Has Support For the Albion Dwindled so badly that......

[Rougvie]

Eh? I had no idea you could do that!

Is this public knowledge? If not I think it should be as I reckon there's loads of people in my position who would rather wait until the day.

Is there a deadline for phoning up and how easy is it to get through on the phone?

Its dead easy, there is a little white hut with a hatch at the Gates, providing you have paid for your ticket by card etc they will hand it to you.

No money can change hands there, but you can ring up anytime during the week and pick your ticket up.

EASY.

 

[Seagull73]

And yet I suspect the signing of a half-decent centre forward might also deal with some of this apathy....

 

[Pavilionaire]

Interesting thread.

I don't think support for the Albion has dwindled, it's more a case of short term apathy from fans while we tread water until the first spade goes into the ground at Falmer.

There are a number of fixed factors like Withdean, no money and the planning process, but there are also variable factors like the playing staff and management team.

Essentially, we've got the same players and same management team, i.e the same lot who were spineless in 2005/06. This makes me feel very numb and indifferent about the season ahead - I feel like I've been there, done that etc.

HOWEVER...if Knight had had the balls to give the job to Dean Wilkins or manage to bring in someone like Holloway, AND if we'd brought in some experienced players to guide the youngsters through the season I'd be excited. But we haven't.

 

[dunno]

As others have said, I think it's down to a variety of things.

1. Falmer. Dates are looking so wishy washy. Can LDC appeal again? How far can they take it? Would there be any further hold ups? Nothing's cut and dried - maybe a few years ago we were a bit naive and thought that the end of the PI would be the end of our woes, clearly not so. Seriously, you could ask 100 fans when they think Falmer will be built and you'd probably get answers ranging from 2008 to 2020, and that's those who think it will be built at all. When you've had to sit with the pissing rain down the back of your neck for eight seasons, it gets harder to justify.

2. Last season. Whatever those who are pro-McGhee say, we were totally spineless. How many games did we see where things were going ok for 20 minutes then the other side stepped up a gear and we were found wanting. As stated earlier, there were no heroics, no breathtaking wins and no grit. People can accept when we're not good enough but we need to go down kicking and screaming. A lot of people felt we were down after we lost at Crewe. That was in February. Depressing.

3. Withdean. Dont't really need to add to what has already been said. Everything is expensive in this part of the country. Younger fans are getting tied up in heavy mortgages, kids can't get tickets in big groups (how many of us started out on the terrace away from our parents in a gang of kids from school etc) and the older fans have got their own kids to pay for. When money's tight, leisure is the first thing to go.

4. Football in general. The game seems to have finally eaten itself. The Premiership is uncompetitive, the World Cup left a sour taste with a lot of people. Everyone in the Football League knows that the best they can hope for in the next 10 years is to 'do a Charlotn' and they're struggling for fans so much that they're probably making a loss on their buses to Hastings.

Having said that, 15 points from the first six games may well change all this....

I agree with eveything there - but would add that my enthusiam for this season has waned partly because of all of the above PLUS the fact the current squad has stagnated at best. As someone else pointed out the last time we were in this division we had players like Knight, Rodger, Piercy, Blackwell (albeit he didn't play that season) as well as players that had done it before like Cullip, Watson, Jones and a younger, fitter Carpenter. This current squad is way below that standard IMHO. Although if we were to sign Burgess and Brittain plus one other quality player that my enthusiam will probably return!!

 

[TSB]

Agree with that - plus if you pay on the gate say the morning of the game you can't be arsed to travel you haven't wasted the money.

Thirded!

 

[British Bulldog]

Since when?

Or is that a misleading statement, and it's that you CAN travel for free.

When I was working on the railway, you could only travel free when on the business of the railway company (e.g. for me, travelling to a site for a meeting or the like). Other than that, I got a certain number of free tickets to use in the course of a year. Whilst I used some for away games, I certainly wouldn't have used it for a ticket I could otherwise buy for under a tenner (bearing in mind the staff discount, that's quite a long journey, even now).

