There is a recurring theme on this site and many other topic boards about the perceived poor attendances at Portman Road and what can be done to increase attendances.

I read an interesting blog by Pessimistic about this matter in which it was suggested a lottery of sorts could be introduced whereby 50% of the participants win and receive a ticket into the game. Perhaps it was a slightly flawed idea but the opinion of all of us is that it would be great to see the ground filled.

The simple fact though is that our attendances over the years haven’t waned, certainly not significantly. The poor football we’ve been subjected to and even poorer results haven’t dampened the support and for this we should be proud.

If we look back to the great year of 1999/00 every match was almost packed out at fortress Portman Road, the noise levels were good and perhaps this contributed towards our success. The average attendance that year? 18,524. Capacity was 22,500 if memory serves me right so we still weren’t full - but it felt like it.

There were no calls for us to fill the empty seats and no criticism aimed at the club's hierarchy for failing to get more bums on seats. We were satisfied with our attendances because we were able to create a relatively noisy and certainly hostile atmosphere meaning visiting teams and fans felt uncomfortable or uneasy when they visited.

When I turn up on Saturday I will be able to see a number of empty seats and the noise levels won’t be anywhere near as loud as they once were, yet we’re expecting a 20,000+ crowd. A bigger crowd than in 1999/00 at a time when the economy is still suffering, we are all pleading poverty and, let’s be frank, we’re not the best entertainment you could find on a Saturday afternoon.

Our league position isn’t where we’d all hoped we would find ourselves in April and there is a significant lack of goals to witness in our favour. These issues aside, a fairly decent number of us, 16,000 at a guess, turn up every week and try to recreate the noisy and hostile environment I touched on a few moments ago. We won’t be able to do this, nor would we be able to do it if we suddenly found a further 14,000 fans to come along each week. Why? Because of something out of our control; the roof is too high.

When we had our two small sheds at each end the chanting and singing was echoed and this in turn created the great atmosphere many of us look back on fondly. This is now gone, lost forever, irrespective of whether the stadium is full to capacity or not.

The revised designs of the Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson Stands simply allow for our voices to drift higher and higher and out of the stadium. I’m by no means an expert on stadium acoustics but this seems obvious.

When the old North and South stands were knocked down we were all excited. Our stadium would look modern and more menacing when finished, and we’d have room for all the supporters who had been unable to get tickets previously (I say this tongue–in-cheek of course).

It was a while ago now and my memory isn’t what it once was, but I don’t recall any supporters or supporters groups saying “Hang on Mr Sheepshanks, what about the noise inside the stadium?”. None of us considered it, perhaps Mr Sheepshanks didn’t either.

It’s too late now, it’s not as though we’re going to knock them down and re-erect the stands in the form they were all those years ago, so I think it’s best we all just accept that the noisy days are gone. By all means try to encourage more people to come down and get involved, more money coming into the club from matchday sales can only be a good thing but please can we all stop aiming criticism at the board and blaming high ticket prices for the perceived low attendances? Poor league positioning, unattractive football, high ticket prices, none of those things have affected the number of supporters turning up each week, it’s purely architectural.

On the plus side, we do have a nice stadium, don’t we? Half-empty, or only half-full depending on your interpretation, but at least it’s home. It could be worse, we could have relocated and ended up with the same outcome. Just ask Arsenal fans how they feel.

John added 19:31 - Apr 11 Very interesting blog, never really considered the architecture as a cause for the diminished atmosphere, quite simple cause when you consider it. Historically we haven't had the most raucous fans I'm old enough (unfortunately) to remember SBR calling us zombies. That said we've all been in FPR when it's been jumping. Once again, excellent blog and food for thought.
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alfromcol added 19:47 - Apr 11 On the same theme see that Man U have taken on and acoustic expert to try to make the noise the fans make, sound louder.
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Thijssenstricks added 11:36 - Apr 12 A very good blog. I agree that since the two end stands have been built the atmosphere hasn't been the same. There have been many great games with great support coming from all areas of the ground. My personal favourite was the playoff semi final against Bolton. When I eventually got out of the North stand my ears were ringing. I have done a blog on attendances and I still believe that with a good game of football a good atmosphere can be generated. The other thing is also moving the away supporters which will never happen as the police don't want it. My last point is for English football grounds to have small areas for standing. Lower tiers either side of the goal but not behind for safety reasons.

