The view from Mr Average fan....

[Plastic-Fantastic]

View attachment 37932View attachment 37932 remember 96/97 then it don't look so bad

Interesting that we were playing in 4th Division with what are now three established prem sides (Fulham, Wigan and Swansea).

 

[Puppet Master]

The attendances WILL drop anyway, regardless of what happens on the pitch (barring promotion). Every team has a surge in crowds for a while when they get a new ground. I've said it once, I'll say it again, some people on here are going to look VERY silly when the crowds drop to a similar level of Palace and co soon.

 

[_mark_]

I am interested to hear more from the posters moaning about "midweek & evening" KO's.

Midweek 19.45 KO's have been going on for years and always will do.
Sat 5.20 KO is for TV, they pay so they choose, deal with it while we are lucky enough to be chosen. Once a year we have a University problem but we always will (like Friday nights @ Withdean in December)
Sat 12.30 KO (FA Cup) see above.
Sun 12.00 KO (Palace) Unfortunate but it's one game a year.

3pm on a Saturday (which I love) is great but we now live in a society that's very different to 20/30 years ago.

 

[pastafarian]

I've supported the Seagulls for 34 years since being taken to the Goldstone by my Dad as a 10 year old.

I have had a season ticket for 4 of those seasons, once at The Goldstone, once at Withdean and the first two seasons at The Amex.

In the seasons I don't have a season ticket I still watch them play but just not as regularly.

This is not an issue to me - I'm a family man, I run my own business, and as much as I love The Albion - they are not the be all and end all in my life.

Our first season at The Amex was so exciting and I, like many others, thought we would push on this season. We have shown glimpses of greatness this season, but, so far, on the whole, I have come away feeling like we are just not as good as we were last season.

With all the additional seats coming on stream by March / April, I am thinking that maybe I won't renew my season ticket. I will still go to a fair few games, but unless we drastically improve over the next two or three months, I sense that a fair number of 'Mr Average' fans like me maybe feeling the same.

It just won't be hard to get tickets in future unless we are really challenging for the Premier League.

Just wondered how other Mr or Mrs Average feel at the moment?

Will I guess get some boorish abuse from the die hard fanaticals but let's hope not.

i love the whole Amex experience,i think we are a great mid table team rather than a poor mid table team.....a couple of tweaks and we can rip the arse off this league.you may well be right ST sales may drop,i doubt anyone would be surprised with the new capacity if it did.

but as an average season ticket holding fan who has been attending since the 70`s i think i can say it really is an exciting time to be an albion supporter

personally i am loving it...........you cant win every week!!!!

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I am interested to hear more from the posters moaning about "midweek & evening" KO's.

Midweek 19.45 KO's have been going on for years and always will do.
Sat 5.20 KO is for TV, they pay so they choose, deal with it while we are lucky enough to be chosen. Once a year we have a University problem but we always will (like Friday nights @ Withdean in December)
Sat 12.30 KO (FA Cup) see above.
Sun 12.00 KO (Palace) Unfortunate but it's one game a year.

3pm on a Saturday (which I love) is great but we now live in a society that's very different to 20/30 years ago.

Would you like a white feather? You don't have to accept everything which is thrown at you. I will let you go now as I'm sure your wife has a heap of chores for you to do.

 

[JJ McClure]

Going along to meet your mates (I sit with a group of 4 others in the North Stand) is as much part of going to see the Albion for me as the actual match itself. They are all very good friends who, as I am in London most of the time apart from at weekends, I would not see them at other times. This is a major part of what will keep me renewing.

Similar for me. I still absolutely love the match day experience. Meeting up with mates before hand, watching the game and then discussing it over a few beers afterwards. £500 isn't just for the 90 minutes of football but the whole before and after too. I'll be renewing come rain, shine or divorce (which is most likely).

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Similar for me. I still absolutely love the match day experience. Meeting up with mates before hand, watching the game and then discussing it over a few beers afterwards. £500 isn't just for the 90 minutes of football but the whole before and after too. I'll be renewing come rain, shine or divorce (which is most likely).

Same here.

 

[Withdeano]

Interesting thread. I agree that we don't seem to have pushed on this year - the squad is better but the football is less entertaining. So far this season at the Amex, the performances against Brum, Pboro, Ipswich, Bristol City, Forest and now Watford have been disappointing. In fact, the best game I've seen was away from home at Charlton and even then we didn't make the most of the chances we created. I'll renew, as I think we're on the cusp of something really good and Rome wasn't built in a day, but it's been more frustration than excitement for me and kids this year.

