More leg room than anyone, bar Morecambe.

[saint lard]

Damn those statistics.

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/3757692.Saints__crowds_drop_the_most/

[Ponty]

"We are top of the league, say we are top of the league!"

[Wes Tender]

And it happens to coincide with the arrival of Lowe and the Quisling. But no doubt the real reason is the economy which has hit the central South harder than anywhere else except Morecombe.

[Window Cleaner]

And it happens to coincide with the arrival of Lowe and the Quisling. But no doubt the real reason is the economy which has hit the central South harder than anywhere else except Morecombe.

 

Probably,Lowe+ Wilde are certainly a factor, so is our awful season last year.

A lot of STs were sold on our play-off place the season before. Our 2007/8 campaign was disastrously bad hence low renewals on STs. Think we're about 4000 or so down on that front.

[JohnnyFartPants]

And it happens to coincide with the arrival of Lowe and the Quisling. But no doubt the real reason is the economy which has hit the central South harder than anywhere else except Morecombe.

 

A lot is probably due to Lowe and Wilde, which is equally a measure of them being crap for the club and the idiot fans influenced by them being in charge. Not many other clubs react in such a way. However, it is probably largely to do with the average person in Southampton having less disposable income than almost any other town in England. True story.

[INFLUENCED.COM]

winning games = bums on seats, use Lowe, economy blah blah that is the only sure fire way for those not attending to return, ive tried in my circle to inform people we are seeing more effort than in recent years, at times the best football being played in recent years but hey ho until we climb the table they aint gonna be convinced to return.

[VectisSaint]

winning games = bums on seats, use Lowe, economy blah blah that is the only sure fire way for those not attending to return, ive tried in my circle to inform people we are seeing more effort than in recent years, at times the best football being played in recent years but hey ho until we climb the table they aint gonna be convinced to return.

Spot on. To blame our reduced attendances on the credit crunch is quite frankly laughable. Most people had not even heard of the credit crunch until a couple of weeks or so ago. The credit crunch has hit very few people so far, just wait till it really does and see what happens to attendances then. Low attendances are down to one factor only (sorry to disappoint the boycott jonnys), its a lack of success on the pitch at St Marys. Win games at home = attract supporters, simple formula.

[Scummer]

Win games at home = attract supporters, simple formula.

 

In general I agree with you, but we hardly won any home games last season and were getting about 5k more fans per match.

 

I fear that once fans stop going, it's hard to get them to come back.

[AwaySaint1]

Low attendances are down to one factor only (sorry to disappoint the boycott jonnys), its a lack of success on the pitch at St Marys. Win games at home = attract supporters, simple formula.

 

Can you show me how you came to this conclusion.

 

Me and 4 others never renewed in the Northam/Itchen corner this season due to boycotting.

 

But please dont let facts spoil your posting.

 

Although gates will go up if we start winning games I think even the ties at the club will agree with me that the majority of fans who are staying away will now never return.

 

Football attendance is an adiction,once you break the habit you have no wish to return to it.

 

Fans/supporters= Those that need the club more than the club needs them.

Edited 15 October, 2008 by AwaySaint1

[trousers]

To blame our reduced attendances on the credit crunch is quite frankly laughable. Most people had not even heard of the credit crunch until a couple of weeks or so ago. The credit crunch has hit very few people so far, just wait till it really does and see what happens to attendances then.

 

The "credit crunch" has been bubbling under for over a year now. What you describe as only happening a couple of weeks ago is the volcano erupting.

 

(A significant number of) people will have been feeling the heat before the eruption so, IMHO, it has been a factor in reduced attendances this season.

 

I don't think anyone has said it is entirely to blame....?

[londonsaint1604]

winning games = bums on seats, use Lowe, economy blah blah that is the only sure fire way for those not attending to return, ive tried in my circle to inform people we are seeing more effort than in recent years, at times the best football being played in recent years but hey ho until we climb the table they aint gonna be convinced to return.

 

Last season was bad results-wise but we were still getting over 20,000 for each game.

 

AwaySaint1 you are talking nonsense mate, if you want to stay away and sulk that's up to you. It only shows how little you must have cared to begin with if Rupert Lowe means more to you than Southampton Football Club.

[stevegrant]

There are loads of factors, each of which is a "main" reason for a group of people. Add those groups together and you get a much larger group of people each doing the same thing but for a different reason.

 

The club have got a hell of a lot of work on their hands if they're to get most, if not all, of those people back.

[St Paul]

The Credit crunch is affecting football, however our attendances are out of line with other clubs. Other Clubs played poorly and struggled last season, and yet their attandances have not fallen as far.So two of the reason given on here, should apply to other Clubs as well as ours.

