Leicestershire County Cricket Club

[AjcW]

15 hours ago, Harpenden Fox said:

Rough guess at numbers? Given there were 1200 at Kibworth on Tuesday, from what I could see on the stream it appeared to be less than that. The Leicester public really does not make much effort to support its cricket team 

To be fair... it was probably easier to get to and a more enjoyable experience for most who want to go at Kibworth than our actual ground, that's why Oakham was always more popular.

 

Without getting classist.... our ground couldn't be in a stupider place for people who actually like cricket and go to watch us . Facilities are poor and dated too. 

 

Given the fact it can't really be developed and there's next to no parking, i'd hope we'd explore alternatives in the future. I know it's sad, but you'd see a damn site more going if our ground was in the South/North Leicestershire countryside as opposed to slap bang in the middle of an estate just outside the town centre. 

[Father Ted]

2 minutes ago, AjcW said:

To be fair... it was probably easier to get to and a more enjoyable experience for most who want to go at Kibworth than our actual ground, that's why Oakham was always more popular.

 

Without getting classist.... our ground couldn't be in a stupider place for people who actually like cricket and go to watch us . Facilities are poor and dated too. 

 

Given the fact it can't really be developed and there's next to no parking, i'd hope we'd explore alternatives in the future. I know it's sad, but you'd see a damn site more going if our ground was in the South/North Leicestershire countryside as opposed to slap bang in the middle of an estate just outside the town centre. 

I think quite the opposite in the long run… you only have to look down the road at Coventry to see what it did to their football club. 

[AjcW]

10 minutes ago, Father Ted said:

I think quite the opposite in the long run… you only have to look down the road at Coventry to see what it did to their football club. 

I definitely get the sentiment, but do you not think Cricket is a little different? 

Of course there's exceptions like Trent Bridge (but it's a beheamouth and a landmark locally)

 

MOST grounds are what you'd describe as 'out of town' or in slightly more affluent areas of the county locality*

 

Not sure what the right or wrong is in all honesty, but in reality both our football and cricket grounds are in shocking locations when it comes to considering people actually getting to and from them easily  

Edited 21 August 2023 by AjcW
*I definitely need to properly research that, but if you look at Headingly, Old Trafford, Edgbaston, The Ageas, Chester Le Street... they're all in areas that are easy to get to, have space around them and have lots of parking.

[Voll Blau]

12 minutes ago, AjcW said:

To be fair... it was probably easier to get to and a more enjoyable experience for most who want to go at Kibworth than our actual ground, that's why Oakham was always more popular.

 

Without getting classist.... our ground couldn't be in a stupider place for people who actually like cricket and go to watch us . Facilities are poor and dated too. 

 

Given the fact it can't really be developed and there's next to no parking, i'd hope we'd explore alternatives in the future. I know it's sad, but you'd see a damn site more going if our ground was in the South/North Leicestershire countryside as opposed to slap bang in the middle of an estate just outside the town centre. 

 

10 minutes ago, Father Ted said:

I think quite the opposite in the long run… you only have to look down the road at Coventry to see what it did to their football club. 

As I've said before, Leicestershire are one of the few counties who can actually call upon a working class fanbase who are local to the ground and who will turn up if games are timed right (i.e. Friday night T20s).

 

The bottom line is that for everyone else public transport links are crap, it's slightly too far out of the city centre to be walkable for most and attendances suffer because of it.

[Stadt]

Aylestone is probably the best suited place for LCCC within the city limits given it reflects the demographics of our support better than anywhere else.

[SemperEadem]

So many walk from the station to Raw Dykes Road, is walking 20 minutes further to Grace Road really that much of an off put?

[Stadt]

1 minute ago, SemperEadem said:

So many walk from the station to Raw Dykes Road, is walking 20 minutes further to Grace Road really that much of an off put?

Football KO times are much better to get to generally I suppose

[AjcW]

4 minutes ago, Stadt said:

Aylestone is probably the best suited place for LCCC within the city limits given it reflects the demographics of our support better than anywhere else.

