Has our recent success on the field affected the size of our support?

[slf]

1 hour ago, RandomGuy said:

 

Folk just make excuses because they don't want to go. Some moan that £23 is too high, then say £15 would do it, as if they rely on that £8 to survive. Some blame travelling costs. Some blame the weather. Some blame the results. Some blame the style of play.

99% of them have no interest in going but just make some desperate scramble of an excuse to deflect from not wanting to support a team who won't win every week. It's that simple. You could make it a perfect Summers night, entry for fiver, kids in free, free alcohol and no other game on, and they'd still find a reason not to go.

Best hope we have is the people trying to get their kids into the habit, that's the future, the "adults" who have walked away won't return, no matter how hard you try, so just give up wasting time on them.

I like that part of yer post dude.

 

 excuses is oh so true and resonates with me.so many people used the excuse of rangers fans at the barossa club for not going there.now they aren’t there ,the same old excuses keep on coming  out.there is no rangers fan club or busses leaving from the barossa club,yet still it gets mentioned as a reason to not go.

I got no answers .I will however state personally that I am pissed off and wouldn’t mind an excuse to stop attending home matches.the whole match day experience sucks the life  out of you.

[sixties saintee]

2 hours ago, slf said:

I like that part of yer post dude.

 

 excuses is oh so true and resonates with me.so many people used the excuse of rangers fans at the barossa club for not going there.now they aren’t there ,the same old excuses keep on coming  out.there is no rangers fan club or busses leaving from the barossa club,yet still it gets mentioned as a reason to not go.

I got no answers .I will however state personally that I am pissed off and wouldn’t mind an excuse to stop attending home matches.the whole match day experience sucks the life  out of you.

Spot on about Barrosa, slowly coming back to life, match days used to be hammered.

[PauloPerth]

Agree with RG and slf about the excuses. I think when people say it's a money thing, whilst there will be a few who genuinely can't afford it, for most people what they are saying is "There's things I'd far rather spend my £23 on."  Everyone can afford it when it's a big European night, or a cup final.

When you look at the support we take to away Cup matches or even Tynecastle or Dens, it's usually really good because they are days out and occasions where everyone is up for it.  The matchday experience, whilst it sounds such a corny expression, has to be good as there are many other things folk will do instead.

I'm not criticising the club here. I actually have a lot of sympathy for them over our poor crowds just now. We have made great signings in the summer, are obviously trying to improve the style of play at home, have the best family/ child deals in the country, and are still in the most successful period in our history.  I could understand the board thinking why would we spend £200k putting lounge areas with bars and nice coffees and big screens with decent wifi under the East Stand when everything we try is met with apathy?  But then unfortunately nothing will ever change.

I also look at parents with very young kids trying to keep them interested in the match, especially as it starts to get colder and wonder could we do anything for them? 90 minutes to keep the attention of a five year old is probably a bit of a challenge, so something like an area under the Ormond Stand with a bit of old AstroTurf and wee goals where they could go to have a kick about with pals or parent for 5-10 minutes.  Similar to the gym area under the Main Stand.

[Pat McGroin]

Give me Saints prices any day after 3 back to back weekends in london at the NFL games. 

£4.40 for 500ml cup of juice, £9.50 a hot dog 

between tickets, fuel, food and a hotel room, could have went hospitality in Perth for a season!

[Dave Ferg]

Going back to my Friday night suggestion......finishing work on a Friday (for most), a few beers and onto the football under the floodlights may make it more of an occasion and replicate the Saturday afternoon of old?

As I say it wouldn't suit me personally in the Highlands but could it be an option that may appeal to more in the local area?

 

[PauloPerth]

26 minutes ago, Dave Ferg said:

Going back to my Friday night suggestion......finishing work on a Friday (for most), a few beers and onto the football under the floodlights may make it more of an occasion and replicate the Saturday afternoon of old?

