I switched to the subscription model this season and NatWest promptly scrapped all VISA cards for Mastercard a couple of days after. Has anyone fgured out how to change the payment method on your subscription?
@niebieski No, but when I changed bank during last season I just got an email from WWFC asking me to fill in the new details when the next direct debit was due.
@ValleyWanderer, Commercial Manager Harry Gadd emailed Honours Lounge members last week, saying that membership of the lounge will cease to exist, to be replaced by a free pre-match membership of Monty's Lounge. There will be no food to buy, instead you can bring food in from the Village outside, no access at half-time, so no tea or coffee, and no access after the game. The Honours Lounge will be used for new matchday hospitality.
This is very disappointing, it's not long since we lost our long term home in the Woodlands Lounge, and those who could not afford the £2000 package there, found a new home in the Honours Lounge. It's going to be cramped in Monty's, having to share with players's families, and many Honours members are getting on and need to know they have a guaranteed seat. The Caledonian Suite is now the only place to go after a game, but I think seats are quickly taken. I would not be at all surprised if this arrangement only last one season.
At the Trust meeting last week, @A_Worboys spoke very eloquently from the floor about this, and the Board were clearly surprised to hear the news, shocked even. Trevor Stroud said he would raise it at the Club Board meeting this week. Andy emphasised that the club has many long term supporters, some of whom, in their later years, need some physical comfort on match days, so a dedicated lounge with access before, at half-time and afterwards is ideal. One couple, who sat on our table, gave up coming last season because they wanted to change seats due to an access problem. The club failed to meet their request, they was treated badly.
I do understand that the club is short of large rooms and that Rob has made it clear that every part of the club has to make a profit. This drive for profit appears to be squeezing longer term supporters, not that length of time supporting the club counts for anything with the new owners, it appears. I hope that the Commercial team can see a bit further than pure profit and understand what supporters, of all ages and needs, the soul of the club, really want on match day.
The club does seem to have got less sympathetic to older supporters in recent years. Tiny tickets discounts, more rules around parking and harder to navigate mazes after matches.
Having seen the soulless support given to our north Bucks imposters last month it was hard for me not to think that our older supporters are very much part of the heart beat of what is Wycombe Wanderers.
Yes. I am disabled and had access to the honours lounge last year after having been moved from the woodlands. I need a place to sit both before and after the game. I have been assured that I will have a seat in Montys before the game. After the game is an issue though as I can't get to the Cakedonian suite quickly and if there are no chairs left I will have to sit in my car. I have been told that this will be monitored although I am not sure exactly what is intended here. On the car parking yes disabled fans were meant to be contacted first but I have heard nothing, so I will guess I will have to contact the club tomorrow. I am no longer in the trust but I really think this should be discussed further. As has been said previously a lot of the older longer serving fans and disabled fans seem to be getting the short end of the stick here
I see that they have now made Car Park Parking renewals available. However, it doesn't seem to have been implemented correctly.
I could buy a lower car park pass (except I'm not a blue badge holder), but can't renew my upper car park pass (it says that's only available to upper car park pass owners 21/22) which I was!
This move by the club is totally understandable and frankly, if we are to compete with the big beasts in our division and above, a necessary consequence of modern professional football.
The Couhig’s are not sugar daddy owners they are successful businessmen who came in because they identified numerous areas where they could turn the club around into a viable entity, as they put it “we’re good at mending leaking taps” and boy were we leaky! Make no mistake the club was loosing money all over the place, they have stopped this, invested and are now building. The facilities at the training ground mean new players we can attract are impressed with the working conditions on offer. The ground from pitch to sound system to sponsorship opportunities have all vastly improved. All this requires money, Harry and the marketing team are working their socks off to bring in the necessary incremental revenue.
We simply would not have a club to support if this had not happened and happened fast.
