You can't ignore it

The fans are falling out of love with Cardiff City.

I'm 32 and have been a season ticket holder since the Ninian park days, so have my friends. Now we are all having kids and priorities take over. We are all still season ticket holders but for how long?

The football we have now will lose 2 of us I can guarantee that!

I'm not just saying this from a personal perspective but think of this. There are many more of the 2008 F.A cup final fans who are of Equal age. That is when the fan base boomed. They're going to slip away and if we continue the style we play I can guarantee next season we will have less that 16,000 season tickets sold.

We do not play and have not played attractive football for years! Coupled with this you can now watch (if you're savvy enough) every City game on IPTV. So where do we go from here because I see a massive fall unless we have a vision apart from the club saying " we need to cut back, trim the wage bill, wait for the sala saga to end, wait for Sam hammam to stop trying to sue us""

It might be a long road back this time.

Our attendances will decline if we don't get close to a play off spot.

I personally think very soon our chances of a play off spot will disappear and the feeling around the place will fall. Once that sets in its very difficult to reverse. It happened during the Malky, Ole, Slade period but we found a Saviour in Warnock. The Law of Averages says that will not happen this time around. So yes expect a fall in STs.

The support has not changed much since the 1960's. If we are challenging towards the top of this league, we will get roughly between 18k and 25k depending on the opposition. If we are in the lower half of the table next season we can expect between 10k and 15k. If we ever end up back in the bottom division an 8k gate would be good, just like it was last time. If we are struggling at the bottom, our gates would not be much more than Newport are getting. Fans want success, and only the hardcore supporters who will follow their club wherever that may be will hang around if things go really bad.

Aged 43 got mortgage, wife kids.....
Supported city since i first went down aged 9.

I wont stop going down because the football isn't particularly pleasing.

Cardiffs my club.

My son now 15 is the same. He'll be there regardless.

It’s been shit before, it’ll get better then be shit again, that’s how it goes.
I’ve been lucky enough to have seen more than my Dad or his mates ever did.
It’s a chore sometimes and I do gets on the verge of giving up ........but I do get to see my area every fortnight, beers and a catch up which I doubt I’d do any other way.
As I always say to people who don’t understand ‘there’s more to going down the football than the football ‘

Just think back to the old days when we were in league 3/4 and had to piss in the outblock with rain coming down on top of you on a cold winter night and the only warmth was a pie and stewed tea... then think of all the ups and downs we’ve had since then and remember why we all love Cardiff City.

Keep the faith, managers, players and owners come and go, we don’t

I don’t know if I can renew yet as I’ll be unemployed in August having completed 22 years in my current job and there’s a chance any new job could include weekends and Tuesday evenings. This is the only reason I wouldn’t renew as there’s no substitute to meeting up with friends on match day and the football comes second to that. If anyone knows of any jobs going, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Round trip of 5 hrs last night but if not when will I catch up with my old valley mates, as said above, more to a match than the football !!

You could just call it a social gathering as there's not much football

I don’t know if I can renew yet as I’ll be unemployed in August having completed 22 years in my current job and there’s a chance any new job could include weekends and Tuesday evenings. This is the only reason I wouldn’t renew as there’s no substitute to meeting up with friends on match day and the football comes second to that. If anyone knows of any jobs going, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Always jobs going at the stadium on match days if that’s any help

The last 10-15 years have been (for us)on the whole very successful.
The years 74-04 not so much , except for the occasional blip.
The season ticket prices are very good and the ways to pay.
Where else can you go for 3 hours of entertainment or misery for £15 ?
I'm quite happy to keep inflicting pain on myself,next year.
Meeting mates , putting the world to rights , having a pint,and sometimes watching the football.
I know there's a lot better things to do on a Saturday afternoon,but I can't think of any .

I'm with the OP.

Been going down for years, got an ST, and evem got my wife an ST after we got married!!

This season we both feel its a chore and on top of that we are are not all that keen on some of the idiots who have got STs around us in recent years either...the "game" is what we go far and its been dour. Even the derbies were poor compared to years gone by. Coupled with the fact that its a 2/3 hour round trip, parking is getting more costly and we have to get there earlier to get a space, prices in the stadium for food and drink are a joke, and that most games are now on red button, we have decided to knock STs on the head and just pick the odd game to attend for next season.

15 quid a game is a bargain to be fair, but when you factor in the travel, time out of your day and the constant feeling of a day wasted...you have to admit to yourdelf no matter how hard it is that its no fun and stop...or at least have a break from it.

Aged 43 got mortgage, wife kids.....
Supported city since i first went down aged 9.

I wont stop going down because the football isn't particularly pleasing.

Cardiffs my club.

My son now 15 is the same. He'll be there regardless.

Similar here mate.....apart from the age unfortunately

The fans are falling out of love with Cardiff City.

