SPL attendances - Hibs up, most down

[rcarter1]

Thought I'd look at how attendances have been holding up without the Ungrateful Dead.

For each team the percentage is the swing from last season. Number of Home games vs Celtic is indicated, and the number of upcoming home games vs Celtic before the split are in brackets.

Celtic down 10.4%
Hearts down 0.6% 1 (0)
Hibs up 7.9% 1 (0)
Aberdeen up 8.3% 1 (0)
Dundee Utd down 1.4% 1 (0)
Kilmarnock down 12.8% 1 (0)
Motherwell down 18.9% 1 (1)
St Mirren down 1% 1 (1)
Inverness down 0.15% 2 (0)
St Johnstone down 8.1% 2 (0)

[PatHead]

Looks like Motherwell are biggest losers despite doing well this season

[rcarter1]

Motherwell do have a home game vs Celtic before the split which might help them. Killie are also a bit down on their luck having had only one Old firm game.

[allezsauzee]

Looks like Motherwell are biggest losers despite doing well this season

They are so far, but if they finish 2nd they'll get a much larger amount of prize money as well as a champions league qualifier which might level things up a bit for them

[SMAXXA]

They are so far, but if they finish 2nd they'll get a much larger amount of prize money as well as a champions league qualifier which might level things up a bit for them

Didn't we only get 1 CL place this year?

[Ozyhibby]

After all the effort put in, Hearts crowds are still down on last season.

[NOLA]

After all the effort put in, Hearts crowds are still down on last season.

there must be a mistake surely?

[TrickyNicky]

Thought I'd look at how attendances have been holding up without the Ungrateful Dead.

For each team the percentage is the swing from last season. Number of Home games vs Celtic is indicated, and the number of upcoming home games vs Celtic before the split are in brackets.

Celtic down 10.4%
Hearts down 0.6% 1 (0)
Hibs up 7.9% 1 (0)
Aberdeen up 8.3% 1 (0)
Dundee Utd down 1.4% 1 (0)
Kilmarnock down 12.8% 1 (0)
Motherwell down 18.9% 1 (1)
St Mirren down 1% 1 (1)
Inverness down 0.15% 2 (0)
St Johnstone down 8.1% 2 (0)

Hiyah Rod, hiyah pal!:bye:

Well done Hibs fans, take a bow.:flag:

[spike220]

Thought I'd look at how attendances have been holding up without the Ungrateful Dead.

For each team the percentage is the swing from last season. Number of Home games vs Celtic is indicated, and the number of upcoming home games vs Celtic before the split are in brackets.

Celtic down 10.4%
Hearts down 0.6% 1 (0)
Hibs up 7.9% 1 (0)
Aberdeen up 8.3% 1 (0)
Dundee Utd down 1.4% 1 (0)
Kilmarnock down 12.8% 1 (0)
Motherwell down 18.9% 1 (1)
St Mirren down 1% 1 (1)
Inverness down 0.15% 2 (0)
St Johnstone down 8.1% 2 (0)

:aok:

[Purple & Green]

I think you also have to consider that you're not just benchmarking against last season; you have to consider that everyone's crowds are up on what they would have been if Rangers had bypassed justice and remained in the SPL.

[marinello59]

I think you also have to consider that you're not just benchmarking against last season; you have to consider that everyone's crowds are up on what they would have been if Rangers had bypassed justice and remained in the SPL.

How can you know that? Many said they would boycott SPL matches if Rangers were not punished . Many said they would buy season tickets and attend more games if Rangers were punished. The latter hasn't really happened has it?

[bingo70]

So all the digs about hibs fans not supporting the team this season are not justified then?

That you due everyone a big group apology mikey? ;-)

[JeMeSouviens]

How can you know that? Many said they would boycott SPL matches if Rangers were not punished . Many said they would buy season tickets and attend more games if Rangers were punished. The latter hasn't really happened has it?

I'm not altogether sure that's true. Many said they wouldn't go if the NewHuns were shoehorned in but my feeling is that by and large they were the already regular attenders rather than potential extra bums on seats. My guess (and that's all it is) is that with NewHuns in the SPL you would've seen a steep initial protest decline followed by a partial drift back as some protesters came back but others didn't.

But anyway, how else do you explain crowds being up at Hibs and the Sheepies and pretty much break even at Hearts, Dundee United, St Mirren and ICT? Without the Huns there must've been some increase in home attendances?

