681.....

[kingofnaves]

Simples

[Tipps End Pilgrim]

Why such a low attendance ?

Too many consecutive Home games and therefore too expensive?
Team not winning enough games and therefore no glory?
Team not exciting enough - no flair players?
Poor weather?
Champions League football on TV?
 
At this rate the Club will be in severe financial trouble again and we will need to set up a Supporters Trust.

DL

[cambslad]

I live just down the road in Cambridgeshire and am an exiled Boro fan. When Boro aren't playing I watch local amateur/semi pro football and was impressed by the following Boston took to Stortford earlier in the season so decided to go a bit further afield to watch them. The stadium is impressive and would not look out of place in L2/L1. Shame no beer on sale inside the ground! (I was in the terrace behind the goal). Shocked by the low attendance for what was an entertaining match. What gates did you get in the football league?

Football-wise you were very unlucky not to win, and were by far the better side. Solihull were all muscle, hoofball, no class. Was very impressed with United's passing but the game should have been put to bed. Thought the blonde centre half (Stainfield?) was very good and no 10 up front was impressive, as was your no 7.

It is a shame to see a club of your apparent size competing at this level and gates declining. Darlington are still pulling in 1200 gates in the Northern League at least 3 levels below you. Are people in your town abandoning their local side to follow Forest/Peterboro/Leicester?

[Scouse Pilgrim]

At this rate the Club will be in severe financial trouble again and we will need to set up a Supporters Trust.

DL

errrm..the club has been in financial trouble since the Newton era.

It has got worse not better as Mr Newton puts the club more and more in debt by running deficit budgets and lending the club more money to plug the gap.

Check the accounts!  :bunny

 

[Scouse Pilgrim]

The stadium is impressive and would not look out of place in L2/L1.

It is rented and noone has thought to save up to buy it or build another one! Lease expires in the not too distant future.

The Supporters' Trust did start saving up but then blew the lot of some valueless shares bought from the club. Its leaders keep their heads down these days shacked up in the club bar probably, wearing blazers and fawning over their idols.

It did not look out of place in league 2 when we played there for a few years and ran up huge debts (though some people got quite rich by not paying their creditors and then buggering off when the court orders came flooding in).
 :dan

[cambslad]

Good luck for the rest of the season.

Might stick a tenner on you to get the last play-off spot!

[Lord Cutler Knobhead]

It is a shame to see a club of your apparent size competing at this level and gates declining. Darlington are still pulling in 1200.

As were we the years we dropped down and infact I don't think we dropped below 1000 when we were falling out of the Unibond Premier under Taylor.

[Adam]

Football fans are fickle. That gate is scarily low, but it's a combination of inconsistent form, a stupid amount of home games and it being a freezing Tuesday night - nothing more or less. If United pick up they'll get just as big a crowds as we did in 2010/11.

I think the effect on finances will be mitigated by the fact that some of these fixtures are Trophy ones which are all 'bonus' money. I expect given the small run in the Cup we've probably already passed the target for Cup/Trophy income this year.

[York Street Pilgrim]

Football fans are fickle. That gate is scarily low, but it's a combination of inconsistent form, a stupid amount of home games and it being a freezing Tuesday night - nothing more or less. If United pick up they'll get just as big a crowds as we did in 2010/11.

Agreed. I think I'm right in saying that Chelsea were on terrestrial TV at the same time as well, so that will be another factor.

Is there any reason why we have to play midweek matches on a Tuesday? Whilst the Champions League was on ITV on Tuesday, I'm pretty sure that every other night this week there has been no televised football - at least not on the free to air channels. And yet that was the very night we played! I will always put my team / live football ahead of anything that the television can offer, but there are others who will have looked at the weather alongside their TV guides and decided to give York Street a miss. Would we get a few more through the gate therefore if we switched to Monday matches (like Bradford Park Avenue and Hinckley) or even reverted back to the Wednesdays when we traditionally used to play? Or even adopted a flexi system of midweek matches?

[pilgrim4life]

it actually wasnt cold at all on tuesday for late november. I just think its more to do with money than anything.

[wayne, york pilgrim]

we have played 11 home games so far this season in the league, fa cup and trophy by the 20th nov and averaged 971.
the first 11 games at home last season by the 26th nov averaged 1087. its only a slight decline and by the 26th this year there will only be one game than the same period last year.
i do think that alot of the boston fans are aged and the numbers are naturally going to decline as well as some fans travel from afar which brings with it more expense. i would like the to see the club do more to bring in younger fans from local schools and youth clubs, community centres. maybe by creating a fan club for children and giving them free entry with a full paying adult.

[Lord Cutler Knobhead]

we have played 11 home games so far this season in the league, fa cup and trophy by the 20th nov and averaged 971.
the first 11 games at home last season by the 26th nov averaged 1087. its only a slight decline and by the 26th this year there will only be one game than the same period last year.
i do think that alot of the boston fans are aged and the numbers are naturally going to decline as well as some fans travel from afar which brings with it more expense. i would like the to see the club do more to bring in younger fans from local schools and youth clubs, community centres. maybe by creating a fan club for children and giving them free entry with a full paying adult.

David Conns Searching for the soul of The Beautiful Game says pretty much the same thing. There is a generation growing up as once a season day out kids and watching the tele box.  It said on Tuesday night how much the decline looked to have hit the Spayne Road and Mainstand rather than the TownEnd of the ground.  Not something that we wold normally see as The Spayne Road has nearly always had a tight little group at the Halfway line and fairly consistent attendances.