Tuesday 15th August Fixtures

[HutchECFC]

Pompey away, live on Sky. Like has been said, this is definitely the toughest game so far, expecting a narrow defeat, would bite your hand off for a point right now.

 

[nelsonpfc]

Exeter made a decent start and hopefully we don't think we've cracked it by winning 4-0 away. We haven't won on sky since beating Exeter in the semi final of the papa johns trophy just prior to covid. Lots of things for Mousinho to mull over selection wise. We have almost a clean bill of health and alot with good players in good form - abeit it only 3 matches in. We have to win our home games though, but Exeter are no pushover. Fratton Park under the lights is always a special one though

 

[leedsvaliant]

It is. It's also about time period. Back in the 90s I'd say we were 100% bigger than Blackpool but in recent years (due to a small window of success) they've increased their support. I currently see us as a bigger club than Cambridge....they would never take 2000 to a club 60 miles away on a Tuesday night for instance.....maybe in the 80s when they were higher up the pyramid.

I think if we'd had the recent history of a Blackpool in the top flight, we might be averaging 5 figures.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Sorry Vale, but Blackpool are definitely bigger. More trophies, played in the Premier League, Stanley Matthews.
Also they brought 750 on Saturday which is 200 more than you brought on the same weekend last season, and its a lot further

I agree, at this moment in time certainly but a lot of their success happened 70 years ago. In the 90s it's debatable. We never travel all that well to the distant away trips.

 

[Pompeyblueboy]

Always makes me chuckle when I read opposition forums. Yes, Blackpool have a more illustrious history and a lot of which was more than 70 years ago and yes, they've had a recent stint in the Premier League, but in the past 30 or 40 years they haven't had many seasons with an average attendance over 7000. They're not what I would class as a 'big' club. Yet some of their fans are saying things like 'We should easily beat teams like Port Vale '. Nobody has got any given right to beat anyone else. We're all at this level for a reason.

Should be backed by a sell out away end of nearly 2k, which is great for a night match in the middle of August.

Well they are bigger than you. No disrespect to PV but when I look at L1 fixtures Blackpool don't belong in it but PV do..

 

[Pompeyblueboy]

It is. It's also about time period. Back in the 90s I'd say we were 100% bigger than Blackpool but in recent years (due to a small window of success) they've increased their support. I currently see us as a bigger club than Cambridge....they would never take 2000 to a club 60 miles away on a Tuesday night for instance.....maybe in the 80s when they were higher up the pyramid.

I think if we'd had the recent history of a Blackpool in the top flight, we might be averaging 5 figures.

Exactly you haven't got their history. End of

 

[kieran_vale]

Few things interest me less than who is a bigger club than anyone else, it’s fucking boring. The game starts 0-0 tomorrow and what someone did in 1950 or 1990 etc means the sum total of fuck all.

Them coming down from the Championship and at home absolutely they should fancy their chances of winning especially with our away record this calendar year. We’ve just got to try and prove them and others wrong.

 

[Luke Imp]

Not 100% sure what we'll do tomorrow night in terms of changes. We were without Jackson at the weekend and then Sorenson went off injured so an already light backline won't have any back-up available. We ended the game with Hackett at LWB against Wycombe.

We're far better positioned to be able to make two or three changes for midweek games this season compared to last, where they really lowered our quality. Bishop came on at the weekend and in 25 minutes scored one, set one up and was involved in another and Walker made an impact when he came on as well.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Exactly you haven't got their history. End of

It's the here and now for me. Who gives a shit what happened 70 years ago? We had an attendance of 54,000 70 years ago...it means nothing. It's like that lardy bunch down the road harping on about the league Cup from 50 years ago.

 

[mozzavale]

All about perception though. Myself, I see Blackpool as a bigger club than Port Vale, and actually see Port Vale more akin to a club the size of say Cambridge. But thats me growing up with football, will differ from the next person. I do think Port Vale fans see themselves higher/bigger than any other League 1 fan would.

Fair enough on Blackpool as things stand now, but same size as Cambridge? You're on a wind up there surely.
Maybe it depends on age, I spent most of my youth late 80s, through the 90s following Vale in a higher league than Blackpool. Bigger gates. Better ground. Taking thousands to them, they'd bring a few hundred to us. Hard to shift from that view, but no doubt since mid 00s they've grown bigger than us.

Agree with the Pompey fan, we're you're stereotypical League One, 3rd Division sized club. Been in this league most of my life. Blackpool I'd argue also higher end league 1, the odd season above.

Cambridge though...

