6,013

[life on mars]

Decent crowd .

Brighton are not likely to attract Premiership sofa watchers in thier droves .

[FungoFurore]

I'm going down for the first time in ages on Saturday, took me about 25 minutes to get the tickets online because the system is so shite!

Attendances for cup games have been poor for years. Not sure why the club don't just do tickets for £5, or at least some creative deals (like u16s go free with paying adult) to get a more people in.

[ferrari_andretti]

7,491 - Swansea City v Plymouth

I don’t think it’s just down to the opposition. Our recent track record in the competition is dire. Swansea won it a while back.

Maybe there’s just more to do in Cardiff on a Tuesday night than in Swansea?

We made the final not long ago...

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Back in November 2011, City had three home games in just over a week. The attendances were:

22,556 v Nottingham Forest (Championship)
19,436 v Blackburn (Carling Cup)
22,010 v Birmingham (Championship)

Admittedly the Carling Cup game was later in the competition, but I do think a crowd of just 6,013 for a game against a Premier League opponent is significant. Indeed, it was City's lowest attendance for such a match since the late-Eighties. I don't believe there's any one main factor at play, though. I think it's a combination of lots of things, including the unsatisfactory ticket office situation judging by what a couple of friends I was talking to last night were saying.

I think the fact that the Blackburn game was a quarter final is also significant! We had just over 8.5k for the previous round against Leicester.

It's interesting that a winnable quarter final in the league cup attracted a lower crowd than 2 league games. 4 seasons before when we reached the FA cup final, we played Norwich and Leicester in the league at home with the Wolves 5th round game somewhere in between. More people watched the FA cup tie than the two league games.

[The Lone Gunman]

7,002 at Newport’s game against Southampton this evening. County getting a bigger crowd than City. Strange times indeed.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

7,002 at Newport’s game against Southampton this evening. County getting a bigger crowd than City. Strange times indeed.

In fairness, Southampton for County is a far bigger draw than Brighton was for us.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

7,002 at Newport’s game against Southampton this evening. County getting a bigger crowd than City. Strange times indeed.

They won't be back anytime soon after the leathering county got tonight

[stan butler]

7,002 at Newport’s game against Southampton this evening. County getting a bigger crowd than City. Strange times indeed.

Not really.
Newport having Southampton home is big game for them.
Cardiff home to Brighton who we have played many times over the years is hardly a mouth watering game.

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

I've been through the record books this morning and City have indeed had lower crowds for games against top flight opposition on no less than three occasions - all in the League Cup and all in the the Eighties.

Incredibly, in a competition that has been running for more than 60 years, City have only faced top division opponents at home on 16 occasions, and only three times since the turn of the millennium. That says plenty about the club's feeble efforts in the League Cup over the years.

The crowds for each of the 16 home games against top flight opposition were as follows:

12,200 v Burnley (1960/61)
14,315 v West Ham (1965/66)
30,109 v West Ham (1971/72)
8,775 v Burnley (1973/74)
23,618 v QPR (1976/77)
9,698 v Everton (1979/80)
11,632 v Arsenal (1982/83)
4,425 v Norwich (1983/84)
4,607 v Watford (1984/85)
8,018 v Chelsea (1986/87)
2,629 v QPR (1988/89)
9,041 v Southampton (1995/96)
7,613 v Wimbledon (1999/00)
13,555 v Portsmouth (2004/05)
19,436 v Blackburn (2011/12)
6,013 v Brighton (2021/22)

In the Eighties, the League Cup was still a two-legged affair. In 1988/89, City went into the second leg against QPR already 0-3 down. Just 2,629 turned up to see another 1-4 defeat at Ninian Park. Alan Curtis scored the Cardiff goal.

It says plenty for the club's recent performances in the League Cup and the general perception of the competition that some apparently regard 6,013 as a 'good' crowd.....

The QPR game in the 70s..is that the one where the box office was robbed?

[goats]

7,002 at Newport’s game against Southampton this evening. County getting a bigger crowd than City. Strange times indeed.

It’s a big deal for them, when did they last play them? Or a PL club? Bha are hardly a big draw or club plus we always get low crowds for this cup.

[stan butler]

In fairness, Southampton for County is a far bigger draw than Brighton was for us.

I agree but there are a certain few who are hell bent on having a pop at the club and it's fans at every opportunity.

[stan butler]

The QPR game in the 70s..is that the one where the box office was robbed?

