Thetownend.com

Ive posted it elsewhere but wanted to give it a thread of its own .. the lack of support from the fans tonight was awful - we were playing a team who were nearly top at home and there was no atmosphere .. no songs .. NOTHING

and then to cap it all they were BOOING the players off at half time when they had a pretty solid first half .. I was fuming .. couldnt believe it!

What the hell do they expect???

RANT OVER

what do you all think? were you one of the boo boys? If so .. why did you do it? Im curious to know!

I was having a beer fatters just so you know

I think the lack of support was due to a number of factors:

a) 2 shit performances in a row
b) Not everybody can afford 2 home games in the space of 4 days.
c) Not everybody can make it to evening games.

agreed. Shut up Fatbury  :P

Yeah it wasn't that bad. Also Leeds is coming up. Big fundage needed.

Mid week atmospheres have been dreadful for years.  Actually in truth it's rare that the atmosphere/support at home is any good anyway.

Away support is spot on, but home matches these days are average to say the least.

woops double post

I went to the gym, bought some red wine and watched Champs league.  Considering its only the 3rd game ive missed this season, home and away I don't really care.

that's because everyone is pissed up when we played away

I was watching Kinky Boots with my poorly wife.  It's only a matter of time before my excuse for not attending is a clash with Corrie

worst rant ever

Champions League doesn't help either.

I agree to an extent Fats, support was muted but it's to be expected from a crowd of less than 6000.

Like you I was completely bemused by the boos at half time though - that was pretty disgraceful, I didn't think we were that bad last night.

I didn't actually think we were that bad last night, a lot better than Saturday. We were just playing a very, very good team with a very well organised defence and strong on the counter attack.

I've got a sore throat this morning

Not supprised, you were roaring away.

I got moaned at for being too loud again.

Too loud and too proud eh,Tom?

No, wasn't really the chanting is was when I was moaning about something or other - the old guy in front of me kept putting his hands over his ears as soon as I started shouting.  :|

 :soapy tit wank:

Well you can say we played shite against Port Vale because we did but not against Donny, we played good against a strong side. And there were enough fans there for a decent atmosphere!

I think that anal rape does need more support. But only from the pub.

That was funny  :mrgreen:

the booing at half-time was mind boggling.

utterly undeserved!

We were poor last night, there was so much hoof ball, i thought Heywood was back in the fold, a lucky point against a much better side, the positive is that we kept going to the end.

Why don't you start a song Fatbury?

What, like "Our support is f*cking sh*t" ? :D

Or, "I'm so desperate it's unbelievable..."

We did a few song in the Kingswood .. just not enough of us in there really

The only songs I heard it the Kingswood were half hearted follow ons from the Town End. Not that I can say much cos I never sing at home anyway (Too scared of waking up the people around me).

Thought a lot of supporters were fucking moronic last night though: booing at half time (Why?) Booing Pook when he came on as a sub, there were even a few twats who booed Paynter when he was subbed.

i deliberately cheered and clapped when pook came on because people were booing him. give the kid a chance ffs.

i couldn't go due to work commitments.and agree about the booing. we do seem to have a high proportion of twat fans at stfc

I would have done the same. (Clapped I mean)

Did you not go to Millwall? :D

Their fans were amusing to say the least

i gave pook the clap when he came on.

Who is the chav in the Kingswood stand with Jimmy Mack on the back of the shirt. He is a prize tool, he just stands there hurling abuse at the away fans who being over the other side of the ground can't see him yet alone hear him.....yesterday he ran down the stairs to throw abuse at Zaaboub I think it was then started on one of our fans who told him to shut up, luckily his mate dragged him down the stand (so obviously missed our equaliser). We have a large number of very weird supporters at STFC although the Munsters that used to sit at the end of my row seem to have disappeared a couple of years ago.

he's jimmy mack. banned most of last season and is usually found drunk in the county saying "i wish i was dead...just kidding!"

