Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: neil strevens on August 11, 2014, 04:16:25 PM
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Does anyone know what the official crowd was v Parma?
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well the Sun thought it was around 40k but then they also thought we were playing Roma
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<=15K "Sign of fans have had enough! How far we have fallen! It is a disgrace!"
>15K "Look at the size of this club! Deserve so much better! It is a disgrace!"
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Between 13 and 14K.
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I thought the attendance was really low - maybe less than 10,000
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Between 13 and 14K.
It definitely didn't feel like there was as many as that.
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We'd apparently sold 11K tickets in advance, so adding some walk up I come to around 13K as it was a decent day weather wise.
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ffs it was a friendly, tell me the % of friendlies weve ever got over 20k. attendance wasn't bad lower trinity was pretty full north lower was pretty full, I was in the holte so difficult to say how many was in there, but id say we had 12k to 13k. Big deal
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According to the Parma FC website.......`Spettatori: 10.000 circa.`
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ffs it was a friendly, tell me the % of friendlies weve ever got over 20k.
There were 36,000 of us for the Inter friendly.
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60,000 for Santos!
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60,000 for Santos!
Parma aren't Inter and they don't have Pele
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60,000 for Santos!
At night with a generator to power 3 of 4 floodlights.
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60,000 for Santos!
At night with a generator to power 3 of 4 floodlights.
And we were in the third division.
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A more realistic comparison is with the 22000+ for the Malaga friendly last season.
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A more realistic comparison is with the 22000+ for the Malaga friendly last season.
So a swing of about 55% ! Worrying.
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Shame long-suffering season ticket holders weren't given a freebie for this...
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Shame long-suffering season ticket holders weren't given a freebie for this...
Do something like that once and it will be expected again.
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Parma was hardly the biggest draw. The club should be aiming higher than that if they want to fill seats.
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Parma was hardly the biggest draw. The club should be aiming higher than that if they want to fill seats.
The sixth best team in Italy last season?
There's a good argument that Parma should have been aiming higher than us.
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so we played santos when 1970? Inter when platy was here so in our 140 year history theres two friendlies where weve gone over 20K , the real point is were really not that attractive to watch and 10K or whatever aint bad, in the current tenure
I have been to quite a number of friendlies at the villa and the crowd was pretty average.
remember one when we played Walsall at villa park and the entertainment was two groups of lads chasing each other round the witton stand,(north stand) there was less than 10K at that game, circa 1974.
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Inter friendly was while MON was manager. We also had over 20K for Malaga and Fiorentina recently. And just under 20K for Valencia.
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ok ive got it so to add to santos inter theres another two, so that makes it right, that Villa average over 20k in friendlies, I would have been at the inter game when mon was in charge just cant remember it, But the fact is the gate against Parma was within Our average for friendlies, and not a pele enduced santos , what was the gate against rangers?
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Friendlies 30 years ago aren't really relevant whether we got 6K or 60K. We may as well say if we average 25K this season it's fine as that is better than we had for most of the 80s. Different times now.
We don't play many friendlies at home, the ones above from the last 6 years or so are pretty much the only ones we've done in the last 20 years apart from a few testimonials in the early-mid 90s, so comparing gates and mentioning the drop off is going to be done by some. Personally i'm not fussed about the crowd beyond being disappointed by it.
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Ticket prices were too high for me to part with my cash for a nothing game. I went to last years because the kids wanted to go, lucky for me last weekend they went to WaterWorld instead.
£15 to sit in the witton or trinity is ridiculous.
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We don't play many friendlies at home, the ones above from the last 6 years or so are pretty much the only ones we've done in the last 20 years apart from a few testimonials in the early-mid 90s, so comparing gates and mentioning the drop off is going to be done by some. Personally i'm not fussed about the crowd beyond being disappointed by it.
Quite.
We went from 22,000 this time last year to what looked to me as being well under half of that. And as a best case scenario was no more than half of that. On a sunny day during the school holidays for our first friendly at home of the summer.
I wasn't expecting a crowd of 36,000 like we got in 2007, but if I were in charge of keeping our attendances up this year, I would be a little alarmed that we only got 50% of last years crowd. And it's not as if thousands of people would have turned out last year for the thrill of seeing Malaga who would have been turned off by the opposition this summer.
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We don't play many friendlies at home, the ones above from the last 6 years or so are pretty much the only ones we've done in the last 20 years apart from a few testimonials in the early-mid 90s, so comparing gates and mentioning the drop off is going to be done by some. Personally i'm not fussed about the crowd beyond being disappointed by it.
Quite.
We went from 22,000 this time last year to what looked to me as being well under half of that. And as a best case scenario was no more than half of that. On a sunny day during the school holidays for our first friendly at home of the summer.
I wasn't expecting a crowd of 36,000 like we got in 2007, but if I were in charge of keeping our attendances up this year, I would be a little alarmed that we only got 50% of last years crowd. And it's not as if thousands of people would have turned out last year for the thrill of seeing Malaga who would have been turned off by the opposition this summer.
Most certainly.
And the club's activity in phoning fans in the few days before the game shows that they are well aware of the problem.
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I think it's very telling. I didn't even consider going for one minute, so the fact that so few actually did turn up us no surprise. The marketing peeps at the club had better brace themselves for a very tricky year because I think we are going to see an average gate of under 30k this coming season.
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Pricing tickets at £5 for an adult and £1 or £2 for a child might have made a difference.
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I think it's very telling. I didn't even consider going for one minute, so the fact that so few actually did turn up us no surprise. The marketing peeps at the club had better brace themselves for a very tricky year because I think we are going to see an average gate of under 30k this coming season.
Serves `em right.
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Pricing tickets at £5 for an adult and £1 or £2 for a child might have made a difference.
Would have made a lot of sense. I decided to save my money for the Newcastle game but if the tickets had been priced much lower I would have shown my face.
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A tenner for a ticket in the North Stand isn't really charging through the nose though is it?
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I didn't want to go because at the end of the day it's just a training game. It was predictably dull, it's not designed to entertain
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Its only a friendly, who cares?
I have a season ticket and I am part of the away scheme. I was climbing Snowdon on Saturday and had completely forgot we were playing until I spoke to my dad on Sunday afternoon.
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A tenner for a ticket in the North Stand isn't really charging through the nose though is it?
Well no it's not, but when you've got 3 home games and an away games on sale, you can understand why people might have wanted to give it a miss. Maybe a fiver for Season Ticket holders might have been an idea as well.
