We're A Bigger Club Than Wigan...

[EastStandBlue]

... Sort of.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/8434060.stm

They only managed a paltry attendance of 5,355 for their FA Cup tie against Hull. Another case of football clubs completely failing to identify with their demographic and show a complete lack of business sense... Surely 25,000 tickets sold at an average of £10-15 would be more beneficial than 5,000 tickets sold at an average price of £30.

 

[Pubey]

I've been to Wigan quite a few times because Mrs Pubey to-be is from there. Firstly I doubt their average price for that game
was £30. I paid £25 for decent seats
to see them play arsenal this year. I agree they need to identify their demographic, however Wigan is no bigger than Southend, and has a huge level of
rival teams. In the 35miles from Southend to west ham/Colchester, I count 7 prem teams, 1 ccc and a couple of league 1 and 2 teams. Plus, football isn't even thr biggest sport in Wigan.

I know these are all excuses but everyone in wigan knows they are
punching above their weight and are held
up by Whelans money, however I'll forgive them for having poor turnouts at games when they go and beat Chelsea!

 

[Pubey]

Oh yeah I was in Wigan yesterday incidently (should have
gone to the game!) and it was snowy. I reckon fans are fairly price insensitive, at least it's
not true that halving the price will double the attendence

 

[The Big Shrimp]

I've been to Wigan quite a few times because Mrs Pubey to-be is from there. Firstly I doubt their average price for that game
was £30. I paid £25 for decent seats
to see them play arsenal this year. I agree they need to identify their demographic, however Wigan is no bigger than Southend, and has a huge level of
rival teams. In the 35miles from Southend to west ham/Colchester, I count 7 prem teams, 1 ccc and a couple of league 1 and 2 teams. Plus, football isn't even thr biggest sport in Wigan.

I know these are all excuses but everyone in wigan knows they are
punching above their weight and are held
up by Whelans money, however I'll forgive them for having poor turnouts at games when they go and beat Chelsea!

Firstly, Wigan is half the size of Southend & that doesn't include Rochford & Castle Point areas. Secondly, which argues the against the first point, Wigan is in a more densely populated area than Southend/Essex, being part of Greater Manchester. Against that, Southend has excellent rail links into London for all five Premiershi Clubs & three CCC clubs.

To sum up, I haven't clue why they get crap crowds for where they are, we must just be a better club!!

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

... Sort of.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/8434060.stm

They only managed a paltry attendance of 5,355 for their FA Cup tie against Hull. Another case of football clubs completely failing to identify with their demographic and show a complete lack of business sense... Surely 25,000 tickets sold at an average of £10-15 would be more beneficial than 5,000 tickets sold at an average price of £30.

And 500 of those were Hull fans. Seem to recall that pre season their cost for season tickets was about £300. Trouble is most sports fans in the area are either Man U or Liverpool fans in the football world. Add to the equation Wigan was (and still is) a rugby loving town, long before the football club progressed through the leagues. Even if they were in the top half of the table, their league crowds would not improve.

 

[Firestorm]

Add History into the equation too, Formed in 1932 They were only elected into the football league in 1978 , so anyone over the age of , say, 40 , in the town would more likely have gone to Liverpool , Bolton Manchester for their Professional football fix, even Skelmersdale , which is just up the road, were a bigger team in the 60's. Which does not lend itself to a growth of support due to family members

Having had a look on Wiki, wigan were a reasonable non league side in the 50's

Wigan Athletic were elected to a different league, the Lancashire Combination, and in 1950 came close to election to the Football League, narrowly losing out to Scunthorpe United. In the 1953–54 season, Wigan Athletic played an FA Cup match against Hereford United in front of a crowd of 27,526, a Wigan Athletic record and also a record for a match between two non-league teams at a non-league ground. In 1961, the club moved back to the Cheshire County League
In 1968, Wigan Athletic were founder members of the Northern Premier League, known since 1994 as the UniBond League. After 34 failed election attempts, including one controversial but headline-making application in 1972 to join the Scottish League Second Division, Wigan Athletic were elected to the Football League in 1978

MK Dons aside, recently elected teams generally do not get good attendances, mainly due to people tending to support sides who at least are in the league, and then not changing their allegiance one a team nearer home gets into the league. Look at the problems at Boston and Maidstone in the past as well as the appalling attendences at Morcombe and Accrington

 

[BrettieAngell]

Add History into the equation too, Formed in 1932 They were only elected into the football league in 1978 , so anyone over the age of , say, 40 , in the town would more likely have gone to Liverpool , Bolton Manchester for their Professional football fix, even Skelmersdale , which is just up the road, were a bigger team in the 60's. Which does not lend itself to a growth of support due to family members

Having had a look on Wiki, wigan were a reasonable non league side in the 50's


MK Dons aside, recently elected teams generally do not get good attendances, mainly due to people tending to support sides who at least are in the league, and then not changing their allegiance one a team nearer home gets into the league. Look at the problems at Boston and Maidstone in the past as well as the appalling attendences at Morcombe and Accrington

and Dagenham!!

 

[ibwiajwa]

... Sort of.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/8434060.stm

They only managed a paltry attendance of 5,355 for their FA Cup tie against Hull. Another case of football clubs completely failing to identify with their demographic and show a complete lack of business sense... Surely 25,000 tickets sold at an average of £10-15 would be more beneficial than 5,000 tickets sold at an average price of £30.

They did reduce the tickets to £15 for adults and £5 for concessions but still got a poor attendance.

http://www.hullcityafc.net/page/NewsDetail/0,,10338~1902071,00.html

 

[EastStandBlue]

Wigan is a densely populated area... I know they're more of a recent team to back but they're more or less an accomplished top flight side now, certainly more so than the likes of Hull or Stoke. I know Egg Chasing is a more popular past time north of Watford, but it shouldn't detract from the clubs reputation. If we had a third round tie against, for example, Tranmere and tickets were £10-£5 I'd expect us to sell around the 4-5,000 mark.

 

[Thorpe Groyney]

It used to be Dave Whelan's money that kept them going but not now.

Since his companies ran into financial difficulties, there's been a strict wage ceiling at the club, and a regular turnover of players being sold on at considerable profit (Cattermole, Valencia, etc).

They're in the Premier League and surviving on merit, 5,000 crowds or not. In a much less populated town than Southend and a rival club there attracting more support.