“Enter the Arena”

“Drifting on an endless sea  
On our way to nowhere
Oblivious to our destiny
Slowly drifting on and on and on”

“Seemingly Endless Time” – Death Angel

I mentioned in a previous post how back in the day, there used to be an online forum called “Into the Storm”.  Said forum was largely frequented by people that had been watching for a while and really knew their stuff. At the time, as a relative newbie, I found it slightly intimidating, but also an invaluable place of information, thoughts and opinions.  Reading it certainly helped me get to grips with how the game works.

In a funny parallel, in my early concert-going days, I used to be impressed by older music fans wearing old and obscure tour t-shirts from years gone by, and over time it became me that would be wearing “old and obscure t-shirts”.  In much the same way, I guess that I am now one of those people that has been “watching the game a while” and as a result, I’d like to think I maybe have thoughts, experiences and opinions that are of use to others that are newer to the sport (a direction I’ve found that my writing takes subconsciously from time to time)

With almost alarming regularity (usually at the end of a season), Facebook will feature a post or two from someone that has only recently been bitten by the Hockey bug (an achievement that to some of us is pretty impressive as this is something that has happened despite the state of the rink, the toilets, the sightlines, etc, etc), and with complete innocence, the question will pop up “Do you think the Storm will ever play at the Arena again?”.  Said post is usually met with a number of polite comments, numerous sarcastic ones and the usual gifs, memes, etc. (It may also be worth mentioning that whilst writing the first draft of this blog entry, a post appeared on the Facebook “Elite League Banter Page” from someone that couldn’t believe that there had once been over 17,000 fans attending a game in Manchester and that Storm had once had a 9,000 fans a game average).   However, for those not in the know, here’s some reasons of why (in my opinion at least) it’s pretty much guaranteed that it’s never going to happen…

 

It’s just way too big

On 23rd February 1997, 17,245 fans crammed into the arena to record the famous “sell out” game. It was almost certainly a huge PR coup at the time, but many would argue about the term “sell out” was an exaggeration as that phrase would possibly suggest that every ticket was “sold”. It’s certainly no secret that a large number of free tickets were the norm at the time, be it either through sponsors or people that worked at the arena (I admit that several of the games in my first season watching came through freebies from a friend of a friend that worked there). In hindsight, I’ve sometimes wondered just what percentage of people actually paid for their tickets on a game night

  (Pictures courtesy of and with thanks to Peter Bradbury)

Fortunately for me, I was smitten with the sport from my first game,  plus I also had the advantages of being single at the time and having few responsibilities. For others, when the stream of free tickets dried up (around about the time that the arena sold the team), I guess the decision wasn’t so cut and dry. Here was something that you’re used to getting for free and you now have to pay for it? There must have been some serious soul-searching going on for many, especially for those with children

One of the things that bothers me with regards to free tickets is that if you’re giving something away for free, it could be argued that what you’re selling could be considered “worthless”.  At least with a discounted (rather than free) ticket, you’re making some type of financial commitment to what you’re purchasing.  Sure, there are success stories with regards to free tickets (I’m one of them), but again, you have to wonder about the figure of those that actually paid for theirs

By unfortunate coincidence, this transition also took place during the reign of head coach Terry Christiensen.  Fans that were used to seeing the fast flowing and successful style of Kurt Kleinendorst were now subjected to an unsuccessful, revolving-door policy team with less skill and something that was less exciting to watch, something that certainly won’t have helped attendance figures

Another thought is this.  17,000+ people in attendance, a classic game, a win against a rival and this was the only time it ever happened?  If you can’t retain something like those type of attendance figures after a game of that pedigree, I don’t think you’ve any chance of making a proper go of it for any length of time

Another thing bothers me from that night. I believe the “Sold Out” signs went up early, so there must have been any number of people that was used to just turning up on the door and had made the trip into town especially to watch the game, only to be turned away. That must have left an awful taste in the mouth, especially for what was to become the biggest game in the teams history so far (and must have been made worse by the stories of the number of free tickets given away). Again, unless you’re a die-hard, you would probably have to do some serious thinking before you went again, if indeed you did go again.

Which brings things nicely on to….

