By Albatross
October 4 2004

Hartlepool United fans could be forgiven for a bit of deja vu on Saturday as we beat Hull at the Vic for the second time in five days. There was also a familiar tone in the "From the Boardroom" column by Ken Hodcroft as well.... While I am generally supportive of IOR and what they have done for the club, I think it's fair to say that some of the comments made by Ken Hodcroft in Saturday's programme notes were a little ill-advised. In it, he questions the progress being made in terms of attendances and says that the attendance for the LDV Trophy game against Hull - 1500ish - is roughly equivalent to the attendance we had at midweek games when they first took over the club in 1997.

That's put a few people's backs up - and not without some reason. While there's no doubt that the attendance was poor, the context of the game meant it was to be expected. I could go into reasons such as the competition of seeing Rooney making his Man Utd debut in the Champions League, but to be honest the simple fact is that the early rounds of this competition are not attractive to fans. A quick look at Croydon Poolie's Stats site reveals that the highest attendance we've seen at the Vic in this competition was just under 5000 back in 1988 - and that was the Area Semi following our defeat of Sunderland in the previous round. 1300 is a more normal turnout at the Vic for this competition. Comparing attendances at an LDV game and a League Game is like comparing apples and fish - there's not really a lot in common. While prices may have been reduced, they weren't reduced by that much - and with both managers having said that they wouldn't be fielding a full-strength side it was hardly going to encourage people to come along.

That said, Hodcroft does make some points that ring true. Why extend the stadium unless there is a demand for the extra capacity on a regular basis? Last season we only topped 6000 a handful of times, and our average in league games so far this season is less than 5200. Similarly, more fans through the gate are needed if more money is to be spent on player wages. The problem is that the point is being made week after week - and to the fans that are invariably turning up anyway, or (via the website) to the exiles that would love to be able to attend more games but simply can't get there, especially for a midweek fixture between two under strength teams in a lightly-regarded competition.

What will attract more fans then? Well, the hardcore support is going up (if slowly), and if this trend continues then maybe in a few seasons time stadium expansion will be necessary. The club though also needs to work out how to target the people that may turn out for a big game (such as the Sunderland cup tie) and persuade them to come more regularly. It's hard to see how much more we can do on the playing side - we are coming off the back of five seasons of finishing in the playoffs or better - so what is it that prevents these people coming along? Is it the cost? A perception that we are still not worth watching, built up over the previous 40 years rather than the last five? Competition from the Premiership's Marketing Machine? Whatever the reason (and sniping from the Hartlepool Mail about the need to "Splash out" surely doesn't help), the focus needs to be on bringing new fans in rather than lecturing the existing ones. We as fans have a part to play in that - but some innovative thinking from the club wouldn't go amiss either.