Where to gain more local support? 11:22 - Mar 26 with 11004 views | ade_qpr | Part of Neil's answer in the Success thread by Frankie got me thinking "From here, re-integrating into the local community is vital and needs to be tapped into. There needs to be a focus on ensuring the surrounding areas feel part of this, and that QPR are interested in them and vice versa. There are plenty of people locally now who have no interest in QPR and that has to change back to how it was before. Finding that local spirit again will help the club build on its supporter base organically. Those people will take more interest and pride in their club and hopefully that translates back throughout the club who can then take pride in itself properly as an institution. That in turn will help the club build on its history in a proud manner, not a shameful one, as it has done for some time now. " So what area's of London now days do people believe have strong support of the R's? What area's should the club be looking at to develop further support for the R's? How should the club go about this? | |
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Where to gain more local support? on 11:32 - Mar 26 with 8850 views | BazzaInTheLoft | Family deals, school deals, and just overall cheaper tickets. If you want to spend a ton at the football where would you rather spend it? Chelsea or QPR? | | | |
Where to gain more local support? on 11:43 - Mar 26 with 8842 views | Boston | Facts are that recent change in demographics coupled with the expense of following a club make it difficult to build up 'brand loyalty' locally. The new Londoners are not living or growing up in a society that has as few entertainment options for the average resident as there were for the working class man for generations beforehand. The shrinking of the world in travel terms also lends itself to the armchair fan, big deal if you only see Man Utd once in your lifetime, you're the same as ninety per cent of their following, only need to prove yourself by having some some motif dangling in the back window of the motor. I'm all for the work in the community bit but in my opinion the only way to truly build your fan base is by winning games....though providing a free dental clinic on the South Afica Rd might help! [Post edited 26 Mar 2016 12:33]
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Where to gain more local support? on 11:56 - Mar 26 with 8825 views | timcocking | The problem with young children they typically do like to follow the winning teams. Most kids are always going to be going for the big teams with the best players. So apart from people who's Dad's make them go, I don't think we really can increase our fan base much, unless we get in the premier league and start doing ok. | | | |
Where to gain more local support? on 12:10 - Mar 26 with 8811 views | Northernr | Hate to say it, but that family stand really helps. I'm sure Simmo won't mind me saying but his lad who comes to stay with us at weekends has shown no interest in QPR at all for as long as I've known the two of them. I think there was even a suggestion at one point that he may be tempted over to the darkest side by some evil school friend. Anyway, for want of something better to do with him the other week, and as he's a bit older now (8 i think), he came to the Birmingham match. They did the fan zone thing before with the other kids, sat in the family stand with all the table football and stuff with the other kids, qpr won and played well, he bloody loved seb polter and his song, and enjoyed the whole day. Absolutely loved the whole day. So next time he came, what did he want to do with his Saturday when asked? QPR Brentford. And that obviously went bloody well too, and Polter scored right in front of him. So what does he want to do next time he's coming? QPR Charlton. And he wants a shirt now. And he plays as QPR on Fifa and has transferred in Wayne Rooney to play with Polter up front. | | | |
Where to gain more local support? on 12:19 - Mar 26 with 8785 views | stevec | Get to the Premier League Get a new stadium Then the fans will come. Working for West Ham, Southampton, Leicester, Swansea, Man City, even Arsenal. As for where we are now, you can sell the tickets as cheap as you like, but for every season that shows a downward spiral so will the support. A sobering thought for those who are a little too keen on 'consolidation'. | | | |
Where to gain more local support? on 12:33 - Mar 26 with 8782 views | oddball | i think the only way of getting new blood into loftus road would be.before any game gregor and his disciples are allowed to trawl the streets of shepherds bush and can press gang any waif and strays that they come across, using whatever means necessary to get them in the ground.and of course have to hand over the obligatory pound to gregor for the privilege.you lucky b astards. | | | |
Where to gain more local support? on 13:58 - Mar 26 with 8700 views | GetMeRangers |
Where to gain more local support? on 11:56 - Mar 26 by timcocking | The problem with young children they typically do like to follow the winning teams. Most kids are always going to be going for the big teams with the best players. So apart from people who's Dad's make them go, I don't think we really can increase our fan base much, unless we get in the premier league and start doing ok. |
Disagree on this. Take kids to a match or two and they get a feel for the game. I know mine would never support a big team as they would never get to see them live. Watching us is a huge day out that they look forward to. Second. Where the club missed a trick was parading the Championship title through the local area, after NW won promotion. A real shame Finally, when I was younger the club regularly gave large numbers of tickets to local schools to come to couple of games each season. It was always quite amusing listening to shrill high pitched singing coming an area of the ground. Given the large number of TV games we are subjected to, then perhaps they might see a way to resurrect this | | | |