[Thecat23]

I honestly think it would be down with or without them in the league. The price of games and standard has really put folk off going. The SPL has been on it's knees for a few years and playing each other 4 times a season is boring. A shake up was needed ages ago.

[The Modfather]

So all the digs about hibs fans not supporting the team this season are not justified then?

That you due everyone a big group apology mikey? ;-)

Progress!

[Killiehibbie]

I read about Kilmarnock losing out on £150,000 this season due to not having 2 visits from Rangers. How can they budget for 2 visits when only 1 is guaranteed.

[blackpoolhibs]

I read about Kilmarnock losing out on £150,000 this season due to not having 2 visits from Rangers. How can they budget for 2 visits when only 1 is guaranteed.

There's your answer, the papers are so much up sevco's erse they were predicting doom to make things seem so much worse than it actually was and is.

[Dashing Bob S]

The SPL is **** and it would be even more **** with Rangers. Makes no difference other than to the Killie/M'Well's of this world who rely on OF games. We're in a recession and money is tight - gates were always going to fall.

We can expect a load of propaganda of how brilliant the SPL will be when Rangers finally claw their way back into it, but we know that it will still be the same piss poor product, just more of the usual bigot/glory hunter fest.

[big-mo]

Having read a piece in last weekend's Sunday Post which detailed the changes in attendances this season, only three teams were up on last season, those three teams being Hibs, up 785 p/g on avg, Aberdeen up 730ish and Hearts (who have been running a campaign to get their fans back to Tynie) are up 71 (yes Seventy One extra fans) per game this season.
All the other teams were down, with Smelltic being the biggest loosers with over 5,000, but given their normal crowd it is bad but not as bad as it could be. Motherwell were the worst percentage wise. And even ICT, (where Butcher bemoaned their level of support and questioned if the city deserved to have a team), had a drop of only 7 fans per game.

Just to give some background to Hibs figures, here are out attendances since the turn of the century. (Current figures are based on only our league games, 13 this season so far), all other seasons are based on 19 home games.

Season -- Total - Avg - up/dn Lg Pos
2000-01 205535 10818 3
2001-02 225220 11906 1089 10
2002-03 198976 10472 -1434 7
2003-04 173530 9133 -1339 8
2004-05 238328 12544 3410 3
2005-06 262540 13818 1274 4
2006-07 275101 14479 661 6
2007-08 265201 13958 -521 6
2008-09 241007 12685 -1273 6
2009-10 231390 12178 -506 4
2010-11 221776 11672 -506 10
2011-12 188241 9907 -1765 11
2012-13 139004 10693 785

[Dashing Bob S]

I think the real elephant in the room is the fact that the whole Sevco affair, and to a lesser extent the Hearts corruption, and they way these things have been dealt with by the authorities, has, rather than encouraged people to buy ST's, finally turned loads off Scottish football for good.

I know many who have said, I cant afford a Sky package plus English/European replica tops for the kids, plus season tickets for a corrupt, second-rate league, so guess which one is going to go?

[Keith_M]

Thought I'd look at how attendances have been holding up without the Ungrateful Dead.

For each team the percentage is the swing from last season. Number of Home games vs Celtic is indicated, and the number of upcoming home games vs Celtic before the split are in brackets.
..............
..............



I've decided to re-arrange those for you into a league table:

Aberdeen up 8.3% 1 (0)
Hibs up 7.9% 1 (0)
Inverness down 0.15% 2 (0)
Hearts down 0.6% 1 (0)
St Mirren down 1% 1 (1)
Dundee Utd down 1.4% 1 (0)
St Johnstone down 8.1% 2 (0)
Celtic down 10.4%
Kilmarnock down 12.8% 1 (0)
Motherwell down 18.9% 1 (1)



A few more fans in the next couple of home games and we're top of the league :thumbsup:

[marinello59]

I'm not altogether sure that's true. Many said they wouldn't go if the NewHuns were shoehorned in but my feeling is that by and large they were the already regular attenders rather than potential extra bums on seats. My guess (and that's all it is) is that with NewHuns in the SPL you would've seen a steep initial protest decline followed by a partial drift back as some protesters came back but others didn't.

But anyway, how else do you explain crowds being up at Hibs and the Sheepies and pretty much break even at Hearts, Dundee United, St Mirren and ICT? Without the Huns there must've been some increase in home attendances?

