14,811

There were 26 thousand at Norwich against us the other week. That was a Friday night match that was televised live on Sky. The difference is that Norwich are the only League club in the entire County so they have a huge catchment area.
Compare that to the number of teams within a few miles of Bolton and it's understandable why crowds are as they are and why a potential buyer for the club could easily get put off because of the competition for income and limited fan base development opportunities.

Chorley are a bigger club than Bolton these days.

Would Bolton take 93 fans to Boston United? I doubt it.

Natasha Whittam wrote:Chorley are a bigger club than Bolton these days.

Would Bolton take 93 fans to Boston United? I doubt it.

I'd definitely go as it's in Lincolnshire just under 2 hours drive away, however it's not very likely we're going to get to play Boston in the near future.

Football matches are NOT a cheap way of spending leisure time for a start. If you want to spend a couple of hours being entertained then there are much cheaper and often far more enjoyable ways to do it such as going to watch a movie. Also the quality of the 'entertainment' on offer over the last few years has mostly been mediocre, sometimes downright dire and it's little wonder that fans who have a limited disposable income will choose to spend their money elsewhere. 

I've already said many times that the mantra 'real fans go to the games no matter what' just doesn't hold water or make any kind of sense anymore. If a football club wants people's cash it has to provide at least some value for money and frankly all too often they don't which is why so many clubs now play in front of half empty stadia. A drop in ticket prices would help but until and unless clubs act like they actually care about fan's feelings and see us as more than walking ATM's the problem of low attendances at all but the biggest clubs won't go away.

luckyPeterpiper wrote:Football matches are NOT a cheap way of spending leisure time for a start. If you want to spend a couple of hours being entertained then there are much cheaper and often far more enjoyable ways to do it such as going to watch a movie.

....or supporting Chorley who will pay anyone a fiver to watch them.

wanderlust wrote:

....or supporting Chorley who will pay anyone a fiver to watch them.

It's £10 to stand at CFC. Don't make things up.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

wanderlust wrote:

....or supporting Chorley who will pay anyone a fiver to watch them.

It's £10 to stand at CFC. Don't make things up.

In that case I'll agree with Peter seeing as it's free to stand on the town hall steps. CFC is clearly more expensive and possibly less entertaining.

Don't get me on my soapbox about all this ..... clubs and fans need to wake up and smell the century ...there are just too many clubs in the same area.  The passion for clubs like ours and Wigan, Blackburn etc.  is not there anymore like it was back in the day.  Kids play Xbox and not hump down to Burden in the rain on a Saturday afternoon.  A total reorg of the football league is required with teams merging together or going out of business altogether.  Never happen in my lifetime of course, but many small clubs will go under eventually just due to rising costs and whatnot.

terenceanne wrote:Don't get me on my soapbox about all this ..... clubs and fans need to wake up and smell the century ...there are just too many clubs in the same area.  The passion for clubs like ours and Wigan, Blackburn etc.  is not there anymore like it was back in the day.  Kids play Xbox and not hump down to Burden in the rain on a Saturday afternoon.  A total reorg of the football league is required with teams merging together or going out of business altogether.  Never happen in my lifetime of course, but many small clubs will go under eventually just due to rising costs and whatnot.

I reckon a Chorley/Bolton merger would be interesting. Victory Park would be full every week - imagine the atmosphere!

Natasha Whittam wrote:

wanderlust wrote:

....or supporting Chorley who will pay anyone a fiver to watch them.

It's £10 to stand at CFC. Don't make things up.

It's £7....for the over 60s.

You should have seen it last night, nearly 1700 fans on to see Chorley hammer Stockport County 3-0. Yes, the same Stockport County that regularly thrashed BWFC.