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Don't know why we bother staging home friendly games anyway, it's a relatively new thing at Villa as I don't remember many home freindlies over the last 30+ years. Our pre season fixtures should be staged away from Villa Park and save the pitch for the real games.
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the one we organised as part of buying Savo was a good one. Time might have impaired my memory, but I seem to remember tickets were as cheap as chips and there was a pretty good crowd there.
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the one we organised as part of buying Savo was a good one. Time might have impaired my memory, but I seem to remember tickets were as cheap as chips and there was a pretty good crowd there.
That's the game that sticks in my mind as well. Other than that I can't remember anymore home freindlies before Lerner took over. I just don't know why we bother with them. It's probably just another reason to fleece the fans.
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the one we organised as part of buying Savo was a good one. Time might have impaired my memory, but I seem to remember tickets were as cheap as chips and there was a pretty good crowd there.
That's the game that sticks in my mind as well. Other than that I can't remember anymore home freindlies before Lerner took over. I just don't know why we bother with them. It's probably just another reason to fleece the fans.
Getting in some pre-season training are you?
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the one we organised as part of buying Savo was a good one. Time might have impaired my memory, but I seem to remember tickets were as cheap as chips and there was a pretty good crowd there.
That's the game that sticks in my mind as well. Other than that I can't remember anymore home freindlies before Lerner took over. I just don't know why we bother with them. It's probably just another reason to fleece the fans.
Getting in some pre-season training are you?
The snide remark from DW. Getting some pre-season training in are you, Dave?
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the one we organised as part of buying Savo was a good one. Time might have impaired my memory, but I seem to remember tickets were as cheap as chips and there was a pretty good crowd there.
That's the game that sticks in my mind as well. Other than that I can't remember anymore home freindlies before Lerner took over. I just don't know why we bother with them. It's probably just another reason to fleece the fans.
Getting in some pre-season training are you?
The snide remark from DW. Getting some pre-season training in are you, Dave?
Any chance you might come up with something original at any time?
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6,000 against Hibs with proberly more of them than us.
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the one we organised as part of buying Savo was a good one. Time might have impaired my memory, but I seem to remember tickets were as cheap as chips and there was a pretty good crowd there.
That's the game that sticks in my mind as well. Other than that I can't remember anymore home freindlies before Lerner took over. I just don't know why we bother with them. It's probably just another reason to fleece the fans.
Getting in some pre-season training are you?
The snide remark from DW. Getting some pre-season training in are you, Dave?
Any chance you might come up with something original at any time?
Couldn't you possibly come up with something a bit more original than the usual jumping to the defence of the people who run our club?
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the one we organised as part of buying Savo was a good one. Time might have impaired my memory, but I seem to remember tickets were as cheap as chips and there was a pretty good crowd there.
That's the game that sticks in my mind as well. Other than that I can't remember anymore home freindlies before Lerner took over. I just don't know why we bother with them. It's probably just another reason to fleece the fans.
Getting in some pre-season training are you?
The snide remark from DW. Getting some pre-season training in are you, Dave?
Any chance you might come up with something original at any time?
Couldn't you possibly come up with something a bit more original than the usual jumping to the defence of the people who run our club?
First, I haven't made any comment about the match, the attendance, ticket price or level of opposition. No attack, no defence, nothing.
Second, if pushed I think that calling £10 for a ticket "another reason to fleece the fans" takes moaning for the sake of it to new levels. It's a pre-season friendly. You don't have to attend. I can remember the calls for such games when we didn't have them.
Third, if you want your opinions to go unchallenged I suggest you go elsewhere.
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the one we organised as part of buying Savo was a good one. Time might have impaired my memory, but I seem to remember tickets were as cheap as chips and there was a pretty good crowd there.
That's the game that sticks in my mind as well. Other than that I can't remember anymore home freindlies before Lerner took over. I just don't know why we bother with them. It's probably just another reason to fleece the fans.
Getting in some pre-season training are you?
The snide remark from DW. Getting some pre-season training in are you, Dave?
Any chance you might come up with something original at any time?
Couldn't you possibly come up with something a bit more original than the usual jumping to the defence of the people who run our club?
First, I haven't made any comment about the match, the attendance, ticket price or level of opposition. No attack, no defence, nothing.
Second, if pushed I think that calling £10 for a ticket "another reason to fleece the fans" takes moaning for the sake of it to new levels. It's a pre-season friendly. You don't have to attend. I can remember the calls for such games when we didn't have them.
Third, if you want your opinions to go unchallenged I suggest you go elsewhere.
No, you did you jumped in with your usual snide remark and started an argument. It's what you do, Dave. I'm entitled to my opinion as much as anyone else is.
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Whilst i think they could have made the prices a little cheaper (especially for ST holders), i wouldn't say friendlies are fleecing the fans at all. I chose not to go because i'd paid for my Stoke and Liverpool ticket, so therefore i haven't been fleeced of anything.
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If you keep breaking these ironymeters we'll have to start charging you for them.
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Whilst i think they could have made the prices a little cheaper (especially for ST holders), i wouldn't say friendlies are fleecing the fans at all. I chose not to go because i'd paid for my Stoke and Liverpool ticket, so therefore i haven't been fleeced of anything.
They should have just made it a fiver in and be done with it. They'd have probably got a far bigger attendance then.
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If you keep breaking these ironymeters we'll have to start charging you for them.
That's rich coming from you.
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If you keep breaking these ironymeters we'll have to start charging you for them.
That's rich coming from you.
Isn't it just.
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If you keep breaking these ironymeters we'll have to start charging you for them.
That's rich coming from you.
Isn't it just.
Lay off the snide remarks and maybe you'd get into fewer arguments on here.
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Whilst i think they could have made the prices a little cheaper (especially for ST holders), i wouldn't say friendlies are fleecing the fans at all. I chose not to go because i'd paid for my Stoke and Liverpool ticket, so therefore i haven't been fleeced of anything.
They should have just made it a fiver in and be done with it. They'd have probably got a far bigger attendance then.
Let's be totally honest, you're talking about £5 rather than £10.
It is such a small difference, to an already low price, I don't really see how one is fleecing (which is a pretty strong term) and the other is fair?
What else can you buy for 10 quid these days?
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You could get three pints in a city centre bar for a tenner. Maybe.