No that was the fa cup game 90.91 or around that time

[goats]

The QPR game in the 70s..is that the one where the box office was robbed?

That was fa cup 89 ish?

[The Lone Gunman]

In fairness, Southampton for County is a far bigger draw than Brighton was for us.

Of course, but then Cardiff City is a far bigger club than Newport County with a far larger fanbase.

[The Lone Gunman]

I agree but there are a certain few who are hell bent on having a pop at the club and it's fans at every opportunity.

So discussing attendances (which are a matter of fact) is "having a pop at the club and its fans"?

You're a very strange man, Stockholm. Distinctly odd. But credit to you, at least you've managed to post a couple of messages without mentioning Sam Hammam, AA or his message board. It makes a change.

[Hilts]

I think the tournament has had its day.

No idea but do other countries of 2 cup competitions?

[The Lone Gunman]

No idea but do other countries have 2 cup competitions?

Only Scotland and Wales as far as I'm aware. Seems to be a British thing.

[The Lone Gunman]

Apparently, France did have a league cup which began in 1993, but it was suspended indefinitely in 2020 due to fixture congestion.

[surge]

I think the tournament has had its day.

No idea but do other countries of 2 cup competitions?

Not if it's used as a bridge between U23's football and the league.

Most clubs have big enough squads to take a serious run at FA Cup and their league (Champions League club definitely have enough to run at three competitions) leaving League Cup as chance to experiment or bring players through.

[The Lone Gunman]

Portugal has two cup competitions - the Taca de Portugal (FA Cup) and the Taca da Liga (a league cup for the top two divsions).

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Portugal has two cup competitions - the Taca de Portugal (FA Cup) and the Taca da Liga (a league cup for the top two divsions).

Germany dabbled with a second cup competition and which involved just 6 clubs but did away with it after three seasons -so it's a 'nein' from Deutschland.

By the way, I wonder if more people partook of jus de vache when the Milk Cup was around.

[lardy]

I think the tournament has had its day.

No idea but do other countries of 2 cup competitions?

I've long said it should be a football league only competition. It would mean a lot more.

How excited can Man City's fans be when they win it four times in a row, and five times in the last six? Or six out of the last eight?

If it's only for football league clubs, then fans who rarely get to Wembley will have a proper chance of seeing their team win a trophy. And let's face it, that is basically every club in the football league.

[dml1954]

I've long said it should be a football league only competition. It would mean a lot more.

How excited can Man City's fans be when they win it four times in a row, and five times in the last six? Or six out of the last eight?

If it's only for football league clubs, then fans who rarely get to Wembley will have a proper chance of seeing their team win a trophy. And let's face it, that is basically every club in the football league.

If an EFL club wins the current competition, they go into the Europa Cup. If Premier League teams were banned from entering, then it is very likely that European qualification for the winners would be removed. Also teams outside the top six in the Prem can currently go for European qualification by winning it. To alter its current format would therefore cause more harm than good - so in my opinion, leave it alone.

[lardy]

If an EFL club wins the current competition, they go into the Europa Cup. If Premier League teams were banned from entering, then it is very likely that European qualification for the winners would be removed. Also teams outside the top six in the Prem can currently go for European qualification by winning it. To alter its current format would therefore cause more harm than good - so in my opinion, leave it alone.

Is qualifying for Europe the most attractive part of it?

I'd imagine if you asked fans of championship clubs (wonder where we could find any) if they would rather have a miniscule chance of winning it and getting into Europe, or a realistic chance and no Europe, I bet they'd choose the latter.

I don't think my suggestion will happen. Not because of this, but because it'll be deemed less attractive for sponsors without a glamour final. But it would surely breathe life back into a competition that no one gives a shit about any more.

[The Lone Gunman]

I don't think my suggestion will happen. Not because of this, but because it'll be deemed less attractive for sponsors without a glamour final. But it would surely breathe life back into a competition that no one gives a shit about any more.

Is that true?

The last time fans were able to attend games, the crowds for the quarter finals of the EFL Cup were as follows:

17,342 - Middlesbrough v Burton Albion
24,644 - Leicester v Manchester City
40,432 - Chelsea v Bournemouth
59,016 - Arsenal v Tottenham

Those attendances don't suggest to me that nobody gives a shit about the League Cup any more.

It's always been a competition that has sat below the league and the FA Cup in the pecking order for most fans, but I don't think things are any different in that respect to how they were ten or twenty years ago.