[Archived] Blackburn End

[pk1875]

Regarding the original post and Lambert's suggestion, I totally agree with him. The concept of 2 singing ends at Ewood is about as ambitious as Jack thinking we could justify a 30,000 ground. Basically both are only feasible when we're a top 10 PL club who still charges peanuts for tickets.

Any deviation from that situation and the 2 singing ends go from a blessing to a curse. Instead of having atmosphere in both ends, for a good while now we've had it in neither. As a consistent Darwen Ender I say shut it to home fans and lets get the Blackburn End back to its former glory as a respectable singing end. Keep the drummer to prevent the kids and those unable to sing in time from speeding songs up, get some flags/scarf waving going and hey presto, got an atmosphere back.

And nothing could be more important for a play-off push next season than a good atmosphere helping to create a strong home record. Plus singing shuts the moaners up (probably the best thing about it!).

Both the FF and BRFCAG have been told in club meetings that there are no plans to close the Darwen End, also a recent online poll suggested that 2/3 from the Darwen End would move to either Riverside corner or JW corner if Darwen End was to close. I know online polls don't account for everyone but that was the result.

Both ends singing at the same time would create enough atmosphere.

[Stuart]

Both the FF and BRFCAG have been told in club meetings that there are no plans to close the Darwen End, also a recent online poll suggested that 2/3 from the Darwen End would move to either Riverside corner or JW corner if Darwen End was to close. I know online polls don't account for everyone but that was the result.

Both ends singing at the same time would create enough atmosphere.

You've said this a few times now Paul about how the club have no plans to close it but don't you think it would make some sense? We should have all the singers together IMHO, and closing the BBE lower to home fans doesn't seem sensible.

Separate DE and BBE home fans seems about as necessary in 2016 as separate FF and BRFCAG. Divided they are two smaller contributing voices, together they could be a real strength. It all seems very political and hints at a fanbase still divided over wounds from the Kean era.

[Mattyblue]

I'm a massive supporter of any campaign to fill seats, however the problem with these ticket promotions when we are bobbing along in mid table of the Championship is that the take up is negligible.

Look at the 3 Games for £30 offer, how many tickets were bought, a couple of hundred?

They used to work in the PL and they worked in 2001 as we charged to promotion, but I just cannot see two packed out ends for a mid table clash against Huddersfield. You may see some of our usual walk on fans spotting a bargain and buying a Darwen End ticket instead of say the Riverside for a one off, but that's about it.

The club seems to be missing the point, as a fanbase we are a very ST heavy, much more so than a lot of other clubs- i.e. out of 12000 or so match goers, 10000 of them will be ST holders, We increase our ST sales in a summer, we will see higher crowds the following season, we lose ST holders, our crowds will drop- was ever thus.

Therefore we need to be doing everything possible to sell season tickets this summer, be they price initiatives (though years of cheap pricing has devalued the product) or be they actually reaching out to the whole fanbase- the amount of recently lapsed fans who then never hear from the club again astonishes me- if they've bought a ST, a matchday ticket, a scarf, a mug in the last 10 years, send them a ST pack!

We all know that big numbers won't be seen again without PL football, but surely a couple of thousand extra season tickets being sold shouldn't be beyond the wit of man.

[Gav]

Who remembers home fans standing on the Darwen end late 80's?

The atmosphere was great, but it wouldn't have come about had the team on the pitch not been producing the goods.

We need something to shout about as fans, until the team on the pitch improves the atmosphere will suffer, no matter where we sit.

[AndyNeil]

Separate DE and BBE home fans seems about as necessary in 2016 as separate FF and BRFCAG. Divided they are two smaller contributing voices, together they could be a real strength. It all seems very political and hints at a fanbase still divided over wounds from the Kean era.

nail on the head Stuart...

[MCMC1875]

nail on the head Stuart...

For me, Lambo is the first manager to unite the fanbase since Mark Hughes (with one or three exceptions on here - they know who they are). Who on earth would seriously go back to the appeasement days of Gary Bowyer?

[Jock]

Who remembers home fans standing on the Darwen end late 80's?

The atmosphere was great, but it wouldn't have come about had the team on the pitch not been producing the goods.

We need something to shout about as fans, until the team on the pitch improves the atmosphere will suffer, no matter where we sit.

