Motherwell had 22 competitive games at home this season although the three Europa League fixtures had to be played in Airdrie to give sufficient growing time for the new pitch at Fir Park.
It might have been expected that the July fixtures would suffer because of the traditional Lanarkshire holiday but even the draw of a relatively big name like Steaua Bucharest attracted only 4,975 in early August. If we could manage to reach the Qualifying round next season (remember we are seeded for our first and probably second rounds) then surely we could pack the stands for a visit from any of CSKA Moscow, Porto, PSV, Leverkusen, Man City, Villa, Feyenoord, Dortmund - plus a wad of losers from the champions league!
A poor away support from Tynecastle
The last three averages have been 6,620, 5,801and now 5,135. This time round we failed to breach 10,000, our biggest attendance being 9,355. When Celtic visited in December we could muster only 7,807 duly mainly to the folly of a lunchtime kick off and live TV.
Season ticket holders were able to watch 17 SPL games and 1 CIS Cup tie (3-2 v Inverness). Did they get value for money? The cost per game worked out as £20.56 in the O’Donnell stand, £16.11 in the Cooper and £15 for the East – based on full adult season ticket prices. There seems no doubt that regular fans should sign up to take advantage of the deals on offer. The incentive of free kids tickets bundled with an adult purchase is a brave and welcome attempt at turning the tide and we await with interest to see if the Cooper is a busier place when the new campaign begins. Next season’s early bird prices are available until the end of May.
There is a bigger debate to be had about the prices we charge visiting supporters. Is £22 a reasonable amount to charge for those who travel from Aberdeen, Dundee, Hamilton etc? Can anyone explain how we can justify asking Old Firm fans to stump up £25 for games which are almost always televised? The excuse that other clubs have similar crazy charges doesn’t wash. It’s in the interest of all SPL clubs to increase attendances and barriers to fans need to be removed.
Our average for league games was 5,307. The post-six debacle cost us not only a further home game but it denied us a visit from one of the big two – although as the title had been decided the crowd would have been modest. The last fixture at Fir Park (the 6-6 blockbuster against Hibs) attracted 6,241. While that was a thousand up on our usual turnout it still disappoints given the importance of the clash, the Europa League place was at stake. Yet again we paid a price for a midweek kick off and live TV coverage. We can only hope that the goalfest will encourage some of the armchair fans to leave their satellite receivers for a few hours and turn up at the ground instead.