That's fair enough but is it sustainable? And if we ever get to Div 1 and want to stay there and get a slice of the ECB pie... surely we need to attract a broader range of supporters? I just think the whole idea of county cricket is exactly that... it's for the whole county not just a very compact corner of the outer city.

I'm not really sure what the best options are, but we all know there's no way of improving parking or facilities at grace road without turfing out the very people you're  saying are the demographic of our fans.

 

Just now, SemperEadem said:

So many walk from the station to Raw Dykes Road, is walking 20 minutes further to Grace Road really that much of an off put?

I think BOTH options are shit though, sure some will be happy but it doesn't suit everyone. Just think it's the perfect indictment of how terribly planned the city is and has been for years.

[MonkeyTennis?]

3 minutes ago, SemperEadem said:

So many walk from the station to Raw Dykes Road, is walking 20 minutes further to Grace Road really that much of an off put?

45 minutes is a long old time to be trudging along. 

[purpleronnie]

Maybe the demand simply isn't there in leicestershire?

[Stadt]

Just now, AjcW said:

That's fair enough but is it sustainable? And if we ever get to Div 1 and want to stay there and get a slice of the ECB pie... surely we need to attract a broader range of supporters? I just think the whole idea of county cricket is exactly that... it's for the whole county not just a very compact corner of the outer city.

I'm not really sure what the best options are, but we all know there's no way of improving parking or facilities at grace road without turfing out the very people you're  saying are the demographic of our fans.

 

I think BOTH options are shit though, sure some will be happy but it doesn't suit everyone. Just think it's the perfect indictment of how terribly planned the city is and has been for years.

Public transport in Leicestershire is shit. Loughborough's station is a way out from the centre and that's probably the only other viable option in terms of population.

 

 

[AjcW]

6 minutes ago, SemperEadem said:

So many walk from the station to Raw Dykes Road, is walking 20 minutes further to Grace Road really that much of an off put?

Also here's the other crackers thing. The council is well aware both grounds are a bit poo transport wise.

 

But to get a bus from the station to either ground you have to walk into the city centre... why not have a little matchday hub outside/to the side of the station that goes as close to both as possible?

[SemperEadem]

1 minute ago, purpleronnie said:

Maybe the demand simply isn't there in leicestershire?

I think this is it. The idea that hords are going to come along on the bus I just think is misplaced. Bar a t20 its not a boozy one down there so likely would be drivers coming. In my experience its a doddle to park at too.

[AjcW]

2 minutes ago, purpleronnie said:

Maybe the demand simply isn't there in leicestershire?

Probably exactly this.... But the ones they could have attracted over the years all travel to trent bridge because it's an easier and more enjoyable experience all round.

[SemperEadem]

4 minutes ago, MonkeyTennis? said:

45 minutes is a long old time to be trudging along. 

Yeah possibly. 

[SemperEadem]

Just now, AjcW said:

Probably exactly this.... But the ones they could have attracted over the years all travel to trent bridge because it's an easier and more enjoyable experience all round.

Really? Leicestershire folk going over into Notts to watch another county on the regular, surely not.

[AjcW]

2 minutes ago, SemperEadem said:

Really? Leicestershire folk going over into Notts to watch another county on the regular, surely not.

I mean folk who maybe never got to Leicestershire from North Leics who decided to go to TB instead  the 'lost' fans if you like.

In a similar way loads of tigers fans are from Nottingham

[Voll Blau]

10 minutes ago, AjcW said:

I mean folk who maybe never got to Leicestershire from North Leics who decided to go to TB instead  the 'lost' fans if you like.

In a similar way loads of tigers fans are from Nottingham

Not sure that's a thing? Maybe only if you're a North Leics-based Forest fan so feel some connection to Nottingham or have mates from football who go. Anyone I know from Loughborough area who's into cricket is a Leicestershire fan.

 

Kibworth should be seen as an outlier, rather than a marker to do Grace Road down. Firstly, there was the novelty for locals (and our fans more generally) of seeing a List A game there, Secondly, that attendance will have been inflated by neutral groundhoppers ticking off a new ground too. For what it's worth, I do support the greater use of outgrounds but there aren't many up to scratch in Leicestershire as is expected by modern standards - and our headquarters needs to be central, i.e. in the city.

