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The Wildcats Column: Away Game Weekends Make Sense
Ice Hockey columnist Ben Callaghan has his say on everything Swindon Wildcats, each week on Total Sport. With a weekend double header fresh in the memory, Callghan discusses the fan turn out in Sheffield and Humberside, and how this can be built upon in the season's to come.
Last weekend the Cats had a rare double away weekend up north when they took on Hull and Sheffield. It was refreshing to see so many away fans make the trips to both games, and it got me thinking, could this be something the league should look at in future as a way of helping clubs and fans?
While it is not ideal for teams to have long road games away on consecutive nights it is better to do it on one weekend than it would be to do it on consecutive Sunday afternoons. Had Swindon been at home on the Saturday and then faced Hull on the Sunday I’d guarantee there wouldn’t have been quite as many away fans as were in Humberside on Saturday evening. I think there were probably upwards of 50 fans who made the long four hour trip up to Hull.
Though it was not a great performance or result, I think everyone was glad they had made the effort to go. The atmosphere was brilliant and the Swindon fans were probably the noisiest I’ve heard for a long time and, considering it was our longest away day, it was mightily impressive to see so many there.
It highlights the great fan base we have in Swindon and the atmosphere which can be created. We just need to look at ways to get the away atmosphere into the Link Centre for every Saturday night home game.
I think having it on the Saturday and then playing in Sheffield helped. People were able to make a weekend of it, travel up on the Saturday find somewhere to stay and then not have to worry about a long journey up to Sheffield on Sunday. Instead they could stay in Hull and make the hour or so drive down, or even move down to Sheffield and stay there.
I think this helped with the away crowd on Sunday for the Steeldogs game which was also well followed and noisy. Is this something the league could look at, away fans buying tickets help the clubs they’re visiting. If they could combine a few double header away games it might make it more appealing for fans to go along as well.
Clubs like Hull could have a double away weekend in Guildford/Swindon. It saves them making two long journeys down and may see more Hull fans say ‘Yeah let’s go down for the weekend’.
If you get 20 extra fans than you normally would then the home sides get roughly another £200+ onto their gate receipts which will help them.
If it’s something that could be balanced out for every team I think it would be a benefit, I’m talking one, maybe two weekends a year.
It’s great for the fans, the players get more support on the road and the home sides get bigger attendances. I appreciate ice time may prove tricky to move around but if it can be done I think it should be done.
Finally, Sunday’s win was slightly overlooked through the serious injury sustained to Aaron Nell, the pictures look bad but we’re all thrilled to hear Aaron is on the mend and hopefully still has unfinished business on the ice in the 2015-2016 season.
It’s important to be fully fit before he ices again but everyone’s thoughts are with you, Aaron, and we hope you fully recover soon. With the playoffs around the corner it would be a massive loss to the Cats should he be unable to take part again this season.
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