lennythistle Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 I would suggest our attendances suffer from a variety of influences and not a single issue. I wouldn't be so daft as to state that if Beattie/Allan etc dug further into their pockets bought us a "proven goalscorer", who did the biz and we ended up winning the league that our gates wouldn't rise dramatically. But that's a lot of ifs. Firstly most of the names mentioned,eg McMenamin, Clarke and McAllister, are in no way certainties to guarantee enough goals. Even if you went down the speculate to accumulate road it would have to be with better material than what's been bandied about. Secondly, if we've to compete at the top of the league imo other areas of the squad are in far more need of strengthening. Thirdly I feel outside influences affect our attendance levels perhaps more than anything. The continued boredom of only playing nine other league sides at least four times a season and in a few cases more than that must drive folk away. Leaving Dundee out of it last season's league attendances were bolstered by Dunfermline who played 12 derby matches in total. It's no secret that gates outside of Dens, Dunfermline and their three rival clubs had noticeable drops, Q o S & Morton being the most significant. Not really a point either way but if I was Beattie or Allan and I wanted to throw that bit extra into the kitty I would be expecting fans organisations (still sadly in our case only the vastly under-performing Jags Trust) to, if not exactly match me £ for £, put in a significant sum. In other words I'd be looking for some fan commitment. Any one at the "Fans night" organised by honved will tell you that Beattie stated he wants the fans to match the input the board put into the club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hebridean jag Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 Where does that end, though? It ends when season ticket sales and match day attendances increase to a level where the income is sufficient to sustain the club without further financial inmput. It ends when the board give the support something to look forward to other than `survival`. I take on board evrything that LIB says but irrespective of other factors one of the most important tasks for these directors should be to engender a sense of optimism. Our club have been talked down for so long that this is a difficult, almost impossible task. It`s easy for those on this forum to forget that the most important thing to bring supporters back to Firhill is an entertaining and successful product. Everything else (prices, facilities etc) whilst important are secondary to this. Most contributors on here will be at every game given geographical and financial restrictions but we are very much in a minority, a minority which gets smaller by the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindau Posted June 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 It ends when season ticket sales and match day attendances increase to a level where the income is sufficient to sustain the club without further financial inmput. It ends when the board give the support something to look forward to other than `survival`. I take on board evrything that LIB says but irrespective of other factors one of the most important tasks for these directors should be to engender a sense of optimism. Our club have been talked down for so long that this is a difficult, almost impossible task. It`s easy for those on this forum to forget that the most important thing to bring supporters back to Firhill is an entertaining and successful product. Feckin top post HJ....straight from the Lindau mode of thinking!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jags365 Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 Which will be why we saw a noticable increase in crowds the season we finished 2nd? Oh...right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindau Posted June 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 Which will be why we saw a noticable increase in crowds the season we finished 2nd? Oh...right. Eh I think the crowds were a helluva lot better than we were getting this season past. Quite a few gates this season of under 1500!! Dont remember any like that when we were second....unless you know better!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodstock Jag Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 Eh I think the crowds were a helluva lot better than we were getting this season past. Quite a few gates this season of under 1500!! Dont remember any like that when we were second....unless you know better!!! Except the season before we finished 2nd the attendances were at most on average 200 worse than that year. Ever since we finished 2nd the attendances have plummeted. They are now lower than they were in the Campbell years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindau Posted June 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 Except the season before we finished 2nd the attendances were at most on average 200 worse than that year. Ever since we finished 2nd the attendances have plummeted. They are now lower than they were in the Campbell years. I think the days of Thistle gettin 3500-3700 are long gone. If we are realistically challenging I think we could look for around 3000. If we are mid table or worse with no realistic chance of doing anything I think we are looking at 2000 or less, so thats a floating support of around 1000...thats a lot of money to aim for, for every home game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Passenger Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 I think the days of Thistle gettin 3500-3700 are long gone. If we are realistically challenging I think we could look for around 3000. If we are mid table or worse with no realistic chance of doing anything I think we are looking at 2000 or less, so thats a floating support of around 1000...thats a lot of money to aim for, for every home game So you're saying we're one signing away from attracting 1,000 regular fans back to Firhill, or am I over simplifying things? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodstock Jag Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 I think the days of Thistle gettin 3500-3700 are long gone. If we are realistically challenging I think we could look for around 3000. If we are mid table or worse with no realistic chance of doing anything I think we are looking at 2000 or less, so thats a floating support of around 1000...thats a lot of money to aim for, for every home game If you look at attendances for last season, you'd see our core support is significantly lower than 2000. I'd put it as low as 1600. