[Archived] Fa Cup 2015/16

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Take a gander at our league position Husky,maybe in the cold light of day our priorities do lay elsewhere right now.

Gulp!

[sambo]

There could me more Hammers at the game than Rovers fans.

I think hearing about today has stopped me ruining my birthday and making the mammoth trek from Cardiff. Hopefully I don't change my mind!

[sambo]

A quick look at the online seating plan makes me worry about this one - the Blackburn End looks to have less than 100 tickets sold!!

[Mattyblue]

Liverpool and Man Utd attract a whole different crowd- lapsed fans, local people that aren't particularly Rovers 'fans', pretty much all ST holders will buy a ticket.

Anyone else and we are struggling. Get ready for a load of grief coming our way from 2pm Sunday...

[sambo]

Liverpool and Man Utd attract a whole different crowd- lapsed fans, local people that aren't particularly Rovers 'fans', pretty much all ST holders will buy a ticket.

Anyone else and we are struggling. Get ready for a load of grief coming our way from 2pm Sunday...

Agreed, but I think we'll struggle to match the amount of away fans, which is absolutely woeful. There are about 20 sold in each block, with about 100 sold in the middle block. I am really hoping it's a problem with the online booking website (maybe not updating since the weekend), as this could be the most embarrassing attendance in a long time.

[Mike E]

Agreed, but I think we'll struggle to match the amount of away fans, which is absolutely woeful. There are about 20 sold in each block, with about 100 sold in the middle block. I am really hoping it's a problem with the online booking website (maybe not updating since the weekend), as this could be the most embarrassing attendance in a long time.

Happen people are waiting to see what we serve up on Tues first?

[FGS5635]

This game is kind of a freebie financially as its an extra game the accountants wont have budgeted for in any plans. With this in mind I dont see why they cant really try and fill the ground and entice some fans back. make it free for season ticket holders, and a £5 everywhere else. really make an effort to do something positive and fill the ground. The difference in revenue would be minimal when you factor in more match day sales from a bigger crowd.

Make an effort to try and give something back to the fans and stop chasing a few extra quid

[sambo]

Happen people are waiting to see what we serve up on Tues first?

Let's hope so (providing we buck our ideas up on Tuesday!)

I'm weighing up whether to travel over for this one, but seeing a probable loss in front of about 5,000 other Rovers fans doesn't wet the appetite particularly. Let's hope it picks up.

[Mattyblue]

This game is kind of a freebie financially as its an extra game the accountants wont have budgeted for in any plans. With this in mind I dont see why they cant really try and fill the ground and entice some fans back. make it free for season ticket holders, and a £5 everywhere else. really make an effort to do something positive and fill the ground. The difference in revenue would be minimal when you factor in more match day sales from a bigger crowd.

Make an effort to try and give something back to the fans and stop chasing a few extra quid

£20 for a 5th round cup tie against a PL club?

Reasonable enough to me, £30 for a tie against Liverpool sold the ground out.

[Mike E]

Opening Ewood for a night isn't exactly free

£5 for STs and £10 for anyone else.

Kids for a quid.

[sambo]

This game is kind of a freebie financially as its an extra game the accountants wont have budgeted for in any plans. With this in mind I dont see why they cant really try and fill the ground and entice some fans back. make it free for season ticket holders, and a £5 everywhere else. really make an effort to do something positive and fill the ground. The difference in revenue would be minimal when you factor in more match day sales from a bigger crowd.

Make an effort to try and give something back to the fans and stop chasing a few extra quid

Can't complain too much at £20 for adults in all areas.

[Mike Graham]

I hope the BBEnders are not coming into the JW Upper on masse.

I may need a shower afterwards!!

[FGS5635]

£20 for a 5th round cup tie against a PL club?

Reasonable enough to me, £30 for a tie against Liverpool sold the ground out.

It may well be reasonable, but it wont generate a big gate. I'll be there and many on here will be to as its yours/my belief that thats what fans do.

But the reality is most dont feel that way these days, especially at rovers. So we can bury our head in the stand and hope 1000's return (which they wont), or we can try and get proactive

[AndyNeil]

this subject comes up EVER season with FA Cup pricing - there are minimum prices we can charge plus the pricing policy has to be agreed with the away club.

[FGS5635]

There is also the factor that it will be really good PR at a time when ticket prices are a big talking point in the media

[K-Hod]

We really can't grumble at paying £20 for a game of football as far as I'm concerned. Especially given the wider context of the current talk of ticket prices and the 'twenty's plenty' campaign especially. The attendance probably won't be the best with it being on TV anyway, but there's no reason it can't be a good one with those prices.

[AggyBlue]

I hope the BBEnders are not coming into the JW Upper on masse.

