Disillusioned Reading fans again!

[BUTTERBALL]

The so called "gaps" were about 2,000 cheap seats. Unfortunately, they were in the most prominent area tv wise.

28,000 is fantastic. 25,000 would be ample. I think we would get average crowds of about 18,000 and capacity for larger games. That would do very nicely.

23,000 seats would be fine.

 

[berkshire seagull]

We took over 35,000 fans, a record until Bristol City played Carlisle in the LDV vans trophy.
You took about 31,000 fans, including at least 2 Reading fans (me and my sister)

sorry, but that really is a non-argument.

Yeah an extra 100 miles
Still stick to the 28k i said you took

 

[Wilts]

Yeah an extra 100 miles
Still stick to the 28k i said you took

Berks you know the facts! Go and ask the club

Pardew went on the radio and complained a week before the game that we'd ONLY sold 30,000... with 7 days remaining! Comeon...

 

[berkshire seagull]

we took 36500 fans in 1995 and about 35000 in 2001.
Our record at Elm Park was 33,000
We took 40,000 to wembley for the Simod cup.

Our attendance records are not that dissimilar.

You will find average attendances over the years are very much diffrent and its only since the 90s the club has suffered and of course its the same argument time again.
Yes we are a bloody fair bit bigger end of story and its only the recent 5 years or so at the madjeski that makes these talks.

If we had that playoff final at wembly you would see 40-50k as things have changed at the club and passion is back after many years.

Stop the pointless rant until we prove it right at falmer once and for all and i can tell ya the ground won't be big enough.

reading have done very well and you have to take your hat off and its the big away followings that boost the crowds even more remember and your crowds have dropped this season for sure.

 

[saltash seagull]

Yeah an extra 100 miles
Still stick to the 28k i said you took

im glad some1 mentioned that reading is over an hour nearer to cardiff

 

[berkshire seagull]

Berks you know the facts! Go and ask the club

Pardew went on the radio and complained a week before the game that we'd ONLY sold 30,000... with 7 days remaining! Comeon...

You stick to your guns and if you did well done as its also an easy trip down the m4

Its the home gates that count remember and not about many glory hunters.

 

[albionman]

Anyway, glad that Huntley and Palmers are making a comeback.

It'll put Reading back on the map biscuit wise

 

[London Irish]

I only have this to say:

http://www.royals.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1927

In future there is no competition - we are about 10 years ahead of BHA at the moment and I can't see it changing

Aren't you a bit worried that, as someone says on this thread you are putting up as evidence of your wonderfulness, that your home attendances fell last season - this in a year you had a fairly good tilt at the play-offs?

Reading have done well over recent years but as a club they seem to have maximised their current potential. The Albion's potential is limitless and to have got 30K with our setbacks over the past 10 years is a staggering achievement. Well done for holding the record for a stadium at the end of your motorway, surprise surprise that record has gone to another M4 club - put the Millennium at the end of the M23 and I think we'd take that record off Bristol.

But the good news for you is that at least with the visit of the Albion to the Madjet next season, it might not take you as long as April to overhaul your rugby tenants for the biggest league attendance at your own ground

 

[Gwylan]

Well done for holding the record for a stadium at the end of your motorway, surprise surprise that record has gone to another M4 club - put the Millennium at the end of the M23 and I think we'd take that record off Bristol.

I think that's right. I don't think the effect of the easy journey from Reading to Cardiff should be underestimated. Wilts might say that it's only a 100 miles, but that could make a huge difference.

As an example, one of the mates I went with brought his two sons and they went on the special train. His two daughters were interested as well but he just couldn't have afforded another £140 and he didn't fancy the long drive. If it had been at a stadium at Gatwick, say, he'd have brought them.

Imagine how many more people in Brighton thought like that - we'd easily have had more than 40,000 applications for tickets if the stadium had been closer.

 

[Wilts]

I think that's right. I don't think the effect of the easy journey from Reading to Cardiff should be underestimated. Wilts might say that it's only a 100 miles, but that could make a huge difference.

As an example, one of the mates I went with brought his two sons and they went on the special train. His two daughters were interested as well but he just couldn't have afforded another £140 and he didn't fancy the long drive. If it had been at a stadium at Gatwick, say, he'd have brought them.

Imagine how many more people in Brighton thought like that - we'd easily have had more than 40,000 applications for tickets if the stadium had been closer.

lol! Anything to make the mighty BHA sound better! Reading is 120 miles from Cardiff, Brighton is about as far away as Huddersfield (almost) and they still managed a mere 3,000 less for a playoff final in a lower division! Distance means nothing when it comes to games like this and you know it...