As I say it wouldn't suit me personally in the Highlands but could it be an option that may appeal to more in the local area?

 

I'm sure there was talk of this a few years ago as they reckoned a lot of folk that played football on a saturday would be able to head along. I personally like matches on a Saturday afternoon, and don't like it during the season when we've no game on a Saturday, but can see the after work appeal of what you are suggesting.  For some it might also free up the whole weekend for family stuff if there's no football in the way?

I despise and resent the current international breaks, there are so many of them it just disrupts the season constantly.

[Vieri]

I’ve only been able to make it to the very occasional match ever since I started playing football on a Saturday. Once that stops (and if I’m still in Perth) then I’ll imagine I’d buy a season ticket. I feel a bit guilty about picking and choosing my games but I’d rather play whilst I’m young enough to do so. I’ve not been to McDiarmid in over a year and I have sympathy for people who don’t find the prospect of St Mirren or Hamilton at home very appealing. For a lot of people it’s purely down to routine that they attend, the match day experience is often pretty gash.

[THE LARK SAINT]

I think weather and banter both matter

I am approaching 60 and suffer with cold related illnesses 

On Saturday my two mates who I sit with were both missing for different reasons 

I sat in my usual seat surrounded by empty seats, was bored and cold and barring a couple of near things it was pretty average stuff on the park 

If I had been a my first time visiting I may not have returned for the above mentioned reasons

In the second half I moved to the South end of the East to see the goals go in at Ormond goal and sit beside Ghostie 

The Football improved and the banter returned by sitting with passionate fans 

The second half had just about everything 

I would return if it was my first visit 

I would definitely go if it was warm

So the cold does matter 

Summer Football 

Standing Area 

Alcohol 

Aye for me

[HOODLUM65]

2 hours ago, THE LARK SAINT said:

I think weather and banter both matter

I am approaching 60 and suffer with cold related illnesses 

On Saturday my two mates who I sit with were both missing for different reasons 

I sat in my usual seat surrounded by empty seats, was bored and cold and barring a couple of near things it was pretty average stuff on the park 

If I had been a my first time visiting I may not have returned for the above mentioned reasons

In the second half I moved to the South end of the East to see the goals go in at Ormond goal and sit beside Ghostie 

The Football improved and the banter returned by sitting with passionate fans 

The second half had just about everything 

I would return if it was my first visit 

I would definitely go if it was warm

So the cold does matter 

Summer Football 

Standing Area 

Alcohol 

Aye for me

Ah! So sitting next to Ghostie warmed you up.

[Cagey]

10 minutes ago, HOODLUM65 said:

Ah! So sitting next to Ghostie warmed you up.

Must have been the hot air .

[Shaggy Jenkins]

For me its not anything St Johnstone have done / not done per se.  Although many of the home games have been brutal however this is tempered slightly by the results over the last 10+ years.  Even winning the first division the last time there was not great football and many draws.

However this is not just a St Johnstone phenomenon.  Looking back at some of the older games on youtube, the likes of Partick, Airdrie, Kilmarnock (the Tommy Burns lob) and even older EPL games of the period.  Football in general has lost something.  I hesitate to say it lacks the same quality but it has certainly lost the frantic passionate entertainment value.  There seemed to be an attacking urgency, pace and yes actual tackling that is now sorely missing from our more patient, measured ‘basketball’ style of game now.  Unfortunately this leaves me cold.  Add in the ever increasing costs and the ‘bang for your buck’ is diminishing.  In fact the only away game I have been to in the last 10 years was the cup final, I simply cannot justify the cost v how it makes me feel and this is from someone who has seen Saints play in all but two grounds in Scotland and some grounds that are no longer there.

Im afraid to say that I genuinely thing my time as a regular football fan is ticking.  In general I have no interest in the EPL, Champions league, Euro leagues.  I only had a passing interest in the World Cup.  It just doesn’t hold any excitement for me. 

