It would seem that announcing attendances is becoming a thing of the past, with AFC Wimbledon reticent to declare crowds. The 'opening day" thriller on their return to Plough Lane didn't sell out.....and Wimbledon don't appear to be declaring any gates unlike the rest of their division!
[urlhttps://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/league-one/attendances[/url

This raises the question "How much do they need us"?.....or even "do we need them"?

We can safely assume that the CEO has convinced DH that his is a vital move if the club is to survive, but if the good folk of Merton aren't prepared to follow their local football club, risen from the ashes and back where they belong, then what exactly are the club expecting in terms of interest for an alien sport?

Have a look at the video on Youtube for the highlights of AFC V Portsmouth from early September. The far stand is empty, the terrace at one end is empty, the away fans at the other end is 1/4 full at best.....so even if the stand where the cameras are placed was full, they are looking at 3k maximum.

so, if only 2,700 Wimbledon fans can be bothered (I know it was a cup match) to see their side back at their spiritual home, how the hell are we going to get families from the borough to games?

£200,000 mate? That'll do nicely



The club need to rethink this move. Stay at Trailfinders where we can train and play together and spend the saved cash on players, because I'll be stunned if we average any more than 250 at PL by the end of the season.....

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing

Indeed it is.
We can deal with the information that is to hand.......

1. Wimbledon are taking us in a tenants. Unless you've read elsewhere that this isn't the case, then by all means share with the group
2. The figure most used is £200,000 a year, with a further contribution to floodlights etc if we were promoted to SL. AGAIN....Unless you've read elsewhere that this isn't the case, then by all means share with the group.
3. We currently train and play at the same venue...this includes all sides from Ladies, youth, academy to the senior squad.....this will not be the case when we move which will result in further costs...unless you've read elsewhere that this isn't the case, then by all means share with the group
4.. From the AFC website match report ...the reality was 7,728.......unless you've read elsewhere that this isn't the case, then by all means share with the group.
[urlhttps://www.bwfc.co.uk/matches/fixtures/first-team/202122/august/afc-wimbledon-vs-bolton-wanderers-on-14-aug-21/[/url
5.. The papa Johns cup match video clearly shows that 50% of the stadium wasn't open to the public. It also shows that the away fans numbers 300 at best.....AGAIN...unless you've seen or read elsewhere that this isn't the case, then by all means share with the group.

I agree. A little knowledge is dangerous, but given we have been told NOTHING about the benefits of moving yet again whilst declaring that we have no intention of challenging for promotion, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how this move isn't going to finally kill the club whilst servicing the debt of a soccer club that can't fill its own stadium on opening night!

I've said before that filling a 9000 capacity ground would be hard for AFC. They say they have "over" 3000 members of the Dons Trust but nowhere near enough to service the debt. 5k was the average in their last season at Kingsmeadow I believe. While we would love to get back to the days of 3k committed fans, I think they may need us or somebody. Not sure with p/t mode upon us, we need them if we can stay at Ealing. Attendances have always been Wimbledon's achilles heel & what drove the migration to MK.

As Orange has said before, PL might work if we were a SL side but not as a p/t bottom feeding team of prawns. Just another baffling decision in a long line of baffling decisions in the history of the Broncos.

AFC Wimbledon have made no secret of the fact that they need money to service their debts, the Broncos are just a way of doing that. See also, the Broncos paying for floodlight upgrades if promoted to SL, as per the rental agreement.

https://bfy.tw/RjSh

https://bfy.tw/RjSh

Not any great surprise, a number of football clubs have had the same sort of issues around late availability of cards or new/old cards not working if updating their systems or moving to a new provider. Quins had similar problems last Saturday too. Hard to understand why these problems have arisen given starting date for the season were well known in advance.

Average AFC Wimbledon gate during the 2019/20 season was 4383.

A realistic target for us is 438. A 80+ % increase on this year

Depends on how we set packages, to attract the community in the area, AFC Wimbledon Fans, Past London Bronco Fans, and show more interest in current season ticket holders! with attractive various packages,

Last weekend we had two quarter finals in The Grand Final play off's, Wigan and Warrington at home, and both only attracted just over 7,000? Leeds ran free coach travel to Warrington, this is about the lowest attendance at Wigan for a while. Have fans found other interests during lockdown? it does not seem the case with football.

After the two page interview Ralph Rimmer gave to all RL Media, I have not heard one word of praise, no one seems to think he said anything? and take in his record since he became CEO, it is dismal! The consultation panel to look at the future of the game, to have St Helens Chairman and Leeds Rhinos CEO in the panel, does that promote any excitement or keen interest. To have this panel looking at the distribution of Sky monies, which will seriously affect Championship clubs, and for them to have no voice, sums up our game!

We have been force fed for far too many years! that we are the greatest game, which I feel is a complete joke! We are in a deep mess, and that is not just Our Club!

Indeed. The club should have recognised it is a time for consolidation. It needed to look after the fans it has. This move has disaster written all over it.

I actually think we probably will, post Covid get around 500/600 but only because away fans will turn up to visit a new big ground but, sadly, because they can see a big win on the cards. All that is of course predicated on whether coaches etc can actually park near the ground . If not, all bets are off.

And?
You post like you're in the know, but all you've done is shown yourself to actually know nothing more than anyone else
AFC Wimbledon didn't fill their first game back at their spiritual home. Th y then appeared to have less than 1/3 full stadium for a cup match...I'd go as far to say 1/4.
London have fewer than 100 season ticket holders....paying £200,000 to a struggling 3rd tier soccer club who are saddled with debt for a stadium they're never going to fill is insanity ....and I for one think we have been mugged.

We have indeed been mugged but to be fair we did throw ourselves at the mugger and ask to be.

I wonder has the deal been signed or will someone see sense ?

Sense is not common, not for Hughes anyway.

I find it hilarious that someone would use a Papa John’s trophy crowd - previous attendances for that competition at Wimbledon (Kingsmeadow) being 642 & 388 - as some sort of proof that nobody would turn up to watch another club playing a different sport in its primary competition. Desperate stuff.

Those figures probably show how fickle the AFC fans are, as League average at Kingsmeadow was a bit over 5k. Most clubs would expect more than 10% for a cup game however 2nd rate the competition is. This season's game was against Pompy who travel in numbers so you might expect a decent crowd.

I find your denial of 1,500 empty seats at the grand opening hilarious. The papa John's shows your hardcore....the ones that are supposed to give egg chasing a gander.....desperate will be Wimbledon when Hughes pulls the plug and to 50 remaining bronco fans are supposed to cough up 4k a year each to service your debt

Suggest Orange man needs to do a bit more research on football and the importance fans throughout the country give to the midweek domestic cup tournaments.

No matter what spin the pro PL supporters put on the move , for the life of me I cant see it working....and thats not from a marketing or research angle just from someone who has seen the decline of a club that he has loved following for over 25 years...

It wont work, as the only way you get fans is success on the pitch. And thats not going to happen paying 200K on rent a year.

Give it one season at most, once reality kicks in with 300-500 people watch London lose by 50 to Bradford or Dewsbury

Fully aware that midweek cup games aren't well supported....same awareness that AFC seem reluctant to publish their gates this year. I'm also still puzzled as to why they didn't fill th place for it's grand opening, reporting that nearly 9,000 fans went wild when there were only ,7,700 in attendance?
The need to either lie about or simply not declare attendances is strange.
If they're not getting the numbers expected, then it makes our deal with them more important....to them.

Agree Orange it is very odd not to announce attendances whether on the basis of who turned up or how many tickets were sold. You might imagine they have had to notify the police & Local Authority for safety & planning purposes. HMRC would also be interested in accurate attendance figures. A mystery of Broncos proportion!!!

The Bolton game was a Test Event so that maybe why it wasn't full. That doesn't apply to their other games though.