Barrow v Bradford match thread

[mickmike wilson]

Arguably they get more away fans due to better & bigger facilities & of course geography, BAFC building steadily

[Sonofsam]

Stood in the ray wilkie stand and that was the best atmosphere ive had there the your not singing anymore was brilliant and very loud lets have more of it

[2 doors up]

I realise that there are valid reasons that may be trotted out (holidays, Tall Ships, tournament at the bridge club, Ulverston Nose Hair Plaiting Festival, etc.) but I thought a home attendance of c3350 was rather disappointing for the first game of the season with a new manager, many new signings, a new wall-decoration, all following a great start at Stockport.

4,100 up from 2,800 for our first home match last season - that is a massive increase.

Wonder how many tickets were sold for the game as opposed to those holding season tickets as will always have that number for starters, even if no one turns up

[Bombadel]

Stood in the ray wilkie stand and that was the best atmosphere ive had there the your not singing anymore was brilliant and very loud lets have more of it

Agreed, was a quality atmosphere, Matt platt made a mistake right in front of us as well, and the noise was epic

[pjdaly]

Stood in the ray wilkie stand and that was the best atmosphere ive had there the your not singing anymore was brilliant and very loud lets have more of it

Agreed, was a quality atmosphere, Matt platt made a mistake right in front of us as well, and the noise was epic

Couldn't agree more. My tympanic membranes were vibrating more than they've done since round about late 1968.

[xerxes]

Matt platt made a mistake right in front of us as well, and the noise was epic

Got a bigger cheer than the goals!

[HenneysKnee]

Stood in the ray wilkie stand and that was the best atmosphere ive had there the your not singing anymore was brilliant and very loud lets have more of it

Agreed, was loudest I’ve heard the full ground for a very long time. Was surprised by the 4000 attendance though tbh, seemed plenty of room in the HS End

[bamber678]

Don’t get why people are transfixed on making the away end bigger. We are growing our fan base and giving away fans any more than 15% of capacity is crazy

I would've thought it's fairly simple. We rarely sell out our own sections completely, but there are clubs in this league who would bring close to double what our away end holds if allowed. A bigger away end would let them do this and increase revenue for us so everyone wins. Away capacity can (apparently) be increased by developing the existing away section without reducing home capacity also.

Our away end is a disgrace to be fair and definitely should be one of the first areas of the ground that is addressed. It's not just a bit shit, it's a complete embarrassment.

The 12th man is the atmosphere. Do you think it would sound like a home game at 0-0 with 1200 away fans? With the noise we make away I highly doubt it. Look a few years ago at fylde, we hadn’t won there in ages and we took 1,200 on Boxing Day and we made it sound like a home game and won 2-1. More away fans works commercially but not from a home team point of view. If that’s the case why not stick all the season tickets in the away end and sell the remaining 4000 tickets to Bradford?

[behind the goals]

"One reason you failed to mention and the biggest reason that some might not have been there. The cost of living crisis. Set to get worse in October so given the circumstances the attendance was excellent IMO"
Spot on.
And come the back end of the year it will only be a certain few who can afford to take in home games, a lot of folk just wont have the money to attend Holker Street and other matches up and down the country.

Will be interesting to see how low the crowds will be in October and the rest of the season when the cost of living kicks in for families, we have 1,200 season tickets holders many might not bother having drinks before the game and food in the ground so of loss income to the club, the away support will be a couple of hundred if we are lucky, so like you say only a certain few who are not season ticket holders will be able to attend home games, why do we need 2,000 seats when we can`t get people to sit in them, the cost of living crisis will be here for a long time, football better get use to it.

[bluessupporter]

why do we need 2,000 seats when we can`t get people to sit in them, the cost of living crisis will be here for a long time, football better get use to it.

We need them to conform with EFL rules. I know what you're saying but other clubs would complain if we were not made to put them in, and we would be thrown out of the league.

