Re: The past, present, our real natural level, club and fans
Posted: 24 Oct 2011, 13:37
I suppose the beauty of our football league system is its fluidity (one that some Premiership owners have mooted removing by banning relegation). That is why we have some traditionally bigger clubs in the division below us and some traditionally smaller clubs in the division above us and us where we have been now for 40 years bar 2 in League 1 and 2 in the Conference.
You have clubs in the Premiership like Wigan, QPR, Fulham whose gates are dwarfed by teams in the division below like Derby. That will always happen. There will always be clubs who over-achieve/under-achieve and somewhere in between.
Simply because some clubs with bigger potential are languishing, it does not mean we simply should accept our place and roll over to continual seasons of struggle. This was Mike Bateson's mantra. It engenders disinterest and apathy and football clubs do need to try and be imaginative in recruiting and keeping fans.
However, the only real thing that will truly sustain a growing fanbase is success on the field. Yeovil tripled their fanbase in a matter of 2 years on their march from Conference to League 1, as did pretty much Exeter. However, for both clubs attendances have dipped to reflect their fortunes on the field.
We have never really managed to sustain success since the 1960s. Any good season has usually been followed by a difficult one so any momentum is lost.
Geography is often cited as a reason for struggle yet it is surely easier for us to get players down here than it must have been in the late 1930s when we started being competitive in Div 3(S). Yeovil have just signed Darren Purse on loan. I cannot imagine us ever getting anyone like that in, yet they struggle with gates now and Yeovil is probably a harder place to get to than Torquay.
I think there is a mindset with Torquay that we are beaten before we try. We cannot attract players/fans, so lets not really bother. It is not for us supporters to suggest ways or go about promoting the club. We already go and pay our money and buy programmes etc. The club need to do this.
In some small ways they do it well, such as the programme but communication from the club is poor. That in itself is not necessarily going to attract new fans but there are things the club could perhaps try to do to actually stop losing anymore fans. I have a season ticket but if I did not, I would be tempted to miss tomorrow's game.
I have so many reasons not to go before I even start thinking about the reasons TUFC are making going to Plainmoor a less attractive proposition with the dull, soulless atmosphere at Plainmoor, the really quite drab football on offer and not much prospect of even seeing the team win.
In the end we get gates of 2300 or so and always have done since I have been going unless we are doing very well or very poorly. At the moment it looks like things are about to get a whole lot worse so I guess the crowds will indeed drop and unless Wimbledon bring a lot tomorrow I suspect the attendance will be below 2000.
You have clubs in the Premiership like Wigan, QPR, Fulham whose gates are dwarfed by teams in the division below like Derby. That will always happen. There will always be clubs who over-achieve/under-achieve and somewhere in between.
Simply because some clubs with bigger potential are languishing, it does not mean we simply should accept our place and roll over to continual seasons of struggle. This was Mike Bateson's mantra. It engenders disinterest and apathy and football clubs do need to try and be imaginative in recruiting and keeping fans.
However, the only real thing that will truly sustain a growing fanbase is success on the field. Yeovil tripled their fanbase in a matter of 2 years on their march from Conference to League 1, as did pretty much Exeter. However, for both clubs attendances have dipped to reflect their fortunes on the field.
We have never really managed to sustain success since the 1960s. Any good season has usually been followed by a difficult one so any momentum is lost.
Geography is often cited as a reason for struggle yet it is surely easier for us to get players down here than it must have been in the late 1930s when we started being competitive in Div 3(S). Yeovil have just signed Darren Purse on loan. I cannot imagine us ever getting anyone like that in, yet they struggle with gates now and Yeovil is probably a harder place to get to than Torquay.
I think there is a mindset with Torquay that we are beaten before we try. We cannot attract players/fans, so lets not really bother. It is not for us supporters to suggest ways or go about promoting the club. We already go and pay our money and buy programmes etc. The club need to do this.
In some small ways they do it well, such as the programme but communication from the club is poor. That in itself is not necessarily going to attract new fans but there are things the club could perhaps try to do to actually stop losing anymore fans. I have a season ticket but if I did not, I would be tempted to miss tomorrow's game.
I have so many reasons not to go before I even start thinking about the reasons TUFC are making going to Plainmoor a less attractive proposition with the dull, soulless atmosphere at Plainmoor, the really quite drab football on offer and not much prospect of even seeing the team win.
In the end we get gates of 2300 or so and always have done since I have been going unless we are doing very well or very poorly. At the moment it looks like things are about to get a whole lot worse so I guess the crowds will indeed drop and unless Wimbledon bring a lot tomorrow I suspect the attendance will be below 2000.
