Upping the attendance.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Well loks like the fans are turning away from RFC, see other thread for more evidence.

Reality says w cannot compete with 15k crowds, so how can the club up the game to bring people back to watch football at the Madstad?

Missed opportunity this week IMHO, two games in 5 days, that is asking non st adults to shell out at least £46 for a person. Not a small amount to many at this time.

I think we should have done a linked deal with the S'ton game being on telly, Buy a S'ton ticket at full price and get into the Derby game for a tenner, same thing for all except kids, as many would have missed last night being an evening game.

ANy other things the club could be doing to fill the ground, with paying customers.?

[LoyalRoyalFan]

15,000 is a reasonably good crowd for a cold Tuesday night match. Still much better than most clubs in this league.

and QPR.

[Svlad Cjelli]

15,000 is a reasonably good crowd for a cold Tuesday night match. Still much better than most clubs in this league.

and QPR.

Don't forget the "Champions League on the telly" factor.

[No Fixed Abode]

Personally I think the marketing of the club is very poor. If you come to the Town and don't know much about Reading, you would hardly know the club existed. There is nothing at the railway station or around the town centre to suggest Reading has a professional football team. We need to look how NFL teams are marketed in their respective towns/Cities/States.

A few posters around the town (in the Oracle)advertising upcoming games would be a start. I know the club probably has a tight budget for marketing but even so, their marketing is pretty much non-existant.

[melonhead]

personally happy with 15k on a cold tuesday night game, in the middle of the month, on a champions league night, with a big game on saturday

and i want nothing to do with fans who would only turn up on the basis of a town centre bill board

crowds improve with success and good football. the end

[No Fixed Abode]

personally happy with 15k on a cold tuesday night game, in the middle of the month, on a champions league night, with a big game on saturday

and i want nothing to do with fans who would only turn up on the basis of a town centre bill board

crowds improve with success and good football. the end

You are correct - however you can never rest on your laurels. People who go when they're being succesful on the pitch are probably people who've attended before and still go the odd game here and there or ex sth's that have come back. You should always be trying to capture new customers. Reading has a massive passing trade coming through the town everyday and like I said, you would never know the club existed unless you were over by the ground, which is out on a limb from the town.

[Jackson Corner]

When you look around the rest of the division last nights gate hold up pretty well only 3 clubs betterd it, and are all bigger than us.
Looking ahead the Peterbrough game is a Tuesday in November, they should be looking at a kid for a quid or something not the most mouth watering fixture on a cold winters night.

[Silver Fox]

Kid for a quid on a school night? That'll work

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

personally happy with 15k on a cold tuesday night game, in the middle of the month, on a champions league night, with a big game on saturday
crowds improve with success and good football. the end

on a five game run undefeated, against one of the teams near the top of the table, if you are happy with 15k then all I can say is I am glad you are not running the club.

RFC need more paying fans to compete at the top of this level, otherwise players will always have to be sold, and if that supply dries up then the slide would be downward.

RFC marketing would know that two games in a week and one on telly will slow demand, hence it would have been a great time to do an offer as I suggested.

Also if crowds continue to fall the club will be less attractive to a potential buyer, so the future could look a lot bleaker, Saturday will be boosted by the away fans, 4000 tickets sold by saints

[STAR Liaison]

Well loks like the fans are turning away from RFC, see other thread for more evidence.

Reality says w cannot compete with 15k crowds, so how can the club up the game to bring people back to watch football at the Madstad?

Missed opportunity this week IMHO, two games in 5 days, that is asking non st adults to shell out at least £46 for a person. Not a small amount to many at this time.

I think we should have done a linked deal with the S'ton game being on telly, Buy a S'ton ticket at full price and get into the Derby game for a tenner, same thing for all except kids, as many would have missed last night being an evening game.

ANy other things the club could be doing to fill the ground, with paying customers.?

Whilst I understand your proposition the club is very aware that they need to keep the st holders happy and so are reluctant to do offers that undermine the value of a st. Whether that is right or not is moot.

[roadrunner]

Well loks like the fans are turning away from RFC, see other thread for more evidence.

Reality says w cannot compete with 15k crowds, so how can the club up the game to bring people back to watch football at the Madstad?

15k for a mid-table side who keep selling their best players leaving the fans frustrated is actually pretty good.

How can we improve the crowds? Stop selling our best players and start building for the future again.

[Red]

Kid for a quid on a school night? That'll work

I think kicking off at 19:45 would help with this.

IIRC we used to kick off at 19:45 at Elm Park, was changed after one evening KO at the mad stad as there was would could reasonably be called "traffic chaos" with everyone getting to the ground.

I'd like to think 10 years and several road junction upgrades l8r this has been alleviated somewhat (appreciate there are still substantial queues but what ya gonna do). Time to bring the KO time forward again.

One for STAR to look at?

[Wycombe Royal]

Moving kick off forward 15 minutes will not increase the attendance, it is more likely to reduce it. I for one would struggle to get to the match in time for a 7.45pm kick off and so would many others, especially those that have a long commute (a lot of people in Reading and the surrounding areas work in London).

[Red]

Oh apologies - no need for further comment anyone Wycombe has decided it's a non starter.

[Wycombe Royal]

Oh apologies - no need for further comment anyone Wycombe has decided it's a non starter.

You offered an opinion, I countered it.

Not sure what your problem is with that, apart from immaturity maybe..........

[Red]

It was your definitive opening gambit of "Moving kick off forward 15 minutes will not increase the attendance" that got my goat. Perhaps I overreacted but what can I say, I wear my heart on my sleeve when it comes to Club Policies.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Moving kick off forward 15 minutes will not increase the attendance, it is more likely to reduce it. I for one would struggle to get to the match in time for a 7.45pm kick off and so would many others, especially those that have a long commute (a lot of people in Reading and the surrounding areas work in London).

Used to be 7-30 at EP through the 70's. people managed, and night games where better there than the weekend games, IMHO. I would say many memorable games were in the evenings.

[FiNeRaIn]

personally happy with 15k on a cold tuesday night game, in the middle of the month, on a champions league night, with a big game on saturday

lol!!!!!!! You're trolling. In the middle of the month? I've heard some excuses in my time but please take that back, don't even try and justify it. Its made my day

[Svlad Cjelli]

personally happy with 15k on a cold tuesday night game, in the middle of the month, on a champions league night, with a big game on saturday

lol!!!!!!! You're trolling. In the middle of the month? I've heard some excuses in my time but please take that back, don't even try and justify it. Its made my day

Proven fact that the further into the month you go, the less people spend, as they're so much further way from payday.

[FiNeRaIn]

So the only time people turn up to football matches is the start of the month?

Jog on. Utterly ridiculous.