My only real football interest is St Johnstone and an overview of Scottish football in general.  All that keeps me going is habit and a pride for the club and City. 

However this is waning, and again it has little to do with Saints.

The first nail for me was allowing The Rangers back into the leagues at any cost, having seen other ‘lesser’ clubs allowed to go to the wall, the clambering, and underhandedness to get this club back in was a disgrace.  A club who had cheated their way to dominance (at the cost of Saints in some instances) and the realisation that Scottish football really was corrupt and morally repugnant sparked the beginning of the end for me.

I give it a few years to see how things have gone, and no doubt we, and I think Scottish football in general over the period benefitted from not having that club in the top league, outside of Celtics dominance there was a good spread of success among the ‘diddies’. 

Unfortunately now it appears ‘the natural’ order is returning and is being hailed with great fanfare by those in the media to I believe the detriment of the game in Scotland as a whole.  A return to only being there so Celtic and The Rangers have someone to beat. 

The whole The Rangers thing gave us an opportunity to really rethink and build a different game up here but the clambering for the old ways and archaic thinking won out, as it always will in the corridors of power in our game.

Couple that with the entertainment value of ‘modern’ football there is only one way the game and attendances are going in this country.  No amount of summer football or fans initiatives will change the fact that football in this country and in general is broken.  

[Guest ScottMann]

Other people's reasons that I don't like = excuses.

So after the most successful period in the club's history brought about mainly be unattractive football, there's been a conscious decision made to change the approach this season with heavy investment, by our standards, made in attacking players. What a strange thing to do when style doesn't affect the crowd size. 

[Kevin]

I was talking to a couple of guys I know who used to go to games but haven't bothered recently and the one concerning thing for me was their belief that the club had no interest in them. Citing things such as family tickets and concessions whereas they are 40's and no kids interested in going to the game and were saying things along the line already on here that where is the incentive to go? They support Saints but get nothing back for it apart from the occasional exciting game. Their suggestions were also along the lines of a rewards card so like the coffee shops, pay for 5 games and get the 6th free, hospitality at a reasonable price and, this is something I agree with, a decent programme for the money you pay. How do other clubs produce programmes that you can read all week and all we get are 6-8 pages with hardly any editorial content. There was a time back in the day when I used to help out with the programme production and we made sure thee was plenty to read in it and you got value for money out of it.

 

To me Beve does a great job in her liaison role but nobody else appears to be doing anything sadly

[Cagey]

47 minutes ago, Kevin said:

I was talking to a couple of guys I know who used to go to games but haven't bothered recently and the one concerning thing for me was their belief that the club had no interest in them. Citing things such as family tickets and concessions whereas they are 40's and no kids interested in going to the game and were saying things along the line already on here that where is the incentive to go? They support Saints but get nothing back for it apart from the occasional exciting game. Their suggestions were also along the lines of a rewards card so like the coffee shops, pay for 5 games and get the 6th free, hospitality at a reasonable price and, this is something I agree with, a decent programme for the money you pay. How do other clubs produce programmes that you can read all week and all we get are 6-8 pages with hardly any editorial content. There was a time back in the day when I used to help out with the programme production and we made sure thee was plenty to read in it and you got value for money out of it.

 

To me Beve does a great job in her liaison role but nobody else appears to be doing anything sadly

If you get a season ticket you get a discount at various places around town.

I am on on long way towards getting the value of my ticket back by end of season.

[slf]

1 hour ago, Cagey said:

If you get a season ticket you get a discount at various places around town.

I am on on long way towards getting the value of my ticket back by end of season.

Aye it’s Braw the discount.

they don’t tell you that at alladinns curry takeaway minimum spend is a fiver .make sure you get 10% off as the lassie has tried to diddle me a few times.

its Braw the discount card.

[THE LARK SAINT]

21 hours ago, HOODLUM65 said:

Ah! So sitting next to Ghostie warmed you up.

