V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/m...-barnet-fc.gif Next up up and Stanley welcome Barnet to the WHAM Stadium this coming Saturday 27/10/2017 3pm ko for this L/2 fixture. The ( Bee's ) season so far is W - 3 D - 5 L - 7 GF - 18 GA - 20 GD - -2 with 14pts from 15 games played and in 20th place... Stanley's season so far is W - 9 D - 2 L - 4 GF - 26 GA - 18 GD - + 8 with 29pts from 15 games played and in 3td place :) The Last corresponding home fixture was played on sat 04/03/2016 3pm ko ended in a 1-0 Win for Stanley :) in front of 1236 fans which includes 86Barnet fans :) Match Report ASFC vs Barnet - 04/03/2017 - Accrington Stanley Official Web Site:
www.barnetfc.com Unofficial Web Sites:
Supporters Association
Downhill Second Half
Hopefully a not to wet and cold day and a few from Barnet, Another must win game :). so with this in mind what's your Guess on the attendance? here we go with Guess The Gate :) I'll go for 1,525 :) Everyone welcome to have ago :) Good luck everyone :) As this is a home game the winner will receive an Offical Accrington Stanley Team Sheet signed by both home and away teams managers and the math day Programme...:)
Pleases note guesses with 0 ish + or - or their a bout's or around will be deemed an invailed guess and wont count :) GOOD LUCK :)

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1441 please Mab

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1652 please Mab. :)

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1414 for me please

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1499 please

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1525 please

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1,371 please, Mab.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1459 please

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1500 please

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1422 please Mab

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1398 please mab

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1470 for me Mab please.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1475 for me please Mab

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1629 Please

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1562 please

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1888 please

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1,593 please

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1676 ta

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1527 please mab

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1386 please mab

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1362

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1795 Mab.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

1360 please

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

:) Saturdays Attendance for the visit of the Bee's Att: 1485 which includes 76 Bee's fans :) Congratulations go to Outback Ozzy who guessed 1475 and is the nearest :) Outback Ozzy wins a signed team sheet and the match day Programme :) Final Score Asfc 4 - 1 Bfc

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

That is poor for a home game when we are battling at the top. I don't know what to suggest to entice more people to the club. When you consider Hyndburn has approximately 80,000+ residents we should be able to attract at least 2000 as a basic home crowd. We can guess at some of the reasons but it is a long standing problem. Personally I do think £20 for a walk on ticket is a little too much, £15 is enough. the cost of catering in the fanzone is a little ott. I am sure people will say it compares with other clubs but the real answer is people are not coming in sufficient numbers to keep the gates open at this rate. Pricing needs to be looked at. Rovers in league one are cheaper than us most times. I do question why the cost of catering at all football grounds is so expensive.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

The queues are very for food and drink so people are paying the expensive prices.

As for tickets, it is all about cashing in on away fans. Dropping prices loses money in the short-medium term, but may be better in the long term if the fan base can be grown. After ST sales which are cheap at £219, there are not many walks-ons.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Couldn't agree more Chrisr, but we all know we're banging our heads against a Nori brick wall on this one.
The bottom line is that those interested enough to attend games are already coming.
I doubt whether the price of the in-house catering has any bearing on the mind-set of the uncommitted.
In fact, I'd bet if you offered them free admission, they'd still find an excuse to spend their time watching the telly, or taking the wife to Asda.
Of course, if we draw Man City or United in the FA cup, they'll be the first in the queue for tickets, claiming to be lifelong fans.
Accrington - thy name be APATHY!

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

I think that things will change if the lads keep playing as they are. Various things have been tried to get more bodies through the turnstiles & the efforts have been met with minimal upturn, but a decent run, good footy & most importantly winning games will have a bearing on attracting the casual observer to actually step through the door.

I reckon that if Stanley keep the pressure on & become masters of their own destiny (go up into Div 1), & Andy Holt keeps making his steady improvements to the facilities which improve the experience for the fans & that means the away fans too, numbers will start to creep up resulting in overall bigger gates. Success brings its own rewards & as such will benefit all involved.

This incidentally is just my personal view & has no actual scientific or fact based proof to back it up! KTF :)

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Totally agree Dave but also agree with Chris, the people who are not coming are looking at the price and don't have 20 quid to spare or use the excuse it's too expensive, dropping it to 15 would probably be easier to swallow and when they've been a few times they are hooked. Or maybe I,m just dreaming. The price of the "meat pies" has no bearing at all on whether they come or not. Going up in to div 1 would certainly increase the away support.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Maybe there just aren't that many people in Accy who want to watch L2 (or, I suspect and fear, L1) football regularly. They'll jump on for a cup run or a couple of games at the end of the season if promotion's on the cards, or for a one-off freebie (didn't we charge £5 or something silly for a game early on in the first season and nearly sell out?), but are not interested in week-in, week-out support. I'm not sure a £5 reduction would make much difference - at least not enough to offset the loss in revenue from those home and away fans who would be there anyway. Maybe a couple of hundred might come a bit more often - but no more than a couple of dozen on any one week.

