The low attendances are a real worry, especially as we are now playing much better and the entertainment value is the best it’s been under Bloomers.
It can’t be the state of the country as most other clubs are seeing increased attendances.
I suspect it’s the high cost of the matchday experience and merchandise compared to other League One clubs that is putting off casual or committed fans.
the high cost is absolutely a major factor. I question “the entertainment value” also. My son and I (son number 2, been coming 10 years, gave up half way through this season) were talking on the way back about the weird feeling of winning but having felt sleepy for the entire match
@53cheese Not sure you can actually guarantee entertainment at any League 1 match, or indeed any football match, but I would say that things are gradually improving in that regard for us. No-one could say that the recent Peterborough game wasn't entertaining, and others have been OK even if only in patches, or for 45 minutes. As for feeling sleepy, I think that might be down to the general passive nature of a lot of Wycombe fans, which, let's face it, isn't just a recent phenomenon.
I can think of a couple of questions for Rob concerning attendance but I will put them in a separate post after this one:
Top Twenty for the Total Attendance: [Actual 4583]
This is very unusual indeed - many congratulations to me - Forecaster of the Week and out by just six. This assauges the slight guilt I feel sometimes when I go first and mislead fellow forecasters.
Congratulations to @DevC, who also had a single digit score with a forecast of 4592.
Congratulations to @SmiroludyBlue, @mooneyman and @bookertease for whom the magical figure of 4567 which missed by just sixteen produced a triple tie for third. Congratulations to @micra whose rounded forecast of 4600 was very nearly as good.
Like for the Wigan home game there were a lot of close predictions and our collective average of 4624 was only out by 39. Congratulations are due to @LDF, @ryan_w_kirkby2 and @Manboobs who beat this very creditable average.
Proper congratulations are also due to @Will_i_ams, @Wendoverman, @mwite, @MFH_Blue and @Erroll_Sims who all join the crew who made forecasts within one hundred of the actual attendance. There were a total of 14 of us within a hundred. A hundred or less is a pretty good marker for a good score on the Season Leaderboard! There were just eight that acheived the sub 100 score on the Wigan game and that moved virtually everyone on the Leaderboard.
I haven't looked up the answer yet, but @Will_i_ams was overtaken at the very top of the table after that last game and for this game he is the only one of the top three with a sub 100 score. It will be interesting to see what a score of 67 does, if anything, to the order of the top three and just how close the gaps are now.
Top Twenty for the Away Crowd: [Actual 655]
Many congratulations indeed to @peterparrotface, @Erroll_Sims and @bookertease who all chose the magical sequence of 654 as the number of travelling Cobblers, all missing by just a single person. A shoe in for a corner flag celebration?
Congratulations to @Onlooker who was also a single digit number away.
Our collective average from the 33 predictions was 646 out by just nine so only the four forecasters above beat the average.
Congratulations to @robin, who with a prediction of 642, was out by 13 and was next closest after that.
I promised some thoughts on lower than expected home attendances.
I reckon that the subscription model for an all matches ticket is not as good as the season ticket model for encouraging renewals. Supporters make a decision about making a renewal when there is a new season to look forward to, a subscription can fall for renewal when we have just lost to Stevenage in a brtual encounter and our best outcome for the current season is finishing mid-table. Rob will know the figures for renewals mid season and whether or not they are disappointing and I think this will be worth a written question for him on Thursday. Would it be worth returning to the idea of a season ticket with renewals coming due at a time of maximum optimism?
Car parking is an issue for myself. I do have a season, so it probably doesn't affect the figures, but whether I attend in person or watch on tv somewhere else does depend on how easy it is to park, see the end of the game and reach home again (Cambridgeshire) in a reasonable time. I badly miss being able to park at Millbrook School.
In general I think as a club we were unlucky that our play-off final win and our season in the Championship were behind closed doors. Sell out / close to sell out games would have certainly created some atmosphere, might have attracted and kept new fans and could even have altered some of those early results.