A stadium at the end of the motorway is like having final in Leeds and telling Luton Town that they haven't done well to take loads of fans there.

A level playing field is what BHA fans wanted to "prove" their amazing amount of fans over us, and it was a failed mission! How much more of a level playing field do you need!?!!

Nice to see that there were two games bigger than the London Irish gate in the league last season, West Ham and Norwich... both also on TV I might add.

Mind you, if England paraded the football World Cup trophy around the Madejski then I'd bet most of you would probably turn up!

"Limitless potential" lol, London Irish.... we are around halfway there at the moment. No signs of stopping yet as the place is growing year by year and an area like Sussex (with not much in it) is another one of those false "catchment areas". With a little blip in the drive for the Premiership, you can't deny that the potential isn't still there, with a place as big as Reading and the sheer amount of people that live around our area (the same "floating fans" that you're trying to grab now)

 

[Stumpy Tim]

I'll bet that if we are in division 1, our first season at Falmer will see an average gate of over 20,000.

Not a chance - unless we're pushing for promotion to the Premiership. I reckon we'll do well to average 15000 after the first few games

 

[Gwylan]

Distance means nothing when it comes to games like this and you know it...

Wilts, that's absolute drivel. I think you're clutching at straws now. As I mentioned in my post, I personally know of one person who would have brought his whole family if the drive had been a shorter one. I cannot believe that he's the only person in Brighton who felt the same: a 13 or 14 hours of driving in one day is no joke and lot of people would not undertake that.

I'd agree that to the diehard fans distance doesn't matter but we're not talking about diehard fans here. Don't try to kid yourself that Reading has 40,000 fanatical supporters, I was at the Mad last year and even with a strong Brighton element in the crowd you still only mustered, what, 13,000.

Of course, you'll bring loads to a big game and so did Brighton, but I bet you wouldn't bring 40,000 if the final were to be held in Newcastle, say.

 

[BUTTERBALL]

Reading is one of the dullest towns in England, so they need something to do otherwise they all go shopping in Broad Street Mall

 

[Brovion]

lol! Anything to make the mighty BHA sound better! Reading is 120 miles from Cardiff, Brighton is about as far away as Huddersfield (almost) and they still managed a mere 3,000 less for a playoff final in a lower division! Distance means nothing when it comes to games like this and you know it...

Absolute rubbish from a normally sensible poster. It cost me just under £185 to take the four of us on regular trains to and from Cardiff, not to mention the hassle of getting to, and crossing, London to get to Paddington. Add that to the £140 for tickets and you can see that for some people, no matter how dedicated, it was a game too far. I know of another fan who has FOUR kids (youngest aged 5) who decided that it was just too far and too much. He had a family barbeque instead and watched it on TV.

So yes, distance does make a difference. And yes as has been posted Reading ARE currently a bigger club, and yes you too have a large number of fans who come out of the woodwork for big games. But it IS easier for Reading fans to get to Cardiff, when the train pulled into Reading on the way back in terms of time we weren't even half-way home.

 

[Gwylan]

I fully understand that we don't have 40,000 fanatical supporters, but on the same vein, you don't have 30,000 of them.
As has been said before, how many a club takes to a cup final shows very little, but if you can't fill your allocation, then that has shown that your support is lower than the allocation.
If fans can't be bothered to turn up for a playoff final, one of the biggest games on the calendar, will they be bothered to turn up every week if they get a chance to?
...
Theres little point arguing about this until you have Falmer, then we'll see what sort of crowds you get, and I'll bet my bottom dollar you'll rarely fill it, and you can quote me on that.

And has been pointed out several times, comparing our attendance with yours at Cardiff is bollocks. If the final were held in London, we'd have filled our end, no problem. If the final were held in Newcastle, say, you wouldn't fill yours. The hardcore fans would go to any game, the floaters would go according to cost. My mate who didn't take all his kids is very well-paid but the cost was too prohibitive for him.

I don't think we'll fill Falmer every game either. But I wouldn't mind betting that, if we were in the same division, Brighton's average gate would be higher than Reading's.

After all, even in the crappy old Goldstone, when we were bottom of the 3rd division, playing absolutely awful football, we were still getting 10,000+ crowds. Imagine what we could get in a brand new stadium in Division One.

 

[Lammy]

God I hate Reading!

Just because a chairman with money comes along to build a new stadium as a huge cock extention (who names a stadium after themselves?) you think you are a big club?

You are playing to get into the Prem and yet you only get crowds of 11,000!! Cardiff is FAR easier to get to for you lot than us! Now when Wembley is finished we'll be able to take more! If Bristol Rovers played Ipswich in the Millenium stadium they would probably take more fans, are they bigger? No.

