Poll - Bigger Away Supporter Numbers?

Are you happy to maximise away attendance to increase revenue andsupport the East Stand development

  • Yes

    Votes: 93 73.2%

  • No

    Votes: 26 20.5%

  • Undecided

    Votes: 8 6.3%
  • Total voters
    127
BFC_BFC_BFC

BFC_BFC_BFC

Well-known member
I’m interested to see what the consensus on here is to this question. Last Season, the club adopted a policy of allowing Away Supporters much bigger allocations… This was obviously good for revenue and it also boosted our attendance numbers and saw the ground full and buzzing.

In the aftermath of a defeat against Derby I seem to recall and during a pretty challenging season, it was a point picked up by Raggy in his ‘chat’ to the players and something many of us objected to at the time…. SS immediately responded to his ‘most vocal’ members of his customer base and curtailing the numbers moving forward.

Personally having reflected on it,…. I think it was a bit (well actually a lot) shortsighted on the part of us supporters.

I do think (in an ideal world) you might choose to position the Away Supporters differently… Ideally not the full length of one side, but nonetheless I think it’s in our best interests to get the ground packed and revenue maximised wherever possible…. And it’s on our supporters to out-do any vocal away following!!

However the main reason I’m asking the question, is that the ability to capitalise on bigger away followings (at least in the shorter term) may well have an impact on the viability of the East Stand and the scale of the development.

Interested in your views as well as choice in the Poll..
 
The bigger away followings never bothered anybody when we were doing alright in the Championship or at the beginning of last season when we were doing alright. Lose a few and people start looking for excuses whether its fellow fans or players.
Our club is a huge draw for away fans and would be a good money earner so unless our own fans need half of it then id give the aways all the East bar 1 block at the end.
Ideally they wouldnt be positioned there across the whole length of the pitch but until the stadiums complete theres nowhere else to put them.
 
Of course bigger away followings,we must be the only club that actively discourages this and I find it unique and bizarre. We could have been looking at touching 14thousand against Bolton on Saturday,how BFC can afford to turn down this potential windfall is one of life's mysteries.
 
I thought we were told all the monies for these projects were ringfenced so there is absolutely no need to have away fans to pay for it. The poll should be would you be happy to... etc to fund playing activities.

Even then the amount wouldn't be huge. After VAT, expenses and wotnot you'd probably get on average £15 a ticket (maybe less) x 1500= £22.5 a game x 10 that it would be needed at a push and it's £225k pa. Playing the best XI on Tuesday might have seen that figure eclipsed somewhat.
 
Been preaching this all season.

People go on about lost revenue now we’re out of the BSM cup but had we allowed the full allocation of away fans all season we would have already doubled if not more what we would have earned in winning this cup.

Do the maths an extra 2,000 fans for Forest (cup) Derby, Bolton, Carlisle, Wigan, Portsmouth, Barnsley games alone.

If we can’t fill it let the away fans plain and simple.
 
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BFC_BFC_BFC said:
I’m interested to see what the consensus on here is to this question. Last Season, the club adopted a policy of allowing Away Supporters much bigger allocations… This was obviously good for revenue and it also boosted our attendance numbers and saw the ground full and buzzing.

In the aftermath of a defeat against Derby I seem to recall and during a pretty challenging season, it was a point picked up by Raggy in his ‘chat’ to the players and something many of us objected to at the time…. SS immediately responded to his ‘most vocal’ members of his customer base and curtailing the numbers moving forward.

Personally having reflected on it,…. I think it was a bit (well actually a lot) shortsighted on the part of us supporters.

I do think (in an ideal world) you might choose to position the Away Supporters differently… Ideally not the full length of one side, but nonetheless I think it’s in our best interests to get the ground packed and revenue maximised wherever possible…. And it’s on our supporters to out-do any vocal away following!!

However the main reason I’m asking the question, is that the ability to capitalise on bigger away followings (at least in the shorter term) may well have an impact on the viability of the East Stand and the scale of the development.

