Empty seats

[Yousef]

I sat at the PU in the Upper Loft and noticed a lot of empty seat around. I am surprised at that depite reaching the Premier League which raises the question of whether we really need a new ground with higher capacity or is it because of the prices. 16,000 is not a Premier LEague Attendance is it? Below is a list of Championship matches with higher attendance.

Brighton v Leeds attendabce 20,000
Derby v Millwall 24,000
Middlesbrough v Ipswich 17,000
West Ham V Peterbrough 29,000

[willis1980]

i reckon itll have a lot to do with the game being on the box

[MattyRangers]

I sat at the PU in the Upper Loft and noticed a lot of empty seat around. I am surprised at that depite reaching the Premier League which raises the question of whether we really need a new ground with higher capacity or is it because of the prices. 16,000 is not a Premier LEague Attendance is it? Below is a list of Championship matches with higher attendance.

Brighton v Leeds attendabce 20,000
Derby v Millwall 24,000
Middlesbrough v Ipswich 17,000
West Ham V Peterbrough 29,000

So what? We are a relatively small side. you say 16k isnt a PL attendance.... well it quite clearly is as we are a PL side and got 16k

The fact we dont get the crowds the size of sides like Brighton is partly to do with our location; we have Chelski Fulham & Brentford very close to us and so dnot have a huge catchment area for fans.

So long as the fans we do have make LR an intimidating place and get behind the side, i, for 1, couldnt care what the figures say. Id rather 16k passionate fans than 25k filled with tourists and rich snobs on corporate outings.

[Mellowhoop]

Shouldn't matter if it's on tv should it really. People need to realise we just don't have alot of fans.

[BennyBoyRs]

Football ain't cheap, and it was on the box. Quite obvious, the reasons.

[Shrine]

lets all be honest
its an utter disgrace that we can't sell out when we are premier league and tickets have been made cheaper.

Didnt we sell out when we got promoted from League 1?

I'm in upper P and there were rows of good empty seats.
rows I and J i think.

anyway, utter utter disgrace

[Bluehoop]

So what? We are a relatively small side. you say 16k isnt a PL attendance.... well it quite clearly is as we are a PL side and got 16k

The fact we dont get the crowds the size of sides like Brighton is partly to do with our location; we have Chelski Fulham & Brentford very close to us and so dnot have a huge catchment area for fans.

So long as the fans we do have make LR an intimidating place and get behind the side, i, for 1, couldnt care what the figures say. Id rather 16k passionate fans than 25k filled with tourists and rich snobs on corporate outings.

100% agree with all of this Matty .

[MattyRangers]

lets all be honest
its an utter disgrace that we can't sell out when we are premier league and tickets have been made cheaper.

Didnt we sell out when we got promoted from League 1?

I'm in upper P and there were rows of good empty seats.
rows I and J i think.

anyway, utter utter disgrace

Mate please get off your high horse, not all people can afford football these days, not everybody is in such a position to be able to part with 50odd quid for a ticket plus travel, food, drink etc, especially when the games on TV.

Fair play to those who can, but its unfair to say its a disgrace that we arent selling out.

[indianalondon]

Football ain't cheap, and it was on the box. Quite obvious, the reasons.

[DouDou_87]

Its on TV, alot of people are skint, limited Sunday travel, would rather go to big games coming up.

We haven't got a huge fanbase, its no where near as big as it was when we were last in the Prem. Only on one one off days like P O Final in Cardiff will we ever have close to 30k

[w12dave]

At least we have good atmospheres at LR unlike Arsenal which is shite

[QPR1234]

i dont think you'll see a 30,000 seater stadium filled. not unless we signed more 'marquee' signings ala beckham

[Sotonsuperhoop]

We have the fan base to fill a 30K stadium if the ticket price is right. Yesterday's tickets were still £40 each for Silver and its too expensive for some people. Add in a childs/spouse ticket or a family of four and you don't get change out of £200 when you've taken account of a meal, programme and travel.

People will always choose to go to the big games, and Villa isn't one of those games especially when its live on the tele.

Put 30K people at £25-£30 per ticket in a stadium and you'd make far more than 16K at £40

£25 - £30 is far more affordable so people would go a lot more often and with a new stadium the whole experience would be so much better than it is at LR at the moment.

Look back at our previous Premier League/ Div 1 attendances and you'll see we never sold out. I can remember a very embarrasing 11,000 vs Liverpool. So don't slate fans for not turning up when prices are high in relation to earnings.

[winalotto]

Small club with a small fan base, always has been really, if you look in the past we have always struggled to average 20k, i know in the seventies the crowds were higher but we are talking a whole new ball game now. Check out the home attendances in the Gerry Francis era when we were one of the top teams in the prem, still only getting around 17k average. As has been said, very expensive to watch football now, and we have 3 established football clubs all within 3 miles of our stadium.

[davieqpr]

They need to release Members Only seats to non members the week before.