Football Will Die Without The Fans

[boro_boy]

Repeat after me: The Premiership is the best league in the world.

This is the mantra we are constantly being asked to believe. It's rammed down our throats by Sky and others with a vested interest.

The trouble is while some clubs are expanding their grounds, building new stadiums and are soon to be surfing in on a tsunami of big TV money next year, others are finding it very hard to pull in punters to their home games.

At places like Wigan, Bolton, Villa, Blackburn, Fulham and my own Middlesbrough, there's a crisis coming; a crisis of support.

The Premiership don't want to talk about that of course. They'd much rather have us believe their Brave New World is a flawless empire of satisfied customers all enthralled by the fabulous entertainment on offer. The acres of empty seats are quietly ignored and the focus is forever on the glories of the big clubs. The figures are startling. Fans are worried. Hopefully these clubs are as well.

Bolton, on average, is 20% empty every game, and yet they have never been more successful in the league. At Villa's game with Man City there was a massive 12,000 empty seats at Villa Park and this at a time of renewal and hope under O'Neill.

Boro regularly play to a ground that is 25% empty. On Saturday, due in part to local circumstances only 23,000 were in the 35,000 capacity stadium. It gets worse. Wigan and Fulham regularly fail to fill 30% of their grounds. Wigan can point to recent growth from small crowds but it's Blackburn who are in the middle of a real, genuine, crisis of support.

Ewood Park, on occasion, has been half empty and rarely gets over 20,000. Their European game against FC Basel attracted a paltry 13,189 leaving 18,178 seats empty. But surely, as everyone tells us over and over again, a European place is worth fighting for. Isn't it the only thing for all clubs to aim for now that winning the league is beyond almost everyone?

"We're hoping to get into Europe," fans say - we hear it all the time - and yet Blackburn is evidence that at some clubs, very few fans give a ***** really. Boro famously attracted 9,000 for a UEFA cup game last year. Not even the mythical status of European football makes a difference to these clubs' attendances. Thousands of people in recent years have just stopped going.

So why is this happening? None of these clubs are in a relegation place and almost all of them are going through a period of at least relative success. Other clubs like Charlton and Watford and West Ham are still virtually selling out each game and they're at the bottom. I got in touch with some fans of all these clubs and asked them to find out what's going on. Yes, actually I've done some research, or more precisely I asked some people to do the research for me.

The same issues came up time and again from club to club. I've included some quotes from the responses I got to illustrate them. They make fascinating reading, I hope you agree.

Tickets are too expensive. "You could enjoy eight pints and chips on the way home instead for the price of a ticket to see us play Charlton." "I used to watch Villa when I was on the dole in the early 80s but no one on the dole could afford to do that now."

The quality of the football isn't good enough. It's regularly said to be "defensive, negative and generally crap." "Not losing is more important than winning these days, that's why its so negative and it's why the excitement has diminished at a lot of games." "It's all about being well organized, there's not enough flair to get fans excited, so they just stop coming."

Hatred of greedy footballers has put people off the game. "I stopped going because the players are paid so much and usually do so little for it. It makes me f**king furious so I stopped before I had a heart attack. There are loads of people like me. We just hate most of the players. Maybe it's jealousy, but I just don't respect half of them as men, let alone as footballers."

"I stopped going to home games because I didn't want to help pay Djemba-Djemba's wages and because I had developed an almost pathological hated of O'Leary who was just stupidly inept."

There are too few or no local players in the team. "We don't even have an academy at Wigan."
"It's all about money now. There's no local culture to the club like there used to be. I know it's an old-fashioned idea, my kids tell me often enough, but I'd like to see some kids who grew up in the back streets of Blackburn playing for the club - like they do at Villa and Middlesbrough." Ironically, this isn't actually helping attract fans!

Kids don't go to the match as much. Unfashionable clubs are thought to be 'uncool'. "Tugay's face frightens my youngest!" "My kid gets the piss taken out of him at school for supporting Wigan and not Liverpool. It's seen as an inferior choice. A stigma almost - like the dole coats we used to have to wear."