If it's not in the blood .......

Sorry to be pessimistic, not my nature usually, but a lot of things have been tried, by a lot of dedicated people, with not a lot of success.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Sums it up perfectly in five words. You can bring the prices down to £10, you can offer cheap pies, you can try all the special deals you want, it'll have minimal effect on the gates. Second in League 2 in a borough with a population of 80,000, in a town with a population of 45,000 and we're only getting home support of 1,400? In any other town of the same size, gates would be double that.

Attitudes in the town seem to range from abject indifference to outright hostility. Best to concentrate on increasing away support as a way of raising revenue.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Sadly, what Chimer says is true - also a lot of people prefer to watch their football in the pub or from their armchairs & this is more than adequately provided for them by sky sports, bt sport etc.
It's not for me, bores me watching football on the telly - the live atmosphere is part & parcel of the whole experience to me but it's difficult to explain that to some who've never watched it except for on a screen

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Agreed, but Sky Sports, BT Sport and the rest are available in every town in the country. Funny how it doesn't seem to affect the gates as much in other towns.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

It's absolutely vital for the clubs future to achieve promotion this year.
When you look at League 1 at the moment, (notwithstanding promotion/relegation) it looks like an episode of 'Our Friends in the North'
Wigan, Bradford, Blackburn, Fleetwood, Blackpool, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury. Also Bolton - likely to join them next season.
All these teams are on our doorstep & would bring in much greater revenue than we get from the glut of southern teams currently in league 2.
God help us if we miss-out again & Morecambe get relegated - they're the nearest & only team we can call a local derby!

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Not really examined the League 1 table in depth, but, yes, we'd be in for a few bumper pay days from that lot!

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Stanley's average crowd has more than trebled since 1992, not many others will have.

it is easy to double the crowd for a massive game but it will take at least decade of improvements on and off the pitch to double the hardcore of fans.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Yes, but we were down in the depths of non-league then with a part-time team. Also, I'm pretty sure we were getting more than average gates of 500 each season, although I don't have the figures at my fingertips. One thing I do recall is that Fleetwood seemed to get similar gates to us and the inhabitants of that town have certainly got behind their club on their entry to the football league in a way that ours haven't.

The fact remains we have a borough of 85,000 with a FL club near the top of League 2 and a home support base of below 1,500. If people won't come now, they never will and that's a sad reflection on the apathy and lack of pride in the area.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

500 was a decent crowd then and we were only 2 divisions below where we are now 25 years ago.

It is hard to grow a hardcore from that level.

It is out of order slagging off an Local Authority administrative area for not sharing your hobby. Look at the Lancashire League, things change, and if Stanley invested on and off the pitch like Fleetwood did 11 years ago then the crowds would be higher now.

Moaners just help to make the club less attractive, and I suspect a lot had a hiatus during the bleak times, but now claim to be super fans.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

You'd "suspect" wrong in my case. I was supporting the club in 1992 (and 1982 and 1972). And I don't claim to be a "superfan" - just someone with a realistic view of the apathy shown to Stanley by the public of the town/borough/"local authority administrative area" - call it what you want.

I'm still sure that our average gates were higher than 500, certainly in our recent pre-Conference times. I recall Coley complaining (or "moaning" as you'd put it) about our league gates and comparing it with a 1,000+ gate we had for a night match against Colwyn Bay - not an uncommon occurrence in those days.

As for Fleetwood getting investment on and off the pitch, that's exactly what we've been getting for the last season or two, thanks to AH, but it seems to have had limited effect on the gates - exactly my bone of contention.

As for your final excuse for the apathetic local public - "moaners just help to make the club less attractive." This is a forum - we're entitled to air our criticisms and concerns, or should we just post relentlessly upbeat messages, regardless of how we feel?

