Rank these clubs

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Rank these clubs in order with the biggest fanbase at the top and the smallest fanbase at the bottom.

Fulham
Portsmouth
QPR
Southampton
Watford
Swindon
Reading
Bristol City
Bristol Rovers
Exeter
Brighton
Crystal Palace
Plymouth
Bournemouth
Brentford
Wycombe
Oxford
Millwall

(Not in order)

[Ferris]

Fulham
Portsmouth
QPR
Southampton
Watford
Swindon
Reading
Bristol City
Bristol Rovers
Exeter
Brighton
Crystal Palace
Plymouth
Bournemouth
Brentford
Wycombe
Oxford
Millwall

[TBM]

Can i ask "why"?

[who are ya?]

No fanx

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Can i ask "why"?

A fun and entertaining game/debate.

[Friday's Legacy]

Rank these clubs in order with the biggest fanbase at the top and the smallest fanbase at the bottom.

Southampton
Fulham
Crystal Palace
Reading
Portsmouth
Brighton
QPR
Bristol City
Watford
Millwall
Bristol Rovers
Plymouth
Swindon
Oxford
Bournemouth
Brentford
Exeter
Wycombe

[Muguire]

Rank these clubs in order with the biggest fanbase at the top and the smallest fanbase at the bottom.

Southampton
Fulham
Crystal Palace
Reading
Portsmouth
Brighton
QPR
Bristol City
Watford
Millwall
Bristol Rovers
Plymouth
Swindon
Oxford
Bournemouth
Brentford
Exeter
Wycombe

CBA but that looks fair, give or take one or two. Reading (Berkshire) is too posh for football, so I'd drop us down 4-5 spaces. The whole "Reading is a sleeping giant" is a massive load of oxf*rd bollocks

[who are ya?]

Reading (Berkshire) is too posh for football

And it's too Chelsea.

'greed on Reading being too high on that list. 4th?? No chance

[Ian Royal]

Saints
Fulham
Brighton - Be interesting to see how their attendance goes over the next few years, can they maintain this support?
Reading
QPR
Pompey
Palace
Bristol City
Watford
Millwall
Plymouth
Swindon
Oxford
Bournemouth
Bristol Rovers
Exeter
Brentford
Wycombe

Oh, by the way I cheated and looked up the average attendance figures for last season and then bumped Brighton up because of the new stadium and QPR up for promotion.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

I was generally talking about fanbase as in fans that attend games and those that don't attend on a regular basis (exiles etc)

[blindedbythelights]

really, why give a shit

[No Fixed Abode]

With the exception of

Swindon
Oxford
Bournemouth
Bristol Rovers
Exeter
Brentford
Wycombe

all the other clubs are bigger than Reading.

[LUX]

I'd probably agree with Kesmondo here, maybe put Fulham below Reading too (take them out of the Premiership, they'd be Charlton size at best)

QPR>Fulham= Brentford

Not sure on QPR. Their crowds are poor for the Premiership when a big team is not visiting, ditto in their runaway championship season. But they were far bigger than us in the past.

I'd say we are the same size as Watford, with a town full of the same amount of glory boy fans (many Spurs and Arsenal in their case. I used to live there)

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Without going thropugh them all I will say that Fulham are well down that list in terms on fan base. they certainly dont have a bigger fan base than QPR & Brentford.

[Barry the bird boggler]

Reading needs a long run in the Premiership to build its fan base up. If that happens we'd be able to increase capacity to 30k+ and slowly pick up a lot of those armchair fans that only come out when "leading Premiership clubs" come to town.

Therefore we have the potential to rival many established mid table Premier clubs but are currently a fair way off.

I'd therefore say CURRENTLY its something like

1 Southampton
2 Crystal Palace
3 Brighton (massive catchment area)
4 Portsmouth
5 Plymouth Argyle (massive catchment area, but need success to realise potential)
6 Reading
7 Bristol City
8 QPR (always suffered because of Chelsea and long stint in lower leagues)
9 Fulham (always suffered because of Chelsea and long break in lower leagues)
10 Watford
11 Millwall
12 Swindon
13 Oxford
14 Brentford
15 Bristol Rovers
16 Bournemouth
17 Exeter
18 Wycombe

[Tredder]

Not sure on QPR. Their crowds are poor for the Premiership when a big team is not visiting, ditto in their runaway championship season. But they were far bigger than us in the past.

