Do the people of Reading care?

[Sutekh]

You only have to look at the racial diversity of the people in Reading and compare it to the typical crowd at the Mad Stad to start to understand the issue.

And other big towns/cities don't have a similar diversity?

Ruh, oh! I sense another locked thread brewing....

[Snowflake Royal]

Weird pov from epk

[SCIAG]

The club is shit at attracting supports who aren't from a White British background.

We have some fans from other backgrounds (even a few who have played for the first team - Obita, McIntyre, Loader) but fewer than you'd expect.

Seems to me like you only get into the club if you are brought along by a male relative, or maybe a childhood friend. Far fewer get into it through other routes, like moving to the town for university or work and deciding to go along.

Don't think that should be especially controversial. On the other hand "support is declining because traditional fans are being displaced by immigrants" is obviously wrong.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

You either enjoy/follow football, or you don't. Probably less people in the town are bothered because the football has been dreadful and there is a major disconnect between the club and the fanbase for about a decade now, fans just don't relate to the team/club anymore.

It's probably not just the people of Reading specifically, but there is likely a lot of our fanbase comes from the entire county of Berkshire, especially considering we are the only professional club in the county.

I read an article a while ago which had the town's population matched up against the average home crowd for the season (possibly for the 21/22 season) and I think we were at around 7.9%, which was in the top half in comparison to other Championship clubs. Burnley were top with about 15% I think.

[Dirk Gently]

The single biggest factor in why people support their football team is some variation of "my dad/my family/my friends took me when I was young" - this generally accounts for about 70% of respondents.

We don't have a history of mass-support that would lead to this level of engagement - especially as a fair proportion of people in Reading aren't historically "locals".

So yes, while some do care, there aren't enough of them to make a significant difference.

For most of the newer supporters, especially those brought in by "family friendly" promotions, watching football is just one of many competing leisure activities the town offers them - no different to a cinema or an ice rink - so the loss of one of them won't be particularly major, and they won't mobilise to keep it.

[tmesis]

For most of the newer supporters, especially those brought in by "family friendly" promotions, watching football is just one of many competing leisure activities the town offers them - no different to a cinema or an ice rink - so the loss of one of them won't be particularly major, and they won't mobilise to keep it.

I don't really think there's any link between between being a 'newer supporter' and your loyalty to a club. New fans will come along. Some will get the bug, some won't. That's always been the way.

It's not as if fans were noticeably more loyal in the Elm Park days. Crowds fell through the floor in lean times back then.

Crowds have actually held up pretty well in the last few years, given how terrible we've been.

I don't think I've ever met a single football fan who regards their local football club as being no different to a leisure activity. Commitment levels will vary, but you'd need to be completely detatched from the events on the field, just watching a game as a neutral, to feel like that - and even then, it'd be unlikely.

[morganb]

Walking back through ... town after games for years, you could almost guarantee at least one random passerby would ask about the score and have a quick chat about how the club were doing.

We often experience this either before the game in town or afterwards at the station or on the train home. Having kids wearing the hoops often helps.

People don't necessarily know who we are playing but do have a vague idea of how the team/manager are doing.

[tmesis]

With people generally no longer reading local newspapers, and match highlights now tucked away on smaller tv channels, it must be much harder for people who don't actively follow the club to have any idea what is going on.

People just don't get exposed to the club as they might have done in the past.

[Royal_jimmy]

You only have to look at the racial diversity of the people in Reading and compare it to the typical crowd at the Mad Stad to start to understand the issue.

And other big towns/cities don't have a similar diversity?

Not in places like Burnley, Sunderland, Plymouth, Norwich, Middlesbrough etc. Most people who live in/around there always have done. Small immigration population. To be fair bar Norwich and Plymouth you'd have to pay me to live in those other places.

[Clyde1998]

For most of the newer supporters, especially those brought in by "family friendly" promotions, watching football is just one of many competing leisure activities the town offers them - no different to a cinema or an ice rink - so the loss of one of them won't be particularly major, and they won't mobilise to keep it.

