How do we change the 'cultural' make up of football crowds?

[The Laughing Policeman]

When I was first taken to Villa Park in 1955 the crowd was almost certainly 100% white. Over the years I've seen a minuscule change in the make up of the crowd. No doubt the club have figures that show the racial make up, but my impression on matchdays is that the crowd is 99% white.
I can remember the days of the 70's and 80's when the racist minority took over our game. Thankfully society, including the vast majority of football fans have moved on from those days. Yet despite the efforts of the clubs, supporting a football team is still largely the preserve of  white people.
So the question is , is there anything that we as fans can do to encourage a more diverse and representative cross section of society to come football matches?
I think that this question also feeds into the threads on here about the size of crowds at Villa Park.

[Holte L2]

Cheaper or free tickets to local residents?

[The Laughing Policeman]

My question is what can we as fans do to change things.
We already know about the efforts clubs have made, but I feel that it's down to us the fans to reach out in some way.

[pig]

How did I get into watching the villa and football?

My dad took my to the match.

My best mate who is a Sikh, his dad can't stand football, and only watches football. If someone such as my dad took him when he was young then I think we would know which team like me he would support. To enable someone such as my dad to do this, kids for a quid would have worked. He would have taken a minibus of us!

[TopDeck113]

If my dad had had to fork out the 1973 equivalent of £40 quid for him to take my brother and me to our first match, I doubt I'd now be a football fan.

[Salsa Party Animal]

use local school and local football teams ie schoolboys level and take them on group trips to football stadium. Community is the key.

[bertlambshank]

My question is what can we as fans do to change things.
We already know about the efforts clubs have made, but I feel that it's down to us the fans to reach out in some way.

I am more worried about the missing 10,000 from last season.I don't care what colour people are.

[Vanilla]

My question is what can we as fans do to change things.
We already know about the efforts clubs have made, but I feel that it's down to us the fans to reach out in some way.

I am more worried about the missing 10,000 from last season.I don't care what colour people are.

I don't think Villa, or any club care where their 'customers' come from either. The problem Villa have at the moment is that, if the economy is good, and the football is good, the stadium would be mainly full. Unfortunately, both aren't up to much in Villa's case.

You can also see attendance drops at teams like Arsenal, where the fans have finally realised that they are slipping away from the top tier (regardless of Sky TV). 

If you need to tap into local families who don't have a history of going to football games (where kids usually wear Manure tops), how you are going to do the hard sell. 'Come and spend £20 - £30 a game, we may even come 10th'.

[RunRickyRun]

If my dad had had to fork out the 1973 equivalent of £40 quid for him to take my brother and me to our first match, I doubt I'd now be a football fan.

Same here

[Risso]

My question is what can we as fans do to change things.
We already know about the efforts clubs have made, but I feel that it's down to us the fans to reach out in some way.

I am more worried about the missing 10,000 from last season.I don't care what colour people are.

Me either.  There's nothing other than the exorbitant ticket prices stopping people from going that I can see.

[Handsworth Wood Villa]

Most blacks and Asians don't support a local club anyway...

[dave.woodhall]

Most blacks and Asians don't support a local club anyway...

We'll have to get them started then.

[Handsworth Wood Villa]

Most blacks and Asians don't support a local club anyway...

We'll have to get them started then.

Well I guess we should aim for the really young kids (i.e. 5 or 6 year olds.)

Got to look at free tickets for local children (especially in the black and Asian areas.)

Like the whole class gets a free 'school trip' to Villa Park.

By the time they get into football they will probably already be supporting Man U, Liverpool or Arsenal.

[dave.woodhall]

Most blacks and Asians don't support a local club anyway...

We'll have to get them started then.

Well I guess we should aim for the really young kids (i.e. 5 or 6 year olds.)

Got to look at free tickets for local children (especially in the black and Asian areas.)

Like the whole class gets a free 'school trip' to Villa Park.

By the time they get into football they will probably already be supporting Man U, Liverpool or Arsenal.

And then we change them. It's easier to get someone who 'supports' a Sky team on TV to support us than it is to get someone with no interest in football.

[Handsworth Wood Villa]

Most blacks and Asians don't support a local club anyway...

We'll have to get them started then.

Well I guess we should aim for the really young kids (i.e. 5 or 6 year olds.)

Got to look at free tickets for local children (especially in the black and Asian areas.)

Like the whole class gets a free 'school trip' to Villa Park.

By the time they get into football they will probably already be supporting Man U, Liverpool or Arsenal.

And then we change them. It's easier to get someone who 'supports' a Sky team on TV to support us than it is to get someone with no interest in football.

I dunno.

If they support a Sky 4 team, I can't see them changing to Villa who they would just see as an average team/club.