I’m actually asking this as a genuine question rather than attempting to ignite our readers into a chanting frenzy.
The Second Coming by Kevin Baldwin. If you haven’t read it, do so. A fantastic read, well written, and a lovely match-by-match insight into the return of Mike Walker.
I’m on my second reading but it’s as interesting as the first. It also throws up some lovely memories of games/results that I remember from what would have been my lower sixth.
The only game I attended that season was Portsmouth (a) with my dad. We won 1-0 courtesy of an Ian Crook long-range daisy cutter.
But whilst page-turning, I was once again struck by how low our attendances were.
11,947 v Portsmouth (h)? Incredulous. I was fortunate enough to have been able to get into UEA and seeing as my dad had relocated us from Aylsham to Glastonbury in 1987, growing up I had only seen us play in the flesh a meagre three times.
But that all changed in 1998 whilst at the UEA. Namely ‘In for a quid’ for category C games – a ploy aimed at getting the unemployed into Carrow Road, as a stooodent’. I qualified rather nicely for this and ended up on rather a few occasions watching us play for less than the price of the programme. My ticket stub probably cost more to produce… some games were great, some weren’t.
Oxford at home was a real low point. A 3-1 loss with the crowd at 17,000.
The average attendance that season? 15,000.
Barely believable by today’s standards. Of course, other games were better attended, full house vs Ipswich for example, and incidentally Robert Green’s debut. But over my three years at uni, attendances were, quite simply, awful.
Delve even further back in time, and despite topping the Premier League, the average attendance that season – 16,453. For a team that could have won the inaugural Premier League. Bonkers!
I’ve always attributed the change in attendance to the Playoff final in Cardiff, ultimately unsuccessful, but nevertheless, attendances since then have soared and remained a remarkable constant despite dropping into League One.
On further inspection, it appears that it was the 2004-05 season where our attendances hit the real heights and remained ever since. And, yes, I’m well aware of the increase in capacity, but this does not account for the much larger percentage increase.
So I’m genuinely curious as to your thoughts/reasons for the change in our attendances. To have 23,428 vs Wycombe at home (2009) in League One (incidentally my first return to Carrow Road since 2002 with my dad) yet also have 27,035 home to Man City really is remarkable.
What made you attend circa 2004 onwards?
I longed for an atmosphere at Carrow Road in the late 90s and unless you were in the lower Barclay or the Snake Pit, it was a touch on the quiet side. I sense there was a real yearning for groups such as Along Come Norwich to try and instil volume, atmosphere, colour and the most roaring, rasping, rapacious fans.
And what a great job they’ve done.
Carrow Road (pre-COVID) has simply been a delight to visit. A real cauldron, akin to even, dare I say it, Dortmund. But this was all post attendance increase.
So what was it that caused you to start attending, or even to come back to the Carra?
And for god’s sake, Boris, listen to Delia and let the bloody fans back in. Disclaimer – safely, of course.
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The link to see our attendances season-by-season is here.
Huckerby. He single-handedly ignited the club and the region and made us a “must watch” team. His reaction to Norwich City and the way the fans responded to him built that community feel and made the club reach out more and more. Since then we’ve been up and down almost every season, so a reason to attend and support but generally that way of playing exciting football all stems from Darren Huckerby.
Great point, Stephen. I think I’ve underestimated the value of Hucks as a marquee signing. Certainly put us on the radar, not least because of his reputation, but also because he was destroying teams – a joy to watch.
It wasn’t just our attendances that went up though, take a look at the much-vaunted Newcastle’s attendances at the start of the 90s – not massively better than ours as I recall.
Perhaps the value of SKY as a brand vaulted the attendances up once the premier league really took off.
That said, attendances were a lot higher when they were all standing.
What’s our attendance record? 40k +?
Having watched City regularly from middle sixties. When it was sometimes awful to stand in 10k or under. When you paid at the turnstiles, you could vote with your feet. If you felt it was not worth giving up some family time. You didn,t bother to make the trip.