Kids tend to support big 'brands' of Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool rather than their local club "My lad isn't interested in seeing Andy Todd. He'd rather watch John Terry on the telly." "My daughter asked me why I would choose to watch poor quality football at Ewood Park rather than stay in and watch Man United on Sky. It's all a product to kids now. The history and culture of smaller clubs means less than it ever has."

There are so many other things for kids to do. "Try telling my kids that it's more fun going to watch Robbie Savage kick people than it is to play a beat 'em up on their play station and they just laugh at you."

Going to away matches is difficult. "When we played on Saturdays at 3pm you didn't have to worry about work in the morning so fans could take their time getting back home. But if you are playing at 7.45pm on a Monday, there's no way most people can travel a few hundred miles to watch the game, then get back for work the next day without snorting speed and staying up all night."

Fans who continue to support their clubs regularly are concerned at the dwindling numbers. "I sometimes wonder just how much our presence matters to the players or even to the club."

"The downward spiral is worrying - especially when you put it against the big increase at Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal - it is the showbiz X Factor thing of supporting the celebs."

"I think we're at the leading edge of a trend. We've just realised quicker than most that there's only so much fun to be had watching your side play in a league that they will never, ever have a chance of winning or even finishing in the top four. The same teams win everything, so what's the point of the Premiership?"

Lack of loyalty by players has made fans less loyal to the club. "If they can't be arsed for the club why the hell should we?" "I feel that some players take the p*ss out of loyal fans and that's put a lot of people off. They take our money, kiss the badge and then disappear at the first opportunity to make even more unearned money. I'm talking about you, Zenden!"

Crowd numbers are apparently up at non-league matches. "I'd rather watch the Northern league where the football is played by real men, not prima donnas."

"I can drink, smoke, have a decent pie and it only costs me £5-£7 to get in. I don't have to sit on a cheap plastic seat, keep quiet or get told off by a toe-rag steward for standing up. That's why I watch non-league football these days. It's just a better experience. It's real."

The glimmer of hope for these unpopular clubs is that the fans themselves have loads of great ideas, and if clubs had any sense they'd listen to them.

"Blackburn should reduce ticket prices by 50% - the club would still make as much money as they do now but the place would be full, they'd sell more merch, more food, more drink and the players would respond to a better atmosphere. How hard is it to realise that? It's basic business sense. We've got a crap product; we need to make it more appealing."

"Players should be seen to be working in the local community. A lot of them do great things but it's hardly ever talked about. We need to counteract the cynicism that the Hello! obsessed players such as Ashley Cole have infected the game with. What he is and what he represents is a disease that is killing football."

"Boro are trying to push the idea of Boro nation and I think that is our best hope....this idea that we are a special local club - no big foreign investors here, run by a local man, built around local young players etc. Almost a fans' club."

As ever, the fans are the lifeblood of the game. And it's with fans that the solutions to many of these problems of poor attendance lie. These failing clubs would do well to listen to the wisdom of people who have spent thousands of their wages supporting the club.

Maybe too many are blinded by the TV money and see that as more important than attracting capacity crowds, maybe they've forgotten that its supposed to be fun, but the time will come when the TV money will dry up because they will not want to pay to broadcast a game of football played out to acres of empty plastic seats.

http://www.football365.com/john_nicholson/...1771200,00.html

As a fan of a team struggling to pull in the fans, for many reasons, i find it hard to diagree with that article.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0tkwqhXTc4

[Craig]

Loads to agree on it that. Someone I know supports Man U, I don't think he EVER watches them play, not even on TV...

[Mundi]

Tickets are too expensive. "You could enjoy eight pints and chips on the way home instead for the price of a ticket to see us play Charlton."

So beer is more important than your club? F**k off.

The quality of the football isn't good enough. It's regularly said to be "defensive, negative and generally crap." "Not losing is more important than winning these days, that's why its so negative and it's why the excitement has diminished at a lot of games." "It's all about being well organized, there's not enough flair to get fans excited, so they just stop coming."

Couldn't give a f**k how Leeds play as long as they win tbh, I thought that was the most important thing.

