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Post by Fisch on Sept 13, 2021 6:32:38 GMT
l was watching the 'closer look' video of the Oldham game and was surprised at the clips of the fans in the stands. I expected to see plenty of over 60 year old stalwarts with a sprinkling of young'ns. Not so!
A sea of young faces with no sign of anyone who went to school with the Krays is what l saw.
It has been a concern of mine that LOFC's age profile was far too old and that we'd be heading for unsustainable numbers as we aged lot pass into history.
I'm guessing that correcting this has been a core focus of the board and, it seems, a successfully implemented strategy. ln view of the rise of our nearest publicly funded neighbours, this has been a major win. I understand this issue was one of Barry Hearn's biggest long-term worries.
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Post by ostralia on Sept 13, 2021 7:31:05 GMT
One of the things that I first noticed soon after moving to Australia and started going to matches (football, but also rugby league and the occasional union or Aussie rules match) was the much broader demographic that attended games.
Women and families attend in numbers; back in the uk it was mostly middle aged men who occasionally brought their sons. I’ve long wondered whether this was something football clubs could do something about, or whether it was just one of those cultural differences you see when you move countries.
I remember some pretty half hearted efforts from clubs, ‘family stands’ that differ in no way from regular stands except for the name being one example.
Not sure what my point is with this ramble, but if orient are indeed making efforts to broaden the supporter base, it’s an effort worth praising.
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Post by Fisch on Sept 13, 2021 7:45:18 GMT
......... but if orient are indeed making efforts to broaden the supporter base, it’s an effort worth praising. I guess that was the point I was making, albeit not very well. I wonder if others on here have also seen this change over recent years, at least since T & T took the reins. Here in Croatia, football fans are mostly as would have been experienced in the UK in the 1970s. Not a place for families. No surprise to me that they play mostly in front of empty stands which themselves are mostly some distance away behind an athletics track. It's so bad here that the sports news section on the regular TV news is dominated by what Croats who play abroad are doing. American basketball leagues, Bundesliga, Modric etc... |
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Post by Fisch on Sept 13, 2021 7:54:46 GMT
Neither are the north 'family' stand.   |
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Post by MungO on Sept 13, 2021 11:25:42 GMT
I think we need to go back to Barry's time (love him or loathe him) for getting us a fit for purpose stadium.
It isn't that I wouldn't have taken my boy's to the old Brisbane Road (it's a birthright, they would have suffered like I did), more of a case that I couldn't have because the facilities were crap and non-existant and there would be the risk of losing them down a gap in the urinal, down trap 3 or falling from the steep stairs down the back of the West Stand into a load of bramble, rubble, and ultimately into Oliver Road.
Yep it's all sanitised, sparkly, corporate, full of advertising, and clean now. And it has lost it's charm from what I and you lot prior to me grew up with, but they are generally safe environments now and I think that has encouraged women folk to turn up, and in turn more of a family day out.
Barry also done season tickets for a tenner which got a lot of people my age (35-45 group) interested.
Now I'm not saying Barry is a saint but he did do some good groundwork for the club.
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Post by MungO on Sept 13, 2021 11:27:37 GMT
I was sitting with Macklin on a train back from somewhere once and I put such questions to him about what was gonna happen with Becchetti now gone and I'm sure at the time he said that our (woefully out of date at the time) database was showing the average age of an Orient supporter was 58 and it was of immediate concern to lower that.
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Post by dohnut on Sept 13, 2021 12:49:22 GMT
Excitement and glamour will bring in the younger fans. The 100s in cricket. Rugby now looking at a 12-a-side franchise. Alas with football excitement cannot be guaranteed.
In my little corner of the West Stand, ages are generally 40 and upwards, mostly upwards. Same in the bar areas and on the tube. Of course a smattering of youngsters. The odd what looks like local kids football teams em-masse.
I hope we are attracting younger fans these days. Many, like me now in their 60th year of coming to games, will soon call it a day. But we’ve gotten use to the mediocrity of Brisbane Road interspersed with the odd good season. Younger people want more and have so many other things competing for their time. 90 minutes at Brisbane Road or 90 minutes on the Xbox/PS4.
Tough for clubs.
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Post by aylesburyos on Sept 13, 2021 13:08:22 GMT
In the Bradford closer look video I was pleased to see a number of black fans attending. Maybe we need to reach out to local asian & east european locals too
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Post by Fisch on Sept 13, 2021 15:06:52 GMT
..... It isn't that I wouldn't have taken my boy's to the old Brisbane Road (it's a birthright, they would have suffered like I did), more of a case that I couldn't have because the facilities were crap ...... Spot on Mungo. I once asked the owner operator of Santa Pod drag racing track what was his biggest success in improving ticket sales.. He was very clear: clean toilets and a wife/girlfriend friendly environment. "biggest win by a country mile" was his view. |
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Post by buffalobill on Sept 13, 2021 17:01:44 GMT
Let's face it attendances aren't falling off a cliff and we lose fans every year because they can no longer attend due to age, so we must be bringing in a few youngsters.
We are not a glamour club, but if we have a bit of success, then hopefully the hard work the club have done in trying to get kids from local schools and forces and NHS workers in, will mean those that have attended come back.
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Post by osoldguy on Sept 14, 2021 14:34:37 GMT
Let's face it attendances aren't falling off a cliff and we lose fans every year because they can no longer attend due to age, so we must be bringing in a few youngsters. We are not a glamour club, but if we have a bit of success, then hopefully the hard work the club have done in trying to get kids from local schools and forces and NHS workers in, will mean those that have attended come back. I wonder if KJ will take the FA cup seriously? does it fit into this seasons plan. Or will he put out a second string and hope for the best. I do hope we progress in the cup as I feel it does hold some value to the lower EFL clubs and attracts attention to those that follow football. I just don't want to get turned over again by a non league club as in the past. |
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Post by MungO on Sept 16, 2021 10:59:30 GMT
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Post by MungO on Sept 16, 2021 11:00:10 GMT
This is a good initiative from Accrington. Give the kids a shirt. Give them somewhere they belong.
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Post by Fisch on Sept 16, 2021 11:34:16 GMT
This is a good initiative from Accrington. Give the kids a shirt. Give them somewhere they belong. That looks a good idea, maybe a bit too expensive if the shop is operating as a profit centre. |
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Post by Prestige Worldwide on Sept 16, 2021 20:23:27 GMT
A lot of young professionals have moved to the Leyton/Leytonstone area. I suspect a fair few of them like football too and Orient is the perfect club for them.
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Post by aylesburyos on Sept 16, 2021 22:48:50 GMT
We have more E10 season ticket holders than for quite a while. Lots of professionals moved in from Islington & Hackney
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