No Excuses for Saints worst home FA Cup attendance since before World War 1

There have been many excuses put forward as to why the attendance was so poor for the visit of Cheltenham on Saturday including the cold, a run of home games in quick succession and Xmas looming, however it has to be said that up until this season all those factors were present yet the crowd didnt drop that low, not even last season when the visit of luton in similar circumstances drew over 18,000.

The two FA Cup attendances this season have both been over 5,000 under the previous lowest FA Cup crowd since we have been at SMS, so the giste must be that for a drop of 33% from that number its something other than the cold etc.

Some will say that this 9,276 is something to be proud of in that it was the biggest crowd of the round, that may well be but the facts are that it was also our lowest home attendance since 1912/13 season when 9,000 turned up to see us play Bury, given that attendances were more of an estimate back then its likely that the Bury game had more there it was also the first home FA Cup crowd to drop to below 10,000 since then, indeed its amongst our lowest FA Cup attendances since we moved to the Dell in 1898, so if people feel that having the biggest crowd of the round is something to shout about then more fool them, I personally see it as symptomatic of just how far we have fallen and the fact that we no longer seem to set ourselves the same standards as in the past.

As I have mentioned many times on the message board, there are many excuses why the crowd were so low, but only one real reason and that was the failure of the club to be pro active both in the way it treated its fans and how it marketed the game.

A few weeks back it was clear that the ticketing arrangements  and the shutting of stands sent out the wrong message to supporters, it told them that this game was a nothing game and not worth the effort, the fans took their lead from the club and the result was a crowd that was 5,000 below the previous SMS FA Cup low. Whilst the Club could not set the prices any lower and therefore could not be blamed for this they did not learn the lessons from the Shrewsbury tie.

Firstly they repeated the closure of the Kingsland, whilst this could slightly be justified on a cost basis, last season for Luton the stand was opened on a block by block basis as it was in JPT games, this therefore negates the cost aspect, as to open one block has little cost and the more tickets sold the cost becomes less, this worked last season so surely it was folly to repeat an action that had already failed this season and not revert to one that had worked well last season and indeed in both the JPT andCarling Cup this season.

Secondly there was little marketing, games of this nature have to be well marketed, surely this was the opportunity to do some decent kids prices ie kids for a quid, suddenly a father and child can go for £16 which is good value.

Thirdly why, for a match that quite clearly was going to be poorly attended did the Club put on a £2 surcharge on tickets bought on the day, this levy was not there for the first round, so why given the poor turnout that day, was it added,

Fourthly all of these reasons all add up to perception, the fans will come if they perceive th game to be good value and worthwhile, to do that you have to get things right from the start and build up the excitement, this hasnt been done in any shape or form in the two FA Cup ties this year.

Going back to the excuses,  if we look at them, they were all present last year, but the crowds still turned up in the Cup, so we have to assume that the reason that many didnt come was not because of those excuses, but for the latter which to be blunt are reasons and there is a big difference.

I dont make these points lightly, I dont say them merely to have a go at the Club or any individual, I point them out because i genuinely wanted a big crowd on Saturday, I wanted us to get 15,000 I wanted the attendance to be double that of every other club in the round and quite frankly i was disapointed when it wasnt, in the past I have helped the club to promote games like this on this website, OK it might not bring in 1000's but if it brings in one extra person its a bonus and its always been part of encouraging fans to go as part of a bigger picture, despite my documented issues with the club at present i would still do whatever i could to help get more people through the turnstiles.

Im sorry if you are one of those who considers that having the highest attendance in the FA Cup 2nd round a success, Im sorry,I dont measure us against Carlisle or Bury or other league 1 or 2 clubs we may find ourselves down there at present and i respect those clubs supporters, but we are made of different stuff and our standards should match our aspirations.

In lidfe there is a saying and it especially applies to football

"Success needs no excuses, Failure needs many"

Photo: Action Images

eusebio added 14:15 - Nov 29 "Success needs no excuses, Failure needs many" And your excuse (many) for supporting the return of Rupes and going into admin was what ???????
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robhythe added 14:40 - Nov 29 I know some people will be watching there pennys more now than this time last year! They say we are coming out of recession but for alot of people its just starting ! Alot of trades are suffering! Interest rates are low which is good for mortgages but there isnt much work around as alot of people are getting less income because of the interest rates and so are not spending! ! Ill only go to the big cup games ( i do have a season ticket) ! I actualy think that the support has been brilliant this year, how many premiership clubs would average over 21000 in the third tier?????

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SaintNick added 14:49 - Nov 29 I appreciate the excuses why people couldnt go, but this is the lowest crowd in the FA Cup for nearly 100 years How many premiership clubs would average over 21k in the 3rd tier. Quick guesss i would say 2/3
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simmo400 added 15:25 - Nov 29 How can you compare a game 100 years ago to todays. Wake up. there was little else to do 100 years ago. I wasnt there but in comparision I would think football was cheaper in those days also. I went to the previous cup tie and for £15 the game was a joke. No excitement......no commitment.....no skill........Players going through the motions. Most agrreed the tie was dire.........so better off saving your cash for a better game, or at least better opposition. Shrewsbury were rubbish and yet we served up rubbish. So Nick dont keep on about attendances. Speaking for myself after the Shrews game I really couldnt have cared who won.....on reflection both should have gone out the cup for the good of the game it was that bad.

