If both us and Warrington can string some good wins together, then Warrington at home could get 20,000+

I think you're right, and that people should be applauded for this. But the onus is definitely now on the club to send out the right signals. There is a real worry in the air that mid-table mediocrity is our new home, and Wigan fans bred on success will not pay to experience that, as we saw in the 1970s when the crowds dwindled alarmingly - at some games then there were only about 4,000 on.

Wigan need to give some clear signal that this current level of football is unacceptable, and appointing a coach who is not satisfied with second best and who has the ability to kickstart a real revival is the most obvious way.

Yeah but the cup may have a lot to say in that. If either side progress the cup semis would be week before the match and if either side progress further the week prior will be spent getting cup final tickets.

Should also point out we haven't had a under 10,000 league crowd since 2005. Everyone else bar Leeds will have had plenty of those. It wasn't too long before that when 8,500ish crowds were regular at the JJB.

So long as we sell in excess of 10,000 season Tickets we will never have an offical arttendance less than 10,000 as we (and other clubs?) count "tickets sold" (incuding season tickets) rather than attendance at the game.

I don't think we sold 10,000 season tickets this season.

The season we averaged over 16k Saints and Wire both played twice at the JJB. That would make quite a difference to the overall figure.
There has been some lousy weather too for our home games, like last Friday. That's bound to affect the walk up when there's a game on TV at home or in the pub.
Considering the number of home losses I think the crowds have held up well. To continue and improve, the team does have to start winning and we must climb the League table.

Don't forget we have only won TWO games at home, and one of them was Celtic.

Poor fare and people will vote with their feet.

It's not rocket science.

Was about to post the exact same thing. I know plenty of 'casual supporters' who arne't coming at the moment. Win a few more, get into the top 6 and people will return. The same at almost any club in any sport.

An obvious factor that needs to be taken into account. It will have affected the whole of super league and not just Wigan RL.

The performances on the field are a big reason why. The rugby league on show has been boring and very monotonous at times. There have been games where I have literally looked forward to the full time whistle and just going home. I blame this partly because of the decline in standards of the engage super league but on the whole the vast majority is because of the poor rugby that has been put on "show" for the supporters.

Wigan Athletic aren't bringing in huge crowds as well so maybe the economic situation has hit people hard in Wigan...




























Or is it because both teams are crap

I get the feeling in the town in general that people are losing interest with the rugby, sad but true.

Wasn't this "more competitive" Super League going to increase attendances because games would be so close and exciting and crowds would flock to see them?

All the big clubs crowds are down and the RFL will realise this i hope and try and stop it, clubs putting the addmisson money up year on year doesnt help with the players wages frozen for years they cant keep justifing an increase, people choose to have a drink or buy an hot dog but we shouldnt have the addmisson going up with out fans views without the fans the would be no club.

It's simple. Too many years of boring rugby. What are we playing for now?? The chance to finish 6th at best. Hardly exciting for any casual fans, its sad but true.

It felt like that in 2005 and then totally the opposite the year after. It's more an apathy towards the 'entertainment' being dished up I feel.

Just because you 'have a feeling' that doesn't make it true. Not remotely.

I'd argue that the big challenge to RL in Wigan has been and gone. Even if Latics continue to stay in the Premiership, the glamour of it has faded. I don't hear any more people chatting about Latics in pubs than I do about Wigan. I don't see any more Latics shirts around town than I see Wigan shirts. And then of course Latics may at some point get relegated.

The real danger was the year we faced relegation. There was a definite possibility we could have fallen off our perch then. But we didn't, and now we can't.

still getting more than plastic scousers and there top of the table

That would be us I take it?

You may be getting more than us, but our figures are up this season on last year, so far. I'd rather be growing from a smaller base than shrinking from a larger one.

I don't think success is the key to crowds. It's excitment people want: the rollercoaster experience. If people think the match is going to be a cracker then they'll turn out. You should have been at KR when Leeds came to visit us this season. The place was rocking. Well, at one point I thought it was going to explode and not because the electricity supply needs fixing! While that level of intensity may not be so good for the older tickers in the crowd, people want to be able to anticipate a thriller not a walkover or a knockonathon.

Was that when fatterthanyou got knocked on his ass.....

As I overheard someone saying at the JJB on Friday night, 'they can't keep treating us like this'. People aren't going to turn up week in week out to see them lose all the time.

If we are getting crowds like this when we are losing and getting poor results and at times this season not even looking bothered, then we must be confident that when we turn things around on the pitch the crowds will come. If we had the success saints have had over the past few years, I would bet on it that we would have double what they get at the GPW. We are still the best supported club in the country, with a mixture of away and home support. We will always have at least 10,000 there, even if we go bottom of the league we would still get that many, with that sort of core support we cannot go wrong.

if we get to the challenge cup semis look at the rugby fever come back to wigan, it happened in 07- rugby is well and truly alive in wigan.

the away support in the play offs will be bettered by nobody.

Do you think the removal of relegation (an undoubted rallying call in 2006), added to the top 8 play-offs, meaning teams can have a shot at the Grand Final after a mediocre season, has affected this?

Definitely.

We have to get there first but I agree the support we take in the play-offs is out of this world, I am pretty sure we out numbered Bradford at their place for the biggest comeback game. The games after that against Hull and Leeds were also awesome.