Interested in your views as well as choice in the Poll..
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The developers already know what kind of crowds we will get in our respective division ,so this should not come into it. I believe that each match should be taken individually . For example if there may be a large hooligan element ,keep it to half . If Blackpool are not getting the numbers in the home support, keep it to half. Yet if we are doing well and we have a well supported visiting team ,then give them the full end and leave it to the fans to raise the players game.
 
In league 1 you probadly have to maximise revenue & allow some teams extra capacity. Though only if additional costs allow (eg police / stewarding / health & safety) & make sense.
Slightly different in the championship as most teams, we saw over the last 2 years, brought generally over a thousand. We’ve had Cheltenham / Shrewsbury / Stevenage etc bring barely 200 this year. Few more poor away followers to come this season - Cambridge/wycombe & fishwood.
Only Barnsley, maybe Portsmouth, after Bolton will bring full initial allocations this season.
 
Isn't this season more about the fa charge/ action plan and not wanting to risk making that worse?

I support having more in, certainly a bit more than we give now.

But we must do more to fill it ourselves, better marketing, using the local Blackpool fb etc groups to push stuff too, deals as mentioned previously.

Our fans will always take priority though, non of this lock out 500 or more of our own fans to house more away fans that we saw from some.

We have to find a way to get people through the door who don't come regularly or never before.

We shouldn't have to give 4500 or whatever away, ideally in the championship we could fill more than we have in the past with the right football, conditions and momentum, you could if needed give away fans 3k instead of 2 and still have plenty more home fans.
 
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tangerinespud said:
In league 1 you probadly have to maximise revenue & allow some teams extra capacity. Though only if additional costs allow (eg police / stewarding / health & safety) & make sense.
Slightly different in the championship as most teams, we saw over the last 2 years, brought generally over a thousand. We’ve had Cheltenham / Shrewsbury / Stevenage etc bring barely 200 this year. Few more poor away followers to come this season - Cambridge/wycombe & fishwood.
Only Barnsley, maybe Portsmouth, after Bolton will bring full initial allocations this season.
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Didn’t Carlisle take over 5,400 to Bolton just before they played us? So would have certainly shifted 3,900 tickets same for Derby as well and Forest in the cup would have shifted another 1k as well but we insisted it was either 2,100 or 3,900 which is silly turning down potential revenue.
 
tangerinespud said:
Only Barnsley, maybe Portsmouth, after Bolton will bring full initial allocations this season.
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Restricting the allocation restricts the availability, so that prevents families who don't usually attend getting tickets. We need to embrace that we have a USP

Offering 4k would allow teams to open up on any restrictions.
 
Jaffa_The_Hut said:
Didn’t Carlisle take over 5,400 to Bolton just before they played us? So would have certainly shifted 3,900 tickets same for Derby as well and Forest in the cup would have shifted another 1k as well but we insisted it was either 2,100 or 3,900 which is silly turning down potential revenue.
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Maybe, I’d argue that Forest & Derby mid week possibly wouldn’t have shifted too many more.

Now I’m not sure if this is the case at Blackpool ? I have an old friend who used to be a commercial manager at a club down south. The home club would liase with the away club about tickets & come up with an allocation & how that allocation would be paid. If the away club sold their allocation & requested more the usual practice was to given more tickets but ask for the money upfront for those tickets whether they were sold by the away club or not. Something that some clubs baulked at apparently - you wouldn’t want to pay for 1000 extra tickets & only sell 600 ? As I said not sure if this is a practice used at Blackpool?
I know this season the police & FA charges over crowd incidents has been sighted as reasons for the not giving extra tickets.
 
Absolutely not.

We should never give the opposition any advantage. I'd go all out looking at how to use lighting in the changing rooms to make them sleepy etc (paint them dark grey and have 40 watt lighting in etc etc).

Away fans would regularly have over 1/3rd attendance and giving the opposition that advantage is stupid in terms of the most important thing - winning on the pitch.
 
fcblackpool said:
I thought we were told all the monies for these projects were ringfenced so there is absolutely no need to have away fans to pay for it. The poll should be would you be happy to... etc to fund playing activities.

