Average attendance

[dougal]

Kingsmills you should be used to watching your football in front of paltry crowds as you've done that all your life

I don't want to contribute to another merger thread either but it's time the likes of yourself start to wake up and smell the roses

Dougal

[Alex MacLeod]

  On 5/18/2014 at 8:40 AM, Kingsmills said:

Losely related to attendances so will post on this thread. I noticed that St Johnstone who have lower home attendances than us from a community smaller than Inverness took twice as many fans to their final as we did to ours. If we had taken a similar proportion of our population we would have had in excess of 20,000 instead of the 7,000 we did take.

 

I realise that part of the reason is that the Scottish Cup is a more prestigious competition and the 3pm Saturday kick off helped as well but similar sized towns and cities such as Perth, Paisley, Motherwell and Kilmarnock tend to galvanise about a third of their population to attend finals both of the League Cup and the the Scottish whereas we took about a tenth of the population of the greater Inverness area. It can't be due to geography as County who are based even further from Glasgow than we are took the highest ratio of all.

 

Why is it that, despite great efforts by the club,we are still failing to engage and enthuse the wider Inverness community even for important well publicised one off occasions and, what if anything can we do to address the problem ? Before certain posters turn this into yet another merger thread I am talking about the community as a whole and not the few dozen continuing refuseniks.

I don't think you can compare. How many would St Johnstone take to a League cup final? How many would we take to a Scottish cup final? The Scottish cup is a far more prestigious event. Many fans of other teams will attend, especially when it doesn't involve either of the Glasgow twins. This was also St Johnstone's first ever final so many glory hunters came out of the woodwork to see history being made.

[MuirtownJaggy]

Inverness as a large town/ city is a victim of its own succes in terms of attendances at football. There is so much to do, in and around the area that

People tend to spend thier time pursuing outdoor activities, a wide range of sports and other interests. Places like Kilmarnock, Paisley etc are not that lucky. The match day experience at ICT( football asides) would have to grately improve to compete with such an abundance of alternative weekend activities.

[12th Man]

Other clubs can do what they want. If we were in a Scottish cup final and only had to travel to Elgin I would expect a good turnout.

 

To Strengthen and build.

Firstly Top marks for building up the youth interest.

 

Look after and appreciate your core customer base.

 

Find Fresh ways to capture new support, work out where to find them, how to lure them in, how to provide them with a new experience, an enjoyable experience.

Were there any negative aspects of their experience

Would they come back.

 

1, Did they get served quick enough in the bar,

2, How did they find out if they won a 50/50 draw, did the announcer make it exciting, does it sometimes appear on a random wall on an A4 bit of paper.

3i, Did they look bored when they queued for a pie,

3ii,Did the area look like a dumping ground,

3iii,Did it look grubby,

3iv,Should there be anything of interest on the walls,

3,v,Should it be a place of inspiration  to refuel and motivate.

8,  Did they lose the will to live waiting to leave the car park.

 

Certainly bring the new faces in but their experience has to be a positive one. 

Certainly enjoy the football but endure the rest until it becomes habit then you dont notice it.

Edited May 18, 2014 by 12th Man

[+HawkeyeTheGnu]

  On 5/18/2014 at 8:46 AM, dougal said:

Kingsmills you should be used to watching your football in front of paltry crowds as you've done that all your life

I don't want to contribute to another merger thread either but it's time the likes of yourself start to wake up and smell the roses

Dougal

And this contributes to the debate in what way?

[12th Man]

  On 5/18/2014 at 11:12 AM, 12th Man said:

Other clubs can do what they want. If we were in a Scottish cup final and only had to travel to Elgin I would expect a good turnout.

 

To Strengthen and build.

Firstly Top marks for building up the youth interest.

 

Look after and appreciate your core customer base.

 

Find Fresh ways to capture new support, work out where to find them, how to lure them in, how to provide them with a new experience, an enjoyable experience.

Were there any negative aspects of their experience

Would they come back.

 

1, Did they get served quick enough in the bar,

2, How did they find out if they won a 50/50 draw, did the announcer make it exciting, does it sometimes appear on a random wall on an A4 bit of paper.

3i, Did they look bored when they queued for a pie,

3ii,Did the area look like a dumping ground,

3iii,Did it look grubby,

3iv,Should there be anything of interest on the walls,

3,v,Should it be a place of inspiration  to refuel and motivate.

8,  Did they lose the will to live waiting to leave the car park.

 

Certainly bring the new faces in but their experience has to be a positive one. 

Certainly enjoy the football but endure the rest until it becomes habit then you dont notice it.

 

 

 

1, I mentioned it before 6 volunteers only need to help out 3 times each throughout the whole season for 10 mins before closing time to keep the queues moving.

2, A lot of other venues call out the numbers one at a time, perhaps we could have a 50/50 board  where the numbers are placed in the concourse area and send a text message to servery staff 5 mins before HT and they could put it up.

3 I have an idea for this but should speak to the club.

8, The car park has alway been a sticking point.