PS. Thanks to those who have posted kind thoughts for managing to be close to actual attendance this week.
Match day prices are too high in my opinion. I usually stand in the Valley End, but sat in the Frank Adams for the recent Cheltenham game. £29 is a crazy price for League 1 football. The old Main Stand may be a few quid cheaper, but the view from their is poor with the new dugouts unless your sitting st the back.
Football wise, ok November/December was pretty awful, but other than that I think the entertainment has been fine, no better or worse than an average season. Feel a bit sorry for Blooms and the team who've put in some very decent performances since the NY and reached Wembley, but are playing in front of less than a half full AP. Hopefully Pompey on Good Friday will attract a decent home turn out.
Also, it’s near the end of the season…we are safe in mid table, neither challenging for playoffs nor relegation…and it’s Northampton Town…it’s not Derby County or Sheffield Wednesday.
But attendances are definitely down compared to the Gaz final season.
Car parking becoming an issue for me as well. Millbrook school was excellent for me but I have now gone back to the industrial estate one...Low attendances aside I get there at about 1.45 (6.35 on evenings) and the last three times have been lucky to get in.
If we get to our rightful placement in.the Championship things will get worse!
Comments
4,600 including 595 members of the shoe army.
Do they chant “shoe army, shoe army” I wonder.
5039 with 1150 Cobblers
4813 with 861 from Northampton
4767 including 567 shouting "Cobblers" all the time.
First hour that’s what the Wycombe fans were shouting.
4583 with 655 on Wycombe twitter.
I will do the update for the Leaderboard after the Tuesday game before I post from today's game.
Low attendance again
Didn't we just!
Very poor turnout today for a team clearly on the up.
The low attendances are a real worry, especially as we are now playing much better and the entertainment value is the best it’s been under Bloomers.
It can’t be the state of the country as most other clubs are seeing increased attendances.
I suspect it’s the high cost of the matchday experience and merchandise compared to other League One clubs that is putting off casual or committed fans.
the high cost is absolutely a major factor. I question “the entertainment value” also. My son and I (son number 2, been coming 10 years, gave up half way through this season) were talking on the way back about the weird feeling of winning but having felt sleepy for the entire match
@53cheese Not sure you can actually guarantee entertainment at any League 1 match, or indeed any football match, but I would say that things are gradually improving in that regard for us. No-one could say that the recent Peterborough game wasn't entertaining, and others have been OK even if only in patches, or for 45 minutes. As for feeling sleepy, I think that might be down to the general passive nature of a lot of Wycombe fans, which, let's face it, isn't just a recent phenomenon.
I can think of a couple of questions for Rob concerning attendance but I will put them in a separate post after this one:
Top Twenty for the Total Attendance: [Actual 4583]
This is very unusual indeed - many congratulations to me - Forecaster of the Week and out by just six. This assauges the slight guilt I feel sometimes when I go first and mislead fellow forecasters.
Congratulations to @DevC, who also had a single digit score with a forecast of 4592.
Congratulations to @SmiroludyBlue, @mooneyman and @bookertease for whom the magical figure of 4567 which missed by just sixteen produced a triple tie for third. Congratulations to @micra whose rounded forecast of 4600 was very nearly as good.
Like for the Wigan home game there were a lot of close predictions and our collective average of 4624 was only out by 39. Congratulations are due to @LDF, @ryan_w_kirkby2 and @Manboobs who beat this very creditable average.
Proper congratulations are also due to @Will_i_ams, @Wendoverman, @mwite, @MFH_Blue and @Erroll_Sims who all join the crew who made forecasts within one hundred of the actual attendance. There were a total of 14 of us within a hundred. A hundred or less is a pretty good marker for a good score on the Season Leaderboard! There were just eight that acheived the sub 100 score on the Wigan game and that moved virtually everyone on the Leaderboard.
I haven't looked up the answer yet, but @Will_i_ams was overtaken at the very top of the table after that last game and for this game he is the only one of the top three with a sub 100 score. It will be interesting to see what a score of 67 does, if anything, to the order of the top three and just how close the gaps are now.