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To be fair, if it is Thurs - Tues in one of every three weeks, you could also get a "Two Dine for £10" deal from Marks and Spencer.
Main, side, dessert and a bottle of wine for a tenner. Bargaintastic.
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Two bottles of wine from Sainsbury's.
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If you keep breaking these ironymeters we'll have to start charging you for them.
That's rich coming from you.
Isn't it just.
Lay off the snide remarks and maybe you'd get into fewer arguments on here.
I rest my case.
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Whilst i think they could have made the prices a little cheaper (especially for ST holders), i wouldn't say friendlies are fleecing the fans at all. I chose not to go because i'd paid for my Stoke and Liverpool ticket, so therefore i haven't been fleeced of anything.
They should have just made it a fiver in and be done with it. They'd have probably got a far bigger attendance then.
Let's be totally honest, you're talking about £5 rather than £10.
It is such a small difference, to an already low price, I don't really see how one is fleecing (which is a pretty strong term) and the other is fair?
What else can you buy for 10 quid these days?
£10 for a friendly isn't cheap, paulie. I think because we're so over charges for PL matches we're then fooled into thinking a tenner is actually reasonable. It would certainly be cheap for a league or cup game, but a friendly? No, not in my opinion. It would have been decent of the club of ST holders were given free tickets as well, perhaps as a thank you for what we've had to put up with over the last few years. It would have been good PR.
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If you keep breaking these ironymeters we'll have to start charging you for them.
That's rich coming from you.
Isn't it just.
Lay off the snide remarks and maybe you'd get into fewer arguments on here.
I rest my case.
I'll remember that next time you jump in a thread with a snide and sarcastic comment designed to start an argument.
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Whilst i think they could have made the prices a little cheaper (especially for ST holders), i wouldn't say friendlies are fleecing the fans at all. I chose not to go because i'd paid for my Stoke and Liverpool ticket, so therefore i haven't been fleeced of anything.
They should have just made it a fiver in and be done with it. They'd have probably got a far bigger attendance then.
Let's be totally honest, you're talking about £5 rather than £10.
It is such a small difference, to an already low price, I don't really see how one is fleecing (which is a pretty strong term) and the other is fair?
What else can you buy for 10 quid these days?
£10 for a friendly isn't cheap, paulie. I think because we're so over charges for PL matches we're then fooled into thinking a tenner is actually reasonable. It would certainly be cheap for a league or cup game, but a friendly? No, not in my opinion. It would have been decent of the club of ST holders were given free tickets as well, perhaps as a thank you for what we've had to put up with over the last few years. It would have been good PR.
Not so much that a tenner is cheap (what is in football these days?) just that if you reckon a fiver would have been fair, ten quid is not that much of a difference.
I agree, though, it'd be nice to have put something on to thank supporters. Although, then again, having seen the Parma match, maybe not.
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If you keep breaking these ironymeters we'll have to start charging you for them.
That's rich coming from you.
Isn't it just.
Lay off the snide remarks and maybe you'd get into fewer arguments on here.
I rest my case.
I'll remember that next time you jump in a thread with a snide and sarcastic comment designed to start an argument.
I'll bear that in mind.
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Whilst i think they could have made the prices a little cheaper (especially for ST holders), i wouldn't say friendlies are fleecing the fans at all. I chose not to go because i'd paid for my Stoke and Liverpool ticket, so therefore i haven't been fleeced of anything.
They should have just made it a fiver in and be done with it. They'd have probably got a far bigger attendance then.
Let's be totally honest, you're talking about £5 rather than £10.
It is such a small difference, to an already low price, I don't really see how one is fleecing (which is a pretty strong term) and the other is fair?
What else can you buy for 10 quid these days?
£10 for a friendly isn't cheap, paulie. I think because we're so over charges for PL matches we're then fooled into thinking a tenner is actually reasonable. It would certainly be cheap for a league or cup game, but a friendly? No, not in my opinion. It would have been decent of the club of ST holders were given free tickets as well, perhaps as a thank you for what we've had to put up with over the last few years. It would have been good PR.
Not so much that a tenner is cheap (what is in football these days?) just that if you reckon a fiver would have been fair, ten quid is not that much of a difference.
I agree, though, it'd be nice to have put something on to thank supporters. Although, then again, having seen the Parma match, maybe not.
I'd say there's a lot of people who'd believe a fiver is more reasonable than a tenner and would actually go to the game because of it. Not everyone is as well off as others and it would make a big difference especially if you have kids.
Anyway I wish we'd stick to playing our pre season games away from home. That's what we used to do.
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And if anyone would really like my opinion; ten quid was fine given the opposition, fifteen is stretching it. Ticket sales aren't as dependent on prices as we think, though and another five pounds either way wouldn't have made much difference. In comparison, £10 is about Northern Premier prices, £15 is Conference.
We used to play home friendlies at odd times, then we stopped. When Randy first arrived a lot of people wanted them back, which is I suppose why we began them again. Maybe the manager wants the new players to get the feel of the ground on matchday.
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I didn't go, the reason being that if I watched Villa for entertainment purposes only I would have stopped going probably just after we beat Norwich away in the league cup a couple of seasons ago.
Match day now is about getting together with mates and having a few beers, enduring the 90 mins, then spending 24 - 48 hours trying to forget about the game, then spending the time to the next game either defending them endlessly to non Villa fans or slagging them with fellow fans.
I would have gone had it been away.
Where has the summer gone btw? I was so happy for a couple of months and now back to misery....Happy New Season!
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Pricing tickets at £5 for an adult and £1 or £2 for a child might have made a difference.
Agreed. I probably would of went and took my friends son as well.
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Changing the price by the sums mentioned would have made little difference to the attendance.
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So, has anybody found out what the official attendance was ? Will we ever know ?
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The ticket pricing isn't the reason for the sub 10k attendance. It's the absolute dross that's being served up that's the issue. It's the middle of summer and a Saturday afternoon. People have better, more enjoyable things to do with their money and more importantly time.
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The ticket pricing isn't the reason for the sub 10k attendance. It's the absolute dross that's being served up that's the issue. It's the middle of summer and a Saturday afternoon. People have better, more enjoyable things to do with their money and more importantly time.
For me it was the ticket price. Had it been cheaper I would have gone but it was a bit steep for a glorified training session. I might be mad but I am actually looking forward to going back this season, so stick that in your misery sack and smoke it! *winky thing to avoid seeming moody or rude*
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It was a tenner for the Lower North. What price would have got you to go out of interest?
