[Archived] A New Football Demographic ? Good Work by Bradford City?

[Mike Graham]

FROM TODAY'S DAILY TORYGRAPH RE THE BRADFORD v ARSENAL GAME. A SIGN OF GOOD WORK BY DRADFORD (and Wolves) ACROSS CULTURES. CAN ROVERS LEARN AND BENEFIT FROM THIS?

"Watching television coverage of Bradford City beating Aston Villa on Tuesday night, I was struck by the most arresting sight. As the visitors Barry Bannan went to take a corner, he was assailed by an overexcited Bradford fan, attempting verbally to put him off his stride. Perhaps a choice observation was being made about his height, maybe about his hairs copper hue, whatever it was probably as well that the pitchside microphones did not pick it up. Not that there was anything unusual in such behaviour: most fans reckon that the price of entry to a football game these days includes the right loudly to voice disparaging comment about opposition players.

What was striking, though, was the identity of the fan yelling at Bannan: she was an Asian woman wearing a hijab. What is more, she was with a couple of female Asian friends, in a section of the Valley Parade crowd dotted with Asian faces.

If it is possible that someone yelling at a footballer represents evidence of social progress, then this was the most encouraging image of the season. After all the miserable racist vituperation that has swilled around football recently, here was a Muslim woman, comfortable in the middle of an ethnically mixed crowd, engaging with the games traditional possibilities. And in doing so, clearly having the time of her life. How pleasant was that to see?

The good news is that shouty Bradford woman is not alone. For years it was to the games shame that Asian people felt excluded from immersing themselves in its glories. Thanks to some imaginative initiatives, parts of the game are increasingly reaching out to the Asian audience. Which, if nothing else, makes commercial sense: this is a substantial inner-city market residing in the shadow of league grounds. To ignore it is to miss out on customers living on the doorstep.

And the Asians are coming. At Manchester United home games, television audiences have for several years now seen a family of Sikhs doughnutting the dugout, passing each other sweets as Sir Alex Ferguson stalks the technical area. At Wolverhampton Wanderers, the growth in interest among the citys Asians has been growing rapidly since 2007, when a group of six fans formed Punjabi Wolves.

We just thought: the game belongs to us as much as anybody," Raj Bains, the organisations founder, explains. I started going to matches in 1979. In the early days it was a bit scary, even with the home fans. But there are no issues now."

Within five years, the organisation has grown to the point it now has more than 800 members. At away matches the Punjabi Wolves are a noticeable, unified presence, banging their Indian drums as they approach grounds.

Established as a charity, from the off the group has collected money for good causes. Last summer, Bains led a party out to India to help in the construction of a housing project they had helped to finance. Eight Asian and two English lads went," he says. Which was a reflection of our membership. Were open to anyone: Asian, black, white. The only entry requirement is you love Wolves." All ages, too. One of Punjabi Wolves regular drummers is 13. Which in itself is noteworthy.

Indeed what was perhaps more telling about the Valley Parade ranter was not so much her ethnicity as her age. She was clearly under 20. With her satchel slung round her neck, she looked like she was a student. And the young really are an endangered species in the games upper reaches. In the Premier League the crowds are ageing faster than Paul Lambert as he watched his defenders flail and fail on Tuesday.

Scan the stands during any top flight match and the hairlines are receding, the faces lined, the average age way over 45. The clubs are doing little to address that ageing demographic. At the Emirates on Sunday, Arsenal are charging visiting Manchester City fans £62 a head, perhaps on the assumption that they all come from Abu Dhabi. There will not be many students in that crowd.

Down the divisions it is not like that. At Milton Keynes, the Dons are watched by a crowd markedly younger than that at any Premier League venue. The main stand is packed with families, while gaggles of youths gather in the Stadium MKs Cow Shed stand, chanting encouragement to their team. Which is perhaps no surprise: half-season tickets, taking in the Dons remaining 10 League One home matches, are available to under-18s for just £20.

It is the same at Bradford. Even as the club sank through the divisions, a conscientious effort to maintain crowd levels has seen prices held down. Assuming she flashed her student card, the Asian woman ranter would have paid only £14 on Tuesday night to watch a riveting cup semi final. After what she experienced there is every chance she will be coming back.

It may be the product of necessity in Bradfords case maybe even of desperation but what such a policy has done is mark out a new and different course for football. While the Premier League plays out to an ever more affluent, ever ageing, white audience that will eventually, inevitably, die off, clubs like Bradford have found the path to renewal. In fact, it could be said that what I was looking at when I saw that young Bantams fan in the hijab was this: footballs future."

