Late 80's/Early 90's Crowds

[Streetender1878]

Fly cakes and higsons

 

[Ferguson1878]

always remeber the bus ticket rolls gettin thrown over the glwadys street goal when the teams came out

 

[Streetender1878]

Running in the bookies and grabbing as many betting slips as you could. To be ripped up and thrown as the teams came out.

 

[windymiller]

I bought my first Season Ticket during my dinner hour at school. Just went up to the box office and picked my seat.

Mine was basically the same. I rolled up in June or July with my mate who was already a season ticket holder, said I wanted one near him, they took me in, I picked a seat right behind him, and that was that!

 

[Davideeyore]

Flashback of the Andy Gray on the ground header at County Ground....Happy days!

County relegated 83 iirc?

83/84 season although they were in top flight in the early 90's. Also it's Meadow Lane not the County Ground.

On the subject of attendances I think the famous 0-0 draw against Coventry in 83 New Years Eve was about 13,500. I didn't go to my first game until March 84

 

[peteblue]

Mid 80’s cup game against Newport County at GP, crowd of 8,000 …on the plus side no queues……..

 

[StreetEndBlue]

I've said for many years it was the legacy of that infamous Wimbledon game in '94 that brought the fans back after the embarrassing spectacle of consistent sub-20,000 gates in the early 90s outside big games, that and the new Park End stand opening at the start of the following season.

Many stay aways turned up for that game and realised what they were close to losing. An estimated 10,000 were locked out that day when the ground capacity was only 31,000 due to the old Park End having been just demolished. When I got to Goodison that day I was amazed at the amount of people outside the ground, had not seen scenes like it for years, and only just managed to squeeze into the game.

Despite the awful start to the following season under Mike Walker and being rock bottom until late November, our attendances rocketed up to averaging around 30,000 a game, up by over 10,000 on the same stage the previous season, and I believe it was the Wimbledon game which kick-started Blues to return to the match in their droves.

 

[lurky]

My earliest game-going memory was my Dad taking me in the Gwladys when it was still terraced. Plenty of space. He sat me on top of a crash barrier and held on to me from behind. But when we scored he let go to celebrate and I almost fell on my face before he rescued me!

Another time I remember being in the family enclosure and being dead bored and lying across 3 or 4 empty seats while my dad tried to get me to concentrate on the game.

Weird times.

 

[The Littlest Yobo]

I've said for many years it was the legacy of that infamous Wimbledon game in '94 that brought the fans back after the embarrassing spectacle of consistent sub-20,000 gates in the early 90s outside big games, that and the new Park End stand opening at the start of the following season.

Many stay aways turned up for that game and realised what they were close to losing. An estimated 10,000 were locked out that day when the ground capacity was only 31,000 due to the old Park End having been just demolished. When I got to Goodison that day I was amazed at the amount of people outside the ground, had not seen scenes like it for years, and only just managed to squeeze into the game.

Despite the awful start to the following season under Mike Walker and being rock bottom until late November, our attendances rocketed up to averaging around 30,000 a game, up by over 10,000 on the same stage the previous season, and I believe it was the Wimbledon game which kick-started Blues to return to the match in their droves.

This is exactly my recollection. I think that game was a huge turning point attendance wise. From then on, it was 30k plus every game right up until how it is sold out every game now. I came home from Uni for that Wimbledon game, got to the ground early and just picked a seat in the Paddock but there were thousands locked out.

 

[adi dassler]

I remember a home game in the early 90s, can’t remember who were the opposition but that same day, Sunderland’s game at Tranmere was called off so they shoved their travelling supporters in the top right of the old Park End so they could see some footy.

Remember that. It was Norwich at home and loads of Sunderland paid in their end.

We lost 1-0

 

[Mademan]

I've said for many years it was the legacy of that infamous Wimbledon game in '94 that brought the fans back after the embarrassing spectacle of consistent sub-20,000 gates in the early 90s outside big games, that and the new Park End stand opening at the start of the following season.

Many stay aways turned up for that game and realised what they were close to losing. An estimated 10,000 were locked out that day when the ground capacity was only 31,000 due to the old Park End having been just demolished. When I got to Goodison that day I was amazed at the amount of people outside the ground, had not seen scenes like it for years, and only just managed to squeeze into the game.

Despite the awful start to the following season under Mike Walker and being rock bottom until late November, our attendances rocketed up to averaging around 30,000 a game, up by over 10,000 on the same stage the previous season, and I believe it was the Wimbledon game which kick-started Blues to return to the match in their droves.

Had a season ticket in Gwladys St 93/94 but it was unreserved seating then so got in for Wimbledon but I was right up against that fence that separated the family enclosure. Did feel like a new era after winning at home to stay up on the last day. What followed was a shocking start to 94/95, kinda like what’s happened this year. I forget how that season ended.

 

[Mademan]

My earliest game-going memory was my Dad taking me in the Gwladys when it was still terraced. Plenty of space. He sat me on top of a crash barrier and held on to me from behind. But when we scored he let go to celebrate and I almost fell on my face before he rescued me!

Another time I remember being in the family enclosure and being dead bored and lying across 3 or 4 empty seats while my dad tried to get me to concentrate on the game.

Weird times.

