Lenziejag Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 We are arguably doing better this season than last. In comparison to the corresponding fixtures last year we have double the number of points, have scored more goals and conceded less, yet our average attendance at Firhill is 500 down. So far, that is about 60K less in the coffers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meister Jag Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 Surprised it's only 500 (I know you'll have the stats); but could it be anything to do with fewer travelling fans from other teams: Accies, Ross C and Inverness don't exactly bring the travelling hordes. Indeed, are we missing the Edinburgh teams? We'd have played them by now and they, in fairness, always brought a decent number of fans. It would be interesting to see if the likes of Motherwell, St Mirren and even Killie have also noticed a drop Thinking that maybe more ICT and Ross C might travel to east coast venues; or maybe they just don't travel anywhere.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cup Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 It's probably because last season's home games against Dundee United, Aberdeen, Celtic and Hearts were replaced with games against Ross County, Hamilton, St Johnstone and Inverness. It is possibly that the home support is actually up? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hankey Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 (edited) For me its a few things: Novelty of the top league has worn off, more home games against teams with non existent travelling supports this season. The weather doesn't help either. My dad had been to every home game so far and didn't bother today, two reasons. St. Johnstone at home and the shite weather. Could you blame him? I struggled to find the enthusiasm to go, but I've got a season ticket and he doesn't so I trotted along. The club are pretty blameless too, they tried with a deal on this, and honestly I thought the crowd wouldn't even be 3k so more than I thought. Also as petty as this sounds, I think the bing plays a part. That aesthetic monstrosity just sucks the character and the atmosphere right out of the place for me. Edited October 26, 2014 by Hankey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 For me its a few things: Novelty of the top league has worn off, more home games against teams with non existent travelling supports this season. The weather doesn't help either. My dad had been to every home game so far and didn't bother today, two reasons. St. Johnstone at home and the shite weather. Could you blame him? I struggled to find the enthusiasm to go, but I've got a season ticket and he doesn't so I trotted along. The club are pretty blameless too, they tried with a deal on this, and honestly I thought the crowd wouldn't even be 3k so more than I thought. Also as petty as this sounds, I think the bing plays a part. That aesthetic monstrosity just sucks the character and the atmosphere right out of the place for me. I agree with pretty much everything there. Also, I've emigrated (sob), so that accounts for 1 less at most home and away matches. Still got a season ticket though, which my brother used yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cup Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 It's probably an unpopular opinion but I think the top flight is now starting to miss Rangers, and it's not been helped with Hearts and Hibs dropping out the league. I don't want to see them promoted for the chuckles but Thistle will be better off financially with them in the league. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Rubble Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 (edited) How about the most obvious reason? £22 is far too expensive to watch top flight football in Scotland. Even although we are up a division, a £5 increase (about 30%) in 18 months is not justified in these economic times. The cost is unrealistic and turns off casual fans from dropping into see a game. That more than anything else is what keeps fans away from football. Edited October 26, 2014 by Barney Rubble 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billko Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 It's probably an unpopular opinion but I think the top flight is now starting to miss Rangers, and it's not been helped with Hearts and Hibs dropping out the league. I don't want to see them promoted for the chuckles but Thistle will be better off financially with them in the league. It maybe unpopular but it's spot on. The league needs the three clubs mentioned and the game needs a sponsor to give it financial backing. The price structure in the game needs to be looked at and the deal Thistle have done with the 2 games for £30 is a great idea. All clubs are trying to get fans back with various incentives but the pricing needs to be set at a realistic level across the board to make it work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hankey Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 If you have Rangers, Hearts and Hibs or even 2 of the 3 back, theres a good chance a club like us is squeezed back out down to the 1st division. Within a season or two. Outwith Accies I'd be shocked if any other team has a lower playing budget than ourselves. The top end of the league could do with them, but in the bigger picture I think we benefit more from them not being in the league at the moment and having to rebuild themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglemon Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 How about the most obvious reason? £22 is far too expensive to watch top flight football in Scotland. Even although we are up a division, a £5 increase (about 30%) in 18 months is not justified in these economic times. The cost is unrealistic and turns off casual fans from dropping into see a game. That more than anything else is what keeps fans away from football. I totally agree- you could probably see Bayern Munich for that or maybe less Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billko Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 If you have Rangers, Hearts and Hibs or even 2 of the 3 back, theres a good chance a club like us is squeezed back out down to the 1st division. Within a season or two. Outwith Accies I'd be shocked if any other team has a lower playing budget than ourselves. The top end of the league could do with them, but in the bigger picture I think we benefit more from them not being in the league at the moment and having to rebuild themselves. Not if the league has more teams playing in it. The present system of teams playing each other 4 times a season also leads to a stalemate in games and fans being bored with it. More teams playing each other twice a season, maybe try and inject some life in to the league cup and a price structure set that encourages fans to go and watch football again Empty grounds all over the country is sad to see and the whole game in general needs a total shake up. I totally agree- you could probably see Bayern Munich for that or maybe less The Bundesliga has huge financial backing from sponsors and can set these low prices. