A fan's-eye view from Turf Moor, with Stephen Cummings

NINE thousand seven hundred and fifty three. Not a bad attendance. Not a bad attendance at all.

In fact with the notable exception of one or two clubs, the majority of chairmen in Division Two would be ecstatic to pull in the kind of crowds which the Clarets attract.

However, by Burnley Football Club's standards 9,753 represents a below par attendance. After all Turf Moor is a ground where crowds of five figures are regarded as the norm rather than the exception.

But Saturday was not the first occasion this season that the gate has dipped below 10,000 - the most outstanding example being the low attendance for the visit of Wrexham in early November.

So, is this shortfall a temporary blip or a genuine cause for concern? Personally, I believe it to be the former, and there is evidence to support this.

Take this month for example. It has been exceptionally hard on the pockets of those Clarets supporters who follow the team away from home. Tickets have had to be bought in advance for fixtures at Derby County (£19), Bury (£14) and Coventry City (£17). Fifty pounds is a lot of money to the average football supporter, particularly with Christmas rearing its disturbingly costly head.

Some would argue that the casual supporter might be better advised shelling out his hard earned cash to watch Burnley at home. But realistically, the fan who picks and chooses their matches is more likely to select a Boxing Day derby or two glamorous FA Cup ties against Premiership opposition over home games against the likes of Wycombe Wanderers and Cardiff City. There is another reason why the average home game is not what it might be at the moment. What do Wycombe, Bournemouth, Colchester, Brentford, Wrexham and Scunthorpe have in common? You could fit their collective away following in a Christmas cracker and still have room for a party hat.

The only teams to have brought sizeable support to Turf Moor this term have been Stoke and Blackpool. The likes of Preston, Wigan, Bury and Oldham are still to visit. We should then see a dramatic upturn in the average gate.

With 3,500 travelling Clarets, one club whose average gate will be boosted is Bury. But it does rather beg the question that if the FA are keen to see bigger gates in football why was the Boxing Day fixture not at Turf Moor where a 15,000 crowd would have been a probability?

Merry Christmas to you all.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.