I don't really think there's any link between between being a 'newer supporter' and your loyalty to a club. New fans will come along. Some will get the bug, some won't. That's always been the way.

It's not as if fans were noticeably more loyal in the Elm Park days. Crowds fell through the floor in lean times back then.

Crowds have actually held up pretty well in the last few years, given how terrible we've been.

I don't think I've ever met a single football fan who regards their local football club as being no different to a leisure activity. Commitment levels will vary, but you'd need to be completely detatched from the events on the field, just watching a game as a neutral, to feel like that - and even then, it'd be unlikely.

This. In the 70s, 80s and 90s, we would get average attendances of 3-5k; getting an average over 6k was a successful season. Getting over 10k on a regular basis would've been a fantasy - yet our lowest attendances in the past few seasons have only just dip under 10k. Most sides at Championship level, and quite a few at League One level, have a much longer history of getting average attendances over 10k than us - which builds support overtime through family and friend connections.

Given how poor we've been for successive seasons, our attendances have been surprisingly good.

[Royal_jimmy]

For most of the newer supporters, especially those brought in by "family friendly" promotions, watching football is just one of many competing leisure activities the town offers them - no different to a cinema or an ice rink - so the loss of one of them won't be particularly major, and they won't mobilise to keep it.

I don't really think there's any link between between being a 'newer supporter' and your loyalty to a club. New fans will come along. Some will get the bug, some won't. That's always been the way.

It's not as if fans were noticeably more loyal in the Elm Park days. Crowds fell through the floor in lean times back then.

Crowds have actually held up pretty well in the last few years, given how terrible we've been.

I don't think I've ever met a single football fan who regards their local football club as being no different to a leisure activity. Commitment levels will vary, but you'd need to be completely detatched from the events on the field, just watching a game as a neutral, to feel like that - and even then, it'd be unlikely.

This. In the 70s, 80s and 90s, we would get average attendances of 3-5k; getting an average over 6k was a successful season. Getting over 10k on a regular basis would've been a fantasy - yet our lowest attendances in the past few seasons have only just dip under 10k. Most sides at Championship level, and quite a few at League One level, have a much longer history of getting average attendances over 10k than us - which builds support overtime through family and friend connections.

Given how poor we've been for successive seasons, our attendances have been surprisingly good.

Success shouldn't define support in my opinion.

In terms of stadium attendances to population we're poorly supported and it's a shame really. As mentioned on another post, Newcastle is a similar sized population to Reading but they fill 52k. I'm not saying we should be doing that because many people move to Reading from other parts of the country and from abroad (whereas having spent time in Newcastle most people who live there are genuine Geordies, whereas maybe half of Readings population aren't born locally) as Reading has got a lot of big companies and prosperity, but it's a shame many of those don't have an affinity with the club.

Liverpool (ok it's got twice the population of Reading) but has 2 massive clubs and having lived there for a fair few years it was the same as my experience of Newcastle, lots of scousers and very hard to find people bar uni students who decided to live there. Obviously people in Liverpool as a massive footballing city will support Liverpool or Everton. It's a lack of integration/interest of those who move to Reading with the history of the town and the football club I think.

[tmesis]

I don't really think there's any link between between being a 'newer supporter' and your loyalty to a club. New fans will come along. Some will get the bug, some won't. That's always been the way.

It's not as if fans were noticeably more loyal in the Elm Park days. Crowds fell through the floor in lean times back then.

Crowds have actually held up pretty well in the last few years, given how terrible we've been.

I don't think I've ever met a single football fan who regards their local football club as being no different to a leisure activity. Commitment levels will vary, but you'd need to be completely detatched from the events on the field, just watching a game as a neutral, to feel like that - and even then, it'd be unlikely.

