Where Have All The Fans Gone??? Which Fans??

Many recurring posts seem to be along the lines of 'what does it take to get supporters to come back to Oakwell??' I ask, 'which suporters are these'?

Surely this question is posed by people who first started coming around the promotion season (I'm not calling anyone glory hunters either), as prior to that attendance were abysmal.

I've found stats from the Soccer Stats website (noty sure how accurate, but look realistic to me) about our attendances from the past 14 or so seasons, upto 05/06 season which you can see below. Note that League one is the league directly below the Prem - this doesn't take into account the name change of DIv 1 to Championship.


Year Capacity Average Attendance % of Cap Division
1992/93 26586 6417 24 1
1993/94 27398 7596 28 1
1994/95 19101 6526 34 1
1995/96 19101 8118 43 1
1996/97 18806 11407 61 1
1997/98 18806 18443 98 Prem
1998/99 23000 16269 71 1
1999/00 23186 15412 66 1
2000/01 23009 14465 63 1
2001/02 23009 13323 58 1
2002/03 23009 9758 42 2
2003/04 23186 9620 41 2
2004/05 23186 9779 42 2
2005/06 23186 9045 39 2

As can be seen, the attendances did not pick up until the beginning of the Wilson era (good run, missing out on play-offs only due to lowering number of teams in Prem). Even the Promotion season saw an average attendance on par to what we are seeing now - and that mainly due to larger attendances towards the end of the season.

After the season in the Prem the attendances fell, as did our positions in the league, until they leveled off at about 9k, including the season when we were promoted back to the Championship.

Our average attendances now (and for last season) stand around 11,000. This represents a roughly 40% increase since 92/93. In all honesty, apart from teams that are getting into Europe or have become established in the Prem, how many other teams have increased their average attendace by this amount in the last 14 years?

Yes, I know we took a lot to Wembley and the Millenium stadium, but so do all teams. The Div 2 playoff finals have attendaces around the 30-40k mark, but no team in that league have average attendaces anywhere near 10k.

In short, what I'm trying to say (I think) is that no matter how good we play, chances are the attendaces aren't going to increase that much - whether you think they are or not depends on when you first started coming to the Well.

 

Our Prices Are Not Perfect..........

but at least it's not 27 quid like at Wolves. Wait till we play there next month. You can bet there will be a few on here complaining about being charged so much. The stayaway fans (i'm looking at you Lizzie lol) don't know what they are missing.

 

In Comparison to?

I agree - about ticket prices, but who are the stay away fans?

I know at least two people who bought season tickets for the Prem season just to see the mancs - they were Man U fans and it was cheaper to buy a season ticket for us to see them, then to see them else where - the cup games were a bonus!

It would be naive to say that all the fans who have attended in the past came solely to see the Reds.

Another thing that gets me is people saying our prices are good in comparison to others, like Wolves. But good in wot way - price comparison is one thing. If you take average wage of area is it still better value, or average house prices of the two areas?

To get more people to attend, we need to get promotions that appeal to the people of Barnsley, and sod others.

 

RE: Our Prices Are Not Perfect..........

It is EXPENSIVE.

 

RE: In Comparison to?

"I know at least two people who bought season tickets for the Prem season just to see the mancs - they were Man U fans and it was cheaper to buy a season ticket for us to see them, then to see them else where - the cup games were a bonus! "


You don't buy a season ticket to see one team from the opposition surely?? (The cup tie was not relevant as at time of purchase was not known & wasn't included anyway) (dunno)

 

RE: In Comparison to?

It is true - like Sunderland, & Birmingham fans in the Barnsley end last season.

Some people will do anything to get a ticket to watch their fave team - if that means shelling out for a season ticket at another club for one game (think the Prem season was about £280) then they'd do it.

 

Yes but

All the games you refer to
Man U - last game of season
and
S'land/ B'ham were at end of season, so no season ticket purchase would have been possible ? (You're not telling me any of these fans bought a ticket for Oakwell at start of season, on the offchance that their side were good?!!)

 

RE: Yes but

Not Sunderland and Birmingham, no. But Man U, yes.

Also, in the Prem season, existing ticket holders bought extra ST's so their kids could see world class players. Again, it would be naive not to expect people to attend just to see opposition players - Vialli, Bergkamp, Viera, Giggs et al.

 

RE: Our Prices Are Not Perfect..........

Lies, damn lies and stats.

