The Statistics
1) Four of our five lowest attendances last season coincided with a home game for either Arsenal or Spurs (see below).
Date | Team | Attendance | Clashed With |
Tues 25th Jan | 1,549 | Arsenal v Ipswich Town (CC) | |
Tues 8th Feb | 1,670 | Nothing | |
Sat 22nd Jan | Morecambe | 2,002 | Arsenal v Wigan (PL) |
Sat 5th Feb | 2,265 | Spurs v Bolton (PL) | |
Tues 1st Feb | 2,424 | Arsenal v Everton (PL |
2) In the 10 games where a game at The Lamex didn't clash with one at The Emirates or White Hart Lane, our average attendance was 3,044. However in the 14 games that did clash with a fixture at Arsenal or Spurs, our average attendance was 2,901. Granted that’s only 143 fans less on average but that’s potentially around £3,500* lost per game or £35,000* per season – an amount that could certainly be put to good use by the club.
No Clash | Clash | |
Games | 10 | 14 |
Total Attendance | 30,441 | 40,614 |
Average Attendance | 3,044 | 2,901 |
The Reality
1) There are a number of others reasons which could explain those five lowest attendances, the first of which was that all five games took place inside a 16-day period towards the end of January / beginning of February. It also would have been very cold - a daft reason to stay away from football when things like coats and scarves exist - but I guarantee some people would have made the choice to stay at home in the warmth rather than stand on the East Terrace. Thirdly, three of these games were on a Tuesday which always affects attendances. Finally it's worth remembering that Boro fans had already forked out for tickets for both the
2) The attendance figures are obviously based on both home and away supporters. The away followings were so varied too that we couldn’t really take a guess (and can’t be bothered!) at how each affected the attendance. But we reckon that for every handful of Hereford, Accrington and Morecambe fans there were certainly several hundred from Bradford, Macclesfield (opening day of the season), Bury (final day of the season and still championship chasing), Wycombe, Chesterfield and Shrewsbury.
Our Conclusion
So do games at The Emirates or WHL really make a difference to our crowds? The attendance figures would suggest so however without taking into account the other factors surrounding games (time of year, weather, cost) it's difficult to really know. Certainly without the official numbers on how many home fans were at each game we’re never really going to be able to work out the exact impact of the Premiership big boys. So we're left to guess. In a pointless blog like this.
Looking Ahead
15 - the number of Boro home fixtures that don't currently clash with Arsenal games at The Emirates
7 - the number of Boro home fixtures that currently clash with Spurs games at White Hart Lane
9 - the number of Boro home fixtures being played where neither Arsenal or Spurs are at home
Looking at this season’s fixtures BoroStats notes that currently just nine of Boro’s 23 home games don’t clash with either a Spurs or Arsenal fixture. These are:
6th August v
9th August v
3rd September v
13th September v
7th January v MK Dons
28th January v
18th February v
6th March v
20th March v
We therefore suggest that the club heavily promotes these particular fixtures amongst the local community, to take advantage of a quiet day for the Premiership fans. Even a handful of new / part time fans will make a difference and could be useful when we get promoted to the Championship…..
* Takes into account price of adult entry, programme and a drink.