As for the history argument. It is the rich history of a club that dictates it's 'size'. Liverpool is a bigger club than Arsenal for example. We have played in the top flight, we have made the FA cup final we have won back to back championships! Are fans have had to travel 130miles round trip to watch us play at 'home'. We have people sitting in the trees to watch us lift trophies at Withdean! We are losing fans on a daily basis to clubs like Chelski as casual supporters can no longer get tickets to watch us play!

At the end of the day Readings support will probably go down if they make it to the Prem as you will be competing against your 'fans' first teams!

God I hate Reading!

 

[Simster]

I know some people won't agree with me but I'd still be willing to bet that our gates will be averaging 19-20k in our first season at Falmer if we are in division 1 and the prices are reasonable. Sure it will tail off, but in that first season I know of people in my own family who will go to Falmer who have never been to a football match before. I suspect they are not alone. What has happened at Hull (a similar sized club to us?) They averaged 17,000 this season didn't they?

 

[Lammy]

That is mostly bullshit, Lammy

We named the stadium after Madejski.
Why not, It's a tribute to a great chairman, who has taken this club forwards.

What do you mean we get crowds of only 11,000?
We have had low crowds, yes, but we've also had high crowds as well, averaging 15,000 this season, not 11,000


Hate stems from jealousy and fear.

And I will certainly not go to watch the other teams.

I am waiting with eager anticipation for the first seasons average attendances at Falmer, I'm sure they will be a lot lower than you think.

Hate stems from a club that keeps stealing our players and managers because THEY are jealous of OUR success.

 

[berkshire seagull]

Thanks.
How many of you will be descending on us for our famous festival?


Gwylan, I fully understand that we don't have 40,000 fanatical supporters, but on the same vein, you don't have 30,000 of them.
As has been said before, how many a club takes to a cup final shows very little, but if you can't fill your allocation, then that has shown that your support is lower than the allocation.
If fans can't be bothered to turn up for a playoff final, one of the biggest games on the calendar, will they be bothered to turn up every week if they get a chance to?

Stumpy Tim, I agree totally with you.
I firmly believe we are now clubs with a fairly even level of attraction, and at Falmer your crowds will fluctuate just like ours do. A generation of support has been lost since you were sucessful, and you will have years of floating support. The trends in supporters have now changed so that if it is fashionable to support a premiership team, people will, regardless of where this team is and how often they can watch them.
For you to fill the stadium every week would take one hell of a lot of effort, as people who are out of the habit of going to football won't just start turning up again.
Bolton averaged 14,384 in a season they made the playoffs, (1999-2000) and we averaged 16,000 when we did (in the 2002-03) season, yet I would not argue that Bolton have less support than us.
The bottom line is that supporters are people who turn up to games, and you can only measure that by the average attendance over a year.

Wilts
West Brom got 20,500 as well, at the end of the season.
We won't mention the Chelsea game, you all know we sold it out.

London Irish, your two games that got crowds significantly greater than 10,000 were the day the England team paraded the world cup trophy, and the annual St Patricks Day Party.
Apart from these two special occasions, you averaged roughly 8000
(http://www.sportnetwork.net/main/s97/st25335.htm)
Therefore that is a rubbish argument, as most of the people who turned up to those games probably didn't go to any others.
Just like the Millenium stadium argument.

Berk.

If we took 28,000, that meant Walsall took 22,000, and from this photo above, does it look like that was the case, considering we had from blocks 12-38 , them 1-11?

Sorry, berky boy, I know you like to think we're that little club on your doorstep, but that was 10 years ago.


Theres little point arguing about this until you have Falmer, then we'll see what sort of crowds you get, and I'll bet my bottom dollar you'll rarely fill it, and you can quote me on that.

Reckon it looks like 28k son If you had 35k it would be full to capacity and not one gap and even if that was exstended it wouldn't be 35k.Look loads of gaps along the top and massive patches and around where the picture was taken.

The point is brizzle had around 35k with no empty seats whats so ever
28-30k is about right in that picture

What it is,is that you got offered 35k and sold 28-30k why spread you out further as it holds 35k

Case rested boom boom

 

[Simster]

It looks to me as though Reading have got two thirds the stadium and Walsall have about a quarter of it. There are gaps all over the place in Reading's section whereas Walsall's is fairly tightly packed. It also looks to me as though Reading's support is about the same as (maybe slightly less than) Bristol City's was, and more than ours - maybe 35,000 against Walsall's 15-16,000?

Berkshire, are you blind?