Stockport County

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

I posted this a few weeks back when someone had a pop at Everton fans for having an average of 34K when they won the League in 85.
I googled that seasons attendances and this was the top 7 clubs.

United 44
Liverpool 35
Everton 34
City 24 (2nd division)
Arsenal, Spurs & Sheff Weds 23

That is before my time - What was TV coverage like? Was it on normal TV?

 

[Bluesince1979]

I posted this a few weeks back when someone had a pop at Everton fans for having an average of 34K when they won the League in 85.
I googled that seasons attendances and this was the top 7 clubs.

United 44
Liverpool 35
Everton 34
City 24 (2nd division)
Arsenal, Spurs & Sheff Weds 23

I love that the best fans in the world (newcastle obvs) dipped to 16k average one season and 17k the following season, including a few sub 10m gates

Dick waving i know but still enjoying pointing it out

 

[Bluesince1979]

That is before my time - What was TV coverage like? Was it on normal TV?

Very little live coverage. Was a weird treat if there was a game on the box

Normal tv? There was ONLY normal tv. Bbc1,bbc2, itv and channel 4 had just come out

From memory there was only ever 2 or 3 games on match of the day. Used to get a reet buzz when you turned up at maine road and ‘the cameras’ were there

 

[ancoats]

Attendances were down across the board, in all divisions. City were often 4th best supported team with gates in the low 20,000s.
Spurs and arsenal getting similar.

Football was in a very dark place in the 80s. Many were put off from going.

I still think gate figures that was being put out by Swales at city was a bit dodgy, well (very dodgy)
went to most homes games from about 82ish and onwards and the cooking of the books on gate's was laughable,

then from the 1990 worked on the gates myself and Swale's and the board had it down to a tee with staff having to write the turnstiles numbers in pencil, so they could change the figures, don't get me wrong both turnstiles staff and the club had more fiddles than the halle orchestra going, but if you got greedy the club would take you off the turnstiles and put you on the exit gates

 

[Bluesince1979]

I still think gate figures that was being put out by Swales at city was a bit dodgy, well (very dodgy)
went to most homes games from about 82ish and onwards and the cooking of the books on gate's was laughable,

then from the 1990 worked on the gates myself and Swale's and the board had it down to a tee with staff having to write the turnstiles numbers in pencil, so they could change the figures, don't get me wrong both turnstiles staff and the club had more fiddles than the halle orchestra going, but if you got greedy the club would take you off the turnstiles and put you on the exit gates

Oh yeah totally. I recall the laughs heard loudly when gates when the attendance was announced

City v bournemouth 1989 springs to mind

I would imagine all owners at most grounds were at it

 

[ancoats]

Oh yeah totally. I recall the laughs heard loudly when gates when the attendance was announced

City v bournemouth 1989 springs to mind

I would imagine all owners at most grounds were at it

City vs Charlton 1985 promotion game
i will never see or hear anybody that will say the figures the club put out for that game was right hahaha

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

I still think gate figures that was being put out by Swales at city was a bit dodgy, well (very dodgy)
went to most homes games from about 82ish and onwards and the cooking of the books on gate's was laughable,

then from the 1990 worked on the gates myself and Swale's and the board had it down to a tee with staff having to write the turnstiles numbers in pencil, so they could change the figures, don't get me wrong both turnstiles staff and the club had more fiddles than the halle orchestra going, but if you got greedy the club would take you off the turnstiles and put you on the exit gates

I remember going through those turnstiles. Was there like 3 blokes in there, one taking the money, one watching the money being taken and one watching the guy watching the other guy?

 

[Zabbasbeard]

City vs Charlton 1985 promotion game
i will never see or hear anybody that will say the figures the club put out for that game was right hahaha

Yeah you could hardly move on the Kippax that day, yet the official figure was 47,285...that "attendance" always stuck in mind for some reason. ..

 

[East Level 2]

City vs Charlton 1985 promotion game
i will never see or hear anybody that will say the figures the club put out for that game was right hahaha

I'd believe the fiddled attendance stories if I didn't know that each turnstile was fitted with a non-resettable counter.
Unless of course Swales just took the figures from about 60 turnstiles rather than all of them. - It's also possible the police knew the true number and didn't care what the club reported to the media.

 

[ancoats]

I'd believe the fiddled attendance stories if I didn't know that each turnstile was fitted with a non-resettable counter.
Unless of course Swales just took the figures from about 60 turnstiles rather than all of them. - It's also possible the police knew the true number and didn't care what the club reported to the media.

The non-resettable counter was only used for the club turnstiles staff to cash up, the police did not really care about the figures back then and still don't, I know 100% the fiddles that went on by both the club and staff, one staff fiddle working on the turnstiles was having a guy outside and season tickets that was ripped out of the book being handed back to him in a cig box to re-sell, another scam was doubling up or letting known people jump over,

but the club books were the biggest scam and the pencil for staff to cash up and give the amount of figures going through their turnstiles, like I said the club did not mind the staff doing a little dodgy stuff ? But if you got greedy, then you were out or put on exit gates