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

[QUOTE=Chewbacca;1203849] Look at the Lancashire League, things change, and if Stanley invested on and off the pitch like Fleetwood did 11 years ago then the crowds would be higher now.

fleetwood have been really lucky though as their rise up to div.1 has really co insided with the fall of a very local rival blackpool. with their problems on and off the pitch i imagine a lot have gone up the coast to watch their live football. if burnley went into some sort of freefall and we got promoted that could put another 1000 on our gates from home fans. other lancashire clubs such as rochdale and oldham who have been continual football league clubs for nearly 100 years and not had a 40 odd year gap like stanley with the problems accociated with that gap.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Well please explain "HOW" Stanley could invest 11 years ago?:confused: Who at that time was able to put that sort of brass into the club.:confused:In fact no-one would be able too now if A.H. hadn't took the helm.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Well said Cashy! Andy Holt has brought much needed stability to the club.
When we achieve promotion this season gates will improve.
We'll have a new stand to replace the cowshed, together with the excitement that always accompanies promotion.
Not much to excite local footie fans when teams like Barnet or Forest Green Rovers are in town.
But wait till Blackburn Rovers, or possibly Bolton pay us a visit & watch our home support double.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Not to mention the away fan numbers

What better a time to use some of the extra income generated to put a cover on and do an awayfanzone which would payback itself with extra numbers coming.

Unlike others on here, i don't think its the 20 quid that puts away fans off but the lack of facilities.

But yes i agree if the promotion was achieved home numbers would increase significantly as the atmosphere got better even more so when seats started to sell out.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Have to agree what puts away fans off is definitely a lack of facilities, once some have visited a ground they have never been too,some definitely will not return, have heard that said a couple of times.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

its good for once that everyone who have posted seem to all agree. lets get the new stand built get promotion and i,m sure the gates will go up from home as well as away fans. as lord stiffupperlip states someone may turn out for blackburn and other local sides but barnet on a rainy day hardly gets the juices flowing apart from the regulars.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Wouldn't do to have everyone agreeing unreservedly :D - I do hope you're right, but was there a great leap in home support, even when Bury and Rochdale first came to the Crown, on promotion to League 2? League 1 is very northern just now, so I'm sure visiting numbers would go up markedly :) - but if we had a losing season, I fear any upturn in our support would prove to be very temporary :(.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Chimer old boy, your such an optimist!!!!!!!!

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Sadly, i'd say more of a realist - the surge of support we had when we achieved promotion to the football league was brilliant but, as we all know it didn't last - maybe some of those who temporarily got caught up in Stanley finally realising & living the dream got bored once we got here, who knows??
Yes, if (nay, when) we make the next step up no doubt in the lead up to it we'll experience a similar surge once again & they'll be welcome but I have the feeling that most won't keep up their attendance once the celebrations settle down & we're back to the nitty gritty - hope I'm wrong :rolleyes:

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Probably spot on with your assumption there AM, that said though I do think that although not all will stay the course, there will definitely be a few loons (like the rest of us :)) who'll be hooked & turn to on a regular basis.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Regarding all this misty-eyed optimism about home support going up if we make league 1, I remember the same sentiments being aired, when we were pushing for promotion from the conference...lots of predictions that our gates would be up to 2-3,000 if we made the league. It never happened and for our whole time in the Football League, our gates have been either the lowest or the next to the lowest of the 92.

Promotion to league 1 will certainly mean bigger away numbers, but I doubt many more locals will turn up, because the vast majority of them simply couldn't care less. A sad, but true fact.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Have to disagree mate, 62 did the damage in the main, most people me included, went elsewhere, got wed etc and took our kids, the older uns like me dad are long gone, kids that "Never" even watched the reds are very unlikely to switch sides and many of them are wed now, fact, I thought many years ago and suggested to the club, the main chance as i see it are too attract the very young, a few owd farts like me, Keep the faith,and the late Jeff came back but most didn't.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

I think the "lost generations since 1962" argument is greatly exaggerated. Accrington in the 60's/70's/80's/90's was no different than any other non-league town - Crawley, Yeovil, Cheltenham, Wycombe, Fleetwood and many more. People in those towns went elsewhere to watch professional football. Yet since those towns have got into the league, the locals have responded by getting behind their local club in much greater numbers than ours. It's basically down to apathy.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Well please explain to me, why someone who has never watched us, and gone elsewhere for years, switch and watch us?:confused:

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Dunno, mate, but it must have happened with the other former non-league clubs I've quoted. How come they've gone from having typical non-league gates in the depths of the southern league or wherever to 3-4,000 gates now? It's a fact that when clubs enter the football league, their gates generally improve - apart from us (and possibly Morecambe.).

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Aye but to me its the point we never had a town team for 6 yrs or so.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

We had no town team actually playing from Jan, 66 to Aug, 70, but to be honest, I don't think that made much difference. Our last gate was under 50, so most people had gone elsewhere long before then. The point I'm making is, if you went to a town like, say, Crawley in the 60's/70's, you'd find that the majority of football fans went elsewhere to support a club, yet now their gates are double ours. It's this that makes me deeply sceptical of the local public pitching up to support us in numbers, even if we do get promoted...and I sincerely hope I'm wrong!

