woeful attendance

[Californian Villain]

At look at the half-filled visitors section today tells you all you need to know. This wasn't Blackburn, this was the Wolves from just up the road - always a good set of fans and currently enjoying a good start to the season. Quite simply the price of watching football is far too high - unless that is addressed then crowds will continue to drop.

I am amazed that crowds have stayed so high for so long, but in the current climate they have to dip. Clubs cannot expect to carry on taking the Sky millions and then expect fans to pay full whack for a game that's being televised live. Anyone at the game today who also has a Sky subscription has effectively paid twice and it is wrong. Very wrong.


And another thing....

What's more amazing is the increasing number of people who pay a small fortune to get in, then after 35 mins disappear downstairs to come back up 5 or 10 mins into the second half with a tray of overly priced stinking chips. It's a fucking football match not another excuse to fill your face with junk - and if you ate less of this crap you'd be able to walk quicker when leaving the pissing ground afterwards.

Me too. We have heard for ages that constantly rising prices and ever-changing ko times will eventually drive the fans away, and maybe we're seeing that finally - personally I think the general expectations about where the team will finish has more to do with it. In fairness, nobody could blame anyone that chose to stay away from today's match - it was awful, and this was against Wolves.

[olaftab]

I under estimated the  McLeish effect on our attendance. Clearly a lot of fans are  showing  their  displeasure in the only way they can.
I hope Randy is also having the same thought.

[Californian Villain]

I under estimated the  McLeish effect on our attendance. Clearly a lot of fans are  showing  their  displeasure in the only way they can.
I hope Randy is also having the same thought.

My main complaint with the appointment of McLeish was his reputation for turgid football...two 0-0 draws in three games, coupled with today's performance, and it looks like a genuine concern...and as for Emile in midfield, I mean, c'mon...trying it once we might forgive, but seriously, WTF?

[hawkeye]

Mcliesh is playing Heskey in the same position that MON did

[PaulMcGrathsNo5Shirt]

I'm 38 years of age, I've travelled all over England and Europe watching Villa and had a season ticket since I was 15.  I chose not to renew this season and I don't intend to go even on a match by match basis.

I feel so sorry for Randy, he is an amazing owner who has done so much for the club - the problem is he isn't wealthy enough and he's feeling the financial cost of giving O'Neill a free reign to do as he liked giving salaries of the likes of Beye, Harewood, Heskey etc.

I chose not to renew after the Collins/Dunne shenanigans last season, this on top of the stories of Warnock's alleged misbehaviour and the comments made by Stephen Ireland I decided enough was enough. I work my arse off and do over 50 hours per week to provide for my family. As times are getting harder I decided I wasn't prepared to give these millionaires any more of my money.

When we were going through that really shitty time last season and we were looking at relegation it made me think 'would it change my mind if we did get relegated?' - I think had we have been relegated I probably would have renewed, the arseholes would have wanted to stay in the Premier League and I would be watching likes of Barry Bannan, Chris Herd, Ciaran Clark and Nathan Baker slug their guts out for the club instead of the above mentioned arseholes.

I received a letter from Paul Faulkner in the week as i'm one of the 'chose not to renew' people his letter was completely uninspiring, and merely just a begging letter to attend the games when I could.

People are voting with their feet, it isn't so much a Villa problem, but a football problem. We aren't going to win anything, we'll finish somewhere between 8th-15th, we'll struggle to break teams down at Villa Park who play 5 across the middle, it's boring, it's dull, it's predictable. I certainly don't intend to fork out for a match ticket either when I can watch it on an internet stream for nothing or down the pub and have 3 or 4 beers.

My reason is nothing to do with McLeish, I don't like him particularly but I support (or did) Aston Villa - not a person.

[KevinGage]

Perhaps we are just finding our actual natural support level?

Based on our lowest gate for five years?

We've achieved plenty of gates in excess of 40k since 2006, I could just as easily (and wrongly)  say that's a better barometer.

-Three home games in a week
-Uncomfortably early kick off time
-Bank Holiday Weekend
-Cost
-Team strengthening (or lack of)
- And yes, an uninspiring managerial appointment

Are all factors, as many have mentioned.

Thankfully, we won't encounter the first three for every home game this season.  The club have shown in the past that they'll drop prices for games, so cost can be remedied too - at least for a few matches.

For the other two, we have a few days to remedy the squad issue -that will have as big an impact as anything in potentially making the McLeish appointment more attractive to the support base.

[Apyadg]

I am amazed that crowds have stayed so high for so long, but in the current climate they have to dip. Clubs cannot expect to carry on taking the Sky millions and then expect fans to pay full whack for a game that's being televised live. Anyone at the game today who also has a Sky subscription has effectively paid twice and it is wrong. Very wrong.

I'd like it if you were right, especially as the fans who actually drag their arses to the ground and pay through the nose are constantly considered insignificant while we have games changed at short notice so that Scum Sports viewers can watch them, but I think this seems to be a local problem for Villa, rather than a general backlash against the PL,  as comparable attendance slumps haven't occured elsewhere.

[Risso]

I think the club's new modus operandi is seeing the chickens come home to roost.  If the owners show that they have no desire and no real belief, then that is picked up by the fans.  Lots of people said that they weren't going to renew, and it looks like they weren't bullshitting.

[WeDontWantMcelish]

It's called the Mcleish factor. The board didn't listen, the fans voted with their feet. The drop is alarming 25% is a huge amount and huge dent in our ticket revenue.

People don't want to watch 0-0 draws all the time afraid.

Bet Randy wished he has listened now.

WDWM

[Quiet Lion]

I was disgusted with the attendance to day. Too many fair weather fans support my club.

When they mentioned it on Sky Sports, I nearly jumped off the sofa!

[Greg N'Ash]

While i agree there is an AnyonebutMcliesh factor, the main thing is the percieved lack of ambition by the club. If AM has been allowed to spend the young and downing money people would have at least seen the club were trying whoever the manager was, and if Houliier or MON had the same spending restrictions i still think the attendances would have dropped. Bottom line is its now Proud history, iffy future.

[Risso]

I was disgusted with the attendance to day. Too many fair weather fans support my club.

When they mentioned it on Sky Sports, I nearly jumped off the sofa!

We have a fair weather owner. 

[WeDontWantMcelish]

Those delusional idiots on villatalk think mcleish has nothing to do with it.

[Sexual Ealing]

So glory hunters rather than floating fans?

Yeah, let's all queue up and deliver sackful of cash after sackful of cash to the millionaires on the pitch who couldn't give a fuck. I blame the fans too.

Which millionaires on the pitch does that apply to now that it didn't apply to 2 or 3 years ago when 8-10K more people were turning up at VP?

The ones that were winning games, filling people with hope. Those guys.

[kippaxvilla2]

Those delusional idiots on villatalk think mcleish has nothing to do with it.

It might be me but I sense a troll.