Even then the amount wouldn't be huge. After VAT, expenses and wotnot you'd probably get on average £15 a ticket (maybe less) x 1500= £22.5 a game x 10 that it would be needed at a push and it's £225k pa. Playing the best XI on Tuesday might have seen that figure eclipsed somewhat.
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As I see it, the finances are ultimately a single pot…
 
I think there is a balance to be struck between maximising revenue and maintaining our home advantage.

20-25% of capacity seems reasonable to me and is what we’d receive at most of our neighbours.

I think we’ll end up a bit short of the capacity most of us we’d like but we’re probably a bit limited by the space we have.
 
How about a “trial season”?
I can’t see the East re-build being started next season. For 2024-5 why not sell all the seats in the East to visiting clubs? Not that they’d sell out every match. Mid week games wouldn’t even fill half probably. Food and drink sales could wring as much as possible too. If it doesn’t work, bin it.
The existing ‘home sides’ of Bloomers hold 13.000? Easily enough for next season. And, if we start off badly, we won’t match the regular 9,000ish that we have now.
I’m sure there are holes to this point of view but it’s my opinion.
 
Not against it but if I was SS I'd be more concerned about the growing number of empty seats in the home end.
Keeping them in the scratching sheds and giving bigger numbers when necessary is the tried and tested method. Until we have 4 complete sides it should be as you are IMO.
 
John Deary me said:
Not against it but if I was SS I'd be more concerned about the growing number of empty seats in the home end.
Keeping them in the scratching sheds and giving bigger numbers when necessary is the tried and tested method. Until we have 4 complete sides it should be as you are IMO.
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Going to be a lot more empty seats next season I fear if Critchley is still here.
 
I don’t want this thread to end up about the theoretical loss of supporters, based on the current performances as that’s a separate issue altogether. We’ve got plenty of discussion on the current plight as it is.

In essence I’m just looking to answer the question as to how people stand on maximising attendances by increasing the away allocation where practical.

If (for example) SS were to say I’m only prepared to sanction a 5000 capacity East Stand if we max out on away followings, otherwise it’s going to be a smaller 3,600 stand, then what would you choose…
 
Not that I can get to many matches anymore - but it’s a no from me as the the question is framed.

Home advantage has to be maintained through any proposals.

We should concentrate on better ways to get our own bums on seats and not the opposition’s.

Taking the balance of home vs away support out of the equation and looking through a purely financial lens is not the way ahead.

I think we have a particular attraction to away fans (especially on Saturdays) for the obvious tourism reasons. So it’s a much easier sell to travellers - and perhaps importantly - their families. I’ve known quite a few fans from our opponents who have said the Blackpool game is the first they look for so they can get their weekend booked. So any increase I. That allocation is more likely to be taken therefore changing the balance inside the ground. I think this is further amplified the further down the league structure you drop as the home support inevitably drains away.

Frame the question through the lens of maintaining home advantage, and yeah why not.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
I’m interested to see what the consensus on here is to this question. Last Season, the club adopted a policy of allowing Away Supporters much bigger allocations… This was obviously good for revenue and it also boosted our attendance numbers and saw the ground full and buzzing.

In the aftermath of a defeat against Derby I seem to recall and during a pretty challenging season, it was a point picked up by Raggy in his ‘chat’ to the players and something many of us objected to at the time…. SS immediately responded to his ‘most vocal’ members of his customer base and curtailing the numbers moving forward.

Personally having reflected on it,…. I think it was a bit (well actually a lot) shortsighted on the part of us supporters.

I do think (in an ideal world) you might choose to position the Away Supporters differently… Ideally not the full length of one side, but nonetheless I think it’s in our best interests to get the ground packed and revenue maximised wherever possible…. And it’s on our supporters to out-do any vocal away following!!

However the main reason I’m asking the question, is that the ability to capitalise on bigger away followings (at least in the shorter term) may well have an impact on the viability of the East Stand and the scale of the development.

Interested in your views as well as choice in the Poll..
Click to expand...
I think we should be doing more with pricing/incentives to attract more of our own fans, not giving more tickets to away fans. Certainly not giving the whole of the east to away supporters!
 
