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scotty
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Can't find any of the attendances for the three home games this season so it could be my imagination but are our home crowds diminishing as the season is going on? We seem to be down to a core support of a couple of thousand. Performances like yesterday's wont help but it is concerning.

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We've had a core support of approx 2,500 for a few seasons now. A few things have been tried but it has rarely changed anything.

 

It basically comes down to money. £22 is way too much for a game in Scotland when you consider the standard that is served up.

 

Thistle are one of the cheaper tickets in the premier as well.

 

If you were an occasional supporter and rocked up yesterday to watch that after paying £22 you'd be hard pushed to convince them to come every week!

 

Until the whole of Scottish football looks at ticket prices I can't see much changing.

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We've had a core support of approx 2,500 for a few seasons now. A few things have been tried but it has rarely changed anything.

 

It basically comes down to money. £22 is way too much for a game in Scotland when you consider the standard that is served up.

 

Thistle are one of the cheaper tickets in the premier as well.

 

If you were an occasional supporter and rocked up yesterday to watch that after paying £22 you'd be hard pushed to convince them to come every week!

 

Until the whole of Scottish football looks at ticket prices I can't see much changing.

As I said, I can't find the figures for this season but I've got the feeling that this is dropping below the 2.5K.

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Price is undoubtedly a factor, as is the quality of the product.

 

But it's also the namby-pamby p1sh that has crept into the game.

 

Such as weans in the North Stand, clapping the away supporters, clapping (and even chanting for) former players, community champions, all seated stadia, clapping when a player returns the ball to the opposition, lack of full blooded tackles (no yellow cards yesterday being an example), people moaning about industrial language.

 

No wonder crowds are down across the land.

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Agreed and its maybe an age thing with me but the weans in the NS do my head in. You get clusters of them, kicking seats, trying to act tough with the use of swear words that they aren't old enough to know the meaning of and generally just being a nuisance. I am all for kids getting in for nothing but they should be accompanied by an adult who should be responsible for their misbehaviour. Be interesting to see if the club put a steward on at the development game on Tuesday as they promised. The last game against Hamilton was a complete joke with kids messing about and ruining it for everyone else and not showing any interest in the game on the park.

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Over the years, domestic and other considerations have greatly diminished my opportunities to get to games - shameful I know but my responsibilities lay elsewhere for a long time - but as things slowly sort themselves out domestically I now have more opportunities to get to games than in the past 10 - 15 years. Unfortunately, and as has been mentioned elsewhere in this thread, the quality of the product on the park - combined with the seemingly exponential rise in the cost of attending even the most mundane of games, has bizarrely resulted in, if anything, a diminution in my interest in going along on anything like a regular basis.

 

In fact the last match I attended was Queen's Park v Clyde on a day that we were losing 2-1 at home (yes across the city at Firhill!) to Dundee - I would point out I was in the vicinity of Hampden and, whilst not a "spur-of-the -moment" decision to attend, it was, at least, convenient.

 

It seems strange that in the days I attended slavishly, the grounds were rudimentary (and that is being kind), casual aggression was relatively normal, pitches were dire, media coverage even more pitiful than now, yet the overall product was, at least to me, more palatable than that on offer nowadays - maybe because the football on offer was worth the money - and very often worth more than the fairly modest costs imposed at that time.

 

I know I probaly am coming over as an old fuddy duddy set in his ways and unable, or unwilling, to change his perhaps rose-tinted views of the past, but the comments made by others elsewhere in this thread certainly strike a chord with me.

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I can see why people don't attend. £22 for the standard that we see is laughable. If yesterday was your first game in a while then it justifies why people stay away. To go to a football match and your team are playing at home and not once do they make the keeper work is embarrassing. And all the backwards and sideways passing was a total bore.

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I can see why people don't attend. £22 for the standard that we see is laughable. If yesterday was your first game in a while then it justifies why people stay away. To go to a football match and your team are playing at home and not once do they make the keeper work is embarrassing. And all the backwards and sideways passing was a total bore.

 

The baffling thing for me was why we changed the Hearts team to accommodate Sean Welsh and not Adam Barton. We had a right go against Hearts but yesterday was a total contrast against an inferior side ( to Hearts) Baffling indeed!