It's called a residential pass that allow's me to travel from where I live to where I work for leisure as well as work purposes for free. That journey takes me through Preston Park station so I get annoyed at having to pay for a travel voucher with my match ticket.

 

[Kent Seagull]

Eh? I had no idea you could do that!

Is this public knowledge? If not I think it should be as I reckon there's loads of people in my position who would rather wait until the day.

Is there a deadline for phoning up and how easy is it to get through on the phone?

I think you have to phone before 1.00 for a 3.00 kick off. sometimes you have to wait in a queue for a while if you leave it until match day. The day before is better. It works for me because I often don't know if I can go much in advance.

 

[BRIGHT ON Q]

I think if we are doing badly and we have a home midweek game on a cold december night with no away support....I dont know about 9,000 seats,i think 3,000 will be enough.
Having said that,If we had a decent ground with a half decent team,everyone knows we would be getting 15,000+

 

[dougdeep]

I concur.

People tend to watch a team for one of two reasons
1. Its playing well, good attractive,attacking football

2. Top end of table, winning games.


Brighton not doing any of that at the moment.

Not me, I watch them because they are my team and they need my support.

 

[Bromley shrimp]

As others have said, I think it's down to a variety of things.

1. Falmer. Dates are looking so wishy washy. Can LDC appeal again? How far can they take it? Would there be any further hold ups? Nothing's cut and dried - maybe a few years ago we were a bit naive and thought that the end of the PI would be the end of our woes, clearly not so. Seriously, you could ask 100 fans when they think Falmer will be built and you'd probably get answers ranging from 2008 to 2020, and that's those who think it will be built at all. When you've had to sit with the pissing rain down the back of your neck for eight seasons, it gets harder to justify.

2. Last season. Whatever those who are pro-McGhee say, we were totally spineless. How many games did we see where things were going ok for 20 minutes then the other side stepped up a gear and we were found wanting. As stated earlier, there were no heroics, no breathtaking wins and no grit. People can accept when we're not good enough but we need to go down kicking and screaming. A lot of people felt we were down after we lost at Crewe. That was in February. Depressing.

3. Withdean. Dont't really need to add to what has already been said. Everything is expensive in this part of the country. Younger fans are getting tied up in heavy mortgages, kids can't get tickets in big groups (how many of us started out on the terrace away from our parents in a gang of kids from school etc) and the older fans have got their own kids to pay for. When money's tight, leisure is the first thing to go.

4. Football in general. The game seems to have finally eaten itself. The Premiership is uncompetitive, the World Cup left a sour taste with a lot of people. Everyone in the Football League knows that the best they can hope for in the next 10 years is to 'do a Charlotn' and they're struggling for fans so much that they're probably making a loss on their buses to Hastings.

Having said that, 15 points from the first six games may well change all this....

A great post AR.

For me the season turned at Luton with a 3-0 drubbing after good results against Hull and QPR, but it was still a fun night out -old style ground looking thru' the window at Mrs Jones's having a cup of tea as you walked to your "seat", (it was virtually impossible for grown adults to sit down comfortably), the bitter cold and fear the game might be called off, Turienzo getting a good round of applause despite not appearing to have a clue about the offside rule and chanted digs at McGhee's team selection.
But then the fun went out of it as we proceeded to lose to Millwall (home), Southampton, Leicester, Watford and virtually everyone apart from Leeds and much later Millwall (away) in an unprecedented barren spell. The trend to spiral down continued uncontrollably until the season end with Stoke at home beating us 5-1. Surprise surprise, no Mc Shane.

We were, as Albion Rob says, totally spineless and the crux of it is that this is totally unacceptable. It was actually a worse season than '72-73, our previous worse Div 2 season, which I had the dubious pleasure to witness.

January's loss of form coincided with the scandalous assertion that nobody wanted to play for us (try selling that one to Micky Adams) and hence our inabilty to sign anyone whilst at the same time letting Knight, McGammon, etc, etc, go, until it's too late and enter Gifton Noel-Williams.