I posted YES but only hypothetically, with all other things being equal. The truth is that access and egress are difficult from the East - in terms of safety and security. The club is already not the EFL's favourite for fan behaviour.
 
fcblackpool said:
Money for infrastructure ie the East and the TG have been described as ringfenced and are separate, so football related income do not impact in any way.
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The so called ‘investment’ over the next decade or so has also been lumped together as a collective £90M.

I’m not asking a question as to whether we should sacrifice revenue that might have otherwise been directed towards the player budget….

The question is purely about justification for a larger capacity… without a larger capacity we may not have the same options in any case.

So a simple yes / no answer, minus the “I’d rather we redirected the finances towards a new gilet for Critch” would be helpful 😂👍
 
SomersetSeasider said:
I think we should be doing more with pricing/incentives to attract more of our own fans, not giving more tickets to away fans. Certainly not giving the whole of the east to away supporters!
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The whole ‘attracting more home fans’ piece is a completely separate matter. I think it goes without saying that any Football Club like ours should be invested in growing their own fan base.

I did make it clear in the O/P that I was talking about the situation whilst we could not fill the stands with home fans (I.e. in the shorter term)
 
What a truly ludicrous thread and a stupid loaded question

If i didn't know better i would think this was a wind up

We should not be giving away fans more tickets and it certainly isn't the responsibility of fans to be paying for capital investments or ground improvements i thought we may had lost this small time mentality when the Oystons left

Remember the buy a player fund, what next build the East fund?

Might as well give the South stand away as well and let the bigger clubs have 8k or so, giving up any home advantage

Ridiculous ........
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
What a truly ludicrous thread and a stupid loaded question

If i didn't know better i would think this was a wind up

We should not be giving away fans more tickets and it certainly isn't the responsibility of fans to be paying for capital investments or ground improvements i thought we may had lost this small time mentality when the Oystons left

Remember the buy a player fund, what next build the East fund?

Might as well give the South stand away as well and let the bigger clubs have 8k or so, giving up any home advantage

Ridiculous ........
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This kind of reply is exactly why this club will never / ever get anywhere without a serious change in attitude from our fanbase.

Fans who are prepared to give no quarter whatsoever… They want the moon on a stick and want to pay penny whistle prices.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
This kind of reply is exactly why this club will never / ever get anywhere without a serious change in attitude from our fanbase.

Fans who are prepared to give no quarter whatsoever… They want the moon on a stick and want to pay penny whistle prices.
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Last time i looked the club wasn't fans owned, i know BST put that ridiculous bid in and used to state on their website that being fans owned was their objective but we aren't fans owned
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
The so called ‘investment’ over the next decade or so has also been lumped together as a collective £90M.

I’m not asking a question as to whether we should sacrifice revenue that might have otherwise been directed towards the player budget….

The question is purely about justification for a larger capacity… without a larger capacity we may not have the same options in any case.

So a simple yes / no answer, minus the “I’d rather we redirected the finances towards a new gilet for Critch” would be helpful 😂👍
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The question does say support the east stand development. The only interpretation I can gather is that the away fan money goes to the development. It doesn't need to. It's already been 'paid for' albeit on lower build costs.

The question you ask is valid and has been for all the previous threads on the topic, but the reasoning is flawed.
 
Would create a better atmosphere at the games. I also believe having the away fans closer to the north would create a better atmosphere as well.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
The whole ‘attracting more home fans’ piece is a completely separate matter. I think it goes without saying that any Football Club like ours should be invested in growing their own fan base.

I did make it clear in the O/P that I was talking about the situation whilst we could not fill the stands with home fans (I.e. in the shorter term)
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Not really, with a 15/16k capacity this should be the first matter on any agenda for the club, why on earth would you not want to make the ground a fortress? The only reason this question is plausible is because of the state we have become in the last 2years. The good people of Blackpool and surrounding areas deserve better from a club that is ment to be the heart of the community. Things need to change in/at the club to get us back on track. Ambition needs to be the first question.
 
Torquay have just gone into administration. Many championship clubs are living miles beyond their means and if their owners or backers pulled the rug would go the same way. Including our friends up the M55. We have to find a balance between revenue and ambition, be opportunistic and realistic. All those fans that sing Blackpool's a Sh*t hole want to come here and spend their 30 quid and that is what puts money in the bank to pay for the better players and managers. Personally I'm not sure we've ever been cowed by big support from the opponent. We should be fluid about how we treat away allocations, prioritising our own fans wherever we can create the demand.

