Just been looking at West Brom's attendance history. Like us and Norwich, they experienced a step up in the early '00s - in their case, they put on around 10,000 over the course of three consecutive seasons (we did it in two steps spaced apart - the move to the new stadium, and then promotion to the Premier League), with the biggest jump coming when they were promoted to the Premier League. Like Norwich - and unlike us - they have maintained an average attendance of over 21,000 despite dropping back to the Championship for the last four seasons.
To Colin's point, West Brom (like Norwich) have been pretty consistently first or second tier since the club was founded in the 1880s, barring a couple of seasons in the 1990s, so supporters won't have experienced the kinds of lows that Swans fans have. But is that enough to explain why their attendances have stayed as high as they have in the case of two clubs but not ours?
Might be helpful to look at a fourth club - Stoke City. They have been in the first or second tier for all but eight years of their 136 year history, so in that sense they are more like Norwich or West Brom than us. Like all three of the other teams we have looked at, they put on c10k extra supporters in the '00s, and like us, they've lost half of that since being relegated. I'd love to know what separates Norwich and West Brom from Stoke and Swansea. I know Norwich is a well run club and works closely with the city council, and I know that Swansea has not been that well run in recent years and has not worked well with the council, but I just don't know enough about the history of the other two clubs. Can anyone advise?
One thing I can tell you is it's not affluence. GDP per head in Stoke was £29.7k in the last government survey, and in Sandwell (where West Brom is) it was £22.7k.
To Colin's point, West Brom (like Norwich) have been pretty consistently first or second tier since the club was founded in the 1880s, barring a couple of seasons in the 1990s, so supporters won't have experienced the kinds of lows that Swans fans have. But is that enough to explain why their attendances have stayed as high as they have in the case of two clubs but not ours?
Might be helpful to look at a fourth club - Stoke City. They have been in the first or second tier for all but eight years of their 136 year history, so in that sense they are more like Norwich or West Brom than us. Like all three of the other teams we have looked at, they put on c10k extra supporters in the '00s, and like us, they've lost half of that since being relegated. I'd love to know what separates Norwich and West Brom from Stoke and Swansea. I know Norwich is a well run club and works closely with the city council, and I know that Swansea has not been that well run in recent years and has not worked well with the council, but I just don't know enough about the history of the other two clubs. Can anyone advise?
One thing I can tell you is it's not affluence. GDP per head in Stoke was £29.7k in the last government survey, and in Sandwell (where West Brom is) it was £22.7k.