OFF TOPIC: Population of Boston

[leicester pilgrim]

As part of my job I've been to a presentation today where population changes since the 2001 census were discussed. Between 2001 and the present day, official statistics show that, of 400+ local authorities, Boston has the second fastest growing population across the whole of England and Wales. Only Hounslow is expanding at a faster rate.

Boston's population on 30th June 2008 (the most recent data available) was extimated at 61,000, an increase of 4.7% from the 2001 census.

Views?

The top five expanding areas in the country are listed as:

1. Hounslow
2. Boston
3. Southwark
4. Peterborough
5. Crawley

Strangely I happened to notice that a certain person has managed two of these, lived in one of the others and appeared at court in another. But has he ever been to Hounslow?

[father Ted]

Interesting ..
  I'm often thinking the population /  attendance equation ..
    Of course Bostons pop rise is probably due to the immigrant workers in agriculture .. who are probably not minded or able to come to BUFC games ..

[father Ted]

 Furthermore there are many other factors ..maybe U could enlighten us at some point  LP  ??
   E.G We have IPSWICH pop around 175 ,000 getting crowds of over 20,000 in the Championship ..
                         SOUTHPORT pop around 100,000 getting 750 .. in the BSN  !

[les]

Ipswich are in the heart of a rural area with no competing clubs nearby, and they have Roy Keane sa Manager.

[Fairfax]

So how many do you think Roy Keane is knocking off the Ipswich gate?

[les]

As someone who live five miles from Ipswich ground and round the corner from Bobby Robson I know the  Ipswich faithful will want a high profile manager and will still belive the best of Keane is yet to come, so I do not think he will have any significant detriemental effect on attendances.
Boston's gates when in a higher league were significantly higher than they are now, even though the team results are better now than in the higher division.

[leicester pilgrim]

 

Furthermore there are many other factors ..maybe U could enlighten us at some point  LP  ??
   E.G We have IPSWICH pop around 175 ,000 getting crowds of over 20,000 in the Championship ..
                         SOUTHPORT pop around 100,000 getting 750 .. in the BSN  !

Not sure I've much to add really in terms of enlightening people around other factors. The calculations are based on a complex set of formulas taking into account how many people are registered at local GP practices, how many national insurance numbers are being issued to foreign nationals in the local area, how many students are registered at local colleges, etc. They are official figures produced by the Office for National Statistics and available to government and public alike via the ONS website (in case anyone else is interested)! The fact that Boston is expanding vaster than virtually anywhere else should be gold dust for local councillors in securing monies for local services as clearly the infrastructure needs to expand to meet local demands. The very fact that we seem no closer to getting a bypass makes me wonder if local leaders are making the right arguments loudly enough to the right people.

As someone else has said, Southport have a number of bigger clubs on their doorstep. I think it is probably a "higher income" area (I understand for example Steven Gerrard lives there - he certainly drinks there), and a lot of the local football supporters probably have season tickets at Anfield or Goodison Park.

Boston's gates when in a higher league were significantly higher than they are now, even though the team results are better now than in the higher division.

I understand where Les is coming from, though I think there's another issue here. Boston's overall gates have dropped, but I'm not sure there has been any significant change in levels of home support. During the Football League Years the Town End was packed with away supporters on many occasions. You only have to contrast that with the last home game against Burscough (seven visiting fans) to really understand why the gates have dropped.

[green hats mate]

During the latter part of our last season in the FL we struggled to get 1200 HOME fans at games . I think taking into account the recession and the fact we are 3 leagues lower our attendances have stood up well.

[Bob Lee]

During the latter part of our last season in the FL we struggled to get 1200 HOME fans at games . I think taking into account the recession and the fact we are 3 leagues lower our attendances have stood up well.

GHM I stand up well ( if I have'nt visited the Club before hand.)

[green hats mate]

You must be on viagra Bob.

[Ed Kandi]

Boston's population on 30th June 2008 (the most recent data available) was extimated at 61,000, an increase of 4.7% from the 2001 census.

Did they include a guess at the number of people living rough in and around Boston?
I parked in a town centre car park the other day and it felt like I'd just driven into somebody's front room   
The missus wanted me to move the car as it didn't seem right. I moved it as I didn't want them using the bonnet as an ironing board...had a parking ticket when we got back 

The way its going around here there will be people suffering from exposure soon.

[cappo]

another stat was of recent boston was the fattest town in the country but now that accolade has been handed over our friends up the A1,doncaster   

[kingofnaves]

Ed Kandi
Often see exposure in town!It seems the norm for some to spend a penny in public!
Also did that new Traffic Warden get you?Top bloke who is doing the job he is paid for!He is always smiling and reminds me of a character out of Balamorey

[les]

Liecester Pilgrim
I understand where Les is coming from, though I think there's another issue here. Boston's overall gates have dropped, but I'm not sure there has been any significant change in levels of home support. During the Football League Years the Town End was packed with away supporters on many occasions. You only have to contrast that with the last home game against Burscough (seven visiting fans) to really understand why the gates have dropped.

The current attendance is about 230 per game less than two years ago in the Blue Square North, and that season the number of away fans was probably only around 30 more, so we have lost near 200 per game through the loss of league level.

[father Ted]

Maybe Les , but I can't see much of a  difference in class between  BSN  & UPL in the main .
 And only Southport and Telford get much above 700 atts  .
   Some of the crowds at that level are frankly an affront to the  rise ? in standards . .  UPL - BSN .
 I think BUFC are very well set in this respect .