Remember sharing it with Bradford fans one xmas fixture when the Blackburn End was full. Also we had it once against Citeh. I think it was the day of the Hillsborough Disaster 4-0. Mick Stowell in nets for them, oh how I laughed. The big headed tird went to my old school.

[MCMC1875]

Who remembers home fans standing on the Darwen end late 80's?

The atmosphere was great, but it wouldn't have come about had the team on the pitch not been producing the goods.

We need something to shout about as fans, until the team on the pitch improves the atmosphere will suffer, no matter where we sit.

Gav wasn't it when the Riverside was shut and the visitors were put in the Darwen end enclosure?

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Who remembers home fans standing on the Darwen end late 80's?

The atmosphere was great, but it wouldn't have come about had the team on the pitch not been producing the goods.

We need something to shout about as fans, until the team on the pitch improves the atmosphere will suffer, no matter where we sit.

So basically only sing when you're winning? That's bloody depressing. I thought there was something special about football fans, that we transcended the fickle customer present in other forms of entertainment and displayed qualities such as loyalty and character in the face of adversity. Over a full lifespan, most football fan on earth will see their team not winning most of the time through sheer probability. Is that (roughly) two-thirds when they're not supposed to be spent sat there glumly moaning about the product on the pitch not being good enough? Remembering why I moved to the Darwen End, to get myself the hell away from fans with that attitude.

[Baz]

I'm a massive supporter of any campaign to fill seats, however the problem with these ticket promotions when we are bobbing along in mid table of the Championship is that the take up is negligible.

Look at the 3 Games for £30 offer, how many tickets were bought, a couple of hundred?

They used to work in the PL and they worked in 2001 as we charged to promotion, but I just cannot see two packed out ends for a mid table clash against Huddersfield. You may see some of our usual walk on fans spotting a bargain and buying a Darwen End ticket instead of say the Riverside for a one off, but that's about it.

The club seems to be missing the point, as a fanbase we are a very ST heavy, much more so than a lot of other clubs- i.e. out of 12000 or so match goers, 10000 of them will be ST holders, We increase our ST sales in a summer, we will see higher crowds the following season, we lose ST holders, our crowds will drop- was ever thus.

Therefore we need to be doing everything possible to sell season tickets this summer, be they price initiatives (though years of cheap pricing has devalued the product) or be they actually reaching out to the whole fanbase- the amount of recently lapsed fans who then never hear from the club again astonishes me- if they've bought a ST, a matchday ticket, a scarf, a mug in the last 10 years, send them a ST pack!

We all know that big numbers won't be seen again without PL football, but surely a couple of thousand extra season tickets being sold shouldn't be beyond the wit of man.

Agreed, its why as soon as Lambert was appointed the 3 game offer should have put in place, and 1/2 season tickets really pushed.

However, for next season we need to have a decent end to this season, followed by getting our big signings in early, this will show those wavering the intention of the club too.

Interestingly Hull have announced they are scrapping season tickets in favour of monthly membership, effectively spreading the cost over 12 months and allowing people to cancel if they aren't happy- the monthly fee goes up if they are in the PL, and decreases if they are in the championship.

[Ben-2000]

This has been going on for weeks now about the Darwen End... I for one will be glad when the Season Ticket info is announced!

[JAL]

Strange, I thought our recent record showed an upturn in results since the last £10m was brought in.

I agree that results will get bums on seats but I think you'd struggle to make a winning team by employing unworthy managers who waste money on untalented players or ones without a winning mentality. Hopefully, that's now finally dawned on people.

At this moment in time it's 50/50 peds !

Five wins and five losses from the last ten games.

[Gav]

Gav wasn't it when the Riverside was shut and the visitors were put in the Darwen end enclosure?

The away fans went in the enclosure for sure, not sure about the Riverside being shut but you could well be right MCMC.

Made for a decent atmosphere if memory serves me correctly, different times though I appreciate that.

So basically only sing when you're winning? That's bloody depressing. I thought there was something special about football fans, that we transcended the fickle customer present in other forms of entertainment and displayed qualities such as loyalty and character in the face of adversity. Over a full lifespan, most football fan on earth will see their team not winning most of the time through sheer probability. Is that (roughly) two-thirds when they're not supposed to be spent sat there glumly moaning about the product on the pitch not being good enough? Remembering why I moved to the Darwen End, to get myself the hell away from fans with that attitude.