Where to gain more local support? on 14:15 - Mar 26 with 8689 views | Northernr |
Where to gain more local support? on 11:56 - Mar 26 by timcocking | The problem with young children they typically do like to follow the winning teams. Most kids are always going to be going for the big teams with the best players. So apart from people who's Dad's make them go, I don't think we really can increase our fan base much, unless we get in the premier league and start doing ok. |
Also disagree with this. Every kid is different and I'm sure some do genuinely want to support Chelsea or whoever because they win every week. But in my experience boys want to go to the match with their dads and be one of the lads, and then when they get into teens they want to go with their mates and be the new lads. When I was at school the ones who supported Man Utd were the ones either without dads, without dads that liked football or without dads that would take them to football. The lads whose dads took them to see Hull, Scunthorpe, Grimsby, Doncaster, Leeds, Sheff Wed supported those sides as I supported QPR. I don't think it was the dad making them - it certainly wasn't with me, I just wanted to go on the train with him and his mates on Saturday and feel like a grown up. Michael Hann wrote a great piece about taking his lad to QPR games for the Family section of the Guardian a couple of months back. I shall see if I can find it... http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/aug/24/my-son-football-fan-qpr
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Where to gain more local support? on 15:30 - Mar 26 with 8624 views | timcocking |
Where to gain more local support? on 12:10 - Mar 26 by Northernr | Hate to say it, but that family stand really helps. I'm sure Simmo won't mind me saying but his lad who comes to stay with us at weekends has shown no interest in QPR at all for as long as I've known the two of them. I think there was even a suggestion at one point that he may be tempted over to the darkest side by some evil school friend. Anyway, for want of something better to do with him the other week, and as he's a bit older now (8 i think), he came to the Birmingham match. They did the fan zone thing before with the other kids, sat in the family stand with all the table football and stuff with the other kids, qpr won and played well, he bloody loved seb polter and his song, and enjoyed the whole day. Absolutely loved the whole day. So next time he came, what did he want to do with his Saturday when asked? QPR Brentford. And that obviously went bloody well too, and Polter scored right in front of him. So what does he want to do next time he's coming? QPR Charlton. And he wants a shirt now. And he plays as QPR on Fifa and has transferred in Wayne Rooney to play with Polter up front. |
Rooney!? Ffs... | | | |
Where to gain more local support? on 17:23 - Mar 26 with 8553 views | Northernr |
Where to gain more local support? on 15:30 - Mar 26 by timcocking | Rooney!? Ffs... |
He's eight. | | | |
Where to gain more local support? on 18:02 - Mar 26 with 8506 views | PunteR |
Where to gain more local support? on 13:58 - Mar 26 by GetMeRangers | Disagree on this. Take kids to a match or two and they get a feel for the game. I know mine would never support a big team as they would never get to see them live. Watching us is a huge day out that they look forward to. Second. Where the club missed a trick was parading the Championship title through the local area, after NW won promotion. A real shame Finally, when I was younger the club regularly gave large numbers of tickets to local schools to come to couple of games each season. It was always quite amusing listening to shrill high pitched singing coming an area of the ground. Given the large number of TV games we are subjected to, then perhaps they might see a way to resurrect this |
A very good point about missing a trick with the parade. That was the perfect opportunity to get more local support and bring as much positive attention to the area that's linked to QPR. There should be more promoting around the ground ,especially in Westfields. Is there a club shop in there? Are the club doing special deals with businesses in the area. Buy two tickets get a spicy italian free at Subways or vice versa or whatever. Cheaper tickets would get more families back. Better beer. The location of our ground is perfect. Ive gone to games while the missus shops in Westfields. Win win. | |
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Where to gain more local support? on 18:09 - Mar 26 with 8495 views | Dorse | Bring more supporters into the area from outside, giving them jobs and homes and building places of worship for them? 3...2...1... | |
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Where to gain more local support? on 18:10 - Mar 26 with 8495 views | PunteR |
Where to gain more local support? on 12:10 - Mar 26 by Northernr | Hate to say it, but that family stand really helps. I'm sure Simmo won't mind me saying but his lad who comes to stay with us at weekends has shown no interest in QPR at all for as long as I've known the two of them. I think there was even a suggestion at one point that he may be tempted over to the darkest side by some evil school friend. Anyway, for want of something better to do with him the other week, and as he's a bit older now (8 i think), he came to the Birmingham match. They did the fan zone thing before with the other kids, sat in the family stand with all the table football and stuff with the other kids, qpr won and played well, he bloody loved seb polter and his song, and enjoyed the whole day. Absolutely loved the whole day. So next time he came, what did he want to do with his Saturday when asked? QPR Brentford. And that obviously went bloody well too, and Polter scored right in front of him. So what does he want to do next time he's coming? QPR Charlton. And he wants a shirt now. And he plays as QPR on Fifa and has transferred in Wayne Rooney to play with Polter up front. |
