Fanbase
- Thread starter Roker Lad
- Start date
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In theory up to 360k approx, although there will be Mags in those areas to lower it.
Same applies though, Gateshead, Jarrow, Felling etc you get Sunderland fans from Tyneside.
350k is a good estimate.
Same applies though, Gateshead, Jarrow, Felling etc you get Sunderland fans from Tyneside.
350k is a good estimate.
I think you are little on the consevative side with 350 k.
I’ve seen SAFC paraphanalia in pubs and bars all the way up to & including Berwick as well as the whole of the old Durhan County.
Not saying all - but a goodly splattering all over. Of course the more the club achieves the more will stick their heads up over the parapets.
KTF
Oh aye could certainly be more mate, up to the borders, but then I’m also calculating some parts of Wearside that are mixed,
Harrogate, Ripon and around there used to have a strong Sunderland following even with Leeds close by
I done a piece of work on almost exactly this when I was at university many years ago (late 90s). 350k is arguably Conservative for now and id edge toward the 500k mark. In the 90s it was double that despite our turmoil and Newcastle riding high on the keegan wave. I know back then our world wide sphere of influence was one of the largest in the UK only behind Man utd, Liverpool, Tottenham, arsenal, celtic and rangers. Some might not believe that and may even scoff at it but it was true.
There is huge untapped potential within our fanbase if we start getting things right at the club
There is huge untapped potential within our fanbase if we start getting things right at the club
Many moons ago 70’s 80’s even later there was an active scandinavian (Sweden + Norway) supporters club that was only bettered by Liverpool.
Sadly that broke up - but there is still a vociferous group still active in Norway.
Keeping T F
I remember reading a few year back somewhere similar, around the Reid time.
Supposedly that was how we got the Nike deal (that was an ACTUAL Nike deal in the Reid years)
Im pretty sure that Sunderland has the second biggest London supporters branch members after Man Utd...long time ago I read that mind
With our current performances, I wouldn't even claim a Fanbase of ONE in my house.
My family come from Felling and there were seven of us who went regularly in the 60a & 70s, there were many more than us in the area but mostly died off by now.
there has always been fans travelled into Sunderland for match days from all over the North East, whether that's true today I don't know.
even when we moved over to Cumbria in the late 90a a favourite stop off was Kirkby Stephen there was always fans queuing at the chippy on the way home from games.
I read the SOL can be extended to 66,000.
If we were a top team, playing in the Champions League etc , could we fill that?
If we were a top team, playing in the Champions League etc , could we fill that?
We probably could but we’d have to have been playing at that level for quite a few years beforehand.
We could now and again but it's pointless tbh. The stadium looks good now, we can fill it and the extra gate revenue wouldn't be worth the bother.
We'd be much better off improving the area around the ground, facilities, access and transport.
The Champions League, in my opinion, isn't what it was and I'd only really be interested for the away games.
After Covid has finished cheap flights may be harder to some by and the NE will be economically hit.
Sunderland and Newcastle get the crowds they do because its relatively cheap, sometimes free.
Newcastle are stuck forever in a crumbling stadium at a ground they don't even own.
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I'd be surprised if it ever got to it's max potential capacity which is around that figure I believe. I think Bob Murray is on record saying he only put the north stand extension on because the council would have refused permission if the aquatic center was built, so he got in their first with that one.
You could make an argument that we should never have expanded it to 48k, 42k feels about right. Sir Bob got a bit ahead of himself after the 7th placed finishes and I think felt we had to match Newcastle’s redevelopment of their own ground. He should have invested in the squad rather than spending £6m or whatever it was to increase the capacity.
Even when we were established in the top flight under Short for 10 years our average attendance hovered around 40k most of the time. Okay we might fill it for a big game now and again but up against the likes of Wigan or Bolton there’d be thousands of empty seats.
If the club were consistently competing at the top of the Prem I think we would fill the SoL but that’s not happening anytime soon if ever.
Even when we were established in the top flight under Short for 10 years our average attendance hovered around 40k most of the time. Okay we might fill it for a big game now and again but up against the likes of Wigan or Bolton there’d be thousands of empty seats.
If the club were consistently competing at the top of the Prem I think we would fill the SoL but that’s not happening anytime soon if ever.
Think the extension wasn’t a necessity for us but it does give us a chance to get massive crowds for home games, it also gave us a good chance to get some international tournaments matches
Aye, it would be class for gigs and boost non football income. We might get an NFL game or that rugby weekend thing that they do. Big boxing fights etc.
This obsession with crowd sizes is usually something the Mags are famous for, perhaps it's all they have. I mean, the endless boasting about the size of their famous waiting list
I don't often hear Leicester supporters going on about extending their ground.