Oh right so a well known 'character' then

He has the old logo tatooed on the back of his head  :mrgreen:

not only has the atmosphere at Swindon been shit for the best part of 5 years (bar the odd game)

the numbers so far this season, have been fucking shit. For the most part we've been playing well and winning games....yet the attendences havent rised a single but, infact the opposite.

Success should bring in the fans and we've started the season well and our numbers arent going up.

The match against Tranmere, say 5 years ago would gave seen a crowd of at least 8,000 - we got 6,500.

Also, since the services of Mark Devlin were terminated we've not had ONE single ticket promotion to get the fans in. We havent offered discounted tickets, we havent offered  by one get one free, we havent offered extra cheap tickets to season ticket holders.

We have offered fuck all, bout time we did some positive PR and got some fans to come back in.

Stratton Bank for £5 last season?

ok, so we've had one.....which was suggested by the trust or supporters club or something anywa?

2 simple words: The Board

Or...................Apathetic supporters

Is he J1mmy from the old thisis forum? He has the look of a bit of a loon, bit like I imagine J1mmy.

I've spoken to him a time or two, first time he was off his head on something, second time was after the Walsall game last season and he seemed more normal.

don't think so. he's a bit mental but always seemed alright.

J1mmy is/was not Jimmy Mack.

I say bring back J1mmy, he was a mentalist.

i say let's not

Do you think the whole "we're on the brink of financial collapse and all I can think about is salvaging as much of my money as I can, and while I'm about it I'll slag off all the fans representatives and most of the fan base at every opportunity" approach of the board might have put a few people off?

This is a board which has managed to turn Rob Tuck from the king of the happy clappers 18 months ago into a man who can't be arsed to go to home games.

It's not so much apathy as contempt.

maybe, but seriously how many fans keep up with all that shit....and how many just totally ignore it and dont get involved at all?

J1mmy is Dachauer. He seems to have grown up a bit, but he still has a weird obsession with Germany despite never actually having been there.

DV, I dont think the atmosphere at the CG is that bad. After all, just 4 weeks ago Bournemouth fans were saying we had the best home atmosphere in the league, and Luton seemed pretty impressed as well. Those 50 Mansfield fans from last season must think were a complete bunch of nutters as well.  :mrgreen:

There have been a few promotions, I remmember 1 vs Blackpool, Mansfield. But not enough. I agree.

As for your fair weather, the stories of liquidation are very very detrimental. They cant understand how a club can be in that situation and it definately puts them off.

dachauer isn't j1mmy. he's had a few accounts on here but generally lasts a week on average before he can't control his moronic tendencies.

the impact of the mismangement and negative press shouldn't be underestimated - despite everything last season, crowds never reached the same sort of levels as they did when we were doing well in 03/04. i'd suggest this is because it's common knowledge that the club is in such a state rather than anything else.

ticket promotions in the past have had minimal effect - remember handing out leflets one december evening dv? fucking waste of time that was!

unless we started giving away tickets to random people on the streets, the majority will stay at home and watch live football on television.

the simple thing with tickets is to reduce the price. I know its not just that simple but last night Nottm Forest charged £5 for their game against Southend. I they had the biggest league attendence last night.

Now, I know they are well supported anyway, but do you not think more people would flock in at a reduced cost.

I dunno about you, but whenever Swindon games crop up in conversation, everyone always thinks about coming along...or mentioned in, then they ask me how much and when I tell them, they all laugh and its puts them right off.

Simple, alot of casual fans wont pay the price we charge for football....and there is pretty much fuck all chance of them doing every week.

I agree with this DV.  In normal circumstances the board would get together and try and work out what a price drop would mean in terms of new fans coming through the gates.  This lot are only interested in milking the captive audience for as much as they can get.  They don't care about growing the fan base and any medium to long term plan.  Just to add - I'm not going to put myself out to go to home games because it sticks in my throat the thought that this lot still make money out of me.  When Mex and Yeovil got banned, I wrote an email to the club telling them I wouldn't be back until the guys were reinstated - that means anywhere they want to go noit a mealy mouthed ban from the Arkells.  I'll be a Leeds and as many away fixtures as I can get to but roll on the takeover.

i've never encountered that reaction DV but then the only people i know with an interest in football are you lot!

i tried to persuade a few people at college to come but none were interested, even if i got them free tickets. there just doesn't seem to be the "captive audience" as al put it, perhaps due to the nature of a town like swindon - good transport links to london, expanding constantly etc.

not defending the board at all here, just looking at the opposite side of the argument.

bradford are a perfect case in point. huge drop in prices and they're getting great crowds.