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Can't compare last season's home match against St J as it was a Tuesday night. But two year ago we played St Johnstone at Firhill at the end of October. Our results and performances were kinda similar then as just now and there were 200 more fans then. I'm sure the ugly sisters' game would have a adverse effect on yesterday's crowd. Bound to put off more than a handful particularly those who rely on public transport. Totally unscientific of course but I don't feel it unreasonable to expect that another 6-7% would have turned up yesterday if there was no OF game on.

 

All you can take as a positive from that is it looks more like our attendances have flattened out and are not continuing to drop.

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Can't compare last season's home match against St J as it was a Tuesday night. But two year ago we played St Johnstone at Firhill at the end of October. Our results and performances were kinda similar then as just now and there were 200 more fans then. I'm sure the ugly sisters' game would have a adverse effect on yesterday's crowd. Bound to put off more than a handful particularly those who rely on public transport. Totally unscientific of course but I don't feel it unreasonable to expect that another 6-7% would have turned up yesterday if there was no OF game on.

 

All you can take as a positive from that is it looks more like our attendances have flattened out and are not continuing to drop.

Have they? As I can't find the numbers I'm wondering if they have. I remember thinking when the crowd was announced at the Inverness and Hearts games that the figures were disappointing. One because it was the first home game and the second because it came on the back of a home win and a reasonable performance against Aberdeen.

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Yesterday Thistle were up against

 

- The OF game

- Warriors at home

- Braehead Clan at home.

 

Like it or not we compete against all these others for fans and I know there are quite a few who go to Warriors/Clan games as well as Firhill so they had a choice to make and it looks like a lot chose to go elsewhere.

 

Are our crowds good ? Far from it but we are trying our best to get it right (kids for free etc) and IMO the cost isnt the issue, the other teams/sports in Glasgow charge a comparable amount for their games (Clan season tickets are over £300, matchday prices for Warriors are £20+ although season tickets are better value value).

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Have they? As I can't find the numbers I'm wondering if they have. I remember thinking when the crowd was announced at the Inverness and Hearts games that the figures were disappointing. One because it was the first home game and the second because it came on the back of a home win and a reasonable performance against Aberdeen.

 

Against Hearts last season on the back of a few good results 4776 (31st Oct). This season, after a couple of defeats albeit away from home, 4919. I'd imagine Hearts more or less sold out their allocations. Too many variables of course but doesn't look like the Jags crowd is necessarily continuing to drop. Of course continued performances like yesterday and I'd be changing my opinion.

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Yesterday was a prime example of why crowds are poor and why going to Firhill on a Saturday afternoon is falling further and further down the agenda for people....that game was worse than rubbish (from both sides), surprised there wasn't a q for refunds at the end.

£22 isn't great but also time is a factor for people, we all work hard and the weekend becomes even more important - why waste 3 hours on a saturday to watch that and have to pay for the privilege??

Thistle were toothless and had no fluency to their play...1st half average, changes baffled me in 2nd - azeez is no superstar but we were more effective when he was on the pitch. Welsh, whilst not particularly brilliant was at least trying to get the play going. The only player who looked bothered was erskine and nothing was happening for him and as for Cafu (ziggy) I wish he would do his talking on the pitch - must be embarrassing to be given man of the match and for the majority of the stadium to laugh! Not bothered if we go back, side to side etc as long as we keep the ball, do it at a decent tempo / with purpose and then look to penetrate the opposition, we don't do that though and allow teams like yesterday to close shop.

As for st J - they are horrible to watch - 300 travelling fans says it all. Get in front and then kill the game, that'll attract the punters eh? they're a top 6 scottish side though...football is so mince in this country!

 

Still annoyed by that "entertainment" yesterday!!

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We've had a core support of approx 2,500 for a few seasons now. A few things have been tried but it has rarely changed anything.

 

It basically comes down to money. £22 is way too much for a game in Scotland when you consider the standard that is served up.

 

Thistle are one of the cheaper tickets in the premier as well.

 

If you were an occasional supporter and rocked up yesterday to watch that after paying £22 you'd be hard pushed to convince them to come every week!

