Stayaway Reebok fans: What's the answer?
10:51am Wednesday 14th November 2007 in Sport By Gordon Sharrock
BOLTON Wanderers are banking on new boss Gary Megson delivering results that will lift them clear of the relegation zone and ease growing concerns over a dramatic drop in attendances.
Crowd figures at the Reebok have slumped to a record low as the Whites have struggled at the wrong end of the Premiership.
And, while they are considering a range of incentives to boost gates, they don't expect any significant improvement until the team starts climbing the table.
"The stark reality is that the club is struggling on the pitch," commercial director, Gareth Moores, said.
"We're in the bottom three and a lot of supporters have voted with their feet.
"What we need to do is deliver results, which I'm sure we will.
We want all supporters to give the club their backing and there are a great number who are and many more will as soon as results start to come
- commercial director, Gareth Moores
"We've seen some terrific performances recently, which we are all confident will soon start to translate into results."
The attendance of 17,624 for Sunday's clash with Middlesbrough was the lowest for a Premier League game since the Reebok opened in September 1997, down almost 800 on the previous low for the Aston Villa game a fortnight earlier.
And although the drop was almost entirely accounted for by the number of visiting supporters, the crowd was 3,500 lower than the correspondiong fixture last season, despite an incentive offering season ticket holders a chance to bring a friend and get a free ticket for the forthcoming UEFA Cup game against Aris Salonica.
"Previous incentives, when we have reduced ticket prices, have been very successful," Moores said. "But we had comments from season ticket holders asking What is in it for us?' So instead of reducing the ticket price, we did it slightly different for the Middlesbrough game and offered the incentive to the season ticket holders.
"Unfortunately, that was not anywhere near as successful, but we'll certainly review the situation and might consider doing something similar again, although it's not necessarily a pricing thing. Results and performances are the main factor."
Attendances are currently averaging 20,558 - down 13 per cent on last season's average which was 6.5 per cent down on the previous year's - despite a 10 per cent drop in season ticket prices. A variety of factors have contributed to the decline: the lack of a big name signing, 10 home games in the first three months, and the managerial turmoil.
But it is results - Wanderers have won just one of their first 13 Premier League games - that are proving a turn-off for the fans.
"The Aston Villa game was sandwiched between two cup games and clearly attending Premier League football is a (financial) burden on every family," Moores acknowledged. "Many selected one or both the cup gmes and chose to sit at home and watch the Aston Villa game on Sky.
"We have had a lot of home games in a short space of time. But we can't get complacent. What will bring people back to the Reebok is good football and winning games.
"We can slash prices - as we did for the first European game (against Rabotnicki) when we only charged £5 - but even that didn't fill the stadium."
The Boro gate - more than 10,000 down on the Reebok's capacity - came just three days after 4,000 Wanderers fans cheered the team's dramatic 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup. But Wanderers acknowledged that many of those who travelled to Germany had taken a financial hammering.
"There were a lot of positives to take from that, which might have suggested there'd be an attendance bounce," Moores said, "but, on the other hand, a lot of people spent an awful lot of money going to Munich and there are, clearly, more attractive fixtures than Bolton-Middlesbrough.
"It is a concern for us, absolutely. But it isn't just a Bolton Wanderers problem. There has been an attendance decline across a number of clubs in recent years. The one thing we have to recognise is that our position in the league is far lower than the position we have enjoyed in recent years.
"We want all supporters to give the club their backing and there are a great number who are and many more will as soon as results start to come.
"Season ticket sales were down to just under 14,000 in the summer but we had just come off the back of four years as the fifth best performing team in the Premier League. Sam Allardyce left the club and a lot of people thought we had reached the top of the mountain."
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