics.co.uk/attnclub/donr.htm suggests 5412 and 4103 respectively.

In each of those seasons we had a "big" game, the promotion clincher vs Bournemouth in 1981 with 11,373 there http://www.11v11.com/matches/doncaster-rovers-v-afc-bournemouth-02-may-1981-46421

And in 1985 our biggest game for a decade was the FA Cup tie vs QPR, when 10,583 were there.  http://www.thestar.co.uk/retro/retro-1985-cup-run-for-doncaster-rovers-1-6697062

I was at both games, as many on here would be too.  Both fixtures doubled the average attendances and no social media marketing etc. 

So are you suggesting that social media marketing will have zero effect on attendances? That is simply not correct. If it wasn't effective there would be no point to it.

[wilts rover]

I don't think the Mansfield fixture itself needs marketing at all, nor any individual match.

Anyone with a passing interest in Doncaster Roves can easily find out about the fixture and how to get a ticket.  We managed well enough in the days before the internet and social media, so can do so now.

Where marketing promotions can and would help, IMHO, is if there is a ticket offer on.  That is a different matter altogether.

That's very naive.

No, it isn't..

What were our average attendances in seasons 1980/81 and 1984/85?

I can't vouch for the source quickly but one place I found http://european-football-statistics.co.uk/attnclub/donr.htm suggests 5412 and 4103 respectively.

In each of those seasons we had a "big" game, the promotion clincher vs Bournemouth in 1981 with 11,373 there http://www.11v11.com/matches/doncaster-rovers-v-afc-bournemouth-02-may-1981-46421

And in 1985 our biggest game for a decade was the FA Cup tie vs QPR, when 10,583 were there.  http://www.thestar.co.uk/retro/retro-1985-cup-run-for-doncaster-rovers-1-6697062

I was at both games, as many on here would be too.  Both fixtures doubled the average attendances and no social media marketing etc. 

So are you suggesting that social media marketing will have zero effect on attendances? That is simply not correct. If it wasn't effective there would be no point to it.

Err, you are the one saying it does - but presenting no evidence for that statement other than you say so.

I can tell you now that social media marketing makes no difference whatsoever to my attendance at Rovers - or any football match. I would be very surprised if it does make a difference to anyone posting on here. Yes it can have a place in attracting the 'floating fan' but so can any kind of marketing/publicity.

Where I do think social media has had an effect on out attendances is the negativity that some fans have taken too over the past few seasons has turned people away. Its easier to find a reason not to go than to go.

[MrFrost]

I don't think the Mansfield fixture itself needs marketing at all, nor any individual match.

Anyone with a passing interest in Doncaster Roves can easily find out about the fixture and how to get a ticket.  We managed well enough in the days before the internet and social media, so can do so now.

Where marketing promotions can and would help, IMHO, is if there is a ticket offer on.  That is a different matter altogether.

That's very naive.

No, it isn't..

What were our average attendances in seasons 1980/81 and 1984/85?

I can't vouch for the source quickly but one place I found http://european-football-statistics.co.uk/attnclub/donr.htm suggests 5412 and 4103 respectively.

In each of those seasons we had a "big" game, the promotion clincher vs Bournemouth in 1981 with 11,373 there http://www.11v11.com/matches/doncaster-rovers-v-afc-bournemouth-02-may-1981-46421

And in 1985 our biggest game for a decade was the FA Cup tie vs QPR, when 10,583 were there.  http://www.thestar.co.uk/retro/retro-1985-cup-run-for-doncaster-rovers-1-6697062

I was at both games, as many on here would be too.  Both fixtures doubled the average attendances and no social media marketing etc. 

So are you suggesting that social media marketing will have zero effect on attendances? That is simply not correct. If it wasn't effective there would be no point to it.

Err, you are the one saying it does - but presenting no evidence for that statement other than you say so.

I can tell you now that social media marketing makes no difference whatsoever to my attendance at Rovers - or any football match. I would be very surprised if it does make a difference to anyone posting on here. Yes it can have a place in attracting the 'floating fan' but so can any kind of marketing/publicity.

Where I do think social media has had an effect on out attendances is the negativity that some fans have taken too over the past few seasons has turned people away. Its easier to find a reason not to go than to go.

