Stickied League One Away Support Thread 2024/25

[blademan89]

With all due respect, a trip to Manchester (good as it may be) is far more convenient (and therefore better) for fans of sides such as yourselves than it is for the likes of us! How long would it take you to get to Manchester from Sheffield out of interest?

50 minutes on train. Can be hours in car.

 

[joethegill]

Fair enough, similar to from here to London then I guess

 

[F!RTHY]

Bradford only took 1900 there its only half an hour away

Didn't you ONLY bring something similar to VP?

You're still yet to sell out at VP in recent seasons - it's only 1 hour away.

Whereas we consistently take decent numbers to BL. 3,200, 2,750 and 3,800 respectively.

 

[Hurrikeen]

Didn't you ONLY bring something similar to VP?

You're still yet to sell out at VP in recent seasons - it's only 1 hour away.

Whereas we consistently take decent numbers to BL. 3,200, 2,750 and 3,800 respectively.

That might be because you all see Sheff United as a big club and they see you as Bradford.

 

[Camborne Gills]

You have got a lot of travelling to do il give you that hence the reason no one comes to youre place in numbers. But i still think you should be taking 500 given youre league position

I expect we will bring decent numbers to your place and Burton during April. We will be lucky to take 300+ to Fleetwood and Scunthorpe on the other hand

 

[F!RTHY]

That might be because you all see Sheff United as a big club and they see you as Bradford.

They consistently average more than most in whatever league they may find themselves in, so I don't think it has anything to do with how big of a game it may be for either club.

Their support at VP is poor by their standards. Bottom line.

 

[blademan89]

They consistently average more than most in whatever league they may find themselves in, so I don't think it has anything to do with how big of a game it may be for either club.

Their support at VP is poor by their standards. Bottom line.

You bring very good numbers to the lane i agree with that, all sat down boring as fuck though. We brought 2600 1st time and the other 2 have been on tv 2000 and 1500. Tell me truthfully do you think you could bring 2k to lane for a tv game?

 

[natdan]

The only followings in this league that can be considered poor are those of Crewe, Gillingham and Walsall. But then you look at the fact Crewe really are rubbish this season and they don't get great home crowds so can understand even though they have plenty of local (ish) games they are poorly supported away from home Gillingham have stupid distances to travel to most games but are challenging for automatic promotion. Their home gates are generally poor and they aren't even the best supported club in Gillingham (I think its West Ham who are the most supported club from Kent) so this can be excused. Walsall however are another side with very poor almost embarrassing home support figures considering they are more than challenging for the title but the away support is very poor also. I know this will swell with the Burton fixture at the weekend but an average of 600 away is not great for a club with title ambitions.

Fleetwood and Colchester of well to take any away, Colchester seem to get hammered every week and Fleetwood are a club developing a fan base.

Southend & barnsley when you look at distances to travel or home support numbers are up there with the better supported clubs away from home.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

Boundary Park is like the end of the fucking world. And our record there is hideous, regardless of form.

A nine hour fucking round trip.
What a lovely drive home that was.
Great advert for the train.

 

[Hurrikeen]

The only followings in this league that can be considered poor are those of Crewe, Gillingham and Walsall. But then you look at the fact Crewe really are rubbish this season and they don't get great home crowds so can understand even though they have plenty of local (ish) games they are poorly supported away from home Gillingham have stupid distances to travel to most games but are challenging for automatic promotion. Their home gates are generally poor and they aren't even the best supported club in Gillingham (I think its West Ham who are the most supported club from Kent) so this can be excused. Walsall however are another side with very poor almost embarrassing home support figures considering they are more than challenging for the title but the away support is very poor also. I know this will swell with the Burton fixture at the weekend but an average of 600 away is not great for a club with title ambitions.

Fleetwood and Colchester of well to take any away, Colchester seem to get hammered every week and Fleetwood are a club developing a fan base.

Southend & barnsley when you look at distances to travel or home support numbers are up there with the better supported clubs away from home.

Tbf Barnsley's average is sub 1000 which I find surprising.

Southend's average this season is superb - best of the division IMO.

Disappointed you didn't mention us on terms of away numbers given the situation we find ourselves in, how long we've been in this cesspit of a league and the shit we ensured under the first two managers of this season. I'm not sure there's many teams in this division other than the big hitters who'd take 1100+ midweek to somewhere 50+ miles away.

 

[Freethinker]

Southend's average this season is superb - best of the division IMO.

They're just averaging over 700 having had all their 'Southern' games and a lot of long Northern Trips to go....Barnsley, Blackpool, Bury, Port Vale, Rochdale Walsall and Wigan. Should dent their average a lot.

