Poor support

[kevo]

Blackburn deserve to go down. Traditionally a second tier team who assume they are a bigger club than they actually are, simply because they once won the league. The treatment of Steve Kean by the fans has been utterly disgraceful - what do they expect? Feel pretty sorry for the guy.

On the other hand, I really hope Wigan stay up. Every season is a relegation battle, but they have a good young manager who believes in playing attractive, attacking football (anyone else see the Maritnez/Poyet similarities..?). Inevitably they are at the foot of the table, but where are the 'Martinez Out' banners?! Absent, because their fans are realistic and are happy to just be in the Premier League. Yeah, they are a team from a small Northern town living beyond their means just like Blackburn, but they're going about it in the right spirit, unlike their boring, dour Lancashire neighbours.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Without Blackburn, Man Utd would probably have won the League five years in a row. We should be grateful!

 

[Napper]

As proven by the fact that Wigan and Blackburn have been successful in the Premier League. I'm not saying they haven't earnt/deserved it, the Wigan team which Paul Jewell put together to get them up and keep them there was a good team, and Blackburn under Mark Hughes and Sam Allardyce were a good team aswell. But the size of the actual clubs isn't befitting of the top flight, not when you consider some of the clubs outside it. I'm not saying fanbase/size of club should determine league standings, nothing of the sort because that is complete twaddle. I'm just making an observation that clubs like Blackburn and Wigan aren't the biggest, and their attendances are reasonably poor.

Horse shit . Blackburn bigger than us by some way

 

[El Presidente]

At Maine Road in 1982 we took 45 for a top flight game.

 

[Brovion]

Hopefully their Premier League stint is coming to an overdue end, and hopefully the same will be true of Wigan. Congratulations to them for being able to sustain themselves for so long at that level but don't deserve to be there, based on the size of the club.

What do you mean "they don't deserve to be there"? What criteria would you use to say whether a team 'deserves' to be in the Prem or not?

 

[Deleted User X18H]

In 1988 Chesterfield brought no fans to the Goldstone for an evening game. Near Valentines day if memory serves me correct.

 

[mune ni kamome]

When I used to go away as a teenager in the early 70's there were only about half a dozen of us and that includes Villa in our promotion year. Mind you twas a bit dangerous in those days

 

[Brovion]

At Maine Road in 1982 we took 45 for a top flight game.

Our away support in the old 1st division was shocking. It was amazing (and quite sad) to see how quickly it fell away compared to the 2nd and 3rd division days. That said I don't think it's totally fair to compare numbers between the two eras given the modern popularity of football compared to the 1980s.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

A town of 90,000 (same as Hove) with 4 other top flight clubs a bus ride away...

 

[stugbhafc1]

Remember going to blackburn when i was 15 think the year they went up to the top flight not sure we had more than 150 there and that was on a sat

 

[The Large One]

Blackburn deserve to go down. Traditionally a second tier team who assume they are a bigger club than they actually are, simply because they once won the league.

Three times, actually.

 

[Simster]

Blackburn deserve to go down. Traditionally a second tier team who assume they are a bigger club than they actually are, simply because they once won the league. The treatment of Steve Kean by the fans has been utterly disgraceful - what do they expect? Feel pretty sorry for the guy.

You clearly haven't got a clue what you're talking about. Maybe you should research what their grievances are all about before mouthing off with this sort of ill-informed bollocks.

Horse shit . Blackburn bigger than us by some way

Success and history, yes. Size of fanbase, definitely not.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Hopefully their Premier League stint is coming to an overdue end, and hopefully the same will be true of Wigan. Congratulations to them for being able to sustain themselves for so long at that level but don't deserve to be there, based on the size of the club.

What a complete load of cobblers. It's this type of thinking that brought about the threat of a closed PL1 and PL2 with no relegation - all right for those in it and tough shit to those "small" clubs outside.

