| Match attendance — 3 questions. 17:42 - Mar 20 with 14221 views | A_Newby |
I attend virtually every home game and sit in the main stand. Over this season as I have looked across to the Pearl Street stand there appears to be fewer and fewer fans there. Those in the Pearl Street may look across at the main stand and think the same.
However, when the match attendance figures are announced the home support figure seems to stay steady.
Does anybody know how the attendance / home attendance figures are calculated? Is it actual numbers of people passing through the gates (tallied automatically) or is it the number of season card holders plus the number of match day tickets sold?
Next season, come what may, would it make economic sense to only sell season cards for the main stand and Sandy terrace and potentially mothball the Pearl Street, only to be used if we were to get a massive FA cup tie?
What do current season card holders think of this, in particular those who sit in the Pearl Street stand?
Next season, again no matter what league we are in, there is likely to be a need to reassess the prices of our season cards. I think that the price will have to at least remain the same or even be increased.
In January this year I looked at what the other clubs in league 2 charge for season cards and compared them to the Dale. In general, we were cheaper than all clubs except Salford, although it is difficult to directly compare as each club has its own age categories.
One thing that was evident was that whilst Dale has 5 main age categories, prices shown below for the main stand, most other clubs also have a category of “young adult” between youth and adult categories with a price located between the two.
Dale Prices Main Stand
Young children Free
Junior 11 and under £35.00
Youth 12 to 21 £85.00
Adult 22 to 64 £310.00
Senior 65 and over £260.00
Our problem is that a young person supporting the Dale when going from 21 to 22 years of age, sees an off-putting massive increase in season card price in a single jump from £85.00 to £310.00 which other clubs avoid.
To encourage our young adult supporters to remain loyal I would suggest that we too need a young adult category (22-25) even if it means slightly higher prices for the other categories. Any thoughts?
PS No, I wouldn’t fall into the young adult category, and it would be at least 7 years before any of my young Dale supporting relatives reach that age.
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| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 19:41 - Mar 22 with 3042 views | 442Dale |
Worth noting that since the season ticket numbers did rise significantly performances on the pitch dropped significantly. 16/17 was the last time we had a good league campaign, that summer saw the new pricing policy introduced.
17/18 stayed up last day
18/19 Hill sacked, BBM keeps us up
19/20 season ends early due to Covid and we stay up on points per game, just.
20/21 relegated. Covid season. Fans who bought season tickets did not attend games.
21/22 poor season under Stockdale
22/23 can’t find the words. |  |
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| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 19:50 - Mar 22 with 3008 views | TVOS1907 |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 17:28 - Mar 22 by Newbury_Dale |
Would love to know who A_Newby really is. Knows far too much to be a run of the mill supporter. |
Doesn't he just? |  |
| When I was your age, I used to enjoy the odd game of tennis. Or was it golf? |
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| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 20:32 - Mar 22 with 2936 views | 49thseason |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 19:41 - Mar 22 by 442Dale |
Worth noting that since the season ticket numbers did rise significantly performances on the pitch dropped significantly. 16/17 was the last time we had a good league campaign, that summer saw the new pricing policy introduced.
17/18 stayed up last day
18/19 Hill sacked, BBM keeps us up
19/20 season ends early due to Covid and we stay up on points per game, just.
20/21 relegated. Covid season. Fans who bought season tickets did not attend games.
21/22 poor season under Stockdale
22/23 can’t find the words. |
Since the start of the 17/10 season.....
We have played 255 games W64 D72 L118
Home: 1.17 Avg. PPG Away: 0.96 Avg. PPG
Last season was our best home season in 6 seasons with just 32 points
18/19 and 20/21 were our best away seasons with just 26 points
Overall we have won just 1 in 4 games in 255 starts
Our best home wins is just 8/23 in season 18/19
Its a minor miracle anyone still turns up to watch. |  | | |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 20:37 - Mar 22 with 2928 views | A_Newby |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 12:52 - Mar 21 by TVOS1907 |
Hi A Newby
It's probably a coincidence, but I was once asked by someone at the club if I had a spreadsheet detailing the breakdown of home and away supporters at Spotland in recent seasons, as part of an analysis on attendance trends.
I do, of course, and was more than happy to let said person have it. |
Good evening TVOS,
It is indeed interesting that an employee of the club asked you for figures detailing Dale match attendances of home and away supporters, I would have thought that the club administration would have kept accurate records of such vital commercial data.