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So, has anybody found out what the official attendance was ? Will we ever know ?
Does it matter?
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It was a tenner for the L
ower North. What price would have got you to go out of interest?
I sit in the Doug Ellis and really do not fancy the lower north. Tenner or less might have tempted me into the Doug Ellis - that said I still might not have bothered. Money is tight and the first thing to cross off my football list is friendlies.
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Don't know why we bother staging home friendly games anyway, it's a relatively new thing at Villa as I don't remember many home freindlies over the last 30+ years. Our pre season fixtures should be staged away from Villa Park and save the pitch for the real games.
And ruin the pitch for all the "smaller clubs"?
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So, has anybody found out what the official attendance was ? Will we ever know ?
Does it matter?
I can't remember Villa not revealing an attendance before. I was there and it seemed very low and likely under 10k. Maybe the powers are a little embarrassed.
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This is a sign of things to come, they'll be quite a few sub 30k crowds in the league this season I reckon.
Even if we're starting to make a few decent signings the air or negativity around VP won't go away unless we get a takeover or actually win a few home games. Neither look likely really.
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It was a tenner for the L
ower North. What price would have got you to go out of interest?
I sit in the Doug Ellis and really do not fancy the lower north. Tenner or less might have tempted me into the Doug Ellis - that said I still might not have bothered. Money is tight and the first thing to cross off my football list is friendlies.
Perfectly put.
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Newcastle game should be +30k as they'll bring 3 or 4k but I can see hull being about 28k .
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It was a tenner for the L
ower North. What price would have got you to go out of interest?
I sit in the Doug Ellis and really do not fancy the lower north. Tenner or less might have tempted me into the Doug Ellis - that said I still might not have bothered. Money is tight and the first thing to cross off my football list is friendlies.
So even if was cheaper you may not have gone anyway. So why should they do cheaper prices?
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Newcastle game should be +30k as they'll bring 3 or 4k but I can see hull being about 28k .
I'm thinking the likes of Southampton on a monday night, QPR whenever we play them, Hull as you mentioned, Palace. Probably similar attendances to the Mcleish year unless something uplifting happens.
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Don't know why we bother staging home friendly games anyway, it's a relatively new thing at Villa as I don't remember many home freindlies over the last 30+ years. Our pre season fixtures should be staged away from Villa Park and save the pitch for the real games.
And ruin the pitch for all the "smaller clubs"?
Yes, basically.
Smaller clubs make money from pre season freindlies against the big boys, so we're helping them really.
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It was a tenner for the L
ower North. What price would have got you to go out of interest?
I sit in the Doug Ellis and really do not fancy the lower north. Tenner or less might have tempted me into the Doug Ellis - that said I still might not have bothered. Money is tight and the first thing to cross off my football list is friendlies.
So even if was cheaper you may not have gone anyway. So why should they do cheaper prices?
I never said the prices should have been cheaper. They were not cheap enough for me to justify at the moment due to my personal circumstances and that it was a friendly which I could see on AVTV. My point was in response to a post that said money was not the reason for non attendance, but for me it was.
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But you first said if it was cheaper for your seat (a tenner) you would have gone and then said even if it was a tenner you may not have. So if money is tight, which I want to add i'm not criticising you at all for not going, I don't have a ST this season due primarily to finances so know where you're coming from, whether it was £10 or £15 you may well not have gone. So i'm looking at it from the club point of view, why should they go for the lower price if it won't add much to the gate?
For what it's worth, i'd have charged £12 for lower tiers everywhere but the LN (still £10), and £15 for all the upper tiers. But then i'm not running the Villa for a reason!
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But you first said if it was cheaper for your seat (a tenner) you would have gone and then said even if it was a tenner you may not have. So if money is tight, which I want to add i'm not criticising you at all for not going, I don't have a ST this season due primarily to finances so know where you're coming from, whether it was £10 or £15 you may well not have gone. So i'm looking at it from the club point of view, why should they go for the lower price if it won't add much to the gate?
Playing devil's advocate here (I think a tenner is fair), maybe for the goodwill?
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But you first said if it was cheaper for your seat (a tenner) you would have gone and then said even if it was a tenner you may not have. So if money is tight, which I want to add i'm not criticising you at all for not going, I don't have a ST this season due primarily to finances so know where you're coming from, whether it was £10 or £15 you may well not have gone. So i'm looking at it from the club point of view, why should they go for the lower price if it won't add much to the gate?
For what it's worth, i'd have charged £12 for lower tiers everywhere but the LN (still £10), and £15 for all the upper tiers. But then i'm not running the Villa for a reason!
To be honest what I first said was probably not stated with the accuracy to withstand a break down in meaning. Yes I agree the prices were OK, I just can not justify friendlies in additional to my season ticket and the child care costs I have just started paying. Ultimately I just wanted to point out, especially to the poster I responded to, that while I am concerned about things I still am looking forward to going.
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But you first said if it was cheaper for your seat (a tenner) you would have gone and then said even if it was a tenner you may not have. So if money is tight, which I want to add i'm not criticising you at all for not going, I don't have a ST this season due primarily to finances so know where you're coming from, whether it was £10 or £15 you may well not have gone. So i'm looking at it from the club point of view, why should they go for the lower price if it won't add much to the gate?
Playing devil's advocate here (I think a tenner is fair), maybe for the goodwill?
Quite possibly, but would they have lost money when you take into Parma getting a fee (I assume they do, happy to be told otherwise though), the costs of staging a game at VP even if there are less than 15K there etc?
Maybe based on previous prices they assumed we would still get around the 20K and when they realised we wouldn't it was too late to lower prices.
As far as I know the friendly home game prices have been the same for years, so they must be about right as it only seems this game that the prices are being questioned.
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I think the reason the attendance was particularly low for this one wasn't to do with the opponents or the price, it was to do with confidence and expectation for the new season being pretty much rock bottom.
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I think the reason the attendance was particularly low for this one wasn't to do with the opponents or the price, it was to do with confidence and expectation for the new season being pretty much rock bottom.
I'd go with that, the game didn't do much to improve things either. At one stage it was more interesting commenting on here what was happening with the Parma fans than watching the game. But lowering prices wouldn't have brought many more into the game, which is my point (quite possibly being made badly). Although better opponents may have added a few. Obviously quite a lot if was a 'glamour' side.