 

You have to ask yourselves why these figures are so poor and why at 26% down, we're lower than anyone bar Morcombe and a long way off the average.

 

It can only be the way our Club is being run, everything else should apply to a number of Clubs.

[VectisSaint]

In general I agree with you, but we hardly won any home games last season and were getting about 5k more fans per match.

 

I fear that once fans stop going, it's hard to get them to come back.

Correct, our attendances last season were down on the one before I believe.

[VectisSaint]

Can you show me how you came to this conclusion.

 

Me and 4 others never renewed in the Northam/Itchen corner this season due to boycotting.

 

But please dont let facts spoil your posting.

 

Although gates will go up if we start winning games I think even the ties at the club will agree with me that the majority of fans who are staying away will now never return.

 

Football attendance is an adiction,once you break the habit you have no wish to return to it.

 

Fans/supporters= Those that need the club more than the club needs them.

Sorry, so if we add 5 to the attendances that will make the difference will it? Grow up. The fact that you and 4 others are boycotting doesn't make my assertions incorrect. In practice there are very few actually boycotting because of Lowe/Wilde in the real world. Most are just sick of seeing a team fail to win at home week after week.

[VectisSaint]

The "credit crunch" has been bubbling under for over a year now. What you describe as only happening a couple of weeks ago is the volcano erupting.

 

(A significant number of) people will have been feeling the heat before the eruption so, IMHO, it has been a factor in reduced attendances this season.

 

I don't think anyone has said it is entirely to blame....?

Agreed, but it really has not been significant to many ordinary folks until very recently, I suspect it really isn't a factor for many even now. Petrol prices would be a bigger factor to many (me included, or diesel to be precise) but that is nothing to do with the credit crunch.

 

It may already be a factor, but its a very small factor in the grander scheme of things. It wasn't me anyway that said it was a factor, it was Wilde who referred to it, that is what I was referring to when I said it was laughable, for that idiot to suggest it is an important factor is a complete joke. He continues to ignore the main point, that attendances fall and will continue to fall while we fail to consistently win at home - yet I remember his rallying call a couple of years back imploring us to make SMS a fortress.

 

The main factor is the success on the field (or the lack of it) principally at home. It started last season when average attendances were down, and has been compounded this season.

[eelpie]

And while Saints attendance is down 26 percent, Cardiff's attendance in contrast is up around 30 percent. 56% difference!!!

 

Someone tell me that this has nothing to do with management at directorial level since the end of last season.

 

It is shear bunkum to blame Saints catastrophic drop in attendances to the credit squeeze as Wilde claims.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

I find myself in agreement with those on here who reject the 'credit crunch' as an adequate explanation for this seasons missing fans .

 

I do wonder how much of an effect the closure of the 3 corners has had on attendances this season . People get used to sitting in a certain seat/row with familiar faces around them , that's all been lost now for many fans be they season ticket holders or not . It's a serious error to underestimate the importance of this community effect IMO , especially as any savings made can only have been very minor in the grand scheme of things and may well have become entirely counter-productive if it's deters a significant number of fans from visiting SMS .

 

Savings made from closure of corners & cutting of 'free' bus service = £250k

Potential losses this season from reduced matchday attendance = £2m

 

This is a lesson any business should heed - you p*** your customers off at your peril .

[saintwarwick]

Spot on. To blame our reduced attendances on the credit crunch is quite frankly laughable. Most people had not even heard of the credit crunch until a couple of weeks or so ago. The credit crunch has hit very few people so far, just wait till it really does and see what happens to attendances then. Low attendances are down to one factor only (sorry to disappoint the boycott jonnys), its a lack of success on the pitch at St Marys. Win games at home = attract supporters, simple formula.

 

Have to agree with this, lack of success over the last few seasons coupled with dire results at St Mary's has seen our fanbase dwindle each season.

[saintwarwick]

Last season was bad results-wise but we were still getting over 20,000 for each game.

 

AwaySaint1 you are talking nonsense mate, if you want to stay away and sulk that's up to you. It only shows how little you must have cared to begin with if Rupert Lowe means more to you than Southampton Football Club.

 

Nine games failed to attract 20,000+ fans, that's almost half. The problem was there was always false dawns, get a few decent results then a few more fans would return only for us to put in a dismal performance at St mary's. The disgruntled fans would then stay away until the next rush of adrenalin. Our home record of W9, D5, L9 didn't help. Since relegation we have had a steady decline in attendances year on year.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

Nine games failed to attract 20,000+ fans, that's almost half. The problem was there was always false dawns, get a few decent results then a few more fans would return only for us to put in a dismal performance at St mary's. The disgruntled fans would then stay away until the next rush of adrenalin. Our home record of W9, D5, L9 didn't help. Since relegation we have had a steady decline in attendances year on year.