Hatred of greedy footballers has put people off the game. "I stopped going because the players are paid so much and usually do so little for it. It makes me f**king furious so I stopped before I had a heart attack. There are loads of people like me. We just hate most of the players. Maybe it's jealousy, but I just don't respect half of them as men, let alone as footballers."

That may be true but you support the badge on the shirt, not the player inside it.

There are too few or no local players in the team. "We don't even have an academy at Wigan."
"It's all about money now. There's no local culture to the club like there used to be. I know it's an old-fashioned idea, my kids tell me often enough, but I'd like to see some kids who grew up in the back streets of Blackburn playing for the club - like they do at Villa and Middlesbrough." Ironically, this isn't actually helping attract fans!

Fair point, we'd all like our sides to be full of local players but again, it's all about the badge on the shirt.

Kids don't go to the match as much. Unfashionable clubs are thought to be 'uncool'. "Tugay's face frightens my youngest!" "My kid gets the piss taken out of him at school for supporting Wigan and not Liverpool. It's seen as an inferior choice. A stigma almost - like the dole coats we used to have to wear."

Kids tend to support big 'brands' of Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool rather than their local club "My lad isn't interested in seeing Andy Todd. He'd rather watch John Terry on the telly." "My daughter asked me why I would choose to watch poor quality football at Ewood Park rather than stay in and watch Man United on Sky. It's all a product to kids now. The history and culture of smaller clubs means less than it ever has."

Can't really suggest anything there, educate them?

Going to away matches is difficult. "When we played on Saturdays at 3pm you didn't have to worry about work in the morning so fans could take their time getting back home. But if you are playing at 7.45pm on a Monday, there's no way most people can travel a few hundred miles to watch the game, then get back for work the next day without snorting speed and staying up all night."

Has Britain suddenly doubled in size or summat? I don't buy that at all.

Lack of loyalty by players has made fans less loyal to the club. "If they can't be arsed for the club why the hell should we?" "I feel that some players take the p*ss out of loyal fans and that's put a lot of people off. They take our money, kiss the badge and then disappear at the first opportunity to make even more unearned money. I'm talking about you, Zenden!"

What bollocks. How can you complain about disloyal players when you can just turn around and say "I'm not going anymore"? Tad hypocritical?

"I can drink, smoke, have a decent pie and it only costs me £5-£7 to get in.

F**k off, I've dealt with you already.

Excuses like these really piss me off. Being a student and living where I do I hardly ever manage to go and see Leeds play, and then to have people just turn round and say "oh we're ****, I can't be arsed any more" f**ks me off.

[boro_boy]

You really do sound like a FAN who has been brainwashed. Your telling me you would arather see Leeds play a ***** match which is completely boring, rather than going to the put with your mates?

Come on, football is entertainment at the end of the day, thats what people are paying for, and people are not watching the games due to this negative tactics that clubs are putting out, its killing the game, both teams should go out to win rather than one trying to defend and the other trying to win, its low quality football. I know what i'd rather do, i'd be drinking in the pub with mates.

Football has turned into a business now, they dont care about the fans, they are only bothered in making a profit. I really hope clubs start going bankrupt soon due to the lack of support, that is the only way to send out the messages that the fans are the most important thing in football.

[Mundi]

Originally Posted by boro_boy

You really do sound like a FAN who has been brainwashed. Your telling me you would rather see Leeds play a ***** match which is completely boring, rather than going to the pub with your mates?

So I'm a bad supporter because I WANT to go to matches instead of staying at home and watching Sky or listening to the radio? How does that work?

I dunno, maybe after all we've been through in the last few years I'm just thankful we have a football club at all.

You say you hope clubs start going bust, well judging by that article Middlesbrough could be one of the first ones to go. Oh well, at least YOU'LL be happy.

We get atleast 30 thousand per match, so I think we're alright

[boro_boy]

Well the clubs with the foreign investors i would like to go bust as it blatantly an unfair advantage towards the rest of the teams in the league.

