Friday, August 29, 2008

The value of the League Cup

I saw this article on Two Hundred Percent about what to do about the League Cup and felt obliged to reply. It raises some interesting suggestions but makes me wonder if anyone outside of the media actually care about the size of attendances at these early season games. My reply is below;

I’m a Fulham season ticket holder and can assure you I do care about the League cup. I didn’t go to our second round game with Leicester City though. Not many people did - in fact only 7,584. We closed one whole stand and from the pictures I’ve seen had another end almost empty. Does that really matter though. In today's credit crunch climate is it really that big a surprise that people cannot afford to go to EVERY game their team plays. I have a wife and two sons and whilst a Fulham season ticket is excellent value compared with most other Premier League sides find it hard to justify going to many additional games not covered by that initial investment. I’m elated that we got through to the next round, however lucky we were to do so, and maybe I will go to the next round (if it’s not too far and an affordable price). I won’t be too upset thought if it’s another low crowd. It wasn’t that long ago a crowd of over 7000 would have been a great turnout for Fulham and who really hurts if there’s not a packed stadium? The club maybe doesn’t make so much money and it’s possibly harder for the team to put in a top class performance but it’s really not the end of the world - is it? I’m happy that the League Cup continues just as it is, because winning it IS important and an attempt to remove the bigger clubs from it would devalue the competition much more than a few low attendances.

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