Post war attendances

Hawklord · **Joined:** Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:27 pm **Posts:** 3116

chip fireball wrote:

you could have asked if we wanted the graph smoothed out before you did it . rage

political correctness gone mad.

For Chip & anyone else who likes Stewart Lee (political correctness gone mad)

BillinghamPoolie · **Posted:** Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:35 pm

chip fireball wrote:

you could have asked if we wanted the graph smoothed out before you did it . rage

political correctness gone mad.

It may have been smoothed out, but it still looks like a scary roller coaster ride to me, just how I remember the last 40 odd years. :shock:

Hawklord · **Joined:** Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:27 pm **Posts:** 3116

chip fireball wrote:

thing is stu, we cant even take electric fires in the bath anymore in case it upsets a pakistanni.

its political correctness gone mad stu.

Got tickets to see him in March - I just hope they don't change the theme music from 'Tom Hark' to 'Hey Hey we're the Monkees'.

derwent · **Joined:** Wed Jun 24, 2009 7:59 pm **Posts:** 12378

MadJohn wrote:

OK, time for another chart thingy.

We all agree that attendances have dropped from the high watermark of the middle of the decade. But just how far have they dropped, and where do they stand against other eras? Here comes the science bit...

Attachment:

Attendance.jpg

To smooth out the graph I've used a rolling average of the last 50 home league games, so our current figure of 3846 is the average Vic attendance for the last couple of years.

I've marked 12 points of interest with crosses

[1] Apr 1958 - Bottom half finish sees us placed in the new Division Four
[2] May 1963 - Bottom of the Football League for the second time in four years
[3] May 1968 - Promotion under Gus McLean
[4] May 1971 - After being relegated in 1969, we finished 2nd bottom of Div4 two years running
[5] May 1977 - The first of another two consective reelection seasons
[6] May 1984 - And the second of two more (our last ever reelections)
[7] May 1991 - Promotion under Cyril Knowles and Alan Murray
[8] Jan 1993 - Just after beating Palace and before the 13-game scoreless run. As good as that era got.
[9] Sep 1997 - IOR take over Pools (is the date right?)
[10] Apr 2003 - Promotion under Chris Turner and Mike Newell
[11] Apr 2005 - Last home game of the Cardiff season. As good as that era got.
[12] May 2007 - Promotion under Danny Wilson

One thing that jumps out is exactly what you would expect: success brings crowds. A second observation can be made by looking at the troughs in the 60s, 70s and 80s. There was a scary pattern to them, with each low point considerably lower than the last. If nothing had been done about the decline in the late 1980s we would probably have closed. A more worrying point is that, once a peak has been hit and we start to go down the other side of the mountain, we don't tend to level off until we get at least back to where we started. While our current peak is still higher than any time in the previous four decades, the trend is definitely downward. Trouble ahead unless steps are taken to increase the crowds?

Thoughts?

I've given my thoughts in the other thread ( olden days)
Basically we need further investment to fulfil IOR's ambition to get to the championship, under different management. I know that doesn't guarantee anything but success in the shape of a winning team, playing attractive football, especially at home is the best recipe for increasing the gate.
We talked about this the other day..............a spark is needed.

unohoo · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:51 pm **Posts:** 656

The graph not only illustrates the fortunes of the club over the decades but even more accurately it reflects the economic fortunes of the town itelf.
The almost full employment and relative prosperity in the 50's and 60's. With a thriving steelworks, shipworking and coal mining in the East Durham collieries.
Sad decline of all of these industries through the seventies and eighties and a rennaisance of sorts in the nineties and noughties.
I say "of sorts" because in many respects this is a rennaisance built on sand. Low wages of call centres and the new "tourism" type jobs on the Marina.
This decline will only be arrested by real investment in both the town and the football club. For Pools this can only be achieved by owning the ground and bringing the matchday experience into the 21st century. A decent all seater, family friendly, fully sheltered stadium.
It's a big ask for IOR especially as it will need to go hand in hand with improvemnts on the playing side. IOR cannot be faulted but to turn things around attendance-wise in what is, basically a town that is realistically slowly declining may be beyond their current commitment.
Bit a dry view I know but it's how I see it.

Mr Ripper · **Posted:** Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:25 am

Why the fk do we need an all-seater stadium to bring the fans back?

GroovyCrimes · **Posted:** Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:24 am

unohoo wrote:

The graph not only illustrates the fortunes of the club over the decades but even more accurately it reflects the economic fortunes of the town itelf.

I'd be interested to know does it reflect football in general,I suspect it would be similar at most lower league clubs.

JohnnyMars · **Joined:** Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:24 am **Posts:** 2479

Good stuff MJ - just goes to show that whatever the financial situation is, it is how well the team is doing that gets people in to the games. You can tinker with the admission prices as much as you like but I doubt it would alter the gates by anything more than say 5%. So, all we have to do is get a team to hold their own at the top of League One and our gates would rocket up to 4,500...maybe.

MutleyRules · **Posted:** Wed Jan 20, 2010 5:32 pm

MadJohn wrote:

hitting rock bottom in the 70s/80s with violence on the rise,

It doesn't say that in the new Pools book....it mentions Unemployment during the low crowd periods....a few times!!!! confised

Post war attendances

Gadgies online