Edited 21 August 2023 by Voll Blau

[CosbehFox]

I also think that people interested in cricket has a higher percentage of players than most sports too. There's 18 divisions in Leics League alone. 

 

Nature of cricket is all day event = so weekend fixtures, you can't call up the clubs for example. Midweek fixtures people aren't available. Football and Rugby - the popularity of the sports picks up the slack, casual league on Saturdays for football have reduced vastly while Rugby seems to have just a constant tradition. Either way both sports don't have their youth, grass roots fixtures clashing with the professional stuff. 

 

County Champ will always be a hard sell. 2020 always does well and with good form, you all but sell out Grace Road. Days like yesterday are the real disappointment. That's up to the clubs to really analyse what the barriers are. I think we look at Leics too much in isolation - how are clubs doing for this tournament elsewhere? Grace Road always suffers from being one of the bigger playing fields so feels sparse. Alright Goughie coming down from Headingly where it's far more compact but you have a facility available to yourself what offers a lot more. 

 

 

Edited 21 August 2023 by CosbehFox

[Voll Blau]

It needs a mixture of better fixture placement (out of the club's control) and more initiatives from the club itself. Yesterday was great timing, but as I mentioned the start clashed with the Women's World Cup Final and that's unfortunate. The Family Fun Day element was also great, and it was nice to see a lot of kids there - but there could have been more.

 

20-25 years ago you'd get Sunday League invitations sent out to clubs around the county for free tickets and Kwik Cricket tournaments on the outfield before play and during the break. The initiative of bringing schools in for a day this year is a good start, but there needs to be more stuff like that rather than just expecting families to know about events like yesterday.

 

Hate to bring it back to this but you do wonder what the counties could have done by now with even a fraction of the marketing spend and exposure the hundred franchises have been given the luxury of.

[SemperEadem]

Sticking an advert in the programme against Cov and Cardiff might well have drummed up a few more for the family stuff yesterday.

[CosbehFox]

1 minute ago, SemperEadem said:

Sticking an advert in the programme against Cov and Cardiff might well have drummed up a few more for the family stuff yesterday.

Literally should have targeted in a variety of ways yesterday. Like Riders have done on occasions at LCFC

Suggest a social media thing with some LCFC players having a go in the nets. 

[Graceroad]

33 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

I also think that people interested in cricket has a higher percentage of players than most sports too. There's 18 divisions in Leics League alone. 

 

Nature of cricket is all day event = so weekend fixtures, you can't call up the clubs for example. Midweek fixtures people aren't available. Football and Rugby - the popularity of the sports picks up the slack, casual league on Saturdays for football have reduced vastly while Rugby seems to have just a constant tradition. Either way both sports don't have their youth, grass roots fixtures clashing with the professional stuff. 

 

County Champ will always be a hard sell. 2020 always does well and with good form, you all but sell out Grace Road. Days like yesterday are the real disappointment. That's up to the clubs to really analyse what the barriers are. I think we look at Leics too much in isolation - how are clubs doing for this tournament elsewhere? Grace Road always suffers from being one of the bigger playing fields so feels sparse. Alright Goughie coming down from Headingly where it's far more compact but you have a facility available to yourself what offers a lot more. 

 

 

You make some good points but disagree about T20 matches coming anywhere close to being sell outs 6k capacity the club do cartwheels if they get 3k attending

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

Totally agree with the interest not being there, even a successful run in the Championship and 50ov has not increased much interest, it doesn’t really help matters that every game can be watched on YouTube so those that may be thinking about attending can just sit at home instead and watch the game.

I like to think Grace Rd has a feel of a traditional old cricket ground, and supporters of those counties which have “proper” stadiums enjoy the freedom of being able to wander around Grace Road.

That being said the playing area is far too big and play can sometimes seem distant.

[Father Ted]

In regards to Sunday, I saw Yorkshire at 90/8 having played football in the morning and thought about not bothering 🤣 only the Yorkshire tail wagging made me go down for our innings. Perhaps some more had the same idea. As daft as it sounds too, it was in essence a dead rubber (in a way as qualification had already been ensured).