Absolute rubbish.

Social media is a proven way of marketing any kind of product or service, and this includes football.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

It is but largely only if the user wants to see it.  If someone doesn't choose to see it they won't.

[Alan Southstand]

It's an option, which shouldn't be dismissed just because one person on here says it makes no difference to him. There are plenty who don't use this site but still go to matches.

For me, and I have no proof because I don't work there, I just have the feeling that the Club admin/sales lags behind whatever we do on the pitch. They have for some considerable time and, whilst there has possibly been some improvements, there has to be so much more they could do.

There are plenty of ideas on here and possibly not all of them are goers, but some could be more then credible. Who checks out these things and who sets the strategy? Have we got one?

Whatever it is that gets tried, they do have to realise that an awful lot of support have been allowed to dwindle away and it will take a monumental effort to get them back, and more besides, if we are to maintain our push back to the Championship.

[Bentley Bullet]

BB strange isn't it our group followed throughout the years when we were pants
I honestly feel that the success we had ruined our long standing fan base, but obviously built up a new layer of fans who then only know our recent history

You could have a point roversdude. Without checking the figures it seems that when I started going in the mid-sixties Rovers crowds were dictated by games won rather than the higher the league they were in. For instance, I think I'm right in saying Rovers attendances were higher doing well in division 4 than they were doing badly in division 3.

It was almost inevitable back then that after promotion from division 4 we would struggle in division 3. Attendances would then drop quickly, probably because the vast majority of fans were less committed financially, as season tickets were far less popular than paying on the gate back then. This meant that many of the newly acquired fans who jumped on the promotion band wagon, very soon jumped back off once the team started losing. Attendances were far more sporadic than they are nowadays as a consequence.

It seems that crowd levels don't fluctuate as much as they used to, and this could well be because of season tickets. The choice of renewing a season ticket is made (obviously) prior to a season, and those who decide against renewing won't be easily influenced back during the season knowing the fact that it will normally cost them more per game than if they'd bought a season ticket in the first place.

[idler]

I also think that there are also a lot less people that go to games not involving their club. In the mid sixties we always had far bigger gates for more attractive games. We could go from 4-5k to 7-8k and this was at a time when normally there weren't as many away fans unless a local opponent.
I've watched Bradford City about four times since moving here in 1977.
I go when they play Rovers but once had free tickets v Newcastle, one fund raising game when they were in admin and a couple of times with mates. The admission price makes it a dear day if you have no great affinity with the club.

[philsky]

Answer the bloody phones quicker please.

Ive been 'you are caller number three' for 15 mins now !!

[turnbull for england]

BB strange isn't it our group followed throughout the years when we were pants
I honestly feel that the success we had ruined our long standing fan base, but obviously built up a new layer of fans who then only know our recent history

Then its worth asking are these new layer  'fans of Doncaster Rovers' or  'fans of Football' .

Success will bring increased attendance, as its a lot easier to attract someone to watch a previous years Premiership side than Newport on a Tuesday night as well as more away fans ( think of the spike in away fans getting the Keepmoat in for the first time when we hit the Championship ), but most of these home fans are just customers not supporters and when the going gets tough they will find entertainment elsewhere ( its not Hard to get to a Man City game if you just want to get a few games a season in )  we will pick a few up for the long term  but we are never going to be a club that  pulls 10k  in regularly in for a Fourth  Division game in the modern era             

[idler]

We missed the boat in the mid sixties. Good investment then and we could have built something.
Step forward (or backwards) Hubert Bates.

[Bentley Bullet]

A few people I know were of that opinion about today's owners 12 months ago. Hopefully, they're having a change of opinion.

[idler]

It needed a lot less money then though BB.
That was a real kick in the teeth for us fans.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

From what we see on here from the testimony directly from people we know who jumped off the bandwagon, it seems the consequences of the Dickov era and subsequent relegations have had a lasting effect.

Marketing by social media alone will have little or no effect on these folk. The real marketing comes from results, performances and a repairing of the wrongs to get us back to where we should have been.

Some may be lost forever but I reckon once we gain promotion and show that we still have ambition to progress, then we will see the number swell.

That doesn't mean social media marketing, or marketing through local press, doesn't have it's place, but it's not the main thing that will motivate people to return.

[Bentley Bullet]

It needed a lot less money then though BB.
That was a real kick in the teeth for us fans.

Yes it was mate, and EVERYBODY was unanimous about Bates' lack of ambition, when a bit more investment could have kept us in the second tier.

[idler]

We could have built the fan base as well.
A lot of miners moved to the area from Scotland and the North East in the years leading up to our promotion. Both places hotbeds of football and too far to travel to watch their home team.
An absolute disaster. We waited seven years for promotion and threw it away.
Look what Coventry did with Jimmy Hill as manager. He certainly got their ball rolling. We could have been similar.

[IDM]

I don't think the Mansfield fixture itself needs marketing at all, nor any individual match.

Anyone with a passing interest in Doncaster Roves can easily find out about the fixture and how to get a ticket.  We managed well enough in the days before the internet and social media, so can do so now.

Where marketing promotions can and would help, IMHO, is if there is a ticket offer on.  That is a different matter altogether.

That's very naive.

No, it isn't..

What were our average attendances in seasons 1980/81 and 1984/85?

I can't vouch for the source quickly but one place I found http://european-football-statistics.co.uk/attnclub/donr.htm suggests 5412 and 4103 respectively.

In each of those seasons we had a "big" game, the promotion clincher vs Bournemouth in 1981 with 11,373 there http://www.11v11.com/matches/doncaster-rovers-v-afc-bournemouth-02-may-1981-46421

And in 1985 our biggest game for a decade was the FA Cup tie vs QPR, when 10,583 were there.  http://www.thestar.co.uk/retro/retro-1985-cup-run-for-doncaster-rovers-1-6697062

I was at both games, as many on here would be too.  Both fixtures doubled the average attendances and no social media marketing etc. 

So are you suggesting that social media marketing will have zero effect on attendances? That is simply not correct. If it wasn't effective there would be no point to it.

No, I am saying it will be useful for ticket offers and promotions, rather than for general awareness.

If you are an occasional match-goer, but with an interest in DRFC and use the internet, chances are you'll look at DROS, follow on twitter etc already.  But the issue is why those sorts of supporters don't attend matches more often.  Promoting a fixture on social media will have little effect on those who have little desire to come along (for whatever reason).

However if there are offers etc that might help persuade them to come along, then yes, use all viable means to communicate.

It might only be me, but a few years ago I wasn't a regular spectator - I started coming again more frequently but I found out what I needed myself.  I wouldn't have been swayed by club marketing in the basic decision to attend or not.

That's the difference I am trying to point out. Use the marketing tools when there is something new or different to put to supporters?

Sometimes in the past I would only know a game was on by reading the fixture list in that day's paper.  I would then decide whether to go or not.  I am still the same but I find the info myself.  There are many stay away fans who will be in the same boat now, but folks aren't so unaware that they need things pushed at them all the time.

[selby]

Big club, massive club,small club,its how your club is perceived by other clubs supporters that counts.I think we are perceived as O.K.by most other clubs supporters.
    If a league table was made up on this idea,I wonder how far down the table Millwall,Leeds,or Glasgow Rangers would be in other supporters tables.
    Bigger attendances shit reputations.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Now, as a ST holder I wouldn't object, I would even support a Freebie or a token £5/kids free, to come and try (again) before you buy, before the seasons out.

Now this may cause some complications for those who may have already purchased advance tickets. Now this would be something you'd use all media avenues to promote, although I suspect word of mouth would soon get about.

[BobG]

This is all rubbish. We don't need investment. None at all. We've got now exactly what it takes to get more bums on seats down the Keepmoat. Fun too.

Simples. Make more babies.

BobG

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Perhaps Rovers could sell a range of condoms in club colours, albeit with pin pricks in them 😉. It could be a post promotion baby boom!

[Move DRFC]

Why did Murrant leave?

He was shown the door

Why though? Was it something he did that prompted it or does no one know?

[Muttley]

It needed a lot less money then though BB.
That was a real kick in the teeth for us fans.

Yes it was mate, and EVERYBODY was unanimous about Bates' lack of ambition, when a bit more investment could have kept us in the second tier.

What makes you think he had any money to invest?