I'm 32 and have been a season ticket holder since the Ninian park days, so have my friends. Now we are all having kids and priorities take over. We are all still season ticket holders but for how long?

The football we have now will lose 2 of us I can guarantee that!

I'm not just saying this from a personal perspective but think of this. There are many more of the 2008 F.A cup final fans who are of Equal age. That is when the fan base boomed. They're going to slip away and if we continue the style we play I can guarantee next season we will have less that 16,000 season tickets sold.

We do not play and have not played attractive football for years! Coupled with this you can now watch (if you're savvy enough) every City game on IPTV. So where do we go from here because I see a massive fall unless we have a vision apart from the club saying " we need to cut back, trim the wage bill, wait for the sala saga to end, wait for Sam hammam to stop trying to sue us""

It might be a long road back this time.

These are good excuses.

None of us want to hear it, we’ve been here before we will be here again.

People only want to go and watch if we are winning those are the facts.

If you don’t want to go don’t go people who want to go will. We will see you the next time the premier league rolls around again when you’ve suddenly got extra time and money on your hands.

The fans are falling out of love with Cardiff City.

I'm 32 and have been a season ticket holder since the Ninian park days, so have my friends. Now we are all having kids and priorities take over. We are all still season ticket holders but for how long?

The football we have now will lose 2 of us I can guarantee that!

I'm not just saying this from a personal perspective but think of this. There are many more of the 2008 F.A cup final fans who are of Equal age. That is when the fan base boomed. They're going to slip away and if we continue the style we play I can guarantee next season we will have less that 16,000 season tickets sold.

We do not play and have not played attractive football for years! Coupled with this you can now watch (if you're savvy enough) every City game on IPTV. So where do we go from here because I see a massive fall unless we have a vision apart from the club saying " we need to cut back, trim the wage bill, wait for the sala saga to end, wait for Sam hammam to stop trying to sue us""

It might be a long road back this time.

It isn’t Cardiff City , it’s football in general, the games gone. Over paid players, taught to dive,complaining of injuries constantly instead of just getting on with it. I don’t think I’ll ever get another ST unless my son wants to have one when he comes of age.
Bring back lower league football I say.

Been a ST holder for a long time but it’s getting harder and harder to go and watch City. Brilliant what Neil Warnock did at the club and great watching Premier League football but the last decent football that we played was when Dave Jones was in charge & we had had Bothroyd and Chopra. Everyone used to have a go about Dave Jones about his style of football!

The owner/board have done a great job reducing the debt however has it gone too far at the expense of investing in the team? I have no doubt that if City had brought in 1 or 2 quality players last season we would still be in the PL. Ambition?

Appreciate there is the matter of Sala & the outstanding fee but what about exciting the fans to keep them coming. Did the club show ambition when appointing NH? Did they show ambition in the transfer window? It’s a fine balancing act but you have to keep fans on board. I can see a drop of at least 4-5k next season.

Attendances drop after relegation and then they drop again when the prem hopefuls do not renew. That is not unique to us, it happens at every club. Nothing to do with fans falling out of love with the club. When the team isnt winning people will find reasons not to go. If we were promoted to the prem those priorities that keep people away would become less important. Depending on how we invest over the summer and how we do next season our average attendance will probably range between 18 and 20k.

Shocking!!!! Sounds like everyone is giving up. "Only sing when your winning" springs to mind.

There are always ups and downs. The downs are what make the ups so great. I will be there again regardless of league position. It must be amazing to be a liverpool fan winning every week but liverpool fans have never experienced what us cardiff fans have experienced. The highs and lows. Relegations and promotions. Weve been through a lot over the years. It's what keeps us coming back each year.

Shocking!!!! Sounds like everyone is giving up. "Only sing when your winning" springs to mind.

There are always ups and downs. The downs are what make the ups so great. I will be there again regardless of league position. It must be amazing to be a liverpool fan winning every week but liverpool fans have never experienced what us cardiff fans have experienced. The highs and lows. Relegations and promotions. Weve been through a lot over the years. It's what keeps us coming back each year.

This is spot on!! I find it cringe worthy from some of the younger generation,who have been supporting us through mainly good years,and that's not knocking anybody,but some of us have been going for 40+ years,and have seen it all before,but it's never ever been in my thoughts to just give up!! I may be in the minority,but I dislike the premier league,as apart from the top 6 (and the occasional surprise package) it's merely about reaching 40 pts,and survival,which for some is not possible,they spend huge amounts to get there,even bigger amounts to try and stay there,and a few clubs will fall foul of ffp in trying! I for one don't enjoy a season that starts off by writing off 10/12 games before a ball is kicked.give me the championship any day,where anybody can beat anybody my point is this is my city,and this is the club I will follow,until like my dad (RIP X) I wouldn't be able to stay home and not attend,I find the lure to much to resist,it's in my DNA.if it was all about winning,I'm sure I could support Liverpool, man City etc etc, it certainly would be a lot easier,but has never had any appeal to me,if it was just about the good times,I'd have never have been introduced to cardiff city "city till I die,I'm city till I die,I know I am, you know I am,I'm city till I die!".repeat,for a lifetime.

