Have some supporters lost interest?

[kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong]

7 hours ago, DCFC27 said:

Club feels like it did when Clough jr left. Fans loosing interest lowering attendances. Yet a core of fans that go every week rain or shine and fully supportive of the team and manager. 
I don’t think the fact we don’t have a ticket office helps and obtaining a ticket is a little more difficult. I never have bought season tickets in a while due to never knowing if I can make the game until late notice. (Tbh I don’t feel like I save too much money as I end up making most games) so I’d buy them in the ticket office on the day. That option isn’t available now. They’ll be loosing around 500 odd fans from just tickets on the day. Also not selling season tickets can’t help. 
Having gone to the games I do feel the atmosphere amongst fans is a whole lot more positive than on the forum. 

Didn't crowds go up when Nigel Clough left and Mac took over.

I don't remember us losing (not loosing,sorry it's the one spelling that drives me irrationally nuts) fans in that period?

[Anag Ram]

We need a new hero. 

A goalscoring forward who latches onto the merest scintilla of a chance and wheels away to the roars of the Derby faithful. 

Step forward Sam Baldock ?

[Barney1991]

11 minutes ago, jake the ram said:

Dcfc are really doing a lot to get crowds back,like giving us no information what is happening with the club,Dad's army, season ticket,and £4-75 for a pint of p - - -

spot on 33 pound for a ticket to watch a bare 11 run around in a formatiopn that would aconfuse a chicken laying an egg. No communication from the club with a meeting with an nda that a couple of groups now know information yet the thosuands of fans that go the games wrere no better off. nearly tenner for burger and oint. I still go but before most games in the morning i think why am i bothering and would rather take my 2 young kids out for the day with the money. 

[falconram]

Myself and my dad have had St for 35 years apart from 1season under Maxwell, I've bought them for my kids since they were 5 and we have never felt more disalutioned  than now, are we going to renew, I really don't know were so  hacked off. 

Over the seasons I've raised thousands of pounds selling tickets, I've had kids teams come out with players, sons as mascots and now to be in this position of so much uncertainty I really struggling to see why I should put my hand in my pocket. 

I've not been this season so far, I didn't even watch Saturday's that's how far my interest has gone, something has to change for me to turn the tide and want to go back to the club Ive grown up with and started watching since 1977.

Sad times for me and my family

Edited August 17, 2021 by falconram

[atherstoneram]

24 minutes ago, Anag Ram said:

We need a new hero. 

A goalscoring forward who latches onto the merest scintilla of a chance and wheels away to the roars of the Derby faithful. 

Step forward Sam Baldock ?

How about Usain Bolt

[Seth's left foot]

I’ve lost a bit of love not interest in football due to money creating an uneven playing field, the parachute payment seasons being extended benefitted the Premier League and nobody else.

Fulham have spent £20m, the rest of the championship combined £21m.

Why do clubs like Bury fold when the Premier League are swimming in cash, wasn’t their issue just an unpaid tax bill of £170,000 or something?

Families are being priced out of going to matches and the big clubs are only interested in tourists.

McClaren and Lampard showed though that the feel good factor does put bums on seats proving that some people expect value for money rather than being ‘loyal’.

 

 

[NottsRammy]

Yes most definitely .

To be fair being a Derby fan after the golden period has really been quite awful with only a few highs all to quickly swept away with lows . 

I really dont get how clubs like Aston Villa and now it seems the most unfancied midlands club in Leicester City stay up there and achieve the success they have and we wallow around constantly in the doldrums . We have the fanbase, we have the ground , we have the training area , we have had chairman with moderate amounts of money . Just why does it go so wrong why is there no even keel .How we are not an Everton or an Aston villa .For me Derby should be always at least be a half way up the league prem team having some brief times of maybe top 6 now and again .

How is it so mismanaged and messed up . I mean come on how the hell are leicester where they are jesus there nothing more than a corner shop selling cobs rather than a shopping in Harrods . I know i sound horrible but just how have they done it and we have messed up with what we have had at our disposal .Even a messed up club like Newcastle have come down twice and shown just how easy it is to go back up straight away . 

At the moment im totally sick of football and in particular Derby disappointing County , im fed up with them . So fed up im not even now bothering listening or following the match on a sat afternoon , i know we are down and most fans are just putting themselves through more agony watching us go down . Why has Morris got like this it doesnt add up . 

