What must it be like averaging 15,000 in a stadium that holds 35,100

[perseus]

PS: Most of the time the Goldstone was like that. Average gate 14,000, capacity 35,000. Still with 20,000 in the Goldstone, it felt quite full and with 26,000 it was heaving.

 

[Albion Dan]

As others have said we could very easily find ourselves with those crowds should our momentum on the pitch slow down or reverse. Boro used to get very healthy crowds in that stadium when it first opened in this division and the Prem.

 

[Beach Hut]

Surely our genius fans would sing just a small town in Newcastle ?

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

the cheapest adult ticket at boro is £24 which is for a seat in the corner at a catagory B game

probably a fair bit of money for someone up there...you could almost buy a house for that much

 

[Silent Bob]

Sorry, but this is just pure speculation. How can you claim Middlesbrough have a lot of fans living in London? You have no idea if that's the case. It may well be for huge clubs like Leeds, Newcastle and Liverpool, but a team that gets 15,000 at HOME is unlikely to have thousands more stashed away in London in my opinion. Also, since when did where the fans travel from have any bearing on what's a good away following?

As you pointed out Middlebrough is one of the most depressed places in the country (and has been for a long time), which means many people leave for better opportunities elsewhere. It may be speculation to say the amount of people from Middlebrough living in the south is a lot higher than the amount of people from Brighton living in the north east, but it's almost definitely accurate speculation.

But of course it could happen to us in the future. Anyone that wonders what it's like, probably a bit like the friendly against Reading in pre season. Awful.

 

[Storer 68]

What must it be like averaging 15,000 in a stadium that holds 35,100

Sounds like our history at the Goldstone

 

[gazingdown]

As somebody else has intimated, we may well be saying the same thing in two years time if we're still in the Championship, or heaven forbid in League 1/2.

I appreciate what you are saying but didn't we do the opposite?

We made a 22,500 stadium. Demand has been so high that expansion was required.
Boro started off with 35,000 and and at the peak was 4/5,000 empty seats every game. It was mid-late 20s for much of that time as well. The drop a division and lost almost 10,000 per match on average.

The design of the stadium can be used. For example, if/when our attendances drop, we can close off a tier (EU for example) and cover over the corners so it would be just as it was last season. I may be mistaken but I think Leeds shut off their east stand upper tier a few seasons ago for this reason. Trickier to do that (without looking empty) in a bowl type design, cover up the corners maybe. Parts of a stadium seating covered with banners looks less empty than a small splattering of fans.

 

[marshy68]

will be us one day, so probably best not knock it.

this

 

[gazingdown]

What must it be like averaging 15,000 in a stadium that holds 35,100

Sounds like our history at the Goldstone

Slightly different when mostly standing though. One could argue the capacity was nearer 25,000 and 35,000 is absolutely crammed/squeezed all in. Also, seating takes more space so 35k all seater needs more physical space than 35k with majority standing. Also, with many standing, it "looks" far more full, harder to "hide" empty seats.

 

[Diego Napier]

I'm not knocking it, I'm just asking the question.

To be honest I was staggered that their atendance had dropped that much but then I thought about what it must be like for those going. The Kuipers testimonial with so few at the AMEX was was a bit soleless

Was that because you were a bit down at heal?

 

[Husty]

We'll find out sooner rather than later.

 

[gazingdown]

Was that because you were a bit down at heal?

Is that irony?

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Ghostly? We (afcb) went Cov the other week. Dear God that was grim (APART from the footie..)

The mad thing is that all the supporters, stewards, etc, want to be back at Highfield Rd!

Highfield Rd was much better than the souless Ricoh.

 

[Gregory2Smith1]

Middlesboro' isn't as big a town as some might imagine,don't think the population is above 150k

And it doesn't have a large catchment area like us,we have big towns like Worthing & Eastbourne and a whole lot in between

The stadium is probably 10k too big in relation to the town,but if/when the town does have an economic upturn,theyr'e be glad of the extra seats

 

[OSRGull]

I can't believe how arrogant some of our fans have got, sort it out.

 

[Brovion]

As somebody else has intimated, we may well be saying the same thing in two years time if we're still in the Championship, or heaven forbid in League 1/2.

Or even if we get promoted, struggle, and then get relegated. Only fourth in the Championship! f***'s sake Poyet!