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Considering it was a very bright and sunny day, at least early on, and that admission was only £10, the attendance was very very disappointing wasn’t it? I had said earlier in the week about how apathetic the locals are towards Latics, and this just backed my comments up. Even if they’d been offered a free pie or something yesterday, the fact is that the town is full of people who aren’t arsed.
We at Wigan Athletic, are really good supporters of the club. We know we aren’t a big club, we are a fairly small club that has achieved magnificent things, punched above our weight in many ways. Yesterday was an invitation to those locals and people who, for whatever reason, have either not shown an interest in Latics, or who have dropped off going to games. The gesture from the club, in particular David Sharpe, was not taken up in any great numbers. That’s disappointing. The stands looked no more fuller than usual.
We have what we have and we are what we are. We’ve 8000 or so loyal supporters who are there for the club. For reasons known to themselves, the rest of the town doesn’t seem to want to support Latics. I’ve never known a place like it for such apathy towards their own club. Other clubs do such initiatives and get a bumper crowd on. The shocking attendances we’ve had this season are an insult. The fans we DO have are pure gold though. The club should now concentrate on what we have, rather than what we could have.How many of the 8000 would be there next season if we hadn’t gone up? Or if we had a few years in league 2. Not many at all. We would be looking at crowds like the early cup rounds.
12000 home fans wasn’t bad really for us yesterday. If we can get anywhere near that for home games next season we will be doing well. I suspect it will be around 8-10000 regulars next season.Next years attendance could well depend on if we get taken over and how much money is available for transfers and who we buy with that etc
I’ve said it before & i’ll say it again, our stadium is way too big for our support. A bournemouth size stadium would have been more sufficient.
But yes. The people of wigan are shocking when it comes to supporting their town team. 30000 turned up in the town when we won the cup. As delia would say, “where are you, lets be ‘avin you.”
I’ve said it before & i’ll say it again, our stadium is way too big for our support. A bournemouth size stadium would have been more sufficient.But yes. The people of wigan are shocking when it comes to supporting their town team. 30000 turned up in the town when we won the cup. As delia would say, “where are you, lets be ‘avin you.”
Ironic in a way isn’t it, that we could be crowned champions in a stadium that holds just over 15k next week. Let’s see the difference in atmosphere.
It would be an unparalleled move, but wouldn’t it benefit both us, and the rugby, if the stadium was down sized? Is that a mad thing to say? Would it be a massive job and task to reduce the size of the east and North stands? We get 15k plus crowds every blue moon Cup game (see what I did there?) and the rugby are the same with both clubs being far more suited to a smaller capacity. Would it be possible, and viable to down build and reduce the size?I don’t believe there were 12k home fans on yesterday. No way. More empty seats around us than normal.
Next years attendance could well depend on if we get taken over and how much money is available for transfers and who we buy with that etcNah, we would still be down to the support we have. Only way it’ll go up is with the larger away supports that will come here.
Home support wise, the only way it will go up again is if we ever get back up to the Premier League. In which case, I hope the club sells us tickets at a lower rate than the 5000 bandwagoners who will suddenly think its a good idea to watch Latics, when in reality all they want to see are the stars of Liverpool, United etc. That’s what happened last time. We went down and lost 4000 ‘supporters’ overnight. In the last few seasons, the support has whittled down to our loyal fan base of around 8k.
I’ve said it before & i’ll say it again, our stadium is way too big for our support. A bournemouth size stadium would have been more sufficient.
But yes. The people of wigan are shocking when it comes to supporting their town team. 30000 turned up in the town when we won the cup. As delia would say, “where are you, lets be ‘avin you.”
Ironic in a way isn’t it, that we could be crowned champions in a stadium that holds just over 15k next week. Let’s see the difference in atmosphere.
It would be an unparalleled move, but wouldn’t it benefit both us, and the rugby, if the stadium was down sized? Is that a mad thing to say? Would it be a massive job and task to reduce the size of the east and North stands? We get 15k plus crowds every blue moon Cup game (see what I did there?) and the rugby are the same with both clubs being far more suited to a smaller capacity. Would it be possible, and viable to down build and reduce the size?I don’t believe there were 12k home fans on yesterday. No way. More empty seats around us than normal.[/quote]
Totally agree with both of you, the fact is when we were in the Prem if you wanted a ticket you could get a ticket, we were never in danger of selling out which led to a attitude of apathy. There was never a rush to buy tickets because there’s always seats so you never felt you could miss out and that is our problem in a nut shell.
The solution in my mind would be to reduce the capacity without reducing the size of the stadium. This could be done by installing executive boxes in the South north and east stands, take out the last 15 rows with boxes and it will condense the crowd leading to a better atmosphere and for the larger games the reduced capacity will create a clamour for tickets. If we were ever to get back to the prem it would guarantee sell outs week after week, another plus of this idea is we wouldn’t have to put up with some of the monstrous size away followings that were that loud it neutralised our home advantage.
