The attendance at the DW makes our away attendance acceptable

[Brede Butter Pudding]

Tonight it has been reported that there is an attendance of around 7,000 at the DW. Now, I know that for a Tuesday night FA cup replay AT HOME we would have AT LEAST 15,000, and that's the minimum - I would say nearer 17,000. I know we get a lot of bad press about having poor away support in terms of numbers, but I think that any away support should be deemed decent compared to a home crowd of under 7,000 (the official attendance hasn't been released yet and it is likely to be lower than this). Wigan should not be a premiership club and Victor Moses should be at Motspur park having an ice bath with Okaka and Owezu.

[Scrumpy]

Well, they're talking about a crowd of around 3k at the moment. :(

Don't know whether to laugh or cry! There were more at Accrington last weekend.

[os5889]

With Warnocks comments regarding disgusting offers from us it would seem logical to conclude we did try and buy Moses....

[Brede Butter Pudding]

Yeah I suppose it suggests we did try, but considering he went for £2.5 mil our offer must have been pretty stingy. However, I believe that the fact that City/Arse/Manure/the Dark Side/Spurs etc etc, all bigger clubs than us with more money didn't bid for him suggests he is somewhat overrated. Roy knows a talent when he sees one and apparently Moses isn't one of them.

And 3,000 is an embarrassment. Seriously, an insult to the famous cup. I know Wigan is a hole but seriously they deserve to go down on attendance alone.

[os5889]

attendance 5,519 (bbc)

[LBNo11]

...sorry Brede Butter Pudding (great name by the way), but as much as I agree with you, part of what you wrote made me squirm uneasily, namely that based on the attendance Wigan should not be a premiership club.

Many years ago I heard a similar statement made against us on the radio station 'Talksport' and although I knew that they deliberately intended to wind people up to gain a response, the sad fact is that many people agreed that Fulham, because they didn't get 30,000 plus crowds didn't deserve to be in the premiership. Those who agreed were the usual Surrey mancs, dark side, spuds and even Charlton and Ha-ha's!

What the hell had our (comparatively) small crowds got to do with the clubs fight through the lower leagues to reach the top flight. The fans are fans, no matter how few of them, such a comment is fatuous and elitist..?

[Brede Butter Pudding]

No mate I agree that it might be a bit harsh, but at the end of the day we physically can not get 30,000 people into the cottage. However, we consistently fill it to well above 20k. What I'm saying is, why should a team such as Wigan, who have a stadium of identical capacity to the cottage (25k) yet only have an attendance of 3,000 be reaping the benefits of playing premier league football and getting money from TV right etc etc. I would far rather see teams with thriving home attendances in the league as otherwise it goes against the famous English atmosphere. I wouldn't say my comment is either fatuous nor elitist, just honest in the fact that 3,000 fans is not a good attendance for a Premier league club. It's a shame that Wigan who attract a mere 3,000 fans to a home game should be reaping the financial rewards of the Premiership when other clubs in the Championship and League 1 average far more fans than Wigan do.

[LBNo11]

...a good argument BBP, and yes I am sure that other clubs in the championship with larger crowds may feel aggrieved at such a small turn-out and all the financial rewards Wigan get.

Nonetheless, when it was applied to Fulham it got my hackles up, and if a club has reached the top flight through sheer hard work and or a rich benefactor should the size of it's support be a criteria of entry into the premiership..?

[Hazey]

If clubs are getting bigger crowds in lower divisions over a period of time it should indicate that there is poor management of the club.  With a bigger crowd/capacity the so called bigger clubs should be run to become profitable and thus able to buy in better quality players and move up the divisions.

Just because you get big crowds doesn't give you the right to expect to be in an elevated position above that which the form of the team warrants.