Dudley Heathens Attendances

[greenheathen 1]

On the Dudley Heathens website they continually use the phrase "another bumper crowd at Monmore Green". I just wondered, exactly what does "bumper" in this context, actually mean, 500, 1000, 2000 ??

 

Someone told me that the attendances are better than some of Wolves crowds for EL matches, any truth in that ??

 

Is it at all pheasable that Dudley could run a Premier League season at Monmore ??

[villiers210 61]

I did hear Nigel say on a radio interview that the average crowd on a Dudley night was over 1000. With regard to the feasability of us racing PL at Monmore - forget it. It has already gone on record that the stadium would not be available for the amount of meetings we would need to run. Having said that, isn't the return of the mighty Heathens and the quality of racing just brilliant? Long may it continue.

 

'Ommer 'Um

Edited June 29, 2011 by villiers210

[Netherton heathen 0]

Crowds seem to have averaged out around the 1000 mark, And was pleased to see around the same number last night despite the mountain that needed to be climbed.

 

Unfortunately , there are still some (friends of mine included) who refuse to recognize the club in its present form because 1 - the name "Dudley" being used instead Cradley and 2 - the fact they use Monmore as a home track . I personally find both reasons to be completely pathetic and I suspect in reality its more to do with the fact it isn't a fiver to get in anymore and it's not within walking distance from their front doors.

 

 

funny breed us black country lot

[Ben Alderton 1]

And it's good to see they take a fair amount to the away meetings.

[berniev123 58]

Crowds seem to have averaged out around the 1000 mark, And was pleased to see around the same number last night despite the mountain that needed to be climbed.

 

Unfortunately , there are still some (friends of mine included) who refuse to recognize the club in its present form because 1 - the name "Dudley" being used instead Cradley and 2 - the fact they use Monmore as a home track . I personally find both reasons to be completely pathetic and I suspect in reality its more to do with the fact it isn't a fiver to get in anymore and it's not within walking distance from their front doors.

 

 

funny breed us black country lot

 

I have been 'told' that the realistic home figure is nearer the 1750 mark at home (I have only missed about four meetings home since the relaunch) & Perry Bar figures were down on the Monmore Wood figues by the way they and mighty impressive away.

I, too, cannot understand the ones who stay away as it is not Penhall et al!

[heathen79 6]

Let's just say our average home attendance would be more than welcomed by some Elite League clubs, never mind Premier League!

[oscar 0]

Nice touch by the heathens management to thank the fans for attending last night.Its a promoters nightmare selling a 2nd leg fixture when one side has had a walloping win in the 1st leg.I think both fans and management appreciate each other,one for bringing the heathens back and the other for making it a going concern by filling the terraces.The management don,t take the support for granted and acts of goodwill(free team poster for kids+free Greg Hancock poster with last nights program) go a long way,other promoters should take note.

[crumpiefan 44]

funny breed us black country lot

 

 

yo ay kidding

[greyhoundp 990]

Hmmmm, interesting subject this, which leads me to broaden it out a little, yes our attendances are averaging well over 1000., but i disagree about having enough dates for PL racing, surely every Tuesday is available, and this is enough.

What i believe is, The Heathens are arguably currently the most financially succesful Club in British speedway, this is due to the regular gates of over 1000 at every meeting, and meeting costs for rental of allegedly £1500 per meeting, now admission is a tenner per head, so all other costs of Track staff, Insurances, riders pay, etc,etc have to come out of the remainder, i would suggest that The Heathens are a nice little earner for the backers of The Heathens. Were the Heathens to ride in the PL rider costs etc,etc would be vastly greater than what they are now, and this IMO is the real reason behind why we wont go into the PL.

[21st century heathen 220]

I've been a Monmore regular for many years now and have seen Wolves' crowd rise and dip over the years. I would say that in the last couple of years their average crowd is pretty much at their average over the last 10 (and a bit) years. As near as makes little or no difference our average crowd is about the same as Wolves', except for the local derby with Cov when the crowd swells somewhat. Clearly, pulling in the punters in roughly the same numbers is going to mean running the Heathens club is likely to be profitable. However, we should not get too hung on purely in numbers through the gate. Each clubs has various sponsorship deals. I suspect we have very little sponsorship whereas Birmingham have a very impressive list of sponsors. Despite the Brummies having infinitely higher running costs in the EL it may well be that they are a profitable club too.

 

It's very difficult to guess numbers in the crowds at a speedway meeting because the majority of us of no real frame of reference. The official figures are never published so it's all down to pure guess work. We were told that last season saw an average crowd around or just over (can't remember word-for-word what was said) 1,000. That's obviously very very healthy for NL as I often read that the NL, and even some PL, clubs ride in front of just a few hundred.

