With no major trophies in almost 40 years - look the Intertoto plaque does not fall into the major trophy category alright?! - Newcastle United have clung doggedly to their big club status on the basis of turnover and attendances.
Regularly among the 15 richest clubs in Europe, Newcastle have the financial might to compete with the most powerful clubs on the continent. They also have the fanbase, with 52,000 people filling St James's Park for every Premiership game, a crowd which is looked upon enviously around England and across Europe.
Turnover and attendances are naturally linked, but is it a sign of the growing ambivalence this season that the Magpies could not attract more than 29,000 to their Uefa Cup game against AZ Alkmaar?
Regular readers of this site will know I believed the Alkmaar game to be the most important of the season, but there were more than 13,000 empty seats and Alkmaar brought almost 2,000 fans over from Holland.
That is a shocking statistic and for all the importance of European football to the club and its reputation, brand, ego etc etc, it's worth noting that the highest European attendance this season came in the Intertoto Cup against Lillestrom back in July - 31,059 for what was basically a pre-season warm up game.
Live television coverage doesn't help - even if that idiot Colin Murray hosted the Five Football show before the knockout stages. He's rubbish on the radio and clearly doesn't know a thing about football so why oh why is he on my television screen? Has he been booted off Fame Academy yet? Anyway.....
It is a worrying dip in attendances which will surely have been noted in the boardroom, particularly as it's getting close to that time of the year when season ticket renewal forms start to drop on doormates again. So much for the glory of Europe.
In the Premier League, Newcastle, give or take a few hundred tickets, continue to put the sold out signs up before every match, but is their increasing disillusionment at what looks like another mid-table finish and are European nights suffering the backlash?
The empty seats will have been noted elsewhere and I'm sure Manchester "We're the best fans in the country" City will be crowing about it in that nasal drawl of theirs even though their stadium has more empty seats than a Gary Glitter fundraising gig most of the time.
But, before fans up and down the country, start to question Newcastle's big club status I'd like to point out that there were more than 5,000 people at St James's Park on Saturday to watch an FA Youth Cup semi-final against Liverpool.
That is more than Leyton Orient and several lower league teams get at most home games and I doubt any other club in the country could attract a similar sized crowd for a youth game.
Such was the unexpected level of demand that several missed kick off as they couldn't get through the turnstills in time. The passion for football remains, it's just a shame the Uefa Cup doesn't seem to inspire the same depth of feeling.
Mind you, I bet Newcastle have no trouble selling their ticket allocation if they reach the final in Glasgow! Personally, I reckon anyone found to have stayed at home and watched Colin Murray on either Football Five or on Fame Academy should be banned from getting a ticket!
- Post to:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Nowpublic
Reddit
« Previous | Home | Next »