Ealing Crowd numbers matter

Geoff DC wrote: Maybe it's a name thing. Ealing sounds like somewhere you get lost in London. Premiership Clubs don't make a fuss about their location:- Saracens are not called Barnet Quins are not called Twickenham London Irish are not called Brentford Wasps are not called M1/M45 or currently 'Solihull ????'

Geoff DC wrote: Maybe it's a name thing. Ealing sounds like somewhere you get lost in London. Premiership Clubs don't make a fuss about their location:- Saracens are not called Barnet Quins are not called Twickenham London Irish are not called Brentford Wasps are not called M1/M45 or currently 'Solihull ????'

Games can be managed better if people think about it, Leicester City and Tigers used to have fixture clashes, till the police put their foot down and quoted crowd safety/policing grounds, now the clashes are avoided. This could be taken a step further, when the Tigers at away, the fixtures for Leicester Lions/Hinckley/Loughboro' Students could be at home and maybe pick up some support from those not able/wanting to travel to Exeter of Newcastle, sure this could apply for other sides/areas too to spread the crowds around.

IainS wrote: Admittedly it's 25 years ago but I remember when Coventry last made a serious challenge for promotion to the top tier they were attracting crowds of 4,000-8,000. Bedford achieved similar numbers. That was before ringfencing-in-all-but name reduced the number of teams eligible for promotion through rules primacy of tenure, ground capacities of 10,000 plus etc. All conveniently applied to clubs seeking promotion but not those already in the top tier. So in recent years the Championship title race has usually been a foregone conclusion, everyone knowing that the newly relegated team complete with P-shares and parachute payment will run away with the league. If anyone else had the temerity to mount a challenge, they were not eligible for promotion anyway. Those who tried to break in (i.e. London Welsh) were doomed by the rules they had to comply with, so no one much wanted to follow their example. If most exciting thing about any league is who will win the title/be promoted, then there was boredom built in to the very structure of the Championship. And they wondered why attendances were so low. In the event that the artificially steep step up to the premiership was smoothed, for example by allowing a ground capacity of 5,000, including temporary stands, more clubs might see top tier rugby as a realistic prospect and there could then be a genuine promotion race involving four or five clubs with a chance of promotion. I suspect that in such circumstances Championship attendances would be rather higher than they are now.

That makes way too much sense for the RFU to ever consider doing something so sensible.

Some very important posts on this thread imo. Promotion & Relegation are central to keeping supporters' interest in leagues. Jersey had incredible support when they teetered on the edge of relegation - hundreds spent serious money and travelled to Bedford for that wonderful day at GR when against all odds they won and stayed up. This season with no prospect of relegation or promotion support is half those levels. Promotion and relegation should be determined on the field with the best team going up and the failing team going down. If Ealing can afford a better team than Jersey and win the league I'm not in the least bothered whether their supporters are taller, richer or have more spaniels than me they should be promoted. 

Park Ranger wrote: About 10 or more years ago I can recall attending the Jersey v Loughborough Students play off match in Jersey with a big crowd present that day. Onn the other end of the scale I also remember attending an Ealing v Rosslyn Park match at Ealing with about 350 in the ground which Park won. After the match the spectators departed quickly leaving me in the Ealing bar almost alone to reflect on our victory. Jonny no mates style. Needless to say the Ealing v Park match had no bearing on promotion or relegation.

Edited by islander - 30 Dec 2022 at 21:18

An attendance that day in 2011 of 3100 is incredible for a National Two match.

Park Ranger wrote: An attendance that day in 2011 of 3100 is incredible for a National Two match.

Isithalftimeyet wrote: Park Ranger wrote: An attendance that day in 2011 of 3100 is incredible for a National Two match. I think we had over 3500 for the visit of your own team the following season.  A crucial game at that point in the season where RP were going well too.

I remember that day well. First game of the New Year, stunning day, no wind and blue skies, but brisk. The crowds were still coming in 20 minutes into the 1st half (just under 4,000 if memory serves). I think that whoever won went top. Great game, I can’t remember the score, but I know that Jersey won. I think that it is still our largest crowd for a league game (Islander?).

The Jersey crowd were once considered to be nearly as good as an extra man on the pitch. Anyone who was there when they beat London Irish with that incredible late try after goodness knows how many phases will surely remember the crowd noise - they must have heard it in Cork. I have mates who support London Irish and they still treasure the experience even though their team lost.