 

It is certainly a factor that a significant number of fans simply refuse to acknowledge Dudley Heathens as their own because they don't race on their own track, the name is wrong and it's not top flight. Personally, I accept the Heathens as my team (though I never call them Dudley I should add) and am happy to see us at Monmore. It's better than not racing, it's a great race track that (as opposed to when we were racing as Cradley) provides good racing many more times than it fails to deliver and it's on my doorstep.

 

Would it be feasible to race PL or EL? Hmm it's an interesting question. Personally I think there would be too many PL fixtures for it to be viable. The dogs are on Monday and Friday afternoon's and also on Thursday and Saturday evenings. Wolves race on a Monday with a Wednesday reserved (or it used to be) for worst case scenario fixture backlogs. So if we raced PL and were successful we would have a lot of fixtures and no plan B for any postponements or rearranged fixtures. There are less clubs in the EL so that might be more feasible. There are a couple of stumbling blocks to this though. There used to be a rule that a new club couldn't go straight into the EL. Whether we could circumnavigate this by calling ourselves a returning club rather than a new club would be open to debate, and the will of the MC. Running costs would be very high and it may not be possible to secure enough sponsorship from Black Country businesses for a club not racing in the region, though clearly just a few miles up the road. Finally, we would need to work closely with Wolves to secure some Monday fixtures for live Sky meetings. Where there's a will there's a way so that could be done but it wouldn't be easy as there are a finite number of Mondays.

[alan_boon 1]

As it stands, the PL would only be a minimum of 14 meetings, only 4 more than now. That's do-able, surely?

[BWitcher 12,453]

I've been a Monmore regular for many years now and have seen Wolves' crowd rise and dip over the years. I would say that in the last couple of years their average crowd is pretty much at their average over the last 10 (and a bit) years. As near as makes little or no difference our average crowd is about the same as Wolves', except for the local derby with Cov when the crowd swells somewhat. Clearly, pulling in the punters in roughly the same numbers is going to mean running the Heathens club is likely to be profitable. However, we should not get too hung on purely in numbers through the gate. Each clubs has various sponsorship deals. I suspect we have very little sponsorship whereas Birmingham have a very impressive list of sponsors. Despite the Brummies having infinitely higher running costs in the EL it may well be that they are a profitable club too.

 

It's very difficult to guess numbers in the crowds at a speedway meeting because the majority of us of no real frame of reference. The official figures are never published so it's all down to pure guess work. We were told that last season saw an average crowd around or just over (can't remember word-for-word what was said) 1,000. That's obviously very very healthy for NL as I often read that the NL, and even some PL, clubs ride in front of just a few hundred.

 

It is certainly a factor that a significant number of fans simply refuse to acknowledge Dudley Heathens as their own because they don't race on their own track, the name is wrong and it's not top flight. Personally, I accept the Heathens as my team (though I never call them Dudley I should add) and am happy to see us at Monmore. It's better than not racing, it's a great race track that (as opposed to when we were racing as Cradley) provides good racing many more times than it fails to deliver and it's on my doorstep.

 

Would it be feasible to race PL or EL? Hmm it's an interesting question. Personally I think there would be too many PL fixtures for it to be viable. The dogs are on Monday and Friday afternoon's and also on Thursday and Saturday evenings. Wolves race on a Monday with a Wednesday reserved (or it used to be) for worst case scenario fixture backlogs. So if we raced PL and were successful we would have a lot of fixtures and no plan B for any postponements or rearranged fixtures. There are less clubs in the EL so that might be more feasible. There are a couple of stumbling blocks to this though. There used to be a rule that a new club couldn't go straight into the EL. Whether we could circumnavigate this by calling ourselves a returning club rather than a new club would be open to debate, and the will of the MC. Running costs would be very high and it may not be possible to secure enough sponsorship from Black Country businesses for a club not racing in the region, though clearly just a few miles up the road. Finally, we would need to work closely with Wolves to secure some Monday fixtures for live Sky meetings. Where there's a will there's a way so that could be done but it wouldn't be easy as there are a finite number of Mondays.

 

Some very good points 21CH.

 

I have said for some time, even before this venture, that the Heathens should share with Wolves AND ride in the EL. As others have confirmed, there are a number (and a large one at that I believe) of fans who are staying away due to not wishing to see NL action. A move to the EL could see massive crowds when the Heathens race Wolves, Birmingham and Coventry. A Wolves/Cradley (I too hate the Dudley name) would absolutely pack the stadium and would be a plus for both teams.

 

I also think now would be the time to do it and go all out to get Mr Hancock to return to the UK to lead the team.

 

As you say, where there's a will, there is a way.. unfortunately I also believe that the 'easy money' option of the NL will prevent it from ever happening. How long will this continue for though? Will crowds slowly start to fall at that level, its happened with many other teams in the past...

[martin_t 219]

As it stands, the PL would only be a minimum of 14 meetings, only 4 more than now. That's do-able, surely?

 

Yes

 

How long will this continue for though? Will crowds slowly start to fall at that level, its happened with many other teams in the past...

 

Yes