[Etsjb]

*SPOILER ALERT* Hate to be the bearer of bad news to you, but please take it from someone who reports on X-rays for a living…a break (layman’s terminology) and a fracture (medical terminology) are the same thing.

Since I’ve not heard anything to confirm it looks like the info I received regarding Rays injury might not be accurate. If so that’s great news and I’m sorry if I was premature. Believe me I’m more than happy to apologise. He’s a really good asset.

With regard to breaks and fractures I shall also leave that to the experts. Clearly swelling associated with either a break or a fracture is more to do with the damage to tissue as opposed to the bone so you can get swelling with both.

I am an expert, reporting musculoskeletal and chest X-rays is my specialty! It’s what I do all day everyday. When a bone fractures, blood and fat are dispersed in to the joint capsule causing distension which we see externally as swelling, bruising is bleeding within the superficial soft tissues which can occur with ligamentous and/or tendinous injuries.

*PLOT TWIST* Not all fractures have marked soft tissue swelling or visible bruising, this is variable depending on the severity of the injury such as the force applied, number of fracture fragments, displacement and angulation.

Suffice to say, no one will really know by looking at him, if he is weight bearing then that’s a good sign but without medical imaging and confirmation from PW, it is wrong to speculate.

[McMark]

Since I’ve not heard anything to confirm it looks like the info I received regarding Rays injury might not be accurate. If so that’s great news and I’m sorry if I was premature. Believe me I’m more than happy to apologise. He’s a really good asset.

With regard to breaks and fractures I shall also leave that to the experts. Clearly swelling associated with either a break or a fracture is more to do with the damage to tissue as opposed to the bone so you can get swelling with both.

I am an expert, reporting musculoskeletal and chest X-rays is my specialty! It’s what I do all day everyday. When a bone fractures, blood and fat are dispersed in to the joint capsule causing distension which we see externally as swelling, bruising is bleeding within the superficial soft tissues which can occur with ligamentous and/or tendinous injuries.

*PLOT TWIST* Not all fractures have marked soft tissue swelling or visible bruising, this is variable depending on the severity of the injury such as the force applied, number of fracture fragments, displacement and angulation.

Suffice to say, no one will really know by looking at him, if he is weight bearing then that’s a good sign but without medical imaging and confirmation from PW, it is wrong to speculate.

Yet another bone of contention it would seem.

[HenneysKnee]

I’d be surprised if the cost of living crisis affects away attendances that much; teams you would expect to sell their allocations still will, teams like Salford will still be the ones who bring 200 at most

[Ste Story]

given how the away end is I suspect a lot will not return. Bigger away followings means increased costs ie policing etc

Do many people really choose whether to attend an away game based on the quality of the away section? Always find this notion baffling, you go to watch your team on the pitch and to some extent have the day out accompanying it, personally couldn't give a shit how nice or grim an away section is when I went away.

Been to dozens of away games and tbh distance aside I imagine Barrow would be a half decent away day if you chose to make it so - plenty of pubs within walking distance of the ground, not some half-empty soulless all seater bowl where you're 100m away from the pitch, not miles out of town requiring long walk or taxis... What do people want, pot plants on the window sills and a nice persian rug?

[Tallow]

given how the away end is I suspect a lot will not return. Bigger away followings means increased costs ie policing etc

Do many people really choose whether to attend an away game based on the quality of the away section? Always find this notion baffling, you go to watch your team on the pitch and to some extent have the day out accompanying it, personally couldn't give a shit how nice or grim an away section is when I went away.

Been to dozens of away games and tbh distance aside I imagine Barrow would be a half decent away day if you chose to make it so - plenty of pubs within walking distance of the ground, not some half-empty soulless all seater bowl where you're 100m away from the pitch, not miles out of town requiring long walk or taxis... What do people want, pot plants on the window sills and a nice persian rug?

All these things make a good away day, but if the view of the pitch is diabolical ( ie Holker Street) then I do think it stops away fans from going a 2nd/3rd/4th visit.