Is Falmer the answer to all our problems?

[Locky]

That would be the team sitting second in the First Division on goal diffrerence.

Also when the ground was first built, Town went through the divisions and at one point at Xmas were 12 points clear of the pack with promotion to the premiership a certainty....Town missed by 1 point getting into the playoffs that year.

Hudds and district authority has a population of 357,000, Brighton and Hove 285,000.

Please check facts before making assumptions about fan base.

thankyou

dave the pedant

Huddersfield don't have a whole county to themselves.

 

[Simster]

Where are we going to get these 15k fans from? That is essentially doubling our current attendance of home fans from. When we got to the play off final in 1991 are average attendance was only 9000 and we played some reasonable attacking football back then.

Post the Goldstone, we have lost a generation of support and we have to win these back. To think that by opening a shiny arena on the edge of the city will be enough of a USP for people to come and watch us is commercial suicide.

For the first couple of games there will be large attendances, but if we serve up the pish we played on Monday that will drop to the 8-10k mark very quickly. A new ground has not helped Darlington in the slightest and it took Reading a long time to build on the 7000 support they used to get at Elm Park, when they moved.

It's easy to talk about how small we are. I just don't agree. The reason we were getting 9000 in 1991 is more to do with the invisibility of the club throughout the city. Piss poor marketing, a crumbling ground, no community schemes etc. We were a tin pot set up in every way except for the product ON the field.

In my opinion, we will see a surge of interest and average gates of 18,000 if we're a half decent championship side and provide attractive ticket prices. However, unless the whole club is run properly, those gates could EASILY dip below 10,000 - especially if we're not in the Championship as a minimum.

In many ways, the club will need to look at Reading and emulate them. They are a club who have a similar catchment area and potential fan base, only they started from a much smaller fan base than we will be.

 

[Lokki 7]

A decent ground will mean teams are less bothered about coming to Withdean, we will get less away fans because many will simply opt to return to home games regularly and playing in the big grounds will not be such a novelty.

Er.. teams will be less bothered about coming to Withdean because there will not be any football there, we will be in the "decent ground"!
As for less away fans, so what? We don't get the entrance money paid by our away fans so if they travel less and go to Falmer instead that's a good thing isn't it?

 

[Dave the OAP]

Huddersfield don't have a whole county to themselves.

That is fair enough, but even in the good old days we struggled to get 15k inside the Goldstone.

In Sussex, as I find out whenever I get the train to london for saturday games, Brighton fans are in the minority.....Chelsea, Tottenham, etc etc fans all over the place.

Just because we come from sussex, doesn't mean we have to support the local team ( which happens to be Brighton)

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Re: Re: Is Falmer the answer to all our problems?

Er.. teams will be less bothered about coming to Withdean because there will not be any football there, we will be in the "decent ground"!
As for less away fans, so what? We don't get the entrance money paid by our away fans so if they travel less and go to Falmer instead that's a good thing isn't it?

The point I was making was that teams do not enjoy playing at Withdean, in the same way they did not enjoy playing at The Dell.

It might be that once we get a decent ground we get spanked a lot at home.

If we have less fans travelling away I would say that will affect our away performance so yes, it would be a problem.

 

[Norman Baker suck my lozenge]

Re: Re: Re: Is Falmer the answer to all our problems?

The point I was making was that teams do not enjoy playing at Withdean, in the same way they did not enjoy playing at The Dell.

It might be that once we get a decent ground we get spanked a lot at home.

If we have less fans travelling away I would say that will affect our away performance so yes, it would be a problem.

And we're not getting spanked at home at the moment

 

[Lokki 7]

Re: Re: Re: Is Falmer the answer to all our problems?

It might be that once we get a decent ground we get spanked a lot at home.

As oppossed to...

 

[Gordon the Gopher]

I agree that It will not be the instant fix, the big thing with it as said before is that people will be more likely to put money in and invest. This is vital as being a primary school teacher, I have seen at first hand, over the last 20 years, how the clubs support has ebbed away. Out of every class I have taught of 30 odd 10 year olds. I would say maybe one or two max support the Albion. It is all Chelsea, Arsenal or Man U as that is what the kids see day in day out. Oh...and in all those years of working within a 10 mile radius of the Goldstone, I have never seen a single player visit the school!

