Attendances

While obviously we're all very passionate about City, we would represent perhaps the 10% (or 1%?) of fans who are this devoted. There would be countless people who are happy to check sports scores occasionally and consider themselves a supporter of one side over another even if they rarely ever watch them play because their life doesn't revolve around sport. I can't fathom it myself, but some people do just have other interests. Even my wife who I would say is reasonably sports nutty as far people go, will watch games or go to matches if I'm going but if I didn't mention current events for our local team to her, half the time she wouldn't realise such and such player is injured, or got dropped, etc. And at the end of the day some people are content with only watching/following a team loosely.

 

I think sometimes you need to take a step back and have some perspective. I was born in the 80’s and grew up in the 90’s, when I first went City with my old man we were averaging less than 4K.

If you told me just a few years later we’d be playing in a modern stadium, in front of 20K fans, in the top half of the Championship it would have seemed like a dream.

I’m grateful for the club and fanbase we do have, I’m not envious of what we don’t have. We’re not the best fans in the world, we don’t travel in the biggest numbers and we don’t sell out every week, but does it really matter?

We have a culture and identity at City that not many clubs have.

If you’re from Hull and support Arsenal it means nothing, you have no connection to that team, it says nothing about who you are and realistically you know nothing about what it means to be a football supporter. I actually feel sorry for those people, they don’t get to experience what we do, a last minute winner against Oxford means more to us than winning the Champions League will mean to them.

 

Something people neglect to mention is how **** it is if your club sell out every week and you can’t get a ticket.

Leeds have a huge waiting list for season tickets and normal match day tickets go into a ballot that’s massively over subscribed. Most people have to pay £300+ for hospitality to get a chance to go.

On top of that their prices go up 15% a year, just because they can, you either pay it or lose your seat.

If we were in that situation we wouldn’t be moaning about attendances, we’d be moaning about the price and not being able to get a ticket, bottom line is we’d still be moaning!

 

Above is true.
Our first ever season in the Premier League brought it home to me. I'd followed City all my life and often been ridiculed for it. Been to away games, like a lot of us, when our support was two coaches on a good day, Then all of sudden we had to join a lottery to get tickets for away games, thanks to Paul Duffen's ridiculous idea, loyalty no longer meant anything.
Liverpool away, first season in the Prem was the first tester. I was turned down for a ticket. I managed to get one eventually by begging. Dave Burns actually put an appeal on out on the radio for me and someone offered me their ticket. Someone I knew,
Got to Anfield and the away concourse was full of strangers. I saw my own brother who was a Liverpool 'fan' although had never been to Anfield until that day stood there grinning with his mate, a bloke from Hull who 'supported' Manchester United. Both used to laugh at me for supporting Hull City. Other life long City fans I knew personally were sat at home unable to get tickets.
Sat behind me in the East Stand were different Premier League tourists every week, people from Hull there to watch the opposition, cheer for them when they scored and sit in silence when we did.
Not a great experience.
But that is the essence of modern football I'm afraid and it will happen again if ever we do manage to get promoted again.
.

 

I guess it's EFL rather than Championship, given Bolton are on there

 

Sadly remember this all too well too.

 

Got to go to Anfield with City a game after that, Hull bloke next to me constantly telling me all about the fabulous Liverpool team, a lass in front in a home made half & half shirt!
After the obvious highs of that era I count beating Liverpool 3 times in a row at home in my top ten because of the joy in getting one over these local plastics.

 

This may support or negate one or other side of the discussion

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly137089yyo

Top of the league?

Middlesborough

 

My son in law is from London and supports Arsenal. He’s seen them play in Europe, and in several cup finals. I’ve seen City play at 130 different grounds, he’s definitely jealous of me and my City experiences, whereas I couldn’t give a toss about his.

 

That is exactly how it feels at both Man City and Man Utd unless you go into the very hardcore fan areas. To quote an infamous phrase 'the game is gone'.

 

Probably relevant to the discussion.