[b said:
Quote[/b] (McScriven @ April 19 2005,10:57)]However, from our calculations I think it's impossible to get over 6K.
Well, it depends if we're talking about just league gates, or "all competitions". If it's the former, then your figures are wrong, Dave.
Based on the gates stated on the club's website, the total attendance over the previous 22 league fixtures this season has been 128,042.
If we have a total league attendance of 138,000 over the course of the 23 home league fixtures this season, then that's an average of 6,000 per home game.
That means that so long as we get a gate of 9,958 or more against Yeovil, we've broken the 6,000 barrier for the first time in over a decade. The last season we did that was Fry's season - 1993-94.
Of course, were I a businessman thinking of advertising with the club, I could already vouch for the crowd against Yeovil - since the last edition of Blues News has told me that, against the Glovers:
<span style='color:blue'>"we
guarantee an attendance of 11,000-plus"</span>
In fact, that same Blues News told me that
<span style='color:blue'>"we
guarantee a capacity crowd on the day"</span>
Since capacity is stated on the club website (see the Roots Hall page) as being 12,392, it might even be said that the club have "guaranteed" that 12,392 will be the attendance for the Yeovil game...
Either way, the club's commercial department might want to think about using words like "anticipate" instead of "guarantee" in future... you ought to be careful what you promise, you know. Anyhow, going on the club's own figures:
*If we get 9,958 against Yeovil, we will have achieved a season average gate of 6,000 (which is, IIRC from previous discussions with Uncle Ron, the magical "break even" figure for Roots Hall, which means that with the Sky FA Cup game and the LDV Final we must have made an operating profit this season, doesn't it?)
*If we get 11,000 against Yeovil (the club's stated sales figures so far), our season average will be 6,045.
*If we really do get a capacity crowd against Yeovil of 12,392, our season average will be 6,105 - almost indentical to Barry Fry's season when we played the likes of Birmingham, Sunderland and Leicester in the league... not Macclesfield, Chester or Rochdale.
Looking beyond the league, our attendance in all comps this season is (excluding the LDV Final and prior to the Yeovil game) 149,739. So long as the Yeovil gate exceeds 10,261, then we will have had 160,000 fans through the gates of Roots Hall - a figure we have not exceeded since the historic 1991-2 season (when we had 174,306 through the gates).
That averages out at 5,925 in all comps. In order to achieve an average of 6,000 in all comps, we will need to have 12,261 there for the Yeovil game. Even if capacity of Roots Hall is, as the club states, 12,392, it is unlikely (once segregation has been taken into account) that we will have 12,261 there for the Yeovil game (despite the club "guaranteeing" a capacity crows). This may be why, on an "all competitions" basis, the club may consider that it will be impossible for us to say that we have avergaed a gate of 6,000 at Roots Hall this season. However, we will have achieved that figure in the league after the Yeovil game...
Finally, if you were to add on 45% of the Millennium Stadium gate (that being our take) - i.e. 16,297 (less than the 16,640 of official pre-match sales, incidentally) - our figure for ticket sales this season even exceeds that of the 1991-92 season. It would mean that in 28 games (assuming we reach a total of 161,000 after Yeovil), we had a total "gate" of 177,297 in 28 games - which is an average of 6,332.
So this truly has been an historic season in every sense - but particularly in terms of our home attendances. And for that, everyone at the club should be congratulated - especially Tilly, Brushy and the players.
Matt
