Click here for Part 1Part 2 - You and Charlton
The weighting towards an older userbase was naturally reflected in the
length users have supported Charlton, but does endorse the point that those contributing to this site are largely committed, long-term fans. This justifies the view of this forum as a good barometer for the club in terms of guaging supporter feedback.
69% of users have supported the club for over 21 years, significantly the most reflective category.
10% have been following the club between 16-20 years, while 12% have been for 11-15 years. Just 8% of users have been following the club for less than ten years (3% Under 5, 5% 6-10), which again emphasises both the lack of younger generation, and the attraction to the forum for long-standing fans.
Nearly half the replies (48%) were from people born in the London boroughs of Greenwich, Bexley, Lewisham and Bromley. After that, 20
% were born in Kent, 13% another London borough, 14% Other England and 5% outside of England. When you see that over two in three people were born in the South East region, it’s clear to see the strong concentration area of our support. Outside of the survey, our web stats show that there hasn’t really been that much of an exodus away from the area that what you may suspect;
92% of our visitors are in England, of that 51% fall under the London location (slightly emphasised by work PC readings), and just 12% from Kent (with half that number registered from the Dartford/Swanley region).
Though the vast majority of regular visitors to the site are very much close to home, it’s clear from the replies how valued our website is by those that live away from the club, either elsewhere in the UK, or overseas. Away from England,
visitors from Scotland are twice more frequent than those from Wales, and six times more so than those from Northern Ireland. Outside the UK, The United States is the most popular visiting country, followed by Australia, France, Canada, Ireland, Spain, Holland and then Germany. For those fascinated by the Mysterons, The UAE is now up to the 13th on the list.........
We’ve established in the length of ‘service’ that there is a strong emphasis of those with a strong connection to the club. In terms of commitment,
53% of those surveyed are currently Season Ticket Holders. Given that season ticket levels are half what they were five years ago, and the number of non-local visitors to the site (37% non-London / Kent), this emphasises the depth of commitment of those supporting from the local area. However, there is still a sizeable amount of visitors who are not ST holders, and its clear from the later comments how important they find the site in terms of both gaining their fix of Charlton news, but more importantly retaining their connection to the Club, fellow supporters and the local area.
15% of those surveyed are Charlton fans that either won’t be attending The Valley this season, or report only attending a maximum of three times. 21% expect to attend between 4-10 home games, and a further 17% between 11-18 games. 46% however expect to attend 19 plus games this season. Against a ST level of 54%, that broadly suggests that there are around
8% of ST holders (nearly one in ten) that expect to miss at least four home games a season. If you support the view that those visiting the site tend to be more aligned to the committed side of support, I think this emphasises the potential level of no-shows for certain games and how the stated attendance can sometimes be well short of the actual one.
Onto the “oohaah” category, and the feedback fully supports the notion that we as a fanbase are one who can travel in numbers, but really pick and choose our outings.
Just 1% expect to travel to 19+ away games this season (they deserve a medal), in comparison to the 46% attending 19+ home games.
8% expect to attend between 11-18 aways, but the vast majority then fall into the next two categories;
35% expect to attend 4-10 away games, whilst an identical 35% expect to attend 1-3. Nearly one in five (19%) won’t be attending any away games this season.Given our stats show that 92% of our visitors are in England, the fact that
79% of our visitors expect to attend at least one away game this season again shows the strong level of commitment of our members to the club, given that our average away following is generally around one in ten ST holders. Why those who are interested in travelling do not do so more frequently is a completely separate question that probably has 3-4 main reasons. But in general, moans about the away support on here are being directed at the wrong group.
At the Valley, the
most popular viewpoint for a game is the North Upper (32%), which may surprise given the higher age concentration. Equally surprising is the
West (25%) outnumbering the East (20%); though I'm assuming they are as generally quiet on here as they are in the ground :-) The
North West Quadrant is the next most popular area (10%), followed by the North Lower (9%) and finally the North East Quadrant (3%). Seeing the area immediately behind the goal so sparsely populated on a Matchday is reflected here, and really is something the club needs to consider in terms of making that key area close to the pitch better attended and more vocal.
The ‘Family Club’ image is clearly shown by
54% of those surveyed attending games with their family (17% primarily with their children, 37% with other family). 34% attend games with friends, while 10% attend games on their own. That last figure is far higher than I would have expected; one in every ten people is going on their own, and maybe there is some way going forward we could look to assist with buddying up some people where interested. It’s clear from the age range seen, the possibility is definitely there with finding like-minded people of a similar age.
Part 3 - You and CL next week
Comments
Although I'm sure that season tickets in that area are the cheapest.
Hope your findings enable you and the team to move CL forward as you would want and thanks again for all the hard work you blokes put in
What do you reckon is the number of regulars you've coming to the site?
;-)
No seriously i didn't get to fill in the survey (Cue conspiracy theories) but this is a really good website , well done guys!
explains the touchyness of
mostsomei like to look at the bigger picture
it's not as good as it should be !
Not a massive poster but appreciate the site very much.
There you will find a whole cross section of Lifers enjoying chat and pre-match drinks.
So next time you are coming on your own, come on in and introduce yourself.
BTW, you can't miss AFKA, he's the, erm ...... short one.
And Henry's the long one.
See you on Saturday!
I posted about travelling to games with people in the past and the threads were all but ignored, which is a shame as im not travelling to London from devon for a day out on my own
She is now at university so I am sometimes (not so much this season as we have improved!) in a position where I attend on my own.
As Oggy says, thanks to Charlton Life and the functions it has arranged over the years, if you are on your own but fancy a bit of company you can usually find it.
Well done AFKA, Lookie et al.
daysminutes until you mention the EU again Len.;o)