Ticketing and crowds

[tommytwoholes]

Why is it that the club are aware that they are going to have the biggest gate of the season and decided to close the usual ticket boxes? I got to the ground at 2ish and found that the east black/green ticket office was closed. I then que'd down by the northeast corner for about 25mins and was told only the west stand was available. So i then walked all the way round to the west and saw empty seats scattered about in the east and south upper i was totally p1ssed off!! I had to sit infront of some little brat that wouldn't shut up all game. The club really dont have a clue. And the crowd of 8,900 looked more like 10,000 atleast. Are we really to believe that there were around 3,500 empty seats!! Still it does show the potential is there!!

 

[Southend Shrimp]

The attendance is official as the club have been on here before and stated it

.
What they need to do, is to stop the stewards or security from opening up  places like the big gate behind the West Stand and letting friends in.

 

[steveh1510]

Quote[/b] (tommytwoholes @ May 11 2004,11:10)]I had to sit infront of some little brat that wouldn't shut up all game.

Yeah, sorry about that.

 

[londonblue]

There probably was about 3 odd thousand empty seats. The West stand itself was probably about 2/3 - 3/4 full. The North West Corner was empty, and the North Stand was only about 3/4 full. There were also spaces in the South Lower.

One point I would make is if people really believe that the club lie about the number of people at the game, don't you think the Inland Revenue would have investigated by now? Not to mention the fact that Roots Hall would be declared unsafe by health and safety officials if they couldn't tell how many people were in the ground, and would have been closed down. More to the point, if you have a look in Police box in the South West Corner, you'll see it is them that count the gate on a computer. Do you also therefore think that the police are in on this too?

 

[steveh1510]

BTW, the way I see this is as follows:

The capacity is what, 12500?

Take out the front 3 rows of the north bank which are restricted views and therefore not sold.

Ditto some of the South Stand which are only sold for large crowds for the same reason.

Take out no mans land next to the west and the block of the North next to that.

Take out complimentaries, as these do not go on the official attendance figures.

Presumably the official max capacity also includes the executive boxes etc? Where these ALL sold on Saturday? If not take them out.

I know some of the attendances this season seem unlikely based on the capacity, but they may well be right.

 

[Napster]

Quote[/b] (londonblue @ May 11 2004,11:33)].

One point I would make is if people really believe that the club lie about the number of people at the game, don't you think the Inland Revenue would have investigated by now

Customs and Excise, isn't it? (who are only up the road...)

 

[B.A. Baracus]

Quote[/b] (londonblue @ May 11 2004,11:33)]If you have a look in Police box in the South West Corner, you'll see it is them that count the gate on a computer. Do you also therefore think that the police are in on this too?

It counts how many times the turnstiles go around. so as steveh1510 says, people who dont go through turnstiles arent counted. Security do let lots of people through the gates, but i think most are either people with tickets or club employees. I sold programmes for 2 seasons at various places around Roots Hall, including over by the ticket office over the West, and I didnt see much evidence of that (having said that, its been a couple of seasons since i left)

 

[londonblue]

Quote[/b] (Napster @ May 11 2004,11:34)]

Quote[/b] (londonblue @ May 11 2004,11:33)].

One point I would make is if people really believe that the club lie about the number of people at the game, don't you think the Inland Revenue would have investigated by now

Customs and Excise, isn't it? (who are only up the road...)

Customs and Excise deal with VAT, so yeah, they may interested too.

 

[Its Only A Game]

Quote[/b] (londonblue @ May 11 2004,11:33)]More to the point, if you have a look in Police box in the South West Corner, you'll see it is them that count the gate on a computer.

Shortly after the Col U home game i was talking to a bloke on one of the turnstiles near the shrimpers bar as my son had been given an adult ticket by mistake and i didn't know if it would cause a problem. He said he expected not as the turnstiles just count how many people had entered the ground not whether they are adults/juniors etc.

I then raised the attendance for the Col U game and was told the last time they looked at the count in the club shop it was on about 11,600 and people were still arriving.

I'm not saying the club lie about attendances just passing on what i was told!

 

[Guest]

Quote[/b] (southender @ May 11 2004,18:09)]

Quote[/b] (londonblue @ May 11 2004,11:33)]More to the point, if you have a look in Police box in the South West Corner, you'll see it is them that count the gate on a computer.

Shortly after the Col U home game i was talking to a bloke on one of the turnstiles near the shrimpers bar as my son had been given an adult ticket by mistake and i didn't know if it would cause a problem. He said he expected not as the turnstiles just count how many people had entered the ground not whether they are adults/juniors etc.

I then raised the attendance for the Col U game and was told the last time they looked at the count in the club shop it was on about 11,600 and people were still arriving.

I'm not saying the club lie about attendances just passing on what i was told!

Well Colchester only brang 1,800 to Roots Hall for the return leg (source: cu-fc.com), they used the corner and no mans land as seperation so that is 1,500 down on tickets! Roots Hall holds 12,300 so minus 1500 and 1800 that gives you 9000 and the South Lower had spaces spare and so did the South Upper and West and that explains it really!