One thing we have never tired of this season has been talking about the crowd and, with just 12,700 home fans packed into Brunton Park on Friday afternoon it seems only right that we do that very thing again.
“It’s fantastic,” manager Paul Simpson said. “I saw the crowd outside in the Fan Zone before the game and there just seemed to be a buzz about the place.
“After we’d had pre-match I came in at about quarter to one and it’s like the good old days when I used to turn up at Maine Road or the Baseball Ground, where there were hundreds and thousands of fans all at the ground early.
“That’s what you’re in football for. To come out and see the Warwick full, the Waterworks full, the Paddock and the stands full, that’s brilliant. It’s what we want as a football club.
“We need it, and we obviously need it more often because it’s going to help us, so credit to the east stand office staff for their idea and for promoting it and going out of their way to get this sort of interest.
“Let’s get some back now. If we can attract people who have come on Friday who don’t normally come, that’s going to help us.
“We wanted a result and big numbers and the supporters have done their bit. The really pleasing thing is that the players have enjoyed it. They’ve given us a performance, we’ve got the result and that’s what it’s all about.
“What we have to do is hope that encourages some of those who have never been before this game to come back. I keep saying it, we need crowds coming in.
“We’ve got the result, and I go back to Barrow game where we have nine thousand, or whatever it was, and we scored a lot of goals, but we got a really low crowd the following game. You do wonder what it is they want to come and see.
“They’ve seen a winning team, a team that’s gone third in the table, so let’s get them back in. The players have done the business so let’s keep the enthusiasm going, the good feeling going, and hopefully it’ll carry on.”
Comparing it to when he was a fan on the terraces, he said: “It like the good old days, when I was coming down Warwick Road, my dad used to park up near the City General hospital and we used to walk down Greystone Road, get a quarter of blackcurrant and liquorice on the way down, ready to stand on the Warwick Road End, and seeing all the people out there was absolutely fantastic.
“When you see all four sides of the stadium full, it doesn’t half give you a lift, and it makes you realise we’re doing things right. The big thing I said to the players is you’ve earned the right to have four sides of the stadium, to have whatever crowd comes in today.
“Now go and show you deserve it, go and perform and enjoy every minute of it and hope we get many more of them to come. And it shows the potential.
“There’s huge potential for this club. I remember coming watching as a kid and seeing all four sides full. I know we didn’t have the East Stand when I was a kid. We used to get good crowds in those days.
“I know we had it in our Conference season, we got really good crowds. There is a potential to tap into some huge support. We know there’s a challenge financially for everybody.
“As a football club I think the club’s really important for the city. If the club’s going well the city has a real positive feel. Hopefully more will get the bug for it and we can keep them involved to the end of the season.”
“The work that’s gone on behind the scenes to make these things happen, the staff do incredible stuff, they’re really trying things differently,” he concluded. “It’s a brave decision to make tickets £10, because if it doesn’t come off, we’re not in a position to lose money, but the response has been magnificent.
“I can only thank all the businesses, the people who’ve come out, because I’ve been asking for it, so it’s only right we say well done and thank you to them, and let’s hope the east stand offices can come up with other ideas for these last three home games, and see if we can keep this support going.”