[bluepooch]

I know the crowds are Ok and traditionally we havent been a massively supported team but we are in the highest league position and are playing the best football for years and I cant help but feel we should have the backing of the town .We are going through a successful period and we can barely scrape 6000 home fans for a big derby game .Its this aspect of the club that makes me think we are really limited as to how far we can go up the leagues .Imagine what the home figure would be like if we were struggling in the Championship ?I bet we would struggle to get 5k home attendance .
Its a shame really as Dave Allen ,Paul Cook et al really deserve the Proact to be packed with home fans every week.

[spireitematt]

I know the crowds are Ok and traditionally we havent been a massively supported team but we are in the highest league position  and are playing the best football for years and I cant help but feel we should have the backing of the town .We are going through a successful period and we can barely scrape 6000 home fans for a big derby game .Its this aspect of the club that makes me think we are really limited as to how far we can go up the leagues .Imagine what the home figure would be like if we were struggling in the Championship ?I bet we would struggle to get 5k home attendance .
Its a shame really as Dave Allen ,Paul Cook et al really deserve the Proact to be packed with home fans every week.

We should have the backing from the whole of Derbyshire!

[Devongone]

You are right Pooch. Yeovil is roughly half the size of Chesterfield and found the Championship twice as much of a problem.

Cold January day, post-recession Christmas in not the wealthiest part of the country, with gate prices anywhere difficult to afford ........... How many could we expect? How many can we ever get? Regularly?

It would be lovely if an idealist like Matt were right and Derbyshire could be behind us, but with Derby County gunning for the Premier League, Sheffield City and its clubs encroaching into Derbyshire, Forest easy to reach and Manchester and even Stoke as close as us to the Peak our potential fan base has to be limited. Unfortunately picking up the potential fan base of surrounding areas isn't easy. Plymouth is an example, large but not wealthy population itself, the whole of the South West without a Premiership club ........ and it has never attracted the fan base that would get it to the top division.

Luckily gate receipts are not the only income of modern clubs, but smallish crowds do send out a message. Who could blame Mr Allen if he thinks the town is saying sell Eoin Doyle? Unfortunately I think we have to develop our team and the club in ways that grow our fan base as a result of success, not alongside it. Pooch, like me, remembers the days of Arthur Cox, the last time our team was doing this well. There were always rumours that the club didn't want to go up. Certainly with a bit of tinkering the team could have easily functioned in the old Division 2, but neither the crowd, nor our infrastructure quite matched an excellent team to watch.

[spireitematt]

I live in the High Peak and the majority of people support Manchester City or Manchester United and if you support anyone else people look at you like an alien. You get a few Wednesday, Sheffield United, Leeds, Derby, Stoke, Forest, Notts County and Chesterfield fans but not a lot.

[Devongone]

Even in the old days in the Hope Valley League Man Utd seemed to be the team of choice.