But as if that wasn't bad enough the slide shows absolutely no sign of having been arrested.

From last year's lack of meaningful decision making and lack of leadership all round, one may almost be inclined towards the view that the support of this club was being taken for granted, (did it really make all that much difference which division we played in until Withdean was sorted?) especially at the admission prices being charged, altho' that is not a personal beef of mine. People will actually come in numbers, as has been proven, and endure the "Withdean experience", but only if the club is actually in step with the fans' never-say-die attitude.

On Falmer, look at history and compare the attendance when we moved to Withdean in 1999 with the numbers turning up now. Falmer has the added disadvantage of no mass, traditional, hard- core support on the doorstep (or even a large base of peole there who could be nurtured) plus added difficulties associated with it's remoteness from a transportation point of view. This is not to damn Falmer, but merely question the extent to which it is perceived that it will eventually pull us out of the mire in which we now find ourselves.

 

[Bromley shrimp]

As others have said, I think it's down to a variety of things.

1. Falmer. Dates are looking so wishy washy. Can LDC appeal again? How far can they take it? Would there be any further hold ups? Nothing's cut and dried - maybe a few years ago we were a bit naive and thought that the end of the PI would be the end of our woes, clearly not so. Seriously, you could ask 100 fans when they think Falmer will be built and you'd probably get answers ranging from 2008 to 2020, and that's those who think it will be built at all. When you've had to sit with the pissing rain down the back of your neck for eight seasons, it gets harder to justify.

2. Last season. Whatever those who are pro-McGhee say, we were totally spineless. How many games did we see where things were going ok for 20 minutes then the other side stepped up a gear and we were found wanting. As stated earlier, there were no heroics, no breathtaking wins and no grit. People can accept when we're not good enough but we need to go down kicking and screaming. A lot of people felt we were down after we lost at Crewe. That was in February. Depressing.

3. Withdean. Dont't really need to add to what has already been said. Everything is expensive in this part of the country. Younger fans are getting tied up in heavy mortgages, kids can't get tickets in big groups (how many of us started out on the terrace away from our parents in a gang of kids from school etc) and the older fans have got their own kids to pay for. When money's tight, leisure is the first thing to go.

4. Football in general. The game seems to have finally eaten itself. The Premiership is uncompetitive, the World Cup left a sour taste with a lot of people. Everyone in the Football League knows that the best they can hope for in the next 10 years is to 'do a Charlotn' and they're struggling for fans so much that they're probably making a loss on their buses to Hastings.

Having said that, 15 points from the first six games may well change all this....

A great post AR.

For me the season turned at Luton with a 3-0 drubbing after good results against Hull and QPR, but it was still a fun night out -old style ground looking thru' the window at Mrs Jones's having a cup of tea as you walked to your "seat", (it was virtually impossible for grown adults to sit down comfortably), the bitter cold and fear the game might be called off, Turienzo getting a good round of applause despite not appearing to have a clue about the offside rule and chanted digs at McGhee's team selection.
But then the fun went out of it as we proceeded to lose to Millwall (home), Southampton, Leicester, Watford and virtually everyone apart from Leeds and much later Millwall (away) in an unprecedented barren spell. The trend to spiral down continued uncontrollably until the season end with Stoke at home beating us 5-1. Surprise surprise, no Mc Shane.

We were, as Albion Rob says, totally spineless and the crux of it is that this is totally unacceptable. It was actually a worse season than '72-73, our previous worse Div 2 season, which I had the dubious pleasure to witness.

January's loss of form coincided with the scandalous assertion that nobody wanted to play for us (try selling that one to Micky Adams) and hence our inabilty to sign anyone whilst at the same time letting Knight, McGammon, etc, etc, go, until it's too late and enter Gifton Noel-Williams.

But as if that wasn't bad enough the slide shows absolutely no sign of having been arrested.

