Part Time ICT Fans.

[FortressICT]

Our average home attendence this season must be around the 3400 mark, but when Celtic or Rangers come to town, an extra 3000 fans manage to come out of the woodwork.

Can anyone explain why these fans only want to go and see Celtic and Rangers and not come on a regular basis. Very sad indeed, they should be ashamed of themselves.

I know people will say away fans in the away end for these games make up the numbers also but....

Away end full - 1000fans is it?

Home stands full - 6000+?

Average home attendence this year around 3300 surely?

So where are these 2700+ fans coming from?

[KingBeastie]

It's the same for every other SPL team.

[FortressICT]

I know. But why?

Are there any of those "fans" on this forum? Stand up and be counted if you are.

[CaleyD]

You'll find 101 reasons for this.

You will get a lot of "neutrals" who just want to go and see a "big" game, you will get people with restricted finances who maybe only make 2 or 3 games a season and choose the "bigger" games. You will get an element of who are more inclined towards one of the big two and fancy coming along to watch etc.

I don't hold with slating these people or calling them part-time supporters...would you rather we only got a gate of 3500 for these games too and they stayed away? What should be happening is that they should be made welcome and steps should be made to encourage them back again for the less attractive fixtures.

It's also not as big a swing in home crowd as your figures suggest.

Your St Mirrens, Falkirks etc will bring a couple of hundred fans to a stand that can hold more than 10 times that. So when Rangers and Celtic fill it you immediately have an increase of 2000+ people on the attendance.

This leaves only 1000-1500 seats being taken up by home fans who don't attend regularly, neutrals and those who are OF fans who couldn't get a ticket for their own end.

[Ronaldo]

You've pretty much summed it up well here Mr. D. However, I remain convinced, as do many others, that we have the potential for a greater home fan base and personally hold the club responsible for not being more imaginative with their ideas in geting more bums on seats, specifically advertising, etc.

If you think back to when Thistle/caley matches used to get 3000 when there was about half the number of people lived around here it's quite perplexing?

[RiG]

Away end full - 1000fans is it?

~ 2,000 at least.

Just a chance for a lot of Inverness folk (and beyond) to see their big team. Nothing new sadly. It was the same when we won the title and the ground was stuffed for the game v Saint Johnstone. If a game has "glamour" more folk will turn up.

[FortressICT]

We should be at an advantage in getting a better home crowd than Falkirk and other central belt SPL clubs, as we are the only SPL team in the north, Fort William upwards you could say, there must be at least 30,000 males at least interested in football in Inverness and closer surroundings alone. The club should be doing more to attract those sort of potential fans. It is a fact we should be using to make a profit and better fan base.

We should be using these sort of games to keep these "fans" at other games like someone has already said.

[CaleyD]

You've pretty much summed it up well here Mr. D. However, I remain convinced, as do many others, that we have the potential for a greater home fan base and personally hold the club responsible for not being more imaginative with their ideas in geting more bums on seats, specifically advertising, etc.

If you think back to when Thistle/caley matches used to get 3000 when there was about half the number of people lived around here it's quite perplexing?

There's always more that can be done, and things should be under constant review....hopefully as things start to pick up again in terms of communication between club and fans then ideas will be better shared etc.

[SMEE]

there must be at least 30,000 males at least interested in football in Inverness and closer surroundings alone.

SEXIST!! Politically incorrect and devisive. Warning for roscoe

[FortressICT]

How is it? I never said anything about females did i? If I had said, women can't like football or something like that then maybe. Just cause you know your wrong that Darren Fletcher is a quality player!

[SMEE]

Seriously tho....Caley used to get bigger crowds than ICT back in the 50s-60s, when the population was probably 1/4 of what it is now. So I dont see why it would be unreasonable to expect 6-7000 at home games for ICT

[MrsICTFC]

I don't understand the whole concept that you have to attend a game to be a fan???

I can't go to games, I work every sat and sunday, week nights also. I will go along to the occassional game, yes it is when rangers or celtic are at home. Why, because I enjoy those games more. Didn't realise it was a crime!

[EWS]

Our average home attendence this season must be around the 3400 mark, but when Celtic or Rangers come to town, an extra 3000 fans manage to come out of the woodwork.

Can anyone explain why these fans only want to go and see Celtic and Rangers and not come on a regular basis. Very sad indeed, they should be ashamed of themselves.

I know people will say away fans in the away end for these games make up the numbers also but....

Away end full - 1000fans is it?

Home stands full - 6000+?

Average home attendence this year around 3300 surely?

So where are these 2700+ fans coming from?

During my student days, living in Glasgow I had to pick and choose my games carefully as money wasn't really that free, infact I did manage to attend a fair few of away matches which certainly hurt the food budge for that week at least. When I decide to go to a match, I try to mix value for money with entertainment, and Rangers and Celtic matches (especially at home) are some of the more desirable games to go to.