 

But poor results won't really do as a full explanation either , we had similar results to last season most years when we were in the Premiership but still filled The Dell/SMS most of the time if memory serves .

 

In my view what many Saints fans don't have anymore is any realistic hope that the club is progressing - at least in the short term . Take that vital sense of hope away and you've lost one of the main reasons for supporting any football club in the first place .

 

Give us a team capable of challenging for a play off place with players we've actually heard of , give us some prospect of a brighter future instead of more endless decline and hopefully many of the lost fans will return . But as we all know with no money that's much easier said than done I'm afraid .

[Calvin]

No one can be bothered anymore. this is the reason for the shortage of attendance. the club is messed up. there is such a negative vibe about Saints in terms of how it is run, the owners of the club and the financial crisis in saints which makes fans want to move away from the club.

 

I am sure if there was stability, fans would then be more settled to turn up to the game, resulting in a 20k attendance.

 

 

Winning is now the only way to attract the other fans but even winning will not be as appealing as it is because of the negative vibe involved at Southampton football club.

 

It's a joke. A premiership club for far too many years.. still not much money. things are even worse now than what they were as Rupert and Wilde are scared to invest. even the little teams have a stable club with some experience players. but of course, our board are afraid to invest.

 

 

we'll see what happens in terms of the future of SouthamptonFC. lets just hope that it's a bright future.

 

(excuse the spelling mistakes and punctuation)

Edited 15 October, 2008 by Calvin

[brmbrm]

Sorry, so if we add 5 to the attendances that will make the difference will it? Grow up. The fact that you and 4 others are boycotting doesn't make my assertions incorrect. In practice there are very few actually boycotting because of Lowe/Wilde in the real world. Most are just sick of seeing a team fail to win at home week after week.

 

..and your assertion was "Low attendances are down to one factor only". Well obviuosly its wrong if there is a factor other than poor performances. Add AwaySaint's 4 to me and her indoors and thats 6, plus many who don't read this forum or can't be arsed to post.

 

And i am terribly sorry I don't do exactly what you do, but if you thought about it a bit you might come to the conclusions that

(a) you can support a club without going

(b) other people might have different (valid) opinions than you

© telling people to "grow up" because they don't share your opinions is, well, pretty naive at best.

 

bad footy? Sure, that's a reason some people won't go because they might possibly think there is some alternative thing to do and some alternative thing to spend their time and money on. But we have had pretty crap performances at home for many years now - worse in the relegation season than last I'd say - yet attendances are at a new low.

 

Maybe there is more than one reason, VS.

 

(Oh, and if anyone can provide any evidence at all - economic indicators, employment rates, defaults on loans etc - that Southampton/Hampshire is being hit significantly worse than anywhere elase in the country except for Morecambe where is it? more assertions which are not based on fact or even any shred of evidence, just bland assertions.)

[Totton Red]

..and your assertion was "Low attendances are down to one factor only". Well obviuosly its wrong if there is a factor other than poor performances. Add AwaySaint's 4 to me and her indoors and thats 6, plus many who don't read this forum or can't be arsed to post.

 

And i am terribly sorry I don't do exactly what you do, but if you thought about it a bit you might come to the conclusions that

(a) you can support a club without going

(b) other people might have different (valid) opinions than you

© telling people to "grow up" because they don't share your opinions is, well, pretty naive at best.

 

bad footy? Sure, that's a reason some people won't go because they might possibly think there is some alternative thing to do and some alternative thing to spend their time and money on. But we have had pretty crap performances at home for many years now - worse in the relegation season than last I'd say - yet attendances are at a new low.

 

Maybe there is more than one reason, VS.

 

(Oh, and if anyone can provide any evidence at all - economic indicators, employment rates, defaults on loans etc - that Southampton/Hampshire is being hit significantly worse than anywhere elase in the country except for Morecambe where is it? more assertions which are not based on fact or even any shred of evidence, just bland assertions.)

 

Really do not want to post a response that signals that we have problems as a community but I saw stats the other day from John Lewis. Sales down 8% year on year nationally with Southampton and Bristol the worst performers with a 25% decline. Have absolutely no idea why we should be struggling unless it is dock related?

[Wes Tender]

Have absolutely no idea why we should be struggling unless it is dock related?

 

I think it is dock related. People are finding that their pay is being docked for this extra stealth tax and that extra stealth tax....

[londonsaint1604]

Nine games failed to attract 20,000+ fans, that's almost half. The problem was there was always false dawns, get a few decent results then a few more fans would return only for us to put in a dismal performance at St mary's. The disgruntled fans would then stay away until the next rush of adrenalin. Our home record of W9, D5, L9 didn't help. Since relegation we have had a steady decline in attendances year on year.