The figures will only have any meaning when we have completed the whole season. Take Aberdeen. Their fans really did respond with initial enthusiasm to a Rangers free SPL but recently their attendances have dropped like a stone.
My own opinion is that the absence of Rangers is not the main factor affecting crowds, it's the quality of football on display.

[greenginger]

I read about Kilmarnock losing out on £150,000 this season due to not having 2 visits from Rangers. How can they budget for 2 visits when only 1 is guaranteed.

Without Sevco in the league I think it can be assumed Killie will finish one place higher than in a Sevco contaminated league.

I can't remember exactly how much extra the league pay-out differs for one place, but its not far off £ 150,000.

I take it our so called sports journos ignored this.

[TrickyNicky]

Having read a piece in last weekend's Sunday Post which detailed the changes in attendances this season, only three teams were up on last season, those three teams being Hibs, up 785 p/g on avg, Aberdeen up 730ish and Hearts (who have been running a campaign to get their fans back to Tynie) are up 71 (yes Seventy One extra fans) per game this season.
All the other teams were down, with Smelltic being the biggest loosers with over 5,000, but given their normal crowd it is bad but not as bad as it could be. Motherwell were the worst percentage wise. And even ICT, (where Butcher bemoaned their level of support and questioned if the city deserved to have a team), had a drop of only 7 fans per game.

Just to give some background to Hibs figures, here are out attendances since the turn of the century. (Current figures are based on only our league games, 13 this season so far), all other seasons are based on 19 home games.

Season -- Total - Avg - up/dn Lg Pos
2000-01 205535 10818 3
2001-02 225220 11906 1089 10
2002-03 198976 10472 -1434 7
2003-04 173530 9133 -1339 8
2004-05 238328 12544 3410 3
2005-06 262540 13818 1274 4
2006-07 275101 14479 661 6
2007-08 265201 13958 -521 6
2008-09 241007 12685 -1273 6
2009-10 231390 12178 -506 4
2010-11 221776 11672 -506 10
2011-12 188241 9907 -1765 11
2012-13 139004 10693 785

Was this the " Calderwood Affair "?

I think Managerial change has had far greater effect than anything else as far as Hibs are concerned.

[Purple & Green]

How can you know that? Many said they would boycott SPL matches if Rangers were not punished . Many said they would buy season tickets and attend more games if Rangers were punished. The latter hasn't really happened has it?

You can't know that, but it's important context to the situation we are currently in. The clubs obviously feared the Sevco scenario enough to not allow it to happen.

[jonty]

Armageddon sure does look funny nowadays.

[Killiehibbie]

Without Sevco in the league I think it can be assumed Killie will finish one place higher than in a Sevco contaminated league.

I can't remember exactly how much extra the league pay-out differs for one place, but its not far off £ 150,000.

I take it our so called sports journos ignored this.I think it was their chairman who was quoting the figures and we all know what he wanted.

[greenginger]

I think it was their chairman who was quoting the figures and we all know what he wanted.


Still, any journalist worth the name would point to a contrasting advantage .

But we all know they are NOT journalists. Sevco @rse-lickers would be a better description.

[21.05.2016]

After all the effort put in, Hearts crowds are still down on last season.

:confused: Sorry you must be mistaken, don't you know that hearts have over 400,000 fans?! Surley filling a 17,500 seater stadium (i use the term very lightly!) should be easy :confused:

[Paisley Hibby]

I honestly think it would be down with or without them in the league. The price of games and standard has really put folk off going. The SPL has been on it's knees for a few years and playing each other 4 times a season is boring. A shake up was needed ages ago.

Spot on :agree: Would be interesting to see last season's attendances compared with those two seasons ago. I'd guess attendaces overall have been going down year on year for a while now, even when Rangers were in the SPL.

[Sir David Gray]

Didn't we only get 1 CL place this year?

Yep.

The SPL champions will enter the Champions League whilst 2nd and 3rd in the SPL, along with the Scottish Cup winners, will enter the Europa League.

[Bobby's Cinema]

17K v Hearts & 11K v Aberdeen in the cup aswell so our crowds have help up pretty well this season

[rcarter1]

I've decided to re-arrange those for you into a league table:

Aberdeen up 8.3% 1 (0)
Hibs up 7.9% 1 (0)
Inverness down 0.15% 2 (0)
Hearts down 0.6% 1 (0)
St Mirren down 1% 1 (1)
Dundee Utd down 1.4% 1 (0)
St Johnstone down 8.1% 2 (0)
Celtic down 10.4%
Kilmarnock down 12.8% 1 (0)
Motherwell down 18.9% 1 (1)



A few more fans in the next couple of home games and we're top of the league :thumbsup:

Nice one, does look better this way...:agree:

[PatHead]

Will be amazed if we haven't overtaken Aberdeen by the end of the season. Particularly if we make top 6.