Makes no odds really, the away end has to be segregated, so we can only base it on 3 ends, and on the odd occasion when we take the bottom half of the away end, but we have sold out every home game, our average is 17k on a cap of 19k, plus the netting at the front of the bottom of the away end.
I think the PO is hung up on size, we are 88% and Reading 75%, does that make us bigger and more loyal, not really.
Reading in the prem would have been nearer 90%, but can you really allow the figures to include the 2 teamers?

Could Reading have signed Joey Barton or SWP? if not, does that also make us a bigger club, does ambition automatically catapault to big club status?

It would be nice to know the PO's take on all this rather than enduce a comment from everyone else.

[Svlad Cjelli]

I read a book last year that analyses football support, and this is a lot less static in its make-up than many would think. It really breaks down into about

Each club has it's "core support" - people who go to every game. This number tends to change only gradually - up or down - over the years with success or failure, and is often based on family/upbringing etc, things that don't change easily. The surprising thing is that whilst this total number typically stays fairly static the actual people change each year by about 5-10%. People die, go to uni, get married etc, and new supporters come along each year.

Then there is transient support - people who come along when a club is going well or for certain games only - they have an "allegiance" to the club but aren't hard-core supporters.

Then there are just spectators - people who enjoy going to watch football but don't support either team playing. They just might not support a team at all or might support another team they can't get to, or might go along with a supporter. Surprisingly, this figure is usually a minimum of 10% or so of any crowd.

So there are all sorts of factors at play - making the whole question much more complex than it seems at first sight.

[Jackson Corner]

Not sure on QPR. Their crowds are poor for the Premiership when a big team is not visiting, ditto in their runaway championship season. But they were far bigger than us in the past.

Makes no odds really, the away end has to be segregated, so we can only base it on 3 ends, and on the odd occasion when we take the bottom half of the away end, but we have sold out every home game, our average is 17k on a cap of 19k, plus the netting at the front of the bottom of the away end.
I think the PO is hung up on size, we are 88% and Reading 75%, does that make us bigger and more loyal, not really.
Reading in the prem would have been nearer 90%, but can you really allow the figures to include the 2 teamers?

Could Reading have signed Joey Barton or SWP? if not, does that also make us a bigger club, does ambition automatically catapault to big club status?

It would be nice to know the PO's take on all this rather than enduce a comment from everyone else.[/quot

The only thing big about QPR will be there huge financial loses. Paying Barton and SWP 80 grand a week on gates of 17,000 is not sustainable if the the Premier league ran FFP, but they don't and they have what all clubs want a billionaire owner, prepared to waist his millions on a lost cause.

[Tredder]

There is no way on this entire planet that the aforementioned players are on 80k a week.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Not sure on QPR. Their crowds are poor for the Premiership when a big team is not visiting, ditto in their runaway championship season. But they were far bigger than us in the past.

Makes no odds really, the away end has to be segregated, so we can only base it on 3 ends, and on the odd occasion when we take the bottom half of the away end, but we have sold out every home game, our average is 17k on a cap of 19k, plus the netting at the front of the bottom of the away end.
I think the PO is hung up on size, we are 88% and Reading 75%, does that make us bigger and more loyal, not really.
Reading in the prem would have been nearer 90%, but can you really allow the figures to include the 2 teamers?

Could Reading have signed Joey Barton or SWP? if not, does that also make us a bigger club, does ambition automatically catapault to big club status?

It would be nice to know the PO's take on all this rather than enduce a comment from everyone else.

The only thing big about QPR will be there huge financial loses. Paying Barton and SWP 80 grand a week on gates of 17,000 is not sustainable if the the Premier league ran FFP, but they don't and they have what all clubs want a billionaire owner, prepared to waist his millions on a lost cause.[/quote]

They're only financial losses if the balance is loaned to them, rather than given. Lose x million and get given x million with no deficit on the books is OK. Not sustainable unless the owner is massively rich, stupid and immortal - but technically not a loss.