Below is a link to part of my season card research spreadsheet which you could improve by generously adding your match attendance figures.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oOCZfK9xuXI24tGNyW3roOdn_zgSB24B/edit?us
However, I have not actually been trying to find out the numbers of match attendees.
I have been trying specifically to get data about the number of home supporters’ tickets and season cards sold.
Unfortunately, I do not work for nor am I associated with the club, apart from being a minor shareholder and season card holder, so I do not have access to this data.
I have been requesting, via the Dale trust, some detailed information from last season or the previous season on how many season cards were sold in each category for each stand in the ground. I sent them a copy of my full spreadsheet and some explanatory notes so they could see what I would be using it for, and I promised to keep any data they sent me confidential.
I approached the Dale trust about this in late January, also asking if there was going to be a meeting about season card prices and sent them a copy of my spreadsheet with the notes to show what I was trying to do.
I received a reply from the trust in early February saying that they would kindly approach the club on my behalf and try to get the information for me. I have not yet heard back from the trust.
The club are possibly otherwise occupied or do not want to release the data as it would be commercially sensitive, and the trust cannot get the information I was asking for. | | | |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 20:40 - Mar 22 with 2914 views | TVOS1907 |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 20:37 - Mar 22 by A_Newby |
Good evening TVOS,
It is indeed interesting that an employee of the club asked you for figures detailing Dale match attendances of home and away supporters, I would have thought that the club administration would have kept accurate records of such vital commercial data.
Below is a link to part of my season card research spreadsheet which you could improve by generously adding your match attendance figures.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oOCZfK9xuXI24tGNyW3roOdn_zgSB24B/edit?us
However, I have not actually been trying to find out the numbers of match attendees.
I have been trying specifically to get data about the number of home supporters’ tickets and season cards sold.
Unfortunately, I do not work for nor am I associated with the club, apart from being a minor shareholder and season card holder, so I do not have access to this data.
I have been requesting, via the Dale trust, some detailed information from last season or the previous season on how many season cards were sold in each category for each stand in the ground. I sent them a copy of my full spreadsheet and some explanatory notes so they could see what I would be using it for, and I promised to keep any data they sent me confidential.
I approached the Dale trust about this in late January, also asking if there was going to be a meeting about season card prices and sent them a copy of my spreadsheet with the notes to show what I was trying to do.
I received a reply from the trust in early February saying that they would kindly approach the club on my behalf and try to get the information for me. I have not yet heard back from the trust.
The club are possibly otherwise occupied or do not want to release the data as it would be commercially sensitive, and the trust cannot get the information I was asking for. |
I never said it was an 'employee of the club'. | |
| When I was your age, I used to enjoy the odd game of tennis. Or was it golf? |
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| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 20:47 - Mar 22 with 2891 views | 49thseason |
" I sent them a copy of my full spreadsheet and some explanatory notes so they could see what I would be using it for" ...
Well there is your mistake AN obviously you should have sent your workings on the back of an envelope by Royal Mail...but hurry up , I hear they might be heading for administration! | | | |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 20:47 - Mar 22 with 2887 views | TVOS1907 |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 20:32 - Mar 22 by 49thseason |
Since the start of the 17/10 season.....
We have played 255 games W64 D72 L118
Home: 1.17 Avg. PPG Away: 0.96 Avg. PPG
Last season was our best home season in 6 seasons with just 32 points
18/19 and 20/21 were our best away seasons with just 26 points
Overall we have won just 1 in 4 games in 255 starts
Our best home wins is just 8/23 in season 18/19
Its a minor miracle anyone still turns up to watch. |
People still turned up in 1973/74 when we won twice all season, as well as in 1977/78 and 1979/80 when we finished bottom of the Football League.
And they turned up in significantly less numbers than they do now. | |
| When I was your age, I used to enjoy the odd game of tennis. Or was it golf? |
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| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 20:48 - Mar 22 with 2886 views | 442Dale |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 20:37 - Mar 22 by A_Newby |
Good evening TVOS,
It is indeed interesting that an employee of the club asked you for figures detailing Dale match attendances of home and away supporters, I would have thought that the club administration would have kept accurate records of such vital commercial data.
Below is a link to part of my season card research spreadsheet which you could improve by generously adding your match attendance figures.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oOCZfK9xuXI24tGNyW3roOdn_zgSB24B/edit?us
However, I have not actually been trying to find out the numbers of match attendees.
I have been trying specifically to get data about the number of home supporters’ tickets and season cards sold.
