Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Parry View Post
We’re not a big club. Even with years of sustained success, crowds would die off as fast as they came.
I'll disagree with you there. We've had 20 years in the doldrums where interest in the club plummetted. It's never easy winning those back. We lost a generation of football fans to bigger teams. They then pass on their "love" of the likes of Liverpool etc to their kids.

A few seasons ago I looked at sides who have dropped to the Championship but have a history of enjoying top flight football. Attendances in most of those cases remained similar following relegation. Villa's has even gone up this season.

Teams like Wolves, Burnley, Hull etc, who have enjoyed the odd season in the PL but have spent time in the lower divisions, seem to see their attendances yo-yo.

I reckon if we could have a decade of being established in the Premier League we'd develop a stronger fan base that would be less likely to stop going if we were relegated. Next season will surely see our best average attendance in the Championship. If we stay in the division, it'll be interesting to see what happens the season after again.