I think the above solution would work and in the grand scheme of things would not be that expensive.
Executive boxes?
We’re talking about having low crowds and you think we’re going to get companies to buy up executive boxes?
They’ll all remain empty and that’s REALLY going to enhance the atmosphere, isn’t it?
And then when we get back in the PL you’ll all be moaning that you can’t get tickets for the big games depite having been to Lancaster City in 1845.Executive boxes?
We’re talking about having low crowds and you think we’re going to get companies to buy up executive boxes?
They’ll all remain empty and that’s REALLY going to enhance the atmosphere, isn’t it?
And then when we get back in the PL you’ll all be moaning that you can’t get tickets for the big games depite having been to Lancaster City in 1845.Not neccessarilly garswood. If we had say a 15000 capacity like bournemouth, if/when we get back to the premier league, it would hopefully stop the united/liverpool et al fans getting into our section of the ground – or would most definitely reduce the total of their supporters in the home end.
For arguments sake. Taking this season as an example, we have 8000 regulars, plus lets say in our new reduced stadium, the away capacity becomes 3000, that leaves 4000 seats up for grabs. 2-3000 of those seats would more than likely be picked up by wigan supporters who have dropped off the last 4-5 years, which in turn creates a much better atmosphere imo. I truly believe an extra 1000 – 2000 supporters will come back next season.
It is all ifs & buts & rough estimates of numbers i know. But a smaller capacity in a smaller, but more suitable stadium for us (including the other team) would be more beneficial.
Those extra 4000 made it noticeably busier today.
I’m not sure what you were expecting but even in our Prem days we weren’t getting much more than that against the unfashionable teams.
There was a lot of kids being taken to the game and looking at some of them probably their first football match. They are the ones we have to attract. The dads are most likely committed armchair “fans” but might get pestered enough to take their kids to future games. A worthwhile effort by the club IMO.
Pity the performance and result didn’t live up to expectations but that’s Latics for you!
Executive boxes?
We’re talking about having low crowds and you think we’re going to get companies to buy up executive boxes?
They’ll all remain empty and that’s REALLY going to enhance the atmosphere, isn’t it?
And then when we get back in the PL you’ll all be moaning that you can’t get tickets for the big games depite having been to Lancaster City in 1845.executive boxes do nothing for the atmosphere, a small attendance in a large stadium struggles in creating an atmosphere the same crowd in a smaller stadium would create a better atmosphere. Look at the atmosphere last week at Fleetwood, small ground small away following in a condensed stadium great atmosphere.
As is stands when we are on the telly all you can see is empty seats, executive will reduce that sight. And I will get a ticket for the big games because I’m a season ticket holder and if for whatever reason I do miss out on tickets for a big cup game I’ll rent a box, there’s a shitload of them that are always empty I’ll get one for a good price.
There was a good atmosphere yesterday once we started attacking with earnest.
Wimbledon fans managed to create a decent atmosphere too in a stand that was 10% full.
The PA blasting out neutralised any pre match atmosphere again yesterday. Switch that off five minutes before the players come out and leave it off untill half time. Let the fans build up the atmosphere and banter between each other.
Only ground improvement that could improve atmosphere is bringing back standing behind the goals. That could be brilliant.Funny thing about standing at matches is I like to stand at away grounds when I have a seat behind me that I can sit on at half time, The last time I didn’t have a seat to sit on at half time was Burton 2 seasons back and I really missed it. Strange!
I don’t think 12,500 was too bad really, we were already up and Wimbledon as opposition wouldn’t have been that appealing to the casual supporter.
We should perhaps focus on the fact that this seasons average will comfortably be the best we have ever managed at this level, surpassing the Paul Jewell promotion in 2003.
In fact our first Championship season (then branded Div 1) only gathered 9,500 average,which we’ll likely surpass next season, so however slowly the fan base has crept up despite a couple
of absolute nightmare seasons and the presence of Warren Joyce’s “football”Bournemouth’s stadium holds less than 12,000 I think and that is too small, Bournemouth isn’t a small place and I guess they could get a good few more in (if Prem status is maintained) and I think
whoever was behind building it regrets not making it 50% bigger now.I think 18 to 20,000 would have been a better scale for the JJB/DW but it’s easier to be wise after the event and to be fair it demonstrated the scale of Dave Whelans ambition at the time.
12,000 is the realistic, sustainable, home support we could generate outside the Premier League. But it won’t happen overnight.
Yesterday 12,000 offered far more in terms of atmosphere than you’d expect. If we where regularly generating those sort of crowds we’d no longer look upon the stadium as an albatross around our necks. Rather an opportunity to generate greater revenue and initiatives to attract new fans.
I do in part agree with some of the above points regarding hospitality. It’s a great opportunity to generate revenue as filling those suits is not so much about selling to fans, but businesses. By all accounts the facilities are due a major refurbishment…..although it’s not clear if this is directly linked to the takeover. It’s said the current set-up isn’t ideal to maximise usage and revenue.
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