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Non League football, at these prices, with sometimes lengthy journeys (took over an hour in traffic from Whetstone recently) and not always great service in the ground is affecting attendances and atmosphere. We seem to be picking up local fans but need to continue as well as encouraging the pre 2013 fans to keep coming.

I'm very proud of our setup where the club is financially healthy and can afford a team like this with a very experienced manager with money from the Hive, but without the supporters turning up it's a bit flat and embarrassing. If the Hive can subsidise the squad as well as it does, can it not also take a bit of pressure off of ticket prices?

BEEGONE wrote:I think the question we should all be asking ourselves is how are some sides adding to attendances. We ask the negative, how do we stop losing fans.

Clearly they likes of Sutton, Maidenhead and Havent have added significant numbers to the gate in recent years. Whats drawing fans to them? Paying on the gate? Fan engagement? Prices? Style of football? Winning?

No idea but a very good question.

Mikel Bee wrote:Non League football, at these prices, with sometimes lengthy journeys (took over an hour in traffic from Whetstone recently) and not always great service in the ground is affecting attendances and atmosphere. We seem to be picking up local fans but need to continue as well as encouraging the pre 2013 fans to keep coming.

I'm very proud of our setup where the club is financially healthy and can afford a team like this with a very experienced manager with money from the Hive, but without the supporters turning up it's a bit flat and embarrassing. If the Hive can subsidise the squad as well as it does, can it not also take a bit of pressure off of ticket prices?

BEEGONE wrote:I think the question we should all be asking ourselves is how are some sides adding to attendances. We ask the negative, how do we stop losing fans.

Clearly they likes of Sutton, Maidenhead and Havent have added significant numbers to the gate in recent years. Whats drawing fans to them? Paying on the gate? Fan engagement? Prices? Style of football? Winning?

No idea but a very good question.

Well Havant and Maidenhead have never played at this level before so no wonder their attendances have gone up.
As for us I'd imagine that 3 relegations to the Conference/National League in a relatively short space of time would adversely affect people's gumption in going to see us play at this level again.

It really shouldn't though. We turn up to watch our team whatever league we're in. There is far more going on than that.

Norfolk & Chance wrote:Well said.
This is why I was so disappointed with TKs comment that ''we're bound to see a drop-off in attendances when we're relegated''.

Home fans of around 900 should be considered a bloody emergency, not brushed off with glib comments.
And then we get the equally glib ''damned if he does, damned if he doesn't'' comments.
He should keep his mouth shut and let actions do his talking.

You almost sum up the "damned if he does...." comment within your post. When the team has performed poorly in recent times there have been many people asking for him to comment, to explain various things from the team to the finances. He comments and he gets criticised for what he says.

You appear to be in the "he should keep quiet camp"? That will then annoy others who want to hear from the club (and that means TK), a club that has often been criticised for it's poor communication on here.

So yes, damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

Approx 300-400 "home" regulars have been lost compared to last season. Not a great stat at all, though success on pitch will have us creeping back.

We also have not played that many of the bigger clubs at home. Expect Orient, Aldershot etc. to boost the average attendance figure

BEEGONE wrote:I think the question we should all be asking ourselves is how are some sides adding to attendances. We ask the negative, how do we stop losing fans.

Clearly they likes of Sutton, Maidenhead and Havent have added significant numbers to the gate in recent years. Whats drawing fans to them? Paying on the gate? Fan engagement? Prices? Style of football? Winning?

I can speak for Maidenhead as I watch as much of them as I do of Barnet nowadays - they were struggling to get 500 through the gate when they were battling relegation in the 14/15 season. Devonshire came in at the end of that season and attendances gradually went up, frequently broke the 1000 barrier in their title wining season and every league game since coming up has broken that barrier. It's pretty much just their on-field performances. Ticket prices have gone up by 50% in that time (though were only £10 to start with).

In short, we need to start winning.

Norfolk & Chance wrote:It really shouldn't though. We turn up to watch our team whatever league we're in. There is far more going on than that.

For me it's a combination of the move to the Hive, ticket prices and the general feeling that we are not making the best of our available resources. We're no worse now than we were in our first season at the Hive, but that was before a litany of errors from TK that caused a lot of people to lose faith in him. Including price rises.

I've only been to two games this season - Eastleigh and Harrogate. That put me off for starters. I know things have improved but bloody hell, it's hard to give a toss.

My repetitive tuppeny.

A Supporters Association.

Who can actually get the combined good ideas / bad ideas / justified moans and unjustified whinges together and put them to TK. Who can speak as a collective body about the apathy and unhappiness. Who would perhaps put on a one off coach to Barrow - even if just to meet the trains from Lancaster. And then feedback to members.

Surely the football side is a loss maker? What’s stopping £10 adults and £5 juniors in all areas of the ground? The pricing stucture is clearly wrong. I will pay £20 + of course as probably the majority on this message board, but the casual or floating fan no chance. Come on TK give it a shot for one season.

StephenM wrote:

Norfolk & Chance wrote:Well said.
This is why I was so disappointed with TKs comment that ''we're bound to see a drop-off in attendances when we're relegated''.

Home fans of around 900 should be considered a bloody emergency, not brushed off with glib comments.
And then we get the equally glib ''damned if he does, damned if he doesn't'' comments.
He should keep his mouth shut and let actions do his talking.

You almost sum up the "damned if he does...." comment within your post. When the team has performed poorly in recent times there have been many people asking for him to comment, to explain various things from the team to the finances. He comments and he gets criticised for what he says.

You appear to be in the "he should keep quiet camp"? That will then annoy others who want to hear from the club (and that means TK), a club that has often been criticised for it's poor communication on here.

So yes, damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

What I mean is, if he is going to say something, make it substantive, meaningful, constructive etc etc.
Referring to 900 home crowds as simply an expected result of relegation is an example, afaic, of when he is better off saying nothing.
He knows it's far more complex than that so it's a bit of an insult to the intelligence to hear it described that way.
If he announced that our current home crowds result from a combination of multiple factors and that he was going to have a thorough look at what's going on and come up with what he sees as a solution, then that's the kind of stuff I'd be delighted to hear from him.

Need to improve on the pitch and simplify the pricing structure.

If we're a national league side or a league 2 side, being near the top of the league/in the play offs would help the attendance. Who wants to watch a mid table side playing in meaningless games.

The pricing structure and offers are ridiculous. £10 - £15 for adults (depending on where you stand/sit) and £5 for children. Every game. Get people into the ground. If you want to do 3for2 promotions on top of that that's fine but make the everyday prices reasonable!

Time for TK to get Usain Bolt in, that'll put bums on seats