OK the Tyneside urban area has a population of 840K Newcastle's average gate is just over 48.000, Sunderland's just over 40.000 and Boro's around 20.000. so 108,000 watching football on a regular basis, nearly 13% of the population. The Cardiff Urban area population is 440K 13% of the population would be a crowd of over 57,000, we are never going to achieve this IMO, but surely 40,000+ should be achievable.........there is a mind set in the North East and they are proud of their reputation as a hotbed of football, and historically attend matches as a matter of habit.........this is the mindset we need to build at Cardiff.........our new fans are coming on fine, but we need to build a dynasty and spread the word and get "going down the City" to be a habit, we could be up there, but it needs to start at grass roots level.....get the kids off their computers and down at CCS I'm raving now aren't I
nothing to do with video games proph, my brother likes his cod and mw 3 but cant afford to support cardiff, i take him down whenever i can, which is helped by cheaper tickets (like for the wales match against norway, carling cup matches etc), and thats down to the club, which to be fair are very reasonable when you compare the prices to teams like weeds. i think the maximum potential of the club is 30,000, i think we have the perfect size of ground for where we are at, if we got promoted then no doubt we could fill a 30k stadium, but if we got relegated then that attendance would go down to about 21-22k, which is around what it is now. to be fair, with teams like chelsea and spurs charging huge sums to watch a game, you wonder where the support in 10-20 years will come from, you're talking at least £30 a ticket, whereas here you can get in for around a third of that depending on where you sit. its an interesting question, i think kids tickets should be cheap as chips, get them in early and they may keep coming when they're older. the vast majority of revenue comes from TV, in the latest man city accounts they only made £19m last year from ticket sales, they could afford to make it £10 for kids £20 for adults and the ground would be packed to the rafters even if it was 70000 capacity
My mother told me that up until his death in 1953, my grandfather would walk round to Ninian Park from their house on Clare St every single week - he didn't miss a game for many years. Of course in those days you turned up, paid the person on the turnstile & walked in. Twas the same when I started attending in January 1970 (City v Birmingham - City won 3-1). The point is, in the days of standing terraces Ninian Park could accommodate 50,000, and attendances of 35,000 were common, so when I read that we had 'record' attendances of 25,000 it does make me chuckle! Yes, the support is there, and we will fill the CCS to the rafters - we just need to get to the promised land first.
I think its all relative Proph. Divide Cardiff's 13% over 3 clubs and you're looking at approx 19000. Plus the Tyneside populous is almost twice as much so divide their averages by 2 and NUFC come out at 24000, Sunderland at 20000 and Boro at 10000 so based on that I think we're doing ok. Attendances will increase/fall depending how the team are doing... always have, always will and Malky is doing his best to ensure they stay as high as possible I'm with Swamp on the console issue. My boys middle name just as well be 'Xbox' but come matchday, it takes a back seat to CCFC (used to be Liverpool but he's better now)
well the passion shown by the fans yesterday was immense...i was blown away and to be honest its been a while since going to an away game that the fans seemed genuinely excited about the team and really up for it...we sang our hearts out,song after song all game and i think the players were determined not to let us down...so the point i'm making is we take a near 4000 supporters to the madejski stadium yesterday to play a reading team who are currently mid table but yesterday felt like a massive game to the fans and dare i say it it may of also been "a turning point" that maybe maybe this team are starting to believe we can get up this season,i'm still not sure how it will turn out but if we didn't i don't think come the end of the season we will all be saying the players didn't want it enough.. if we do we will no doubt pack the ccs to the rafters as the capacity stands but personally it wouldn't be a bad idea to increase it to 30,000 which i think we would fill and if we were to maintain a premier league position i think we could do 35+ no problem...i think potential as always been there with cardiff..either way though i'm so proud of the boys this season so far,exceeding my expectations..really playing for the shirt, the manager, club and the supporters..they all look so happy to be playing for the city and it the end it was nice to see malky on the pitch waving his fist in the air to us with such passion..anyway lets hope we can maintain this and get a win at coventry on tuesday..up the bluebirds!
When I started watching the City, there were football specials (trains) that come from all over. Rhondda, Cynon, Merthyr & Caerphilly valleys plus Barry, Bridgend & Newport. Standing room only by the time it got to Porth on the Rhondda trains down to Ninian Park halt. We will get these fans back in their 1,000's if we can make them believe again.
