Surprise figure in this table, our average for the year was up. Not by much but I am sure most people felt the gates were down as a whole. For all County's bluster, they were not much better. Perth suffered badly this year.

http://bbc.in/116H4lO

Very interesting. Perth certainly have seen better times. Would ICT ever get 6000 average? There are only 6000 households in Inverness central.

That does make interesting viewing and tends to knock back a lot of comments about our crowds. You would have thought that those 15 extra people per game would have paid for a B&B in Europe !!

It's good to see that attendances have held up well, but you've got to bear in mind the fixtures were kinder to us this season.

 

You expect to get near sell-outs against Celtic, Rangers and County. This season we got 4 such games, last season just 3.

 

Also consider that we are comparing a season of mostly 2nd/3rd from top with a season of mostly 2nd/3rd from bottom.

 

Hopefully the big improvement this season will boost season ticket sales.

Did I read somewhere that County include their season ticket holders in the gate numbers, whether they were there or not? Do we do the same? When you consider the distances central belt supporters have to travel to each others grounds to bump up each others numbers,compared with us, it shows that we are not doing as badly as many make out. Probably as well as we could expect really.

Also not County's include Celtic 3 times at home.

Considering the populations of Perth and Inverness both clubs supports are an absolute disgrace

The fact that both stadiums are miles out from the centre of town is not a coincidence either but I think the problems run a lot deeper than just that

I know I'll get my usual slating for this but I find County's support quite remarkable considering they had less of a following than the three Inverness clubs back in the day

Whatever they have done they have recruited excellently and I don't think I would have been the only one to see the amount of cars etc returning to Inverness on Sunday evening with those of a County persuasion

It's certainly worth looking into the County set up to see if we could benefit

Dougal

Feck off Dougal you clueless mun, we are off the back of a merger and there is another well followed team in Inverness

Considering the populations of Perth and Inverness both clubs supports are an absolute disgrace

The fact that both stadiums are miles out from the centre of town is not a coincidence either but I think the problems run a lot deeper than just that

I know I'll get my usual slating for this but I find County's support quite remarkable considering they had less of a following than the three Inverness clubs back in the day

Whatever they have done they have recruited excellently and I don't think I would have been the only one to see the amount of cars etc returning to Inverness on Sunday evening with those of a County persuasion

It's certainly worth looking into the County set up to see if we could benefit

Dougal

It is quite obvious in various sections of the Forum that many posters on here do not visit the away grounds.   Several SPL clubs have only 3 stands open, several  clubs (Celtic, Hearts, Hibs, Killie to name just 4 that I can think of just now) have no parking facilities for away fans, and the number of fans at St Johnstone are a disgrace to Perth which has a much higher population than Inverness.  St Mirren also have a very poor following.  ICT have plenty parking for all fans - the ground is easy to get to, both by car and on foot from bus/train station.   What else does Dougal want? 

Why does this Forum only have "like this" and no "boo" tick box. 

Yeah, the car park at ICT is easy to get into....it's the GETTING OUT!!! lol

I disagree lizi that Perth has a bigger population than Inverness. Certainly, Perth has a huge hinterland due to its location but the cities themselves? I think Inverness slightly bigger. What are we now, 70 000? When are the census 2011 results out? That would settle it!

Inverness actually fairs pretty well when you look at average UK/Scottish club attendances as a percentage of population.

 

To have maintained attendances this season with another SPL club in such close proximity has, IMO, been a huge achievement in itself and I predict our attendances will increase next season....not purely because we've had a good one this year, but because a lot of the "neutral" fans who went OTB for the novelty factor will have realised the grass (quite literally) is not greener on the other side.  I spoke to one couple at the stadium last week who were in doing just that.

 

CJT have seen a lot of new faces...many of them families...attending this season and with the continued/improved deals on tickets for that demographic then I'd hope we see even more of them next season.

Inverness has had a large influx of central-belt/English origin (my family). A lot of these people already support a team (my dad supports Morton and I know a family of Dundee fans). But like me, the younger new generation of Invernessians are growing up with ICT as their home club. And like I said in another thread, this will eventually lead to a new, vibrant support.

I'm not surprised by Ross Countys attendance figures. Like CaleyD said, a lot of it is to do with novelty factor. Also they are called ross county because they gain their support from all over Ross-shire. If you added the populations of Dingwall, Fortrose, Alness, Tain, Maryborough, Beauly etc it would easily come to c.60,000. Not to mention a large number of deluded invernessians, or more specifically 'ex-jaggies' support county

Please let's not contaminate this thread by introducing the myth of ' ex Jaggies' or Caley rebels heading over the Kessock Firth in their hoards to swell the coffers at Ross County.