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buchanio Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 Think part of the problem is marketing and reach. Our internal regular customer marketing has been much better this year using the internet and social media. Im afraid that is unlikely to generate new customers. I only seen the 2 for £30 deal online so if you don't follow Thistle there or have no access you don't see it. We need to look at things the Warriors and other progressive clubs in Rugby and other sports are doing and try their approach. We were the only Glasgow team yesterday that anyone could effectively watch as Gers were in Dumbarton, if we had reached more neutrals the crowd could have been more as we are a good team to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cup Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 £22 isn't value for money. I would say even £15 isn't value for money for yesterday's game but what do clubs do? Do they drop the prices down to £10 and hope that they double the gate, or do they overcharge loyal fans? Motherwell tried dropping the prices a few years and it didn't work out long term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hankey Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 There were more at Falkirk and Dunfermline yesterday. Our core support just isn't that big and it shows especially into the winter months when people are even pickier than they would normally be. The club have tried and that doesn't mean to say we should stop trying. Kids go free, 2 games for £30. Zany marketing and league sizes won't have any effect on that. Remember that real scottish football pish a few years ago with the badge rebranding, lets fill Firhill etc? The club made an effort with that but it didn't matter. We are in the shadow of the Old Firm. If anything the club has to find ways to make money outwith matchdays now. St. Johnstone are a perfect example. Small clubs like Alloa and Stenny save and make a fortune based on their artificial pitches. Football is no longer about how many fans you've got. If that were the case Leeds Utd would be consistently in the top half of the Premiership and Swansea would still be a wee diddy lower league team. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winter of '63 Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 I was listening to Sportsound while driving to Firhill yesterday. The programme was almost entirely devoted to The Rangers Boardroom...when I got back to the car they were still talking about it...our game barely got a mention. It would be like that every week if they reached the top league - a return of the tedious Old Firm equivalent of the Punch & Judy Show. That hardly helps to promote interest in all the other teams. While there might be a bigger crowd if we played them at Firhill, they would be The Rangers fans not Thistle supporters. The only home League game I missed last season was against Celtic - I just don't like the atmosphere at games against the Old Firm. We got bigger attendances against Morton & Dundee United than for the Celtic games...I think the reality is that a fair number of Thistle fans will make the effort to attend big games but only about 3,000 will turn out for regular games. That's just the way it is - better results and marketing will only make a marginal difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yokerjag Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 How about the most obvious reason? £22 is far too expensive to watch top flight football in Scotland. Even although we are up a division, a £5 increase (about 30%) in 18 months is not justified in these economic times. The cost is unrealistic and turns off casual fans from dropping into see a game. That more than anything else is what keeps fans away from football. have to agree with this. i took up the offer of 2 games for £30, but £22 a game i cant afford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Nixon Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 "Hm. Thistle are playing Saint Johnstone at Firhill. Fancy going?" "Nah. Rangers aren't in the top league." Yeah, that argument makes perfect f**king sense. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Col Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 £22 to watch SPL is a joke. I was in Manchester in August and I went along to watch FC United of Manchester who are in the layer below the Conference I think. £6 to get in and to be honest, the quality of play was better than some of the SPL games I've seen this season. Crowd was around 2500 mark and the atmosphere was great. £22 to watch turgid pish is legalised robbery. For many years me and the missus would be at every game home and away. Nowadays it's every home game (season tickets) but choosy for away games as it's more and more expensive to go along. For example, there will be no trips for us to the Highlands this season as its over £100 a trip. the cost needs to come down as its not equitable with the product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinKelvin Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 Agree with those saying it's mainly about cost. I pick and choose which games to go to and £22 is just unjustifiable every week for what is on offer in the SPFPFPFPFL or whatever it's now called. Contrast with a game I took in on holiday a couple of years ago - Fiorentina v Torino in Serie A. 15 Euros and over a dozen internationals on display e.g. Jovetic, Pizzaro, etc. Hmmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davie Thistle Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 .....summer fitba! 8-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 (edited) Maybe best to address the question as "where have all OUR fans gone"? We can talk to the end of the season about how those two numbskulls (Doncaster & Reagan) at every turn appear to annoy Scottish fans with their actions, or more commonly their inactions. Tho' I wasn't surprised at yesterdays turnout, given the weather and the opposition, it seems there's a lot of Jags fans failing to turn up regardless. A fine sunny Autumn day and the promise of better entertainment would imo only have shown marginal improvement. I think there was about 2800 Jags fans there yesterday so perhaps 300-400 more max. I doubt the Club can do much in way of lowering the cost of entry/ST prices and a minimal reduction would likely only result in a few extra thru the gates. I can understand why ST sales can be affected by a previous season where we struggled at home and had too few Saturday games. I can't quite get to grips with why when we're getting better results at home less Jags folk are willing to attend Firhill. Perhaps there's a growing section of our "support" that think that making random visits to Firhill then just watching you tube and Sportscene highlights plus the odd coverage on BBC Alba is ample fare? Edited October 26, 2014 by lady-isobel-barnett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allyo Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 I don't miss Rangers. My only regret is that their fans are still polluting our society. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norgethistle Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 I miss being able to go to see Thistle every week, for me when I come back its cheaper than Norwegian football and not too expensive.... but I'm on a Norwegian wage. I won't pay £34 to see Viking as I think that's too expensive (plus no kids for free) its £52 (520nok) if I take my daughter (plus pizza slices, juice etc), so on a comparative £22 on a Glasgow wage will be too expensive for many, taking 2 kids for a jags fan is then decent value though.... unless they want pies / juice/ chips etc etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
read'n'yell Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 Nothing will change until the spfl enforce rules over pricing that are long term. They should impose under 16s free to all games and cap prices at a more affordable level, with say 17 for premiership, 15 for championship and 12 below. These only have to be the cheapest tickets i.e. Behind goals but gives those who need it the chance to go. Any pricing policy or move has to be long lasting. Nothing will change over a couple is years. In terms of our fans, I think the attitude we are going to lose every week stops some from going. We haven't really hit any highs and our problem of never getting any momentum - always losing after winning is a real issue. A run of results could easily see people back. The atmosphere this season at Firhill has been the worst for a good few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambies Lost Doo Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 Thistle run at break even so the reason they charge £22 is because they have to. It's not fleecing. It's economics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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