Pilley wants fans to create better atmosphere inside Highbury
Atmosphere at Highbury was a question posed by the supporters at yesterday evening’s fans forum, with concerns over noise levels at the stadium in recent campaigns.Since the Club won promotion to the Football league in 2012, crowds have increased year on year from 2264 in our Conference winning campaign.
Our debut season in the Football League saw an average of 2804 spectators, while in our promotion season this figure raised to 2918.
Promotion to League One saw crowds increase again to 3522, with a dramatic increase of Under 16’s attending games at Highbury.
This is a key area for the Club as they aim to grow the fan base with the long term plan to bring through the next generation of fans to support their local team.
Whilst crowds are improving, the chairman was keen to stress that the volume of our support has to improve at home games this season.
He said: “Generally I’ve been disappointed with the atmosphere at home games to be honest.
"We really want Highbury to become a fortress and to raise the noise levels and make it an intimidating place for visiting teams to come which can give us an advantage.
“I don’t want to hear negative chants about other clubs, I want to hear the crowd supporting the team, creating noise and an atmosphere that will encourage the young supporters who are our next generation to get involved, another reason to come to games if you like.
“It’s really one for the fans to take on board and improve on. The facilities are there, the team is there it’s the one ingredient of atmosphere we are missing at home and I hope we can really get this going this season.
“We are establishing ourselves in the football league now and this is something I’m really passionate about. I would ask our fans how can you help improve this?”
So, Cod Army, it’s over to you - let’s hear all our stands unite and get behind Graham Alexander and the team for the new campaign!