Certainly warmed my ears up LAUGH OUT LOUD

[PauloPerth]

6 hours ago, ScottMann said:

Other people's reasons that I don't like = excuses.

So after the most successful period in the club's history brought about mainly be unattractive football, there's been a conscious decision made to change the approach this season with heavy investment, by our standards, made in attacking players. What a strange thing to do when style doesn't affect the crowd size. 

I'm completely confused by your post Scott.  I detect there's sarcasm in there, but I can't fathom who it's aimed at or what you're actually meaning here!

 

[garydavidson]

3 hours ago, PauloPerth said:

I'm completely confused by your post Scott.  I detect there's sarcasm in there, but I can't fathom who it's aimed at or what you're actually meaning here!

 

Probably aimed at random! 

[Guest ScottMann]

4 hours ago, PauloPerth said:

I'm completely confused by your post Scott.  I detect there's sarcasm in there, but I can't fathom who it's aimed at or what you're actually meaning here!

I thought it was quite straight forward actually Paulo. Not meant to be sarcastic, just not impressed with those writing off genuine reasons given by non-attenders as 'excuses' and then qualifying what I was saying about style. Why anyone needs an excuse for not going to the football is beyond me. 

[PauloPerth]

12 hours ago, ScottMann said:

Other people's reasons that I don't like = excuses.

So after the most successful period in the club's history brought about mainly be unattractive football, there's been a conscious decision made to change the approach this season with heavy investment, by our standards, made in attacking players. What a strange thing to do when style doesn't affect the crowd size. 

Fair do's, agree nobody needs an excuse at not going, it's personal choice.

It was the last line I didn't get.. I'm thinking maybe I've missed previous posts from someone on the style of play issue.

[Guest ScottMann]

6 hours ago, PauloPerth said:

Fair do's, agree nobody needs an excuse at not going, it's personal choice.

It was the last line I didn't get.. I'm thinking maybe I've missed previous posts from someone on the style of play issue.

I used the words style of play, some have used different ones on this thread and at other times. 

[Kyle]

I think the crowds are dropping because going to the football is expensive and the football on display for much of the last couple of years has been pretty poor, making it more difficult to justify the expense.There are obviously lots of other reasons that have been well expressed on this thread but I believe that'll be the most consistent reason given by people who have stopped attending. Given that most people only get 2 days off a week - whether they're working or in education - I think the lack of entertainment is pretty legitimate reasoning to stop going personally. It hasn't stopped me travelling up from Glasgow every second week yet but I came mighty close to just letting my season ticket lapse in the summer and attending games either closer to home or as and when I could be arsed.

[byebyedundee]

It’s the millinuel attitude. 

Perth used to be buzzing on a Friday night now that night is dead. 

People are staying at home and can’t be bothered. Stjohnstone are victims of there dependability and dare I say it monotonous achievement In a league where mid table is there goal 

i believe that children are our future  ( Whitney ) so it’s up to the present saunters to bring their kids. Nephews , nieces and grand children 

 

so so go forth and recruit 

 

 

 

[Ginger Bakers rebel army]

Attending matches for many becomes a habit. 

Once the habit is broken it is very difficult to replicate that behaviour in the future. 

I think there are a lot of saints fans that have broken the habit and that will be difficult to reverse. 

There are endless excuses for not attending. 

I think a large factor is the lack of a strong Chairman. Yes Tommy has had better backing this season but a strong Chairman making the right impression on the fan base and local community would help the overall feel good factor. 

Some of the public admissions about running the board as a dictatorship and only putting in a couple of half days a week are complete own goals. 

 

[double deluxe]

On ‎10‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 2:13 PM, mad saints fan said:

Hopefully with the population of Perth expanding then that might bring some more folk to the ground

 

It'll be years, probably a generation or two, before we see any significant rise in attendances from people moving to Bertha Park, etc, from outside of Perth(shire).  If at all!