The how will we fill the new ground thread....

[Tommy2holes]

I have been giving a lot of thought to the new stadium and more importantly how we go from 8k a week to atleast 11k (half full) to give ourselves a chance to generate a decent atmosphere.
Well the obvious is to be playing championship football , but if we are not playing that level of football then mr martin i suggest the following.

A) Make season prices £100 adults and concessions £50 for the first season.

B) And this i think would be a really shrewd idea, is to say that anyone who buys a season ticket in the last year at the hall is guaranteed the above price in the new stadium for the first season.

Not only would plan B increase significantly the amount of seaso's at the hall to maybe 8k plus but would mean that every single seaso would renew.

If plan A is an option then great because huddersfield have just done the same and have sold nearly 15k season tickets which would be awsome in the new ground.

As good as the new stadium will be we must try for that first season to get as bigger crowds as is possible.

 

[SARF]

Crowds will be bigger as there will 22,000 seats with a decent view, rather than the current 5-6 thou? I reckon the first game at the new stadium will have close to 20 k in there as everyone will want to go.. all they have to do is win that 5-0 and we are off and running ;-)

 

[Pubey]

get into the championship

 

[shrimperton]

I dare say we will see a rise in season tickets for the stadium, tickets have been the same for a while now and i reckon we could see a rise of upto £100 a ticket to compansate for our new surroundings! Someone has to pay and that will no doubt be us to some extent.

 

[leeblue]

pricing will be a vital issue, if as mentioned above cheap seasos are available then the response could be very very good, even a seaso at 200 quid would do the job and of course......what division we in, if you listen to rons latest interview in the echo he desperate for ccc footy so may splash the cash this summer

 

[Tommy2holes]

Personally i think if seaso's were to go up i very much doubt people would bother as it will not be hard to get a ticket regardless, and even if we got someone big in the cup we would still have 20k available to the masses.

 

[turkishm]

We wont, champ or not. There has to be a cut of number of fans that will go and watch Southend, even a winning Southend in the champ. I would say 15,000 at best.

 

[PrawNZ]

fitter/raunchier cheerleaders!

 

[steveo]

The how will we fill the new ground thread....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the initial curiosity fans go, we wont get close to filling it. I am amazed that people think just because there are more seats, more people will go.

It will be alf empty with a crap atmosphere, like Coventry or Swindon and away fans will be able to point and sing theres no one there, theres no one there.

Think 15000 would have been better

 

[shrimperton]

After the initial curiosity fans go, we wont get close to filling it. I am amazed that people think just because there are more seats, more people will go.

It will be alf empty with a crap atmosphere, like Coventry or Swindon and away fans will be able to point and sing theres no one there, theres no one there.

Think 15000 would have been better

Sadly i honestly think that this may be the case :(

 

[turkishm]

fitter/raunchier cheerleaders!

Could well be answer for a full house, only trouble is the players come on and spoil it all.

 

[shrimperton]

If they do a kids season ticket for £80 say, then i could take my 2 kids, thats 2 extra!!!!

 

[Smiffy]

It will be half empty with a crap atmosphere

Sadly i honestly think that this may be the case :(

Not on my manor Guv.

TBV will do it's utmost to make sure this is not the case...

 

[Rayleigh boy]

SUFC has a history of crowds escalating with success -

there is great elastcity in the demand -

some clubs (old Wimbledon) would never grow beyond 6k even when in the cup final ..... SUFCs support will grow with success - crowds increase with success to a level where the Reading blue print becomes entirely viable...

A historic lack of ambition among some supporters is not a major stumbling block as new young fans will take the club forward - not the old moaners and groaners

 

[Tommy2holes]

Yeah i think they may have got the numbers wrong .

Lets take a few examples.

The good.

Reading established themselves in the prem although remains to be seen wether the support will stay with them in the championship and in my opinion they are the bench mark.

Stoke city. Well there ground holds 28k and for a long time has been half full , but now with premier football on the cards it looks like a master stroke.

