Crowds at Falmer

[Brovion]

The location of the stadium will negatively impact on our crowds imho. It's all been said on here before, but the Gallstone was in a fantastic location and of course you could just turn up and pay on the day, both factors which maximised home crowd potential. It remains to be seen how many will regularly make the 'trek' to Falmer.

Oh I agree and we had a lengthy debate about that on here about a month ago. Currently however for Falmer ease of access and ease of ticketing are unknown variables which is why I was discounting them, but I can't see it being worse than it is at present (although not as good as the Goldstone). In Falmer's defence though I don't think we're doing anything out of the ordinary; almost all clubs who've changed grounds have swapped 'in city' grounds for 'out of town' grounds and most seem to be prospering.

It IS no doubt a debate we'll have time and time again though in the future: "I waited five hours before I could get on a train" etc etc.

 

[james1971]

think there would be an average of 12000 to 15000 after the first few games are played. again, it depends on where we are in the league. must not forget that some away teams will not sell their allocation of tickets.

would like to know where the 3000 have gone since stockport. i for 1 would go once a month but work and the price of a ticket, it speaks for it self.

 

[Storer68]

Rather than bang on with some tired old arguments, let's look at the experience of Bolton Wanderers.

Burnden Park was slap bang in the middle of Bolton, but crowds suffered as the team declined and the ground became "unfit for purpose" (antone who went there for the game in 1991 will recall just how impressive the away end was with half of it missing and replaced with a branch of Sainsbury's.

Now, at the Reebok (out of town)they regulalry attract double the attendance that went to Burnden Park. They have established themselves a s a regular fixture in the Premier League. They have attracted some terrific players (Djourkaeff sprongs to mind) who would never even entertained the thought of playing for Bolton Wanderers when they were stuck at crumbling Burnden PArk.

Where would you rather play/watch
This ?

or this ?

 

[Notters]

Rather than bang on with some tired old arguments, let's look at the experience of Bolton Wanderers.

Burnden Park was slap bang in the middle of Bolton, but crowds suffered as the team declined and the ground became "unfit for purpose" (antone who went there for the game in 1991 will recall just how impressive the away end was with half of it missing and replaced with a branch of Sainsbury's.

Now, at the Reebok (out of town)they regulalry attract double the attendance that went to Burnden Park. They have established themselves a s a regular fixture in the Premier League. They have attracted some terrific players (Djourkaeff sprongs to mind) who would never even entertained the thought of playing for Bolton Wanderers when they were stuck at crumbling Burnden PArk.

Where would you rather play/watch
This ?

or this ?

The ground with terraces will ALWAYS win my vote.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Rather than bang on with some tired old arguments, let's look at the experience of Bolton Wanderers.

Burnden Park was slap bang in the middle of Bolton, but crowds suffered as the team declined and the ground became "unfit for purpose" (antone who went there for the game in 1991 will recall just how impressive the away end was with half of it missing and replaced with a branch of Sainsbury's.

Now, at the Reebok (out of town)they regulalry attract double the attendance that went to Burnden Park. They have established themselves a s a regular fixture in the Premier League. They have attracted some terrific players (Djourkaeff sprongs to mind) who would never even entertained the thought of playing for Bolton Wanderers when they were stuck at crumbling Burnden PArk.

Aren't Reebok crowds around the 20k mark sometimes though? If that is the case then it's not that great for Premiership level football.

I doubt Djourkaeff would ever have chosen to live and play in Bolton, no matter how great the stadium, if his wage packet didn't reflect this lifestyle 'sacrifice'

 

[Publius Ovidius]

Now there's three factors there: the environment, the football and the price. Change any one of those and the chances of my attending games goes up considerably. Change two and I'd be an almost definite punter; after all, I might be a bad fan but I'm still a fan. I don't think I'm alone in having this view.

EDIT: I'm ignoring any ticketing and transport problems for the purposes of this debate.

I would be extremely surprised if the prices for Falmer will be lower that withdean.

I think it will dfepend on what division we are in, who we are playing and most importantly the hassle factor....if its easy to get tickets, in a form of pay on the day, ie buy a ticket from somewhere near the ground ( if not at it,) or have a swipe card effort, which doesn't inconvenience people, then I think we will get decent gates. If its hell to get to and from the ground, trains and transport and parking is so restrictive that it will give people an excuse NOT to go, then that also could be a factor.

personally, I would hope to be able to drive and park my car somewhere near the ground ( maybe at Falmer school, University etc) and I would pay the £5 to do so. I have no intention of catching the train or a bus on a regular basis as its a right pain from Mile Oak to Withdean now

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

In Falmer's defence though I don't think we're doing anything out of the ordinary; almost all clubs who've changed grounds have swapped 'in city' grounds for 'out of town' grounds and most seem to be prospering.

Agreed.

 

[fozzie's headband]

I am concerned that the posted crowds published now, count season-ticket holders as a "given" whether they turn up or not.

The crowd figures published by the Albion are the actual number of fans that have passed through the turnstiles and not all ticket sales for the game in question.
For example on Tuesday night the total ticket sales were around 6,350, but the actual attendance was 5,960 so around 400 STH didn't attend.