[Paul Mellelieu]

Great post.

[Mike Graham]

Great post.

Thanks PM. It was a welcome article and I hope that Fernhurst and O2G take a copy to the FF next week. The article is clearly multi-faceted and also raises the link between ticket prices and attendance by younger people. Good stuff from the Torygraph.

[Andy]

Good read.

[SAS]

Great article..

However I'd be shocked if clubs did not have similar information from market research, some clubs just choose to ignore the community for ££££

[CapeTownRover]

Yeh good stuff this.

[Baz]

A few seasons back Id happily do 8-10 away games in a season, the cost was £20 plus fuel. Now its £35 ticket plus a fortune in fuel, beyond my reach.

For home games we are fortunate in that the club took a great pricing strategy change a few years back too.

The problem with the bigger clubs is that they have the demand to be able to charge more or less what they like, if they dont then they are at a loss against their competitors. It needs the FA to step in and set a max ticket price IMO, but they are just as bad, charging over £100 for a standard ticket at the cup final for example.

At Rovers Id be really keen on trying to entice more of the local asian population into Ewood, there does appear to be more than years ago, but only a tiny fraction of the gate. The club should be actively engaged with the local council and the asian community to see how the numbers could be improved upon too.

[Paul Mellelieu]

There must be more the club can do. A small, but significant example: there are no photos of Asian supporters on the season ticket packs. What impression does that give?

[Mike Graham]

There must be more the club can do. A small, but significant example: there are no photos of Asian supporters on the season ticket packs. What impression does that give?

Paul, maybe if we put some written ideas together for the FF to put to the Club it may encorage debate. There are a few "good uns" on the FF and given the old chair has stood down there may be more opportunity for such issues to gain traction.

[Ewood Spark]

This is a great topic for discussion and it has been brought up several times over the years at the FF. Indeed the FF has had at least three representatives from the Asian community as members since its inception, but currently there are none (hint, hint ... to anybody out there who may be interested in rectifying this!). Unfortunately this topic may have come to late to be added to tomorrow nights agenda, as it probably deserves to be a major agenda item in its own right and we would probably need to invite the relevant staff from the community liaison dept.

One of the Asian lads who was on the FF always said there was a lot of Rovers interest in the community, but there was no culture of attending games because the traditional mechanisms (ie dads bringing their lads) just don't exist.

[Mike Graham]

Thanks ES.

I will try and have a discussion with Paul M and, if he agrees, put some ideas forward to the FF.

[SouthAussieRover]

Might be a good idea to discuss how to get the missing thousands back into the ground.

(Starting with yourself)

[Mike Graham]

Might be a good idea to discuss how to get the missing thousands back into the ground.

(Starting with yourself)

I have actually been to a few games at Ewood this season, and numerous away from home thank you. My hatred is towards the Venky's and their stooges/puppets. Anyhow, I am not in he business of justifying myself to anyone so I will leave it at that.

[Gav]

Might be a good idea to discuss how to get the missing thousands back into the ground.

(Starting with yourself)

Come on Donald no need for that, don't drag a really interesting thread into the gutter again.

Its a great topic and one that should be explored, we have a number of asian season ticket holders, or we did a couple of seasons back, no reason why we can't get more through the gates with the right marketing.

[SouthAussieRover]

Come on Donald no need for that, don't drag a really interesting thread into the gutter again.

Its a great topic and one that should be explored, we have a number of asian season ticket holders, or we did a couple of seasons back, no reason why we can't get more through the gates with the right marketing.

Have you got me mixed up with someone else Gavin?

I'm concerned about the overall crowds so no need for you to go down that avenue.

I have actually been to a few games at Ewood this season, and numerous away from home thank you. My hatred is towards the Venky's and their stooges/puppets. Anyhow, I am not in he business of justifying myself to anyone so I will leave it at that.

Yet you constantly go on about how you won't set foot in Ewood because of X, Y and Z.

Perhaps a substantial proportion of Blackburn and surrounds feel the same...and it doesn't matter what background they are from.

[Gav]

Have you got me mixed up with someone else Gavin?

I'm concerned about the overall crowds so no need for you to go down that avenue.

You misunderstand, I don't think I explained myself very well, I was refering to your ongoing spat with 47er that seems to dominate the other thread each time I log in.

Anyway back on topic.