 

Until the whole of Scottish football looks at ticket prices I can't see much changing.

 

This - even 3.95 was not value for money from the Jagzone yesterday!!

 

Joking apart - Thistle went from charging £17 in the promotion season to charging £22 15 months after coming up.

 

That's a nigh on 30% increase which is not justifiable whichever way you spin it. The vast majority of people do not have sufficient levels of disposable income to devote that much of it to football and it's about time Dungcaster et al realized it.

 

There is no way on earth that you will ever get a guy or gal casually walking past Queens Cross on a Saturday afternoon to drop into Firhill at the current price level, irrespective of who we are playing.

Edited by Barney Rubble
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At the PTFC Trust meeting Ian Maxwell stated that the number of Thistle fans (season ticket holders, U16s and those paying at the gate) was 2,444 in 15/16 which was down 19 on 14/15.

 

Given the attendances so far this season I would think we are actually just a little higher than that at the moment:

 

2,943 for ICT (200 - 300 away fans)

 

4,919 for Hearts (about 2,100 away fans)

 

2,885 for St Johnstone (335 away fans)

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At the PTFC Trust meeting Ian Maxwell stated that the number of Thistle fans (season ticket holders, U16s and those paying at the gate) was 2,444 in 15/16 which was down 19 on 14/15.

 

Given the attendances so far this season I would think we are actually just a little higher than that at the moment:

 

2,943 for ICT (200 - 300 away fans)

 

4,919 for Hearts (about 2,100 away fans)

 

2,885 for St Johnstone (335 away fans)

Thanks. Just seems that Firhill is getting less busy.

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Haven't been along to a home game this season yet. Pay for a golf membership and this for me comes first on Saturday until season ends in mid October. Went away to Stenny and Dundee Utd and didn't see much that night to make me change priorities.

 

My 15 year old son travels in with his pal to the home league games by train from Motherwell but didn't fancy it yesterday due to what was going on elsewhere yesterday. He watched the Manchester Derby instead.

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Circa 2400 core home support and no matter what the club do, we can't seem to increase that number significantly. Part of the problem is that a few performances like yesterday and that number will dwindle.

Cost is an issue - my old man used to say anymore than the cost of 3 pints and people will stay in the pub.

 

We are flanked by the other 2 glasgow teams, and all the neighbouring towns have their own teams, paisley, Hamilton etc. Maybe other than for a 'big game' this is good as it gets.

 

How do we increase the gate?

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Circa 2400 core home support and no matter what the club do, we can't seem to increase that number significantly. Part of the problem is that a few performances like yesterday and that number will dwindle.

Cost is an issue - my old man used to say anymore than the cost of 3 pints and people will stay in the pub.

 

We are flanked by the other 2 glasgow teams, and all the neighbouring towns have their own teams, paisley, Hamilton etc. Maybe other than for a 'big game' this is good as it gets.

 

How do we increase the gate?

 

The fanbase is out there waiting to be tempted back, as was proven at the Morton game a few years back and also the Ramsdens Cup final. A Scottish/League Cup semi or final would get quite a few back. In reality if we had some sort of success the crowds would increase. Our cup runs over the last few years have been deplorable and add to the fact the set up of the leagues where you play most teams 4 times a season. Boredom does set in seeing the same teams 4 times a season.

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The fanbase is out there waiting to be tempted back, as was proven at the Morton game a few years back and also the Ramsdens Cup final. A Scottish/League Cup semi or final would get quite a few back. In reality if we had some sort of success the crowds would increase. Our cup runs over the last few years have been deplorable and add to the fact the set up of the leagues where you play most teams 4 times a season. Boredom does set in seeing the same teams 4 times a season.

 

It would for those games but I think that teams like St Mirren, Inverness and St Johnstone have all won cups in recent years but that has not then translated in to increased crowds for league games.

 

One thing that has always struck me is that there is quite a lot of people of Chinese descent in the local area yet I don't think we get many attending games. There are also a lot of Polish people in Glasgow (I believe they are now the largest ethnic group in Scotland) - could the club maybe have a Polish evening at Firhill to attract people along? I am sure some must be football fans so could we become their Scottish team?

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