It's a sparse crowd here tonight . I'd say 16000 or less through the turnstile .

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Not really though is it ? 5 years "mentioned" to get to the Premier League and "would be" in 5 years MAXIMUM.

An ambition and aim is not the same as a guarantee. I would hope TB was telling potential 1901 the club's ambitions. He will not have been guaranteeing anything though. He is a bit brighter than that.

I get that it would have been silly to gurantee it, however the fact remains that people would have signed up on the promise either tacitly, implied, expressed or stated that there would be an expectation of Prem League footy within 5 years. As it stands they are still within this 5 years of course.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

It's not a small thing at all: it's a big fat LIE, as you say. Great post.

Think about it this way: realistically, how many potential sponsors or advertisers, say, are likely ever to be picky enough to turn around and ask: "Well, when you mention 'average attendance of 25,000' (or whatever) in your marketing material here, that presumably means the, erm, number of people who were in attendance, right? That is the normal, customary, traditional dictionary definition of the word, i.e. the number of people who would be seeing our adverts while actually attending a game?"

I hasten to add that I'm sure of course that the club would at that point admit "well, no it's not actually that - on occasion it's been closer to 2/3 that amount". But aggregate the difference between the two over the course of a season and it adds up.

They're not doing this by accident: it's a ploy, of course. Some people may have no problem with the club lying like this, it seems. Some might find it a bit...dodgy.

Haven't you ever considered it's done due to the tax man.

They want a figure that they can then charge us on and by having 2 sets of attendance figures, then it can become 'dodgy' and so all clubs are having to announce their attendance as the higher figure of tickets sold.

There used to be a lot of creative attendances in the past where a ground could be sold out and everyone crammed in and then they announce the crowd as not even being at capacity. With an electronic audit trail for ticket sales, clkubs have to be more truthful in their figures than in the past.

ST seats are sold but if unused, the club can't resell them if the demand was there in case the ST holder turns up, the club have this income so to fail to include this in their attendance would raise accounting questions

It's not the club being dodgy and it's not a cause to be suspicious of how the club is being run

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

The club should get the spinsters of the marketing department to come up with a word (a bit like we do on NSC) that isn't 'attendance'. Because it's currently an insult to the intelligence. No wonder people fell about laughing when they announced last night's figure.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

If there were 23000 there then our capacity is 46,000

 

[mwrpoole]

It really is about time loyalty points were awarded for home games attended. Probably wouldn't have made much difference to the actual attendance, but at least those STH who did bother would be rewarded in some way, and who knows those extra few points might come in handy one day.

 

[MattBackHome]

Put it this way: why else would they do this?

Insiders response to this direct question a few years back was here: http://www.northstandchat.com/showthread.php?263404-Attendances

Again I'll state my issue with this. If they want to display pretendances - fine. We all understand it's based on tickets sold, that there is some value in that figure and that it's exactly the same scenario everywhere else in the Championship.

But don't insult our intelligence by stating (and annoyingly I can't find the post where he did this) that they can't reveal actual attendance as well because it might confuse us. It's patronising and deceitful.

The reason they're not revealing, I believe, has nothing to do with any commercial agreements or tax dodges etc. They just don't want it to be used as a stick against them when the Actual vs Pretend invariably falls.

 

[Albion_Dave]

Sorry to hijack. As i live in the area i thought i might start to take in a BHA game or 2 when it doesn't clash with my Spurs attendance. I had a quick look at the ticket site & thought the Fri night game vs Millwall might be worth the trip.......... £42! 'Kinnell! Eight of the thirteen Spurs home games i will have done before Christmas will have only been £25.

Anyway, any recommendations for a good location for a 'neutral' to sit? Well, sort of neutral, i will want BHA to win whatever game i might be at.

Tickets available from £32 (+ booking fee) in the North & South Stand. Both will be fine for neutral supporters who want Albion to win.

Still a ridiculous price i know for second tier football, especially just before Christmas.