Our problems are our own. We should own them and plot a path forward.
 
fcblackpool said:
The question does say support the east stand development. The only interpretation I can gather is that the away fan money goes to the development. It doesn't need to. It's already been 'paid for' albeit on lower build costs.

The question you ask is valid and has been for all the previous threads on the topic, but the reasoning is flawed.
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Its more than flawed
 
fcblackpool said:
The question does say support the east stand development. The only interpretation I can gather is that the away fan money goes to the development. It doesn't need to. It's already been 'paid for' albeit on lower build costs.

The question you ask is valid and has been for all the previous threads on the topic, but the reasoning is flawed.
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Of course that’s the question…

You’re describing an option of essentially having our cake and eating it, which isn’t plausible.

You can’t fit 5000 people in a 3600 seat stand for a start off 🙄
 
John Deary me said:
Not really, with a 15/16k capacity this should be the first matter on any agenda for the club, why on earth would you not want to make the ground a fortress? The only reason this question is plausible is because of the state we have become in the last 2years. The good people of Blackpool and surrounding areas deserve better from a club that is ment to be the heart of the community. Things need to change in/at the club to get us back on track. Ambition needs to be the first question.
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Fuck Me…

Have you actually read what I’ve written ?
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
Of course that’s the question…

You’re describing an option of essentially having our cake and eating it, which isn’t plausible.

You can’t fit 5000 people in a 3600 seat stand for a start off 🙄
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I'll leave it with you 👍

I'm off to look for the latest Should Critchley be sacked poll.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
Massive Advantage 😂
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Of course it is, if away clubs start getting larger support it almost negates any home advantage

You are old enough to remember Boro, Sunderland, Bristol Rovers etc all taking the piss at Bloomfield Road with half the attendance

Those days are gone, fcuk the away fans

As as been said the challenge is getting more home fans in not letting away fans take the piss again

Limiting away numbers is one of the best things the club has actually done recently
 
fcblackpool said:
I'll leave it with you 👍

I'm off to look for the latest Should Critchley be sacked poll.
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Thanks…

From my perspective I’ve already got all the information I really needed to already.

It seems pretty clear to me that this has been another case of the loudest voices being heard over the majority voices. This is something we need to address at Blackpool FC… we need to drown out these Big Gobs and find a way to hear the majority 👍👍
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Of course it is, if away clubs start getting larger support it almost negates any home advantage

You are old enough to remember Boro, Sunderland, Bristol Rovers etc all taking the piss at Bloomfield Road with half the attendance

Those days are gone, fcuk the away fans
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‘Home Advantage’ is about much more than the crowd.

Our fans can drown out anyone in any case… So they need to rise to the Challenge.. ..
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
‘Home Advantage’ is about much more than the crowd.

Our fans can drown out anyone in any case… So they need to rise to the Challenge.. ..
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But they wouldn't if away clubs had as many fans as us

I hated Boro and their last min winner, the last thing we want to see if a full stand of away fans bouncing up and down
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Of course it is, if away clubs start getting larger support it almost negates any home advantage

You are old enough to remember Boro, Sunderland, Bristol Rovers etc all taking the piss at Bloomfield Road with half the attendance

Those days are gone, fcuk the away fans

As as been said the challenge is getting more home fans in not letting away fans take the piss again

Limiting away numbers is one of the best things the club has actually done recently
Click to expand...
I remember Man UTD taking over as well.
However 4,000 isn’t taking over and yes fuck away fans and take their money.
 
The "ground is a fortress" argument is a myth. There is very little evidence to back it up.

If our support can't fill the ground, it makes commercial sense to get more visiting fans in. I suspect the major inhibiting factor to that this season has been the FA action plan. We fans only have ourselves to blame for that.

The argument against here is mounted largely by people who see it as an affront to their masculinity to have large numbers of visiting supporters in the town. Plus those who don't want the club to maximise its revenue, but equally will spend the entire summer bitching if season ticket prices go up.
 
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