I had one game on the Gwladys St terraces when I was 6 because my Dad never had enough money for stand tickets. Was that 4-0 v West Ham in ‘87. I don’t remember seeing a single blade of green grass that day

 

[Tom Hughes]

It took a few years for the premier league effect to kick in. All club's gates were down by the end of the 80s, many dramatically low. That's why the premier league came about. The whole thing needed reinventing and repackaging to bring more money into the game. The hooliganism of the 70s-80s had turned a lot of prople off. Certainly there were far fewer families and women. The dark days of european ban being the final nail in that coffin. The facilities were also woeful and people had found other things to do with their leisure time, with a slow decline of attendances following the post war (WW2) attendance boom years, with many grounds barely changed since pre war (WW1). The Hillsborough disaster and the subsequent Taylor report meant that the leagues underwent the biggest new stand and new stadium building programme in history. Because Goodison had been the best stadium in the country for generations (although tired by the 90s).... it also needed the least done to it to be fully compliant and still yield 40k seats. This seemed to be the anticipated ideal capacity for a big club in the modern all seated, televised era. Even Man Utd and liverpool only opted for low 40s. Of course, in our case the new Park end also came just after the Wimledon game. That great relief, the new stand effect and an increasing re-emergence of football popularity in a moderately improved economic climate, all started to bring the fans back in good numbers.

As regards the size of our fanbase nowadays, there have been a few issues affecting it. The city's population was dropping for decades (although more recently that trend has started to reverse slightly). Merseyside's and the city region's total population didn't drop as dramatically, but it did suffer economically for many years causing many to leave the area for work. So that affected attendances at both clubs. In terms of our share of the population is concerned, I think our proportion has been dropping since the 70s. When I started school (in the late 60s) there were as many blues as reds in the school yard. My kids only finished school in the past few years and they were amongst the only blues in their classes at their respective schools (all in South Liverpool). Our support has been whittled away by their many years of success and ours of mediocrity (or worse). The mid 80s was our only glimmer of light, but was all too brief. Slowly but surely that whole generation of new reds (in and out of town) grew, so by the 90s they'd come of age and wanted to go. That and the re-emergence of footy generally, meant they went into waiting list territory over 20yrs ago. If you're not going to an away game, go into town to try and find our game on live in a pub. If Liverpool are playing at home you will find that practically every pub is showing their game and only a few ours. Where both are being shown, we will be outnumbered several times over. Anecdotal I know, but you can't have their success and our failure for decades and expect a different outcome. Growing up, I used to pray for them to just have a season without winning something for a change. When that finally arrived in the 90s, we just went from bad to worse. Hopefully the new stadium (and some success) can help reverse that trend.... before we become the Espanyol of our city.

 

[Mademan]

It took a few years for the premier league effect to kick in. All club's gates were down by the end of the 80s, many dramatically low. That's why the premier league came about. The whole thing needed reinventing and repackaging to bring more money into the game. The hooliganism of the 70s-80s had turned a lot of prople off. Certainly there were far fewer families and women. The dark days of european ban being the final nail in that coffin. The facilities were also woeful and people had found other things to do with their leisure time, with a slow decline of attendances following the post war (WW2) attendance boom years, with many grounds barely changed since pre war (WW1). The Hillsborough disaster and the subsequent Taylor report meant that the leagues underwent the biggest new stand and new stadium building programme in history. Because Goodison had been the best stadium in the country for generations (although tired by the 90s).... it also needed the least done to it to be fully compliant and still yield 40k seats. This seemed to be the anticipated ideal capacity for a big club in the modern all seated, televised era. Even Man Utd and liverpool only opted for low 40s. Of course, in our case the new Park end also came just after the Wimledon game. That great relief, the new stand effect and an increasing re-emergence of football popularity in a moderately improved economic climate, all started to bring the fans back in good numbers.

As regards the size of our fanbase nowadays, there have been a few issues affecting it. The city's population was dropping for decades (although more recently that trend has started to reverse slightly). Merseyside's and the city region's total population didn't drop as dramatically, but it did suffer economically for many years causing many to leave the area for work. So that affected attendances at both clubs. In terms of our share of the population is concerned, I think our proportion has been dropping since the 70s. When I started school (in the late 60s) there were as many blues as reds in the school yard. My kids only finished school in the past few years and they were amongst the only blues in their classes at their respective schools (all in South Liverpool). Our support has been whittled away by their many years of success and ours of mediocrity (or worse). The mid 80s was our only glimmer of light, but was all too brief. Slowly but surely that whole generation of new reds (in and out of town) grew, so by the 90s they'd come of age and wanted to go. That and the re-emergence of footy generally, meant they went into waiting list territory over 20yrs ago. If you're not going to an away game, go into town to try and find our game on live in a pub. If Liverpool are playing at home you will find that practically every pub is showing their game and only a few ours. Where both are being shown, we will be outnumbered several times over. Anecdotal I know, but you can't have their success and our failure for decades and expect a different outcome. Growing up, I used to pray for them to just have a season without winning something for a change. When that finally arrived in the 90s, we just went from bad to worse. Hopefully the new stadium (and some success) can help reverse that trend.... before we become the Espanyol of our city.

You’re right the PL boom didn’t happen overnight. You could probably buy a ticket on the day at every ground. I think United ending their title drought at the start was a catalyst. Also that first final Sunday title shootout when Blackburn won it left people wanting more.

 

[Davideeyore]

Mid-90's though the attendances started to be consistant 34-35-36,000 and upwards to the last decade or so it's usually sold out. Even in these dark success starved days in a dated Goodison, whilst the other lot regularly win trophies & compete (and also rebuild their ground) we seem to not only sell out but have
a big demand for tickets. However there is a financial squeeze for many (including me) so when we do move to BM I hope that we still have that demand and sell out.