[Archived] The Old Gate Debate

[Ozz]

IHB-I was just listening to I Spy this morning and thinking what a good song.

[ihateburnley]

IHB-I was just listening to I Spy this morning and thinking what a good song.

396015[/snapback]

Oh baby I could talk about that song all day! Quite clearly one of my favourite songs ever.

[thenodrog]

It serves no purpose at all getting uppity about people who don't attend or taking the "I'm a better fan than you" approachanddubbing them part timers.

395992[/snapback]

Well it makes ME feel better and thats that.

[joey_big_nose]

Well it makes ME feel better and thats that.

396102[/snapback]

Well at least you're honest about it!

Edited April 3, 2006 by joey_big_nose

[des]

that ok , but by having a go at future fans this will not encourage them to go. Its a free market and people can chosse to go or not.

for some people rovers its there life, well let me be honest for me its not, its one of the iceing on top of the cake, but not the cake itself.

Family, friends, people that care for me come along way up the order of thing them rovers do. yes I want them to win and its great when they do, but life goes on if they win or lose, or even draw for that matter

[cletus]

***GAV`S £50 BET UPDATE***

A poor crowd of only 20410 bothered to turn up & watch this dire Lancashire derby.

Seems like most people decided to watch it at home or in the pub (which is what i should`ve done) I spent £30 (ticket, pie & pint) & came away feeling rather short changed. Anyway, here`s how Gav`s £50 bet looks:-

Rovers average home league gate is now 20261 after 16 games (up 10)

Wigan`s average home league gate is 20904 after 16 games

(Rovers are an average of 643 behind with 3 home games left each)

Rovers total home league attendances stand at 324172

Wigan`s total home league attendances stand at 334462

(Rovers are 10290 behind)

with only 3 home games left each, for Gav to win his bet Rovers have to get 3430 or more people each game than Wigan.

Rovers have to play:- Liverpool, Chelsea & Man City

Wigan have :-BIG club, Villa & Pompey

Can it be done??

[Ozz]

Errr...no.

[thenodrog]

***GAV`S £50 BET UPDATE***

A poor crowd of only 20410 bothered to turn up & watch this dire Lancashire derby.

Seems like most people decided to watch it at home or in the pub (which is what i should`ve done) I spent £30 (ticket, pie & pint) & came away feeling rather short changed. Anyway, here`s how Gav`s £50 bet looks:-

Rovers   average home league gate is now 20261 after 16 games (up 10)

Wigan`s average home league gate is 20904 after 16 games

(Rovers are an average of 643 behind with 3 home games left each)

Rovers   total home league attendances stand at 324172

Wigan`s total home league attendances stand at 334462

(Rovers are 10290 behind)

with only 3 home games left each, for Gav to win his bet Rovers have to get 3430 or more people each game than Wigan.

Rovers   have to play:- Liverpool, Chelsea & Man City

Wigan have :-BIG club, Villa & Pompey

Can it be done??

396286[/snapback]

Doubt it unless Chelsea need a result AT Ewood to win the Prem. As it stands Gavs bet has been sabotaged by Sky TV.

[stuwilky]

***GAV`S £50 BET UPDATE***

A poor crowd of only 20410 bothered to turn up & watch this dire Lancashire derby.

Seems like most people decided to watch it at home or in the pub (which is what i should`ve done) I spent £30 (ticket, pie & pint) & came away feeling rather short changed. Anyway, here`s how Gav`s £50 bet looks:-

Rovers   average home league gate is now 20261 after 16 games (up 10)

Wigan`s average home league gate is 20904 after 16 games

(Rovers are an average of 643 behind with 3 home games left each)

Rovers   total home league attendances stand at 324172

Wigan`s total home league attendances stand at 334462

(Rovers are 10290 behind)

with only 3 home games left each, for Gav to win his bet Rovers have to get 3430 or more people each game than Wigan.

Rovers   have to play:- Liverpool, Chelsea & Man City

Wigan have :-BIG club, Villa & Pompey

Can it be done??

396286[/snapback]

Presuming Wigan get 21000 for each of their last 3 games (and I think thats being generous) we will do this. Liverpool and City will both be 26k+ which means as long as we get 21k or so for Chelsea we'll do it.

[Guest fernhurstblue]

Doubt it unless Chelsea need a result AT Ewood to win the Prem.  As it stands Gavs bet has been sabotaged by Sky TV.

396290[/snapback]

it aint sky, it's the so-called 'fans' who cant be bothered to get out of the pub and down to ewood to watch a european chasing team ..... what do these people want!!

[BRFC4EVA]

Presuming Wigan get 21000 for each of their last 3 games (and I think thats being generous) we will do this.  Liverpool and City will both be 26k+ which means as long as we get 21k or so for Chelsea we'll do it. 

396292[/snapback]

Wigan will struggle to get 18,000 for the last 3 games, b'ham is on sky, Villa is midweek and pompey is unglamorus and a mission for away fans, although pompey might bring a fair few due to their situation. We will win the bet!

[ihateburnley]

it aint sky, it's the so-called 'fans' who cant be bothered to get out of the pub and down to ewood to watch a european chasing team ..... what do these people want!! 

396432[/snapback]

That's harsh and simply isn't true.