Hull city. Following Readings blueprint. Only averaged maybe 6k at the old ground but now regularly get 20k plus as they are doing well in the championship

The Bad.

Darlington are the perfect example of building a stadium far beyond your club. I believe a capacity of 28k with an average gate of 4-5k. The atmosphere must be horrendous.

Coventry city

Left a ground that had already hosted premier football and was adequate enough for a bigger stadium and better facilities. Crowds havent exaclty spiralled and the atmosphere has suffered .

The undecided.

Mk Dons have built a stadium that would grace the premier league and the crowds in the basement last year were around 8.5k. Im guessing they will be hoping to achieve the play-offs this year and attract crowds of 10k+.
This will probably mean 12k+ empty seats but they are thinking long term.

The unambitious.

Colchester united. Despite being in the championship a league which has an average attendance of around 17k the u's decided to build an uninspiring breeze block stadium which holds only 10k. This is either because there ambitions are very low or they have got the stadium size correct and make a mockery of the likes of darlington etc.

In summing up.

Well we have shown ambition with the new stadium size and design. Will the management and chairman match this ambition with funds and signings and will the fans match this ambition in numbers. Personally i would have said that 17.5k with potential to increase to 22k and then 24k would have made more sense. But time as always will tell.

 

[Rayleigh boy]

22 k stadium is a realistic for a CCC club and SUFC in its relatively wealthy region with a strong football culture and a proven ability to grow the support base ....

AND get established in the CCC and no reason why SUFC could not have a piece of the top of the division - sooner or later -

whats there to lose ?

 

[Sherif H]

I can provide you with well researched information which proves the theory of new stadium syndrome in the first season...typically a 25% rise in attendances or more. The Club's job from thereafter is to try and keep as many of those interested as possible and then build on those improved figures.

 

[BrettieAngell]

I can provide you with well researched information which proves the theory of new stadium syndrome in the first season...typically a 25% rise in attendances or more. The Club's job from thereafter is to try and keep as many of those interested as possible and then build on those improved figures.

A 25% increase on this season average would only mean crowds of about 10,000, presume we are in the CCC add say a thousand extra away fans meaning around 11,000 IF we are in CCC I think we could push that up to around 12,500 though.

In League One we would probably get around 10K I reckon.

 

[steveo]

A historic lack of ambition among some supporters is not a major stumbling block as new young fans will take the club forward - not the old moaners and groaners

I can see that being directed at me but I don’t think we should confuse lack of ambition with realism. If we had a 15000 seater, we could get close to filling it on a regular basis.

If we got a decent run going, or made the Championship, tickets would be in demand. If tickets are in demand, the price can dictated by the Club. People will want to go and try harder to get a ticket. Interest would be high.

If we move into FF whilst still in League 1, I honestly think season ticket sales will drop. People will know it will be easy to get a ticket, almost wherever they want and will therefore want to try a few different places which they will be able to do on a weekly basis, as we will one of the “there’s no one there, there’s no one there” clubs.

 

[Sherif H]

I can see that being directed at me but I don’t think we should confuse lack of ambition with realism. If we had a 15000 seater, we could get close to filling it on a regular basis.

If we got a decent run going, or made the Championship, tickets would be in demand. If tickets are in demand, the price can dictated by the Club. People will want to go and try harder to get a ticket. Interest would be high.

If we move into FF whilst still in League 1, I honestly think season ticket sales will drop. People will know it will be easy to get a ticket, almost wherever they want and will therefore want to try a few different places which they will be able to do on a weekly basis, as we will one of the “there’s no one there, there’s no one there” clubs.

Steveo....don't look too much to historic data and current attendance trends...the new stadium effect as described could add between 25-50% to our initial few gates in FF and I stick to my constant belief that we will acheive crowds of around 12k regardless of what league we are in.
We then need to follow the Reading or Plymouth models to see how we can take the next step up to regularly attract 15k plus.