H what i meant was that 13% 0f the population in the NE watch football as a habit, and that is not taking into account "smaller" teams (no disrespect) like Hartlepool then all of a sudden you are looking at 112,000+ watching League football, it is still a way of life in the North East, it used to be (to a lesser extent) at Cardiff........our years in the doldrums broke many people of the "habit" of going to the match, (only us deluded fools stayed faithful ) I was "dragged" along by my Grandad as a nipper in the late 50's and early 60's, until it got to be a habit and a way of life, when we were struggling this stopped happening and we lost a generation of fans........we are now playing at a decent level and their are some exciting things happening at the club.............NOW is the time for capturing the next generation of fans, I know its a dear hobby if you have a couple of kids to have a day out at the football, and perhaps the club should be subsidising the cost of taking the youngsters to the game more, the next generation is the future after all. I know the club are looking at doing something along these lines, but it is very much a market research exercise at the moment. I remember years ago when I was stationed in Germany that VFL Bochum had a system where for every adult ticket sold a kid got in for free, and a second kid half price, they doubled their attendances at a stroke.......catch them young and treat them right and you have fans for life. When we get into the PL with our cachement area we should be looking at 35 - 40K, the people are out there Newcastle and Sunderland saw a drop off in attendances when they dropped out of the top flight.......but still had attendances of 30K plus.............look at Derby a smaller city than Cardiff, with competition from both Nottingham clubs, as well as to a certain extent Leicester and Coventry they regularly get 30K, we need to get over the apathy factor, I know I'm preaching to the converted on here but we all need to preach the gospel and get the kids down to CCS...........it was a way of life when I was a kid every other Saturday in the season, well there was only one place to be other places in the UK have kept this mindset, and it's something we need to get going in Cardiff. End of rant
Can't really argue with any of that Proph fair play. We've got a steady average these days but the key to increasing it is definately getting to the Prem. Swansea have done their bit but looking at the Liberty away end yesterday, I wonder how many of them didn't have to leave South Wales to get home? I first got dragged down to NP by an Uncle early 70's just so my mother knew where I was when she was in work on a Sat (anybody would think she didn't trust me ). Like you say though, it soon becomes a habit. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but didn't we once have a pay structure scheme at NP where the admission price changed depending on league position. eg Top 2 = X amount, 3-6 (now the play-off places) a few quid cheaper and lower again for 7th place down? I think it might have been under Rick Wright but not 100% (tbh, not 100% I didn't dream it)
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but didn't we once have a pay structure scheme at NP where the admission price changed depending on league position. eg Top 2 = X amount, 3-6 (now the play-off places) a few quid cheaper and lower again for 7th place down? I think it might have been under Rick Wright but not 100% (tbh, not 100% I didn't dream it) You're right there H, Rick Wright tried many things to get the crowds in, most failed.
Proph, you are going to have to change your name to Blue Preacher. In a pulpit near you. Keep up the good work.
Wasn't the record attendance for NP something like 63,000? I remember being there for an evening kick off between Cardiff & Hereford, first & second in the old 3rd division and packed in like sardines, not sure what the exact attendance was bit I'm pretty sure it was around the 30,000 mark. Mind you we didn't have your xboxes & playstations in those days, kids eh, never had it so good. Now I sound like my dad & need to lay down.
MALCOLM Allison was left speechless when more than 35,000 spectators turned up for a midweek Third Division clash between Cardiff City and Hereford United at Ninian Park. Allison was manager of Crystal Palace in 1976 - and was far from impressed by Cardiff City when they won 1-0 against the London club at Selhurst Park four days before Cardiff v Hereford. Adrian Alston fired the only goal. During post-match interviews, Allison said Cardiff City were not in the same league as Palace for support and would get nothing like the 25,000 who had been at Selhurst Park. The flamboyant Allison predicted that Cardiff City would not earn promotion. The Bluebirds' three previous attendances before Hereford came to the city were 12,511 (v Millwall), 9,645 (v Grimsby) and 12,447 (v Preston). Yet Allison was proved wrong when 35,549 turned out to cheer Cardiff City in their crucial midweek clash. The atmosphere was remarkable. Both teams - Cardiff under Jimmy Andrews and Hereford under John Sillett - were within reach of promotion. City emerged winners, Doug Livermore scoring with a diving header after 54 minutes and Alan Campbell making it 2-0 on 87 minutes. It was the biggest crowd at Ninian Park for 15 years and afterwards the Bluebirds sent Allison six bottles of champagne and a card, saying: "With love from Cardiff City." Hereford were eventually promoted as champions, six points ahead of runners-up Cardiff City, whose promotion was clinched by an Alston winner in the final league match at Bury. The third promotion spot was taken by Millwall, while Palace missed out in fifth spot. Cardiff City: Ron Healey, Phil Dwyer, Freddie Pethard, Alan Campbell, Mike England, Albert Larmour, Peter Sayer, Doug Livermore, Tony Evans, Adrian Alston, Willie Anderson. Sub: Gil Reece, for Sayer. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/City made the Palace boss drink his words.-a0174274429
some things just never leave you. I think Doris was working the tea stall on the Bob Bank that night too lol
I remember that night because we were unable to watch from our normal spot ( under the camera gantry Bob Bank ) and was stuck by the floodlight pylon between the Bob Bank & the Canton stand.
I was at Bury for that game, absolutely magic night, couldn't stop laughing at the police horses fitted with lights
I remember we did our usual trick, had just one more pint and wandered down 10 minutes before kick off...........usually good enough............ but couldn't see a bloody thing..........worse than the 50,000+ crowd we had for a 0 - 0 draw we had against Arsenal in the FA Cup...........48,000 against SV Hamburg I was still young enough to go in the old "boys enclosure" so I had a great view............just my luck I had my first seat in the old grandstand as a birthday treat for a Wales v England game 60,000+ crowd I was also one of the 1,800 on a wet Wednesday, which was announced as the smallest crowd for a league match...............I'm pretty sure we lost 1 - 0 against Darlington.......but don't quote me
Welshman The attendance for the Hereford match was 39,000 for a division 3 game, which remained a record attendance for that league until the two Sheffield sides played each other at the same level, remember the game well, i think Livermore scored the second in a 2 - 0 win.
