| Attendances 14:31 - Oct 10 with 1060 views | RSCOSWORTH |
We had the lowest attendance in the football league on Saturday with 2,750.
There were five games in the National League that had higher attendances than ours.
We currently sit in 18th in the League Two average home attendance table with an average of 3,167 per home league match.
I know attendances aren't the only thing to consider but it must be a factor when it comes to our resources and league position.
For me, the club has a lot of work to do in order to get people back in the stadium again and it's not just relative to the performances on the pitch either. |  |
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| Attendances on 15:32 - Oct 10 with 1041 views | wessex_exile |
You're not wrong, but it's also worth pointing there were apparently just 53 from Harrogate (and some observers thought it was closer to half that amount). The crowd was about the same as at the Rochdale game, and they must have bought 4-500, so in theory our attendance must have been up by that amount on Saturday? |  |
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| Attendances on 16:43 - Oct 10 with 1015 views | noah4x4 |
I counted 28 from Harrogate in the East Stand, so the rest must have been in corporate hospitality.
Even if results pick up, I reckon we will struggle to add +500 to our average gate without a closer public bus service. Football fans like a beer, and sensibly won’t drink/drive. Exiting the car park remains a ghastly experience for those that do drive and parking costs a deterrent. The nearest bus stop with a decent service is in Mill Road, which is too far for more elderly fans.
This situation is not helped by the ‘Boulevard’ walkway, strangely finished, but its opening now being a year overdue. Rumour here is that the Borough Council/Amphora has screwed up and cannot connect its swale pond drainage to the main sewer due to land ownership disputes with other utilities. Another material dispute over road adoption means bus routes to serve the new Channings Wood housing estate also don’t run yet. Then surely, once the cinema and other Northern Gateway services open with car parking, the U’s won’t be able to charge so much. A completely new transport strategy for the U’s will be required. Should be more consultation with fans? |  | | |
| Attendances on 17:08 - Oct 10 with 1007 views | durham_exile |
It may be simplistic but home attendances will pick up as results improve under Blooms.
I am confident that he has already demonstrated passion, ambition and ability in the short time he has been here.
I must admit that when I attend home matches I drove and use the car park and then spend time in the shop after the game whilst the car park carnage ensues.
Similarly when I went to Layer Road and drove from Braintree I parked on the Garrison Parade square and then when that closed I would park a distance away and walk. |  |
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| Attendances on 18:41 - Oct 10 with 981 views | burnsieespana |
| Attendances on 17:08 - Oct 10 by durham_exile |
It may be simplistic but home attendances will pick up as results improve under Blooms.
I am confident that he has already demonstrated passion, ambition and ability in the short time he has been here.
I must admit that when I attend home matches I drove and use the car park and then spend time in the shop after the game whilst the car park carnage ensues.
Similarly when I went to Layer Road and drove from Braintree I parked on the Garrison Parade square and then when that closed I would park a distance away and walk. |
Personally I am not convinced better bus links, easier car parking will make little difference to our attendance.
I suspect even if by season end Bloom's has worked a miracle and got us in the top 3 we would still not get 4000. |  | | |
| Attendances on 07:17 - Oct 11 with 923 views | noah4x4 |
| Attendances on 18:41 - Oct 10 by burnsieespana |
Personally I am not convinced better bus links, easier car parking will make little difference to our attendance.
I suspect even if by season end Bloom's has worked a miracle and got us in the top 3 we would still not get 4000. |
We are never going to lure above 3% of the local population unless we can sustain success for multiple seasons and hence inspire a younger generation.. Colchester is a commuter town (city designate) stuffed full of Londoners (or tractor drivers) with zero affinity to our local club.
For example, I am a former London commuter and Villa fan by birth, and loyaly support my local club as trekking to Villa Park is too far. But it is too easy to get to London (or Ipswich) for the majority of non-indigenous CO postcode residents that hold rail season tickets enabling them to more easily support their birth club. Many of our Usual boaders are exiles that similarly hang in to their roots. The difference here is that the competition from birth clubs isn't deterred by transport barriers.