 

[Horses Arse]

Bloody tapatalk - doubled up post and then deleted both......

Love the Amex experience and will def renew 5 season tickets. Frustration at times with the inability to score but the quality of football on show has been decent

 

[Lethargic]

I am interested to hear more from the posters moaning about "midweek & evening" KO's.

Midweek 19.45 KO's have been going on for years and always will do.
Sat 5.20 KO is for TV, they pay so they choose, deal with it while we are lucky enough to be chosen. Once a year we have a University problem but we always will (like Friday nights @ Withdean in December)
Sat 12.30 KO (FA Cup) see above.
Sun 12.00 KO (Palace) Unfortunate but it's one game a year.

3pm on a Saturday (which I love) is great but we now live in a society that's very different to 20/30 years ago.

But circumstances change and I know it's not the clubs fault etc, but I now work in London and have a child season ticket holder at school in Horsham, therefore midweek games are a logistical nightmare for me, again not the clubs fault but circumstances change. I think Saturday has had a amplified affect to the usual polarised reaction because we have improved this season but being so close makes it harder to stomach a performance that was woeful.
I will be renewing but it means an empty seat next season for midweek games not in half term.

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

I'll renew because I go to watch the Albion. Seeing good games, brilliant players and great goals is certainly a bonus, but I have to accept it's not that way for around half of our current crowd.

Beyond all that, the Amex remains a sublime experience, with the feeling that we're all watching something magical gradually unfold.

Just turning up occasionally would risk missing out on the best bits of our club's amazing journey.

 

[Brovion]

I'm not a STH, haven't been a STH for years and have no plans to become a STH. If I'm offered a (free) ticket and I'm not doing anything else I'll go, and occasionally I'll pay full price when I want to go but there are no free tickets available. (Newcastle on Saturday being a good example). I can't see my Albion-watching habits changing if we're in the Prem or League One.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I'll renew because I go to watch the Albion. Seeing good games, brilliant players and great goals is certainly a bonus, but I have to accept it's not that way for around half of our current crowd.

Beyond all that, the Amex remains a sublime experience, with the feeling that we're all watching something magical gradually unfold.

Just turning up occasionally would risk missing out on the best bits of our club's amazing journey.

I agree with this. I only follow Brighton, football in general is mainly ignored, and primarily I go to have some entertainment with my Father, brother and friends. I'm not into DIY or shopping or whatever other people do at the weekend and the Albion is my weekend pastime.

I have views and opinions on how things are going but I am beyond donating too much energy to it unless things a really bad...which they're not.

 

[jezzer]

although everyone wants to watch a winning team, it does amaze me how ridiculous some fans expectations are, did these people buy a season ticket expecting to win almost every game? what divine right did we have to be in the top three? The basic problem everyone knows is the lack of a premier striker, CMS was supposed to be the answer but he quite clearly isnt and until we cure that problem, a problem that was obvious last season, we wont progress, however much our football overall is fantastic to watch, which it has been again in the main this season.

But until that happens and we find that elusive player we will tick along and if people want to drift off because of our lack of constant wins, thats their choice but i do wonder why they bought a st in the first place, if they are so fickle. Watching your team through thick and thin is a supporter, these fairweather people are just spectators, not supporters in the true sense of the word.

as for the gus moaners, he may have got his team selection/subs/tactics wrong at times but we are lucky to have him and for those wishing he left, be careful what you wish for because if you think its bad now, it could be a whole lot worse without him, both visually and results wise.

ultimately, the bottom line as it was when we first entered the amex is how much can tony bloom afford to push the boat out to get those special players, if he cant and im not moaning if he cant, then you can expect this ticking along to continue for a good few seasons to come.

 

[Gullzone]

This is a major problem for me.
I think I'd be a lot more rose tinted if we hadn't had a whiff of greatness.

I remember the feelings I had after the Sheffield Wednesday lol match.
This coming on the back of Barnsley and Burnley.

I'm pretty sure I wrote a thread along the lines of 'will we ever be beaten'.

Quite how that team becomes this team in 3 months is somewhat perplexing.

I think you're spot on with this, I remember having a post match beer with mates in the North bar and all of us were saying very similar. Notwithstanding the obvious need for a striker we now have the 'Barber effect' and I can just see fans being ripped off so that twat can justify his position. Example the cost of tickets for Newcastle

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

I think if we were to return to League One that might be the breaking point for me. (Not that I'm in any way suggesting we will - I am not one of the moaner brigade, and critical comments I make are just that, not a wholesale condemnation of Gus, the team, etc). To be honest it would not be worth having to leave the office early 7 or 8 times (some of which I probably couldn't make anyway) and have to catch up work the next time I'm in. As I say, quality of the football isn't really a consideration (I sat through all the wonderful fare from Wilkins and Adams MK2, and can still just about feel my soaking wet coat from the Carlisle game at the end of 2006, which nearly 2 hours in the Brewery Tap didn't dry), though I'm probably foregoing about £100-150 worth of games as a STH, which is why a relegation might cause me not to renew. That said, I'd probably regret it and come back pretty quickly.