So, they are ‘sweating the assets’.120 attendees in The Woodlands Lounge paying around £150 (£18k revenue per match) makes serious money and attracts supporters who enjoy / demand a Premier League level of hospitality, which isn’t otherwise available unless they take a box To generate those sort of numbers requires the space that was Honours to now be added to the Woodlands. These are the type of supporters who also may well become serious sponsors going forward.
It’s harsh but it’s a no brainer in commercial terms and it has the makings of future success on and off the field.
Think most successful clubs find a middle ground between entertaining sponsors and retaining the goodwill of their oldest and most loyal fans, so I’m sure that’s what the plan is.
Surely these most loyal fans want to see the club progress and be more successful. This can only be achieved by maximising income. I'm afraid money is a fact of life now.
If the pursuit of money and maximising profit were really the only thing that mattered, why are the club cutting off an income stream from a group - The Honours Lounge - who were prepared to pay a premium for access to seating before/after a game. Many of whom also contributed above the average in bar sales. Also many of the members have been those who freely donated time to helping the club.
Personally this feels like a calculated move to cut ties with the recent past of the club history.
Sadly, I think the club have made a serious error in alienating this group. Let's hope they don't come to regret it. I'm afraid that any appeals for volunteers to help the club out of a tight spot are now going to be met with silence.
@Twizz its not about making profit, it’s about being financially sustainable. Not everything will suit personal circumstances but for the greater good we need to embrace change and move forward.
I would hope that ones love of the club and willingness to give freely of ones time would be magnanimous and not depend on the availability of a coffee and biscuit at half time?
If in the pursuit of being financially sustainability you manage to piss off a large group of people, many of whom have given a great deal of their free time, money and loyalty to the club then that's a poor show.
If you don't think so @perfidious_albion then we are always going to differ.
The club have, in this instance, demonstrated that they don't really care about fan loyalty. I don't see how that helps build the brand but hey ho!
As a founder member of the ‘original’ Woodland Lounge, I was one of those affected by the decision to convert it into a more upmarket hospitality venue. I did a modest amount of voluntary work a few years ago until health issues intervened. There were one or two other volunteers in the Lounge and they may have switched last season (as I did) to the vastly inferior Honours Lounge but I think the majority are spread around the ground. I’d be surprised if many (if any) of that dedicated bunch would be deterred from volunteering as a result of changes designed to optimise income.
The loss of a comfortable seated area with close access to toilets for older/disabled/less mobile supporters before/after matches and at half time is an entirely different matter and was the main reason why I decided last September (after 53 years as a season ticket holder) to stop attending.
It’s a small but important consolation to be able to watch matches on my ancient laptop in the comfort of my home and with ready access to toilets and refreshments !
The club loves its commemorative days - retro shirts, ex-players returning, retirement of legends, long distance supporters, etc etc. It’s a shame they don’t have a ‘retired supporters’ day where former regular attendees can come back for one final chance to re-live the atmosphere, with a touch of luxury and a handshake from current players as a small ‘thank you’ for their commitment over the years.
One thing I’ve done to compensate for the absence of face to face chats at matches is to contact one or two fellow fans (and their partners) to suggest meeting locally for lunch.
@micra it saddens me that you feel attending is no longer viable for you.
Disabled access is a real problem given the ancient layout and logistics of the Frank Adams. The disabled seating at the front of the Family Stand has a low level view and is exposed to the elements I wouldn’t enjoy that experience. Access to boxes / Woodlands Lounge level seating by lift is good but compromised by available seating and service traffic / access to kitchens and bars pre match.
There is a ‘redundant’ area in the corner of the ground between Frank Adams and the Terrace on the executive boxes level which could be repurposed but would need all weather cover introducing and still would have compromised disabled bathroom access.
I'd assumed you'd stopped coming for health reasons / post pandemic @micra.
While it's good in a way that you haven't, this feels worse in a way as it feels much more fixable.
As someone whose match day experience is turn up late doors, see a pal, watch the game, go, it's hard to relate to the game only being part of the day.
But it's always sad to hear of these extra elements that made the day for people being removed, especially for long term supporters.