This. In the 70s, 80s and 90s, we would get average attendances of 3-5k; getting an average over 6k was a successful season. Getting over 10k on a regular basis would've been a fantasy - yet our lowest attendances in the past few seasons have only just dip under 10k. Most sides at Championship level, and quite a few at League One level, have a much longer history of getting average attendances over 10k than us - which builds support overtime through family and friend connections.

Given how poor we've been for successive seasons, our attendances have been surprisingly good.

Success shouldn't define support in my opinion.

In terms of stadium attendances to population we're poorly supported and it's a shame really. As mentioned on another post, Newcastle is a similar sized population to Reading but they fill 52k. I'm not saying we should be doing that because many people move to Reading from other parts of the country and from abroad (whereas having spent time in Newcastle most people who live there are genuine Geordies, whereas maybe half of Readings population aren't born locally) as Reading has got a lot of big companies and prosperity, but it's a shame many of those don't have an affinity with the club.

Newcastle has a metropolitan area not that far south of a million, doesn't have any significant clubs in their locality other than Sunderland. They have also been historically successful, and obviously, are a premier league club.

If we'd been able to stay in the premier league for a few more seasons it would have really helped us grow. It would have seen kids ditch the team 'off the telly' they supported and turned them into Reading fans.

There's really no reason why we couldn't be an Ipswich kind of club, being the team for the area. It just takes a spell at the top, or at least being a decent Championship club.

I really don't think our support is as bad as some believe it to be though. We had 25 years in the top 2 divisions, and barring 21/22, I'd say at no stage was our average crowd lower than you'd expect for a team in that position.

[Royal_jimmy]

This. In the 70s, 80s and 90s, we would get average attendances of 3-5k; getting an average over 6k was a successful season. Getting over 10k on a regular basis would've been a fantasy - yet our lowest attendances in the past few seasons have only just dip under 10k. Most sides at Championship level, and quite a few at League One level, have a much longer history of getting average attendances over 10k than us - which builds support overtime through family and friend connections.

Given how poor we've been for successive seasons, our attendances have been surprisingly good.

Success shouldn't define support in my opinion.

In terms of stadium attendances to population we're poorly supported and it's a shame really. As mentioned on another post, Newcastle is a similar sized population to Reading but they fill 52k. I'm not saying we should be doing that because many people move to Reading from other parts of the country and from abroad (whereas having spent time in Newcastle most people who live there are genuine Geordies, whereas maybe half of Readings population aren't born locally) as Reading has got a lot of big companies and prosperity, but it's a shame many of those don't have an affinity with the club.

Newcastle has a metropolitan area not that far south of a million, doesn't have any significant clubs in their locality other than Sunderland. They have also been historically successful, and obviously, are a premier league club.

If we'd been able to stay in the premier league for a few more seasons it would have really helped us grow. It would have seen kids ditch the team 'off the telly' they supported and turned them into Reading fans.

There's really no reason why we couldn't be an Ipswich kind of club, being the team for the area. It just takes a spell at the top, or at least being a decent Championship club.

I really don't think our support is as bad as some believe it to be though. We had 25 years in the top 2 divisions, and barring 21/22, I'd say at no stage was our average crowd lower than you'd expect for a team in that position.

You say that but they have to compete with Sunderland for that support. We've got Wokingham, Bracknell, Newbury and even Maidenhead which aren't far away which have a good 300-400k people who live in those towns combined and around them and those aren't an exhaustive list. The population density around Berkshire and northern Hampshire is huge. Yes we compete with London clubs for supporters but there's enough people locally to fill our ground week in week out.

Brighton is only 10 miles further away to London than Reading is. They sell out even before promotion, we don't but we absolutely could. Their ground is bigger than ours as well.

The club should do more to attract more local interest in the club. As there's untapped potential. Probably doesn't help where our ground is being out of town mind you. It's awkward to get to.

Brighton's is and they got people in to their ground by getting them free trains with their tickets from Brighton to their ground. Could the club not offer the same from Reading to Green Park or subsidising the bus service? Dai Yongge should have done that instead of paying for free coaches for away fans.

