[berko]

Netanya boss, Daniel Jammer had an outburst yesterday after his team failed to beat low placed Hakoach Ramat Gan in goaless draw. After criticizing the referee for not whistling a clear penalty for Netanya, Jammer stated that he is dissapointes with his fans that are not coming to the home matches as they should and it doesn´t even look the team is fighting for the title. Yesterday only around 1,700 fans attended the game in the Kufsa. Jammer said he understands that the stadium is old and that maybe this issue could contribute for less fans to come.
Lothar Matthaus also had the same complaints, but didn´t spare his players aswell saying that a team that wants to be the champion can´t lose points the way they lost.

The truth is Netanya is not considered a big team in Israel, it a medium sized club and has a considerable amount of fans, but can´t compare with the so called "Big 4". Of course they could fill the stadium and bring much more than 2,000 fans.

 

[Crackedpleasures]

Fact is as well that Netanya, without insinuating that it's a tiny village, is not the population center nor commercial center that Tel Aviv or Jerusalem are. They fish in a smaller pond when it comes to potential fans and sponsors. In a way it is quite remarkable they are in the title race to begin with. I doubt that the age of the stadium can contribute to the turnout, usually a new stadium stirs up interest and curiosity for a short while until the hype is over and attendances drop again to the average level. A new stadium is rarely the big trick to attract a huge set of new fans.

 

[berko]

Fact is as well that Netanya, without insinuating that it's a tiny village, is not the population center nor commercial center that Tel Aviv or Jerusalem are. They fish in a smaller pond when it comes to potential fans and sponsors. In a way it is quite remarkable they are in the title race to begin with. I doubt that the age of the stadium can contribute to the turnout, usually a new stadium stirs up interest and curiosity for a short while until the hype is over and attendances drop again to the average level. A new stadium is rarely the big trick to attract a huge set of new fans.

Of course Netanya is not like Tel Aviv, Haifa or Jerusalem, but for Israeli patterns is a medium sized city. With the new stadium certainly Netanya could attract more money for sponsors. The idea was to make not only a stadium, but a multicomplex for commercial purposes.

Netanya is a traditional team and in the 70´s and 80´s produced good players for the NT. The truth is stadiums in Israel need urgently to be renewed, only Teddy looks better. Bloomfield had a small reform, but still is old compared to top European stadiums.

 

[Lior]

The new stadium in Netanya is in the very south of the city, where alot of new development is happening (commercial and residential). Its relatively easy to get to since its right beside the highway, so I imagine it would encourage more people to go.

The old stadium is near downtown, and its a piece of garbage. I remember going there and thinking "this cant be it!"

 

[Kappa21]

Yea..the new stadium may attract more people...but seriously..... Netanya never really had a big fan base.

Im not going to say that they compete with Hapoel TA/Maccabi TA, Maccabi Haifa, Beitar....

but they are certainly not Maccabi PT fan base...
but even that...Hapoel PT fan base is bigger than Netanya's.

Jammer cant come to Israel and decide to buy ........a random team in a random city and say they are going to be an elite....
Same with the other places.... and whoever bought K. Shmona too

 

[berko]

Matthaus said he has never played or worked as a coach in a stadium like Netanya´s. It is old for a team that is traditional and in the last years are always in top positions. The new stadium is a must. Jammer seems to be a very good guy and really wants to help.

As for the fansbase, we can´t compare Netanya fanbase with the "big 4", but they have a considerable one and not small.

 

[Kappa21]

Matthaus said he has never played or worked as a coach in a stadium like Netanya´s. It is old for a team that is traditional and in the last years are always in top positions. The new stadium is a must. Jammer seems to be a very good guy and really wants to help.

As for the fansbase, we can´t compare Netanya fanbase with the "big 4", but they have a considerable one and not small.

They are living in a fairy tale..
all of a sudden a mid table team gets a state of the art stadium....big wow.

this is like Ironi Rishon Le Zion getting Funland Stadium or Nes Tziona getting the new stadium....... nothing shocking...