Its just the nature of football fans in general SKH, Rovers fans are not different to any other set of fans in my opinion.

We'd all like nothing more than to hear the stadium rocking week in week out but until the product improves we're going to struggle in my opinion.

[pk1875]

You've said this a few times now Paul about how the club have no plans to close it but don't you think it would make some sense? We should have all the singers together IMHO, and closing the BBE lower to home fans doesn't seem sensible.

Separate DE and BBE home fans seems about as necessary in 2016 as separate FF and BRFCAG. Divided they are two smaller contributing voices, together they could be a real strength. It all seems very political and hints at a fanbase still divided over wounds from the Kean era.

Without taking the thread off topic,the FF and BRFCAG are two groups that exist in their own right. We have been invited and accepted the invite to a FF pre meet in the past, the Darwen End initiative has seen members of the FF and BRFCAG working closely together, so there is no divide amongst the two groups.

BRFCAG as you probably knows has other strings to its bow like the walk in centre, diversity football team in the Social Inclusion League, Charity Football matches, a Ladies team in the making, previous sponsorship of junior teams and community events etc.

The fact that there is no bickering and mud throwing like there used to be shows that the two groups have learned to co exist and long may that continue.

[Lancaster Rover]

I go and watch Morecambe fairly regularly who close the away end for all but about 4 games a season, it has totally killed the atmosphere since they started to do so. Having 3 sides of a ground open doesn't work, even having a small number of fans in the DE singing creates noise in all 4 areas and it reverberates around the ground. Having nothing coming from that end would be terrible IMO.

[Stuart]

Without taking the thread off topic,the FF and BRFCAG are two groups that exist in their own right. We have been invited and accepted the invite to a FF pre meet in the past, the Darwen End initiative has seen members of the FF and BRFCAG working closely together, so there is no divide amongst the two groups.

BRFCAG as you probably knows has other strings to its bow like the walk in centre, diversity football team in the Social Inclusion League, Charity Football matches, a Ladies team in the making, previous sponsorship of junior teams and community events etc.

The fact that there is no bickering and mud throwing like there used to be shows that the two groups have learned to co exist and long may that continue.

Not dissing the excellent work you do, by the way. Fundamentally though there is a divide and it's the word 'and'.

It's a shame their cannot be a single fan group born out of both entities. The FF really is the meeting itself rather than the name of a collective, and there is nothing stopping BRFCAG from being the fan group that 'man' the FF - except for the politics attached to the name and the amount of commitment that would be required to support all of the additional activities. The fact that you are working together is a start. I'd add that the RoversTrust should be part of the triumvirate as the next step. Oh, and relocating the DEers to the BBE.

Good luck in forming a ladies team by the way. For some reason these seem notoriously difficult to get off the ground.

[barry_]

'Oh, and relocating the DEers to the BBE. ^_^'

getting kind of boring now.

[Proudtobeblue&white]

I don't know how much further we can go with this - I want to stay in BE upper with facilities for the kids....good footy, it brings bigger audiences. None of my PL sad glory fans mates (!) will go whilst we are where we are - sad, but true.

[Stuart]

I don't know how much further we can go with this - I want to stay in BE upper with facilities for the kids....good footy, it brings bigger audiences. None of my PL sad glory fans mates (!) will go whilst we are where we are - sad, but true.

It goes one of two ways.

We either bring in more fans - in which case the whole suggestion of trying to create fewer gaps goes away. Or we accept that we aren't going to bring in many more fans - unless we give away tickets for free - which devalues the product - in which case the suggestions to improve the atmosphere will rumble on.

May be we should give season tickets away and if they aren't used then people are 'fined'. Say £40 per match if your ticket isn't used (by you or someone else).

I was reading recently that a club, I forget which, was looking at getting rid of season tickets and bringing in an annual membership fee. That would ensure money all year round and would fix the revenue regardless of match attendance. No sure how this would improve the atmosphere but it might mean there is more revenue. It would also ensure that overseas fans could contribute too. Maybe Roversplayer and match programmes could be included in the membership fee.

Just checked... Hull City...

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/mar/16/hull-city-scrap-season-tickets

[Proudtobeblue&white]

It goes one of two ways.