 

Anyway,there is no such thing as an ex Jaggie. Once a Jaggie always a Jaggie 

Edited May 22, 201312 yr by Kingsmills

 

Considering the populations of Perth and Inverness both clubs supports are an absolute disgrace

The fact that both stadiums are miles out from the centre of town is not a coincidence either but I think the problems run a lot deeper than just that

I know I'll get my usual slating for this but I find County's support quite remarkable considering they had less of a following than the three Inverness clubs back in the day

Whatever they have done they have recruited excellently and I don't think I would have been the only one to see the amount of cars etc returning to Inverness on Sunday evening with those of a County persuasion

It's certainly worth looking into the County set up to see if we could benefit

Dougal

It is quite obvious in various sections of the Forum that many posters on here do not visit the away grounds.   Several SPL clubs have only 3 stands open, several  clubs (Celtic, Hearts, Hibs, Killie to name just 4 that I can think of just now) have no parking facilities for away fans, and the number of fans at St Johnstone are a disgrace to Perth which has a much higher population than Inverness.  St Mirren also have a very poor following.  ICT have plenty parking for all fans - the ground is easy to get to, both by car and on foot from bus/train station.   What else does Dougal want? 

Why does this Forum only have "like this" and no "boo" tick box. 

 

 

Perth may have had a slightly higher population when we were doing Higher Geography a decade or three ago but Inverness has long since overtaken it and the population of the Highland Capital is now about 25% higher than that of the Fair City.

 

That said, the relative success story is Motherwell. The population of the former steel town is a good bit smaller than Inverness, is in decline and yet they get considerably bigger crowds than us despite having the 'lure' of the Old Firm virtually on their doorstep.

I think we have done well to slightly better the previous season considering that Rangers are missing from the league which this season would probably have seen us playing them, twice at home so that would have ben another 4000 on the gate.

 

Hopefully after this seasons performances attendances will continue to improve in what is we must remember difficult economic times

I think we have done well to slightly better the previous season considering that Rangers are missing from the league which this season would probably have seen us playing them, twice at home so that would have ben another 4000 on the gate.

 

Hopefully after this seasons performances attendances will continue to improve in what is we must remember difficult economic times

In terms of "major draw" crowds (ie 6000ish plus), at the TCS there have usually been three per season between Rangers and Celtic. This season that dropped to two from Celtic only, but with two more due to Highland derbies, this makes a total of four. On the other hand many of these have been at times other than 3pm on a Saturday, which tends to cause a fall away. A 6000 crowd compared with, say, the 3500 which it may replace gives 2400 extra which, across 19 home games, ups the average by about 125.

Then there is the additional issue of Ross County joining ICT in the SPL. There are possibly two additional factors here. Firstly, I have heard it said that a number of away fans are choosing one trip to the Highlands and since Ross County in their first season in the league, several are going there to see what Victoria Park is like. Similarly there is, I believe, a floating support about the inner Moray Firth which has historically tended to patronise both grounds. Again with County in the SPL for the first time, the balance of these may well have drifted towards Dingwall this season. To what extent either or both of these factors swing back towards the TCS as County establish themselves as a regular SPL presence remains to be seen.

Anecdotally it also SEEMS that there have been more non-Saturday 3pm KOs this season, which will also depress the numbers, but I haven't checked this out.

I think we are dealing wirh a very complex range of factors here.

Edited May 22, 201312 yr by Charles Bannerman

Charles Bannerman, on 22 May 2013 - 08:56 AM, said:

Biggin, on 22 May 2013 - 08:28 AM, said:

I think we have done well to slightly better the previous season considering that Rangers are missing from the league which this season would probably have seen us playing them, twice at home so that would have ben another 4000 on the gate.

Hopefully after this seasons performances attendances will continue to improve in what is we must remember difficult economic times

In terms of "major draw" crowds (ie 6000ish plus), at the TCS there have usually been three per season between Rangers and Celtic. This season that dropped to two from Celtic only, but with two more due to Highland derbies, this makes a total of four. On the other hand many of these have been at times other than 3pm on a Saturday, which tends to cause a fall away. A 6000 crowd compared with, say, the 3500 which it may replace gives 2400 extra which, across 19 home games, ups the average by about 125.

Then there is the additional issue of Ross County joining ICT in the SPL. There are possibly two additional factors here. Firstly, I have heard it said that a number of away fans are choosing one trip to the Highlands and since Ross County in their first season in the league, several are going there to see what Victoria Park is like. Similarly there is, I believe, a floating support about the inner Moray Firth which has historically tended to patronise both grounds. Again with County in the SPL for the first time, the balance of these may well have drifted towards Dingwall this season. To what extent either or both of these factors swing back towards the TCS as County ATTEMPT to establish themselves as a regular SPL presence remains to be seen.

Anecdotally it also SEEMS that there have been more non-Saturday 3pm KOs this season, which will also depress the numbers, but I haven't checked this out.

