| Attendances and away fans 12:55 - Aug 22 with 8301 views | Dalenet |
I saw that Eastleigh reported that there were 2106 Daleys and 70 away fans at COA on Saturday. If that was right it got me thinking. Why weren't the away fans housed in Pearl Street given we moved our own fans out of the far block to accomodate low away fan followings?
And if these numbers are true (I am sure I saw our scoreboard flash something higher) then we have lost 21% of the home fans between the Ebbsfleet and Eastleigh games. We can't afford that and it's imperative that initiatives to drive fans back in are prioritised. I fear for the Friday night game. Of course a few back to back wins would help |  | | |  |
| Attendances and away fans on 13:03 - Aug 22 with 5654 views | Yorkshire_Dale |
It makes good economical sense to house small away followings in the Pearl Street Stand and safe on costs. Is 70 too many, who knows?
The opening game of the season is usually better attended, but loosing doesn't help.
Anyway, are we not on the up now? | | | |
| Attendances and away fans on 13:20 - Aug 22 with 5592 views | TVOS1907 |
The attendances have been reported incorrectly in the media.
Whoever submits the figures to PA, has taken the 'Home' figure as the full attendance.
The correct figures are:
Ebbsfleet 2830 (2691 home, 139 away)
Eastleigh 2246 (2176 home, 70 away)
That means a drop of 19% of home fans, which is still concerning, but not unexpected. |  |
| When I was your age, I used to enjoy the odd game of tennis. Or was it golf? |
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| Attendances and away fans on 13:39 - Aug 22 with 5531 views | 442Dale |
It was stated that closing the Willbutts would “reduce operational costs” and, as noted, season card holders were unable to renew in the area of the Pearl St where a “low away following” could be housed.
https://www.rochdaleafc.co.uk/tickets/202324-season-cards/
This is something that can be added to the discussions on Friday with the Trust as clarity needs to be given on what is happening (it also fits all three agenda items!).
At a time when every pound is important in terms of cash flow, it will be interesting to hear the club’s explanation around why Ebbsfleet and Eastleigh fans were in the Willbutts. [Post edited 22 Aug 2023 13:41]
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| Attendances and away fans on 13:47 - Aug 22 with 5501 views | NorthernDale |
The crowds are down, this is part to the potential drop in away fans, but after years of poor performances and the relegation, fans have become fed up. Hopefully, if we can start winning games and keep near the top end of the table, fans will return, but the club could help by advertising the games and having a cash turnstile, instead of making queue for a ticket. | | | |
| Attendances and away fans on 14:05 - Aug 22 with 5457 views | 442Dale |
| Attendances and away fans on 13:47 - Aug 22 by NorthernDale |
The crowds are down, this is part to the potential drop in away fans, but after years of poor performances and the relegation, fans have become fed up. Hopefully, if we can start winning games and keep near the top end of the table, fans will return, but the club could help by advertising the games and having a cash turnstile, instead of making queue for a ticket. |
There were a multitude of ideas and suggestions that were brought up at the fans meetings at the end of last season.
It would be good to know which have been acted upon and introduced (the map of the ground has been updated and looks good for example), how far along we are with others and which are not able to be implemented and why.
For an example of these, see under the ‘Growing the fanbase’ and ‘Matchday Experience’ sections here:
https://www.daletrust.co.uk/2023/04/report-from-first-supporters-meeting/ | |
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| Attendances and away fans on 14:15 - Aug 22 with 5415 views | Trev |
It's not a priority for the current board to grow, or even maintain, the existing fan base. I think this was quite clear from the last fans forum, unfortunately. | | | |
| Attendances and away fans on 14:18 - Aug 22 with 5394 views | isitme |
Somebody said at the last home game that we have the worst home record in the country over the past five years. I am not sure how accurate that is, but results and performances have not been great during that time. It is therefore understandable why people have stopped attending. It is also expensive and can be a hassle for casual supporters who want to attend the odd game.
If results improve over the medium term then I expect attendances will do as well. |  | | |
| Attendances and away fans on 14:23 - Aug 22 with 5377 views | EllDale |
There are potentially a few reasons for losing a few fans from one home game to the next at this stage of the season.
Holidays
A stretch in finances with three home games in a short period
Two defeats at the start of the season
Did people prefer a 5.30pm kickoff? You have to ask the question.
It would be interesting to know if the season ticket attendance remained constant and so it was the casual fans who came out of curiosity against Ebbsfleet who didn't return against Eastleigh?
As for opening the Willbutts Stand, this was mentioned several times last season.
I now wonder though if sufficient facilities are in place in the Pearl Street Stand to actually house away fans? They have to have totally segregated toilet and refreshment facilities for example plus separate turnstiles.
Personally I'll be pleasantly surprised if there are more than 2000 there on Friday. | | | |
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| Attendances and away fans on 14:24 - Aug 22 with 5366 views | D_Alien |
| Attendances and away fans on 14:18 - Aug 22 by isitme |
Somebody said at the last home game that we have the worst home record in the country over the past five years. I am not sure how accurate that is, but results and performances have not been great during that time. It is therefore understandable why people have stopped attending. It is also expensive and can be a hassle for casual supporters who want to attend the odd game.