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I think the reason the attendance was particularly low for this one wasn't to do with the opponents or the price, it was to do with confidence and expectation for the new season being pretty much rock bottom.
No doubt.
This time last year we were optimistic, based on form towards the end of the season and the resolution of the Benteke issue. It was a carnival atmosphere.
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I agree, even at a fiver I really don't see a 30k + crowd magically turning out so think price was pretty academic for this.
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Anyway, next pre-season, how about Rangers II down B6? They'll bring at least 10k and they could help with the North Stand Demo while down south.
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Newcastle game should be +30k as they'll bring 3 or 4k but I can see hull being about 28k .
They will both be over 33K, Newcastle will be nearer 38K, I know this because I'm not a wrist slashing pessimist like you but look at the facts, we are a bit shit, but our true fans will still turn up, as will the tourists and the curious. Basically you are just hoping for low crowds so you can justify your "everything is shit" view on The Villa.
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KO times could be the issue with those 2. 12.45 and live on the box will drag the Newcastle gate down, and Hull at 1.30pm on Sunday will will have a similar effect.
Only 1 of our first 6 home games being a 3pm Saturday game isn't going to help. Neither is the way we seem to get crap crowds early on and they increase as the season goes on, no matter how good or shite we are.
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Attendances are to an extent driven by expectation.
The expectation is pretty low right now, attendances will follow suit.
Sorry for stating the bleeding obvious.
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What does it cost to go to a home game these days, including a couple of pints and a pie at half time.
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What does it cost to go to a home game these days, including a couple of pints and a pie at half time.
If you get full-price tickets just under £50 all in
About £30 with Viagogo tickets if you don't mind sitting in the Upper Trinity with the owl
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What does it cost to go to a home game these days, including a couple of pints and a pie at half time.
Up to £46 for a ticket. £7-£8 for a couple of pints. £2 for a pie. £3 for a programme. Plus travel to and from the ground.
So it COULD be anywhere upto £60 depending where you sit and how far you need to travel to the games.
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I wouldnt have gone if it was free. Its August, its been a gorgeous summer, the cricket season is still in full swing, there are real ale festivals a'plenty. And Villa are doing everything they can to alienate their fans at a time when football, as a spectator sport, is absolutely booming. If we average 32k this season I'll eat my "Bright Future" scarf.
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I wouldnt have gone if it was free. Its August, its been a gorgeous summer, the cricket season is still in full swing, there are real ale festivals a'plenty. And Villa are doing everything they can to alienate their fans at a time when football, as a spectator sport, is absolutely booming. If we average 32k this season I'll eat my "Bright Future" scarf.
We will, we seem to have a base of about 32-33k and I can't see it dropping much below that.
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I've bough two kids tickets, an over 65, and my ticket for Hull and it's 80 odd quid. Not bad really.
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I know the ground was being developed at the time and my memory may be playing tricks here but when we finished second in 92/93 season weren't the attendances in the lower 20k region? It is possible that we could see our attendance levels drop dramatically. After the past four seasons, particularly the home form, getting over 30k is an achievement. There is a general malaise hanging over the Villa these days.
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well let's not talk ourselves into a collective visit to Dignitas just yet. If's not all doom and gloom.
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What does it cost to go to a home game these days, including a couple of pints and a pie at half time.
Up to £46 for a ticket. £7-£8 for a couple of pints. £2 for a pie. £3 for a programme. Plus travel to and from the ground.
So it COULD be anywhere upto £60 depending where you sit and how far you need to travel to the games.
Thing is if money is an issue you don't do the beer, pie and programme etc. It will cost me less than £15 to do the Newcastle game.
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Newcastle game should be +30k as they'll bring 3 or 4k but I can see hull being about 28k .
They will both be over 33K, Newcastle will be nearer 38K, I know this because I'm not a wrist slashing pessimist like you but look at the facts, we are a bit shit, but our true fans will still turn up, as will the tourists and the curious. Basically you are just hoping for low crowds so you can justify your "everything is shit" view on The Villa.
Stop talking out of your bum hole. 38k v Newcastle ! Doubt it
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Newcastle game should be +30k as they'll bring 3 or 4k but I can see hull being about 28k .
They will both be over 33K, Newcastle will be nearer 38K, I know this because I'm not a wrist slashing pessimist like you but look at the facts, we are a bit shit, but our true fans will still turn up, as will the tourists and the curious. Basically you are just hoping for low crowds so you can justify your "everything is shit" view on The Villa.
Stop talking out of your bum hole. 38k v Newcastle ! Doubt it
Yeah Dave, you div, it was only 37,554 last season.
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A Saturday 3pm KO early in the season when we were a lot more optimistic and had already had 2 great performances.
This is a 12.45 KO live on TV, i'd be amazed if we pulled much over 35K for it.
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A Saturday 3pm KO early in the season when we were a lot more optimistic and had already had 2 great performances.
This is a 12.45 KO live on TV, i'd be amazed if we pulled much over 35K for it.
Was unaware of that, largely thanks to ignorance.
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I think the fannying around with our fixtures will have an effect, only 1 of our first 6 is a 3pm KO. Hull at 1.30 on a Sunday and Saints on a Monday night are hardly going to pack them in down B6.
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Yeah Lee, you div.
I think it'll be a good attendance of 38k or so as it is. First home game and all that.
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Here, is DC5 running the Guess The Crowd comp this season? I've not seen him post in a while.
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Newcastle game should be +30k as they'll bring 3 or 4k but I can see hull being about 28k .
They will both be over 33K, Newcastle will be nearer 38K, I know this because I'm not a wrist slashing pessimist like you but look at the facts, we are a bit shit, but our true fans will still turn up, as will the tourists and the curious. Basically you are just hoping for low crowds so you can justify your "everything is shit" view on The Villa.
Stop talking out of your bum hole. 38k v Newcastle ! Doubt it
Go on then, your prediction. I say 37,800, nearest to the actual total wins the internet.
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At £41 a pop for adults and that KO time I wouldn't be surprised if Newcastle don't sell out their allocation.
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Newcastle game should be +30k as they'll bring 3 or 4k but I can see hull being about 28k .
They will both be over 33K, Newcastle will be nearer 38K, I know this because I'm not a wrist slashing pessimist like you but look at the facts, we are a bit shit, but our true fans will still turn up, as will the tourists and the curious. Basically you are just hoping for low crowds so you can justify your "everything is shit" view on The Villa.