[Borderhibbie76]

Think we also forget that its a while since we sold our er for a rankers match anyway, so as a club I reckon we have felt very little impact from the currants demise!! Also a full house for derby next week would help us overtake the sheep...

[heretoday]

I don't miss having loads of huns in our fair city but I think I miss the Hibs v Rangers games. Hibs v Dundee doesn't quite measure up atmosphere-wise.

That's not a popular opinion I imagine.

[lord bunberry]

Will be amazed if we haven't overtaken Aberdeen by the end of the season. Particularly if we make top 6.

We might overtake them tonight. There's only 6k at pittodrie tonight

[vanNISHtelroy]

Our attendances have dropped a few hundred a game I would think, but then losing out on one or two visits from rangers (which would see home attendances drop for those games but them being around 8000) and only having one visit from Celtic, where it was the first time I've seen either of them only being given one stand haven't helped!

Wouldn't be surprised if we make the top six and have to play Celtic away for third time!

[PatHead]

Our attendances have dropped a few hundred a game I would think, but then losing out on one or two visits from rangers (which would see home attendances drop for those games but them being around 8000) and only having one visit from Celtic, where it was the first time I've seen either of them only being given one stand haven't helped!

Wouldn't be surprised if we make the top six and have to play Celtic away for third time!

Did Celtic fans not boycott Killie as they voted for The Rangers to be elected into the SPL? Would explain the small crowd. Must admit that with the exception of Cup games I won't be near your place until Johnston is gone.

[Keith_M]

Our attendances have dropped a few hundred a game I would think, but then losing out on one or two visits from rangers (which would see home attendances drop for those games but them being around 8000) and only having one visit from Celtic, where it was the first time I've seen either of them only being given one stand haven't helped!

Wouldn't be surprised if we make the top six and have to play Celtic away for third time!


FWIW, I hope it works out for you guys as I genuinely have sympathy for the clubs that are in such close proximity to the Ugly Sisters. Every club in Scotland suffers from the number of OF glory hunters but the nearer Glasgow you are, the worse it is.

I've never personally disliked anything about Killie......

.....except perhaps your current chairman and the Killie Boot Boys of the late 70's/early 80's. I strongly suspect he was actually one of them. I mostly disliked their cr*p song, to the tune of the Hersham Boys....


"Ki-llie Boys,
Kil-lie Boys,
Laced up boots and Corduroys"



How could anyone not be offended by that.

:tsk tsk:

[The Modfather]

Where's Mickey et all on this thread? I thought they'd have been on to comment on the progress of the fans this season that this thread shows....

:devil:

[vanNISHtelroy]

It suddenly became a boycott after it was revealed they were only getting the one stand. Or it wasn't a boycott it was because of the cost of away games and european games depending on who you spoke to. Think they've 'boycotted us' at least once a season for about five years.

[vanNISHtelroy]

I've never personally disliked anything about Killie......

.....except perhaps your current chairman and the Killie Boot Boys of the late 70's/early 80's. I strongly suspect he was actually one of them.

I strongly doubt he had ever been to a game before he was Jamie moffat's hanger on at games!

[Phil MaGlass]

As written by Tom English in todays EN

Early optimism from fans long gone as only Hibs show increase


Back in November we crunched some early-season numbers in a bid to figure out how SPL attendances were holding up against talk of Armageddon and a death, slow and lingering. It turned out that the numbers were pretty good. Of the ten relevant clubs – Ross County and Dundee didn’t figure since they were only promoted in the summer – seven were showing an increase in attendances with only Celtic, Hearts and St Mirren showing a fall. In such an horrendous economic climate, seven out of ten was a very encouraging number, even if some of the clubs were up only marginally. Being up at all was an achievement.

And now how do the numbers stack up? Well, you can wipe the seven for a start and replace it with a one. Only one club in the SPL has increased their crowds season-on-season, Hibs being the club in question. They’ve gone from an average of 9,728 in their first 13 home games of last season to an average of 10,692 this season. They’re up 9.9 per cent. That’s not to be sniffed at in this day and age.