 

Fair enough but it was always around the 20,000 mark. The decline this season has been much sharper than ever before, if we get 18,000 on saturday that will be a good attendance, last season that would have been a poor one.

 

You're quite right though it's a question of expectation. Last season there was still hope after the play-offs the year before, whereas look at some of the message boards now and people are moaning about how we're as good as relegated already. The sad fact is that attitude will only exacerbate the problem, we need everyone to get behind the team, where are all those fans who turned up on the last day against sheff utd? If they cared enough then why, in the space of 3 months, have they decided they're not interested any more?

[JohnnyFartPants]

Really do not want to post a response that signals that we have problems as a community but I saw stats the other day from John Lewis. Sales down 8% year on year nationally with Southampton and Bristol the worst performers with a 25% decline. Have absolutely no idea why we should be struggling unless it is dock related?

 

High house prices and low wages. Less disposable income. Southampton is one of the worst cities in England for this.

[Raven on the wing]

If you went to a restaurant regularly week in week out, then they suddenly removed your favourite table, started serving a cheap alternative dish at the same price and brought back a previous owner who you hated how often would you go there in future !!

[saintwarwick]

If you went to a restaurant regularly week in week out, then they suddenly removed your favourite table, started serving a cheap alternative dish at the same price and brought back a previous owner who you hated how often would you go there in future !!

 

Then you would choose another restaurant, would you choose another club? Chances are you would NEVER go back to the restaurant. You really cannot compare the two.

[VectisSaint]

..and your assertion was "Low attendances are down to one factor only". Well obviuosly its wrong if there is a factor other than poor performances. Add AwaySaint's 4 to me and her indoors and thats 6, plus many who don't read this forum or can't be arsed to post.

 

And i am terribly sorry I don't do exactly what you do, but if you thought about it a bit you might come to the conclusions that

(a) you can support a club without going

(b) other people might have different (valid) opinions than you

© telling people to "grow up" because they don't share your opinions is, well, pretty naive at best.

 

bad footy? Sure, that's a reason some people won't go because they might possibly think there is some alternative thing to do and some alternative thing to spend their time and money on. But we have had pretty crap performances at home for many years now - worse in the relegation season than last I'd say - yet attendances are at a new low.

 

Maybe there is more than one reason, VS.

 

(Oh, and if anyone can provide any evidence at all - economic indicators, employment rates, defaults on loans etc - that Southampton/Hampshire is being hit significantly worse than anywhere elase in the country except for Morecambe where is it? more assertions which are not based on fact or even any shred of evidence, just bland assertions.)

Sorry, but I was talking to AwaySaint1, not you, I'm sure he is big enough to speak for himself.

 

But you have simply confirmed my belief and the belief of many others that this so-called boycott is something that is on such a small scale as to be largely irrelevant. If you are boycotting, I have a great deal of respect for your opinion, if that principle is fully held. I guess in the (very unlikely) event that we were to get a good cup run or start climbing the league in the near future that you and 'er indoors won't set foot in SMS if Lowe is still around. Well bravo, I admire your principles. I haven't been to a game yet this season, but I am not boycotting, and I'm planning to go tomorrow despite the cost etc. I hate Lowe with a vengeance but it will not stop me going to see Saints when I can, and as I have been doing for 42 years.

 

By the way I totally agree with you about this nonsens related to the credit crunch. The credit crunch has not really affected many people anywhere, let alone in Southampton, one of the most affluent areas of the country. If people complained about high fuel costs etc then that could be a valid argument for those who do not live relatively close to the ground, but that is nothing to do with the credit crunch. The credit crunch may well become a factor in the next few weeks/months as people begin to lose their jobs etc., and then we'll see a real downturn in attendances.

 

I stand by what I said, even if perhaps I did not say it quite as precisely as I might, there is one overriding reason for falling attendances at home and that is the results over the long term. I'll concede happily that there are other minor factors as well, but nothing like this real reason.

 

Peace and love

[Mole]

Can you show me how you came to this conclusion.

 

Me and 4 others never renewed in the Northam/Itchen corner this season due to boycotting.

 

But please dont let facts spoil your posting.

 

Although gates will go up if we start winning games I think even the ties at the club will agree with me that the majority of fans who are staying away will now never return.

 

Football attendance is an adiction,once you break the habit you have no wish to return to it.

 

Fans/supporters= Those that need the club more than the club needs them.

 

You're dead right. I wasn't going to do many games but once i knew Lowe was coming i made my mind up not to do any home games or spend any money on merchandise. OK my little protest isn't much, but i'm sticking by my principles.