We either bring in more fans - in which case the whole suggestion of trying to create fewer gaps goes away. Or we accept that we aren't going to bring in many more fans - unless we give away tickets for free - which devalues the product - in which case the suggestions to improve the atmosphere will rumble on.

May be we should give season tickets away and if they aren't used then people are 'fined'. Say £40 per match if your ticket isn't used (by you or someone else).

I was reading recently that a club, I forget which, was looking at getting rid of season tickets and bringing in an annual membership fee. That would ensure money all year round and would fix the revenue regardless of match attendance. No sure how this would improve the atmosphere but it might mean there is more revenue. It would also ensure that overseas fans could contribute too. Maybe Roversplayer and match programmes could be included in the membership fee.

Just checked... Hull City...http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/mar/16/hull-city-scrap-season-tickets

Stuart,

Sadly we are a dying breed, we are back to the 70,80's when only the diehards turned up, I am there, as are you. I can't drive my ex-ST mates there as they say the standard is s*it!!

[VinjayV4]

Seems season tickets are cheap enough that most people who want to attend don't bother paying on a match by match basis. If they were a bit more expensive you would probably see a more substantial number of walkons at most games. Presumably that's why the season ticket ratio compared to walkons is higher than other clubs (probably those with more expensive season tickets which are the vast majority) as Mattyblue mentioned. Of course more walkons would also result in a lower number of ST holders. Obviously I've gone on a match by match basis recently (I've been lucky that from the last 8 home league games the only ones I didn't attend were the defeats!) and will go to my first away game for some time next month. Next season with the prices it makes far more sense to purchase a season ticket.

Highly doubt the Huddersfield game will see a major increase though I'm certainly not missing a game that cheap. Its not like the "3 game series" sent attendances through the roof or even changed them at all. The Liverpool attendance is the one positive indication that people might come back especially after promotion. Until then its hard to see attendance increasing to the 99-2001 figures at this level. Even in the late stages of a promotion battle.

[tomphil]

Stuart,

Sadly we are a dying breed, we are back to the 70,80's when only the diehards turned up, I am there, as are you. I can't drive my ex-ST mates there as they say the standard is s*it!!

That's the difference between diehard passionate fans and casual fairweather fickle supporters I'm afraid. I've mates like that and I'm quite happy to tell them they are tossers and when they come asking to go with me or for me to sort tickets when we get someone like Liverpool I tell em no. A lot of clubs have them but Lancashire clubs are particularly bad for this type.

That's why great thought has to be given to an ST thing like Huddersfield IF the V's don't spend much in summer. Without Prem football the only way to re-engage a lot is be ulta ambitious or sensibly ambitious and do something drastic with the tickets.

[T J Hooker]

That's the difference between diehard passionate fans and casual fairweather fickle supporters I'm afraid. I've mates like that and I'm quite happy to tell them they are tossers and when they come asking to go with me or for me to sort tickets when we get someone like Liverpool I tell em no. A lot of clubs have them but Lancashire clubs are particularly bad for this type.

That's why great thought has to be given to an ST thing like Huddersfield IF the V's don't spend much in summer. Without Prem football the only way to re-engage a lot is be ulta ambitious or sensibly ambitious and do something drastic with the tickets.

There's fans and then there's fanatics(personally I'm happy to just be a fan)

[tomphil]

There's fans and then there's fanatics(personally I'm happy to just be a fan)

There's also casual/part time fans who'll come and go whatever division and that's fair enough. I'm on about ones who simply turn their backs because it's not Premier league. We would have lost thousands on relegation despite all the other crap going on, Bolton lost 5k overnight, Hull lost thousands. I just find it difficult to understand how you can watch a team for years then just give up completely just because it's dropped a division.

I'm talking overnight packing it in not just an annual erosion.

[pk1875]

There's also casual/part time fans who'll come and go whatever division and that's fair enough. I'm on about ones who simply turn their backs because it's not Premier league. We would have lost thousands on relegation despite all the other crap going on, Bolton lost 5k overnight, Hull lost thousands. I just find it difficult to understand how you can watch a team for years then just give up completely just because it's dropped a division.

I'm talking overnight packing it in not just an annual erosion.

Premier League fans, A few came to Ewood just to see reasonable priced Premier League football, I know of some who went and bought Season Tickets at Wigan after we went down.