Sounds like Simmos lad is a bit of a glory hunter to me | |
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Where to gain more local support? on 18:51 - Mar 26 with 8473 views | enfieldargh | Enfield juniors first game was a 2-3 (I think) home defeat to Everton Enfield junior junior's first match was a 0-1 defeat away at Barnsley(Shittu & Doudou with a peacock thrown in) Enfield, Arsenal and Spurs hotbed. We've taken their mates(Arsenal/Spurs etc fans) to QPR a few times and they've loved the day out but refuse to admit any support for R's, but they always wanted to go again. we recruited one lad who now goes when he can. I think one of the best ways to recruit new fans is for the club to sign players with silly rude names | |
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Where to gain more local support? on 02:09 - Mar 27 with 8331 views | isawqpratwcity |
Where to gain more local support? on 18:02 - Mar 26 by PunteR | A very good point about missing a trick with the parade. That was the perfect opportunity to get more local support and bring as much positive attention to the area that's linked to QPR. There should be more promoting around the ground ,especially in Westfields. Is there a club shop in there? Are the club doing special deals with businesses in the area. Buy two tickets get a spicy italian free at Subways or vice versa or whatever. Cheaper tickets would get more families back. Better beer. The location of our ground is perfect. Ive gone to games while the missus shops in Westfields. Win win. |
The Westfield club shop is a good idea. Ladies buy two tickets and get a voucher for a free Brazilian. When they go to cash it in they find out it's Sandro. | |
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Where to gain more local support? on 03:16 - Mar 27 with 8310 views | timcocking |
Where to gain more local support? on 17:23 - Mar 26 by Northernr | He's eight. |
But still. | | | |
Where to gain more local support? on 07:55 - Mar 27 with 8276 views | francisbowles |
Where to gain more local support? on 02:09 - Mar 27 by isawqpratwcity | The Westfield club shop is a good idea. Ladies buy two tickets and get a voucher for a free Brazilian. When they go to cash it in they find out it's Sandro. |
Very good. | | | |
Where to gain more local support? on 09:38 - Mar 27 with 8230 views | derbyhoop | Take a segment of London, going west of the Edgware Road and North of the M4 and you have a massive catchment area (2m? People). You're not going to get them all with travel around London being so easy but it's the area the club needs to target. The Family Stand, Soccer Schools, the new pre match initiative and giving cheap tickets to schools all help to promote the club. But, ultimately, it will come down to a combination of entertainment and (relative) success. | |
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Where to gain more local support? on 09:54 - Mar 27 with 8215 views | BazzaInTheLoft | We could drive around London and entice children into our cars with sweets or puppies. [Post edited 27 Mar 2016 10:01]
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Where to gain more local support? on 15:23 - Mar 27 with 8075 views | londonscottish |
Where to gain more local support? on 14:15 - Mar 26 by Northernr | Also disagree with this. Every kid is different and I'm sure some do genuinely want to support Chelsea or whoever because they win every week. But in my experience boys want to go to the match with their dads and be one of the lads, and then when they get into teens they want to go with their mates and be the new lads. When I was at school the ones who supported Man Utd were the ones either without dads, without dads that liked football or without dads that would take them to football. The lads whose dads took them to see Hull, Scunthorpe, Grimsby, Doncaster, Leeds, Sheff Wed supported those sides as I supported QPR. I don't think it was the dad making them - it certainly wasn't with me, I just wanted to go on the train with him and his mates on Saturday and feel like a grown up. Michael Hann wrote a great piece about taking his lad to QPR games for the Family section of the Guardian a couple of months back. I shall see if I can find it... http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/aug/24/my-son-football-fan-qpr
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My boy's nearly 12 and has now been going since he was 6. I think he enjoys going with me as much as I enjoy going with him and yes, I can see him making his own way there in a few years' time. And we also end up going with or meeting other dads/lads which adds to the whole thing. What does help is QPR occasionally giving cheap tickets to the local primary school as that often encourages other dads to being their kids for the first tim. Now QPR are doing various sports/coaching things at the school they are raising awareness. All of that plus some success on the pitch will drive up attendances. | |
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Where to gain more local support? on 17:08 - Mar 27 with 8037 views | timcocking |
