Attendences

[frenchgull]

Its interesting that Torquay had the third highest attendance yesterday only behind Bristol Rovers,naturaly, and Lincoln City,but is 1850 fans acceptable?. 2500 was allways the norm so where are the missing 700 hundred.Ok rugby was on the telly yesterday,and we are in an area of rugby so that's a pull,we are in the conference but if you are a TRUE fan it should not matter where you play, you follow and support Torquay,we are a young team that needs your support.We play attacking football with the inevitable mistakes but we are in the shake up for the playoffs so come on, get behind the team,get some fresh air on a Saturday and give Torquay United a chance of getting back where we belong.

[PlainmoorRoar]

Think a lot of people would have spent a lot on xmas on Friday and probably couldnt afford it. - Think the club could have done a black friday offer for saturdays game, the hype over the event might have made it a success.

Thank the numpty who did the fixtures giving us 5 home games in a very small amount of time

With us playing Barnet on Saturday and then Halifax on the tuesday follow is there any chance of a ticket offer Andy C?

Maybe a buy 1 for Barnet get Halifax at half price?

[ROADRUNNER]

i agree frenchgull and falling attendances wont help the club thats for sure, but i think with all these home games we are having isnt helping , people will choose the games they go too with finances tight with christmas coming up, ive never known so many homes games like this before, the muppets who run this league need to sort it out, its crazy.

[Burnhamgull]

I was working so I've missed the last two games but as a ST holder, they've got my money so that's all that matters to the board.

I'm in no hurry to get to games now as I was a few years ago, the passion for the club is not what it was but I'm sure they'll get over it. What I would say however is that I agree with other posts. Too many home games right before Christmas will see a drop in attendances as priorities and finances dictate that people can't do it all.

[Dave]

The drop in attendances are in the main down, as said above down to the number home match's and timing. For me personally I had a number of extra unexpected pay outs in November and with Christmas fast approaching some thing had to give, sadly it was the football, haven't been to , the last two home game, will not be there Saturday either, it's just down to money. Will be back on the popside for the Halifax game, and certainly will the do the Rovers double header home and away.

[samuel]

I wonder what the tipping point is for the faithful 2000? I have been there for sub 1000 attendances. For my part watching Torquay United in the conference is acceptable and lets face it, the entertainment has been really good. Conference South and below, yep, I would still go even if there were 500. I am too old to change now and Torquay playing Cinderford in the Southern League SW Div would still do it for me. I wouldn't go to Buckland even if they were in a higher league. I guess I am stuck with the Gulls playing in Torquay. However, any move away from South Devon either as a league or non-league club would mean the end of 52 years support.

[Behind-the-Gulls]

Crazy fixture scheduling-makes no sense giving us so many home games in a row. DId you notice also that Bristol Rovers are playing Welling again on Saturday after playing them yesterday-madness!

[ferrarilover]

I was working so I've missed the last two games but as a ST holder, they've got my money so that's all that matters to the board.

I'm in no hurry to get to games now as I was a few years ago, the passion for the club is not what it was but I'm sure they'll get over it. What I would say however is that I agree with other posts. Too many home games right before Christmas will see a drop in attendances as priorities and finances dictate that people can't do it all.

Why would you buy a ST for a club you so obviously hate?

Matt.

[brucie]

Playing this many home games on consecutive Saturdays is a farce and the dick who did the fixtures should be strung up.
As for taking the Halifax game out of the midweek list in October (because apparently Exeter were home on the same night) and putting it on a Tuesday night ten days before Xmas, after we have played so many home games and played sat/tues/sat/tues/sat - well that actually beggars belief.

[A Realist]

Playing this many home games on consecutive Saturdays is a farce and the dick who did the fixtures should be strung up.
As for taking the Halifax game out of the midweek list in October (because apparently Exeter were home on the same night) and putting it on a Tuesday night ten days before Xmas, after we have played so many home games and played sat/tues/sat/tues/sat - well that actually beggars belief.

The whole fixture compilation is a farce tbh. Why teams play each other twice so close together is a bit of a mystery to me. I can understand that over the Xmas period that "local" teams will play each other. But there are too many other games through the season. Eg, Torquay played Grimsby twice in 6 weeks. Play Barnet again less than a calender month after the first one and played Forest Green twice in reasonably quick succession. Seems a very strange set up to me.

[tufc si]

The whole fixture compilation is a farce tbh. Why teams play each other twice so close together is a bit of a mystery to me. I can understand that over the Xmas period that "local" teams will play each other. But there are too many other games through the season. Eg, Torquay played Grimsby twice in 6 weeks. Play Barnet again less than a calender month after the first one and played Forest Green twice in reasonably quick succession. Seems a very strange set up to me.

Only thing we can hope for is a couple of postponments due to the weather I suppose. That many games in that short space of time is going to decimate our tiny squad and not to mention supporters wallets as well

[frenchgull]

I liked the idea from plainmooroar in that with the run of all the games at home we are now in, a multi buy ticket with a voucher for a ten quid entrance on the next match, or something like that,would have gone towards the expencive Christmas period.Like Burnhamgull I also have a season ticket which I never use, for obvious reasons, but unfortunately my empty seat dose not shout/cheer or clap the boys on.

[Dave]

Trouble is the club have tried these 2 for 1 offers, they've tried 5 match season tickets, think the family ticket still operates , don't know whether it's poor marketing or poor product, suspect a bit of both, these offers just don't work.

The clubs attendance figures have held up better than I thought they would, we've currently got an average home gate of around 2,121 (1,993 home/128 away) but that the overall attendance figures was always going to drop with relegation, Torquay United are no different to many other clubs , in fact most bar a few. You get the loyal hard core, the floating fans and the glory hangers on.

2011/12 our average home gate was 2868 ( 2508 home/359 away) difference League 2 , involved in the promotion shake down to League 1, and Plymouth /Swindon in our League that year, special offers do not build a fan base, a relatively successful football team does.

Even though I'm positive the main part of the reason for the current slump is the number of home games in the run up to Christmas, part of the reason has been the slump in form and the fact the team has dropped away from the top spot. If we see a good run of results and the team push back into the play-off zone the gates will rise back up to the 2,000 mark, however the longer the club remains in the conference expect the average gates to decline further.

[Neal]

Hey I remember the early 80`s when it was common to see attendances of 1500. The days of the mini stand gee they were the days of Clint Bolton, Ian twitchen. And I remember one cold November I think it was home to Rochdale on a cold Tuesday night, 1300. And we were a league club then!

[Neal]

If we can keep attendance over 2000 we will be one of the best supported clubs in this league. That means, other than the couple of clubs with rich benefactors we will have one of the highest wage budgets. And That's why, we will get promoted again, because one season everything will fall into place. I'm sure about that. It might take care few years but it will happen as long as keep going and supporting them.