The brief respite of England in the euros was a welcome distraction and because of my lack of interest i didnt watch england till the 1/4 finals , but when you get proff footballers take penalties like that you have to wonder about the state of the game .Its easily summed up for me .

It is down to sky and to much money in the game , players generally dont care and pretend to like the club they play for , Money has ruined this game and its not a poor mans sport anymore at all . 

For me its all rather similiar to people in life right now .Just after the war people were close helping each other saying hello to each other basically pulling together , fast forward nearly 100 years and now your scared to walk through a town centre for if a group of youths set on you and video on there phone . There is alot wrong in life and its going to get worse .Morals in sport and life have gone through the window . 

 

Ive long thought that if we were a London club or based around Manchester liverpool area we would be huge . Players like the night life its alot easier to attract top players to major citys . But Leicester have bucked that trend of thought for me , im gobsmacked at how a poxy little midlands club have achieved what they have .Lets be honest hand on heart , i have always looked at leicester as an also ran a 2nd rate club behind both us and forest . Just gobsmacked at what is happening . 

Edited August 17, 2021 by NottsRammy

[i-Ram]

5 minutes ago, NottsRammy said:

Yes most definitely .

To be fair being a Derby fan after the golden period has really been quite awful with only a few highs all to quickly swept away with lows . 

I really dont get how clubs like Aston Villa and now it seems the most unfancied midlands club in Leicester City stay up there and achieve the success they have and we wallow around constantly in the doldrums . We have the fanbase, we have the ground , we have the training area , we have had chairman with moderate amounts of money . Just why does it go so wrong why is there no even keel .How we are not an Everton or an Aston villa .For me Derby should be always at least be a half way up the league prem team having some brief times of maybe top 6 now and again .

How is it so mismanaged and messed up . I mean come on how the hell are leicester where they are jesus there nothing more than a corner shop selling cobs rather than a shopping in Harrods . I know i sound horrible but just how have they done it and we have messed up with what we have had at our disposal .Even a messed up club like Newcastle have come down twice and shown just how easy it is to go back up straight away . 

At the moment im totally sick of football and in particular Derby disappointing County , im fed up with them . So fed up im not even now bothering listening or following the match on a sat afternoon , i know we are down and most fans are just putting themselves through more agony watching us go down . Why has Morris got like this it doesnt add up . 

The brief respite of England in the euros was a welcome distraction and because of my lack of interest i didnt watch england till the 1/4 finals , but when you get proff footballers take penalties like that you have to wonder about the state of the game .Its easily summed up for me .

It is down to sky and to much money in the game , players generally dont care and pretend to like the club they play for , Money has ruined this game and its not a poor mans sport anymore at all . 

For me its all rather similiar to people in life right now .Just after the war people were close helping each other saying hello to each other basically pulling together , fast forward nearly 100 years and now your scared to walk through a town centre for if a group of youths set on you and video on there phone . There is alot wrong in life and its going to get worse .Morals in sport and life have gone through the window . 

 

[FindernRam]

 

I posted this back in July 21: Did hope that as season aproached I may rekindle the spark but afraid not:

I think there is a perfect storm of stuff that is contributing to me losing virtually all interest in the Rams, a club I have supported since 1967.

In no particular order:

On the pitch: Playing low entertainment football, no real crowd pleaser, low goals rate. Cobbled together team of old men and kids without a clear policy.

Off the pitch: Total shambles of an organisation, apparently in conflict with people who can really hurt you, HMRC EFL. Owner who has gone silent. The car crash fallout really showed the club up in a terrible light in so many ways.

Match scheduling: Its great to have footy available almost every night on TV but as a live football fan I want 3:00 on a Saturday. Mid week and oddball times really irritate me, particularly sitting freezing on a mid week winter game . Result I'lll stay at home and watch good football in the warm (heresy I know, but it is what it is).

Price: Saving on two tickets, car park etc easily covers Sky, BT Sport, Amazon Prime subscriptions with left overs for a few decent bottles of Scotch. 

CoVid showed how quick you can find other stuff to do on match days.

Hard fans will say there reasons for each of the above issues, but it's a bit like the old Chinese Water torture (other nations are available), the cumulative effect gets to you. AND IT HAS. 