I stopped last September for a whole lot of reasons, @Malone , all health and fitness related but exacerbated by the need to walk from the Honours Lounge to my seat in the upper tier of the Frank Adams stand. I have suffered for many years from episodes of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation (PAF) which causes the heart rate to increase unpredictably and spontaneously to 150 to 170 ‘beats’ per minute. It’s more a fluttering than a beat. It usually self-corrects after about an hour following consumption of pints of water and rhythmically tapping the carotid artery (in the neck) at 60 taps per minute. The unpredictable nature of these episodes has led to great anxiety on my part about going out alone and the fact that many episodes over the years have occurred pre match at the ground or on the way from the car park to the ground just compounded the situation.
I ‘let myself go’ physically during the pandemic as a result of stopping all exercise (for fear of an episode of PAF whilst out walking). A couple of friends offered to walk with me - my wife has arthritis and can only walk very short distances - but, to my shame, I never took them up on their offers. The consequence is that I have lost about 80% of the muscle power in my legs. Hormone injections for prostate cancer have also made a contribution.
On top of all that I no longer relished the prospect of sitting outside for a couple of hours as autumn approached.
I’m quite relaxed now about having stopped attending matches. The Gasroom and the internet are godsends.
I know what you mean @Malone there are discussions on here about things I never knew existed...time marches on but sad to see longtime supporters being upset or put off by the changes. They'll always have Vipienne I suppose.
@micra, had seen a few bits and pieces from you, but thanks for putting that across. Sympathies from your youngest internet son for what is a tough combo of aspects!
It sounds like you've picked the only sensible option really.
As an absolute exercise obsessive myself, I hope you can get back into that at least. See if you can ease in to a bit with those kind friends. Or maybe get a home treadmill / cycle for very gentle efforts when someone else is home?
I think you have it quite right in that last sentence. I found the online only season quite fine to be honest. A brilliant option to have. It doesn't feel that long ago that us having ONE game every few seasons on Sky felt exciting beyond belief!
Always interesting to hear other's game experiences etc.
When Wycombe put up that wall of those we'd lost over the pandemic, I noticed one old gent on there, who'd sadly passed away.
Never knew him by name or anything really, but recognised him from the OWWSA coaches from years back.
He and his wife did every game, and they had an endearing habit of sitting solo across the aisle from each other, on the optimism of getting a double seat each.
Every single time, they ended up having to squeeze into one double, as the numbers (bar some real distant northern ones!) were too high for much room.
I took a bit of time wondering how she's getting on, does she still go, is it too painful to go solo, after presumably years of it being a thing she shared with her husband.
Quite sad really.
But anyway, too deep for a Friday night, so erm...where's the signings and kit!? We demand satisfaction!!
Can I pick you up anything from the ground @micra to help "keep you in touch" as it were. No problem for me to walk down the road and put it through your door. I can still pop into Morrisons and pick up the odd bit for you if you like?💁
That’s very kind, @EwanHoosaami. There are one or two items that only Morrisons seem to stock (remember the famous la vieja Fábrica marmalade?) but we’re ok at present, thanks.
Hope you and your good lady (kidults as well, of course) are keeping well. I’ll give you a bell soon. Lunch somewhere would be good.
Comments
I switched to the subscription model this season and NatWest promptly scrapped all VISA cards for Mastercard a couple of days after. Has anyone fgured out how to change the payment method on your subscription?
@niebieski No, but when I changed bank during last season I just got an email from WWFC asking me to fill in the new details when the next direct debit was due.
@ValleyWanderer, Commercial Manager Harry Gadd emailed Honours Lounge members last week, saying that membership of the lounge will cease to exist, to be replaced by a free pre-match membership of Monty's Lounge. There will be no food to buy, instead you can bring food in from the Village outside, no access at half-time, so no tea or coffee, and no access after the game. The Honours Lounge will be used for new matchday hospitality.
