Who else misses being a small club?

[maverick69]

Not neccessarily ( sorry i cant spell ) ,I meant the over exuberant atmosphere that grounds like Stamford Bridge ( especially the Shed )used to have

Well. That's their choice. And in a way I can see their point because Chelsea FC is much more of a pet than a project. Then again - we experienced that during the flav years.... And everyone stuck around...... Which just goes to show the depth of "real" support at our club..... Which leads to my final point.

Our current owners have stressed that retaining the atmosphere of LR at any new ground is of paramount importance. So if LR is rocking every week...... With more people wanting to get in........ Then I'm sure we'll be fine..... Even if the majority of those there have never experienced the delights of third tier football.......

[Shania]

I hope Tony Fernandes reads this message board. Not!!

[Gtleighsr3]

Think last season was absolutly horrible but its the Prem for me.

[silvercue]

can someone explain to me where all these fans that "have creawled out of the woodwork" are?

We have had the same average gates for 18 years with the exception of one year and that was a few years back. And don't talk cr@p about some old hardcore fans that used to go. Fans rotate in and out all of the time due to their lives, that is the normal lifecycle of fans. We do not attract glory hunters. We haven't got a lot of glory for those types to love.

Jumping on bandwagons that are not even there.

[Essexsteve]

can someone explain to me where all these fans that "have creawled out of the woodwork" are?

We have had the same average gates for 18 years with the exception of one year and that was a few years back. And don't talk cr@p about some old hardcore fans that used to go. Fans rotate in and out all of the time due to their lives, that is the normal lifecycle of fans. We do not attract glory hunters. We haven't got a lot of glory for those types to love.

Jumping on bandwagons that are not even there.

Spot on!!

[hal9thou]

The fact is that relatively we are a small club in terms of our core support, and there is nowt whatever wrong with that. There are clubs like Wednesday who are currently less successful but have a bigger fan base - big home support guarantees nothing in terms of results as many 'sleeping giants' will testify and these days plays a smaller part in terms of the revenue stream than was historically the case. Generating income no longer basically depends on bums on seats - media rights, international marketing, revenues from online betting exchanges and spread markets all play their part. On field success, control of debt and decent marketing are more important than a bigger home gate.

For these reasons I reckon it's entirely possible that revenue wise an EPL club with an average home gate of say 25 thou could be as successful as one with an average gate of 45 thou - as long the on field side of things and marketing are running well. To put it another way, if further development of LR were possible, that would be just as sane an option as moving. Since we are moving we just have to hope that reality checks are in progress and the financial package transparent. I'm far more concerned about that then whether we move to Unigate or the Beeb.

Owners, directors and managers come and go. The long term identity of the club resides in the fans, and therefore it in the interests of the club that they are kept informed about the way this deal will be structured.