The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

Yeah Wellingborough had a crowd of 169 against Wisbech at the D&D earlier this season, so provided we play them on a Saturday, they should bring 70 or so fans.

Weather/Pitch permitting, I think our Festive games against our hosts will attract our biggest gates for the season.

I'm sure that theRushden has a point. Cold, wet Tuesday evenings with the additional problem of difficult public transport issues must surely affect attendance figures. I know I would have been able to attend far more frequently this season if more matches had been on a Saturday afternoon rather than an evening.

Cotty wrote:I'm sure that theRushden has a point. Cold, wet Tuesday evenings with the additional problem of difficult public transport issues must surely affect attendance figures. I know I would have been able to attend far more frequently this season if more matches had been on a Saturday afternoon rather than an evening.

We do have one regular who is delighted with all the Tue games, the well known Chef from the equally well known Restaurant who can very rearly make Sat.
Hope the weather is kind to us over the holiday period & we can get our 1st 1000 gate on Jan 1st.

It is accepted that Tuesday evening attendance figures are less than Saturday's for a variety of reasons. However, our average Tuesday attendance this season is actually better than last season's evening final average attendance

Just goes to show you can make any argument you want with numbers.

The Tuesday night games are also affected by the reduction in our junior fans.................school nights affect attendances 8-)

Duke of Wimbourne wrote:The Tuesday night games are also affected by the reduction in our junior fans.................school nights affect attendances 8-)

The attendances are also affected by the quality of the opposition.

If you went up two levels to Step 3, there's only one club in the Southern League Premier with higher average attendance than us and that's Weymouth. Of the 71 teams at Step 3, only 10 have higher averages:

Maidstone - 1818
FC United - 1617
Chorley - 716
King's Lynn - 647
Dulwich Hamlet - 602
Weymouth - 585
Wealdstone - 545
Lewes - 542
Lowestoft - 505
Ilkeston - 480

The worst supported team at Step 4 in terms of average gate is Waltham Forest (53). The worst at Step 3 is Thamesmead (89). The worst at Step 2 is Hayes & Yeading (154) although they are playing at Woking I believe which isn't exactly round the corner. Discounting them you've got Boreham Wood on 182.

And at risk of boring people to tears i'll make this my last one. 2 leagues attendance figures are missing on nonleaguematters, but of the ones provided clubs with average attendances at Step 6 over 120:

1874 Northwich - 353
Saffron Walden Town - 185
Barnstaple - 175
North Shields - 175
Plymouth Parkway - 173
Shirebrook - 152
Shaw Lane Aquaforce - 143
Tavistock - 141
Knaresborough - 139
Heaton Stannington - 127
Cleethorpes Town - 126
West Allotment Celtic - 126
Hanley Town - 125
AFC St Austell - 122

North Shields, Heaton Stannington and West Allotment Celtic had their averages significantly bolstered by a recent organised groundhop attended by hundreds.