Maybe we don't actually have that many fans? Shock horror - for the past couple of years we have averaged between 18k and 23k at a guess. Maybe that suggests that this is what we can expect at best? OK, so we might not have many fans, but I'll tell you this - I reckon if we were at the bottom of the league our crowds wouldn't be much different. Give or take a couple of thousand we can confidently say that our 'hardcore' can be estimated at around the 22k mark. Although it may be to the detriment of the club and it's finances, in some respects I find it refreshing that we are not packing our stadium with 'hangers-on' or people simply jumping on the bandwagon.

People need to stop comparing us with the likes of Everton, Middlesbrough, Sunderland etc in terms of fan-base. We are a small-town club with a loyal set of hardcore fans that usually turn up no matter who we are playing and where we are in the league. When we were in the First Division in 2000 we averaged around the 18k mark and by the looks of it things havent much changed.

Compare this to the likes of Wigan and Charlton and we can safely say that our fans aren't just 'in for the ride'.

Yes our crowds are small for the Premiership, but at a guess I'd say we have the smallest catchment area for fans in the Premiership and that counts for a lot. In a period where clubs such as Middlesbrough, Sunderland and Aston Villa have seen their attendances dwindle, I think ours has been relatively steady.

[bellamy11]

Give or take a couple of thousand we can confidently say that our 'hardcore' can be estimated at around the 22k mark.

396474[/snapback]

If our "hardcore" was 22k then our average gate wouldn't be below that, would it? And does this figure include the "hardcore" away fans who turn up at Ewood every other week?

Our "hardcore" base of fans, who would turn up regardless of price or league position, isn't even close to half of that number.

[ihateburnley]

If our "hardcore" was 22k then our average gate wouldn't be below that, would it? And does this figure include the "hardcore" away fans who turn up at Ewood every other week?

Our "hardcore" base of fans, who would turn up regardless of price or league position, isn't even close to half of that number.

396480[/snapback]

Well I don't know there can still be issues that affect even the hardcore such as price, televised matches and odd kick-off times. Maybe we just have different definitions of hardcore that's all.

[bellamy11]

Well I don't know there can still be issues that affect even the hardcore such as price, televised matches and odd kick-off times. Maybe we just have different definitions of hardcore that's all.

396483[/snapback]

My definition of hardcore is season ticket holders who go rain or shine, hell or high water.

[ihateburnley]

My definition of hardcore is season ticket holders who go rain or shine, hell or high water.

396489[/snapback]

I'm not sure there are too many of those nowadays.

[bellamy11]

I'm not sure there are too many of those nowadays.

396520[/snapback]

Well thats exactly my point. We do not have 22,000 hardcore fans. We do not have close to 22,000 hardcore fans. We might have 22,000 people willing to turn up if all the conditions suited them, but that hardly makes them hardcore.

[Florida Rover]

Maybe 14,00 hardcore by the definition above and then 8,000 floating fans any of which 6,00 may turn up for a particular match?

Edited April 4, 2006 by Florida Rover

[cletus]

fernhurstblue....what do these people want!!

Howzabout vastly increasing my wage & lowering my outgoings (bills etc...)

....failing that, cheaper tickets.

[waggy]

many off us have ago at the lads who stay in the pub and watch on tv but most off us from our mid 30's never had the oppurtunity to drink all day on match day's.remenber the 3pm finish and the 6pm start,i for one could not say i would have gone to as many rovers game's if it was a choice off rovers or the pub in my 20's

[3rdpillar]

" for one could not say i would have gone to as many rovers game's if it was a choice off rovers or the pub in my 20's " good point waggy.

You would never have got me out of Toffs door on a Saturday afternoon ( 1980's), if I could have watched the football and the girls.......

[cletus]

Football has alot more to compete with these days, such as:-

home entertainments....x-box, playstation, home computers (many kids spend their time saving up for the latest game & the rest of their spare time playing these games with their mates) How many people on BRFCs spend their match days on-line??

Satellite tv....You can see the goals/highlights from almost every domestic football match within a few hours of it happening, be it at home or in the pub.

People have to realise that football has to compete with other 'cheaper' forms of entertainment. Gone are the days when you simply 'had to be there' or you missed out on something memorable...these days you can watch it every 50 mins on SKY sports from the bar at your local or sat in your living room.

Granted, the 'hardcore' of fans will always argue that it`s not like being there, & all credit to them, but sometimes people would rather save themselves a chunk of money & still get to catch up on all the good bits when it`s on tv.

I hear stories from the older folk about their being lots of cinemas in Blackburn & they were "always full" especially on a saturday morning. I also hear stories about there being 50000+ on Ewood park during the 50s.......maybe this was because there was little else to do for cheap family entertainment in those days.

Watching Blackburn Rovers these days is not 'cheap family entertainment'....it costs alot.

Nowadays, it`s a totally different beast, there`s a HUGE entertainment industry designed to make you want to part with your cash. There`s lots of choice & unfortunately the one`s seen as 'not value for money' will inevitably fall by the wayside.

[waggy]

and that's why we have so few fans between 16-30 i'm afraid

[blue phil]

I'm not going to the match tonight against Wigan because I play for a pool team on a Monday night - but I know it'll be on in the pub anyway.

396007[/snapback]

So do I and a couple of mates......but we cancelled the match and rearranged it for another night . A good excuse for another night out on the ale ....

[stuwilky]

and that's why we have so few fans between 16-30 i'm afraid

396895[/snapback]

Is that the missing age?

I would be really interested in finding out if there is such a thing.