The rest? Kilmarnock have lost 369 fans per home game and are down 7 per cent. That’s a huge disappointment given that Kenny Shiels has got them going well. Aberdeen are down 2.4 per cent, Dundee United down a trifling 0.57 per cent. Quite depressingly, in the best season of their young history, Inverness have lost just over 200 fans per home game and are down almost 5 per cent. Terry Butcher cannot do much more than he is doing. So much to be proud of up there and yet, in supporter numbers, they’re hitting a brick wall.

Celtic’s figures? The official ones tell us that their average gate this time last year was 49,471 and that it is now 45,669 – a fall of 3,802 fans per match or 7 per cent. That’s what they tell us. What they don’t tell us is if these figures accurately reflect the real attendances. Many doubt that they do. The likelihood is that Celtic’s SPL numbers are down considerably more than 7 per cent, the byproduct of not having Rangers around to make a contest of the championship. Celtic people say they don’t miss their old pals. But all those empty seats at Celtic Park tell a different story.

Hearts are down 1.6 per cent, the figure being so low only because the fans have rallied around a club in dire straits. Motherwell will have cause for frustration in that that their numbers show the greatest percentage fall – 13.8 per cent. For a team on a roll this is desperate stuff. They’ve lost 775 fans per game on average. That leaves St Johnstone, working hard to avoid dropping any more than the 102 fans they have lost since this time last season – they’re down 2.6 per cent – and St Mirren, another casualty having shed 321 fans every home game for a percentage drop of 6.7.

There are myriad reasons why the numbers are falling; ticketing prices, kick-off times, economic reality hitting the pocket of fans, a general air of despondency about the state of the game, the loss of the Rangers fixtures (although you could overstate how much that has hurt all teams bar Celtic who, clearly, are feeling Rangers’ absence). We could go on. There are two ways of looking at these figures. The Rangers way which will tell you that this is Armageddon approaching. Or the polar opposite view that says the league is thriving without Rangers. Neither is true. The reality is somewhere in the middle. Clubs are hurting but not dying. It’s all a frightful struggle, though.

[Oscar T Grouch]

And oor attendance are up even though we never seem to play on a saturday at 3pm, go on the Hibs :hibees

[Liams]

Well doneeee us!! Glory glory

[Spike Mandela]

Our attendances are slightly up due to season ticket uptake on incentives for cup final tickets last year. Good news in any case, however, failure to make top six could affect attendances in final games.

[jacomo]

Pretty sobering stuff overall.

It would be nice to be positive about our figures, except that they're about 3,000 down on 5/6 years ago and we have a stadium capacity of 20k +.

Is there a way of turning this long term trend around? The failure to improve attendances at Killie, Well and ICT is of concern to us all.

[Keith_M]

I'm confused because there was a post on here recently that Aberdeen's attendances were also up. In fact, that they had increased slightly more than ours.


:confused:

[Part/Time Supporter]

I'm confused because there was a post on here recently that Aberdeen's attendances were also up. In fact, that they had increased slightly more than ours.


:confused:

They only had 6000-odd the other night. Also, I think English is only comparing it against the same number of games last season, rather than the end of season average. Aberdeen's attendance collapsed towards the end of last season, after they lost the semi-final.

[S.sct]

Could be a reduction next season.... a wee day oot in May would sort that though ;-)

[SMAXXA]

Could be a reduction next season.... a wee day oot in May would sort that though ;-)

Could also be an increase next season :confused:

[PatHead]

Know they are not an SPL team but I was in Falkirk a couple of Saturday's ago when they were to play their biggest game of the season against Dunfermline. At lunchtime there was a crowd of about 20 guys all waiting on a Rangers bus. If Falkirk can't attract these guys for their biggest game what chance do they have of getting supporters of a 3rd division team away from following them. No wonder Scottish Football overall is struggling.

[Russell The Dug]

Our support is incredible all things considering. Give us something to believe in and fans will be back.

[Bishop Hibee]

Given last season saw the worst Hibs team in our history in my opinion and the worst result in our history, it's a testament to our supporters that they continued to turn up at all let alone in increasing numbers :not worth

These figures are not home support only of course. I'd imagine away support has plummeted in the current recession.

[Swedish hibee]

TBH, I thought the Hibs attendence so far had been not that great.. But reading this has made me think again :agree:
Only managed 2 games this season at ER- Both wins!! Dundee Utd & Hearts


Saving my nxt trip for the big one HOPEFULLY ... :aok: