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Gate Committee Report 2017/18

John William

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I have looked at the 17 games where we played the same opponents in the season just gone and the season before, both of which finishing in the playoffs.

The home numbers cannot be simply compared club by club as the games were on different dates in the two seasons (eg Midweek, Bank Holiday effects etc.) but overall the total for these 17 games is almost identical [64,476 and 64,938 or 23 per game lower this year], and close to the averages for all 23 games. If you discount the last game of 2016/17 v. Carlisle, where we had 6,039 home fans (obviously not possible in 2017/18 for capacity reasons) the 16 game figures are actually 143 higher this year. This year was also hit by bad weather and the loss from L2 of Argyle.

I don't have a detailed breakdown by stand but given the shortage of seats last season I suggest this does not support the contention that this year's numbers were disappointing.
 

Oldsmobile-88

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In RaWZ we trust....Amen.
Does anyone know how many season tickets have been sold ?

A few of our L2 rivals have reported sales..1,700 for Bury.6,000 for Lincoln are the ones I have seen recently.
 

Pete Martin (CTID)

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Does anyone know how many season tickets have been sold ?

A few of our L2 rivals have reported sales..1,700 for Bury.6,000 for Lincoln are the ones I have seen recently.
Around 1,500 so far. Roughly 200 up on last season I believe.
 

Topsham Boy

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Interesting figures..I always look at the home support numbers,that is obviously the real gauge of how things are going with on field performance & admission pricing.
3,780 is a fairly mediocre return for following a team that finished 4th in the Division & who were in with a shout for automatic promotion until the last couple of weeks.

The OG being redeveloped would have had a minor impact on home crowd numbers.

Let’s hope the new management/era can bring back a bit of interest to the many floating supporters that seems to be around the city & surrouding area
Agree with your points. The redevelopment of the OG and the away end certainly shaved a few hundred off the attendances last season.....but overall our home support number for 17/18 was mediocre for a team that made the playoffs / final. Lincoln as we know has amazing home support from a city similar in size to Exeter....but they may be the exception in L2...perhaps they have few other major teams nearby competing for attention? Something is not right though for us...we need to aim for 5000 every home game....not c4000. My suspicion is that the success of the Chiefs and the excellent facilities of Sandy Park have had an impact greater than we think... particularly on the casual sport watcher........and we as a club now with a new manager and approach need to up our marketing spend and activities to inform and attract extra supporters for next season....particularly with a much improved stadium. Exeter as a City is clearly growing in population....we need and have to tap into that growth and see more faces at SJP.
 

Stelios

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Agree with your points. The redevelopment of the OG and the away end certainly shaved a few hundred off the attendances last season.....but overall our home support number for 17/18 was mediocre for a team that made the playoffs / final. Lincoln as we know has amazing home support from a city similar in size to Exeter....but they may be the exception in L2...perhaps they have few other major teams nearby competing for attention? Something is not right though for us...we need to aim for 5000 every home game....not c4000. My suspicion is that the success of the Chiefs and the excellent facilities of Sandy Park have had an impact greater than we think... particularly on the casual sport watcher........and we as a club now with a new manager and approach need to up our marketing spend and activities to inform and attract extra supporters for next season....particularly with a much improved stadium. Exeter as a City is clearly growing in population....we need and have to tap into that growth and see more faces at SJP.
You may be right. I'm sure we've lost a few to the Chiefs. Glory hunters. But it's more of a social thing too, isn't it? Beers/hospitality etc. Less tribalism too. Able to have a drink/laugh/banter with people from different cities who wear a different coloured shirt to you. Not getting "started on" by lowlifes who support the other team. Sport played by 'real men' etc. This has a lot of appeal.

Can't be the sport itself because rugby is terrible to watch and no one really knows the rules........ Horrible windswept soulless ground next to the motorway...... Can't see the appeal myself. But most Chief goers I meet would never dream of going to the football or taking their kids there anyway. Not their thing. Wasn't played at their school.........

Get a larger train platform and start serving beers in the ground and we might be able to attract a few more.
 

robchave

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You really know that news is slow when the report of the Gate Committee has been the lead thread on Exeweb for two days.
Waiting for something to happen!
 

andrew p long

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You really know that news is slow when the report of the Gate Committee has been the lead thread on Exeweb for two days.
Waiting for something to happen!
Patience,patience. In the last few weeks we've had a new manager, a new assistant manager, a new U23s coach, four players in,three players out.

It has almost been one announcement a day! So much so I too was disappointed in a whole day without a transfer announcement!
 

Jason H

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I have looked at the 17 games where we played the same opponents in the season just gone and the season before, both of which finishing in the playoffs.

The home numbers cannot be simply compared club by club as the games were on different dates in the two seasons (eg Midweek, Bank Holiday effects etc.) but overall the total for these 17 games is almost identical [64,476 and 64,938 or 23 per game lower this year], and close to the averages for all 23 games. If you discount the last game of 2016/17 v. Carlisle, where we had 6,039 home fans (obviously not possible in 2017/18 for capacity reasons) the 16 game figures are actually 143 higher this year. This year was also hit by bad weather and the loss from L2 of Argyle.

I don't have a detailed breakdown by stand but given the shortage of seats last season I suggest this does not support the contention that this year's numbers were disappointing.
And, of course, Portsmouth. Add in to that we were only able to offer the likes of Coventry and Lincoln 300-odd seats where in the past they'd have had up to 1500 or so tickets.

EDIT: The average attendance for L2 dropped by around 300. Admittedly that is largely down to the loss of Portsmouth (16,823).
 
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