Firstly and Ive seen this before, seperate the traffic as it comes in to form 2 lanes with cones, it keep the roads clearer and money is collected in each lane, Steward assisting traffic on 1st day, as approaching from bridge will try and take left lane,

Everyone is given a new mini layout of the car park.including stewards, the immediate carpark area is coned off forcing you to drive towards the A9 end of the car park to then come back and queue facing the sea.

The map indicates parking direction, the entry point becomes the new exit point  FOR LEFT TURN ONLY and traffic forms rows, 1st in are nearest to the gate and the rest form rows to the right,

If you are heading to the A9 you queue facing the sea nearest the gate that is currently used for exit only this is FOR RIGHT TURN ONLY but you will have to wait for all pedrestians to pass, 5-10 mins, the parked cars  form rows which slowly come closer to each other so if the percentages vary so it doesnt matter, 1st in really will be 1st out  and with 2 exits going different directions  the cars move faster making parking at the stadium more attractive.

Cars not wishing to leave immediately ie hospitality, bar, club shop, removing flags from seats,  park in an area nearest to the North stand this sould keep all traffic flowing and increase revenue for the car park if people can get home quicker.

 

The sticking point is the lack of time and manpower that the club actually has to enforce new ideas. I think you would be surprised how much volunteers actually do for the club.

 

For instance would you have the spare time to be involved in an ICT volunteer day for just one day over the summer.

[Caleyjag157]

Maybe ICT should have an open day for volunteers or put on their website exactly how volunteers could help out with the club. It is something I would certainly be interested in.

[fursoboysh]

  On 5/17/2014 at 10:32 AM, old caley girl said:

I've taken her to a lot of football/rugby games, in her opinion there was not much difference between watching my brothers amature team playing and watching Caley...his games cost £1.50 so the ref can get paid, and i have to agree other than the stadium there is not much difference, they should be worlds apart.

I'm not trying to offend I am just putting forward a viewpoint that maybe those who care purely about the football may overlook

I'm not having a go I am interested in what you both think. Is it the product on the park then? Is it the food? Can you be more specific?

I think with her not being a football lover there would have to be other things there for her, you could say that maybe people that aren't that into football shouldn't really be catered for but if there is a constant complaint of lack of support and lack of money then they should look into how to make it more enjoyable for people like her...I am pretty sure she wouldnt come back with me and maybe she is not the only one, that is potential money and support the club isn't getting. I am not sure how you could do that but surely surveying peoples opinions would give a lot of insight into ways it could be done and I think a lot of the solutions could be very low cost, maybe just a bit of out of the box thinking needed!

More positively I brought my brothers to a couple of other games and they really enjoyed it, I think it shows that it's not the quality on the pitch that's the problem but the overall experience.

[Renegade]

The standard doesn't have to be fantastic for people to have a good time.  I have heard though of old people who won't go at certain times, particularly in the winter because simply, it's far too cold.  The stadium is in the wrong position for comfort reason, no question about it.  It also doesn't help it's so open a stadium.  Granted the North Stand is a wee bit more sheltered, but the Main Stand seems to constantly be under attack from the elements.  This might sound outlandish, but are outdoor heaters an option?  Seemingly one club (I think it was PSV Eindhoven), managed to do something like this.  Is there anything that they do in the Scandinavian countries to combat the weather that we could do?

 

On the subject of match experience, I have heard that some of the ice hockey teams in Britain are great at this type of thing, particularly the Braehead Clan.  I've never been myself, but if anyone has, is there anything we could steal from them?  What about bringing some of the Braehead Clan management up to give us some opinions on potential new endeavours and things that could be improved?

[Sneckboy]

I think the Scandinavian countries run their leagues between March and November, eliminating the traditional winter months.

 

But, I wouldn't like for the Scottish leagues to convert to 'summer football'. I like the traditional way with floodlit games in the dark nights and also the packed festive program, often with derby games - although I hate the biting wind as much as anyone!

[Tichy_Blacks_Back]

A very good crowd of 8,288 at Dunfermline's play-off game yesterday - Cowdenbeath though stay in the Championship.

[Big G]

Does anyone know which bars still run buses to home games. I recall Gellions, Heathmount, Phoenix, Dows, Fairways and somewhere in Culloden as well as the Caley Club. There was a free bus from the bus station as well. Do all or any still run (I know the Caley Club does)?

[12th Man]

There is a bus running from the club in grieg st and the bus station, the rest seems to be a secret.

Perhaps someone could enlighten us.

 

I was in touch with the Geillions a few seasons back and they didnt  BUT it was a case of if the interest is there they could look into it again, I think it was the Smithton that ran a bus but that was a few seasons back too.

 

I think its a case of contacting your local and enquiring,  they arent a charity and will only do it if the numbers are there,  the only way the numbers will be there is if  people actually contact them and say they will use it.

Edited May 19, 2014 by 12th Man

[ICTPaisley]

  On 5/18/2014 at 10:03 PM, Renegade said:

The standard doesn't have to be fantastic for people to have a good time. I have heard though of old people who won't go at certain times, particularly in the winter because simply, it's far too cold. The stadium is in the wrong position for comfort reason, no question about it. It also doesn't help it's so open a stadium. Granted the North Stand is a wee bit more sheltered, but the Main Stand seems to constantly be under attack from the elements. This might sound outlandish, but are outdoor heaters an option? Seemingly one club (I think it was PSV Eindhoven), managed to do something like this. Is there anything that they do in the Scandinavian countries to combat the weather that we could do?

On the subject of match experience, I have heard that some of the ice hockey teams in Britain are great at this type of thing, particularly the Braehead Clan. I've never been myself, but if anyone has, is there anything we could steal from them? What about bringing some of the Braehead Clan management up to give us some opinions on potential new endeavours and things that could be improved?

I've watched the Braehead clan a few times on a Saturday night. Not an ice hockey fan at all but do enjoy sports. What draws me in is a competitive live match in the warmth with beer! Price isn't too bad either, usually Around £16.

[FoolPhysio]

  On 5/18/2014 at 8:40 AM, Kingsmills said:

Losely related to attendances so will post on this thread. I noticed that St Johnstone who have lower home attendances than us from a community smaller than Inverness took twice as many fans to their final as we did to ours. If we had taken a similar proportion of our population we would have had in excess of 20,000 instead of the 7,000 we did take.

 

I realise that part of the reason is that the Scottish Cup is a more prestigious competition and the 3pm Saturday kick off helped as well but similar sized towns and cities such as Perth, Paisley, Motherwell and Kilmarnock tend to galvanise about a third of their population to attend finals both of the League Cup and the the Scottish whereas we took about a tenth of the population of the greater Inverness area. It can't be due to geography as County who are based even further from Glasgow than we are took the highest ratio of all.

 

Why is it that, despite great efforts by the club,we are still failing to engage and enthuse the wider Inverness community even for important well publicised one off occasions and, what if anything can we do to address the problem ? Before certain posters turn this into yet another merger thread I am talking about the community as a whole and not the few dozen continuing refuseniks.

 

You have forgotten to mention that when we played, so was virtually everyone else whereas for the Scottish Cup, the only alternative fixture was the FA Cup. 

[Sneckboy]

  On 5/19/2014 at 3:58 AM, Tichy_Blacks_Back said:

A very good crowd of 8,288 at Dunfermline's play-off game yesterday - Cowdenbeath though stay in the Championship.

That's a great crowd for what is effectively a third-tier club - although obviously it was a huge game for the Pars coupled with it being a derby game.

 

Massive blow for Dunfermline to miss out on what's going to be a really competitive Championship next season. I've got to be honest, Dunfermline are a bigger and higher profile club than Cowdenbeath.

 

But a huge result for Cowden, who'll 'benefit' from 4 games against the Rangers. Not sure if they'll have ever played at Ibrox in the league before. They've got a few blue-nose connections with their manager (Jimmy Nicholl) and chairman, Donald Findlay QC.

[Yngwie]

Massive result for the Blue Brazil.  I think I heard Findlay saying last week that their wage budget is £100,000 and if they lost they'd have to half it, but if they won they'd finally be able to spend a few quid on the ground, which he described as "a bit of a dump".  Think they mentioned astroturf too, but I'm not sure if that was immediate or a long term plan.

 

Awful for the Pars, though, who remain Fife's 3rd best team. That's like ICT being the Highlands' 3rd best team.

[Sneckboy]

Just looked to see if Cowden have ever been in the same division as Rangers - and indeed they have! But only in black-and-white! They regularly played each other in the 1930's and earlier but aside from that they did meet in 1970/71. There have been no competitive matches since the 1991 Scottish cup.

Technically, this is all academic, as the reality is that the clubs have never met, due obviously to The Rangers being formed only recently!

[Zoid]

I think alcohol, or more importantly a lack of it, during the game is a factor to low attendances at not only Tulloch Stadium but stadia around the country.

 

In Englandshire I can consume a beer or two before kick-off and again at half-time.

 

Even better is rugby, I am allowed to consume several beers before, during & after a Saracens games.  

 

Seeing as I don’t quite understand the rules of rugby it does help make the experience much more enjoyable!

[Renegade]

Talking of buses, I'm sure there's one that runs from Hilton way.  Might be from Dows or somewhere like that.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Does still runs buses but the Fairways doesnt

[12th Man]

  On 5/19/2014 at 4:11 PM, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Dows still runs buses but the Fairways doesnt

 

Thought that I should make a correction for the elderly.

[mainstander]

  On 5/18/2014 at 8:40 AM, Kingsmills said:

I noticed that St Johnstone who have lower home attendances than us

Not any more they dont.

 

2013/14

 

10 - St Johnstone 3806

11 - Ross County 3787

12 - ICT 3558

[+old caley girl]

  On 5/19/2014 at 5:57 PM, mainstander said:

I noticed that St Johnstone who have lower home attendances than us

Not any more they dont.

 

2013/14

 

10 - St Johnstone 3806

11 - Ross County 3787

12 - ICT 3558

Suspect St J only higher as the attract more away fans due to geography?

[Alex MacLeod]

They also had more home games against Celtic and Aberdeen to boost the average.