 

[N17]

Tickets available from £32 (+ booking fee) in the North & South Stand. Both will be fine for neutral supporters who want Albion to win.

Still a ridiculous price i know for second tier football, especially just before Christmas.

Thanks. I might try & take in a game or two in the new year when Spurs are out of all the cups & we are entrenched in mid-table mediocrity. £32 is a bit more reasonable. I should ask my mates really, a couple are 1901ers & another is in the east upper i believe. I might try & ponce a feebie off a no-show if they know any

 

[dazzer6666]

Alot of truth in all that, but some are in denial.

The wilderness years of mismanagement/ground asset-strip, post-Mike Bamber & Keith Wickenden, and the hyped PL, meant 10,000's of existing Albion fans and new football fans in Sussex fell for televised ManU, Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs and latterly ManC and Chelsea too. We all probably know many Sussex colleagues/friends/family who are fans of each of these clubs. The combined mega wages bill and transfer spend of the first 2 Amex seasons (as borne out by the £20m+ wage bill, and corresponding huge audited losses), funded players of top flight experience ..... Vicente, Orlandi, Upson, Bridge, Kuzschak, Ulloa, Andrews, etc, together with some huge gaffs on fees/wages compared to their ability (CMS). IMO, TB succumbed to the pressure from GP for spend, spend, spend, but even then GP still wasn't happy with the budget!

Now the player budget has been reined in so severely, there's a feast to famine feeling, giving a bit of a downer. Not for many of the c.15,000 loyal longterm supporters, but for the aforementioned fans of large PL clubs who signed up for Amex s/t's.

In hindsight, the sensible organic growth of say Derby and Ipswich would have been a better, steadier path.

Took a (ManU supporting STH) mate of mine to a game last year, and then end of last season he dropped his MU ST and is now with us........although suspect this was more to do with the 5 hour each way journey than the quality of football !

 

[Guy Fawkes]

People don't get it, the club don't care who comes through the door, your albion history, if you went to hereford and Gillingham, it is totally irrelevant now, the only thing that matters is how much money you can bring into the club and these useless fans as you call them brought hundreds of thousands of pounds into the club over the last 3 seasons

It's as irrelevent now and it always has been. I don't recall getting anything from the Albion (communication wise, etc) when i was a regular at the Goldstone or at Gillingham yet it seems now that some of our fans seem to be demanding (constant) recognition from the club for their continuing support which seems to be an almost ego boosting need and without it, they claim that the club isn't the same, that there is something seriously wrong, etc.......

It seems a case of those with over inflated expectations being 'let down' because the club haven't met with something the fan(s) expected but was never promised (and often not even implied)

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

Sorry to hijack. As i live in the area i thought i might start to take in a BHA game or 2 when it doesn't clash with my Spurs attendance. I had a quick look at the ticket site & thought the Fri night game vs Millwall might be worth the trip.......... £42! 'Kinnell! Eight of the thirteen Spurs home games i will have done before Christmas will have only been £25.

Anyway, any recommendations for a good location for a 'neutral' to sit? Well, sort of neutral, i will want BHA to win whatever game i might be at.

get in with Wall FFS
regards
DR

 

[sir albion]

Can someone please tell me why they are allowed to call it ATTENDANCE?

It's false. It's a lie. It is not the amount of people at the game. It's the amount of tickets they've sold. So why not announce it as such? Give both figures. "We sold 20 thousand tickets for today's game. But only 14 thousand of you good fans bothered. Well done you."

A small thing, but it really does my head in.

You're starting to do my head in with the tripe you come out with..
We sold 23,000 tickets not 16,000 tickets....What is it that gripes you to get angry over something so irrelevant? The thing that matters is tickets sold its that simple and im sure you're aware that most clubs do it now,do you see other clubs fans moaning like the half a dozen plonkers on here?
One bloke said a steward told him the attendance a while ago...Maybe bollocks,maybe not as its one person who could be making it up.Then you get a chap last night who apparently saw the correct attendance on a screen,maybe bollocks and maybe not as we'll never know.