If results improve over the medium term then I expect attendances will do as well. |
Given our abysmal form, home attendances have held up pretty well. The gates for our first two games weren't dissimilar to what we'd have expected in L2 and indeed L1, given the holiday period and the opposition
We had plenty of gates around the 2200 mark when two divisions higher |  |
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| Attendances and away fans on 14:26 - Aug 22 with 5358 views | 442Dale |
| Attendances and away fans on 14:18 - Aug 22 by isitme |
Somebody said at the last home game that we have the worst home record in the country over the past five years. I am not sure how accurate that is, but results and performances have not been great during that time. It is therefore understandable why people have stopped attending. It is also expensive and can be a hassle for casual supporters who want to attend the odd game.
If results improve over the medium term then I expect attendances will do as well. |
I actually think our fanbase has held up quite well, despite of both on and off field failings. The season ticket prices have certainly helped, to the club’s credit, but the loyalty of supporters has been quite remarkable really. It’s totally understandable why some may have stopped coming, it would be interesting to hear from them what contact they’ve had from the club to determine why and what could be done to help them return.
Admittedly, for many that will be what you say and something we haven’t seen for years, a winning team. | |
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| Attendances and away fans on 14:29 - Aug 22 with 5345 views | 442Dale |
| Attendances and away fans on 14:23 - Aug 22 by EllDale |
There are potentially a few reasons for losing a few fans from one home game to the next at this stage of the season.
Holidays
A stretch in finances with three home games in a short period
Two defeats at the start of the season
Did people prefer a 5.30pm kickoff? You have to ask the question.
It would be interesting to know if the season ticket attendance remained constant and so it was the casual fans who came out of curiosity against Ebbsfleet who didn't return against Eastleigh?
As for opening the Willbutts Stand, this was mentioned several times last season.
I now wonder though if sufficient facilities are in place in the Pearl Street Stand to actually house away fans? They have to have totally segregated toilet and refreshment facilities for example plus separate turnstiles.
Personally I'll be pleasantly surprised if there are more than 2000 there on Friday. |
See the link earlier in the thread. Plans were made for away fans to use Pearl Street, you’d have thought all potential issues would have been worked through before announcing it. Finding out why that hasn’t happened is now the next step. | |
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| Attendances and away fans on 14:36 - Aug 22 with 5318 views | TalkingSutty |
| Attendances and away fans on 14:15 - Aug 22 by Trev |
It's not a priority for the current board to grow, or even maintain, the existing fan base. I think this was quite clear from the last fans forum, unfortunately. |
That's correct, they have only one priority and the Chairman was very up front about that. The current board probably won't be involved anyway if a major investor is found. Rather than having meetings about matchday experiences, or the club shop, catering etc etc would it not be more prudent to address the elephant in the room? The Chairman has recently mentioned the Club going into liquidation and the money running out in the next few months,that should be a massive concern to all of us, especially the Supporters Trust whose remit is to sound the alarm should the clubs existence be threatened. Should the Trust not be calling a general meeting, involving all the shareholders and Trust members and also the Chairman and Directors in an attempt to formulise some sort of contingency plan should the worst case scenario present itself? I don't know what that plan would entail but brainstorming a room full of concerned people would be a great start. Better to have a plan in place just in case. Are the National League and the FA aware of this looming crisis and if not why not?
I applaud any supporters who want to call a meeting to improve the day to day running of the club but to be honest any such meetings now are akin to rearranging the seating plan on the Titanic. The only plan anybody seems to have is to just sit quietly and wait, it's all very disappointing. [Post edited 22 Aug 2023 14:46]
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| Attendances and away fans on 14:41 - Aug 22 with 5295 views | 442Dale |
Some of the points TalkingSutty makes were raised by fans/shareholders in discussions at the forum and after the EGM.
There is little doubt that not planning for various scenarios would be a critical and wholly avoidable error for the Trust and also supporters themselves, any of whom may have vital input now that could prove crucial in the future.
To that end, will reiterate that if you’re a fan reading this who can attend the Trust meeting at 5.45pm on Friday in the Ratcliffe, please try to. [Post edited 22 Aug 2023 14:42]
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| Attendances and away fans on 14:44 - Aug 22 with 5263 views | Dalenet |
| Attendances and away fans on 14:24 - Aug 22 by D_Alien |
Given our abysmal form, home attendances have held up pretty well. The gates for our first two games weren't dissimilar to what we'd have expected in L2 and indeed L1, given the holiday period and the opposition
We had plenty of gates around the 2200 mark when two divisions higher |
I agree that our home attendances have held up pretty well given our poor form for the past 3/4 seasons. I was certainly surprised when we announced 2000+ season card sales. It was the fact that we appeared to lose around 500 floating fans (most of them cash payers) between the first and second home games that surprised me.