I may need a shower afterwards!!

Cheeky sod. I'm gonna throw a pie at you.

[JHRover]

Lets be honest, as much as we can try to make excuses and find reasons as to why the crowd will be so low. But there aren't any to find. Not genuine reasons anyway. There's nothing wrong with the kick off time, nothing wrong with the prices, nothing wrong with the calibre of opposition. Nobody can say we won't take the tie seriously by fielding a weakened side because we won't.

If it was Rovers v West Ham in the Premier League there would be well over 20,000 on.

Barring a huge take up this week then we are going to have under 10,000 home fans on. That is absolutely pathetic and there are no excuses. The club and its fan base will be a laughing stock and deservedly so. The team have done their bit by putting Newport and Oxford to the sword in tricky away games against smaller clubs. Now they've earned their reward against one of the bigger boys who are currently 6th in the top flight I think the least they could hope for is a healthy turn out to support them. The club has done their bit by making prices by my research the lowest for an adult in any part of the ground for any cup tie this weekend. £20 is as good value as you will find in this country and even if the rules allowed the club to reduce them even further they shouldn't have to.

I can't understand it for the life of me, especially after last season's heroics against Stoke/Swansea and the Liverpool double header. I'd have thought those that missed those games would be keen to see if we could repeat the feat against West Ham.

Clearly there is little/no interest in seeing Rovers try to reach the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup. And then some people wonder why the players look like they don't care. If the level of disinterest/apathy or whatever it is is so great then perhaps we deserve to go down to League One where we will be right at home attendance wise.

[tomphil]

8k v Millwall quarter final, less home fans v Swansea then 9k home fans v Stoke. This was probably never going to be any different. Thing is if it's 10 thousand home fans which isn't great but is more or less our regular real turnout it still looks awful on telly because most will be in the JW stand.

Can't win.

[FGS5635]

The real problem is our stadium is to big for us now and likely for ever more

[tomphil]

At least they can't call Rovers fans glory hunters who only turn up for big opposition lol (Liverpool aside). When the Blackburn public shuns it's own team it at least shuns the opposition as well

[JHRover]

The real problem is our stadium is to big for us now and likely for ever more

Same applies for pretty much every ex-Premier League side. I appreciate that in our case it's probably more extreme than most, but thousands of empty seats every week is the norm in the division we're in. Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday have 15,000 empty seats every week.

The problem is that Ewood Park was rebuilt to specifications of hosting a side competing for league titles and the top positions, so anything less than that and it feels empty. If the limit of our ambitions under Jack Walker had been to get to the top division and stay there then a ground of 22,000-25,000 would have been more suitable.

If we had a ground of 22,000 in our current state it would obviously feel a lot more full on matchday. It still doesn't explain why we'll get a home turnout for a FA Cup 5th round game against West Ham that wouldn't look out of place in League Two.

[arbitro]

I asked last week why local Rovers fans wouldn't be going. The only two replies were that the Indians had driven some away and wouldn't come back until they were gone. The other was that some will watch on tv from the warmth of their living room (pathetic really) with a few drinks.

Are there any more reasons from local based supporters who aren't going? It would be interesting to know and if there are genuine reasons that the club might listen to they could perhaps be passed on.

[FGS5635]

I asked last week why local Rovers fans wouldn't be going. The only two replies were that the Indians had driven some away and wouldn't come back until they were gone. The other was that some will watch on tv from the warmth of their living room (pathetic really) with a few drinks.

Are there any more reasons from local based supporters who aren't going? It would be interesting to know and if there are genuine reasons that the club might listen to they could perhaps be passed on.

The general opinion I get from season ticket holders who sit near me. is they now really only go out of routine. They renew their season tickets because they go with mates or family and cant quite decide to stop. Then when games like the cup appear they simply dont bother. That seems to be the general lack of enthusiasm that spread through the fan base in recent years

[Mattyblue]

The general opinion I get from season ticket holders who sit near me. is they now really only go out of routine. They renew their season tickets because they go with mates or family and cant quite decide to stop. Then when games like the cup appear they simply dont bother. That seems to be the general lack of enthusiasm that spread through the fan base in recent years

That's a good point.

Rovers have a limited match going fanbase, the 10000 ST holders are a big chunk of that, I would estimate that at least half of those 10k won't be there on Sunday.

Add that to the missing 10000, some of which may re-appear for Liverpool or Man U, but no one else, plus the fact your Rovers-ish fans who may come out the woodwork for Liverpool, just won't for West Ham, plus TV coverage and we are looking at a dreadful gate.

I think people are underestimating just how much support (from a limited fanbase to begin with) we have lost, potentially for good.