Wycombe v Leatherhead/Billericay on Sunday
According to the FA web-site, Wycombe's FA Cup-tie v Leatherhead or Billericay is now on Sunday 3rd December k.o. 2pm. This would be a feature match on the BBC Final Score programme so both clubs will pocket an extra £12,500(?) for this coverage.
Being a tie against Nob-League opposition this is a great opportunity for WWFC to promote the game to all our local Saturday sides. Add to that the club should encourage people to get to A.P. at midday and enjoy a Sunday lunch. And what about getting the Sunday morning footballers to come down to Adams Park for lunch & a drink after their respective matches. A win/win situation.
Apart from the extra TV coverage either Billericay or Leatherhead should bring 1,000 supporters so it's a great chance for the club to make this a big day out. We should be aiming for a 5,000+ crowd. Let's hope they grasp the opportunity.
Comments
5,000+ against Nob-League opposition, dream on Andy...
We had over 6,000 vs Stourbridge last season
Easy to be negative but I think there are some great ideas from Andy there
I know most hate date changes like this, but this actually works well for me, as i'd have missed it on the sat.
Lovely!
Be nice if we could lure in some fans based on the very good chance of a 3rd round bonanza. That has to be the sweetener surely
Depends how actively you market it. There'll be 1,000 away fans + an opportunity to attract people who normally work on Saturday. Plus all the people who play or are involved in football on Saturdays. I work in sales/marketing & it's amazing what can be achieved if you put a plan together, go hell-for-leather to fulfil it and put the effort in.
@Malone Excellent point! Come to the game v Billericay/Leatherhead. IF we win & IF we draw a Premier League club in Round 3 keep your ticket stub & you will be guaranteed a home tie ticket. It's not rocket science!!!
Just out of interest, but I think its relevant here. What do we actually know of the demographics of the Wycombe crowd. Obviously playing Saturday v Sunday v Monday night etc does impact some people's ability to get to the match, but is this impacted more or less by work commitments and/or journey time or family considerations. If a lot of new people turned up on a Sunday as was suggested occurred in the first round, is that because it was a novel day out, or because they would genuinely not have had the chance on a Saturday. And did those numbers outweigh the Saturday only people. Has any research been done or is it guesswork and the sort of guesswork that isn't helpful for decision making/marketing going forward?
I'm totally with you on this @Malone and @A_Worboys.
Thanks for the suggestions @A_Worboys. I will pass these on to the club.
Excellent.
You are optimistic on those numbers. Recent history does not suggest we will get anywhere near that sort of gate. I think back to recently played 2nd round games Coalville Chelmsford AFC Wimbledon who all had decent following but we couldn't pull in anywhere near the amount of home fans.
A little optimistic perhaps but no reason to shrug our shoulders and give up, as positive thinking is the key to the survival and future growth of our club. I'm also optimistic that we'll win!
Billericay’s incredible record in their league and the fact that they have several experienced former Premier League players suggests that they really are potential banana skin material.
I'm also not so sure either will bring those sort of numbers. For all the hype Billericay and Leatherhead both had brief spells of fame in the 70's but never had numbers and now it's a new generation. But the way football is in one off games now nothing would surprise me.
5000+ doesn't seem unreasonable to me. A tie against decent non league opposition with the prize of a possible big tie in the third round seems quite appealing.
As someone else said, the attendance against Stourbridge was good and it contributed to a fantastic cup tie.
Both Billericay & Leatherhead will bring 1,000 because it's on a Sunday & it will be a special day out for their supporters & floating fans. Publicise the beer tent and lay on roast baps and it all helps to make up people's minds to go.
But that was third round. Even for us that's an achievement!
@Baldric I can make either Saturday or Sunday most weekends. The few occasions when I can't make it tend to have been Saturdays, rather than Sundays, but not exclusively so.
The FA Cup 2nd round weekend has been particularly problematic for me in recent years. My daughter is in an orchestra that always performs a special concert on the Saturday of the first weekend in December. I could choose the football over her, but supporting my kids' endeavours is important to me. That has led to me missing the last two years FAC R2 matches, and would have meant missing this year if it was on Saturday. I missed the year before that too, despite it being played on a Sunday, as on that occasion I had to travel for my work on the Sunday.
I'm hoping for a better result this year than the last FAC R2 game I managed to see vs. Preston, but a goal (to us) of equivalent quality to the one Kevin Davies scored that day would be nice.
Billericay have just tweeted that they only have 600 tickets left until sold out, which is interesting because their ground capacity is now meant to be 5000 - they had 4582 v West Ham in August. At lunchtime, however, they said they had sold over 2000, so I would be a bit surprised if they have sold 2000 more since then, but I wouldn't put it past them, the gate at Leatherhead was 1797, when the Tanners generally get 300-400 for league games. They must have travelled in numbers and I would expect them to be here in force if they get through. I wouldn't be surprised if their owner, Glenn Tamplin, laid on free coaches.
I don't follow the assumption that a Sunday game will bring more people in. It opens a new audience but does close down some others. Can someone explain the logic of '...will bring 1,000 because it is on a Sunday...'?
Well they took two coaches. I expect a load by car in the clips and pictures looks like they took 300-400. Gate wasn't overly great.
@Right_in_the_Middle Yep. It's a puzzler. I work Sunday - Thursday so I would have to book a day off to go for a start. You also have live football all day on TV.
It's also Man City V West Ham on Sunday 3rd December. Not ideal
Thanks for the info @A_Worboys. Some good ideas there. I have heard you speak at Club meetings before and would be happy to vote for you if you had the time to work for the Trust board.
I went to Bury v Woking last night which was a wonderful occasion although felt a bit jealous. The joy on the faces of the fans and the connection between players manager and fans was fantastic. It's something Ainsworth has created at Wycombe and is what football clubs are all about for me.
(Obviously I was in the away end with a Woking mate. Things seem pretty bad for Bury at the moment. One home stand open and much booing)
Is this confirmed as Sunday ko as BBC sport shows it as 3pm Saturday ko
Yes. Best not to rely on bbc for anything
Good idea to reward fans that go to the game but more likely that if we get a plum 3rd round tie the club will do the same as last season and use it as an excuse to sell 1/2 season tickets.
Why use the word ‘excuse’ implying that there’s something wrong with that? We are still in debt and need to capitalise on every opportunity. People have the choice not to buy.
Because @glasshalffull the club have prioritised gaining a new ticket holder over keeping the older ones. First crack at tickets for big games has always come with buying a season ticket and if that is taken away some don't buy season tickets.
Nothing surprises me with the club ticketing policy. They seem to find new and wonderful ways to reinvent the wheel every time. Very rarely does the end result end up round.
@m3g, what difference does Man City v West Ham make?
City despite their wealth still don't have anywhere near the fan base of the other big clubs - cripes, watch any of their home games, and it's incredible how many empty seats they have. Also, it doesn't scream "spectacle" of a game does it? More like a comfortable home cruise, in a fixture that happens in the league anyway.
Much more follow @Right_in_the_Middle 's querying of the strange view that Sunday somehow means more fans will come than Saturday?!
Man City have the fifth highest average attendance of any English club this season, and West Ham have the fourth.