 

[R. Slicker]

I am interested to hear more from the posters moaning about "midweek & evening" KO's.

Midweek 19.45 KO's have been going on for years and always will do.
Sat 5.20 KO is for TV, they pay so they choose, deal with it while we are lucky enough to be chosen. Once a year we have a University problem but we always will (like Friday nights @ Withdean in December)
Sat 12.30 KO (FA Cup) see above.
Sun 12.00 KO (Palace) Unfortunate but it's one game a year.

3pm on a Saturday (which I love) is great but we now live in a society that's very different to 20/30 years ago.

I suspect that this is aimed at my post, although I would like to think it wasn't a moan.

You are obviously someone lucky enough to work locally and finish at a reasonable time. This season there are, I believe, 6 Tuesday evening home league games. I may be wrong but isn't that more than usual, due to international breaks etc?
Last season, I was self employed so would only book half days work when there was a home, evening game, now I am employed and can be anywhere in the UK. My choice I know and the club can schedule fixtures whenever they like but when it means that I am unable to attend 20% of matches, the season ticket doesn't seem such a bargain.
That said, I like to think I am a decent supporter and will carry on through thick and thin for as long as finances will allow.

 

[MJsGhost]

although everyone wants to watch a winning team, it does amaze me how ridiculous some fans expectations are, did these people buy a season ticket expecting to win almost every game? what divine right did we have to be in the top three? The basic problem everyone knows is the lack of a premier striker, CMS was supposed to be the answer but he quite clearly isnt and until we cure that problem, a problem that was obvious last season, we wont progress, however much our football overall is fantastic to watch, which it has been again in the main this season.

But until that happens and we find that elusive player we will tick along and if people want to drift off because of our lack of constant wins, thats their choice but i do wonder why they bought a st in the first place, if they are so fickle. Watching your team through thick and thin is a supporter, these fairweather people are just spectators, not supporters in the true sense of the word.

as for the gus moaners, he may have got his team selection/subs/tactics wrong at times but we are lucky to have him and for those wishing he left, be careful what you wish for because if you think its bad now, it could be a whole lot worse without him, both visually and results wise.

ultimately, the bottom line as it was when we first entered the amex is how much can tony bloom afford to push the boat out to get those special players, if he cant and im not moaning if he cant, then you can expect this ticking along to continue for a good few seasons to come.

I could not agree more. Top post!

Reading some of the vitriol flying around, a lot of it based on the fact that ‘we haven’t progressed enough’ is sickening.

TAKE A LOOK AROUND YOU!

There are football clubs in financial ruin, clubs with idiot owners sacking managers left right & centre, clubs playing at shockingly bad grounds with facilities that would make a non-league chairmen blush. There are clubs in absolute freefall.

Then look at what we have.
I won‘t bother to list it, because everyone knows what we have. How some people have managed to build up such a strong negative feeling about being an Albion fan right now is an absolute mystery to me.

We all have a right to moan – it’s human nature – and no, everything is NOT perfect, but the strength of abuse (from some quarters) aimed at players, Gus Poyet, Paul Barber etc is ridiculous.

 

[Mutts Nuts]

The attendances WILL drop anyway, regardless of what happens on the pitch (barring promotion). Every team has a surge in crowds for a while when they get a new ground. I've said it once, I'll say it again, some people on here are going to look VERY silly when the crowds drop to a similar level of Palace and co soon.

Very much this ,and the gate money will dictate wage structure , no more signing the likes of Bruno Bridge and Kuzsack to try and get promotion

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I think you're spot on with this, I remember having a post match beer with mates in the North bar and all of us were saying very similar. Notwithstanding the obvious need for a striker we now have the 'Barber effect' and I can just see fans being ripped off so that twat can justify his position. Example the cost of tickets for Newcastle

I thought the tickets for the Newcastle game were cheaper last season, but was soon told differently, so you can't put the blame on Barber for this year's prices.
I'll continue with a st because it's the cheapest and most convenient way to get tickets to matches and the game is only part of the experience for me. Meeting up with mates and the general belonging to my local team is all part of it as well.