The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[BukyOHare]

8 minutes ago, Rb123 said:

Doesn't help that the South Ayrshire has a large amount of rangers and celtic season ticket holders.

The area literally breeds OF supporters, probably one of the highest amounts per population outwith your big cities. 

Its the original national pandemic. It's a problem no doubt about it but it's not exclusive to South Ayrshire imo.

If I was involved in decision making at the club, I'd literally give free home tickets to every primary school pupil in Ayrshire over the next 20 years and make it a couple of pound for every secondary school child for the same time period. They'll bring along parents or for the bigger towns why couldn't we trial running transport for fans?

Even get a buy in from bus and train companies to include free or discounted travel throughout the county on match days when you show your match ticket.

I've always thought that the grassroots football teams are full of players, coaches and parents with a latent passion for the sport.

I'd work closely with those decision makers at a local and county level to make all grassroot games early Saturday kickoffs or preferably even on Sundays so all those involved can go to the Ayr home game afterwards if they want to.

Growing up I had choices to make as Saturday afternoon kick offs at my level of the game impacted on my ability to go and watch Utd. Take that impact and distraction away from people.

As a tourist attraction we don't tap in nearly enough with the places that holidaymakers and visitors to the area stay at. Tie in with these places.

Its all just ideas, it ultimately needs a combination of the club putting themselves out there and people willing to come along and get through a turnstile every 2nd week.

3000 as an average could be achievable, we had just over 2500 last season for example.

[No_Problemo]

9 minutes ago, BukyOHare said:

Its the original national pandemic. It's a problem no doubt about it but it's not exclusive to South Ayrshire imo.

If I was involved in decision making at the club, I'd literally give free home tickets to every primary school pupil in Ayrshire over the next 20 years and make it a couple of pound for every secondary school child for the same time period. They'll bring along parents or for the bigger towns why couldn't we trial running transport for fans?

Even get a buy in from bus and train companies to include free or discounted travel throughout the county on match days when you show your match ticket.

I've always thought that the grassroots football teams are full of players, coaches and parents with a latent passion for the sport.

I'd work closely with those decision makers at a local and county level to make all grassroot games early Saturday kickoffs or preferably even on Sundays so all those involved can go to the Ayr home game afterwards if they want to.

Growing up I had choices to make as Saturday afternoon kick offs at my level of the game impacted on my ability to go and watch Utd. Take that impact and distraction away from people.

As a tourist attraction we don't tap in nearly enough with the places that holidaymakers and visitors to the area stay at. Tie in with these places.

Its all just ideas, it ultimately needs a combination of the club putting themselves out there and people willing to come along and get through a turnstile every 2nd week.

3000 as an average could be achievable, we had just over 2500 last season for example.

I don’t see why we aren’t doing this - I can’t think of anything there is other than benefit. I had mentioned this before but some of the pricing we have for young people is outrageous.

Purely anecdotally, but I know of several people who go following getting free season tickets for playing boys club football in the Barr days. 

Going back to the Raith Rovers debate and their attendance yesterday, they give out free season tickets for under 12’s and only charge £50 for those under 16. I genuinely can’t fathom why we aren’t doing it. 

ETA, our community engagement is much better from a very low base but it can clearly be better. 

Edited August 13, 2023 by No_Problemo

[Jeff Venom]

To be fair to Bill Barr (if I may) he sponsored the Ayrshire boys club league and you could get a very cheap season ticket if you played for a team (might even have been free). That was brilliant for me as I was a fan anyway, wasn't so great when my age group started playing Saturday afternoons (which is another thing anyway). There was definitely a few lads in my team who converted from Celtic to Ayr and we'd go after our games. Whether they still go now mind I have no idea. 

[railwayend]

I think the community engagement part of the plan will get up to pace once the North Bank is finished . At that point we’ll have an all covered stadium with proper toilets and outlets all over the new bank . 
 

I’ve always looked at St Johnstone as our mirror club , although they left us far behind back in 89 . This however is where should be in a few years , off field income up to x3 x4 x5 . Saints can pull 10,000 in for a European game or take the same to Hampden but generally they’re a 3,000 or so home gate (own fans)This is probably where we’ll get to and no further except in big games or when the mutants are in town . It is what it is . Our big earner will be non turnstile revenue , starting next season when the hospitality capacity trebles .

[No_Problemo]

I have to say I’m very much looking forward to getting a hospitality day next season!

[Utdtillidie2]

Good 3 points and decent defensive display from a toothless ICT, but that was a dreadful watch especially the last 20 mins. The subs made a wee difference. Thought Rose and McGeady did well with Rose winning everything in the air. Be interesting to see what happens when we play the ball to him to his feet. Didn’t understand why for the last 10 mins we just pumped long ball after long ball into their half. 
 

Important win against a bogey team but there were plenty of folk leaving early where I was sitting. I hope we were just doing what we needed to win that game and it’s not the game plan for the season.

[Shibuya]

55 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

I don’t see why we aren’t doing this - I can’t think of anything there is other than benefit. I had mentioned this before but some of the pricing we have for young people is outrageous.

Purely anecdotally, but I know of several people who go following getting free season tickets for playing boys club football in the Barr days. 

Going back to the Raith Rovers debate and their attendance yesterday, they give out free season tickets for under 12’s and only charge £50 for those under 16. I genuinely can’t fathom why we aren’t doing it. 

ETA, our community engagement is much better from a very low base but it can clearly be better. 

[United1973]

1 hour ago, BukyOHare said:

The 2018/19 season with Shankland, Forrest and Moffat saw us have an average home attendance of 2074 (apparently.)

For people claiming it's a big part about the entertainment it probably didn't get much better in recent memory than this squad and that's the average figure who saw fit to turn up every 2nd week.