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

I should imagine the majority of our supporters of today have never been to the old Peel Park our support will grow with the positive innovative input from our owner and the staff the plans for the new family stand on the Whinney Hill side if marketed right and priced properly will hopefully attract a new future generation of support, obviously results and promotion help but once hooked you follow through thick and thin.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

What i don't understand is where the Ultras of 10 years ago have gone? and why has the whole thing been allowed to die a death.

They were magnificent at the game at Carlisle just after the floods with the Banners and the inflatables etc and were an absolute credit to both the club and the town.

And if teenagers had something like that to hook on to i.m pretty sure a lot more would be enticed to the cause.

Still, think Andy should seriously look at making it completely free for any resident of Hyndburn whos U16 as a way of getting the kids in short-term and getting them hooked to the point they.ll be willing to start paying once they hit 16.

I don't think the amount U16.s bring in during the season in on the day sales and season tickets would be that great and the national publicity and goodwill a company could get from sponsoring a groundbreaking scheme like that would be immense.

As Andy says a lot of 17 and 18-year-olds might suddenly claim to be 16 but with the right checks put in place i.m sure a system could be made to work

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

The Newcastle game happened, and the powers that be at the club didn't back their fans. A real shame, but it highlights how hard it is to bring back fans once they have found other things to do with their time.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

looking at the clubs you have mentioned apart from cheltenham all have gained a promotion since entering the football league. yeovil and wycombe have always been a larger non league club and fleetwoods rise coincided with loads of money thrown at em plus the demise and infighting at blackpool. we basically lost most of the 2010/11 play off side and then stagnated for a few seasons. i imagine plenty of locals have tried stanley but don,t want to come back for one reason or another. if anyone knows someone like that it would be interesting to know why. all i know is that my son has been with me a few times and likes it at stanley saying its a proper club and a proper ground and would come regularly if he didn,t live so far away. we need to sell our club to a wider audiance and rid ourselves of that milk add image that we have.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Curiously enough, I took 2 visiting Scots on holiday in Blackpool to the first game of the season. They are both hooked (one of whom was a 7 year old at his very first live football match). I have promised them when they are next down in the area to get them tickets, providing Stanley are at home. They loved the atmosphere and the craic in the supporters area at the back of the Clayton end and also meeting the players after the match in the club bar. That's what makes Stanley great

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Stanley...loved by everybody...except Accringtonians. :(

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

As someone who wasnt around or taking as much interest as now i.m afraid you.ll have to explain that one to me

I have heard mention of it but know nothing about what actually happened.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

NORTHERNSOUL. There was a televised cup match VS Newcastle a few years ago. Because of large attendance Stanley hired some 'stewards' who were hell bent on causing trouble. This ended up with Jase, one of the most prominent Ultras, getting a banning order. Various other goings on around the same time, such as banning flags, led many to believe the club at the time didn't do enough to support Jase and the Ultras. The Clayton end has never been the same since.

There are some threads which will bring you up to speed:

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/f...utd-54625.html

www.accringtonweb.com/forum/f93/flags-54926.html

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/f...ras-69033.html

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/f...als-54628.html

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Yes. To summarise, it was a brilliant night, the Ultras had provided flags for everybody (still got mine) and organised a tribute to Bobby Robson (who had just died) which was appreciated by a packed Coppice end full of Geordies. And a good game. Unfortunately :mad: some (deleted) set off a couple of flares at the back of the Clayton End and the (bar)stewards and then the police got involved at the end of the game :(. Jase, who was not a retiring character :), also got involved, most probably trying to help some of the teenage Ultras who looked up to him as their leader (which he most definitely was) which resulted in him getting done for obstruction. And as dabeast says, many people (including me) thought the club could at least :rolleyes: have provided some mitigation in court by acknowledging Jase's unofficial status as the organising genius and heart and soul of our support.

I was far too old to be an Ultra, and had only been to half a dozen games at that stage, but I was gobsmacked by what Jase and the Ultras used to do to support the club at that time. And it certainly hasn't been the same since that day :(.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Loads of photos here:
http://www.kipax.com/gallery/index.p...um=ACCY%2F4734

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

when i mention to people who i support especially sunday league footballers i have never had any smart arsed comments about it. the only thing you do here is a repeat of that milk ad. might have put stanley on the map but has it cost us.

Re: V Barnet Guess The Gate
 

Cheers for bringing me up to speed guys

Clearly, the club didn't cover themselves in glory on this one