Stop talking out of your bum hole. 38k v Newcastle ! Doubt it
Go on then, your prediction. I say 37,800, nearest to the actual total wins the internet.
32-33,000. Swelled by 3500 Geordies .
Hull will be sub 30k I reckon unless of course we've gone WIN, WIN, in which case it will be a lockout.
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Newcastle game should be +30k as they'll bring 3 or 4k but I can see hull being about 28k .
They will both be over 33K, Newcastle will be nearer 38K, I know this because I'm not a wrist slashing pessimist like you but look at the facts, we are a bit shit, but our true fans will still turn up, as will the tourists and the curious. Basically you are just hoping for low crowds so you can justify your "everything is shit" view on The Villa.
Stop talking out of your bum hole. 38k v Newcastle ! Doubt it
Go on then, your prediction. I say 37,800, nearest to the actual total wins the internet.
32-33,000. Swelled by 3500 Geordies .
Hull will be sub 30k I reckon unless of course we've gone WIN, WIN, in which case it will be a lockout.
oh i dream of lock outs,
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Newcastle game should be +30k as they'll bring 3 or 4k but I can see hull being about 28k .
They will both be over 33K, Newcastle will be nearer 38K, I know this because I'm not a wrist slashing pessimist like you but look at the facts, we are a bit shit, but our true fans will still turn up, as will the tourists and the curious. Basically you are just hoping for low crowds so you can justify your "everything is shit" view on The Villa.
Stop talking out of your bum hole. 38k v Newcastle ! Doubt it
Go on then, your prediction. I say 37,800, nearest to the actual total wins the internet.
32-33,000. Swelled by 3500 Geordies .
Hull will be sub 30k I reckon unless of course we've gone WIN, WIN, in which case it will be a lockout.
oh i dream of lock outs,
[/quote}
I dream of lock-ins
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So 30k in the end for Newcastle even though I thought there looked more from the TV.
Dosen't exactly bode well for Hull and shows we've probably struggled to even reach 20k in season ticket sales.
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Wait til Wednesday. I'm guessing 14k.
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Looks like about 10k are missing from recent years.What message that sends to Lerner or any prospective buyer I'm not sure,but spending £5 million on 5 players is a joke ,Newcastle had spent more than that on Dejong on their bench.
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I think the programme stated just under 12k for the Parma game.
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Are ticket holders who don't attend included in attendance figs ? Lots of people still on holidays
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Looking around the ground the upper Trinity was virtually empty,not many in the upper Doug and plenty of empty seats in the lower wing areas,embarrassing !
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Are ticket holders who don't attend included in attendance figs ? Lots of people still on holidays
Yep, it's tickets sold these days not attendance.
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Are ticket holders who don't attend included in attendance figs ? Lots of people still on holidays
I think the answer to that is Yes, as they have bought a ticket to the game (every game that season) so attend or not your part of the games attendance.
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Looking around the ground the upper Trinity was virtually empty,not many in the upper Doug and plenty of empty seats in the lower wing areas,embarrassing !
I decided before kick-off that I wouldn't look backwards for fear of agoraphobia kicking in.
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:)
Looking around the ground the upper Trinity was virtually empty,not many in the upper Doug and plenty of empty seats in the lower wing areas,embarrassing !
I decided before kick-off that I wouldn't look backwards for fear of agoraphobia kicking in.
lol
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Now that entrance to the ground is electronically registered it would be arguably easier to give the actual attendance i guess... Obviously better PR to release the higher figure though.
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So 30k in the end for Newcastle even though I thought there looked more from the TV.
Dosen't exactly bode well for Hull and shows we've probably struggled to even reach 20k in season ticket sales.
My guess is that there were quite a few who decided to go to Edgebaston where there were 23000 “Partygoers “ watching Birmingham Bears in the T20 Blast . Also, historically August has never been a good attendance month for us due to it being a massive Family Holiday travel month . Living here in Spain I see more Villa Shirts at this time than at any other time of the Year . Factor in Television plus a certain amount of “wait and see“apathy ..........................Godzvilla!
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Are ticket holders who don't attend included in attendance figs ? Lots of people still on holidays
Yep, it's tickets sold these days not attendance.
So the "actual" attendance could easily have been sub 30k ? I can't see hull being much better what with it being a Sunday and also kids back to school the next day etc.
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I sit in the North Upper and in the row immediately in front of me, six people who have had season tickets for years didn't renew for this season.
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The Newcastle attendance was the lowest attended first home game since 2000. Fans are voting with their feet.
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The Newcastle attendance was the lowest attended first home game since 2000. Fans are voting with their feet.
Possibly, but how many of those others have been a 12.45 kick off on a Bank Holiday weekend with two more home games to follow in quick succession and live on the box?
I think crowds might take a dip this season but I just think one game given the circumstances above makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions.
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The Newcastle attendance was the lowest attended first home game since 2000. Fans are voting with their feet.
Possibly, but how many of those others have been a 12.45 kick off on a Bank Holiday weekend with two more home games to follow in quick succession and live on the box?
I think crowds might take a dip this season but I just think one game given the circumstances above makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions.
I definitely think fans are voting with their feet because of what we've had to put up with over the last 4 or so years, but as ever at Villa the fans will come back as soon as things start to look up again. That isn't going to happen till we get a new owner though. Lerner is just doing the bare minimum at the moment.
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I think there are obviously some fans who have chosen to give their season ticket a miss this year, which is their right. I'm not sure it's just because of the lack of big money transfers, the appalling home record and last season's terrible run in won't have helped either. Like Chris said though, it was on the telly, a bank holiday weekend with another two home games in 7 days to come. Let's see what the next few attendances look like.
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When you have an owner who has gone public saying more or less he's lost interest and this is backed up by a pathetic transfer budget coupled with an atrocious home record, it's not hard to see why 10,000 fans have disappeared. People have had it and said enoughs enough. The challenge will be enticing them back and that won't be as easy as some suggest.
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When you have an owner who has gone public saying more or less he's lost interest and this is backed up by a pathetic transfer budget coupled with an atrocious home record, it's not hard to see why 10,000 fans have disappeared. People have had it and said enoughs enough. The challenge will be enticing them back and that won't be as easy as some suggest.
Slight exaggeration, I think we have averaged 40k once or twice at most in 20 years. It's nearer 4k down.