Simply for us to get close to 3,500 to 4,000, I reckon public transport to the Jobserve Stadium must improve. It is easier to get to West Ham or Portman Road, especially if one struggles to walk. Elderly Colchestrians are moaning about the relocation of Marks & Spencer from the Town Centre to Tollsgate and the lack of a sufficiently close bus service. It is exactly the same issue with the Jobserve. We are now missing an entire generation of the over sixties, deterred by steep steps, no handrails, no public transport and the club's insistence on an over 65s policy for concessions ignoring the fact that London commuters working in Financial Services tend to retire at 60.
We were regularly getting crowds of 3,500 plus until the shuttle buses were withdrawn. Hundreds of my cloth cap, baby boomer generation then vanished. Dozens of my regular attendee pals no longer go to a game because they feel the club doesn't listen. The only reason shuttle buses were withdrawn was because First Bus failed to collect fares from the joy-riding kids, whilst stupidly acceptng elderly bus passes, hence dumping a £30,000 cash shortfall on the club. Essex and CBC then promised bus services to the Northern Gateway and Chesterwell Woods and ten years on they have still not materialised. The handrail issue is just bizarre in this health and safety conscious world. To exit my best pal (age 80) and I (68) now struggle from S2 across S1 to walk down the wall because the steps are too dangerous for those a tad wobbly on their feet. The missing generations that need to be targeted to get us to 3,500 are the youth and elderly. | | | |
| Attendances on 14:58 - Oct 11 with 886 views | wessex_exile |
Well, needless to say I've had a look at the numbers here. Below our our average home league attendances since returning to the football league in 1992.
There are some interesting features to note. After the first season back surge of euphoria died off, we reverted back to a side often worried about being relegated back to the Conference for at least part of a season, bouncing along at the just over 3k mark. Again promotion in 1998 had an immediate impact on attendances, but again that quickly dropped away to a relatively decent 3.5k+ mark. Obviously we were also playing bigger teams with larger fan-bases as well.
The two Championship seasons were largely constrained by Layer Road capacity, had we been at the JobServe with a minimum 2,000 places for visiting supporters, I would have expected those two seasons to be in the 6.5-7k mark at least. Again, even though it was a relegation this time, plus of course the new ground, attendances stayed at the 5k+ mark for two seasons running whilst we looked to bounce straight back to the Championship. Once reality dawned, we slip back rapidly to a reasonable 3.5-4k mark.
Again, once relegation to League 2 arrived in 2016, bounce-back optimism kept attendances pretty close to 4k, and although dropping after that, we were still maintaining an approx. 3.5k average or thereabouts for the nest three season - until...
Covid - that's the one that has done for us.
By the time that lockdown was over, too many supporters had found other ways to either enjoy their football, or just do something else, the team was struggling, some supporters were still nervous about being in large crowds (and still are today), the stadium had been turned into a vaccination station (quite rightly), so all the supporter experience infrastructure was dismantled, etc etc etc.
Things seem to be slowly creeping back up, and at present it's worth bearing in mind our support base is no worse than it was back at Layer Road the last time we were promoted out of League 2.
As for the shuttle buses Noah - I don't disagree that they weren't incredibly handy for supporters to get to the ground, I certainly would always use them if I travelled over - but as for impact on attendance when Robbie withdrew them ahead of the 2018/19 season? No evidence at all I'm afraid, in fact we added nearly 300 to our average per match attendance once the shuttle buses were withdrawn. | |
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| Attendances on 00:43 - Oct 12 with 841 views | noah4x4 |
It is true that after the shuttle buses were withdrawn attendances did marginally grow reflecting some improvement in team performance. However, large numbers were being dropped off by car or taxi and then failing to pay the return shuttle bus journey. The same people have since found alternative transport options. However, the ground is not accessible for many of my older generation.
The figures clearly show that today's average gates have fallen significantly since 2018, not helped by the covid legacy and poor team performances. Now compare that trend with the massive growth in Colchester population. Over 6,000 new houses have been built in Colchester. Now compare with rising gates for Ipswich and West Ham. Why are our gates not rising?
It perhaps remains a novelty for exiles to get an opportunity to visit the ground. But for those more local, getting to the ground can be tedious. Today, it took me almost an hour from the Victoria Inn, by the time I had waited for a bus, travelled to the nearest stop in Mill Road and then a significant walk. Transport is a major barrier and should not be dismissed. | | | |
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