Unfortunately that seems to have got lost amongst the point scoring attempts with Wigan.

What we should be focusing on is the fact that last season we averaged 10,689 and so far this season we are averaging 11,664. Ok with Wigan at home as our only big attendance fixture remaining this might drop slightly but still its a decent increase on last season and considering we didn't even break the 10,000 mark in 2007 it is certainly showing attendances are starting to go in the right direction and the work at the club is paying off - hopefully we will continue to see the attendances rise in coming seasons.

I agree, it was quite embarassing starting it as a Wigan bashing thread, especially without the OP checking their figures!

It is a real credit though that the crowds have increased at Saints. At a time when many clubs are struggling, to post an increase is very positive, and they seem to be much more proactive with their ticket offers and promotions.

I do also agree with the point about the fact that you aren;t on TV as much. I think it was a couple of years ago when something silly like 17 out of 27 games were live on Sky, which can;t have helped.

The average crowd statistics can be a bit misleading. Wigan will sell out the JJB(sorry DW) when saints are in town. Likewise, Hull will when it is their derby. A better stat would be to show each clubs gates when they play a team with little or no travelling support (celtic, catalans,quins). It pains me to say it, but wigan would hold up quite well in this comparison.

We are improving though, posting good figures against these sides, showing what is essentially a steady increase in "core" fans.

That is very true and you are the only team who will fill the away end at the HJ and give us our only sell out of the season. However, against these lesser teams your support is not much bigger than ours. Considering the attractive rugby and the success you've had, i would be slightly worried about what will happen if you start to go downhill.

There are all sorts of reasons that create apathy around going to Saints, they all revolved around the ground.

The club did a study at the start of last season and it showed the two reasons more people didn't attend. The state of the stadium, and the awful access. The latter was the key one. From some parts of the tow you have to get 3 buses to get there. The new stadium will eradicate this, along with adding to the improvements this season.

People have long suggested we should worry given our success, but given oppositions circumstances, such as yours, it all is clear.

Everybody seems to think a new stadium is the answer to every problem a club has, although you do need a new one! There is a common misconception that our attendances suddenly doubled just because we moved to the HJ. Warrington started doing loads of work in the community (started by the late Peter Deakin) way before we left wilderspool and i believe our average attendance had got to about 7000 by the time we left. Not bad back then. If the likes of Salford think they can just build a new stadium and people are just going to flock through the gates without the club going out and attracting them then they are in for a big shock.

So everything I have just said correlates...

Saints have a good hardcore of support anyway, so if we suddenly become unsuccessful, we'd still have a decent support of around 8-9k anyway. The important thing about the new stadium is the location - it is pretty much perfect.

Thought those figures had to be wrong! I don't remember Leeds getting a crowd as low as 12,700 for a while let alone have an average like that.

FWIW our crowds for how appaling we've been for the majority of this season have held up pretty well and your crowds to say you play in a dump have been good aswell.

I never quite get the old crowd arguments between clubs though..........I would love to see every single superleague club averaging 15k + and take no pleasure whatsoever in seeing teams getting poor crowds.

As for Wigan I mentioned on our board last week that we've got Wire at home yet, a game against Leeds were all tickets are £10 Adults and £5 for kids and a game this Friday against Quins were Heinz have 'bought' the full North Stand and give the tickets away for free to their staff(all have been taken) so our average should rise yet.

Were a sleeping giant.

Not so I'm afraid, I can drop the little monster off at my mum's and walk to KR in about 15 minutes, it'll take double that to the new stadium. And it's still 90 miles from my house - how inconsiderate.

The club made the move to stop you coming, your simply not welcome anymore. Unless you bring the kid and pay full adult price, and buy minimum of £15 worth sweets N drinks ok.