From last year's lack of meaningful decision making and lack of leadership all round, one may almost be inclined towards the view that the support of this club was being taken for granted, (did it really make all that much difference which division we played in until Withdean was sorted?) especially at the admission prices being charged, altho' that is not a personal beef of mine. People will actually come in numbers, as has been proven, and endure the "Withdean experience", but only if the club is actually in step with the fans' never-say-die attitude.

On Falmer, look at history and compare the attendance when we moved to Withdean in 1999 with the numbers turning up now. Falmer has the added disadvantage of no mass, traditional, hard- core support on the doorstep (or even a large base of peole there who could be nurtured) plus added difficulties associated with it's remoteness from a transportation point of view. This is not to damn Falmer, but merely question the extent to which it is perceived that it will eventually pull us out of the mire in which we now find ourselves.

 

[Dover]

Albion Rob & Bromley Shrimps posts sum the situation up very well.

I would have brought a Season ticket, but I have been crap with my money this year, & will attempt to get one at Chrstmas, or hopefully before. So here's to saving, & lots of it.

 

[Kukev31]

As others have said, I think it's down to a variety of things.

1. Falmer. Dates are looking so wishy washy. Can LDC appeal again? How far can they take it? Would there be any further hold ups? Nothing's cut and dried - maybe a few years ago we were a bit naive and thought that the end of the PI would be the end of our woes, clearly not so. Seriously, you could ask 100 fans when they think Falmer will be built and you'd probably get answers ranging from 2008 to 2020, and that's those who think it will be built at all. When you've had to sit with the pissing rain down the back of your neck for eight seasons, it gets harder to justify.

2. Last season. Whatever those who are pro-McGhee say, we were totally spineless. How many games did we see where things were going ok for 20 minutes then the other side stepped up a gear and we were found wanting. As stated earlier, there were no heroics, no breathtaking wins and no grit. People can accept when we're not good enough but we need to go down kicking and screaming. A lot of people felt we were down after we lost at Crewe. That was in February. Depressing.

3. Withdean. Dont't really need to add to what has already been said. Everything is expensive in this part of the country. Younger fans are getting tied up in heavy mortgages, kids can't get tickets in big groups (how many of us started out on the terrace away from our parents in a gang of kids from school etc) and the older fans have got their own kids to pay for. When money's tight, leisure is the first thing to go.

4. Football in general. The game seems to have finally eaten itself. The Premiership is uncompetitive, the World Cup left a sour taste with a lot of people. Everyone in the Football League knows that the best they can hope for in the next 10 years is to 'do a Charlotn' and they're struggling for fans so much that they're probably making a loss on their buses to Hastings.

Having said that, 15 points from the first six games may well change all this....

Very good point, and I do think 4. is a major factor. It won't just be us that suffers a loss in attendances this year, that's for sure.

 

[Miami Seagull]

This is my first year without a season ticket for 6 years. One reason - lack of ambition on the pitch from this board. They had a chance to invest in the transfer window in January to try to keep us in the Championship and didn't, the rest was so predictable. I hope its a good season with us challenging at the top but I fear it will be the opposite as, yet again, there's no further investment coming.

 

[Kenhead]

For me its the price of tickets,for the quality of fooball i'm seeing, i'm nowhere near getting what i think is valuve for money. Id rather now go to asda and pick up about 5 films on dvd for the same price of watching the albion at home.
They way we went down last season without a fight has also added to the fact that i just can't be bothered in going, we were 4 points clear of the relegation zone after boxing day, then only won 3 games after that!

 

[Bromley shrimp]

This is my first year without a season ticket for 6 years. One reason - lack of ambition on the pitch from this board. They had a chance to invest in the transfer window in January to try to keep us in the Championship and didn't, the rest was so predictable. I hope its a good season with us challenging at the top but I fear it will be the opposite as, yet again, there's no further investment coming.

Says it all + provides anecdotal evidence of how gates are likely to dip.