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Pessimistic added 12:23 - Apr 12 A well considered argument and it raises issues that I had not even considered! I don't sadly get to as many games as I would like at Portman Road these days, living here in the Netherlands but the same could be said for Ajax. They had a very very small stadium at the Meer that had a fierce atmosphere and the supporters were very close to the pitch. Then they moved to The Arena and most supporters are of the view that it is too big for purpose - even if it sells out every home game, ( 50.000 ) the atmosphere has gone and the noise generated echoes up into the sky! This was a very thought-provoking blog and thanks for posting it.

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MathieandMarshall added 12:28 - Apr 12 Good bog and SPOT ON! agree with every word. I am fed up having to argue with non Town fans about why our ground is so quiet, even when we are winning! I sit/stand in the lower North behind the goal and there are times, Leeds the other week for example, where we felt it was quite noisy in there! and then came home to be slated by a Leeds fan over lack of noise! There have been some great nights at PR since the new stands have been built (Arsenal at home - with a packed house) but you are spot on. To create that level of noise in the new stadium we'd need 30k people packed in. Equally i have been to many away games at the "newer" stadia and found the same thing. Quiet home fans! If anyone has been on a Wembley stadium tour then you will know that the acoustics were taken very seriously when it was designed and they have got it spot on.

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MattinLondon added 16:59 - Apr 12 A very good blog - can I please offer an alternative viewpoint regarding our perceived poor gates. Ipswich has a population of (appox) 130,000 and even if we had average attendences of 13,000 that would still be 10% of the local population attending matches. Leeds has a population of 700,000 and they get no where near 70,000 (10%). I know that people come from outside Ipswich to watch Town but the same must be true of other teams. Last week in the excellent blog submitted by Harryfrombath, he included a few comments from Derby fans who slated us for not being as well supported as them. Their aveage gate is 24,000 which in itself is good - but their local population is almost twice than Ipswich -they don't get twice the support which we currently get after ten long years in the Championship. Birmingham, for their population, get awful gates. The fact is that Ipswich (and I guess I have to mention N**rwich as well) support their teams well considering the populations. I'm not saying that we have excellent support (which we don't) and things could be better. The atmosphere is awful (compared to when the capacity was 22,500) but if the team plays attrctive football, starts to be a real force again then the missing fans will return. Guess we just need some hope and believe. Have a wonderful weekend and COYB.

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buzzardblue added 22:10 - Apr 12 To be honest I'm not sure the stadium changes have done anything considerable to the noise levels at PR. maybe the fact that the football was a lot more exciting back then may have something to do with it? Also I think for the people in the old shed ends it would have been a lot louder, have you ever shouted with your head in a bucket?:)
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toforoge added 15:23 - Apr 16 Good "bog" (mm i dont care about typos unless there good ones) nice points . Buzzard you seem a bit confused. Could they make alterations to improve acustics eg.lip on roof to keep sound in. Could be worth it if it helps us get an extra point a season Any way no time to consider if glass is half full or empty, just drank it and got another one.
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TonythePony added 15:39 - Apr 16 Good blog. Certainly makes sense. Maybe Town could get accoustic specialists in (like Man Ure) to see if modifications could be made to the stands.
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bringonthetractor added 20:47 - Apr 19 I get your point about the acoustics, and I'm sure the old style stand kept the sound in better, but I don't think it's the main blame for the current lack of atmosphere. Here is a table of Town's average attendances over the last 11 seasons (geeky I know haha): Season Avg. Pos. 2002/03 25454 4th 2003/04 24519 5th 2004/05 25651 5th 2005/06 24252 3rd 2006/07 22444 7th 2007/08 21932 7th 2008/09 20873 8th 2009/10 20840 8th 2010/11 19614 9th 2011/12 18266 12th 2012/13 17326 11th (to date) So since 2002/03 our average attendance has dropped by just over 8100. The 'Pos.' column is our position in the average attendance table in the Championship (or Division 1) that season - we used to be one of the highest supported clubs in the league, but now are only mid table. Also, the attendance average has dropped yearly, except for 04/05 where we were top at Christmas. I remember it being a lot louder back in the days of 2003-05/06ish, when we were challenging higher up the league and had a more exciting team. The atmosphere took its biggest hit in my opinion starting in Magilton's last season through to now, when the team on the whole seemed to be full of journeymen players who were here for the cash and not too bothered about winning for Ipswich. There were some exceptions, like derbies and the Arsenal game, and I feel that the atmosphere has improved slightly towards the end of this season as Mick McCarthy has done a great job of making the fans feel like the players want to play for the club again. Sorry for the long post!

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