bawsburst 1,381 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Crisis? Rangers punters still show up in numbers by STEPHEN HALLIDAYPublished on the 25 August 2014 00:47 THERE was, inevitably, much attention paid at Ibrox on Saturday to the number of people who turned up for the Championship fixture against Dumbarton.It was the kind of occasion, against one of the less glamorous sides in the second tier, which provides an indicator of just how significantly Rangers supporters’ level of discontent with the running of their club will affect attendances.On the face of it, the figure of 31,175 did not make especially healthy reading for chief executive Graham Wallace and the Rangers board of directors as they battle to make the numbers add up off the pitch for the financially fragile club. But, although it illustrates the dramatically reduced number of season ticket sales Rangers have been able to generate this year, it was still the third highest attendance of the day in British football, behind the gates at Chelsea and Everton in the English Premier League.It is also worth comparing it with the last time Rangers and Dumbarton were in the same division.In 1984-85, Rangers’ two home games against the Sons were watched by just 16,521 and 8,424 respectively, proving that the extent of any crisis at a club cannot solely be judged by the number of people who pay to watch the team. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogzy 31,195 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Didn't know it was third highest in UK.I suppose it puts it into perspective a bit. Still a poor crowd by our own standards though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thewhitesettler 2,712 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Maybe these are the size of crowds we'll need to get used to, with so many fans boycotting, paying game by game, picking & choosing which games to go to, & not going back until those 3 are removed from the dugout. Our fans have got lots of excuses not to go to the games, if only they'd think of better excuses to go to the games, like I love my Rangers, more than I hate the board, I will not abandon my Rangers in our hour of need, my Rangers need my support to continue playing, my Rangers is more important, to me, than any individual within the club, etc. etc.If you can go to the games, and you're a Rangers supporter, you should go! It's not the same without you being there... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawsburst 1,381 Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Didn't know it was third highest in UK.I suppose it puts it into perspective a bit. Still a poor crowd by our own standards though.The attendance was more than all of the spl put together, which for some reason was belittled by the usual suspects. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcbear 10,924 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 The alternative on a Saturday afternoon after going to see your club for x years would be what? hanging around the house, shopping with the wife, shopping on your own, down the pub watching the scores come in, washing the car doing the garden, all pretty mind numbing in comparison to grabbing the scarf meeting your pals, travelling to the game, few pints before, into Britains best stadium to support your team, win/lose/draw then chewing the fat on the return journey home, repeat for life.Can you just flick a switch and stop going because some mug tells you? call yourself a man, think for yourselves ffs, get back to where you know you should be. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copland bear 7,966 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Was a poor crowd by our standards, but i feel as long as Ally's in the job then these are the crowds we can expect Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRodgA2k8 542 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 The attendance was more than all of the spl put together, which for some reason was belittled by the usual suspects.Regardless of what you say Bawsburst it is by far our lowest attendance at home for a league fixture for over 2 years now. Definitely not up there with what we should be expecting and not exactly something to celebrate considering the clubs current position financially. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carsons Dog 9,878 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 The alternative on a Saturday afternoon after going to see your club for x years would be what? hanging around the house, shopping with the wife, shopping on your own, down the pub watching the scores come in, washing the car doing the garden, all pretty mind numbing in comparison to grabbing the scarf meeting your pals, travelling to the game, few pints before, into Britains best stadium to support your team, win/lose/draw then chewing the fat on the return journey home, repeat for life.Can you just flick a switch and stop going because some mug tells you? call yourself a man, think for yourselves ffs, get back to where you know you should be.Well saidAlthough I would be happy if some of them never came back Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawsburst 1,381 Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Perhaps the doomers prefer the negative evening tims article.Evening TimesHome > RangersDeserted seats show reality of angry Rangers fans voting with their feetPublished on 25 August 2014Matthew LindsayTHE displays of the Rangers team on the park last week were cause for optimism down Ibrox way.Ally McCoist's side netted 12 goals in their two competitive outings and put their shaky early-season form well and truly behind them.The size of the crowds in the home games against both Clyde and Dumbarton, however, were