Now that I work in the offshore industry, I can't attend as many games as I like to and in the current climate money again becomes a problem.

As for your question. These extra fans are either rangers or celtic fans, or people who want to see Rangers or Celtic play as they are meant to have the best players. They aren't 'part-time' fans at alll.

[stevico1]

Seriously tho....Caley used to get bigger crowds than ICT back in the 50s-60s, when the population was probably 1/4 of what it is now. So I dont see why it would be unreasonable to expect 6-7000 at home games for ICT

I think this is done to a lot more alternatives to football now than there was in that era, added to the fact that back then the vast majority of the crowd would have been men out of a pint and the football, whereas now men are more involved in doing family things at the weekend

Edited October 8, 2008 by stevico1

[caley100]

Seriously tho....Caley used to get bigger crowds than ICT back in the 50s-60s, when the population was probably 1/4 of what it is now. So I dont see why it would be unreasonable to expect 6-7000 at home games for ICT

Ya cant compare crowds than and now, 100K people used turn up to see Dunfermline vs Celtic, but in those days there was **** all else to do.

Just work out how many things there are for familes to do nowadays, beside shopping that is.

[Alex MacLeod]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I thought there were 2500 seats in the goal stands. as the south stand is allocated away we are always going to be at least 2000 short of capacity for most of the season. So 5000 home fans is about what we should have. Take out those who cant make games for holiday, work, or whatever reason and we're maybe left with around 4000. There is, and always has been, a shortfall of around 1000 home supporters. Comparrisons shouldn't be made with old Caley / Thistle days. Football support has been in the decline for many years now. Partly cost, partly quality but, I believe, mostly the fun of going isn't there any more.

[martinskye]

Rosscoe, many of the fans on the home end are in fact OF supporters.

The home end is 5000+ and away end 2500+

[Guest couchpotato]

I reckon ICT will just have to accept for at least a generation or two, a good proportion of "home" supporters are in fact Bi-fanuals (or whatever the word is for someone who supports 2 clubs) and a good proportion are OF from their younger days pre league football in Sneck

[Mee]

If I went to games still, the OF games would be my least favourite choice, where's the joy in sitting next to some OF supporter that can barely contain themselves if they score or watch a heap of overpaid prima donnas tripping over daisies and trying to get Blackie (/Juanjo etc) booked!

I'd much rather watch us play Hibs or Killie, at least there's the chance to watch a potentially decent game!

[AJS]

Alot of the bums on home seats are away fans who have snuck in because they can't get a ticket for the away end for Celtic or Rangers.

[FortressICT]

Ok, so our 3-1 win over Celtic at Parkhead.

2-1 win V Rangers when Rankin scored the winner.

And coming from 2 down V Celtic last season...

Can't think of any better games in our history to be honest. But Killie and Hibs are always classics.

[ictchris]

Seriously tho....Caley used to get bigger crowds than ICT back in the 50s-60s, when the population was probably 1/4 of what it is now. So I dont see why it would be unreasonable to expect 6-7000 at home games for ICT

Caley had average crowds of 3000+ in the 1950s and 60s? I'd doubt that, if only because I doubt that there is reliable verficiation for crowd figures. Back in those days many teams got huge crowds, junior games in Glasgow used to get 30,000. Things have changed for all clubs.

I thought that the away stand held 2,200. That means 5,500 spaces for home fans, so maybe an extra 2,000 odd show for the Old Firm games. People want to go to the 'glamour' games I suppose, fans who have to pick and choose games due to work or family concerns might also want to see the 'big' games.

One thing I think is important is that the fans who turn out for these games are hugely important for the club - they are the people we need to attract to more matches, they are potentially regular fans but for whatever reason don't make it to more games. A haughty attitude isn't going to encourage anyone to make more of an effort to get to the home games.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

I am a part timer and proud of it. I have even travelled many miles to home games and I was happy just to witness a small part of the proceedings before departing.

The credit crunch is hitting us all. And why travel all the distance when it is on Setanta. Personally I have always felt that there was a lack of wummin at the games - but they are probably scared off by all the gorgeous burds we have already.

[Alex MacLeod]

but they are probably scared off by all the gorgeous burds we have already.

You mean gorgeous burds like Forresdame, L_G, Guzz, Mrs Gringo Jnr, Mrs Pauliebee etc.

[Guest couchpotato]

but they are probably scared off by all the gorgeous burds we have already.

You mean gorgeous burds like Forresdame, L_G, Guzz, Mrs Gringo Jnr, Mrs Pauliebee etc.

Don't forget our recently slimmed down glamerous rocker Maime!!