SussexJag Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 Only three league teams in England had a lower attendance than us yesterday - Accrington, Rochdale, and Crawley. Ross County had more than us for their game versus St Johnstone not noted for their away support. Given that we've just gone 6th, this suggests some or all of the following: - it's too expensive. - it's rubbish. - it's not possible for Thistle to attract new fans no matter how well we do. I remember the guy who pumped money into Motherwell being gutted when their average crowd actually fell despite being in the top 3 for a couple of seasons. On the other hand Firhill was rammed for that great night when we beat Morton to pretty much guarantee promotion - only 4 years ago. Any hope? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garscube Road End Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 All of the above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindau Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 If we reach the semi final of the cup, wait till you see the crowd we carry to Hampden! No easy answer to the crowd scenario. The league set up, which is only in place to ensure a minimum 4 Sellik/Sevco games a season is a major factor. Playing some teams 4/5/6 times a season is ludicrous. Price is a big factor as well. As a PAYG customer I got the two Xmas games for £30 as a Xmas present and that is around the figure we should be paying for games. No surprise that those two games against Dundee and Killie were two of our better attended games against run of the mill opposition this season. To be fair to the club, they have tried lots of different things to try and boost the gates! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 Only three league teams in England had a lower attendance than us yesterday - Accrington, Rochdale, and Crawley. Ross County had more than us for their game versus St Johnstone not noted for their away support. Given that we've just gone 6th, this suggests some or all of the following: - it's too expensive. - it's rubbish. - it's not possible for Thistle to attract new fans no matter how well we do. I remember the guy who pumped money into Motherwell being gutted when their average crowd actually fell despite being in the top 3 for a couple of seasons. On the other hand Firhill was rammed for that great night when we beat Morton to pretty much guarantee promotion - only 4 years ago. Any hope? Never pay heed to what County declare as an attendance. I think they must include absent season ticket holders, deceased season ticket holders and anyone visiting the local Tesco between 3 and 5pm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 Never pay heed to what County declare as an attendance. I think they must include absent season ticket holders, deceased season ticket holders and anyone visiting the local Tesco between 3 and 5pm. They also add in the visitor numbers to the Strathpeffer Spa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashman Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 The only times we get big crowds is when there is something meaningful at stake, apart from a couple of big crowds right after we got promoted. As stated above, a cup semi or final would get a good turnout, as would a relegation play-off, or the business end of a promotion campaign. More consistently good results at home would probably bring in an extra 600 or so to the home gate. We have on a number of occasions failed to perform in front of bigger crowds when folks do turn out, which doesn't encourage them to keep coming back. At the Trust meeting on Saturday before the game, Ian Maxell confirmed the club will be putting in place a fan enagement officer to go out and try and bring in fans from various sections of the local community. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 At the Trust meeting on Saturday before the game, Ian Maxell confirmed the club will be putting in place a fan enagement officer to go out and try and bring in fans from various sections of the local community. This is good news, long overdue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Dastardly Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 I think it is a combination of 1 & 2. Football has to be considered as part of the entertainment industry. There is a limit to how much money and time people have and there are lots of competition for that time and money. I would question whether the entertainment value is enough to earn that time and money. I'm sure that the crowds would improve if something can be done about the entertainment, but to do that you would need to do something about the likes of St. Johnstone's antics .... Maybe the ref could put some of that foam into a custard pie for players timewasting :-) Personally, I have to leave home (near Preston) at 9 am and don't get back till after 10pm to make a home match and it is a £100 day trip, which is why I can only make about 5 games a year and will be one of those who swells the Hampden (and the Livingston) support. Sorry if that is not good enough for some, but it is all that I am capable of. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashman Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 I think that with kids go free, we can't really afford to reduce ticket prices much from where they are. The club feel from their own initiatives and those of other clubs that the increase in attendance is minimal with reduced ticket prices and the club end up losing out financially. Perhaps we could offer some 'combo' deals for a pie and programme or pie and drink or similar? This could help to reduce the overall cost of attending the game, whilst encouraging more folk to come. I generally eat before coming up as I feel the value is so poor. Maybe some small but fun things like face painting for kids weekly raffle for some kit/merchandise. Obviously we will make sure to pay the face painters as they have suffered enough at the hands of Glasgow clubs already... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 Yes Flashman, we need to provide reasons why parents will bring the kids along. They are are future generations of supporters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindau Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 (edited) will be one of those who swells the Hampden (and the Livingston) support. Sorry if that is not good enough for some, but it is all that I am capable of. I think that with kids go free, we can't really afford to reduce ticket prices much from where they are. The club feel from their own initiatives and those of other clubs that the increase in attendance is minimal with reduced ticket prices and the club end up losing out financially. Perhaps we could offer some 'combo' deals for a pie and programme or pie and drink or similar? This could help to reduce the overall cost of attending the game, whilst encouraging more folk to come. I generally eat before coming up as I feel the value is so poor. Maybe some small but fun things like face painting for kids weekly raffle for some kit/merchandise. Obviously we will make sure to pay the face painters as they have suffered enough at the hands of Glasgow clubs already... Dick if your response is to what I said, it was not meant the way you have taken it. All I was pointing out is that we do have a large amount of sleeping support that do come out when we have a major game. Morton game being the classic example. Currently health scenarios mean that at the moment I usually only attend our home games (want my club to get my money) and the ones in the central belt (Hamilton and Motherwell) With a hip replacement on its way in May, all that will change back to normal for next season, hopefully. Flashman I suggested a while ago, why not entry, a pie at the game (or similar) and a pint in the Aitken for £25. It could get more people to visit the Aitken before or after the game and everyone would be a winner even if they buy one extra pint! Edited February 19, 2017 by Lindau 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hankey Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 The bing sucks the life out of the place for me, the sooner than is sorted the better. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenziejag Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 What was the crowd yesterday - I thought I heard 3,085 or something, which I was surprised at. Hamilton games are usually under 3,000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashman Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 The home crowd was decent, Hamilton looked about 150 fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fawlty Towers Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 What was the crowd yesterday - I thought I heard 3,085 or something, which I was surprised at. Hamilton games are usually under 3,000 3,057 and according to the Accies twitter account 269 of their fans were in attendance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonehJags Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 An extra 200 compared to Octobers game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggy1967 Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 Only three league teams in England had a lower attendance than us yesterday - Accrington, Rochdale, and Crawley. Ross County had more than us for their game versus St Johnstone not noted for their away support. Given that we've just gone 6th, this suggests some or all of the following: - it's too expensive. - it's rubbish. - it's not possible for Thistle to attract new fans no matter how well we do. I remember the guy who pumped money into Motherwell being gutted when their average crowd actually fell despite being in the top 3 for a couple of seasons. On the other hand Firhill was rammed for that great night when we beat Morton to pretty much guarantee promotion - only 4 years ago. Any hope? I never compare us to English teams we have a much smaller population at 5.5M than 60M English plus we live in a city populated by the bigot brothers. The product is expensive for what it is worth and I don't see that changing anytime soon. The product on it's day is brilliant but as a game it is changeable, some you win and sadly more we lose ! We will never attract more fans than we have due to the peer pressure on the future generations to follow the filth. Been the same in all my 40 years and don't see it changing anytime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggy1967 Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 3,057 and according to the Accies twitter account 269 of their fans were in attendance. Biggest piss poor support of any team an the Premier league, 2nd or 3rd division is the level they should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindau Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 according to the Accies twitter account 269 of their fans were in attendance. Well considering only around 700 turned up in midweek at home to see their team get into the cup quarters finals, that's a not bad turn out!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClydebankJag Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 Biggest piss poor support of any team an the Premier league, 2nd or 3rd division is the level they should be. And there are teams in the leagues below us with bigger supports than us - should they get our SPFL place? Your comment sounds like the kinda p1sh that and Old Firm would write about us. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow & Redneck Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 Some good points here regarding product and pricing, however I fear that does not tell the whole story. When we won 2-0 up at Dens Park in October, the attendance was just shy of 5000 for a midweek game, coupled with Dundee being rooted to the bottom of the league. Their pricing structure is similar to ours, so the disparity is not caused by that factor. The way I see it is either we just don't have a large enough fan pool being based in Glasgow, or secondly, and more unfortunately, we just don't have fans who actually turn out for matches. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggy1967 Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 And there are teams in the leagues below us with bigger supports than us - should they get our SPFL place? Your comment sounds like the kinda p1sh that and Old Firm would write about us. Wow talking about Hamilton ffs worst supported team at their home and away ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roque Posted February 20, 2017 Report Share Posted February 20, 2017 (edited) Wow talking about Hamilton ffs worst supported team at their home and away ! Yeah, they are, but what does that matter? They're in the league on merit; not based on their crowd size. If anything, the fact they are where they are with such a small support (which, as you said, is 2nd/3rd tier standard) makes it a bigger achievement. Edited February 20, 2017 by Roque 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roque Posted February 20, 2017 Report Share Posted February 20, 2017 Our attendance figures are extremely disappointing, but I'm not sure if there's much we can really do about it. We've got as successful a team on the park as we've had in a long, long time, but our average home gate is almost identical to what we were getting when we were mid-table in the First Division for years. Obviously playing at a higher level is negated by the fact that the prices have had to rise, and there just isn't an economical way around that. When you look at similar sized clubs (imo) like Falkirk and Dunfermline, whose home gates are considerably better than ours despite being at a lower level, and in Dunfermline's case not even playing well at that level, it's very frustrating. Even St Mirren get probably about the same number of home fans through the door, and they're absolutely rotten right now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted February 20, 2017 Report Share Posted February 20, 2017 Our attendance figures are extremely disappointing, but I'm not sure if there's much we can really do about it. We've got as successful a team on the park as we've had in a long, long time, but our average home gate is almost identical to what we were getting when we were mid-table in the First Division for years. Obviously playing at a higher level is negated by the fact that the prices have had to rise, and there just isn't an economical way around that. When you look at similar sized clubs (imo) like Falkirk and Dunfermline, whose home gates are considerably better than ours despite being at a lower level, and in Dunfermline's case not even playing well at that level, it's very frustrating. Even St Mirren get probably about the same number of home fans through the door, and they're absolutely rotten right now. I'd leave the Pars out of any comparison due mainly to the circumstances they found themselves in recently. Bit similar to Hearts in so much as if their fans hadn't shown loyalty to their club their very existence would've been threatened. Falkirk and St Mirren tho' are a different matter. It would be hard to argue that the current state of Firhill is turning potential/lapsed fans away when Falkirk, given their stadium/situation, can attract/retain fans. It's highly subjective but imo I don't think the situation of St Mirren's stadium is a selling point. Gate pricing is undoubtedly a factor in attendance figures but maybe not as much an influence as some think. I'd suggest the overall cost of a day at the football is more pertinent. Add in cost of travel, refreshments, food etc and I imagine many fans are laying out well over double the cost of entry. I know it doesn't address the comparison aspect but I consider repetitive fixtures are a major turn off. If I stayed further afield or couldn't justify/afford to go to most home games, I'd cherry pick the matches I attend. A major influence would be watching the Jags play against as varied an opposition as possible. Turn that the other way round and watching us play a team we'll play four times a season and/or just played a few weeks before is hardly conducive to enhancing the matchday experience. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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