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

As proven by the fact that Wigan and Blackburn have been successful in the Premier League. I'm not saying they haven't earnt/deserved it, the Wigan team which Paul Jewell put together to get them up and keep them there was a good team, and Blackburn under Mark Hughes and Sam Allardyce were a good team aswell. But the size of the actual clubs isn't befitting of the top flight, not when you consider some of the clubs outside it. I'm not saying fanbase/size of club should determine league standings, nothing of the sort because that is complete twaddle. I'm just making an observation that clubs like Blackburn and Wigan aren't the biggest, and their attendances are reasonably poor.

I can't agree with your attitude. Yes, we're attracting almost 20,000 to every game, but in the 1990-1991 season, the last time we made anything like a serious push for the top division, we played a Wednesday night game against Grimsby. If I remember correctly, we won 3-1 and it was a very good performance. The crowd that night was 4420, yes 4420, and when it started raining, the fans in the North Stand moved to the back, showing just how empty it was. I think we should remember this before going on to shout about the size of other clubs who have managed to get to and stay in the Premiership.

 

[Simster]

I can't agree with your attitude. Yes, we're attracting almost 20,000 to every game, but in the 1990-1991 season, the last time we made anything like a serious push for the top division, we played a Wednesday night game against Grimsby. If I remember correctly, we won 3-1 and it was a very good performance. The crowd that night was 4420, yes 4420, and when it started raining, the fans in the North Stand moved to the back, showing just how empty it was. I think we should remember this before going on to shout about the size of other clubs who have managed to get to and stay in the Premiership.

There is absolutely no way we had a crowd of 4,420 in that season for a league game. Although our average gate was poor, I don't think gates dipped below 7,000. I'm sure [MENTION=118]Hiney[/MENTION] can confirm...

Edit: in fact, Grimsby weren't even in the second division at the time.

 

[pauldcpfc]

Nearly as poor as Palace taking 144 to Derby on a Tuesday night.

NSC as accurate as always.

We haven't played Derby away.

When we do, i'm willing to bet a sizeable amount that we more than double your amount up there.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

While we all like a giggle at other teams' support at times, I do hate it when certain clubs are deemed "unworthy" of top level status simply because of their size or crowds.

Any club only has a finite number of fans, a point where it's not going to grow any more. I love the fact that Wigan regularly stick it to the likes of Arsenal & Liverpool despite struggling to reach five figures at times. Isn't that part of the beauty of football, that sometimes David can beat Goliath? And frankly, any kid growing up in Lancashire who chooses to support Wigan, Bolton, Blackburn, Preston, Blackpool or even Morecambe or Accrington instead of taking the easy option of United or City on the doorstep deserves huge credit, not piss taking IMHO.

If Premier League status was determined by crowds, we would never be in it, so let's leave that idea at the door.

 

[Triggaaar]

Apparently Blackburn only took 319 fans to Sunderland today. That is quite frankly disgraceful! Just thought I'd share that useless information!

Blackburn are a small club though aren't they? Just sent flying by Walker's millions.

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

There is absolutely no way we had a crowd of 4,420 in that season for a league game. Although our average gate was poor, I don't think gates dipped below 7,000. I'm sure [MENTION=118]Hiney[/MENTION] can confirm...

Edit: in fact, Grimsby weren't even in the second division at the time.

I think it must have been Hull then, but I distinctly remember the game; sure it was a foul night, but I was startled by how empty the ground was, particularly as we were playing some cracking football that season. As for the poor away support of some Premiership clubs, it stands out because we have such a strong thing of following teams away from home. Watch Serie A or La Liga and you will hardly see any away fans for most games. For example Lazio get 45-50,000 for home games and barely take 1,000 away. I think it's only the Germans and the English that travel in big numbers. Blackburn have never had that great an away following. When they were pushing for promotion in 1991-1992, they beat us 3-0 and I don't think they had more than 500 or so on the East Terrace.

 

[Southwick_Seagull]

NSC as accurate as always.

We haven't played Derby away.

When we do, i'm willing to bet a sizeable amount that we more than double your amount up there.

I should hope so considering it's on a Saturday, in March and a shorter distance for you to travel.

You only took 228 to Barnsley on a Tuesday night around a similar time we took about 700 to Derby.