IN his pre-match press conference prior to last night's UEFA Cup first-round clash with Xanthi, Steve McClaren spoke at length about just how much European qualification had meant to Middlesbrough's players at the end of last season.

It is a shame the club's supporters do not share their idols' sense of occasion.

Last night, only 14,191 of them made it to the Riverside to witness the latest instalment in this season's most intriguing mystery. Even Sherlock Holmes would be puzzled by 'The Case of the Disappearing Fans'.

Last night's gate was more than 6,000 less than Boro's lowest European attendance last season - the home game against Austrian's Grazer AK - but merely followed a disturbing trend that is being replicated up and down the country.

While football continues to exert an increasingly powerful cultural hold, the people who identify with it most strongly are beginning to say enough is enough.

Boro's inability to sell out last weekend's home game with title-hopefuls Arsenal illustrated as much, as did the rows and rows of empty seats that greeted Sunderland's return to the top-flight on the opening day of the season.

When even Newcastle are having to resort to a public sale of tickets for the visit of Manchester United, the footballing bubble must be on the verge of a burst.

The statistics tell their own story. The average Premiership attendance dropped by more than 1,200 last season, and this season's fixtures are already 1,500 down on the same games last year.

But the bald facts merely scratch the surface of the underlying sore that is causing consternation in the strangest of places.

You would think Chelsea would be the one club with no trouble attracting fans. Yet Tuesday night's Champions League win against Anderlecht was watched by less than 30,000 and led to supporters launching a "real prices for real fans" campaign yesterday.

The focus of their discontent - Chelsea's decision to charge £48 for a ticket - is not confined to the capital.

Boro cut their prices for last night's game - adults were charged £20 a head rather than the £36 that is the average for a Premiership game - but it would still have cost £60 for a family of four to have watched the uninspiring 2-0 win.

When cricket fans were able to watch one of the most dramatic series of all time reach a sensational climax for just a tenner on Monday, it is difficult to argue that they got a good deal.

But price is not the only factor behind football's gradual loss of appeal. Steve McClaren made four changes from the side that beat Arsenal last night and, while he will no doubt argue that Sunday's Premiership game at Wigan must be factored into the equation, supporters will increasingly think twice before shelling out to see a weakened side.

They will also pick and choose their games. With footballing over-exposure reaching crisis point - an armchair fan could have watched a live game every single night this week if they had so desired - it is becoming more and more difficult for clubs to entice supporters into their grounds.

Sky TV's scheduling means that only one of Boro's first ten Premiership home games will take place at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon.

Whereas the football fan was once a creature of habit, he or she is now being asked to travel the length and breadth of the country at the drop of a hat. Or, to be more precise, the drop of a huge wad of television company cash.

The result is an unedifying spectacle like last night's.

A European game that should have been one of the jewels in Boro's season, played in front of a bank of empty seats.

Everyone involved could be forgiven for wondering if it is really worth another season of struggle and strife to set up the same for next year.

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