[BramcoteRam84]

I’m becoming more disillusioned with football as time goes on. I’m worried the premier league will eventually become a closed shop due to the parachute payments and disparity. All the media focus on radio and tv is on how exciting and wide open the premier league is and how brilliant it is, yeah a battle between 5 or 6 clubs. Great! The fact Leicester are one of them makes it worse. The money is slowly ruining the game in my opinion.

As for Derby, I have an excuse to lose interest. I have two young children, too young to take to football, my wife works some Saturdays so I will have childcare issues for some games (Forest being the one so far). My dad had a season ticket from the 60s until the early 80s but then barely went to a game until we got our first season ticket in 96. But I can’t drag myself away from it, i still feel emotional about it largely I feel pain and frustration at the moment. I think also the fact I now live in Nottingham, Derby County alongside my folks is my link to home. 
 

It’s tough right now, it might even be the toughest period in my 30 + years supporting the club, but it could change quickly. The academy players are really exciting and the Salford game (while it was only Salford) was the most enjoyable game I’ve watched in a while, because we watched young players grow during a match playing with bravery courage and talent. There is nothing that makes me feel prouder as a fan as when young players come through and make their mark. I can get behind that.

The building blocks are there and that gives me hope things will change again for the better and we’ll soon have a team we can be proud of again. But unfortunately we’re dependent on Mel doing his bit in transferring custodianship or continuing to fund the club if he can’t. If he doesn’t do that then all the academy work will be for nothing as we’ll have to give them away.

If Mel turns his back on the club then it will be a long tough road back and a few fans won’t have the desire to see it through, and understandably so, it’s only a game why should we let something like football make us so miserable?

[The Scarlet Pimpernel]

1 minute ago, FindernRam said:

 

I posted this back in July 21: Did hope that as season aproached I may rekindle the spark but afraid not:

I think there is a perfect storm of stuff that is contributing to me losing virtually all interest in the Rams, a club I have supported since 1967.

In no particular order:

On the pitch: Playing low entertainment football, no real crowd pleaser, low goals rate. Cobbled together team of old men and kids without a clear policy.

Off the pitch: Total shambles of an organisation, apparently in conflict with people who can really hurt you, HMRC EFL. Owner who has gone silent. The car crash fallout really showed the club up in a terrible light in so many ways.

Match scheduling: Its great to have footy available almost every night on TV but as a live football fan I want 3:00 on a Saturday. Mid week and oddball times really irritate me, particularly sitting freezing on a mid week winter game . Result I'lll stay at home and watch good football in the warm (heresy I know, but it is what it is).

Price: Saving on two tickets, car park etc easily covers Sky, BT Sport, Amazon Prime subscriptions with left overs for a few decent bottles of Scotch. 

CoVid showed how quick you can find other stuff to do on match days.

Hard fans will say there reasons for each of the above issues, but it's a bit like the old Chinese Water torture (other nations are available), the cumulative effect gets to you. AND IT HAS. 

Still on this DCFC forum though FindernRam.......There is still a flicker...

[DCFC27]

1 hour ago, kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong said:

Didn't crowds go up when Nigel Clough left and Mac took over.

I don't remember us losing (not loosing,sorry it's the one spelling that drives me irrationally nuts) fans in that period?

Just before he left* I think it was the gates that got him the sack in the end i think the gates were dropping below 20k on Saturdays. 

[Leeds Ram]

Atm I'm still as interested as ever but I am disillusioned with the club itself. It feels like the club doesn't really give a damn about the fans;  from the lack of communication to the constant ticketing screwups it really does feel that all they care about atm is trying to get as much money out of us that they can and bugger anything else. But they're not even competent at that!! 

I can cope with us being utterly crap on the field, I've seen it enough times over the last 20 years but what I'm struggling to take is the club taking us for fools and seeing us as little more than a group of people ready to hand over quite a lot of money for something we're emotionally invested in. I don't like the way the club is acting atm and it's the first time since I've been going that I've seriously considered financially withdrawing my support. 

Edited August 17, 2021 by Leeds Ram

[Keepyuppy]

For me, it’s a continual itch that needs to be scratched. I am as disappointed as anyone of where our club currently is. However, for me personally, it’s just something that is part of my DNA (a marketing dream) and it will never change. I will keep going to matches , as long as I’m able to.  I can only see me not going when I croak it.