I think we are dealing wirh a very complex range of factors here.

Just a wee edit Charlie

 

Considering the populations of Perth and Inverness both clubs supports are an absolute disgrace

The fact that both stadiums are miles out from the centre of town is not a coincidence either but I think the problems run a lot deeper than just that

I know I'll get my usual slating for this but I find County's support quite remarkable considering they had less of a following than the three Inverness clubs back in the day

Whatever they have done they have recruited excellently and I don't think I would have been the only one to see the amount of cars etc returning to Inverness on Sunday evening with those of a County persuasion

It's certainly worth looking into the County set up to see if we could benefit

Dougal

It is quite obvious in various sections of the Forum that many posters on here do not visit the away grounds.   Several SPL clubs have only 3 stands open, several  clubs (Celtic, Hearts, Hibs, Killie to name just 4 that I can think of just now) have no parking facilities for away fans, and the number of fans at St Johnstone are a disgrace to Perth which has a much higher population than Inverness.  St Mirren also have a very poor following.  ICT have plenty parking for all fans - the ground is easy to get to, both by car and on foot from bus/train station.   What else does Dougal want? 

Why does this Forum only have "like this" and no "boo" tick box. 

 

 

 "Perth which  has a much higher population than Inverness "  , really ?

 

 

Considering the populations of Perth and Inverness both clubs supports are an absolute disgrace

The fact that both stadiums are miles out from the centre of town is not a coincidence either but I think the problems run a lot deeper than just that

I know I'll get my usual slating for this but I find County's support quite remarkable considering they had less of a following than the three Inverness clubs back in the day

Whatever they have done they have recruited excellently and I don't think I would have been the only one to see the amount of cars etc returning to Inverness on Sunday evening with those of a County persuasion

It's certainly worth looking into the County set up to see if we could benefit

Dougal

It is quite obvious in various sections of the Forum that many posters on here do not visit the away grounds.   Several SPL clubs have only 3 stands open, several  clubs (Celtic, Hearts, Hibs, Killie to name just 4 that I can think of just now) have no parking facilities for away fans, and the number of fans at St Johnstone are a disgrace to Perth which has a much higher population than Inverness.  St Mirren also have a very poor following.  ICT have plenty parking for all fans - the ground is easy to get to, both by car and on foot from bus/train station.   What else does Dougal want? 

Why does this Forum only have "like this" and no "boo" tick box. 

 

 

 "Perth which  has a much higher population than Inverness "  , really ?

 

 

Perth approx. 45000 inverness approx 59000

Please let's not contaminate this thread by introducing the myth of ' ex Jaggies' or Caley rebels heading over the Kessock Firth in their hoards to swell the coffers at Ross County.

Anyway,there is no such thing as an ex Jaggie. Once a Jaggie always a Jaggie

All due respect Kingsmills, I know of atleast 10 people who were ex-Thistle fans who now follow C*unty, and there's plenty more who I don't know. One of them told me that "the idea of the merger wasn't a problem, it was the fact the new team would play in blue". So instead he went to County who play in NAVY BLUE! TIT!!

 

Please let's not contaminate this thread by introducing the myth of ' ex Jaggies' or Caley rebels heading over the Kessock Firth in their hoards to swell the coffers at Ross County.

Anyway,there is no such thing as an ex Jaggie. Once a Jaggie always a Jaggie

All due respect Kingsmills, I know of atleast 10 people who were ex-Thistle fans who now follow C*unty, and there's plenty more who I don't know. One of them told me that "the idea of the merger wasn't a problem, it was the fact the new team would play in blue". So instead he went to County who play in NAVY BLUE! TIT!!

 

 

I also know at least 40 ex jaggies who would never set foot in TCS and a lot more ex Howden Enders who think the same , contrary to what bannerman would have you believe .

I once caught a 60lb salmon in the River Ness.

I once caught a 60lb salmon in the River Ness.

 

Tiddler .

I once caught a 60lb salmon in the River Ness.

 

Slightly smaller than the one I caught and decided to use as bait for my real quarry. The large crowd of Jags and Caley refuseniks standing behind me on the river bank were nothing short of amazed.

To quell a couple of myths above. The population of Perth is, as RiG says, around 45,000. The population of the county that is Perth and Kinross is around 150,000. Many of the population are Dundonians who support that city's teams just as many living in Inverness are from across the bridge.

McDairmid Park may seem to some to be far out of the town but it is in actual fact slap bang in the middle of some of the most densely populated areas of the city. It has a carpark that is just as difficult to get out of as TCS. If plans for a new link road come to fruition it will lose one of its stands. Only two are ever open for most games. The third if Dundee teams come to visit and the fourth if its OF.

I know a very personable Howden Ender who continues to cherish his past but doesn't mind socialising with Jeggies and would never ever follow Ross County or Elgin City because they were the old enemies.