This is very disappointing, it's not long since we lost our long term home in the Woodlands Lounge, and those who could not afford the £2000 package there, found a new home in the Honours Lounge. It's going to be cramped in Monty's, having to share with players's families, and many Honours members are getting on and need to know they have a guaranteed seat. The Caledonian Suite is now the only place to go after a game, but I think seats are quickly taken. I would not be at all surprised if this arrangement only last one season.
At the Trust meeting last week, @A_Worboys spoke very eloquently from the floor about this, and the Board were clearly surprised to hear the news, shocked even. Trevor Stroud said he would raise it at the Club Board meeting this week. Andy emphasised that the club has many long term supporters, some of whom, in their later years, need some physical comfort on match days, so a dedicated lounge with access before, at half-time and afterwards is ideal. One couple, who sat on our table, gave up coming last season because they wanted to change seats due to an access problem. The club failed to meet their request, they was treated badly.
I do understand that the club is short of large rooms and that Rob has made it clear that every part of the club has to make a profit. This drive for profit appears to be squeezing longer term supporters, not that length of time supporting the club counts for anything with the new owners, it appears. I hope that the Commercial team can see a bit further than pure profit and understand what supporters, of all ages and needs, the soul of the club, really want on match day.
The club does seem to have got less sympathetic to older supporters in recent years. Tiny tickets discounts, more rules around parking and harder to navigate mazes after matches.
Having seen the soulless support given to our north Bucks imposters last month it was hard for me not to think that our older supporters are very much part of the heart beat of what is Wycombe Wanderers.
Yes. I am disabled and had access to the honours lounge last year after having been moved from the woodlands. I need a place to sit both before and after the game. I have been assured that I will have a seat in Montys before the game. After the game is an issue though as I can't get to the Cakedonian suite quickly and if there are no chairs left I will have to sit in my car. I have been told that this will be monitored although I am not sure exactly what is intended here. On the car parking yes disabled fans were meant to be contacted first but I have heard nothing, so I will guess I will have to contact the club tomorrow. I am no longer in the trust but I really think this should be discussed further. As has been said previously a lot of the older longer serving fans and disabled fans seem to be getting the short end of the stick here
I see that they have now made Car Park Parking renewals available. However, it doesn't seem to have been implemented correctly.
I could buy a lower car park pass (except I'm not a blue badge holder), but can't renew my upper car park pass (it says that's only available to upper car park pass owners 21/22) which I was!
Looks like I'll have to go down to the club.
This move by the club is totally understandable and frankly, if we are to compete with the big beasts in our division and above, a necessary consequence of modern professional football.
The Couhig’s are not sugar daddy owners they are successful businessmen who came in because they identified numerous areas where they could turn the club around into a viable entity, as they put it “we’re good at mending leaking taps” and boy were we leaky! Make no mistake the club was loosing money all over the place, they have stopped this, invested and are now building. The facilities at the training ground mean new players we can attract are impressed with the working conditions on offer. The ground from pitch to sound system to sponsorship opportunities have all vastly improved. All this requires money, Harry and the marketing team are working their socks off to bring in the necessary incremental revenue.
We simply would not have a club to support if this had not happened and happened fast.
So, they are ‘sweating the assets’.120 attendees in The Woodlands Lounge paying around £150 (£18k revenue per match) makes serious money and attracts supporters who enjoy / demand a Premier League level of hospitality, which isn’t otherwise available unless they take a box To generate those sort of numbers requires the space that was Honours to now be added to the Woodlands. These are the type of supporters who also may well become serious sponsors going forward.
It’s harsh but it’s a no brainer in commercial terms and it has the makings of future success on and off the field.
Is the Woodlands Lounge 150 a match now? Was 120 last season and 90 for season ticket upgrade.
Never seen 120 people in there
There were over 120 penultimate game vs Wednesday.
Match day sponsors are also hosted in The Woodlands Lounge, they pay rather more than £120.
Fair enough.