 

[valefan16]

Sorry Vale, but Blackpool are definitely bigger. More trophies, played in the Premier League, Stanley Matthews.
Also they brought 750 on Saturday which is 200 more than you brought on the same weekend last season, and its a lot further

What about the season before…

Blackpool are bigger, not massively but bigger, all be it have had phases when we’ve been bigger at a given time.

Would class us as bigger than Cambridge though!

 

[valefan16]

Few things interest me less than who is a bigger club than anyone else, it’s fucking boring. The game starts 0-0 tomorrow and what someone did in 1950 or 1990 etc means the sum total of fuck all.

Them coming down from the Championship and at home absolutely they should fancy their chances of winning especially with our away record this calendar year. We’ve just got to try and prove them and others wrong.

It’s variable. Wigan were tinpot a few years back.. Fleetwood smaller than a lot of National League North clubs a few years back.

Lincoln a good example… they used to have terrible attendances until a few seasons back but did very well in the cups and developed their fan base, similar to what we are doing now.

In the 50s we regularly pulled in 20k plus crowds… means nothing now.

 

[YEO YEO YEO]

Fair enough on Blackpool as things stand now, but same size as Cambridge? You're on a wind up there surely.
Maybe it depends on age, I spent most of my youth late 80s, through the 90s following Vale in a higher league than Blackpool. Bigger gates. Better ground. Taking thousands to them, they'd bring a few hundred to us. Hard to shift from that view, but no doubt since mid 00s they've grown bigger than us.

Agree with the Pompey fan, we're you're stereotypical League One, 3rd Division sized club. Been in this league most of my life. Blackpool I'd argue also higher end league 1, the odd season above.

Cambridge though...

It wasn't a wind up, just my honest view. Went to first Lincoln game mid 90s, started going more regularly with family later 90s, and with friends from early 2000s onwards when it stuck. So from when i started going early 2000s onwards, just checked and Port Vale got average attendances between 4,000-5,000 13 times, 5,000-6,000 6 times, only over 6,000 3 times (2 of these in past few years), might have been a shit time in your history, but thats why i've made the link.

 

[kieran_vale]

If someone wants to say we are equivalent to Cambridge fine whether others agree or not or ambivalent like myself. Many people’s perception of clubs is often based on when they first started watching football whether it’s accurate or not.

 

[Laker]

I currently see us as a bigger club than Cambridge....they would never take 2000 to a club 60 miles away on a Tuesday night for instance.....maybe in the 80s when they were higher up the pyramid.

Ok that’s triggered me.

We had 1,745 at Ipswich last season on a Tuesday (for a rearranged game), 55 miles away. And we had 1,500 at Burton too midweek, 116 miles away.

 

[YEO YEO YEO]

It’s variable. Wigan were tinpot a few years back.. Fleetwood smaller than a lot of National League North clubs a few years back.

Lincoln a good example… they used to have terrible attendances until a few seasons back but did very well in the cups and developed their fan base, similar to what we are doing now.

In the 50s we regularly pulled in 20k plus crowds… means nothing now.

Absolutely. We've never had the best of attendances, certainly in the time ive watched us (even during those playoff years early-mid 2000s). Moved back to the UK in 2016 just in time for the Cowleys arrival. Theres no denying the city has massively grown/ developed/ changed since the 1990s from when i grew up to now. Expected the bubble to burst as the rise up the leagues has halted a little, but while attendances have slightly dropped (you expect a few to drop off), its clear the club have a plan and those still in attendance are massively behind it. Still enjoying riding the wave!

 

[YEO YEO YEO]

If someone wants to say we are equivalent to Cambridge fine whether others agree or not or ambivalent like myself. Many people’s perception of clubs is often based on when they first started watching football whether it’s accurate or not.

Absolutely that.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Ok that’s triggered me.

We had 1,745 at Ipswich last season on a Tuesday (for a rearranged game), 55 miles away. And we had 1,500 at Burton too midweek, 116 miles away.

So not 2000 then?

 

[leedsvaliant]

It wasn't a wind up, just my honest view. Went to first Lincoln game mid 90s, started going more regularly with family later 90s, and with friends from early 2000s onwards when it stuck. So from when i started going early 2000s onwards, just checked and Port Vale got average attendances between 4,000-5,000 13 times, 5,000-6,000 6 times, only over 6,000 3 times (2 of these in past few years), might have been a shit time in your history, but thats why i've made the link.

