Fill Roots Hall (at least a bit)

[Juggler90]

I read with interest the posts about how to increase our attendance and really applaud all the initiatives and hope we can get more people involved/interested in what is a huge catchment area. Just as a one off "experiment" if you will, why don't we choose a game (I suggest Scunny at home on Friday 13 September) and try and fill the ground. OK maybe not fill the ground as that would need us drumming up 4,000 extras but there should be a few more there anyway as it's a Friday night. Maybe aim for 7,000+.

We have over 3 weeks till then and a home game the week before to speak to those who sit around us at Roots Hall who aren't on Shrimperzone. The challenge would be for everybody to bring an extra person to Scunthorpe at home. The idea would be not to bring someone for the sake of it (although that would be OK too), but someone who you know hasn't been to Roots Hall in a while, maybe has become disillusioned or a young family member/friend who hasn't been to football before i.e. possibly somebody who will return. I have 3 or 4 people in mind and I expect I can convince 1 if not 2 of them to come along.

Pipe dream? Yeah probably, I know that but there's a lot of people on here for a start before we even speak to friends at the ground. I realise something like this would need the buy in of a lot of people to work. I'm not a social media expert but could we use Twitter/Facebook to our advantage? We'd have to pray the Blues performed on the night obviously but maybe a noticeably increased attendance/atmosphere would help.

I don't expect the club would be open to some kind of incentive so it would be down to people power but it may be that after a couple of tough away games, we need the extra support.

Ridiculous?

 

[* ORM *]

I will be filling hall on 13th and the Sat before with a co-incidntal business trip to UK.

 

[OldBlueLady]

The problem with "bringing people" is, if you're a season card holder, you're not always going to be able to get them a seat near you. What you really need to do is bring two people as then they can sit together nearby, while you sit in your normal seat! :winking:

 

[Montycat]

Done it got an extra person to come to that game. He usually watches Spurs but has been hearing some good things about us lets hope its not a Friday 13th horror show. :smile:

 

[davewebbsbrain]

I will be filling hall on 13th and the Sat before with a co-incidntal business trip to UK.

I thought you had lost weight Tone :smile:

 

[tottenham541]

Done it got an extra person to come to that game. He usually watches Spurs but has been hearing some good things about us lets hope its not a Friday 13th horror show. :smile:

must be a top bloke then:smile:

 

[Jam_Man]

Sadly as its an evening game will only be 2 of us rather than the 4. I know Fridays have historically been better for crowds but unfortunately not ideal for the youngest.

Might see if I can drum up some interest from my mates though...

 

[mrsblue]

I would love to see every child with an adult has free entrance and if the adult buys food/drink in the ground their child gets it free.

 

[Uncle Leo]

I would love to see every child with an adult has free entrance and if the adult buys food/drink in the ground their child gets it free.

They'd need to get their act together before offering any food/drink deals. I queued for 10 minutes at the South Stand food bar at half-time on Saturday and by the time I gave up was still nowhere near the front. It really is a bit shoddy, especially given the ground was less than half full.

 

[* ORM *]

I thought you had lost weight Tone :smile:

Arsecakes!

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

I would love to see every child with an adult has free entrance

One child already gets in free with an Adult in the family stand.

 

[Jam_Man]

I would love to see every child with an adult has free entrance and if the adult buys food/drink in the ground their child gets it free.

Kids technically already get in free in the family enclosure. I get in with my daughter for £19 for the two of us.

Edit : If have hadnt taken 10 minutes to press post it wouldnt have looked like I was repeating the post above :)

 

[mrsblue]

One child already gets in free with an Adult in the family stand.

Why not extend it to all stands?

 

[Jam_Man]

Why not extend it to all stands?

Because it would be at the expense of full paying fans.

Plenty of seats in the West and South lower family stands.

 

[mattytheshrimper]

Funnily enough I have 3 extra people coming to that game anyway. Lads from work fancied coming along so I'm going to sort the tickets out.