Unfortunately, I do not work for nor am I associated with the club, apart from being a minor shareholder and season card holder, so I do not have access to this data.
I have been requesting, via the Dale trust, some detailed information from last season or the previous season on how many season cards were sold in each category for each stand in the ground. I sent them a copy of my full spreadsheet and some explanatory notes so they could see what I would be using it for, and I promised to keep any data they sent me confidential.
I approached the Dale trust about this in late January, also asking if there was going to be a meeting about season card prices and sent them a copy of my spreadsheet with the notes to show what I was trying to do.
I received a reply from the trust in early February saying that they would kindly approach the club on my behalf and try to get the information for me. I have not yet heard back from the trust.
The club are possibly otherwise occupied or do not want to release the data as it would be commercially sensitive, and the trust cannot get the information I was asking for. |
When you say early February, would guess that’s the first week? So, approximately six weeks later there are no updates?
Disappointing, again. Especially on the subject of a meeting around season ticket prices which have taken place for the last couple of years, as detailed earlier in the thread.
The passing of time can be a real problem. | |
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| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 21:04 - Mar 22 with 2837 views | D_Alien |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 20:48 - Mar 22 by 442Dale |
When you say early February, would guess that’s the first week? So, approximately six weeks later there are no updates?
Disappointing, again. Especially on the subject of a meeting around season ticket prices which have taken place for the last couple of years, as detailed earlier in the thread.
The passing of time can be a real problem. |
Marcel Proust would agree
Dale fans are for life, not just Saturday afternoons & Tuesday evenings |  |
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| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 21:10 - Mar 22 with 2817 views | A_Newby |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 20:40 - Mar 22 by TVOS1907 |
I never said it was an 'employee of the club'. |
My apologies TVOS. You didn't. You said someone at the club and I assumed it was an employee. | | | |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 21:34 - Mar 22 with 2769 views | A_Newby |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 20:48 - Mar 22 by 442Dale |
When you say early February, would guess that’s the first week? So, approximately six weeks later there are no updates?
Disappointing, again. Especially on the subject of a meeting around season ticket prices which have taken place for the last couple of years, as detailed earlier in the thread.
The passing of time can be a real problem. |
My reply from the trust was on the 13th February.
So its around 5 weeks.
If the club do not want to disclose the season ticket data as they consider it too commercially sensitive or they do not have somebody available to collate the data I would understand this, but at least they could just send me an email saying this and I would stop asking. | | | |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 21:42 - Mar 22 with 2753 views | 442Dale |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 21:04 - Mar 22 by D_Alien |
Marcel Proust would agree
Dale fans are for life, not just Saturday afternoons & Tuesday evenings |
There are further tales of Dele Alli’s issues with Besiktas this week, and with it many opinions appearing on how his career has gone downhill.
Here are Jose Mourinho’s views on time and how it can lead to regrets:
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| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 21:44 - Mar 22 with 2753 views | Trev |
Anyway, FWIW, I'd stick all the home fans in the Willbutts and away fans in the Sandy. We could even bring Hilly back to take us into the EFL with no old blokes in the main stand for him to fall out with. |  | | |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 21:57 - Mar 22 with 2716 views | 442Dale |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 21:34 - Mar 22 by A_Newby |
My reply from the trust was on the 13th February.
So its around 5 weeks.
If the club do not want to disclose the season ticket data as they consider it too commercially sensitive or they do not have somebody available to collate the data I would understand this, but at least they could just send me an email saying this and I would stop asking. |
They could update about the Volunteer Army in the same way.
That’s only seven weeks late. | |
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| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 22:53 - Mar 22 with 2618 views | EllDale |
The club have plenty of data regarding supporters from season ticket details.
I was thinking about this on the thread relating to relocating to somewhere like Kingsway.
Where do season ticket holders live in relation to Spotland for example?
What is the age split? Or the gender split? | | | |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 23:04 - Mar 22 with 2605 views | D_Alien |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 22:53 - Mar 22 by EllDale |
The club have plenty of data regarding supporters from season ticket details.
I was thinking about this on the thread relating to relocating to somewhere like Kingsway.
Where do season ticket holders live in relation to Spotland for example?
What is the age split? Or the gender split? |
Good questions
There are a number of free postcode mapping tools available, for example:
https://dataingovernment.blog.gov.uk/2016/03/30/free-tools-to-quickly-show-postc
I haven't gone into the technicalities of this particular bit of software, but i'd imagine it's not that difficult to use, plus there are others | |
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| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 00:59 - Mar 23 with 2532 views | Sandyman |
What an excellent, well informed and thoughtful debate.