[Mike Graham]

Have you got me mixed up with someone else Gavin?

I'm concerned about the overall crowds so no need for you to go down that avenue.

Yet you constantly go on about how you won't set foot in Ewood because of X, Y and Z.

Perhaps a substantial proportion of Blackburn and surrounds feel the same...and it doesn't matter what background they are from.

Here we go again: ignore.

[SouthAussieRover]

Here we go again: ignore.

Will bow to your superior supporter statuses guys.

[Stuart]

Perhaps a substantial proportion of Blackburn and surrounds feel the same...and it doesn't matter what background they are from.

It's a good point, badly made.

It's arguable that Blackburn's Asian Rovers fans are the ones who have joined in more recent years and are less likely to be died-in-the-wool 'hardcore'.

It would be interesting to know how many Asian season ticket holders or even walk-ons there are. Has a combination of ill-feeling towards the previous manager, to Venkys, the poor football and results and, ultimately, relegation and less glamorous opposition put them off? And is a different approach needed than even previously thought?

Even as recently as yesterday I walked past a house with Asian residents and there was a Manchester United flag hanging out the window!

The problem is how do you entice them in? (Ignoring that it's Peterborough and not Tottenham that are visiting). Targeted promotions could upset the existing supporter base so any offer would need to be far reaching.

Would a Morecambe-style offer be worth trying - free entry to a match for all - but with a targeted leaflet campaign within Asian communities. Would that upset season ticket holders? It wouldn't bother me as a one-off experiment.

That said the concept (and perception) of "Asian communities" are part of the problem in Blackburn. Integration is sadly lacking.

Football could be a great way to bring communities together.

[jim mk2]

Good article from the Torygraph. Its Colonel Blimp reader base in the shires would be spitting out their G and Ts reading it.

I've noticed an increasing number of Asian faces at Rovers away matches though still not as many as there should be considering the town's demographic. The club still needs to do alot more work to attract ethnic minorities but the Bradford example shows what can be achieved.

[Tom]

It's a disgrace that some of our Asian fans have been abused by our own fans as recently as this season (I think it was in the darwen end)

You wonder if the knuckle dragging contingent puts more off attending (just think of the Owen Coyle songs a few years back)

[the original david brent]

I am all for members of the Asian community coming to watch Rovers, and indeed it is good to see Asian kids / lads wearing Rovers shirts in the town, although it is seldom. And I think it's disgusting if any Asian fans, who have made the effort to support their local football team and integrate, have been racially abused at Rovers. Although I havent witnessed any direct racist abuse to any Asian fans, I obviously heard the deplorable Owen Coyle chant as an example.

I would however have concerns with any campaigns to entice fans to ewood, which specifically targeted the Asian community, as has been implied in a couple of posts. I think this could cause resentment in the indigenous communities of the borough, if say discounted tickets or free tickets were handed out specifically to people of Asian heritage.

I personally think there needs to be a drive to entice more fans to ewood from ALL communities of Blackburn and the surrounding area. Including both Asian and indigenous communities. In particular aiming at all local schools as I suggested in the FF thread. For example, 500 free tickets each home game to local primary schools, allowing child and parent to go, as used to happen in the 90s.

As much as it would be good to see less Man Utd shirts and more Rovers shirts in Bastwell and Whalley Range, the same equally applies to Shadsworth and Highercroft.

[Stuart]

I would however have concerns with any campaigns to entice fans to ewood, which specifically targeted the Asian community, as has been implied in a couple of posts. I think this could cause resentment in the indigenous communities of the borough, if say discounted tickets or free tickets were handed out specifically to people of Asian heritage.

That's not what I said at all.

Any offer should be available to all in a bid to get new fans, but given the ratio of Asians in Blackburn compared to Asians at Ewood Park there is definitely a massive opportunity and a need to try harder to make the Asian community aware of the offers.

[Gav]

It's a disgrace that some of our Asian fans have been abused by our own fans as recently as this season (I think it was in the darwen end)

You wonder if the knuckle dragging contingent puts more off attending (just think of the Owen Coyle songs a few years back)

Must admit to not hearing about such an incident? did that really happen?

[Tom]

Must admit to not hearing about such an incident? did that really happen?

I haven't seen it first hand but a bloke on twitter was saying a few weeks back that he and his mates had got abuse In the darwen end and decided it was best to move to the jack walker stand

He mentioned it a few times to the one rovers twitter account but not sure if he reported it properly