Hereford in 16th place for attendances

Despite a credible ninth position in the League, Hereford United's gates have not kept pace with the teams success and must be viewed as somewhat disappointing for the season to date.

So far 59,609 spectators have watched the 18 home games which gives an average gate of 3,312. That figure puts Hereford at 16th place for attendances.

The average could rise slightly as there are two local derbies in the last five home fixtures. They are the games against Swindon Town and Shrewsbury Town. A gate of at least 4,000 would be expected for the Swindon game and hopefully somewhat higher for the Shrewsbury visit.

Last season when Hereford United were in the Conference the average gate was 2793 which was 9% less than the 2004/5 average of 3068. The season of 2003/4 produced an excellent average gate of 3,704.

Thankfully Hereford play 23 home games this season compared with 21 whilst in the Conference. The extra games will go some way to helping the income stream.

Whether the two extra games will bring the total attendance up to the 2003/4 figure of 77,784 through the turnstiles remains to be seen but it may not be too far away.

Raised admission charges will help income but against that there have been special deals for young children so the average 'charge' at the gate is likely to be about £10.

On top of the League games there have been Carling Cup games against Coventry and Leicester, a Paint game against Shrewsbury, and FA Cup games against Shrewsbury twice, Port Vale and Bristol Rovers.

For these games the gate is shared after expenses. Total attendance at these games comes to 32,336. Using a figure of 40% (estimated) of the gate for Hereford and an average gate price of £10, the extra income from these games could be around £130,000.

Overall gate income will not be far from £900,000 this season (it will be more should Hereford achieve a play-off position). This compares with a figure of £634,794 for the 2004/5 season. Last season's figure will be officially released next month and will include money from the Conference play-off games.

---