crowd figs

[ditchy]

was chatting with a wycombe fan last night he said it was a travesty that we havent got falmer yet .Also said that we would /should be playing infront of 12-15k crowds.. this got me thinking , what if we had falmer now and given our current position in the league what crowds would we be getting at falmer for say this season .. i would reckon high teens 18/19k

 

[Titanic]

The Wycombe fan was nearer the mark - I think we would have seen crowds as low as 9-10K for some of the less attractive performances in our post-Coppell slump, building back to 12-15K for the play-off run-in.

Hopefully Div 1 crowds would be in the 12-15K range with the occasional 'big one'!

 

[Seagull's Return]

I think we would have seen crowds as low as 9-10K for some of the less attractive performances in our post-Coppell slump, building back to 12-15K for the play-off run-in.

Hopefully Div 1 crowds would be in the 12-15K range with the occasional 'big one'!

Reckon so - we're not selling out Withdean, and the same gradient of decline in numbers might be expected with a bigger ground. On the other hand, a return to Div 1 would surely push numbers up to 13, 14 thousand or so for most games. And a big team, or P*l*rse, would get shedloads through the gates. Hopefully we're not doing irrevocable damage to our support base in these pre-Falmer days, and crowds will pick up to decent levels when we get the new ground.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

would crawley end up taking a load of our fans if they get into the football league?

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Spot on Titanic, always good to see a man who knows his hypothetical Albion crowd figures.

 

[Titanic]

Sorry - yes, I know it was a crap posting... I just got fed up with 'Word Association' for one brief minute... next time, I'll think better of it!

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Not at all, I was actually being totally serious. The figures you gave were exactly what I would have forecast.

 

[BensGrandad]

I think we would be lucky to get 10.000 except for a big game.

When we were in the old 1st Div and crowds were high we never had more than 30,000 at any home game.

Our hard core support is about 6 -7000 plus about 3000 fair weather supporters and another 8000 if we got to a final or play offs of people who 'are staunch Albion fans' and then ask what colour are we wearing.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

we would get about the same as we are getting at the moment the team isnt playing that well they are winning but not playing great football.
but like i said they are winning so who cares

 

[Rich Suvner]

I think we would be lucky to get 10.000 except for a big game.

sorry old timer , i think you're way off the mark!

in a new all seater stadium i think, putting together a promotion run we'd be gettin crowds from 12000 to 16000

if we werent really goin anywhere, or were getting relegated from div 1, then 10000 and below would probs be about right

 

[bhaexpress]

I would go along with Titanic here. What's to the point is not so much Crawley (why would anybody change their allegiance, we're not armchair Manure fans after all) but the fact we have to get people back.

I would say that the biggest problem is that our fan base has been eroded by the fact that many people who used to go to big games (cost being a significant factor) have now found better ways to spend their Saturdays.

However, with a 'state of the art stadium' (hopefully with alcohol on site) the fact that we'd have an atmosphere as well as cover would encourage people. It's hard to get enthusiastic about a soggy evening at Withdean no matter how good the team are or how important the game is.

 

[Hunting 784561]

I think you have to look at the Reading experience. They only used to get 3 - 4,000 at Elm Park, but once the Madjeski was built their crowds went up big time. Same will happen at Falmer, but more, because were a much bigger club.

 

[Everest]

When we were in the old 1st Div and crowds were high we never had more than 30,000 at any home game.

Just what was the capacity of the Goldstone then?

 

[Johners]

Just what was the capacity of the Goldstone then?

36,500 officially when I started going there in 1976.

 

[bhaexpress]

When we were in the old 1st Div and crowds were high we never had more than 30,000 at any home game.

That may be so but I think we had that restriction placed on us by the Police or some other authority. I remember there being 34500 in there when we drew 1-1 with Barrow (yes Barrow !) to win promotuon in 1972.

I think that a regular 22000 sell out is highly optimistic (how often do Reading sell out ?) but 15000 + isn't far fetched. Consider that with extra capacity larger away following can be anticipated especially if we play in a higher league than present (as we all hope).

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

I honestly believe that fairweather fans will NOT make the trek to Falmer on a regular basis because it will not be as accessible as the Goldstone was where you could just walk up on the day, and they won't fancy the hassle of packed trains/buses to get there. Before anyone says it, this is not an anti-Falmer comment, just a statement of fact about the location of Falmer.

 

[bhaexpress]

I honestly believe that fairweather fans will NOT make the trek to Falmer on a regular basis because it will not be as accessible as the Goldstone was where you could just walk up on the day, and they won't fancy the hassle of packed trains/buses to get there. Before anyone says it, this is not an anti-Falmer comment, just a statement of fact about the location of Falmer.

Those of us who didn't live in Hove had the hassle of packed trains back then I hate to tell you. Falmer is no more difficult to get to by public transport than The Goldstone and it's arguably better by car.

 

[Ex Shelton Seagull]

Let's take a look at how attendances have been affected when other sides have moved to new stadiums, shall we?

Hull City
2003/04 16,170
2002/03 12,843 - 1st Season in new stadium
2001/02 9,506 - Stadium Constructed
2000/01 6,684 - New Stadium announced

Huddersfield Town
1995/96 13,151
1994/95 11,665 - 1st Season in new stadium
1993/94 6,368
1992/93 5,910

Northampton Town
1995/96 4,831
1994/95 5,092 - 1st Season in new stadium
1993/94 3,414
1992/93 3,125
1991/92 2,800

Southampton
2002/03 30,680
2001/02 30,633 - 1st Season in new stadium
2000/01 15,115
1999/00 15,132

Sunderland
1999/00 41,375
1998/99 38,745
1997/98 34,337 - 1st Season in new stadium
1996/97 20,847
1995/96 17,504
1994/95 15,746

Stoke City
1998/99 12,735 - Finished 8th in Division 2
1997/98 15,003 - 1st Season in new stadium (Relegated to Div2)
1996/97 12,478 - Finished 14th in Div1
1995/96 12,279 - Reached play-offs in Division 1

Reading
2001/02 14,115 - Promoted to Div1 (Madjeski Stadium)
1993/94 6,951 - Promoted to Div1 (Elm Park)

Wigan Athletic
2000/01 6,774
1999/00 7,007 - Moved to new stadium
1998/99 4,250
1997/98 3,968

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Those of us who didn't live in Hove had the hassle of packed trains back then I hate to tell you. Falmer is no more difficult to get to by public transport than The Goldstone and it's arguably better by car.

As someone who used to get the train from Seaford to Brighton then walk to the Goldstone from Brighton station I'd have to disagree to an extent. You had the option not to be on a packed train - how many people are going to be walking to Falmer from Brighton station? With the Goldstone there were many more options in terms of arriving at the ground and that also included more options on rail travel - with Falmer it's just one train line to/from Seaford/Eastbourne and one to/from Brighton. As far as the car goes, parking availability will be limited as well.

 

[Icy Gull]

Just what was the capacity of the Goldstone then?

Think it was 28,000 for the 1st game in Div 1 (Premiership)against Arsenal (0-4 ) which was very close to capacity.

Amazingly we never had a capacity crowd at the Goldstone, for a league game the whole time we were in the old Div 1.