The huge followings in the 1991 and 93 trophy wins
Some key differences from when we took 26,000 and 28,000 to Wembley.
There was nearly a month between the semi final victory and the final,compared to the 9 days
we have now before we meet the Shrimpers.
The commercial side then appeared to be extremely organised and almost immediately they flooded the town with light and dark blue,Wycombe at Wembley T shirts and hats everywhere. It seemed every car had light and dark ribbons tied to ariels and windows.
We had posters everywhere and four weely local publications, BFP,The Midweek,and the free papers the Wycombe Observer and the Wycombe Star, where as now the club seems to promote themselves almost entirely by social media.
I really feel the club need to go on a promo frenzy in the next few days, both in Wycombe and neighbouring towns
and villages, as we have a wonderful opportunity to rebuild and reconnect with the Bucks public for both the Wembley
date and next season.
Lets hope this marvellous opportunity is not squandered !!
Comments
Get banners up, surely these cam be knocked up quickly, get into schools!
It does seem like handing out flyers and getting a few posters up around town would be simple, cheap and would probably entice a couple more people to come along
Posters, banners etc are useful but in my experience, no matter what the event, it is word of mouth that has most effect.
Certainly the build up for the Trophy finals were completely different. That week in 93 where we won 4-0 at Sutton to book our Wembley place, followed by a sell our derby at Slough on the Tuesday (1-1), clinching the league with a 5-1win at home to Runcorn on the Thursday and then Altrincham at home on the Saturday (0-2) and a trip up to Gateshead (1-0 win) on the Sunday was once in a lifetime stuff. By the time the final finally came around the whole town was at fever pitch, there was barely a shop/pub in the whole town that wasn't decorated out in blue.
This time sadly, it's just a few days from reaching Wembley to actually playing there, so the same kind of build up is just not possible. That said, yes of course we being doing our uppermost to promote this.
I think the other key point is that we were on the crest of a wave going in to 91/93. We had moved to a brand new ground (one of the first of the new grounds), we had been at the top of the league for a few seasons, we were playing truly exceptional football (when compared to recent seasons) and most importantly there was goodwill towards the club. This goodwill has been steadily eroded over the last ten years with at best a disinterested and at worst a downright aggressive attitude toward supporters.
This is changing but it will take years to improve. You only need to compare the club's approach to the pitch invasion last week to a few years ago when the stewards were doing everything they could alienate celebrating supporters.