 

The Dividing Line

Hockey in Manchester already has a number of things going against it. As well as living in the shadow of two major football clubs, rugby, cricket, etc, there’s also it’s chequered history to take into account. With the demise of the original Storm, a number of people (a large percentage having lost season ticket money) walked away from the game. The thing is that once you break a habit (and to some of us, Hockey is a habit or way of life), it’s very difficult to get back into. The money you’d have once put aside gets spent on other things and when you have to find it again, is it really worth it?

You only have to look at the drop off in figures from the final Storm season to the first season of Phoenix at the arena – a period of time that was less than 12 months. Average attendances had already been on quite a steep decline for a couple of seasons when Storm were at the arena. According to “The Hockey Annual”, the average attendance in the final (incomplete) season of Storm was 3,305, whilst the Phoenix average the following season was 2,068. Obviously, I’m guessing that a number of people will have walked away as they had lost money as mentioned above, whilst others only wanted to watch “Storm” rather than “another team” (I still remember leaving Deeside having just watched the very first Phoenix pre-season game and overhearing someone say “It’s just not the Storm, is it?”), but it’s still a worrying drop in numbers (especially, if memory serves, the break-even point for Phoenix at the arena was 3,000 – something that possibly should have been achievable at the time if enough people had bought into it?)

Unfortunately the Hockey Annual only lists teams with an average attendance of over 1,000 so as a result, Phoenix attendance figures aren’t mentioned in either the 2007-08 or 2008-09 edition (although in fairness, the 07/08 season was spent largely on the road with “home” games being played at either Deeside or Ice Sheffield, so that would be understandable)

It should be pointed out that during their time at Altrincham, Phoenix attendances did slowly creep up, averaging 1,300 in the 2013-14 season and 1,000 2014-15 season (source: The Hockey Annual once again) which brings us nicely onto…

 

A House Divided

To the best of my knowledge, Manchester is the only city with a split in the potential Hockey watching fanbase of the local area.  Whilst upon the demise of the arena era of Storm many had issues with Phoenix and decided to stay away, the same can be said with the resurrection of the Storm name and the demise of Phoenix.  Whilst there are a number of Phoenix regulars that have either now thrown their lot in with Storm by becoming season ticket holders or even just taking in the occasional game, there are still a large number of Hockey fans that will not watch Storm under any circumstances, be it at Alty, the arena or anywhere else for that matter, thus putting a dent into the prospective numbers required to make a game (or games) at the arena practical.

Again, as mentioned in a different post, potential audience figures are important, be it for a one-off game or something more regular.  The sport is an easier sell to someone that already has some knowledge or experience of it than it is to a complete novice, so whilst the gulf in (potential) Manchester Hockey fans is unfortunate, to a certain degree it is also understandable from certain perspectives

 

Nostalgia just ain’t what it used to be

Top of the advantage list of playing at the arena are the facilities (although this is pure speculation – I’ve not been there for a good few years, but I’m making an educated guess that the toilets, etc are a huge improvement on Alty? (admittedly, that’s not particularly difficult if even half of what I’ve heard is true and I’ve little reason to doubt it)), but what else is gained?  I get the impression that for most, the whole concept of watching Storm at the arena is just a nostalgia thing in wanting to remember the good ol’ days that the weekly pilgrimage was made into Manchester city centre, rather than some town in Greater Manchester.  The problem here is that it’s not just that feeling you want to recreate, you also want to recreate the long lost days of youth and memories that go with them.  A bit like wanting a band to play their “greatest hits” if you go to see them in concert, you appreciate those songs over their more recent releases as they remind you of a certain place and time, usually the moment that you first heard that particular song.  It’s human nature, but also a temporary thing.  If regular games were to be played there, how long before the novelty wore off?  As some may have noticed with the whole resurrection of the Storm name, as the novelty has started to wear off, a number of once regular faces are no longer seen at the rink

Alternatively, if it was to be a one-off, what then?  I very much doubt that many having watched an arena game are going to then return to Alty and be happy with the way things are there.  Is there anything to be gained from it all?

 

Taking the above into consideration, I dare say that there’s more chance of getting a new rink than seeing Storm at the arena again, although on the plus side, some of us save a small fortune every week as it’s free to park at Alty.  One only has to look at places like Sheffield (£5 if bought in advance or £7 on the night) or Nottingham (no official car park as such so left to the mercy of a local NCP which won’t be cheap) for example, so for all it’s faults, maybe playing out of a small rink has some advantages after all?