at the SoL and other stadia up and down the country is in my humble opinion not just down to the price of admission to a game, but more in the mindset of youngsters these days. Those of us who are in the twilight of our years as in my case, one item that was always top of my Christmas list, and that was a new pair of football boots. Nowadays the youngsters want computers, an x-box etc etc. They then spend every spare minute sitting on their derriere with no interest whatsoever in team sports or anything else. My generation had very little in the way electronic gadgets, but we could always find a ball and have a kick around in the park, or back lane, if Mr Plod didnt cuff you round the ear. Youngsters arent encouraged to get out and exercise as much. There are a whole hosts of reasons such as successive governments/councils who have sold off school playing fields. Teachers who are no longer prepared to give up their time to run and coach young kids. Wherever you live run through your mind the number of football pitches that have disappeared over the last 10yrs.The next time your in a park with a football pitch count up the number of kids actually having a kick around, very few I would guess. So therein lies some of the reasons why gates are dwindling. We need to get them interested at an early age. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and bear in mind that Im not tarring all parents etc with the same brush, but I look forward to your comments.
Sanddancer you are at least partially correct, I’d say the true is that there are many reasons why attendances are dropping. If it was one thing then it would be fairly easy to fix. I spent a night in a pub Bangkok watching the safc/manu game last year, wasn’t you up stairs with your own table/tv screen that my wife and I talked with
Safc73, sorry pal was not me. Give Bangkok a very wide berth if I can. I find its to much like London and all other capital cities. Over crowded and expensive. Only survive on my works pension until 2014 then the state pension kicks in. That is if its still in existence. .
only do Bangkok because I have business there, better than some of the cities around the world I travel to. The Kiwi$ buys you very litltle anywhere
Except our attendances are not dwindling, they are near enough EXACTLY what they have been for the previous few years. 40-41k. 7th in the land.
safc 73 im there on sat. gonna watch the match in nana somewhere sanddancer your right about lack of kids playing so they probably wont have as much interest in the game, unless its as prem manager on some game station, mind you there not to many places left for them to play, every park now have boards ;keep off the grass; so its not all their fault
I agree with the points made re; kids not playing the game today. When I was growing up in Silksworth and Doxy Park in the 60's and 70's every spare bit of grass and Court became a pitch and every garage door a goal - these days there are too many restrictions on kids, too many other forms of entertainment to distract them and I don't think they get as much encouragment to get out and exercise as we did. That said the problem is far more complex than just that and there is no doubt the amount of live football on the TV is having an effect - but so are ticket prices and the general cost of getting to games, especially for a family. Football generally seems to be living in denial of the general economic situation and in my opinion the game is seriously in danger of alienating a whole generation of potential fans. The TV money has seen the game boom, but I think it may also in the long term seriously damage the game from an attendance point of view.
silksworthexile Did you go to Ryhope school marra? I'm just asking because Being fifty year old, I remember a load of lads from Silky/Doxy from my Ryhope School days...
Not so many kids play football nowadays but I don't think that has anything to do with attendances. When I look around the SoL I see far more youngsters at games than I used to see at Roker Park. Unfortunately football is suffering in the same way as the record (shows my age) and film industries have done with illegal downloads. There is, and always will be now, a significant percentage of people who would prefer an inferior product at low or no cost (watching matches on telly in the pubs or at home on the computer) to the proper matchday experience and atmosphere at a higher cost. Football needs to fight back against the pubs, who they are now in competition with. Lower entry prices, but try to get fans to arrive at the ground an hour or two earlier than they do now and spend their money in the ground instead of the pubs close by. Have pre-match entertainment to rival the pubs that people want to watch (not the marching bands of old) and allow people to eat and drink in their seats while watching it. Even consider paying local pubs NOT to screen live home matches.
Sorry mate - no, I actually went to Southmoor School on Ryhope Road; although as you say quite a number of my age group went to the old Ryhope - and later Faringdon Schools.
I like the way you are thinking here, some creativity from the clubs could be the answer, perhaps people’s expectations are changing. Perhaps the new fans expectations go beyond the football. For years clubs have half-heartedly tried the pre match and half time entertainment thing bet never quite got it right
We must know each other mate - Also ex Doxy and I went to the Sh*te coat school.....( that one's for you MrRAWhite)....how can I say that of my old school, shame on me......... I'll send you a Private message.
Top notch post Smiffy - you've hit the Y-Gen on the head - They need constant entertainment. Happy to say that has improved remarkably on the pitch this season. I can't comment on the illegal viewing of matches in pubs, as I don’t have an answer or a decent suggestion.
having just had a look at the stats, it would appear that a lot of clubs have suffered a fall in attendances, after all we have just had a very deep recession and the north east has suffered as much if not more than other areas. so stop worrying, when the economy picks up so will attendances.
Sh*te coat school ?! - those were the days - what a godawful colour it was !! We may well know each other mate - feel free to drop me a pm