Top Twenty for the Away Crowd: [Actual 655]
Many congratulations indeed to @peterparrotface, @Erroll_Sims and @bookertease who all chose the magical sequence of 654 as the number of travelling Cobblers, all missing by just a single person. A shoe in for a corner flag celebration?
Congratulations to @Onlooker who was also a single digit number away.
Our collective average from the 33 predictions was 646 out by just nine so only the four forecasters above beat the average.
Congratulations to @robin, who with a prediction of 642, was out by 13 and was next closest after that.
Congratulations to @Glenactico, @DJWYC14, @SmiroludyBlue and @mooneyman for chosing the seductive 678 and missing by 23.
Honourable mentions for @ryan_w_kirkby2, @BSE, @PJS, @Mandown, @NewburyWanderer and @mwite who were all within 50 of the actual number.
Top Twenty for the Home Crowd: [Caluclated as 3928]
Many congratulations to @ryan_w_kirkby2 who was out by just ten.
Congratulations to @bookertease - second in this table, joint top of the away crowd table and third in the overall total crowd table.
Congratulations also to @a40, @wwfcblue, @Manboobs, @mooneyman, @SmiroludyBlue, @Commoner. @DevC, @LDF, @Forest_Blue, @micra, @thecatwwfc and @Erroll_Sims who were all within a hundred!
Top predicting @railwaysteve
Congratulations and thanks @railwaysteve.
Well done @railwaysteve. Hard earned!
I promised some thoughts on lower than expected home attendances.
I reckon that the subscription model for an all matches ticket is not as good as the season ticket model for encouraging renewals. Supporters make a decision about making a renewal when there is a new season to look forward to, a subscription can fall for renewal when we have just lost to Stevenage in a brtual encounter and our best outcome for the current season is finishing mid-table. Rob will know the figures for renewals mid season and whether or not they are disappointing and I think this will be worth a written question for him on Thursday. Would it be worth returning to the idea of a season ticket with renewals coming due at a time of maximum optimism?
Car parking is an issue for myself. I do have a season, so it probably doesn't affect the figures, but whether I attend in person or watch on tv somewhere else does depend on how easy it is to park, see the end of the game and reach home again (Cambridgeshire) in a reasonable time. I badly miss being able to park at Millbrook School.
In general I think as a club we were unlucky that our play-off final win and our season in the Championship were behind closed doors. Sell out / close to sell out games would have certainly created some atmosphere, might have attracted and kept new fans and could even have altered some of those early results.
PS. Thanks to those who have posted kind thoughts for managing to be close to actual attendance this week.
Match day prices are too high in my opinion. I usually stand in the Valley End, but sat in the Frank Adams for the recent Cheltenham game. £29 is a crazy price for League 1 football. The old Main Stand may be a few quid cheaper, but the view from their is poor with the new dugouts unless your sitting st the back.
Football wise, ok November/December was pretty awful, but other than that I think the entertainment has been fine, no better or worse than an average season. Feel a bit sorry for Blooms and the team who've put in some very decent performances since the NY and reached Wembley, but are playing in front of less than a half full AP. Hopefully Pompey on Good Friday will attract a decent home turn out.
Also, it’s near the end of the season…we are safe in mid table, neither challenging for playoffs nor relegation…and it’s Northampton Town…it’s not Derby County or Sheffield Wednesday.
But attendances are definitely down compared to the Gaz final season.
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/wycombe-wanderers/besucherzahlenentwicklung/verein/2805
Not sure on the reliability of this site, will check COTN
Car parking becoming an issue for me as well. Millbrook school was excellent for me but I have now gone back to the industrial estate one...Low attendances aside I get there at about 1.45 (6.35 on evenings) and the last three times have been lucky to get in.
If we get to our rightful placement in.the Championship things will get worse!
Get on your bike!
With my general fitness that would be fatal. Then where would my downthumber be?