14,000 Attendance at Wigan Game - Sign of the Times?

[Phillip]

I was shocked to see the large numbers of empty seats at the Wigan game yesterday. My God, they are playing the Champions, in their first home game, and that is all they can draw? I don't know what the capacity of that stadium is, but it looked half empty to me. I remember seeing bits of the crowd for Aston Villa's first game, and I saw a lot of empty seats there as well, though not nearly as bad as at Wigan.

Now, I know that Wigan is in the Rugby part of England, but that dismal attendance for a game against Chelsea seems hard to fathom, unless the recession is still causing a big hardship in England. We shall see if something similar happens at NFL games to be played in a few weeks time. Don't think so, but things are still very bad here for the most part, so it is possible.

Any thoughts about this?

Edited August 22, 2010 by Phillip

[Hutch]

not just losing at home, but being thrashed by newly promoted, relegation favourites Blackpool the previous week can hardly have encouraged Wigan fans to sit through another what always looked like another humiliating defeat. and then there was the last time we played Wigan. a little matter of 8-0.

all things considered, i suspect Wigan fans stayed away fearing the worst. and let's face it, from their point of veiw, they weren't exactly a million miles wide of the mark!

[Drizzy]

I hate watching matches when the stadium looks empty from the camera point of view.

[IrishBlue]

I was there.. absolutely shockin.. the 3 stands were unbelieveable. Couldn't believe when the game, nobody at all.....at least they had there few fans and a drum making a bit of noise!

[BlueNose]

They never fill that ground,its not that they were worried about taking a battering,they just dont have a big fanbase.

im not sure,but i believe chelsea had more fans than they did in the ground yesterday?

[BigIzz]

I was amazed at how loud e Chelsea supporters were on TV and I guess that explains it. Every song came across clear as a bell.

[The Machine]

I am not surpised at the crowd attendance from yesterday's game. It is worth pointing out that Wigan is a town that is dedicated more to Rugby League than to football. I personally want Wigan to go down this season as it is unacceptable that they have small crowd attendances. It does the Premier League no favours whatsoever. Also I think the likes of Leeds, QPR, Nottingham Forest would have larger average attendances than Wigan if any of them came up from the Championship.

[Phillip]

I was amazed at how loud e Chelsea supporters were on TV and I guess that explains it. Every song came across clear as a bell.

That was very nice! Must have been 3000 Chelsea fans there, and they were loud and boisterous.

[bluegraham]

you have to remember wigan dont have asian,german,dutch,scotish even irish fans like chelsea or the bigger teams. wigan is just a working class town people dont have the money anymore

[IrishBlue]

Great sing song it was! Everyone knows Wigan is a rugby town but still, to get 14000 at a prem game versus the champs is dreadful.

[The Machine]

you have to remember wigan dont have asian,german,dutch,scotish even irish fans like chelsea or the bigger teams. wigan is just a working class town people dont have the money anymore

If that is the case then why don't Wigan A) Reduce their ticket prices to a pound (£), and B) create a larger allocation for away fans. I am sure that a lot more Chelsea fans would have gone last Saturday.

[BLUENUT]

I am not surpised at the crowd attendance from yesterday's game. It is worth pointing out that Wigan is a town that is dedicated more to Rugby League than to football. I personally want Wigan to go down this season as it is unacceptable that they have small crowd attendances. It does the Premier League no favours whatsoever. Also I think the likes of Leeds, QPR, Nottingham Forest would have larger average attendances than Wigan if any of them came up from the Championship.

Should Blackpool not be allowed into the league because their capicity is only 12k?

Oh....... and QPR and Leeds are fine where they are thank you.

[Hutch]

If that is the case then why don't Wigan A) Reduce their ticket prices to a pound (£), and B) create a larger allocation for away fans. I am sure that a lot more Chelsea fans would have gone last Saturday.

nice idea but i think the problem was more with the home fans... and i'd guess that if, say 5,000 Wigan fans had got in for £1, around 4,500 of those would have gone streaming out the moment they went 3-0 down!

Edited August 23, 2010 by stride

[Barry Bridges]

I am not surpised at the crowd attendance from yesterday's game. It is worth pointing out that Wigan is a town that is dedicated more to Rugby League than to football. I personally want Wigan to go down this season as it is unacceptable that they have small crowd attendances. It does the Premier League no favours whatsoever. Also I think the likes of Leeds, QPR, Nottingham Forest would have larger average attendances than Wigan if any of them came up from the Championship.

Well theyve faced the best and the worst(likely one of) the league has to offer...and the got smashed both times.....I would say your wish will come true and we wont be going to any more away games their next season.

[ColeMan]

That was very nice! Must have been 3000 Chelsea fans there, and they were loud and boisterous.

the sky tv commentators said we took up our full allocation of 3500

[bluegraham]

If that is the case then why don't Wigan A) Reduce their ticket prices to a pound (£), and B) create a larger allocation for away fans. I am sure that a lot more Chelsea fans would have gone last Saturday.

chelsea would have fans from the north of england and all over so yeah of course we all know chelsea have a bigger fan base then wigan. things aint going to well for wigan at the minute i was at a game in the 95/96 season only our second home game of the season and i think the gate was 22000 how come we have nearly double that now? easy because were winning honours.

[Zola's Love Child]

I was shocked to see the large numbers of empty seats at the Wigan game yesterday. My God, they are playing the Champions, in their first home game, and that is all they can draw? I don't know what the capacity of that stadium is, but it looked half empty to me. I remember seeing bits of the crowd for Aston Villa's first game, and I saw a lot of empty seats there as well, though not nearly as bad as at Wigan.

Now, I know that Wigan is in the Rugby part of England, but that dismal attendance for a game against Chelsea seems hard to fathom, unless the recession is still causing a big hardship in England. We shall see if something similar happens at NFL games to be played in a few weeks time. Don't think so, but things are still very bad here for the most part, so it is possible.

Any thoughts about this?

Not meaning to derail the therad, but outside of Jacksonville, no where has embarassing attendance figures do they? Cinci, Buffalo, Detroit and Arizona will be interesting ones to watch crowd wise this year though.

Wigans attendance has been poor for a while, although our game beings the first of the season, against the champions, well it was very disapointing.

[KrazyTea]

Should Blackpool not be allowed into the league because their capicity is only 12k?

I would agree with you but the stands were the same against us as they were for Wigan vs Blackpool, infact Blackpool seemed to outnumber most of the supporters of Wigan. In fairness it is Blackpool's first year back in the top but regardless, it still reflects poorly on Wigan and surely the lack of finances can't help them stay in the top league. I've never been a big fan of Wigan and I won't be too sorry when I see them go down to the Championship for a turn.

[Plavi26]

Should Blackpool not be allowed into the league because their capicity is only 12k?

And Blackpool are forced by the FA to improve the ground capacity and stands as I recall (that's why the game against Wigan they played away instead of Home)