reasons to look towards the future with trepidation.And the attendance at the SPFL Championship fixture with Dumbarton on Saturday afternoon was particularly alarming.For the league meeting with the Sons was perhaps the best chance so far to gauge what the turnout will be like at Rangers home games in the 2014/15 campaign.The Petrofac Training Cup matches with Hibs and then Clyde were always going to attract smaller crowds due to the stature of the competition and the size of the opposition.Much was made of the fact that only 11,190 supporters filed through the turnstiles in the 8-1 victory in the latter game last Monday.It was the lowest Ibrox attendance at a competitive fixture for 29 years.Yet that encounter with part-time opponents from the bottom tier of Scottish football was - despite Gers great Barry Ferguson being in charge of the opposition - expected to draw that sort of response.There were 43,683 in the Championship opener against Hearts a fortnight ago. But there were special circumstances surrounding that fixture.The League One flag was unfurled and the Govan Stand was renamed in honour of Sandy Jardine before kick-off.Plus, the first game against age-old adversaries Hearts after two long seasons of often uninspiring outings against our national game's lesser lights was guaranteed to put a fair few bums on seats.No, the Dumbarton game at the weekend was a far better barometer of what size the attendances - and, in turn, the gate receipts -will be for Rangers in the weeks and months which lie ahead.And the fact that only 31,175 turned up on a perfect afternoon for football must be worrying for both those who follow the fortunes and those who control the purse-strings at the troubled Glasgow institution.It was the lowest turnout at a league game at Ibrox since 24,177 fans watched Rangers defeat Falkirk 4-0 thanks to a Robert Fleck double and goals from Davie Cooper and Terry Butcher on December 13, 1986.A home game against Methil minnows East Fife around this time last year drew 42,870.No company can have nearly a quarter of their customers disappear in the space of 12 months without drastic consequences.Even if all of the 34,000 fans who bought season tickets to see Rangers in League One last season had renewed this summer, the club would still not have had enough money to see them to the end of this term.So for just how long will the Light Blues be able to limp along with just over 20,000 season book holders and fewer than 10,000 turning up and paying at the gate on match days?There are ambitious plans for Rangers to hold another share offering in the very near future and the hope is to raise in the region of £4million of much-needed capital from that.But with shareholder Sandy Easdale and wealthy fan George Letham due to have loans totalling £1.5m repaid, financial experts have predicted that will only sustain the club until the end of the year.The ongoing lack of clarity over Rangers future off the field is overshadowing the fact that on it they appear to be getting their act together after some poor performances.They brushed aside Dumbarton with ease at the weekend thanks to strikes from Lee McCulloch, Darren McGregor and Nicky Clark. An own goal from Chris Turner aided their cause considerably.Bilel Mohsni, who was highly fortunate not to be red carded by referee Brian Colvin for his trip on Scott Agnew, also turned the ball into his net late on to give the sizeable travelling support a reason to cheer.That lapse of judgment by the Tunisian, though, could not wipe the smile from McCoist's face after a highly satisfactory performance by his charges from front to back.He said: "The skipper played in central midfield and chipped in with a goal, Nicky got a good goal and our right-back played well and scored a great goal."To be scoring goals is always good. But to be scoring goals from different areas is an added bonus for us."I was annoyed we didn't keep a clean sheet, but I thought the football was of a high standard. We created a lot of chances, scored four good goals, hit the post and had a goal disallowed."It is consistency that is going to win us the league this year. That is what we have to work hard to get."There are going to be a lot of difficult games for us in the months ahead and we have to be at our best every week." Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeparateEntityMyArse 54,329 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Figure probably includes ST no shows. Not a great crowd really.The big issue for me is what its going to be like come winter months when the weather, travel problems or finding money at Christmas all become additional reasons for folk not going. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Nosed Babe 21,006 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Once I get into a job where I no longer get call outs at all hours then I can organise getting to games. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carsons Dog 9,878 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Once I get into a job where I no longer get call outs at all hours then I can organise getting to games.Stop advertising in the personal columns then Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bothwellbear 1,392 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 It was a piss poor attendance tbh. It sets a very poor precedent for later in the season. If we only get 31k in August, what will it be like December to March when the weather is absolutely stinking. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
