CJparker
New Member
Lots of people have compared us to the likes of Leeds, Norwich, Forest, Man City etc who went down into League One and attracted big crowds of away fans whose teams saw them as being a cup final. Can I just offer a note of caution...
The roll call of ex-Premier league clubs who went into League One is long, but most of the ones who bounced back (the ones above, Charlton, Sheffield clubs, Leicester) all kept their attendances pretty high, in the 20k mark. Ours will probably drop next season, even from our pathetic base this year. It has been dispiriting enough playing at the Ricoh when it's less than half full - I can see lots of games, even on Saturdays, with less than 10k inside the ground, with just a couple of hundred away fans. Noise from the fans will echo around the ground like some sort of pre-season friendly.
Given our years of struggle in the Champ and lack of any real achievement, I very much doubt that fans of other clubs will see us as a 'big' team like Leeds - I suspect our profile will be more like someone such as Huddersfield or MK Dons; a big League One club playing in a smart ground, but not a glamour game.
As for promotion, look at those Premier League clubs who got relegated to League One; the "big" clubs mostly got back to the Championship at least, but as above all these had much higher attendances (and budgets) than we will have. We may be more akin to the likes of Oldham, Swindon, Wimbledon/MK Dons and Bradford in just finding our level rather than rebounding.
Sorry to sound depressing but a lot of people think we'll walk League One with bumper crowds but I aint so sure!
The roll call of ex-Premier league clubs who went into League One is long, but most of the ones who bounced back (the ones above, Charlton, Sheffield clubs, Leicester) all kept their attendances pretty high, in the 20k mark. Ours will probably drop next season, even from our pathetic base this year. It has been dispiriting enough playing at the Ricoh when it's less than half full - I can see lots of games, even on Saturdays, with less than 10k inside the ground, with just a couple of hundred away fans. Noise from the fans will echo around the ground like some sort of pre-season friendly.
Given our years of struggle in the Champ and lack of any real achievement, I very much doubt that fans of other clubs will see us as a 'big' team like Leeds - I suspect our profile will be more like someone such as Huddersfield or MK Dons; a big League One club playing in a smart ground, but not a glamour game.
As for promotion, look at those Premier League clubs who got relegated to League One; the "big" clubs mostly got back to the Championship at least, but as above all these had much higher attendances (and budgets) than we will have. We may be more akin to the likes of Oldham, Swindon, Wimbledon/MK Dons and Bradford in just finding our level rather than rebounding.
Sorry to sound depressing but a lot of people think we'll walk League One with bumper crowds but I aint so sure!