[Albion] Our average league gate will be over 26k..,

[Seasider78]

Wasn't today the deadline for ST renewals? If so wonder how many actually renewed

 

[Hampster Gull]

Snidey bitch slapping aside it is worth reflecting back to the original point of this thread.
By the end of the season we will have had just over 600K fans pay for tickets for league games. That will increase to 630K if we make it into the play-offs and if you include the two cup games that increases to around 680K seats sold.
By any account that is phenomenal success and everyone from the club and its fans deserves to be given some credit. I try to have a word with a few away fans after every game about their experience and very few have anything but praise for the stadium and the way they are treated.......for the palarse game even the horses enjoyed a good day out!
People can try to criticise our fanbase as plastic all they like but the simple truth is that, given we have really not achieved anything yet to be plastic about, what our attendances actually demonstrate is that if you offer a good product people will buy-in to it. Simples!

Good post

 

[Wozza]

The crowd for the Norwich QF in 83 was 28,800. Amazingly it was not all ticket and some were locked out. I remember getting in the North about 1pm and by 2pm it was full to heaving.

I didn't know that. My dad took me (I was 12), and I doubt we got there that early.

 

[Brovion]

Remember as well that the matches in 79/80 against Liverpool, Man U, Spurs and Forest were all ticket. If they had been POTG the crowds might have been higher.

I went to all those and I don't remember any of them being all-ticket, simply because in those days it was such a hassle making games all-ticket (remember Derby in the Cup) and it was easier to simply lock the gates when the ground was full (Norwich in the Cup). I could be wrong of course, and it will be interesting to see if anyone else remembers. 99.99% certain the Forest game certainly wasn't as by that stage there was no demand and only 25,000 turned up anyway.

Bit of both in my opinion. The Tottenham game in April 1978 had so much crowd trouble that it resulted in fencing being put up in the close season. This restricted the view for a lot of fans plus the fact that going to watch football then could be seriously dodgy.

Our average attendance in 1978/79 was considerably lower despite getting promotion to Div.1.

When we did get into Div.I - August 1979 - the Goldstone capacity was reduced to 28,000.

Despite playing, the then, top sides in Europe in Liverpool, Forest, Aston Villa and Man.Utd(!) we never seemed to hit that capacity. (Correct me if I'm wrong)
...

Jeez, don't people read threads before posting? When we got into the First division our capacity was NOT reduced to 28,000. I'll repeat that, when we got into the First division our capacity was NOT reduced to 28,000. When we kicked off against Arsenal it was originally around 33,500 and there was widespread disappointment that the Arsenal attendance was only 28,604, some 5,000 below capacity. (You are correct that we never hit capacity once).

The capacity stayed at 33,500 almost all the way through that first season, but then just after the penultimate home game (against Middlesborough) the South Stand burned down. This originally had a terrace in the front, but when it was re-built it became all-seater which lowered the capacity. At the start of the 1980/81 season, partly due to the South Stand being rebuilt and partly due to the 1975 Safety at Sports Grounds Act, the capacity was actually as low as 24,000, but was increased as the season progressed and work was carried out.

 

[Sussex Nomad]

I thought it was reduced to the 28k no 30k in top flight

It did.

 

[Sussex Nomad]

The crowd for the Norwich QF in 83 was 28,800. Amazingly it was not all ticket and some were locked out. I remember getting in the North about 1pm and by 2pm it was full to heaving.

I was there, had to stand in the East right next to the away supporters... they were mental! Even for Norwich standards.

 

[el punal]

I went to all those and I don't remember any of them being all-ticket, simply because in those days it was such a hassle making games all-ticket (remember Derby in the Cup) and it was easier to simply lock the gates when the ground was full (Norwich in the Cup). I could be wrong of course, and it will be interesting to see if anyone else remembers. 99.99% certain the Forest game certainly wasn't as by that stage there was no demand and only 25,000 turned up anyway.


Jeez, don't people read threads before posting? When we got into the First division our capacity was NOT reduced to 28,000. I'll repeat that, when we got into the First division our capacity was NOT reduced to 28,000. When we kicked off against Arsenal it was originally around 33,500 and there was widespread disappointment that the Arsenal attendance was only 28,604, some 5,000 below capacity. (You are correct that we never hit capacity once).