 

[ripper]

Interesting post Richie, Falmer won't solve all our problems but does remove certain obstacles that are in our way at present.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

That is fair enough, but even in the good old days we struggled to get 15k inside the Goldstone.

depends how you define the "good old days"...

the easiest way to judge what our crowds would be given different scenarios is to look at what other clubs (with whom we have characteristics in common) achieve under those conditions...

Pompey, Southampton, Norwich, Ipswich, Palace, Reading, Plymouth, Hull, etc

which clubs currently get the worst crowds given their league status, the condition of their ground and their catchment area / traditional support levels...?

Millwall?

 

[Jam The Man]

I think it will at least double the gate to the best part of around 14-15,000.
Southampton had a huge surge of interest due to a regenerated situation largely involving the new stadium.. I think they virtually doubled their gate from the Dell - which rarely sold out.

I'm convinced it will happen for us too.. the stayaways since the mid 80's stayed away for good reasons.. bad management, bad structure, no future hopes, no commercial attraction.

All this has been rectified under the current board and positivity will flow once the stadium is up. The fan base is there, the tool to entice it is on the way at last...

Past recent managers have made it clear that other clubs don't like loaning players to us (and have often refused point blank) because of the state of Withdean and what it psychologically does to their players when they get them back!!!

A better set up, incorporating a new stadium, will bring better players, and enable the building of a better team, with a better chance of success... which will again entice more fans in..

BRING IT ON!

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Huddersfield don't have a whole county to themselves.

That is what I meant. I do apologise, I should have rephrased. Also, Rugby League is a top sport in Huddersfield, that is what I was aiming for. No offence intended (or pun?).

Brighton is miles away from any other teams of any sport.

 

[Curious Orange]

Re: Re: Re: Is Falmer the answer to all our problems?

It might be that once we get a decent ground we get spanked a lot at home.

Sorry, Richie, you deserve a flaming for a comment like that.

Our home form over the current and previous seasons has been notably cack!!

 

[Dave the OAP]

That is what I meant. I do apologise, I should have rephrased. Also, Rugby League is a top sport in Huddersfield, that is what I was aiming for. No offence intended (or pun?).

Brighton is miles away from any other teams of any sport.

None taken mate

You do make a good point, as in Hudds the Rugby fans do not really go to football and vice versa.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Past recent managers have made it clear that other clubs don't like loaning players to us (and have often refused point blank) because of the state of Withdean and what it psychologically does to their players when they get them back!!!

What does it do to them then? Turn them into gibbering wrecks??

 

[3gulls]

The size of the crowd is not the only issue. As this is rip-off Brighton, we are sure to be asked to pay a lot more than northern teams charge!

 

[beorhthelm]

We're in the Championship. We can play some decent football (albeit not every week). We have some good young players. Being homeless is really our only real problem.

An immediate effect of a "yes" will be an increase in our cash flow with money going on players rather than lawyers. Once we're at Falmer that will increase further.

So, yes, Falmer is the answer to all our problems.

 

[Pavilionaire]

If we get relegated it will be because of our home form, more specifically the lack of atmosphere at Withdean.

Whether or not Falmer will become a fortress depends upon the atmosphere the home fans generate.

The point needs to be made that crap attendances in 1991 were more to do with football hooliganism and the economic slump than on-field factors.

I don't necessarily think we've lost a generation of fans. The Falmer campaign has generated a lot of expectancy and excitement for football fans nationally, and I think a lot of fans who wouldn't normally go to a match will try Falmer.

Maybe we as fans should try and get one or two extra friends along to games, that would increase the numbers.

 

[Superseagull]

Atmosphere at withdean will improve with the new away section. Away fans closer to the home singing section will create some good chanting banter. Still won't be great, but it will be better.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Huddersfield don't have a whole county to themselves.

Nor do Brighton