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When you have an owner who has gone public saying more or less he's lost interest and this is backed up by a pathetic transfer budget coupled with an atrocious home record, it's not hard to see why 10,000 fans have disappeared. People have had it and said enoughs enough. The challenge will be enticing them back and that won't be as easy as some suggest.
10,000 haven't disappeared, it was just one game. Why not see what the next few attendances look like before coming out with statements like that.
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Well Parma was 10k down on the Malaga friendly and the Newcastle game 8k down on last year.
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Well Parma was 10k down on the Malaga friendly and the Newcastle game 8k down on last year.
I thought it was a low crowd as well but i don't think people have 'had enough'. If they continue to be low throughout the season then you may be right so let's just wait and see shall we?
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Well Parma was 10k down on the Malaga friendly and the Newcastle game 8k down on last year.
7K down. And the game wasn't a 12.45 live on TV ko last year.
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The hull game will be low but then the next 3 should be mid - high 30's you hope as it's arsenal Ci£y and Spurzzz . Then we actually have a Saturday 3pm vs Southampton so that may make mid to low 30's.
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Well Parma was 10k down on the Malaga friendly and the Newcastle game 8k down on last year.
7K down. And the game wasn't a 12.45 live on TV ko last year.
There was only 35k against Newcastle back in August 2006 despite us having no Doug, a new manager, a new billionaire owner and having picked up a point at the Emerites and a home win a few days before against Reading.
August is never great for attendances especially when the opposition is crap teams like Newcastle.
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I went last year but was a no show this year
That obviously made a difference
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Well Parma was 10k down on the Malaga friendly and the Newcastle game 8k down on last year.
7K down. And the game wasn't a 12.45 live on TV ko last year.
There was only 35k against Newcastle back in August 2006 despite us having no Doug, a new manager, a new billionaire owner and having picked up a point at the Emerites and a home win a few days before against Reading.
August is never great for attendances especially when the opposition is crap teams like Newcastle.
So just the 5k down on that game then.
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Well Parma was 10k down on the Malaga friendly and the Newcastle game 8k down on last year.
7K down. And the game wasn't a 12.45 live on TV ko last year.
There was only 35k against Newcastle back in August 2006 despite us having no Doug, a new manager, a new billionaire owner and having picked up a point at the Emerites and a home win a few days before against Reading.
August is never great for attendances especially when the opposition is crap teams like Newcastle.
So just the 5k down on that game then.
August 06 was pre recession as well.
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I think the worm started to turn around the Norwich and Stoke home games last year which both just scraped above 30k. My concern is hull may dip below 30k
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I think the worm started to turn around the Norwich and Stoke home games last year which both just scraped above 30k. My concern is hull may dip below 30k
And then the next 3 were 33K, 35K and finally 37K for Hull. With 40K for Chavski inbetween Norwich and Stoke.
Hull will be a low one this year with 3 games in a week and the shite KO time. I'm swerving Hull based purely on the KO time as i'm sick of games being moved, the only protest is not to go. If it was 3pm on the Saturday i'd have gone.
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Same here, Sunday 130pm games are a real difficulty for me.
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Perhaps a more realistic comparison would be how Saturdays attendance compared with McLeish's first home game when everyone was royally pissed off about that appointment coming as it did after the poor season under Houllier.
Anyone have that figure to hand?
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Under Mcleish we played Newcastle slightly later - sept 17, 32,248
Our opening game that year was Blackburn 32,319
Then CC2 Hereford 21,058
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Not forgetting 30,776 for Wolves between the Hereford and Newcastle games, and then 30,744 for Wigan.
And the Newcastle attendance was 34,248.
Maybe we should throw in 27K for Bolton in MON's first season plus a few others that just scraped over 30K in what was the bright new dawn of no Doug to see that shit attendances happen pretty much every season down VP.
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No mate , Newcastle under Mcleish 17.09.11 was 32,248
But yeah looking at the whole season attendances were pretty poor overall.
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No mate , Newcastle under Mcleish 17.09.11 was 32,248
But yeah looking at the whole season attendances were pretty poor overall.
Newcastle under Mcleish was 34,248.
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34,248.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/14864217
http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/FixturesAndResults/0,,10265~2011,00.html
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No mate , Newcastle under Mcleish 17.09.11 was 32,248
But yeah looking at the whole season attendances were pretty poor overall.
Newcastle under Mcleish was 34,248.
Not according to the villa programme I'm looking at
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No mate , Newcastle under Mcleish 17.09.11 was 32,248
But yeah looking at the whole season attendances were pretty poor overall.
Newcastle under Mcleish was 34,248.
Not according to the villa programme I'm looking at
Must be a mis-print unless the official site and the BBC have got it wrong.
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Getting a bit sick of people coming up with reasons for "swerving" games for whatever reason,either you want to go or you don't.
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Getting a bit sick of people coming up with reasons for "swerving" games for whatever reason,either you want to go or you don't.
Good for you. I went to Parma, Stoke, Newcastle, have my ticket for Orient but am protesting in the only way I can about shit kick off times by not going to Hull. I've already said if it was a 3pm KO i'd have gone. So to be honest I don't give a fuck whether me swerving a game makes you sick or not.
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Agreed. Sorry for the re-post but:
I decided not to renew my ST after 16 years and have stuck to it (reasons are elsewhere on H&V). I will still attend games of my choosing. I went to Stoke with UKR and PWS. I missed the Newcastle game due to having already booked a weekend away in Goosnargh for a brilliant beer festival, but watched it all live on screen at a pub in Longridge. I am going to watch us play Leyton Orient on Wednesday. I am bringing my 6-year-old Grandson with me to watch Hull. I will definitely be getting tickets for the Arsenal game. I will probably be getting tickets for Manchester City. I would have got a ticket for the trip to Everton but my Y6 are ball boys and girls at Walsall v Crewe on that day. If that makes me a game-'swerving' Villa fan then so be it.
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Getting a bit sick of people coming up with reasons for "swerving" games for whatever reason,either you want to go or you don't.
Ok I'll be upfront and admit I don't want to go.
A few reasons
1. I'm currently unemployed and there are better uses for my swiftly disappearing redundancy money than coming down the Villa.
2. After 7 seasons as a season ticket holder and after the patience testing wank of the last 3 seasons to put it bluntly I'd had enough so didn't renew my season ticket.
If that makes me some kind of lesser fan in others eyes then so be it. I've always taken the attitude that if the football being served up is not good enough then I won't go at all or certainly less frequently.
