Realistically what league do you think we could establish ourselves in?

[Three of Diamonds]

To answer the question I think we could realistically establish ourselves at this level. It would be nice to have a foray into the league above now and again, with a good cup run thrown in occasionally.

[AFCRD_Dan]

I'd be happy if we stay around the level we're at. Before we even think about stepping up to the next level we need to get more people through the gates.

I've said this on social media, but unfortunately the people of Rushden and the surrounding areas would rather be armchair fans of premier league sides. It's disheartening when I walk around Rushden High Street and see children and their parents wearing Man Utd, Liverpool or Arsenal shirts.

[TwinkleToesTomlin]

I don't think this is the case. Having spent a few hours in various Rushden drinking holes pre-games, yes there are plenty of Liverpool fans, but with no football to watch on tv at 3pm, they'd love to come and watch some decent live football.

BUT, they choose to stay in the pub or at home. Why?

The biggest reason, particularly in this day an age, is its' too expensive. Its' my own fault as I wasn't a member last year so didn't vote and therefore cant moan, but I'm very much against the price increase. We need to move away from "Well xxxxxx charges this and they charge that".

We're not top of the league, we're not watching players like Meikle and we're not providing facilities like St Neots (although this is massively improving).

If I wasn't a die hard fan who would come regardless, how many times do I think I have got my moneys-worth? Waders, Kings Lynn, K*ttering and Tamworth at home off the top of my head. Not many more. For £11, you'd get 4 pints in the Rose or you could have a 15/21 chance of being bored.

Look at Hayden Road, look where is it situated, look at the demographics.

Yes, Peaksy might want a few extra quid for his budget, but that needs to come from elsewhere. We're in a fortunate position, that for the first time in a long time we can look at the long term and build for the future, to do that, we need a larger fan base. Realistically, I think we could regularly attract 800 fans. That would be enough for the league above, just.

[TwinkleToesTomlin]

I don't want my above post to sound negative.

We're making really good strides forward as a club.

The progress on Hayden Road is extraordinary and having the bar now is superb, especially with Mick and Jon who are willing to try new initiative and actually listen to the punters.

[Formic]

I remember similar debates when R&DFC were around and there were discussions about getting the crowd to average 4000 or more when we were a league team, or over 2000 during the post-Griggs era. We have an interesting mix of teams at this level - some based in "villages" / small towns like Barwell, Kings Langley or Leiston, and some in big towns like Tamworth, Lowestoft or Stourbridge. The combined size of Rushden, Higham and Irthlngborough is similar to the size of Banbury, yet their average attendance is significantly lower.

I took the population figures from Wikipedia (Column B), and compared them to last season's average attendances (C) to work out an proportion of population attending games (D). I then looked at a target attendance of 2% of the population (E), and finally showed how the attendance compares to this target (F). Obviously Peterborough Sports comes out badly as they are a second team in a big town, and the Redditch town size is inflated as it covers the "conurbation" but perhaps these figures might help the debate.

[Formic]

It will be interesting to see how Bromsgrove's attendances hold up as they reach Step 3. Like the Diamonds they were formed as a "phoenix club" in the past 10 years, and had to start right at the bottom of the pyramid - with Bromsgrove being a similar size to Rushden. Unlike the Diamonds they were able to access the ground of the club which was disappearing - although what from what I can remember from seeing Bromsgrove Rovers it was rather run down. They have Redditch and Alvechurch for local rivals at this level.

[AFCRD_Dan]

I don't think this is the case. Having spent a few hours in various Rushden drinking holes pre-games, yes there are plenty of Liverpool fans, but with no football to watch on tv at 3pm, they'd love to come and watch some decent live football.

BUT, they choose to stay in the pub or at home. Why?

The biggest reason, particularly in this day an age, is its' too expensive. Its' my own fault as I wasn't a member last year so didn't vote and therefore cant moan, but I'm very much against the price increase. We need to move away from "Well xxxxxx charges this and they charge that".

We're not top of the league, we're not watching players like Meikle and we're not providing facilities like St Neots (although this is massively improving).

If I wasn't a die hard fan who would come regardless, how many times do I think I have got my moneys-worth? Waders, Kings Lynn, K*ttering and Tamworth at home off the top of my head. Not many more. For £11, you'd get 4 pints in the Rose or you could have a 15/21 chance of being bored.

Look at Hayden Road, look where is it situated, look at the demographics.

Yes, Peaksy might want a few extra quid for his budget, but that needs to come from elsewhere. We're in a fortunate position, that for the first time in a long time we can look at the long term and build for the future, to do that, we need a larger fan base. Realistically, I think we could regularly attract 800 fans. That would be enough for the league above, just.

At the time the club recommended to vote for an increased match-day entrance fee because of rising costs of running the club, I was more than happy to pay extra if it helps the club in the long run.

I remember the match day cost at RDFC was £16 during our football league era.

[Pigman]

I agree with the point TTT is making - existing fans who are committed will probably swallow the price increase, they should (if they’re a member) have been involved in the decision.

But to attract new fans the price needs to be competitive - it’s a tough one to get right.

[Formic]

I agree with the point TTT is making - existing fans who are committed will probably swallow the price increase, they should (if they’re a member) have been involved in the decision.

But to attract new fans the price needs to be competitive - it’s a tough one to get right.

I'd agree with the need to be competitive - but competitive with what, in terms of local Sport. You'll pay £24 to see the Cobblers (and can't even take your own food and drink - and might need to pay for parking). It's more than that to watch the Northampton Saints, and a similar price for a T20 game at the County Ground. You'll pay £57 per person for a trip to Silverstone in late July (or a lot more for the Grand Prix). It's £22 for a trip to Santa Pod this month (or a lot more for the Bug Jam).

[Pigman]

Perhaps competitive was the wrong word, attractive is a better one.

We need some innovative deals to draw new punters in - we need to make sure people are aware of the fixtures, getting the message out amongst the community. There shouldn’t be a pub in town that doesn’t have fixture list displayed for example.

Easy for me to say I know, but I was against the price increase this year because in my opinion you’re bleeding the same people dry and many don’t have the money these days, times are tough for a lot of folk. If the fans that have followed us thus far start to drift way because it’s getting a little pricey, then we’ll be in real trouble.

I know why you gave comparisons, but the other events you’ve mentioned are way above our level - we’re a step 3 football club! £11 might not be a lot to some folk, but there does become a tipping point that some people will say breaking into another tenner isn’t worth it.