Today's Attendance

[tm4tj]

Check out an empty Ibrox on thr telly just now.

Mind you, I'm sure there would have been 25,000 at Paisley yesterday.

[Alex MacLeod]

I'm beginning to think this cup just doesn't have the appeal of the majority of football fans any more. All attendances yesterday were way down on normal.

Aberdeen - 6785

Hibs - 8198

St Mirren - 3334

Motherwell - 5139

And looking at Ibrox just now I dont think that stadium is near half full.

[old caley girl]

I'm beginning to think this cup just doesn't have the appeal of the majority of football fans any more. All attendances yesterday were way down on normal.

Aberdeen - 6785

Hibs - 8198

St Mirren - 3334

Motherwell - 5139

And looking at Ibrox just now I dont think that stadium is near half full.

There just not the money about. Its too expensive and thats the bottom line!

[tm4tj]

17,822 at Ibrox.............ouch, that's gotta hurt.

[Alex MacLeod]

Aye and theres a lot of empty seats up Gorgie way

[GMD11UK]

Too expensive, rubbish weather..................and it was on telly.

£10 Adult £5 Concession for cup games

Free For Season Ticket Holders

we'd have had a full house if we did that, gettin more folk to games has always been a problem for ICT.

[SMEE]

It must be getting near the time when some teams are going to have to go part time due to lack of income?

All things aside, I think we would see more fight from a bunch of part timers than we saw from ICT yesterday.

As for lack of atmosphere, NOTHING your going to do is going to change the reserved and apathetic nature of the people in the highlands. thats a FACT!

[dougal]

What really pissed me off yesterday was the idiots singing rule brittania and other rangers songs , thought there was going to be trouble when someone told them to shut up and sing ICT songs only for the fools to wind the guy up with "we're british and will sing it if we want" ! Cringeworthy .

These morons are a total embarrassment not only to the club but more so to themselves and shows up society in a very poor light

Regardless what you think of the Septics, lowering yourselves to their level is pathetic and something we all could do without in the highlands

If you feel the need to sing this tripe get yer names on the buses that leave the Portland every Saturday

Dougal

[Muzzy]

I very rarely get to any games nowadays with work but it is also so expensive to go along to matches now and if the game is on TV and the weather is crap most people would rather save themselves a fortune and just sit at home and watch it. Unfortunately going to the football is now a luxury not as many people can afford.

It's not just the price of tickets that is the problem but the whole package, travelling, tickets, food etc

[Fanoffooty]

It must be getting near the time when some teams are going to have to go part time due to lack of income?

All things aside, I think we would see more fight from a bunch of part timers than we saw from ICT yesterday.

As for lack of atmosphere, NOTHING your going to do is going to change the reserved and apathetic nature of the people in the highlands. thats a FACT!

Yes you're probably right & ive heard it said before Inverness folk are renowned for being very reserved

[WYNESS101]

and again we are back to the atmosphere topic. im sick of hearing it.

if you arnt happy with the atmosphere get up get behind the team and help the singing section out a bit.

Where's the singing section ?

Back of section E in the North Stand, it used to be in the back of section G but was moved.

Yet theres still no noise coming from the new section

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

It must be getting near the time when some teams are going to have to go part time due to lack of income?

All things aside, I think we would see more fight from a bunch of part timers than we saw from ICT yesterday.

As for lack of atmosphere, NOTHING your going to do is going to change the reserved and apathetic nature of the people in the highlands. thats a FACT!

Yes you're probably right & ive heard it said before Inverness folk are renowned for being very reserved

I know exactly what you mean - peeple down here in Chorley are always commenting how reserved I am.

[bishbashbosh]

bought my 4 season tickets again this year. once they are paid for you feel as if you are getting in for free at games.

didnt go to cellic game, OF are not the draw they once were. a few years ago i would have been first in q for tickets but we see them so often now cost comes into it for me.

would pass out if i had to hand over 2x20 and 2x15 if that is the cost for adults and concessions. £70 to watch a game of football.

used to pay that a few seasons ago to watch guys larson,sutton etc. would not pay it to watch the worst scottish football ever.

we need a reality check. drop the price down to £10 for adults £5 for under 18 and kids under 12 free. let scottish football play young scottish boys if these admission prices dont allow OF to buy top rate johnny foreigners.

dundee united tried to buy imrie last month for £25 grand but had to pull out of deal. ten years ago ross county paid £50 grand for derek holmes. even highland league clubs were buying players for more than £25 grand.

ps mentioning dundee united --- watched them today. ohhhhhh terry butcher you missed a gem not giving mackay- steven a chance at inverness. a johnny hayes with more ability

[Alex MacLeod]

It must be getting near the time when some teams are going to have to go part time due to lack of income?