 

[CFC91]

Reckon we will have a low one Saturday - Gillingham away in February. Nahhhhhhhh

 

[Shrimpurh]

They're just averaging over 700 having had all their 'Southern' games and a lot of long Northern Trips to go....Barnsley, Blackpool, Bury, Port Vale, Rochdale Walsall and Wigan. Should dent their average a lot.

Doncaster, Coventry, Crewe, Chesterfield, Oldham, Shrewsbury and Bradford were all mid-week evening games. We've done amazingly well to keep above 700 so far as long as our form doesn't take a nose dive I think we will keep it up.

 

[Hurrikeen]

When are the latest tables going up? Think we've got 2 x 1000+ following to add to the last one.

 

[F!RTHY]

You bring very good numbers to the lane i agree with that, all sat down boring as fuck though. We brought 2600 1st time and the other 2 have been on tv 2000 and 1500. Tell me truthfully do you think you could bring 2k to lane for a tv game?

You're still yet to sell out, though.

We took 3,000 to Barnsley, on sky, on a Sunday only last year. Last time we played you on sky at the lane was in the JPT - we took 1,700.

Anyway.......

 

[blademan89]

You're still yet to sell out, though.

We took 3,000 to Barnsley, on sky, on a Sunday only last year. Last time we played you on sky at the lane was in the JPT - we took 1,700.

Anyway.......

Was the 2600 not a sell out? Anyway were obviously youre biggest game then arent we cos you dont take big numbers to closer games.

 

[Etienne Vermeer]

The only followings in this league that can be considered poor are those of Crewe, Gillingham and Walsall. But then you look at the fact Crewe really are rubbish this season and they don't get great home crowds so can understand even though they have plenty of local (ish) games they are poorly supported away from home Gillingham have stupid distances to travel to most games but are challenging for automatic promotion. Their home gates are generally poor and they aren't even the best supported club in Gillingham (I think its West Ham who are the most supported club from Kent) so this can be excused. Walsall however are another side with very poor almost embarrassing home support figures considering they are more than challenging for the title but the away support is very poor also. I know this will swell with the Burton fixture at the weekend but an average of 600 away is not great for a club with title ambitions.

Fleetwood and Colchester of well to take any away, Colchester seem to get hammered every week and Fleetwood are a club developing a fan base.

Southend & barnsley when you look at distances to travel or home support numbers are up there with the better supported clubs away from home.

This is not and has never been the case. Yes West Ham have fans in Kent, but it's more a huge mix than any one team standing out.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

This is not and has never been the case. Yes West Ham have fans in Kent, but it's more a huge mix than any one team standing out.

Agreed.
Where I live in West Kent it is probably something like,
Arsenal
West Ham
Chelsea
Charlton
Spurs
Millwall
A.N. Other
With a few Gills, though sadly not many.

 

[joethegill]

West Ham are more Essex aren't they?

As said above, because it's so easy to get to London from most parts of Kent, all London clubs have a big following all over the county. In Maidstone it seems to be mainly Arsenal, although I know quite a few Spurs as well. Not that many Chelsea at all.

 

[Etienne Vermeer]

Many folk from South East London move to Kent for cheaper housing, bringing their team with them. This also skews the numbers a bit.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

Many folk from South East London move to Kent for cheaper housing, bringing their team with them. This also skews the numbers a bit.

And to get away from South East London

 

[Etienne Vermeer]

And to get away from South East London

No need for the whistles, it's the truth haha.

 

[Agombar stool]

Agreed.
Where I live in West Kent it is probably something like,
Arsenal
West Ham
Chelsea
Charlton
Spurs
Millwall
A.N. Other
With a few Gills, though sadly not many.

I was going to post something about Plymouth taking 1500 to Crawley on Saturday and poo poo Gillingham's 300 or so who went a similar distance up to Oldham (270 ish v 240 ish miles I think) but then I saw this post and the locality of other clubs just has to be taken into consideration. Plymouth have no other 'big' club anywhere near them, whereas, as you mention LW, Gills have a number of clubs within easy reach of Gillingham that they can go and watch.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

I was going to post something about Plymouth taking 1500 to Crawley on Saturday and poo poo Gillingham's 300 or so who went a similar distance up to Oldham (270 ish v 240 ish miles I think) but then I saw this post and the locality of other clubs just has to be taken into consideration. Plymouth have no other 'big' club anywhere near them, whereas, as you mention LW, Gills have a number of clubs within easy reach of Gillingham that they can go and watch.