Probably the worst period in our entire history. Ground left to ruin, worst league finish of all time, regular relegation battles in league 2. All coinciding with those lardies down the road getting to the greedy league. We're only just starting to recover from it now as attendances are slowly creeping up again. Hopeful of 10k plus average attendance in the next 3-5 years.

 

[Laker]

So not 2000 then?

Semantics.

I’ll flip it round then. I’ve seen no evidence Vale would take 1,500 to a game 116 miles away on a Wednesday night.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Semantics.

I’ll flip it round then. I’ve seen no evidence Vale would take 1,500 to a game 116 miles away on a Wednesday night.

I guess like most clubs, it's entirely dependent on how we're doing. We took 4k to Bournemouth when we were on the cusp of the league 1 playoffs a few years ago for instance. It's also dependent on the opponent....if it's Crawley then we're unlikely to take many but if it's Sheffield Wednesday or Leeds for instance then we probably take a lot more than 2k.

 

[mozzavale]

It wasn't a wind up, just my honest view. Went to first Lincoln game mid 90s, started going more regularly with family later 90s, and with friends from early 2000s onwards when it stuck. So from when i started going early 2000s onwards, just checked and Port Vale got average attendances between 4,000-5,000 13 times, 5,000-6,000 6 times, only over 6,000 3 times (2 of these in past few years), might have been a shit time in your history, but thats why i've made the link.

OK, but Cambridge?

Considering they coincide with some of our worst ever seasons, those attendances stack up ok. Now bear in mind Cambridge spent a lot of that time in non league, I just don't get how you'd consider us a similar size. Just look at the stadiums.

Odd one, but each to their own.

 

[mozzavale]

I guess like most clubs, it's entirely dependent on how we're doing. We took 4k to Bournemouth when we were on the cusp of the league 1 playoffs a few years ago for instance. It's also dependent on the opponent....if it's Crawley then we're unlikely to take many but if it's Sheffield Wednesday or Leeds for instance then we probably take a lot more than 2k.

Just to correct you, we took 1,400 to Bournemouth that day, sold out.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Just to correct you, we took 1,400 to Bournemouth that day, sold out.

Oops. Could have sworn it was more. Perhaps I'm trying to forget it as we got a pasting!

 

[Bobbin']

Where’s BarrieOwl and his “two bald men arguing over a comb” analogy when you need it?

 

[Imp in Branston]

I guess like most clubs, it's entirely dependent on how we're doing. We took 4k to Bournemouth when we were on the cusp of the league 1 playoffs a few years ago for instance. It's also dependent on the opponent....if it's Crawley then we're unlikely to take many but if it's Sheffield Wednesday or Leeds for instance then we probably take a lot more than 2k.

Of course it does and is, we took 5.5k to MK Dons in April 2019 when we were going for the Conference title towards the end of that season for instance.

A lot of it depends on the away team ticket availability, how often you have played certain clubs and then how important a particular game is. I do feel a lot of clubs harbour on about when they were massive but a lot of that time was many decades ago so is far less relevant nowadays.

We did have terrible gates in the Conference, but I reckon many clubs finishing below halfway six seasons on the trot after relegation to non league would be struggling with attendances. Big change for us since the Cowleys took over and since then thankfully we have managed to keep the majority of those home fans even though it’s often not been a great watch at Sincil Bank.

 

[Gassy]

I’ve said this for the last two years since we got promoted. Apart from our blip between oct-April where we couldn’t buy a win and a injury list as long as your arm, the abbey is a really tough place to come and get a result.

I fancy us against every team at home in this league. Should be a good contest.

Tbf, Oct - Apr is pretty much an entire season.. so it kinda dilutes the message..

However I do get what you’re saying. Looking forward to it, from iFollow. I have a few ex-uni mates and colleagues who live there, it was one of the first games I looked for away. Just really frustrating I’m in Croatia for it

 

[Gassy]

Tbf I view Vale as a bigger club than Cambridge, no doubt in my mind.

However I understand the Blackpool fans comment. Nothing to do with size, they just came down a division and a decent season for Vale will be midtable.

If Vale went down to L2 and were at home to Grimsby, 100% chance you’d be saying you should be beating teams like Grimsby.

 

[mozzavale]

Tbf I view Vale as a bigger club than Cambridge, no doubt in my mind.

However I understand the Blackpool fans comment. Nothing to do with size, they just came down a division and a decent season for Vale will be midtable.

If Vale went down to L2 and were at home to Grimsby, 100% chance you’d be saying you should be beating teams like Grimsby.

Agree with all of this.

 

[Soz]

only thing I can add on the who is bigger debate is that all Cambridge fans stink of piss