Anyway, what else amI going to do ? ??

[JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta]

I certainly didn't feel as bad as I would normally have done on Saturday given the nature of the result. I'm also not spending any money on the club at the minute.

I haven't completely lost interest but the passion is certainly dulled to a large extent. The sheer volume of off-field nonsense that we are being faced with just makes it hard to enjoy anything about the club.

[oldtimeram]

I've got to admit, I've lost interest and I've been watching the Rams since the early 1960s.

Morris' antics have destroyed the club I loved

Edited August 17, 2021 by oldtimeram

[kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong]

18 minutes ago, DCFC27 said:

Just before he left* I think it was the gates that got him the sack in the end i think the gates were dropping below 20k on Saturdays. 

I misunderstood you mate?

They were pretty unexciting times just before the end of Clough's tenure,I'd swap it for now though.

[Ramos]

I’m fortunate that the pandemic hasn’t hit me financially - and like some other have said I’m not sure why or even how considering the mess our club is in, I feel more engaged and wanting to get behind the boys more than ever before.
 

I think it’s because Derby county is our club, and the club isn’t at fault nor is the team, it’s the people running the club that are in the wrong. Whether they are local and support Derby or are from another continent, they are simply the people who run the club and should be doing it in the best interest of Derby county and it’s real ‘owners’ the fans. I actually think Derby county needs us more than ever before but I obviously understand why many are disengaged or simply can’t put their hands in their pockets. I do think the attendances will grow throughout the season if and when something gives more fans hope - ie results on the field or a takeover and the whole EFL stuff finally being put to bed. Before the pandemic I was missing the odd game and not bothered, but Saturday I can’t make boro as I’m in liverpool and I’m gutted. This team needs all the support it can get and so far the fans at each game have given them exactly that. 

[EulogyForEvolution]

The answer for me is...I wish I could stop caring but I can't.

It's a running joke between me and my girlfriend that I'm like Michael from Arrested Development when he proclaims "I'm done with this family" or "We're going to Pheonix" with how often I proclaim I'm done with this club (emotions tend to run high after a loss like the one at the weekend).

I was having a conversation with my football WhatsApp group the other day - there is a big range of fans on there from Arsenal to AFC Wimbledon - and all of them agreed that there are few worse clubs to support. It's embarrassing being a Derby fan at the moment.

A few things recently have almost tipped me over the edge. The poaching of our academy products for next to nothing before they even play for us being one of them. This season should probably be the breakthrough seasons of Delap and Gordon in our team, but we never really got to see either of them even play, and now we're begging for one of them back on loan. The greedy bar stewards seem to be demanding a loan fee of more than double what they paid us for him. It begs the question, what is the point in trying to do it the right way? You could argue that the academy is the only thing Mel Morris has done right amongst all the deception and the shady practices, and even then the top talent gets plucked out before they even pull on a shirt for the first team.

Then we have the well documented troubles with the club. I was so proud of the team towards the end of the Clough era and into Mac 1. Since then we've become a laughing stock. I'm as guilty as anyone for enjoying the ride at some points, but it doesn't change the fact that Mel Morris has run the club into the ground. My contempt for him and the various embarrassing sagas could have finished me off, but they didn't. 

I feel like I would be happier if I could turn it off, but there is just no chance of that happening. It's like a shitty relationship you know in your heart is not good for you but you just can't leave it. No matter how many times I say I'm done, by the time the next game comes around it's all forgotten and I'm ready to get my heart broken again ?

[Jayram]

For me it’s a combination of cost, lack of entertainment on offer and the COVID situation. Travelling up from Oxfordshire for a home game costs me over £100 when you factor in ticket, fuel, food etc, which is a lot of dosh to regularly spend. If I’m going to do that I want to be entertained on the odd occasion but for the last 18 months it’s been a bloody chore watching the garbage that has been churned out. 
Also as a slightly overweight middle aged man I am COVIDS favourite target and though I am double jabbed I’m not convinced this is going to make much difference in a crowded football stadium concourse full of pissed up supporters. I have a Rams TV subscription and will always tune in when we are playing but at the moment I don’t have an overwhelming desire to make the effort to watch what is on offer right now.