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Saintpaul120 added 15:31 - Nov 29 Firstly, I'll go to every home game I can and have a ticket to get to because I love my football. I love watching football and Saints are my life - quite sad I know:) So, I was there and like Nick, was disappointed at the crowd. It wasn't an expensive match but perhaps, as a lot of people have been saying, the FA cup has 'lost it's magic'. There are also a lot of Saints fans who see promotion as their sole target this year and to that end I guess they would not be interested in going to 'meaningless' FA cup matches so the club would lose that band of followers. See your point about lower prices for father & son tickets and that would have brought a lot more in possibly. It was cold though and for people travelling, it may have been the worry of waht road conditions were going to be like. Unless you did a poll Nick, it's just a case of guessing why the fans stayed away. One things for sure apart from the Northam faithful, the atmosphere was rubbish. I wonder what sort of crowd we'll get for Blackpool - possibly just a tad less than we will get if we get to Wembley:)

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SaintNick added 15:55 - Nov 29 I didnt compare a game 100 years ago, I compared the last 100 seasons and i would say over a century there have been many of the excuses available as there have been this year, bad weather, recession, poor performances, etc etc, but its still the first time we have ever dropped below 10k in that time. Will those saints fans who turn up because they want to se eus promoted, drop away back in the premier, after all then it will be high ticket prices, cold weather will still be there but more importantly to clubs like saints the premier league is now a meaningless competition that they have no hope of winning. For every club in this land outside of Chelsea & Man utd and this season posiibly Arsenal & Man City, the FA Cup offers there only realistic opportunity alongside the Carling Cup of winning something Surely being a football fan is about going to games, not cherry picking certain ones

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Zambucco added 16:23 - Nov 29 Does seem that there are a few cherry pickers. So what if the Shrewbury game was not blinder, not all games are. I think you've made a very valid point Nick. I wonder if they started using the voucher system, where you receive a voucher for attending a game you become a privileged buyer of tickets in the next round. The attandances will rise? I'm not a season ticket holder, I can't afford that amount in one hit, but I still go to as many matches as possible. For me it's a way of getting away from my worries and debts for a few hours evey couple of weeks. Going to watch my team play, it doesn't matter who they play, I'm there to support them.

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sholingred added 17:31 - Nov 29 I am a season ticket holder and to be honest,playing cheltham didnt interest me one bit,worth a tenner at most,17 quid to watch that rubbish is a joke,now the proper round has started i will attend,and i dont want to sit elsewhere,kingland north is where i sit.
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Saintpaul120 added 17:57 - Nov 29 "" For me it's a way of getting away from my worries and debts for a few hours evey couple of weeks. Going to watch my team play, it doesn't matter who they play, I'm there to support them. "" Funny you should say that - It's exactly how I feel. Every Saturday is match day, home games being the ones where nothing, but nothing, is going to stop me being at SMS!! Sad I know but . . . . . . . .:) I'm married and have kids but everyone knows that matchday is matchday and it's what is important to me.

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suttonsaint added 18:13 - Nov 29 Feel that excuse is the wrong word to use,it implies that some kind of apology is being made.My REASON for not going on Saturday was that i went on Tuesday for the Brighton match and i had concert tickets for Saturday night in London and i wanted to take my wife out for a bite to eat beforehand.I took time off of work on Tuesday and including the match it became a six hour round trip so a fair weather excuse making fan i aint. I didn't want to go so i didn't!

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channonite added 20:40 - Nov 29 I didn't go because I didn't either want, or felt that I needed to. Everyone who went are clearly better fans than I am. Unless they live in/around Southampton and it was a choice between shopping, or football. This season the League is all. Cups are a distraction. Finally, I am fed up with endless droning on about attendances. FACT!
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geezershoong added 09:04 - Nov 30 Agree with the above. Reality check transplant is required.
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Oxford_Saint added 09:56 - Nov 30 Nick, yes some people would say that we had the best gate of the round, and I am one of them. Best comparisons, Sheffield Wednesday & Charlton. Many would argue that Wednesday are a bigger club. As their club is in dire straights, you might say that their fans should be rallying round! If you want a true comparison, you have to look back to a time of austerity before Saints were in the top two flights, which takes you back to a time before TV and the multitude of other distractions. But if you look back to those days, how many fans traveled from outside the immediate geographic area, like I and countless others do week in week out? It's not the £2 extra, or the cold. It's the prospect of a 130 mile round-trip, when maybe, just maybe, I have something else to do or spend my money on? You really can't compare our gates with the past, it's not a level playing field, but you can compare it with the gates achieved by all the other clubs in the same competition. We had the biggest gate on Saturday, end of.

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bstokesaint added 12:32 - Nov 30 I have to say I was far more excited about travelling up to Carlise then considering attending FA cup rounds 1 and 2. I love watching the Saints, but my focus is currently on the league. If I lived locally and the ticket prices were less, then I may think about going to cup games, but until we're promoted the cup will never be a realistic prize and as Channonite says "a distraction". We need to use these games to give youngsters and fringe players a chance to prove themselves.

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MytchettSaint added 13:03 - Nov 30 I went to the Shrewsbury game along with my eldest son who's been a few times now this season and it was dire, when I said about going along to this one he said he wanted to watch our local team (Farnborough) playing at home on the same day, ticket prices/where he was sitting didn't affect his thought process only what was served up in his last couple of visits down there. I think attendances at FA cup games as a whole will drop this season, as someone else said the recesssion may offically be over but many people have less money left after the bills are paid and are picking and choosing their games now, Does Cheltenham at home or Brighton in an important league game make for a difficult choice when money is tight? I would've gone if he'd choosen saints and I'm going along for the Brentford game (alone) but the attractiveness of a match and its importance really does hold sway for people Nick.

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