It is actually quicker for me to get to London clubs by public transport than to get to Gillingham.
Gills are the only team in Kent however and I live in Kent, therefore I have always supported the Gills.
I can almost understand those who go to London to watch their games though.
I say almost because I still kind of despise them.

 

[mozzavale]

You're still yet to sell out, though.

We took 3,000 to Barnsley, on sky, on a Sunday only last year. Last time we played you on sky at the lane was in the JPT - we took 1,700.

Anyway.......

By 3,000, I'm guessing you meant 2,000?

http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/fixtures-results/match-report/index.aspx?matchid=3747574

 

[natdan]

Its not like FRITHY to swell his numbers....I don't even know why anyone takes him or her on.

Gillingham as got to be the biggest mystery ever for crowds as surely they have a marketing department and try and start converting the younger generation. It is a massive market they have to chose from but I get the easy access to London makes things easy for someone to support the London clubs. I still believe West Ham are the biggest supported side from Kent but I cant remember where I saw that.

Port Vale also have a huge job on their hands as Stoke price their tickets right and they are much easier to watch whilst they retain PL status than Vale so how are they ever going to start on the younger fan base with that in mind. I do fear for them as the longer they stay outside the Championship, the tougher that will become.

 

[natdan]

WFC is correct. There's the usual trading of insults (we call them pikeys, they ask what it's like to shag our mother's etc.) and our respective youth "firms" make a nuisance/embarrassment of themselves but there's no real ill will.

Their following today was pretty poor considering the paltry 35 minutes between the two towns.

I've been impressed by some of Wigan's followings this season and thought they'd manage more than 1,800 for such a big game at somewhere they've not played for ages.

For 118 Col U fans to make that trip after the shit they've put up with this season is brilliant from them. Only 160 less than Gillingham.

You need to consider no pay on the day and the fact there were just short of 20,000 at the rugby league in Wigan that night as well so it would have impacted on the numbers. However 1800 I think is still a great following.

 

[Etienne Vermeer]

Take it from the people who live(d) there, Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, Millwall, and Charlton have just as many if not more fans in Kent than West Ham. Essex you'd probably find a Hammers majority.

I do agree that Gills need to market themselves better, especially to the young. Their neighbours down the road in Maidstone are doing a pretty good job of it.

 

[mozzavale]

Its not like FRITHY to swell his numbers....I don't even know why anyone takes him or her on.

Gillingham as got to be the biggest mystery ever for crowds as surely they have a marketing department and try and start converting the younger generation. It is a massive market they have to chose from but I get the easy access to London makes things easy for someone to support the London clubs. I still believe West Ham are the biggest supported side from Kent but I cant remember where I saw that.

Port Vale also have a huge job on their hands as Stoke price their tickets right and they are much easier to watch whilst they retain PL status than Vale so how are they ever going to start on the younger fan base with that in mind. I do fear for them as the longer they stay outside the Championship, the tougher that will become.

Agree 100%. Our problems will really kick in in another few years if things remain as they are now. Stoke have spent wisely off the pitch. Their chief executive did a report in one of the national newspapers recently talking about how they market themselves to attract the youngsters from the area. Not to mention the fact that kids will want to see the best players, but like you say, their prices are sensible too. This is why our fans that support Smurf have very little going on upstairs. The man is devoid of any level of innovation. He shoots from the hip, his initiatives are reactive and consistently fail. There's no sophistication to the club in any way shape or form. The club is in the dark ages and knows fuck all about it's existing and potential customers. Stoke know the full demographic and can provide a breakdown of their customers by a range of criteria. We've still got fans kicking off because they can't pay cash on the turnstile. Hopefully we'll get new owners soon with a marketing approach a bit more sophisticated than, "turn up and I'll buy another player, if you don't then I'll slash the wage bill". Not good.

 

[joethegill]

Thing is, yeah Maidstone do get good crowds but they've had pretty much non-stop success since they came back to the town - give it a few years and local interest in seeing them play Truro and Weston-Super-Mare and we'll see where there crowds go.

I think it's fairer to compare our crowds to a team close to a similarly large conurbation (with several higher division teams also) also in this league. Crewe or Walsall would be a decent comparison, as we've generally been in the same league for the last god knows how long, and our attendances are better than both of theirs on a regular basis.

I don't think our crowds are that bad, but I agree they should be slightly better. Trouble with the whole 'marketing to the youth' thing is that as previously said, a lot of Kent is full of overspill South Londoners who already have their sides, and as such their kids are far more likely to follow their parents teams than they will us. When West Ham go into the Olympic stadium that will be a big blow too, especially considering their current excellent season.