I can't quite understand the perceived shock of some people at our attendances, anyone with even a vague sense if history will know we've not been a well supported club throughout history, constantly in the top 10 or so of English clubs but rarely in the top 4 or 5. As I think I've pointed out before we've only averaged over 40k over a whole season 3 or 4 times post WW2.
Are people embarrassed we don't fill our ground? It's hardly surprising with what's been served up over the last 100 or so years with a few periods of non sustained glory.
Ultimately what puts bums on seats is good attractive winning football and all too often that's in short supply at Villa Park, certainly from the home team.
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There is nothing wrong with falling out of love with the sky premier league wank off. Unfortunately we are part of the outer packaging . I'd love to pack the whole thing in, inever thought I could but I'd say that day is nearer than ever.
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No mate , Newcastle under Mcleish 17.09.11 was 32,248
But yeah looking at the whole season attendances were pretty poor overall.
Newcastle under Mcleish was 34,248.
Not according to the villa programme I'm looking at
Must be a mis-print unless the official site and the BBC have got it wrong.
Must be at least 7 official avfc programmes that's got it wrong then
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Copy and paste.
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As daft as it might sound, i hope we never spend £75m on one player, it just wouldn't feel right.
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No mate , Newcastle under Mcleish 17.09.11 was 32,248
But yeah looking at the whole season attendances were pretty poor overall.
Newcastle under Mcleish was 34,248.
Not according to the villa programme I'm looking at
Must be a mis-print unless the official site and the BBC have got it wrong.
Must be at least 7 official avfc programmes that's got it wrong then
It looks that way.
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As daft as it might sound, i hope we never spend £75m on one player, it just wouldn't feel right.
I wouldn't get to worried about that just yet
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No mate , Newcastle under Mcleish 17.09.11 was 32,248
But yeah looking at the whole season attendances were pretty poor overall.
Newcastle under Mcleish was 34,248.
Not according to the villa programme I'm looking at
Must be a mis-print unless the official site and the BBC have got it wrong.
Must be at least 7 official avfc programmes that's got it wrong then
It looks that way.
Or your stats are wrong more likely.
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As daft as it might sound, i hope we never spend £75m on one player, it just wouldn't feel right.
Unless it's Caterrmole. He's worth it.
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No mate , Newcastle under Mcleish 17.09.11 was 32,248
But yeah looking at the whole season attendances were pretty poor overall.
Newcastle under Mcleish was 34,248.
Not according to the villa programme I'm looking at
Must be a mis-print unless the official site and the BBC have got it wrong.
Must be at least 7 official avfc programmes that's got it wrong then
It looks that way.
Or your stats are wrong more likely.
Not my stats, the official site, BBC Sport and Sky Sports News.
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Getting a bit sick of people coming up with reasons for "swerving" games for whatever reason,either you want to go or you don't.
Good for you. I went to Parma, Stoke, Newcastle, have my ticket for Orient but am protesting in the only way I can about shit kick off times by not going to Hull. I've already said if it was a 3pm KO i'd have gone. So to be honest I don't give a fuck whether me swerving a game makes you sick or not.
I occasionally have given up my season ticket over the last 30 years and now is one of those times. Ultimately we are meant to enjoy the games and last year I just didn't. That said, I can't stay away, going Wednesday and Sunday. I always feel I have to go when I have a season ticket but this year I will pick and choose. I can't stand the 5:30 Saturday kick offs, will be avoiding them.
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The Newcastle attendance was the lowest attended first home game since 2000. Fans are voting with their feet.
Possibly, but how many of those others have been a 12.45 kick off on a Bank Holiday weekend with two more home games to follow in quick succession and live on the box?
That and we had no problem pulling a 42k crowd against liverpool on a bank holiday weekend last season. Yeah I know it's Liverpool but I can't believe an extra 12k just turned up because of the opposition.
I think crowds might take a dip this season but I just think one game given the circumstances above makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions.
I'd say the problem with this Chris is if say we've only sold 20k season tickets (and I'd say that figure would be realistic) then to get close to 40k we need a regular of 15k fans to be buying on a match to match basis. Little chance of that unless it's a game against one of the top 6 and the general state of the club.
I think the low 30k attendances are higher to stay this side of xmas.
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17000 season tickets is the number ive been told. Didnt we peak at 28,000 under MON?
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I've been to about 5 games since 2010. Just rather spend my money on my kids as I don't see as much of them these days.
I'm probably getting old but getting up to go and see the Villa doesn't excite me as much as it used to.
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I've been to about 5 games since 2010. Just rather spend my money on my kids as I don't see as much of them these days.
I'm probably getting old but getting up to go and see the Villa doesn't excite me as much as it used to.
Well we're certainly not as exciting to watch these days that's for sure.
As ever with the Villa though, when the results pick up the fans come back.
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Whichever way you're looking at it 30 000 is poor.
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Whichever way you're looking at it 30 000 is poor.
It is when you consider derby had +30k against Rotherham !
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The Newcastle attendance was the lowest attended first home game since 2000. Fans are voting with their feet.
Possibly, but how many of those others have been a 12.45 kick off on a Bank Holiday weekend with two more home games to follow in quick succession and live on the box?
That and we had no problem pulling a 42k crowd against liverpool on a bank holiday weekend last season. Yeah I know it's Liverpool but I can't believe an extra 12k just turned up because of the opposition.
I think crowds might take a dip this season but I just think one game given the circumstances above makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions.
I'd say the problem with this Chris is if say we've only sold 20k season tickets (and I'd say that figure would be realistic) then to get close to 40k we need a regular of 15k fans to be buying on a match to match basis. Little chance of that unless it's a game against one of the top 6 and the general state of the club.
I think the low 30k attendances are higher to stay this side of xmas.
I'm surprised that there is surprise about the low opening-game attendance. What with the uncertainty over ownership and three poor preceding seasons - along with three 'meh' free transfers during the close season - it is totally understandable to see mediocre turn-outs.
I gave my ST up for this season, with great difficulty and heartache; in end, it was the right decision for me at this particular time and given my growing dissatisfaction with the spectacle at VP.
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I'd be surprised if we average over 33,000 this season. Signings have been dull for a good few years now, home results atrocious and prices rise.
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Under Mcleish we played Newcastle slightly later - sept 17, 32,248
Our opening game that year was Blackburn 32,319
Then CC2 Hereford 21,058
[/quotes I'd have said 18k for orient, but the keen pricing may drag a few waverers in