Where to gain more local support? on 14:15 - Mar 26 by Northernr | Also disagree with this. Every kid is different and I'm sure some do genuinely want to support Chelsea or whoever because they win every week. But in my experience boys want to go to the match with their dads and be one of the lads, and then when they get into teens they want to go with their mates and be the new lads. When I was at school the ones who supported Man Utd were the ones either without dads, without dads that liked football or without dads that would take them to football. The lads whose dads took them to see Hull, Scunthorpe, Grimsby, Doncaster, Leeds, Sheff Wed supported those sides as I supported QPR. I don't think it was the dad making them - it certainly wasn't with me, I just wanted to go on the train with him and his mates on Saturday and feel like a grown up. Michael Hann wrote a great piece about taking his lad to QPR games for the Family section of the Guardian a couple of months back. I shall see if I can find it... http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/aug/24/my-son-football-fan-qpr
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Hmmm, yeah makes sense. But what I really meant was, did go to see a team when they were young, whether it was with their mates or their family. I grew up sw cornwall, where of course there is no local team per se and nobody would ever think about going to a football match really. In a school like that, it's 50% united Liverpool, with a few Chelsea, arsenal, spurs, west ham. It's almost unheard of in those places for kids to support "small teams", and if they do, it's almost always a family connection. It was only me. I just liked the QPR shirts. Some of the kids would pick a team like west ham though. You've only got to be doing ok in the premier league, and you probably would start to see a trickle of new fans over time, if we could ever manage a sustained stay in the top flight. (It's why whenever cornwall got to the rugby finals, which was a lot of the time, we'd take 20 thousand to twickenham. That was effing brilliant and me and all my mates would go.) [Post edited 27 Mar 2016 17:20]
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Where to gain more local support? on 17:39 - Mar 27 with 8004 views | YorkRanger |
Where to gain more local support? on 14:15 - Mar 26 by Northernr | Also disagree with this. Every kid is different and I'm sure some do genuinely want to support Chelsea or whoever because they win every week. But in my experience boys want to go to the match with their dads and be one of the lads, and then when they get into teens they want to go with their mates and be the new lads. When I was at school the ones who supported Man Utd were the ones either without dads, without dads that liked football or without dads that would take them to football. The lads whose dads took them to see Hull, Scunthorpe, Grimsby, Doncaster, Leeds, Sheff Wed supported those sides as I supported QPR. I don't think it was the dad making them - it certainly wasn't with me, I just wanted to go on the train with him and his mates on Saturday and feel like a grown up. Michael Hann wrote a great piece about taking his lad to QPR games for the Family section of the Guardian a couple of months back. I shall see if I can find it... http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/aug/24/my-son-football-fan-qpr
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Good article that. Will resonate with many... | | | |
Where to gain more local support? on 04:32 - Mar 28 with 7914 views | timcocking | So to speak on this thread again, there are two support bases to look at; local and national/international. To get the locals, we obviously have to get the local kids, so keep giving out those cheap free tickets. To pick up small 'market share' of fans from widespread places like Cornwall or foreign places, I reckon it's absolutely imperative to be in the premier league and on tv. It surprises me QPR make people pay for our website. How much money do they make from that? Can't be a vast amount. It means if there ever were any casual fans around maybe considering coming our way, they can't even watch the highlights of the games properly. Don't see why it's not open to anybody. And besides, it doesn't usually even work. | | | |
Where to gain more local support? on 09:45 - Mar 28 with 7868 views | londonscottish |
Where to gain more local support? on 17:39 - Mar 27 by YorkRanger | Good article that. Will resonate with many... |
I've read it now and it does resonate. Every time some local Arse/Spuds/Chelsh*t wannabe "supporter" gave him grief in the playground I taught my son to ask "Do you actually go to games?". To Clive's point 99% don't. It always shuts them up. | |
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Where to gain more local support? on 13:30 - Mar 28 with 7794 views | francisbowles |
Where to gain more local support? on 04:32 - Mar 28 by timcocking | So to speak on this thread again, there are two support bases to look at; local and national/international. To get the locals, we obviously have to get the local kids, so keep giving out those cheap free tickets. To pick up small 'market share' of fans from widespread places like Cornwall or foreign places, I reckon it's absolutely imperative to be in the premier league and on tv. It surprises me QPR make people pay for our website. How much money do they make from that? Can't be a vast amount. It means if there ever were any casual fans around maybe considering coming our way, they can't even watch the highlights of the games properly. Don't see why it's not open to anybody. And besides, it doesn't usually even work. |
On the international front maybe we should try some form of twinning with similar sized clubs. We could arrange pre season friendlies, subsidised trips to matches, free or inexpensive associate membership with merchandise benefits and free access to 'player'. Build up supporter networks so that we all have a favourite team in different countries. There must be opportunities for overseas football fans to have organised trips to London for example the German season shuts down for a month in winter. If we got this started now, it could play a part in filling seats in a new larger stadium in future. | | | |
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