FWIW, I'll get a season ticket for next year. In discussions with m'learned friends what stand we'll go in because the well meaning Sandy "Overcoaters" project hasn't worked as well as we would have liked and has almost become a negative due to some gormless, infantile behaviour.
If the football is as awful in 2023/24 as it has been most home games for the past 4 or 5 years, common sense will be in pole position to take the place of loyalty, blind or otherwise. There are other ways to socialise without paying a lump sum every June to be disappointed. |  | | |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 13:19 - Mar 23 with 2188 views | 49thseason |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 20:47 - Mar 22 by TVOS1907 |
People still turned up in 1973/74 when we won twice all season, as well as in 1977/78 and 1979/80 when we finished bottom of the Football League.
And they turned up in significantly less numbers than they do now. |
And there but for season ticket sales...... | | | |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 15:18 - Mar 23 with 2029 views | TVOS1907 |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 13:19 - Mar 23 by 49thseason |
And there but for season ticket sales...... |
... which people bought before they knew what would happen. | |
| When I was your age, I used to enjoy the odd game of tennis. Or was it golf? |
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| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 18:14 - Mar 23 with 1860 views | pioneer |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 15:18 - Mar 23 by TVOS1907 |
... which people bought before they knew what would happen. |
Indeed….there was actually a fair amount of optimism around in 1973-74 season, a new regime who wanted to invest in youth after three seasons of lower half of the league footy. But the difference was we had another division to drop into.
In that sense the parallels were more with the Steve Eyre season…awful footy with manager out of his depth and relegation staring us in the face from early in the season, than the current one were the price of a poor appointment as manager is the loss of our league membership. | | | |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 20:10 - Mar 23 with 1748 views | EllDale |
The only word for the second part of the 1977/78 season is horrible.
Everything was awful.The team, the ground, the atmosphere. The oxo and pies were god though, courtesy of the Fighting Fund. | | | |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 15:29 - Mar 25 with 1335 views | Shun |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 20:32 - Mar 22 by 49thseason |
Since the start of the 17/10 season.....
We have played 255 games W64 D72 L118
Home: 1.17 Avg. PPG Away: 0.96 Avg. PPG
Last season was our best home season in 6 seasons with just 32 points
18/19 and 20/21 were our best away seasons with just 26 points
Overall we have won just 1 in 4 games in 255 starts
Our best home wins is just 8/23 in season 18/19
Its a minor miracle anyone still turns up to watch. |
At the start of the season I worked out that since the 17/18 season we had the third lowest cumulative points total out of every Football League/Premier League side. I’d be stunned if we’re not dead bottom now. It’s been a depressing 5 seasons! |  | | |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 15:47 - Mar 25 with 1308 views | DaleiLama |
| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 15:29 - Mar 25 by Shun |
At the start of the season I worked out that since the 17/18 season we had the third lowest cumulative points total out of every Football League/Premier League side. I’d be stunned if we’re not dead bottom now. It’s been a depressing 5 seasons! |
Depressing indeed Shun. As Dalefan7 posted on match thread, we are in free fall and it's difficult right now to see how or when that might change |  |
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| Match attendance — 3 questions. on 11:12 - Mar 31 with 979 views | TalkingSutty |
The current Chairman and Directors might not be running the show anyway once the new season starts because they are trying to find somebody to take over the club remember. I think it's important that fans keep that in mind regarding any announcements coming out of the club now.
It's impossible at the moment to put any plans in place with any sort of certainty. Will fans want to commit to the club, especially financially when they don't even know who will be pulling the strings in the Boardroom? Many wont i would sugggest. You can do as much due diligence as you like on outside investors but until they get into the club you never really know what their motives are. Once they have been invited in it's too late then.
I would imagine most fans will sit back and see how things pan out before committing to anything, especially at a time when we've had months of being stone walled from those who are running the club. If it was a inclusive, fan owned club then you feel invested but it's neither inclusive, or soon to be fan owned. The clubs been taken in a different direction by those in the Boardroom so supporters will adjust their mindset accordingly. They can't have it both ways.
I'll renew my season tickets when i have confidence in the new investor/investors and until then will pay on the day. I'm not handing over a wedge of cash for two season tickets when I don't know who will be running the club. [Post edited 31 Mar 2023 11:45]
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