I've got a few watching on the telly in the pub supporter mates who often talk about going to games but act put off by the price, to be honest I think it's an excuse as much as anything else. They might go if prices were reduced to a tenner or less, but only if we were playing a big team. Couldn't see them going if we were playing Macclesfield on a cold/wet/windy/all of the aforementioned afternoon, even if it was free.

You'd be surprised how many people in Swindon would turn up if they could Sonic, I've spoken to so many who do follow the result but don't see the point in paying what is quite a lot for third division football. We've got a lot of potential to draw in casual fans, Swindon is a big town and it's getting bigger... It doesn't help that most people in the town now aren't originally from Swindon but I think if advertised, a lot of neutrals would come along and may even be converted.

Look at Franchise for example, hate to bring them up but their crowds are getting bigger and bigger simply because they are marketed in the right way and what were armchair Man U/Chelski/Arsenal fans are now regular attenders...

Sonic, Id say our crowds last season were good, much better than 03-04. We averaged about the same, but playing mostly very poor clubs along the way.

If you have a look at the attendances over the years the big drop came when we went all seater. We used to get 11,000 in the 2nd div, we were on a par with Ipswich/Norwich/Southampton/Portsmouth.

The club charged too much for years after we went all seater. Although I dont think the prices this year are too bad at all. After all, we payed £19 to watch behing the goal at Port Vale 2 weeks ago.

Ours have steadied, even dropped a little bit while others have increased though.. So now we're about the same as most clubs in this league.

fair point about the opposition, some of the away followings last season were poor. looking back at 03/04 i thought the attendances were bigger but i think they're on a par, the largest were due to away followings from sheff wed, brighton etc etc...

i hope i'm wrong about the apathy around the town but the existence of people like nick martin make me think otherwise.

"close them down! make them pay! suffer suffer suffer!"

This is just my opinion,

Of the population who would consider going to football, there will be a percentage (mainly in the older age bracket), who consider the prices too high.

There will be some who genuinely can't afford it (and by that I don't mean are out on the lash instead, but under real financial pressures)

There will be some to whom the attraction of getting bladdered outweighs anything else and won't sacrifice that for anything

There will be a percentage who tell people that they're Swindon fans but go once or twice a season for the "big" games

Generally the age group who would have been regular watchers were not captured early enough. That'll either be people new to the area who don't have a Swindon Town 'history', or, in these days of wall to wall footy on TV find it easier to pick a glamorous team to 'follow' Many of this "TV footy generation " do not have the attention span to give over an entire afternoon to a single event

There will be a few people who prefer to drink instead of go to matches

There will be a small minority who are affected by the current club situation - many of these are keen enough to be visible on boards such as these, thereby giving us the impression that it's a widespread reason for non-attendance.

These groups may all start to come back if we are successful (in their eyes) - and by that I mean top 3

I therefore come to the conclusion :-

1) special offers will not be self financing
2) There are too many other distractions that don't involve getting cold/wet/angry/depressed
3) Lower league football in general is dwindling in its consumer attractiveness to the general public
4) the way to address this is to target youngsters. Every other commercial enterprise knows the importance of getting your customers on board early, and using pressure on parents. Thereby lies the future (and put all the little gits down the front of the Kingswood stand, out of everyones way

I wasn't at the game so can't comment but i have noticed that when people do sing they get moaned at for singing the wrong songs!!!!!

As much as the Premiershit is drawing more and more armchair fans, I don't think your point is true. FL attendances have been gradually growing for years now