themoodybloo 77 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Maybe these are the size of crowds we'll need to get used to, with so many fans boycotting, paying game by game, picking & choosing which games to go to, & not going back until those 3 are removed from the dugout. Our fans have got lots of excuses not to go to the games, if only they'd think of better excuses to go to the games, like I love my Rangers, more than I hate the board, I will not abandon my Rangers in our hour of need, my Rangers need my support to continue playing, my Rangers is more important, to me, than any individual within the club, etc. etc.If you can go to the games, and you're a Rangers supporter, you should go! It's not the same without you being there...Wait till next season if we get promoted (not wishing to tempt fate) then those who are absent will be clamouring for tickets again,even more so the away day ones whilst forgetting the alleged boycott of some of our enemies. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
siddiqi_drinker 14,635 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Few more comfortable wins and a continued improvement in the football on offer and the crowds will be back up to over 40K even with the boy-cotters sitting in the bookies. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carsons Dog 9,878 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Few more comfortable wins and a continued improvement in the football on offer and the crowds will be back up to over 40K even with the boy-cotters sitting in the bookies.Bhoycotters. The new Blue Tims Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetson 16 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Well saidAlthough I would be happy if some of them never came backThat's the attitude Mr Brightside, your right and everyone with a different opinion is a tosser Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carsons Dog 9,878 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 That's the attitude Mr Brightside, your right and everyone with a different opinion is a tosser Have you got voices in your head? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetson 16 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Have you got voices in your head?Oh..........you got me there, guess that's me put in my place.........Pppfffttt !!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carsons Dog 9,878 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Oh..........you got me there, guess that's me put in my place.........Pppfffttt !!!There can be no other explanation for your post as it bears absolutely no relevance to what I said Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
one55 1,510 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 it's not a bad crowd. like it says, third highest in Britain. not bad. a lot of clubs would kill for a crowd that big. the thing is...it's not good enough for us. we should be getting at least another 15,000 in each week.they'll all come crawling back for the big games. or when we get back into the premiership. the times get tough and they fuck off. they'll tell anyone who'll listen that they were there all along supporting their team. aye right. not rangers supporters at all. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reformation Bear 6,453 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I'm very far from convinced that comparisons to previous games against Dumbarton are relevant these days. Nor am I swayed by information that attendances in games in other leagues were less than at Ibrox. Rangers is not in the top flight - it is trying to fight its way back there. Rangers is still seeking financial recovery - others are not. The times for Rangers are very very different with recovery on the park to be achieved this season in the form of promption to the top flight and and financial recovery also vital. Seems to me that of the c10 - 12 thousand Supporters who were physically able to attend and who could financially afford to attend have set the importance of this season and the importance of financial recovery aside and - in effect - become dormant supporters of the team on the pitch trying to win a game to help win promotion. The price of loyalty to the Club looks like its being established - wider Boardroom / financial politics and/or displeasure about the quality of football at Ibrox now measures out in an evaporation of support (at least as far as last Saturday goes). So much for saying we will not forget and so much for getting behind the team to help it to get back to the top flight. 10 - 12,000 invisible cheerleaders voting with their feet by not attending and waiting for better games and/or better times. Some of whom may be noisy enought in their internet or media protests against the Manager and Board and active enough in the form of denying the Company revenue and active enough in the form of not choosing not to buy STs. It could be concluded based on Saturday's evaporation that boycotting STs actually means boycotting Rangers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bump 168 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Few more comfortable wins and a continued improvement in the football on offer and the crowds will be back up to over 40K even with the boy-cotters sitting in the bookies.totally agree Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
superkai 54 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I believe there was as many at Ibrox as there was for the whole premier league card on Saturday. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzzieBear 204 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I believe there was as many at Ibrox as there was for the whole premier league card on Saturday.Probably - keep this thread at the top and let the article about the "deserted seats" slide to where it belongs. 31k is not too bad. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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