[blythspartan]

100k cared when we had the victory parade when we won the title in 2005/06.

If we were doing well in the Premiership I think we could fill a 35k stadium. We’re one of the oldest football clubs in England but take away the Simod Cup and a few league titles and our history isn’t exactly illustrious. There was a great opportunity to cement our place in the Premiership but we never took it and in the last 10 years there’s been very little to cheer about tbh.

[WestYorksRoyal]

It's a transient population. We don't have loads of families who have lived for generations and worked in shipbuilding/other old industries. The area is a collection of commuter belt towns; a lot of residents have their first team and will go along and watch the local team if they're playing good football.

I think there will be disappointment in what has happened to the club, but not the visceral anger, that is being seen at Everton for example.

[katweslowski]

As I said on my recent thread "Reading is a victim of its own making" (viewtopic.php?f=18&t=190463) - we're always destined to be tinpot, both as a town and a club.

Everything this place seems to do is either second rate, shoddy or just sh*te.

It's no wonder the club aren't well supported. It's almost as if some hyperactive teenagers have been put in charge of both the club and the town.

[72 bus]

The club is shit at attracting supports who aren't from a White British background.

We have some fans from other backgrounds (even a few who have played for the first team - Obita, McIntyre, Loader) but fewer than you'd expect.

Seems to me like you only get into the club if you are brought along by a male relative, or maybe a childhood friend. Far fewer get into it through other routes, like moving to the town for university or work and deciding to go along.

Don't think that should be especially controversial. On the other hand "support is declining because traditional fans are being displaced by immigrants" is obviously wrong.

What ethnic background do you think Reading born-and-bred, Scottish international Tom McIntyre is from ?

[Winston Biscuit]

We are not a town with a strong link to football. I think that's just the geography of it tbh.

the majority of our history is not too dissimilar to some pretty small lower league clubs, and when we did start pushing to get in the top division, the Premier League had already become the big money glamour league which had many people hooked already with their own allegiance. and we had also been moved to the outskirts of town by that time.

[SCIAG]

The club is shit at attracting supports who aren't from a White British background.

We have some fans from other backgrounds (even a few who have played for the first team - Obita, McIntyre, Loader) but fewer than you'd expect.

Seems to me like you only get into the club if you are brought along by a male relative, or maybe a childhood friend. Far fewer get into it through other routes, like moving to the town for university or work and deciding to go along.

Don't think that should be especially controversial. On the other hand "support is declining because traditional fans are being displaced by immigrants" is obviously wrong.

What ethnic background do you think Reading born-and-bred, Scottish international Tom McIntyre is from ?

He has Caribbean ancestry through his maternal grandmother.

Loader and Obita are also locally born-and-bred mixed-race domestic youth internationals. There's basically one generation separating them.

[under the tin]

It's a transient population. We don't have loads of families who have lived for generations and worked in shipbuilding/other old industries. The area is a collection of commuter belt towns; a lot of residents have their first team and will go along and watch the local team if they're playing good football.

I think there will be disappointment in what has happened to the club, but not the visceral anger, that is being seen at Everton for example.

This is the closest to it, in my view.

Reading is without doubt the Capital City of Silicon Valley.
So,so many of the local residents living within a 20-30 mile or so radius make up the massive IT-employed workforce.
These people did not grow up here, having served an apprenticeship in the silicon mines at Twyford, but have been recruited from worldwide locations in addition to Universities all across the UK and beyond.
They came purely for the work, and if their employers were to relocate en-masse to Stranraer, the workforce would follow them there.
These are people who bonded with their chosen team (perhaps their birthplace, or in the case of the foreign workforce, the big football franchises that get the global exposure) before they set foot in Berkshire.
I remember a club spokesperson quoting that they could have sold out the Madstad twice over when we were playing the really big fish in the Prem days. I can personally recall sitting near fans in the now Dolan stand spending the whole bloody game oblivious to the action, just trying to get pictures of "Stevie G" on their phone.