 

[IloveShrimp]

Sorry and I understand all the good intentions I really do, but I've heard all this before. The only way that the attendances will rise is by success on the pitch... end of .... IMO of course

 

[Bromley Blue]

Sorry and I understand all the good intentions I really do, but I've heard all this before. The only way that the attendances will rise is by success on the pitch... end of .... IMO of course

I've got to agree with this I'm afraid.

I'd like to consider myself quite a loyal fan. If I can't make the game then I will always follow the result as closely as I can, usually listening in via Blues Player. I found myself last season going to significantly less home games than I ever had before purely because I couldn't take the heartache of seeing my team put in such dire performances week after week at home.

On Saturday I returned to the Hall and I must say I noticed a real change in the atmosphere within the ground. I'm not sure if it was because of our first few results but the whole place seemed a whole lot more positive and I really didn't hear any moaners. The change in support for Anthony Straker was also noticeable. I know we always debate on here whether we should give unconditional support for the boys and try not to get on their backs, but for me I think the players have a duty to give their best for us, the fans, no matter how badly the game is going. At times on Saturday Straker in particular was trying things, like a little kick and rush past the fullback and would lose possession, but the intent was there and it was a nice idea so it should be encouraged IMO.

Overall I'm going to report back to my friends who had also fallen out of love with trips to the Hall that I really enjoyed the game and they should come for a game soon too. This, IMO, is all we can realistically ask of our fans to increase crowd size,. To make great strides in this department its really up to the players

 

[Jam_Man]

I've got to agree with this I'm afraid.

I'd like to consider myself quite a loyal fan. If I can't make the game then I will always follow the result as closely as I can, usually listening in via Blues Player. I found myself last season going to significantly less home games than I ever had before purely because I couldn't take the heartache of seeing my team put in such dire performances week after week at home.

On Saturday I returned to the Hall and I must say I noticed a real change in the atmosphere within the ground. I'm not sure if it was because of our first few results but the whole place seemed a whole lot more positive and I really didn't hear any moaners. The change in support for Anthony Straker was also noticeable. I know we always debate on here whether we should give unconditional support for the boys and try not to get on their backs, but for me I think the players have a duty to give their best for us, the fans, no matter how badly the game is going. At times on Saturday Straker in particular was trying things, like a little kick and rush past the fullback and would lose possession, but the intent was there and it was a nice idea so it should be encouraged IMO.

Overall I'm going to report back to my friends who had also fallen out of love with trips to the Hall that I really enjoyed the game and they should come for a game soon too. This, IMO, is all we can realistically ask of our fans to increase crowd size,. To make great strides in this department its really up to the players

The problem is they generally are giving their best, it may just not be enough to win.

Too many people put down a defeat to players not having 'passion' or not 'wanting it enough'. If it was that easy every team would win every game, and thats technically impossible :smile:

As for Straker and not having people getting on his back, lets see how that pans out when we are 1-0 down and he loses the ball for the 6th time.

There is a better atmosphere around at the moment and rightly so, but its because we are winning. If that carrys on so will the atmosphere.

Incentives to get crowds back arent a bad thing but they will have a much bigger impact if we are still winning.

 

[Romford Shrimper]

I've got a few extras coming along for this game. Love Friday night games

 

[Southampton Shrimper]

I don't expect the club would be open to some kind of incentive so it would be down to people power

Is that not a bit unfair on the club? They are entitled to put special offers on only two or three times a season to try and entice the crowds. I did not get to many home games last season, so I cannot remember if they did anything then and I have no idea if they have any plans for this season, but they have put on family fun days and the like in the past.

I do remember the season before last they had a promotion on the Morecambe home game where tickets were only £5 each. We got our highest attendance of the season at that game, with 9,782 people in the Hall. So the club knows that incentives can work, but they need to pick their games carefully (Morecambe is a good choice, as they won't be seen as a big draw necessarily and won't bring many fans with them) and are limited by Football League regulations to only a certain number of matches that they can do this. They will of course also be wary not to upset season ticket holders who don't get to enjoy the benefit of the discounted ticket prices.