All things aside, I think we would see more fight from a bunch of part timers than we saw from ICT yesterday.

As for lack of atmosphere, NOTHING your going to do is going to change the reserved and apathetic nature of the people in the highlands. thats a FACT!

Yes you're probably right & ive heard it said before Inverness folk are renowned for being very reserved

Which is why the place has the reputation of being the swinging capital of Britian

[DALNEIGHCALEY]

It must be getting near the time when some teams are going to have to go part time due to lack of income?

All things aside, I think we would see more fight from a bunch of part timers than we saw from ICT yesterday.

As for lack of atmosphere, NOTHING your going to do is going to change the reserved and apathetic nature of the people in the highlands. thats a FACT!

Yes you're probably right & ive heard it said before Inverness folk are renowned for being very reserved

Sorry but cant agree with that . The vast majority of the away end were Highlanders and were far from reserved .

[lukemackay]

and again we are back to the atmosphere topic. im sick of hearing it.

if you arnt happy with the atmosphere get up get behind the team and help the singing section out a bit.

Where's the singing section ?

Back of section E in the North Stand, it used to be in the back of section G but was moved.

Yet theres still no noise coming from the new section

whats the point if we try we get harrassed by stewards.

you sing at a football game and you are the enemy to half the world it seems

[lukemackay]

It must be getting near the time when some teams are going to have to go part time due to lack of income?

All things aside, I think we would see more fight from a bunch of part timers than we saw from ICT yesterday.

As for lack of atmosphere, NOTHING your going to do is going to change the reserved and apathetic nature of the people in the highlands. thats a FACT!

Yes you're probably right & ive heard it said before Inverness folk are renowned for being very reserved

Sorry but cant agree with that . The vast majority of the away end were Highlanders and were far from reserved .

i do agree with it just not all of us are reserved. personally i think of reserved as another word for embaressed or caring what others think.

[+Fraz]

and again we are back to the atmosphere topic. im sick of hearing it.

if you arnt happy with the atmosphere get up get behind the team and help the singing section out a bit.

Where's the singing section ?

Back of section E in the North Stand, it used to be in the back of section G but was moved.

Yet theres still no noise coming from the new section

whats the point if we try we get harrassed by stewards.

you sing at a football game and you are the enemy to half the world it seems

I'm in section F, so I'm not part of any designated 'singing section' but the lads did seem to be more vocal when they were back in Section G as opposed to now for some reason. Not a criticism just an observation.

Luke as I've mentioned before from what I've observed this season in the North stand the stewards seem to be taking a lenient approach, I can't recall seeing them telling anyone to sit down and certainly not to stop singing! Happy to be corrected if in fact the stewards have ben mis-treating the vocal support this season.

[teaandpies]

I thought the attendance was shocking for an old firm game.

I put the blame on the club. Everything they do does not take into consideration the fans. Whether its the state of the car park, the rubbish 'pub', the lack of incentives to attract new fans, the food, the club shop, the announcer, hospitality... i could go on.

2nd rate - its like amatuers are running our club. County put us to shame with most of the things i have mentioned.

[+DoofersDad]

There's a lot of discussion on different threads around much the same theme and it is really summarised by discussion about how to get more people into the grounds. Yesterday's crowd was a bit disappointing although it was not surprising given the fact that it was televised. What I think is of far more significance is that only 17,822 turned up at Ibrox today. OK so this was being televised as well but more ICT fans went to the game yesterday than for a normal league match whilst substantially less than half those who support Rangers in the league turned up today - this on a day when Rangers desparately needed the support of their fans.

Whilst this (and the result!) certainly illustrate the level of problems Rangers are now facing, it also illustrates a more general problem in the game which the fans are the victims of and can do little about. It is, of course all about money. The reason why the the gate at Ibrox was so low today is that most who watch them week in and week out are season ticket holders and many of them will have felt that they simply couldn't afford to pay extra to watch a cup game. In other words the financing of the game is driving the fans away. It has long stopped being the people's game and is now the preserve of the middle classes.