Now if you feel the same the choice is there, but it can cause a “I have already paid for the game” so might as well get my money,s worth.
I would be interested to if if they reverted to more paying at the turnstyles. If the crowds went down.
One thing I am sure a few more non season ticket holders could get to see their team
I would love a return to that. As an exile, It’s nigh on impossible to watch Norwich when I pop up for weekends.
When I first attended matches it was 50p (1977) for children. People were poor then and expecting people to pay the kind of sums they do now would have been unthinkable (£100-200 for a family to attend?). Many of the people who wished to follow the club were discarded as prices rose astronomically in the late 1980s and early 1990s and replaced by the nouveau riche. It helped to squeeze out hooligans but many perfectly decent people too., hence the relatively low crowds of that era. And if you look more widely those fans have not come back – Norwich are lucky that they are a monopoly provider but for clubs elsewhere it is a real struggle with their new, shiny but half-empty stadia. Honestly, football was definitely better in the 70s and 80s despite some occasional crowd trouble. And it was great to actually stand behind the goal away at Griffin Park when Vrancic curled in one of his specials 3 years ago.
Hi Martin.
A theory. The Jarrold stand was completed in 2003/04. Many people had to be relocated to allow the old stand to be demolished. When the new stand was opened the club sold half season tickets. Also the team were playing well so many people, me included, bought those half season tickets and got lots of highs, particularly when Huckerby was tearing into the opposition.
The new fans in the Jarrold stuck with the team, on the whole and the rest of the stadium was filled by the pre-existing fans.
It’s only a theory.
A very good theory….I’d not thought about the relocation of fans and the back filling.
I think Hucks flying through teams and being a ‘marquee’ signing, does seem to be a common thread.
Good article. Although I was living away at the time, I seem to remember in the immediate post-Chase years from 1996, the club did some sterling work to get fans back on board (mentioned elsewhere, measures such as kids for a quid and half season tickets, plus various community initiatives).. It wasn’t quick – less than 10,000 against Birmingham in 1998 sticks in the mind, but it gradually filtered through over time.
The sucess of that and the unexpected play-off run in 2002 led to regular 20,000 + crowds, which then got steadily higher due to things, as said above, like the new stand, Hùcks, and getting to the top flight. We’re almost victims of our own sucess, becausr casual tickets are all but gone, and we’ve hit a ceiling with the capacity..
I still wince at our crowds in the glory years though, but it wasn’t just us.
I think Joe Ferrari did a lot of work behind the scenes to reinvigorate the club.
I was too young in the 80s to really attend football so fortunately the hooligan era bypassed me. I’m a fan product of the SKY era (groan haha).
Thanks for reading
I don’t think it was a capacity issue. Throughout the 80s 13,000 wasn’t uncommon and 17,000 was considered good despite the capacity being much more. It wasn’t just Norwich it was the whole of football, all clubs had much lower attendances then. The reason for it was twofold. Firstly football was just re-emerging from the the hooligan years which had driven away the family audience and made the game toxic. Secondly, government had nil sympathy or support for the game, locking fans in cages during the match, demanding heavy over-policing which turned the atmosphere into something very different from a pleasant experience, and also implementing compulsory membership schemes which killed the laissez faire ‘do you fancy going to the match today?’ option for many people on a Saturday afternoon. The malaise was not just at Carrow Road, it was throughout the game. For further details on attendances (with charts!) here’s my previous article concurring with Martin’s points and confirming why Delia was so pleased with Nigel Worthington – https://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/2020/03/21/was-worthy-worth-it-the-crowd-thinks-so/
Cracking article, Chris. Must’ve missed that first time round but found it a very enjoyable read this morning. Loved the graphs too.
I guess Worthy created the wave…
Thanks Martin. Always enjoy your stuff too. Your point about how low the crowds were during the best season in 1992/93 is always fascinating. I’m still slightly nonplussed why crowds increased again more recently what with increased TV coverage these days and pricey season tickets etc, but they have. The public are a funny lot – and very difficult to predict!