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Heron Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 Yes but the owners of the club have plenty of money!!! Is it not a directors duty to put money into his business if its struggling...or am I missing something???? The simple answer to that question is no, that is not part of a directors duty. They may do so (as has been shown in another response) but it's certainly not an obligation on a director of any company, never mind a football club, to empty their pockets into their organisation. There's a reason they are called limited-liability companies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Heron Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 If you look at attendances for last season, you'd see our core support is significantly lower than 2000. I'd put it as low as 1600. I think some of the crowd projections for a Thistle side challenging for promotion are over-optimistic. There's too many other alternatives that people would prefer to get involved in, and we're beginning to suffer from the relatively small number of younger fans that have started following the club. There used to be a time when we got healthy-ish crowds despite the shite that was served up on the park. For older codgers like myself, I'm finding the fact that we have two cup games in July more of an inconvenience than something to look forward to. And having to miss a game for something else doesn't fill me with anxiety and guilt in the way it used to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 It ends when season ticket sales and match day attendances increase to a level where the income is sufficient to sustain the club without further financial inmput. It ends when the board give the support something to look forward to other than `survival`. I take on board evrything that LIB says but irrespective of other factors one of the most important tasks for these directors should be to engender a sense of optimism. Our club have been talked down for so long that this is a difficult, almost impossible task. It`s easy for those on this forum to forget that the most important thing to bring supporters back to Firhill is an entertaining and successful product. Everything else (prices, facilities etc) whilst important are secondary to this. Most contributors on here will be at every game given geographical and financial restrictions but we are very much in a minority, a minority which gets smaller by the season. Unfortunately, I don't think your first sentence is achievable. That would imply a highly successful team on the park, and those guys would be wanting higher salaries than we could ever pay. It's no secret that even the two most successful clubs in Scotland (and look at Man Utd) don't make ends meet even with all their merchandising etc. Your second sentence identifies the problem too. How can the board achieve this? By throwing money a-la Gretna? The last time we were in the SPL our crowds probably averaged around 4,000. Even at that we simply had to pay relatively low wages, or get into even greater financial trouble. I really think that we'll stay impoverished for the foreseeable future, unless a wealthy fan steps in and gives us a lot of money. So, we need to hope that the likes of Jackie can put together a team that somehow punches well above their weight, all the way to the SPL, in fact. Another hope is drawing the OF away from home in Cup competitions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindau Posted June 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 (edited) So you're saying we're one signing away from attracting 1,000 regular fans back to Firhill, or am I over simplifying things? Not sure where I said that, but if we are in with a big shout of going up I would be surprised if we werent getting close to 2700-3000 a week at home games Edited June 6, 2011 by Lindau Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindau Posted June 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 (edited) If you look at attendances for last season, you'd see our core support is significantly lower than 2000. I'd put it as low as 1600. Correct but remember how we started last season. If we got off to a flyer and maintained that, I reckon we would attract 2700-3000 per week Edited June 6, 2011 by Lindau Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kni Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 Correct but remember how we started last season. If we got off to a flyer and maintained that, I rcekon we would attract 2700-3000 per week You could get those attendances in the summer and autumn but not in winter. The club has to budget for postponements and a few midweek games. An average of 2,500 would be reasonable provided that season ticket sales are no worse than last season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Passenger Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 Not sure where I said that, but if we are in with a big shout of going up I would be surprised if we werent getting close to 2700-3000 a week at home games And that's dependent on what? You'd have to mark Dundee down as overwhelming favourites this season given their strong end to last season and the signing activity they already undertaken. Other than that, it's going to be another open season in the First Division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindau Posted June 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 And that's dependent on what? You'd have to mark Dundee down as overwhelming favourites this season given their strong end to last season and the signing activity they already undertaken. Other than that, it's going to be another open season in the First Division. Going round in circles here. Its dependent on us getting off to a flyer, unlike last season and keeping our challenge up. Look its all about opinions. Mines are that if we are in the Top 3 or 4 and no one team has broken away I would be amazed if we werent hitting 2700-3000 per week. The only way we will know is if that transpires next season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Passenger Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 Going round in circles here. Its dependent on us getting off to a flyer What I'm saying is that it's conceivable for us to do that without the board dipping their hands in their pockets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindau Posted June 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 What I'm saying is that it's conceivable for us to do that without the board dipping their hands in their pockets. Be nice if they gave us a signing that would excite the fans. Can hardly see the signing of Johnny Lindsay (and this is no criticism of him....he could be anything) generating an increase in the season ticket sales Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
east lothian jag Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 I don't see this as a position we need to fill - Doolan's trained as a plumber! We need a plumber for the leaks in defence!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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