There is a lot of money in the game but it doesn't get to where it is needed. The top players get far too much money as a result of an unholy alliance with the agents, football authorities, TV companies, sponsors and the clubs which pander to short term finances rather than the long term interests of the game. The agents want the players to be paid as much as possible so that their percentage is as big as possible. The TV companies want to maximise their income from subscribers and advertisers and therefore have to show matches and players that the TV audience wants to watch. In the hope that they can get a decent share of TV revenues, clubs have to invest in the best players they can afford if they are to offer a product the TV companies will buy; this means they have to get as much revenue as they can through the turnstiles. The sponsors and advertisers want a return on their money so will pay the big money when they are guaranteed big audiences, And the authorities go along with this because they want their leagues to attract the best players and the TV money.

This means that whilst a lot of money comes into the game, it is not shared in a way which benefits the long term interests of the game. Instead it goes disproportionately to the best players rather than to the clubs further down the pecking order who are nurturing the stars of the future. It even gets to the ludicrous position where some of the top clubs have far more players than they really need but they hang on to them, paying them fabulous wages for not playing on the basis that it is worth paying them not to play rather than having them playing for another team and making it more difficult to maintain a position amongst the elite who get the lions share of the TV and sponsorship money. This means that there are less quality players around for the teams in the lower reaches of the game with the net result that the customer coming through the turnstiles pays more to watch a poorer product whilst there is more top quality product available to watch on TV. The suprising thing is not that attendances have dropped, it is that they have not dropped by more.

As long as market forces dictate, we will increasingly have a situation where a bigger and bigger share of the income from the game is shared out by the top players. What we need is international collaboration to cap the wages merry-go-round so that more money is fed back to the grass roots of the game so that smaller clubs can keep the better players and so that admission charges can be reduced to bring the fans back to watch them. Sadly, that just ain't going to happen and the downward spiral of football below the top echelons will continue.

[Charles Bannerman]

£10 Adult £5 Concession for cup games

Free For Season Ticket Holders

we'd have had a full house if we did that, gettin more folk to games has always been a problem for ICT.

You seem to have forgotten to include along with your suggestion advice for the people who have to try to balance the club books as to how they could make good the resulting loss of revenue - probably amounting, even with a full house, to tens of thousands of pounds.

Or would you simply for instance be happy enough perhaps not to have signed one or two of the players who came in during the window?

Edited February 5, 2012 by Charles Bannerman

[bauhaus]

Its not just our problem ICT and in Scotland, they were saying the same thing last week with the Englandshire FA cup. Its a wearing down thing caused by the recession, banks and credit card companies being tighter with their money etc etc. 17000 at Ibrox, and over 1000 of that Arabs, thats a third of Gers showing loyalty to Craig Whyte, but Celtics league attendances have been 10-15000 down per game. English Premiership until the last two seasons were sell outs for EVERY game, not now, commentators even mentioned the empty seats at Arsenals 7-1 game. £ 20 to listen to Tic fans celebrate their rivals impending bankrupcy whilst freezing yer plums off whilst trying not to implode at the announcers impression of the Very Rev I M Jolly

[bishbashbosh]

£10 Adult £5 Concession for cup games

Free For Season Ticket Holders

we'd have had a full house if we did that, gettin more folk to games has always been a problem for ICT.

You seem to have forgotten to include along with your suggestion advice for the people who have to try to balance the club books as to how they could make good the resulting loss of revenue - probably amounting, even with a full house, to tens of thousands of pounds.

Or would you simply for instance be happy enough perhaps not to have signed one or two of the players who came in during the window?

are you speaking as someone who buys a season ticket, pays every week at the gate or as a journalist who walks in for free ??

[lizi]

Re Luke and Fraz's comments above, I sit in Section G and really miss the singing section, which was moved, supposedly, to have any bad language further away from the family section. From my seat, 4 rows from the back, right amongst the then singing section, I only ever heard the occasional bad word and the user was usually told off by his companions, it wasnt left to wifies to say anything. No sweet rustlers, us! The banter was good and we all had many laughs. Anyway, what school child doesnt hear swear words - they hear them in the school playground nowadays.

Well, on Saturday, there was more bad language from a regular ICT "supporter" in section G than ever came from the singing section. He was told repeatedly to curb his language and eventually did so slightly - this guy only ever criticises, never praises and is a real pain. Funny comments for the first 15 minutes, then boring boring boring - Proctor being his main whipping boy, then the ref. This man is such a pain that, when there are empty seats in the North Stand, other fans move to get away from him - this couldnt be done on Saturday, and it must have spoiled the game for the four youngsters sitting in the same row as him, just a couple of seats away.

[old caley girl]

Lizi he used to sit behind us at the back of section e so must have moved when the boys moved over. He is a total pain.