Like you say, many clubs do publish the ticket sales figure instead. I've noticed that Huddersfield now actually publish both, attendance by ticket sales and the actual attendance.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

there is a whole generation of liverpool, chelsea and man utd supporting kids in sussex, and its a shame given the history of the club, a new stadium, a championship side and hopefully brighton can win these locals kids back. It must be shite supporting liverpool, arsenal chelsea & co, when you are born and bred in sussex - what affiliation do these kids have with clubs such as these anyway? Unless dads a scouser or a manc........

on the bright side we can be the mk dons of the south coast

 

[Simster]

The ground with terraces will ALWAYS win my vote.

Did you go in 1991? You literally couldn't SEE a third of the pitch from the away terrace because of that supermarket.

So you see, I'm afraid that's right-on bollocks IMO.

 

[Brovion]

...
personally, I would hope to be able to drive and park my car somewhere near the ground ( maybe at Falmer school, University etc) and I would pay the £5 to do so. I have no intention of catching the train or a bus on a regular basis as its a right pain from Mile Oak to Withdean now

I sympathise. When I lived in Lancing it was a piece of piss to get to the Goldstone; either train or drive and park in the many streets in the area. I can imagine getting to Withdean is a pain from anywhere west of Brighton and, barring a direct service, Falmer will be as well.

Another factor that could influence crowds is that given the train problems future generations of 'Westies' may simply decide that Fratton Park is a better bet, and Pompey encroachment into Sussex (which stops now at about Chichester) could reach as far as Worthing.

 

[Simster]

I sympathise. When I lived in Lancing it was a piece of piss to get to the Goldstone; either train or drive and park in the many streets in the area. I can imagine getting to Withdean is a pain from anywhere west of Brighton and, barring a direct service, Falmer will be as well.

Another factor that could influence crowds is that given the train problems future generations of 'Westies' may simply decide that Fratton Park is a better bet, and Pompey encroachment into Sussex (which stops now at about Chichester) could reach as far as Worthing.

On the other hand, Falmer is going to encourage a lot of new fans from north of the city.

All of a sudden, Brighton is going to look as appealling as anywhere if you're based as far north as Redhill. Brighton 35 mins one way, Palace 25 mins the other, but where would you rather watch football? A state of the art stadium or their shithole?

 

[The Grockle]

On the other hand, Falmer is going to encourage a lot of new fans from north of the city.

All of a sudden, Brighton is going to look as appealling as anywhere if you're based as far north as Redhill. Brighton 35 mins one way, Palace 25 mins the other, but where would you rather watch football? A state of the art stadium or their shithole?

I'd agree with that places north of Brighton such as Redhill should be the outer reaches of Brighton's catchment area. Sadly since the loss of the Goldstone Redhill and areas like Horley, Crawley ect have become Palace strongholds.

 

[Tooting Gull]

Pompey encroachment...could reach as far as Worthing.

They'll never take Worthing. That will be our Battle of Britain.

 

[The Grockle]

on the bright side we can be the mk dons of the south coast

Don't say things you can't take back!

 

[Sweeney Todd]

If our first league game of the 2011/12 season is away from home then there is every chance that the first competitive game at Falmer will be in the first round of the League Cup against Accrington Stanley.

Wouldn't that be an anti-climax?

 

[Husty]

If MK dons can find 10000 fan out of absolutely nowhere whats to say we cant pick up 10000 extra fans with a nicer stadium, and a complement of atleast 7000 who already come regularly

 

[Brovion]

On the other hand, Falmer is going to encourage a lot of new fans from north of the city.

All of a sudden, Brighton is going to look as appealling as anywhere if you're based as far north as Redhill. Brighton 35 mins one way, Palace 25 mins the other, but where would you rather watch football? A state of the art stadium or their shithole?

As far as 'ease of access' is concerned surely for 'northern' fans the Goldstone (Hove station) is/was easier to get to than Falmer? After all there's a direct train from East Croydon to Hove and I don't think we had that many fans from Croydon or south Surrey even when we both played in comparable shitholes. (I take your point though that beautiful state-of-the-art Falmer will be a better place to watch football than sitting in the tinpot sheds at Shithurst Park)

However thinking about it someone (the club or a bus company) may run coaches from Worthing to Falmer to save people the hassle of going by train. They used to do that from Hastings I remember in the 'glory days'; and of course what with every cloud having a silver lining it will be easier for 'Easties' to reach Falmer than it was for them to get to the Goldstone.

 

[The Grockle]

As far as 'ease of access' is concerned surely for 'northern' fans the Goldstone (Hove station) is/was easier to get to than Falmer? After all there's a direct train from East Croydon to Hove and I don't think we had that many fans from Croydon or south Surrey even when we both played in comparable shitholes. (I take your point though that beautiful state-of-the-art Falmer will be a better place to watch football than sitting in the tinpot sheds at Shithurst Park)


I take your point with regard to how easy it was to get to Hove from North Surrey and outer London but the journey from somewhere like Redhill (quite a major rail interchange) to Falmer would still be fairly quick and easy. A quick train to Gatwick, then on to Lewes and one last train to Falmer. The journey would be a little over one hour which is only slightly over twice the journey time to Selhurst.

 

[Storer68]

For northern fans, falmer will be no different from The Goldstone.

Both will usually require you to change trains at Brighton. Hove was one stop. Falmer will be two.

And of course whilst the GG could be accessed via some southbound trains going through the Cliftonville tunnel, F is equally accessible via the Haywards Heath-Lewes line so both could be accessed without going into Brihton if necessary