However, I have dug out a TVOS from last season and there was a fall of 600 homes fans between the first and second games and so I shouldn't have been surprised afterall. So you are right. We just need to get back to winning games consistently to get the floaters back. | | | |
| Attendances and away fans on 14:50 - Aug 22 with 5242 views | TVOS1907 |
| Attendances and away fans on 14:44 - Aug 22 by Dalenet |
I agree that our home attendances have held up pretty well given our poor form for the past 3/4 seasons. I was certainly surprised when we announced 2000+ season card sales. It was the fact that we appeared to lose around 500 floating fans (most of them cash payers) between the first and second home games that surprised me.
However, I have dug out a TVOS from last season and there was a fall of 600 homes fans between the first and second games and so I shouldn't have been surprised afterall. So you are right. We just need to get back to winning games consistently to get the floaters back. |
Hopefully not from those who've been for the pre-match curry.... | |
| When I was your age, I used to enjoy the odd game of tennis. Or was it golf? |
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| Attendances and away fans on 14:54 - Aug 22 with 5223 views | DaleiLama |
| Attendances and away fans on 14:50 - Aug 22 by TVOS1907 |
Hopefully not from those who've been for the pre-match curry.... |
........... beat me to it! Was going to say most of us are trying to get rid of vexatious floaters. |  |
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| Attendances and away fans on 15:17 - Aug 22 with 5151 views | D_Alien |
| Attendances and away fans on 14:54 - Aug 22 by DaleiLama |
........... beat me to it! Was going to say most of us are trying to get rid of vexatious floaters. |
Let's hope we don't have to eat our words | |
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| Attendances and away fans on 15:19 - Aug 22 with 5145 views | judd |
Re: Pearl Street housing away fans, it is because the Ground Safety Certificate has still to be ratified, not by the club. That from a Director on Saturday. |  |
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| Attendances and away fans on 15:26 - Aug 22 with 5107 views | 442Dale |
| Attendances and away fans on 15:19 - Aug 22 by judd |
Re: Pearl Street housing away fans, it is because the Ground Safety Certificate has still to be ratified, not by the club. That from a Director on Saturday. |
Thanks for the update on that one. Understandable now that’s been communicated. | |
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| Attendances and away fans on 16:46 - Aug 22 with 4960 views | DaleiLama |
| Attendances and away fans on 15:17 - Aug 22 by D_Alien |
Let's hope we don't have to eat our words |
Bad case of potty mouth 😕 | |
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| Attendances and away fans on 17:11 - Aug 22 with 4902 views | Yorkshire_Dale |
| Attendances and away fans on 15:19 - Aug 22 by judd |
Re: Pearl Street housing away fans, it is because the Ground Safety Certificate has still to be ratified, not by the club. That from a Director on Saturday. |
Good info Judd.......but begs the question, how do you know this is the reason and why has it not been published?
Not suggesting you hang round ear-wigging, of course! | | | |
| Attendances and away fans on 18:05 - Aug 22 with 4773 views | judd |
| Attendances and away fans on 17:11 - Aug 22 by Yorkshire_Dale |
Good info Judd.......but begs the question, how do you know this is the reason and why has it not been published?
Not suggesting you hang round ear-wigging, of course! |
Because I asked.
Does it really matter that it has not been published? | |
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| Attendances and away fans on 19:19 - Aug 22 with 4620 views | surb_dale |
Anyone know why the Bromley game was moved to Friday night?
Assume it’s to allow players more rest before York on Monday which may give us a slight advantage with them still playing Saturday.
Can’t imagine it’s an attempt to boost attendance but will be interesting to see how many turn up.
Away following would have been tiny even if played on Saturday I expect so probably not much impact on away numbers. | | | |
| Attendances and away fans on 23:07 - Aug 22 with 4295 views | Dalenet |
| Attendances and away fans on 19:19 - Aug 22 by surb_dale |
Anyone know why the Bromley game was moved to Friday night?
Assume it’s to allow players more rest before York on Monday which may give us a slight advantage with them still playing Saturday.
Can’t imagine it’s an attempt to boost attendance but will be interesting to see how many turn up.
Away following would have been tiny even if played on Saturday I expect so probably not much impact on away numbers. |
When the change was announced it was suggested that this was for football reasons and gives a slightly longer recovery time before Monday. The club didn't actually say, and it could well have been Bromley that requested it as they have a long journey home before their Monday game too.
Will be interesting to see how it affects attendances - a good number of us who live away from Rochdale and can't get there on time won't be there now sadly. | | | |
| Attendances and away fans on 06:51 - Aug 23 with 4149 views | pioneer |
| Attendances and away fans on 19:19 - Aug 22 by surb_dale |
Anyone know why the Bromley game was moved to Friday night?
Assume it’s to allow players more rest before York on Monday which may give us a slight advantage with them still playing Saturday.
Can’t imagine it’s an attempt to boost attendance but will be interesting to see how many turn up.
Away following would have been tiny even if played on Saturday I expect so probably not much impact on away numbers. |
Fixtures tab on this site still showing game as Saturday 3pm. | | | |
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