The capacity stayed at 33,500 almost all the way through that first season, but then just after the penultimate home game (against Middlesborough) the South Stand burned down. This originally had a terrace in the front, but when it was re-built it became all-seater which lowered the capacity. At the start of the 1980/81 season, partly due to the South Stand being rebuilt and partly due to the 1975 Safety at Sports Grounds Act, the capacity was actually as low as 24,000, but was increased as the season progressed and work was carried out.

You're right of course. Fading memories and all that. It was during the close season that the Albion put forward plans to develop the Goldstone with a capacity of 28,000. These plans were available for public viewing at Hove town hall. All in the past now eh!

 

[Questions]

Strange how 78/79 is way down on 77/78. There were no reductions in capacity until Summer 1979, and 78/79 saw a more successful team.

No Spurs or Saints the following year though.

 

[Peter Grummit]

In terms of yesterday's crowd, although it was an official sell-out, the block in the S next to the away fans was only 2/3 full, and the back 2 rows of the N stand on the east side were empty. Is this because we are bumping up against the safety maximum, rather than running out of available seats?

PG

 

[Brovion]

You're right of course. Fading memories and all that. It was during the close season that the Albion put forward plans to develop the Goldstone with a capacity of 28,000. These plans were available for public viewing at Hove town hall. All in the past now eh!

No worries, I'm just amazed at how many people glibly state that our capacity 'was reduced in 1979 to 28,000'. You're not the only offender on this thread and I've seen it before. Interestingly in the whole of the 'glory years' (well, until the South Stand burned down at the end of our first season in the top flight) the biggest crowd, was the 33,500 (i.e. the all-ticket sell-out) for the Derby County League Cup game. The next closest was the Blackpool game at the end of 77/78 with 33,431. Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal, Palace - none of them came close. All quite incredible though when you think the first game of the 76/77 season (Mullery's first) there were 'only' 13,000 there.

No Spurs or Saints the following year though.

That's only two games out of 21, it doesn't explain why the overall average dropped by over 3,000.

 

[HenryC]

In terms of yesterday's crowd, although it was an official sell-out, the block in the S next to the away fans was only 2/3 full, and the back 2 rows of the N stand on the east side were empty. Is this because we are bumping up against the safety maximum, rather than running out of available seats?

PG

Yes. I think our official safe capacity at present is 28,500

 

[Questions]

No worries, I'm just amazed at how many people glibly state that our capacity 'was reduced in 1979 to 28,000'. You're not the only offender on this thread and I've seen it before. Interestingly in the whole of the 'glory years' (well, until the South Stand burned down at the end of our first season in the top flight) the biggest crowd, was the 33,500 (i.e. the all-ticket sell-out) for the Derby County League Cup game. The next closest was the Blackpool game at the end of 77/78 with 33,431. Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal, Palace - none of them came close. All quite incredible though when you think the first game of the 76/77 season (Mullery's first) there were 'only' 13,000 there.
That's only two games out of 21, it doesn't explain why the overall average dropped by over 3,000.

I was talking about the drop from 78 to 79 which went down about 450 on average. We had 30 k against Spurs and Saints in the 78/79 campaign didn't we so their replacements the following season may have not been such an attraction and couple that with the 2nd season syndrome We are only talking about 10.3 k over the course of the season. The drop once we got to the top flight was down to the increasing crowd trouble and the fact we got tonked most weeks.

 

[portslade seagull]

I was there, had to stand in the East right next to the away supporters... they were mental! Even for Norwich standards.

Not really, I was in the east as well and after the game they attempted to charge us as we turned into old shoreham rd but when we didn't run they shat themselves and we charged them

 

[Brovion]

I was talking about the drop from 78 to 79 which went down about 450 on average. We had 30 k against Spurs and Saints in the 78/79 campaign didn't we so their replacements the following season may have not been such an attraction and couple that with the 2nd season syndrome We are only talking about 10.3 k over the course of the season. The drop once we got to the top flight was down to the increasing crowd trouble and the fact we got tonked most weeks.

Eh? Our first season in the Second Division (77/78) we averaged 25,264. Our second season (78/79) we only averaged 22,074, a drop of 3,190. One of the reasons was that whilst it was ultimately successful we DID actually struggle for a while: at one stage we were as low as 12th and all the plastics went back to their big teams*. In that first season we were always there or thereabouts.

