Apologies up front as I suspect the following to many is stating the bleedin obvious. It takes many, many years to build the club and the support. The ****e, on and off the field, during the 70's, 80's and 90's saw our support decimated. But then, the feel good of the KC and Adam Pearson brought a massive 'overnight' boost, sustained by the early success, culminating in that wonderful period of 2008, and the 2008//9 season. Finally, during the noughties, we saw people returning to City and importantly a whole new generation being attracted to City, from the City and the surrounds. Even out as far as Scarborough. Yes, some were glory hunters, which is fine if it means they are finally supporting their local club, but the vast majority were a potential new generation of City supporters. Building that new generation of support would never be an overnight event. It had to be nurtured and consistently built upon year after year, until we had a fan base to equal those of the likes of comparable conurbations (Sunderland, Nottingham, Leicester, Southampton, Derby, ....) who had seen far more success than us in their history - not difficult to have more success as, until 2008, we had literally none, bar the Arrow Air trophy. . Then along came the Allams. Initially it seemed like a dream ticket, other than for the very few lone voices who warned from the start that they weren't to be trusted and that their ownership wouldn't turn out well. I didn't believe the warnings, but they were right, it turned into an absolute disaster. Rather than nurturing and building on the new generation of support, the Allams have instead absolutely decimated the support once again, undoing the great work that Adam Pearson oversaw, and the miracle that Phil Brown(io) somehow pulled off. Had they been decent custodians of our club, and looked after and nurtured the support during their tenure, there is no reason whatsoever why City shouldn't be filling the KC. Instead they seem to have done pretty much everything in their power to alienate the support, to divide it, to make it difficult, etc etc, be that deliberately or be it through gross incompetence, arrogance and stubburness (most likely a combination of all those). For me, this is by far the saddest aspect of their reign. It is absolutely criminal what they have done with the club, how they've lost not only the new generation that should have continued to be built but even managed to lose hardened black & amber through and through supporters. They should be run out of the City for crimes against the club.
I coach our local kids team. Up until last season the majority of kids turned up in City kits probably three quarters - now there’s one or two out of 24. Totally agree it’s a lost generation of potential supporters. Criminal in my opinion and they’ll never get that support back. Business gurus my arse.
Wait, so the gates aren't simply down to some numbers in the CIA Factbook? FFS we've been sold a pup all this time.... **shakes fist towards Brid area**
Born in same place. The numbers attending are facts. The reasons for not attending in comparison to elsewhere are excuses.
Newcastle's average attendance in 1991 was under 17,000 - add in the creation of the Premier League and a 15 year stint in the top flight, they're now getting around the 50,000 mark most seasons. Not saying we'd be getting 50,000 attendances now, but City never had that luxury. A sustained period of success brings in more fans.
That is without question. Success brings in more fans. Sustained success keeps them there longer. However, I believe it goes much deeper than just 'sustained success'. It's also about feeling and being a part of something, affinity, being treated as though you matter, making the experience enjoyable, making attending easy, FOMO, having hope, having something to look forward to, making the club and the match day experience something people want to be part of, positivity, atmosphere, marketing, communications, engagement, respect, tradition, and so on (add your own). Basically everything that was done so well under the tenure of Adam Pearson, and conversely everything that has been absolutely appalling during the tenure of the Allams. And that's of course without consideration of the fact that the Allams have also made a right mess of the golden chances, x2, of sustained success. As said, they should be run out of the City for crimes against our club.
You forget Driff that Pearson never got us into the Premier League, in fact in his last season in charge of us we escaped relegation back to Div 1 by Deano;s late goal in the last match at Cardiff. Although I admit Pearson did a tremendous job in when he first arrived in lifting the club from the doldrums but after the D*lan and Fish years, it wasn't that difficult. Look how we all embraced Hateley and Lloyd for example. There will be a similar reaction when the current owners depart too. You say 'the along came the Allams', not quite true, the monkey had been shrugged off our backs when Duffen, Bartlett and Brown hit the jackpot and got us into the PL for the first time. Then along came the Allams, and let's be honest the clubs greatest achievements bar that first Wembley appearance and promotion to the PL have all been under their ownership and like it or not that is how they see it too. Totally agree that it is absolutely criminal what has happened to the club on the back of all that success, we should have built a fan base to last for years, we should have something to show for our Premiership years, something to show for our only FA Cup Final appearance. We don't even have a shirt with the club's name on to show for that. Even the official club video of the Final doesn't mention us by name. But a good post never the less, I share your pain.
That's it, sustained success generates a huge source of local pride, it gets engrained in the culture and community of an area, until it just becomes one of those things that everyone does. It's a long way to go, and the Allams have burned down the staircase and turned City into something everyone hates.
That's a great point. If we were in the PL for a sustained period, we'd be selling more tickets. So it's very confusing as to why our owners don't really want that.
Out of the 24 children I taught this year there was only one kid who would turn up to non-uniform day in a City shirt. There were three across a year group of 67. (That's Year 4). Throughout the school, there's probably about ten, although two of them do play for the youth teams. The rest turn up in Liverpool, Man U and, bizarrely, PSG shirts. The FIFA generation has well and truly arrived. The generation above were all into 'top bantz' and Soccer AM, and now we have kids who support teams from cities they've never visited. Again. I'm teaching Year 2 next year. I'll be able to convince them to go to City. I'll subtly decorate my classroom. In all Amber and Black. Subliminal.
And what did Newcastle win in this supposed sustained period of success? Wigan and Portsmouth had more success in that period.
I don't forget and I do agree with what you say. I don't think Adam Pearson was perfect. It was meant more as a 'by comparison'. Under his tenure we had, and were building something really special. Even when we were struggling on the pitch. We felt, and were, part of something. As i did type, it was then Brown(io), yes, under Duffen (Bartlett) that took us to new heights. Duffen, for all his faults, at least knew how to engage, communicate, market, Getting to the PL for the first time was THE major achievement. That changed the mentality, the possibilities, for ever. The Allams didn't achieve that and can never claim that.That first promotion and the first season that followed were without any shadow of doubt our most successful time. Fair play to them, they struck lucky under the management of Bruce (who was great to start with). The platform was still there for them to build on the great work of Pearson (Brown, even Duffen). But as we agree, instead of building on that platform, sustaining and nurturing it further, they've burnt it pretty much to the ground.