Why don't you email the club your issue and while you're at it email all the other clubs and find out what's going on!!!

It's people like you that do my head in...Week after week over such a tiddly thing...TICKETS SOLD IS WHAT MATTERS

 

[oldboyroy]

At the end of the day it will be of concern to the suits that thousands just aint bothered to turn up and therefore Mr Barber needs to do something about it as thats partly what his job is!!!

 

[Black Rod]

Took a (ManU supporting STH) mate of mine to a game last year, and then end of last season he dropped his MU ST and is now with us........although suspect this was more to do with the 5 hour each way journey than the quality of football !

Could be more to do with United's quality of football

 

[gordonchas]

You're starting to do my head in with the tripe you come out with..
We sold 23,000 tickets not 16,000 tickets....What is it that gripes you to get angry over something so irrelevant? The thing that matters is tickets sold its that simple and im sure you're aware that most clubs do it now,do you see other clubs fans moaning like the half a dozen plonkers on here?

I agree that it's not really of much importance but it makes comparisons difficult - and people are wont to do that. Here's one - in other countries they still call the attendance what it actually is (as our friend twochoicestom prefers); the number of people actually at the match. In Spain they do that for certain.

Here's the thing, there have been threads on here before comparing Europe-wide attendances but it's fairly meaningless if you're counting them differently. My own club in Spain is Elche - which has over 25,000 season ticket holders. In 5 home games so far they have only once reported an attendance higher than 25,000 - the others have all been between 20-22,000. That makes their average about 5,000 lower than had they counted it the Brighton way.

Just saying.

 

[Dougie]

get in with Wall FFS
regards
DR

He might wanna run with the bollox crew

 

[Man of Harveys]

You're starting to do my head...It's people like you that do my head in

Bless. Just two small points of interest here:

1. It's clearly not just him that's interested in or concerned by this.
2. You need a drink, or medication, or a w**k, or whatever else it might take to calm down. That's free advice.

 

[sir albion]

Bless. Just two small points of interest here:

1. It's clearly not just him that's interested in or concerned by this.
2. You need a drink, or medication, or a w**k, or whatever else it might take to calm down. That's free advice.

I need nothing pal...Whats to be concerned about?
The club get the money for 23,000 tickets sold,so a load decided to give it a miss because we were 4th from bottom,no win in 11 and it was midweek...What's the concern or am I missing something?

 

[the wanderbus]

We sold 23,000 tickets not 16,000 tickets....What is it that gripes you to get angry over something so irrelevant? The thing that matters is tickets sold its that simple and im sure you're aware that most clubs do it now,do you see other clubs fans moaning like the half a dozen plonkers on here?
One bloke said a steward told him the attendance a while ago...Maybe bollocks,maybe not as its one person who could be making it up.Then you get a chap last night who apparently saw the correct attendance on a screen,maybe bollocks and maybe not as we'll never know.

I'm with you, I dont see why anyone would care how many are in the ground if 23000 tickets are sold. Idont give a **** how many no shows arent there , they've paid for their seat if they choose not to use it thats their decision. As long as I'm there I'm happy for the club to announce any figure they like

 

[Weststander]

Took a (ManU supporting STH) mate of mine to a game last year, and then end of last season he dropped his MU ST and is now with us........although suspect this was more to do with the 5 hour each way journey than the quality of football !

I know a born and bred Brightonian who's a lifelong Spurs TV fan, but signed up for an Amex s/t. But he gave it up after 2 seasons.

And when I couldn't make games at the Amex, or had a spare s/t for particular Amex league games, Brightonian TV ManUre fan colleagues, would join me or use my tickets. But for the last 1.5 seasons, they can't be bothered, even when offered free of charge! They've gone back to TV viewing of Van Persie & co.