Shocking!!!! Sounds like everyone is giving up. "Only sing when your winning" springs to mind.

There are always ups and downs. The downs are what make the ups so great. I will be there again regardless of league position. It must be amazing to be a liverpool fan winning every week but liverpool fans have never experienced what us cardiff fans have experienced. The highs and lows. Relegations and promotions. Weve been through a lot over the years. It's what keeps us coming back each year.

Great post, people havnt given up this board is only small minority of our fan base ,its always been a bit negative, we will rise again

Shocking!!!! Sounds like everyone is giving up. "Only sing when your winning" springs to mind.

There are always ups and downs. The downs are what make the ups so great. I will be there again regardless of league position. It must be amazing to be a liverpool fan winning every week but liverpool fans have never experienced what us cardiff fans have experienced. The highs and lows. Relegations and promotions. Weve been through a lot over the years. It's what keeps us coming back each year.

This is spot on!! I find it cringe worthy from some of the younger generation,who have been supporting us through mainly good years,and that's not knocking anybody,but some of us have been going for 40+ years,and have seen it all before,but it's never ever been in my thoughts to just give up!! I may be in the minority,but I dislike the premier league,as apart from the top 6 (and the occasional surprise package) it's merely about reaching 40 pts,and survival,which for some is not possible,they spend huge amounts to get there,even bigger amounts to try and stay there,and a few clubs will fall foul of ffp in trying! I for one don't enjoy a season that starts off by writing off 10/12 games before a ball is kicked.give me the championship any day,where anybody can beat anybody my point is this is my city,and this is the club I will follow,until like my dad (RIP X) I wouldn't be able to stay home and not attend,I find the lure to much to resist,it's in my DNA.if it was all about winning,I'm sure I could support Liverpool, man City etc etc, it certainly would be a lot easier,but has never had any appeal to me,if it was just about the good times,I'd have never have been introduced to cardiff city "city till I die,I'm city till I die,I know I am, you know I am,I'm city till I die!".repeat,for a lifetime.

This ^^^

Fair comment. If the footys shite, give it a miss..fans will always come and go.
Part of the problem is our plastic soulless stadium, designed by to ruin any form of atmosphere.

Everyone was out of love with city in the 80s/90s we averaged 4500 in those 2 decades .its boom time now our support has grown steadily for the past 20 years.

Yes, I remember we had 8,000 against Maidstone and thought that was great...the less said about that game tho’..

Feeling nostalgic for cold mid week Ninian games under the lights me and a couple of thousand friends

Red/Blue Big signings/free transfers whatever the only thing that keeps attendances up is success.

I said last year that once your PL season tickets drop off then your attendance will be around 16,500 - 17,500 and I stand by that. I don’t personally believe it has anything to do with the football.

This (or next rather) season will be the first season in a while where tour fanbase will be tested to reveal its core. It has been a number of years since you have not had supporters buying ST’s off the back of being in the PL or the realistic prospect of it.

Similar to our season this year which was the first time our fanbase core was tested in a while for similar reasons.

With all due respect we have hered all this before.

Clubs go through good times and bad, I mean who would have expected what was to come when we were going through the Slade period, Football is like life, you just have to roll with the punches.

If people want to stop going, which they will, that's their choice, but let's try and knock the pointless negativity on the thread with sweeping generalisations of the fan base.

Football has pretty much always been shit. I think it's just football in general, the disconnect between the clubs and the fans is bigger than ever.

Football has pretty much always been shit. I think it's just football in general, the disconnect between the clubs and the fans is bigger than ever.

i used to go to NP simply as a fan.. i didn't expect big explanations on prices, managers , transfers, debt.. i just supported.. didn't care if the players were forced into coming over having lost ,played shit or flat out cheated by the ref let alone fist pumping managers who give 8 interviews a week. maybe i wasn't paying attention but i don't remember any of this faux connecting stuff but felt as connected in my heart as i do now.. maybe more so back then..
we don't need to be connected other in our feelings mate. truth be told the more we know the more there is to moan about { myself included }.

Family and parents are from Merthyr so have decided to support the ‘local team’. Live in Salisbury however so isn’t too local! Had a ST for the PL season. Didn’t bother renewing due to amount of midweek and Friday night games due to working. Will continue going no matter how results pan out, however I do admit it’s more of a drag to go down and support the team when we’re playing so poorly and there is such a subdued atmosphere. Battling to save my son from supporting a ‘big English club’ but with the way things are going I could be pissing into the wind