Whitby Town Crowd Issues

[yeltz85]

http://www.nonleaguedaily.com/top-stori ... rowds.html

[RaidenYeltz]

At least we've got a fairly good attendance at this level.

[RobYeltz]

http://www.nonleaguedaily.com/top-stori ... rowds.html

I guess it depends on the 'outgoings' column as well!

[Noggin]

An additional, and often overlooked fact is that gate revenue is typically in the region of 20-25% of the total income for a club of our size.

That is why the job that Chris Lambert, Selfie and others are doing so well is critical to the well being of the club by bringing in revenue from a wider range of outside sources rather than depending on the same pockets all of the time.

[old git]

Curious ..I think there may be more to this than meets the eye....the chairman blames last 2 crowds, but last weeks 277 was their best of the season

[yeltz85]

Apparently they did it last season too....

[HalesowenHarry]

In fairness to them, it must be so much more difficult to attract players to a club out on it's own up there. The issue of the Northern League (not Northern Premier League) is well documented. There's basically no real encouragement from the Non-League pyramid to move up the chain, so Whitby should be commended for giving it a go. The same applies to Blyth. Look at other clubs who've joined and then fallen back (or folded). Durham City, Spennymoor, Newcastle Blue Star, Bishop Auckland, there's loads more I can't be bothered to type. All of these aren't down just to financial mis-management, more geography. Most of these sides probably have double if not more support in the Northern League than they do committing to Steps 4 and then Step 3 as Whitby have done. Four divisions at our level would work so much better. Unlikely to happen though.

Can't fault them starting with a certain budget, as someone mentioned elsewhere, if you don't have a decent run in the FA Cup / Trophy then you have to cut your cloth accordingly. Imagine if we'd lost to Sutton Coldfield and Matlock. £0 pounds instead of the £7,500 and £5,750 (so far). I dread to think how we'd have coped

[andy]

Very good post. Geography must be a killer for some of these clubs. I've always thought this over the years. When we travel to to the Dovers, Margates, Truros and Blythes of this world we give ourselves a pat on the back for completing such long journeys. The fact is though these clubs have to make similar journeys nearly every away game, usually on the same long road before they get anywhere. It must be soul destroying, expensive and difficult to attract players who can commit to it, without having to pay them big wages.

[Noggin]

I agree Andy. I recall the first time we played at Truro. For us, the long haul down to Cornwall was a significant trip, one to look forward to us. The following week, they were playing at Leamington - a similar journey to that made by us, but for them a routine away fixture.

Supporters of far flung clubs like that deserve every respect. I understand that there was a Blyth supporter on Tuesday with 1500 games under his belt (indeed I think it was yourself that mentioned him) - the man deserves a medal (or possibly sectioning)

In B63 we sometimes think of ourselves as badly served by the fixtures list, but with our good motorway links and central position we should count our blessings sometimes,,,,

[juanillo]

The geography is definitely a factor, as Whitby's travel expenses will be more than most in the division.

However, they probably wouldn't get that much more benefit from bigger crowds if the current attendances in the Northern League are anything to go by. They are not that great considering there are a lot of local derbies. Only Whitley bay are averaging over 300.

http://www.northernleague.org/attendanc ... dances.php

Some fans of teams in that league may be switched off if the clubs by and large don't take up promotion (though Spennymoor did last season); it makes the league becomes less meaningful and possibly harder to 'market' league games to fans, although the teams in that league are always strong contenders in the Vase.