Interesting question, not as many as some people think imo.
In terms of paying supporters we will average around 10-11k home supporters this season actually in the stadium this season, and that's probably being ambitious.
In terms of categorization, in simplist forms you are looking at those that go occassionally / going less than they used to (fan/floater), and those in the local area that don't go (floater/groups).
Unless people are currently / likely to contribute physical or financial support (merchandise purchases, cafc player etc) once they have left these shores / local area etc then there is little relevence to adding them to any figures imo.
Fans leaving our local area is probably 95% compared to 5% of fans that move to our local area.
The key challenge is find:
A. Ways to continually replace physical support in local area B. Maintain revenue stream from those that leave the area
Interesting question, not as many as some people think imo.
In terms of paying supporters we will average around 10-11k home supporters this season actually in the stadium this season, and that's probably being ambitious.
In terms of categorization, in simplist forms you are looking at those that go occassionally / going less than they used to (fan/floater), and those in the local area that don't go (floater/groups).
Unless people are currently / likely to contribute physical or financial support (merchandise purchases, cafc player etc) once they have left these shores / local area etc then there is little relevence to adding them to any figures imo.
Fans leaving our local area is probably 95% compared to 5% of fans that move to our local area.
The key challenge is find:
A. Ways to continually replace physical support in local area B. Maintain revenue stream from those that leave the area
Interesting but I think the definition still needs refining. I think there are floaters who are 'fans' who could be relied on to contribute physically when the team is experiencing good perfomance / high league, those who would turn up sometimes where ever we are and those who never go to games but would take part in action if the club was under serious threat. I think the number of fans who could be relied upon to act (even in a small way) in a crisis could be nearer 200,000, those who would when we are mid table league one is much less.
Developing an understanding of the different categories, what they might contribute and how to grow revenue is key. If the average gate was 18,500 and there are 1,250 away fans, are you saying that there are in excess of 6,000 comps and no show ST holders? How else do you arrive at a figure of 10/11,000 paying home fans? What is very clear to me is that there are c.8,000 empty seats at most games and the club needs to start filling them... How many will fill themselves if we sign the right forward(s) and continue our progression into the top six?
Another important aspect is Loyalty - especially as you get to the outer edges of Stig's diagram. How many of the 25,000 and 100,000 in the outer two rings consider Charlton as their number one club? A fair chunk of them are probably "Charlton is my second team after Man U/ Barcelona/ Arsenal, so I might pop along to The Valley occasionally as I live nearby."
Then again, that second last ring is also where you find people like me and other distant Addicks who get to games when we can and spend way too much time on here becasue Charlton is very much our first club. If it comes to money-raising and other initiatives, this kind will be well up for it, whereas the above group will be less so. (For example, we normally sponsor a player and/or go to hospitality every now and again as a way of providing the club with income instead of a season ticket.)
yes. My father was once a season ticket holder and RoD regular on matchdays but due to commitments on a saturday he can't make it. I'm on a student budget and can't be arsed (sorry) to get to the valley every other week from where i am in west london. But we'd both give our left nut to be at wembley to see the addicks, like many many other lapsed supporters.
At the last play off final I was in a group of eight - three diehard Charlton, one that converted from Spurs to Charlton at that match, one other Spurs, one Newcastle, one Wimbledon and a girlfriend of the Spurs fan who didn't have much allegiance to anyone...
At the last play off final I was in a group of eight - three diehard Charlton, one that converted from Spurs to Charlton at that match, one other Spurs, one Newcastle, one Wimbledon and a girlfriend of the Spurs fan who didn't have much allegiance to anyone...
Sounds like a terrific party. Damn good thing we won!
It's a hard number to quantify, as the big clubs will have thousands (millions?) of fans in this country and abroad who when asked who they they support, will reply Man U or Arsenal etc, who will watch them on TV, buy a (real or fake) replica shirt etc but never go to an actual game.
I suspect Charlton have relatively few armchair supporters, though there will be people who rarely or never go who have a soft spot for us.
I think it all depends on how you define "fan". I don't know but here's my best guess:
Hoping to have some more insight into this soon... just wondering if anyone else has an insight? Maybe Airman or Henry Irving? People who have tracked the clubs development over the years while I was simply sitting watching footy!
I think we know the ST holders have just gone over 10,000 & maybe another 1,000 @ Christmas... but how many in the regular and occasional bracket? Well Airman has stated 3-4,000 walk up sales so 3,000 regulars go to 7 games each meaning 10,000 fans fill that category. (23 games / 7 * 3,000) I think only the club could answer for occasional fans - Trust surveys indicate twice as many occasional fans as regulars but its not scientific. I love the graphic and not just for the subliminal would ya connotations
Comments
In terms of paying supporters we will average around 10-11k home supporters this season actually in the stadium this season, and that's probably being ambitious.
In terms of categorization, in simplist forms you are looking at those that go occassionally / going less than they used to (fan/floater), and those in the local area that don't go (floater/groups).
Unless people are currently / likely to contribute physical or financial support (merchandise purchases, cafc player etc) once they have left these shores / local area etc then there is little relevence to adding them to any figures imo.
Fans leaving our local area is probably 95% compared to 5% of fans that move to our local area.
The key challenge is find:
A. Ways to continually replace physical support in local area
B. Maintain revenue stream from those that leave the area
I think the number of fans who could be relied upon to act (even in a small way) in a crisis could be nearer 200,000, those who would when we are mid table league one is much less.
If the average gate was 18,500 and there are 1,250 away fans, are you saying that there are in excess of 6,000 comps and no show ST holders? How else do you arrive at a figure of 10/11,000 paying home fans?
What is very clear to me is that there are c.8,000 empty seats at most games and the club needs to start filling them... How many will fill themselves if we sign the right forward(s) and continue our progression into the top six?
Then again, that second last ring is also where you find people like me and other distant Addicks who get to games when we can and spend way too much time on here becasue Charlton is very much our first club. If it comes to money-raising and other initiatives, this kind will be well up for it, whereas the above group will be less so. (For example, we normally sponsor a player and/or go to hospitality every now and again as a way of providing the club with income instead of a season ticket.)
I suspect Charlton have relatively few armchair supporters, though there will be people who rarely or never go who have a soft spot for us.
Well Airman has stated 3-4,000 walk up sales so 3,000 regulars go to 7 games each meaning 10,000 fans fill that category. (23 games / 7 * 3,000)
I think only the club could answer for occasional fans - Trust surveys indicate twice as many occasional fans as regulars but its not scientific.
I love the graphic and not just for the subliminal would ya connotations