How Notts County can attract more young fans and grow their fan base?

[TheSkipper]

Notts County have played in many different stadiums over the years, from the iconic Wembley to the humble Field Mill. Some of them have been memorable for the right reasons, such as the atmosphere, the facilities, the views, or the results. Others have been memorable for the wrong reasons, such as the poor conditions, the hostile fans, the bad location, or the defeats.

In this forum post, we want to hear from you. What are the best and worst stadiums you have seen Notts County play in? How did they affect your experience of watching the Magpies?

Share your opinions and stories with us and let’s compare notes.

[liampie]

targeting schools works, as i am an example of that. i have paid in multiple times than the single free ticket i took as a youngster. i know people moan about notts giving free tickets to schools, but i am convinced its more effective than football groups. i dont see why the club stopped doing it.

restoring the youngpies back to full health would help, rather than its current half arsed state.

family fun days is another great idea which notts tends to do,

sending the players into schools, being proactive in local communities and areas where notts fans live.

to be fair, i think the football on the pitch has helped bring more younger fans, i would not say we are the same club people branded as most older fans. i think its more mixed. i cant say this for sure about the pavis, but the family and kop stands are.

[Chris]

It's happening, but I wish we could cut out the idiots, it ruins the match day experience when some idiot keeps shouting nonsense.

At least 10 times this past season, young lads have sat near to me and knew nothing about Notts. Quite a few were Forest fans, but would berate the players and make what they thought were funny jokes about players like Nemane who one tool, referred to as "insane".

Personally, I would rather Notts target families than individual supporters.

[super_pie]

I think we need to focus on keeping our fans as many young fans will probably get older and then start supporting a team like forest instead due to their higher league games.

[CliftonMagpie]

Winning games is definitely going to attract younger fans, not to mention having players they can look up to. It's great to see that Notts is already making strides in this area. 

[cheeky~k8]

We can attract young fans by keeping the prices of tickets at fair prices so that fans of football in general can go and may become bigger fans in the process.

[Nocturnal-Magpie]

Affordable season tickets are a start. The club missed a trick by not offering existing season ticket holders a slightly reduced rate. Perhaps even offering them cheaper additional tickets.

Winning football games will always attract supporters, provided Luke Williams can maintain Notts as a club that will give healthy competition; it will attract young fans. Yet, I think it’s more important to reward loyalty in an age where companies neglect their die-hard customers.

[AmericanPie]

I like how the club offered early bird renewals. That brings in a good amount of cash which can be put to various departments to stretch the club’s resources further. I don’t remember where I read it, but I saw that 4,000 renewals had been reached or near to that amount. Impressive!

A reward like 3 bring-a-friend tickets per season ticket would be a good way to reward loyalty at no cost to the club.

Then fans can try to get friends, neighbours or family down. That action alone could be enough to tempt people to come.

[Fan of Big Tone]

It is important to reward loyal fans and it’s also important to attract new fans with things which might tempt them to attend, as others have said exciting football and winning games will also attract floating football fans.

Fans can also do their bit to attract younger fans by dragging their sons, daughters, grandchildren, nephews, nieces etc. nout of their bedrooms and off their games machines to a match or two, soon (especially if they have a good time) it will become a habit.

I did this with my grandsons at an early age, the eldest is now a die hard Notts fan, I’m still working on his younger brother who originally insisted he was a Fword fan because the players came to his school and dished out shirts, somehow his shirt was “lost” . He has been to a few Notts matches and I think he is starting to enjoy them, especially this last season. Fingers crossed he can be turned into a lifelong fan.

[BlackandWhitePie]

I believe the new owners have made significant efforts to restore pride and appeal. The team has also contributed to this improvement. While some may disagree, even Alan Hardy implemented fan-friendly initiatives that helped to recover from the previous turmoil. In my opinion, the club should continue to strive for promotion and always plan for the future.

[RetroPie]

I think affordable tickets for youngsters is something the club should look into, as well as family tickets if you buy in bulk and things like that. The club might see more fans take up this and bring in extra bodies. People spend money on match days, so the more bodies, the more wallets/purses.

[Ohh Tommy Johnson]

I think you need to look beyond the matchday experience (or combine the two).  Charlton Athletic are very active in this area (as far east in Kent as you can be without getting wet).  They ran football schools in holidays, they run the National Citizens Service for 16 and 17 year olds. Saracens are heavily involved with local rugby clubs, Wasps players used to coach at local rugby clubs too.  You could also make tickets available through these channels, either free or discounted too, which could cement the relatinship.

 

[NottsTastic]

Loyal fans come through family ties mostly, especially younger fans. If they make friends with people at Notts, then there is a chance it will become something embedded within them. The issue is keeping fans when we become average or poor, not that I think we will, but we have not had a real test yet since the Reedtz took us over.

[Robbie]

I agree with the sentiments reflected on this thread.

It's nice to see that Notts are gaining so many young new supporters, which bodes well for the future Notts fan base.