Why should people go to games when they are paying £30 to watch the team they support, playing *****? I know i wouldn't and infact i don't. I said before xmas that I was going to go to some games during christmas but i'm not now, we are playing ***** football, once the team starts playing and performing then i might go and watch then, but with my finances at the moment, i'm not prepared to sit and watch them play *****. It just seems like a waste of my hard earned money.

No your not a bad supporter either, you just must have more money than sence. The players should earn their wages and play some decent football to make the fans flood in. But they dont these days and the fans stil watch them.

Originally Posted by boro_boy

Well the clubs with the foreign investors i would like to go bust as it blatantly an unfair advantage towards the rest of the teams in the league.

Why should people go to games when they are paying £30 to watch the team they support, playing *****? I know i wouldn't and infact i don't. I said before xmas that I was going to go to some games during christmas but i'm not now, we are playing ***** football, once the team starts playing and performing then i might go and watch then, but with my finances at the moment, i'm not prepared to sit and watch them play *****. It just seems like a waste of my hard earned money.

No your not a bad supporter either, you just must have more money than sence. The players should earn their wages and play some decent football to make the fans flood in. But they dont these days and the fans stil watch them.

I pay £71 quid every home game, and even if we don't win, I'm still happy. We are 50/50 with our **** performances, its always a risk I'm willing to take.

And if people would rather watch the game on TV, then yes, football will die.

[Mundi]

Originally Posted by boro_boy

Why should people go to games when they are paying £30 to watch the team they support, playing *****?

How can they call themselves supporters if they choose not to go to the games?

No your not a bad supporter either, you just must have more money than sence. The players should earn their wages and play some decent football to make the fans flood in. But they dont these days and the fans stil watch them.

I don't have the money, that's the point I was making. I have every sympathy with those like myself who genuinely can't afford to go, but when people choose not to go because "we're ****" it annoys me because if I was given the same choice I'd go to the game without a second's thought.

To simply stop going because the team is **** is gloryhunting, pure and simple. If you want attractive football every week go and watch Arsenal.

[boro_boy]

Originally Posted by TheyWouldntDareWinIt

How can they call themselves supporters if they choose not to go to the games?



I don't have the money, that's the point I was making. I have every sympathy with those like myself who genuinely can't afford to go, but when people choose not to go because "we're ****" it annoys me because if I was given the same choice I'd go to the game without a second's thought.

To simply stop going because the team is **** is gloryhunting, pure and simple. If you want attractive football every week go and watch Arsenal.

Its their own fault (the clubs) they have turned it into a business, if they are not entertaining me then i'll not go, looking from the past performance. Actually at the moment i'm skint, i've not been for about 2 years.

[boro_boy]

Originally Posted by Robbo

I pay £71 quid every home game, and even if we don't win, I'm still happy. We are 50/50 with our **** performances, its always a risk I'm willing to take.

And if people would rather watch the game on TV, then yes, football will die.

£71, the Spurs must laugh everytime you pass through the turnstiles. haha, even i'm lauging at you. £71 lol.

[Mundi]

Originally Posted by boro_boy

Its their own fault (the clubs) they have turned it into a business, if they are not entertaining me then i'll not go

So you would rather Boro lose a 4-3 thriller than scrape a 1-0 win?

[boro_boy]

Originally Posted by TheyWouldntDareWinIt

So you would rather Boro lose a 4-3 thriller than scrape a 1-0 win?

yeah without a doubt, least i would get entertainment and fulfillment.

[Mundi]

Originally Posted by boro_boy

yeah without a doubt, least i would get entertainment and fulfillment.

I'm sure that'll comfort you if Boro get relegated.

"We're in the Championship and might go out of business but at least I got my money's worth!"

[boro_boy]

Originally Posted by TheyWouldntDareWinIt

I'm sure that'll comfort you if Boro get relegated.

"We're in the Championship and might go out of business but at least I got my money's worth!"

Middlesbrough and Leeds are a different thing. We won't get relegated as there are far worse teams than us in the league. So at the moment a 4-3 loss would be money well spent, obviously i would like us to win but i would rather watch a thriller 4-3 loss rather than a boring 1-0 victory.

I think a lot of people would agree with me on this.