*My tongue is slightly in my cheek with that comment!

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Eh? Our first season in the Second Division (77/78) we averaged 25,264. Our second season (78/79) we only averaged 22,074, a drop of 3,190. One of the reasons was that whilst it was ultimately successful we DID actually struggle for a while: at one stage we were as low as 12th and all the plastics went back to their big teams*. In that first season we were always there or thereabouts.

*My tongue is slightly in my cheek with that comment!

You're right..there was a lot of doom and gloom around in the first 3+ months of the season, particularly after the excitement of the previous season. We did slip down to mid-table, some way off the pace. There was a shit or bust away game in October or November that season ( Sheff Utd I think ) Defeat and we would have been in the bottom half but thankfully we won it. The form picked up after that and to some extent, the stayaways came back.
There is no question, we had our fair share of fickle fans in those days. ( How many came flocking back to the Goldstone when Clough and Taylor joined !!! )

 

[Gwylan]

Eh? Our first season in the Second Division (77/78) we averaged 25,264. Our second season (78/79) we only averaged 22,074, a drop of 3,190. One of the reasons was that whilst it was ultimately successful we DID actually struggle for a while: at one stage we were as low as 12th and all the plastics went back to their big teams*. In that first season we were always there or thereabouts.

*My tongue is slightly in my cheek with that comment!

Two other factors to take into account.

In 77/78 our last game was at home and we got a massive crowd v Blackpool, hoping we could get promotion. Our last game in 78/79 couldn't earn us promotion and it was about 11,000 fewer - that's a massive decrease.

You should also remember that 78/79 was an exceptionally cold winter (the worst since 62/83 or 48/49 depending what records you look at). People may have been put off by the cold or simply not been able to travel. I lived in Bradford that season and I don't think I came down once in term-time whereas the previous season I travelled down a couple of times per term.

It was also the 'Winter of Discontent' and maybe some of the supporters were on strike for part of that winter and had less spare cash. May only have been a hundred or so, but all these different reasons start adding up.

 

[Brovion]

Two other factors to take into account.

In 77/78 our last game was at home and we got a massive crowd v Blackpool, hoping we could get promotion. Our last game in 78/79 couldn't earn us promotion and it was about 11,000 fewer - that's a massive decrease.

You should also remember that 78/79 was an exceptionally cold winter (the worst since 62/83 or 48/49 depending what records you look at). People may have been put off by the cold or simply not been able to travel. I lived in Bradford that season and I don't think I came down once in term-time whereas the previous season I travelled down a couple of times per term.

It was also the 'Winter of Discontent' and maybe some of the supporters were on strike for part of that winter and had less spare cash. May only have been a hundred or so, but all these different reasons start adding up.

It was about 6,000 fewer (Blackburn) and you're right it couldn't have got us promotion - but that was rather my point. When we dropped as low as 12th the crowds dropped to 16,000 (Orient and Luton), then as the results picked up so did the crowds. All other factors are minor when compared to the fact that crowds turn up for the big games, for the novelty and to see a winning team.

 

[Return of the Rev]

Wasn't today the deadline for ST renewals? If so wonder how many actually renewed

not me

 

[T soprano]

When people talk about dropping attendances in 79 -80 and the following years I know a lot of people at the time were put off going to the Goldstone after the fences were put up after the crowd trouble With spurs I remember my headmaster at school telling me he would never go again because he objected to being caged in and treated like an animal, hooliganism was rife at the time and turned many away from attending live matches

 

[Questions]

Eh? Our first season in the Second Division (77/78) we averaged 25,264. Our second season (78/79) we only averaged 22,074, a drop of 3,190. One of the reasons was that whilst it was ultimately successful we DID actually struggle for a while: at one stage we were as low as 12th and all the plastics went back to their big teams*. In that first season we were always there or thereabouts.

*My tongue is slightly in my cheek with that comment!

We got to the quarter finals of the league cup in 78/79 didn't we ? Maybe that was the figure that I have taken into consideration so as to get the lesser difference in gates. That could well have raised the average. I do concede you are right on league attendances though.
My story of the Seagulls has overprints on those 2 years and I got it from the club for a quid along with the A to Z. Teach me for being a cheapskate.

When was the Wolves 3-2 defeat at home when Lauro got a belter ? That was a big gate that year wasn't it in the league cup.