You don't just grow a fanbase overnight, for your core support it's generational, historical factors going back decades that decide where you are at any given time. Figures will then rise and fall based on occasional visitors.

Through the Barr and Cameron era was there enough done to retain and increase the home support? A resounding no for me, for a variety of reasons, ranging from too much money with no plan to treading water to survive being the only plan.

Do we have a support that votes with their feet more readily and easily than the likes of Partick, Dunfermline or Falkirk? I think the answer to that has over the past 30 or 40 years has been a resounding yes. You don't get these people back in the numbers we'd all hope for, if at all.

You only have to look on here as a snapshot of fans attitudes towards the club generally. It would be foolish to say that isn't representative in a wider scale locally throughout the county and that isn't having a go whatsoever.

Its got to be more of a two way thing, the club engaging fans more regularly and fans ultimately buying into the plan.

It can be done but it's not easy and nothing happens overnight.

 

Excellent post the club was in decline for years . The club us going in the right direction and will take time . Maybe not as quick as some would like and I do include that as turning 50 this year.  Been going from the begging of the 80 and have not seen them in the top league 

[Trogdor]

Average attendances aren't a great metric as away supporters skew them. What you want is home supporters only but only the club will know that.

I'm not sure how entertainment can be ruled out wrt. attendances:

2018/19 we averaged 2,157 in the league (I think Bucky's number was for all home games?). In 2019/20 we averaged 1,778 until it was curtailed. That's almost 400 down.

Further, one of the reasons we struggled to meet last years season ticket sales figure this season is the style of play and the performances at home which were for large spells last season bordering on unwatchable.

There are other factors of course (affordability, experience, competition to name a couple) but to shell it long for 90 minutes and expect folk to turn up to watch it (other than the diehards) is nuts.

There are more than enough people employed at the club to be tackling this. We have more folk behind the scenes than ever before. I'm hoping they are working on the plans as soon as the North Stand is finished as it becomes a better matchday product.

[Shibuya]

Agreed @Trogdor

Furthermore, every time we put ourselves in a position to impress the casual fan (QP, Falkirk, Thistle off the top of my head last season) we end up absolutely shit-housing it!

[ayrunitedfw]

For me there is still a hangover from the Thistle playoff games and a general feeling of negativity around the club due to this. Club didn't really acknowledge the result in any great detail which just added to fans frustration. Videos of Bullen singing in the hub obviously didn't help either.  Positive results and performances on the pitch will lead to this feeling gradually lifting 

 

[No_Problemo]

The Partick play off game was a case and point - a fanstastic home attendance considering the first leg pumping and people were met with one of the worst performances ever seen. 

I don’t think we have recovered from that, atmosphere wise in the ground as much as anything. 

Edited August 13, 2023 by No_Problemo

[Richey Edwards]

Just now, No_Problemo said:

The Partick play off game was a case and point - a fanstastic home attendance considering the first leg pumping and people were met with one of the worst performances ever seen. 

I wanted the club rolled up and fucked into the bin after that.

[Thumper]

3 hours ago, eez-eh said:

I just think our support is a lot more fair-weather than people might want to acknowledge.

Everybody's support is fair-weather. That's why season tickets are so critical.

Ayr's travelling support is one of the most robust in the league. The problem is that this doesn't actually benefit Ayr financially (even if it does help on the park).

For what it's worth, attendances at Somerset fell off a cliff following relegation from the top flight and have never recovered. Falkirk and Dunfermline have both spent substantial periods of the last 40 years up there. Generational support matters and nowadays anyone who saw Ayr in the Premier Division is drawing a pension. Yes there's the problem of Ayrshire being the home of the Orange Order etc but ultimately it comes down to sustained levels of performance.

[Rb123]

 

[OneTeamInAyrsh1re]

3 hours ago, eez-eh said:

There was discussion a week or two ago with folk trying to claim Raith Rovers didn’t have a bigger core support than us.

They had over 3,000 at their game with Morton yesterday.

Aye but every time out crowds got near that, away or home, that clown bullen inevitably presided over us getting battered 

[Trogdor]

32 minutes ago, Shibuya said:

Agreed @Trogdor

Furthermore, every time we put ourselves in a position to impress the casual fan (QP, Falkirk, Thistle off the top of my head last season) we end up absolutely shit-housing it!

We've been doing it to ourselves for years.

The play-off final versus Stranraer back in 2016? Having shithoused the away game and equalising with almost the final touch to get back to Somerset (a crowd of 4,600 or so). Then the team spends 120 minutes like a punch drunk boxer and hanging on to take it to penalties. I did enjoy the penalties, some boi big Fleming!

[No_Problemo]

3 minutes ago, Trogdor said:

We've been doing it to ourselves for years.

The play-off final versus Stranraer back in 2016? Having shithoused the away game and equalising with almost the final touch to get back to Somerset (a crowd of 4,600 or so). Then the team spends 120 minutes like a punch drunk boxer and hanging on to take it to penalties. I did enjoy the penalties, some boi big Fleming!

I know there is plenty of competition but that is possibly the worst game I’ve ever seen involving us. 

It was so bad you almost stopped caring what happened during extra time. 

[Shibuya]

Watching a clearly-finished Ryan Stevenson playing up front in that game was soul destroying stuff.

[Thumper]

11 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

I know there is plenty of competition but that is possibly the worst game I’ve ever seen involving us.

The 7-0 gubbing from yesterday's opposition, the hounding at the stock cars under Roberts, both legs of the playoff defeat to Airdrie. Arguably also last season's playoffs, though I consoled myself after the first leg with a trip to the Burke & Hare.