Whilst I don’t know to the nearest fan what the average attendances were in the 70s there is no doubt from 1977 to1983 a remarkable upsurge in support occurred (around 100%). 1977 Div 4 attendances circa 5-6,000 average, promotion season 1979-80 - average circa 11k - 12k - promotion season 81-82 average circa 13k - first season back in div 2 average circa 15k.....................by 1985-1986 despite still been in Div 2 we were back down to around 7k due mainly to the miners strike and to a lesser extent the product on the pitch started to deteriorate.

There are many and varied reasons why attendances fall and rise and to be honest -in relation to the size of our town and the fact we are sandwiched bang in the middle of some massive cities, I don’t think our current attendances are that bad at all - but there is scope for some improvement.

If we are sixth with 8 games to go and in with a real chance of the play offs I am confident the home fans attending our games will be 13k plus.

Needless to say if we went up then every game in the Perm would be a sell out with real scope to extend the ground to a capacity of between 25 and 30k

 

RE: Our Prices Are Not Perfect..........

By 85-86 I am almost sure that we were downn to 3-4K</p>

We might fill 25K one season but it wont be kept up.</p>

Just look at Blackburn / Bolton / Fulham etc they cant fill their grounds in Premier League. n Blackburn are in the top 6</p>

 

Spot on - pay on the gate punters won't turn up on a regular basis

Theres not an awful lot of money floating around town these days, what with interest rates going up, things are getting tight. New jobs don't pay much more than the minimum wage.
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AND it is too expensive, &pound;20 or more on the gate to see a game. Thats a two/three CDs/DVDs or a few pints and a curry.
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RE: Spot on - pay on the gate punters won't turn up on a regular basis

Correct , Barnsley FC are not competin against other teams for custom they are competing against what else fans can do with &pound;20+.

 

I agree with you BR

The guy and his son next door went just so they could see Premiership teams, especially Man United, no surprise since the kid runs round in a man u shirt

of my 5 neighbours, 3 (households) started to go in the prem season, 2 of them lasted just the one season, 1 stopped when we were relegated to league one. 2 of us still go week in week out.

just from my street: Premiership season 8 fans, this season 3 fans

 

RE: Our Prices Are Not Perfect..........

You are right in that 85-8 there were some games where we got 4k but the actual average was at least 6-7k I’m sure. (I remember a meaningless last home game of the season v Wimbledon where the crowd was a fraction over 3,000)

To be fair there aren’t many teams whose crowds will not fluctuate depending on success so I wouldn’t single out BFC in that respect. Leeds are still failing to fill their ground by some fair old margin (only 75% full today) desptie being based in one of the biggest and largest growing cities in the Europe and despite having one of the best starts to a season by any team in the history of football.

 

It would be nice but I know it probably won't happen,

If the league clubs could all agree on a date when every single player's contract will finish and then renegotiate over the board a much lower settlement to knock ticket prices substantially (e.g. offer every player 50% of what they were getting). The players would still be in clover compared to Joe Punter. The days of the players official body (is it PFA - Gordon Taylor?) bleating on about a short career have gone for me.

 

RE: It would be nice but I know it probably won't happen,

As mentioned, if we seriously look like we may go up or indeed do go up the 'mysteriously between 5,000 and 7,000 fans will come crawling out of the woodwork. Not unique to BFC just the nature of the beast.

 

I can't see where that many people are going to find an extra £40 a month

Or even want to pay that. Look at the attendance at the last match when prices for pay on the gate were cut. OK there were three factors at play, cost, last match, exciting match scenario but it was a no brainer in terms of cost. People will happily pay &pound;4/5 for a chicken in a supermarket, stick it at &pound;10 and you'll find it five days later rotting in reduced.</p>

I applaud the clubs approach to create an attractive side but it aint pocket money prices anymore.</p>

Anyway my mortgage has gone up over &pound;100 a month over the last 18 months and along with a load of diy/family bills footy is hard to justify.
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On the Contrary Form dictates attendance

Just notice how the attendances shot up when we were in the Premiership and remained reasonable when it was expected we may get back.

 

There was a guy near us

was a Leicester fan but lived in Barnsley, bought a season ticket in the Premier season, remember when stewards were trying to kick him out when we played Leicester cause he was wearing a Leicester shirt and all the season ticket holders around him wouldn't let the stewards kick him out. Rest of the season he was supporting us.
A bloke over the road, an Arsenal fan, he had a season ticket in the Premier season.

 

It's all relative though

When I started regularly going to games, probably 2 or 3 quid to see a game, but my weekly income then was only £25-£30. So a tenth of my income.
So now it's £20 a game but my weekly income is far more than ten times that.

So in that respect it's not as expensive.



*Other peoples experiences may vary.