Think most successful clubs find a middle ground between entertaining sponsors and retaining the goodwill of their oldest and most loyal fans, so I’m sure that’s what the plan is.
wasnt a dig, just wondered if the price had gone up
¿Qué
Surely these most loyal fans want to see the club progress and be more successful. This can only be achieved by maximising income. I'm afraid money is a fact of life now.
If the pursuit of money and maximising profit were really the only thing that mattered, why are the club cutting off an income stream from a group - The Honours Lounge - who were prepared to pay a premium for access to seating before/after a game. Many of whom also contributed above the average in bar sales. Also many of the members have been those who freely donated time to helping the club.
Personally this feels like a calculated move to cut ties with the recent past of the club history.
Sadly, I think the club have made a serious error in alienating this group. Let's hope they don't come to regret it. I'm afraid that any appeals for volunteers to help the club out of a tight spot are now going to be met with silence.
@Twizz its not about making profit, it’s about being financially sustainable. Not everything will suit personal circumstances but for the greater good we need to embrace change and move forward.
I would hope that ones love of the club and willingness to give freely of ones time would be magnanimous and not depend on the availability of a coffee and biscuit at half time?
If in the pursuit of being financially sustainability you manage to piss off a large group of people, many of whom have given a great deal of their free time, money and loyalty to the club then that's a poor show.
If you don't think so @perfidious_albion then we are always going to differ.
The club have, in this instance, demonstrated that they don't really care about fan loyalty. I don't see how that helps build the brand but hey ho!
As a founder member of the ‘original’ Woodland Lounge, I was one of those affected by the decision to convert it into a more upmarket hospitality venue. I did a modest amount of voluntary work a few years ago until health issues intervened. There were one or two other volunteers in the Lounge and they may have switched last season (as I did) to the vastly inferior Honours Lounge but I think the majority are spread around the ground. I’d be surprised if many (if any) of that dedicated bunch would be deterred from volunteering as a result of changes designed to optimise income.
The loss of a comfortable seated area with close access to toilets for older/disabled/less mobile supporters before/after matches and at half time is an entirely different matter and was the main reason why I decided last September (after 53 years as a season ticket holder) to stop attending.
It’s a small but important consolation to be able to watch matches on my ancient laptop in the comfort of my home and with ready access to toilets and refreshments !
The club loves its commemorative days - retro shirts, ex-players returning, retirement of legends, long distance supporters, etc etc. It’s a shame they don’t have a ‘retired supporters’ day where former regular attendees can come back for one final chance to re-live the atmosphere, with a touch of luxury and a handshake from current players as a small ‘thank you’ for their commitment over the years.
One thing I’ve done to compensate for the absence of face to face chats at matches is to contact one or two fellow fans (and their partners) to suggest meeting locally for lunch.
@micra it saddens me that you feel attending is no longer viable for you.
Disabled access is a real problem given the ancient layout and logistics of the Frank Adams. The disabled seating at the front of the Family Stand has a low level view and is exposed to the elements I wouldn’t enjoy that experience. Access to boxes / Woodlands Lounge level seating by lift is good but compromised by available seating and service traffic / access to kitchens and bars pre match.
There is a ‘redundant’ area in the corner of the ground between Frank Adams and the Terrace on the executive boxes level which could be repurposed but would need all weather cover introducing and still would have compromised disabled bathroom access.
Perhaps the club could think about this?
I'd assumed you'd stopped coming for health reasons / post pandemic @micra.
While it's good in a way that you haven't, this feels worse in a way as it feels much more fixable.
As someone whose match day experience is turn up late doors, see a pal, watch the game, go, it's hard to relate to the game only being part of the day.
But it's always sad to hear of these extra elements that made the day for people being removed, especially for long term supporters.
The redundant area is a bizarre feature of the ground. Surely space to knock out a few £10 burgers to the starving patrons of the Frank Adams 😉
I did once think they could put a giant hot tub on there and market it as some kind of insta influencer zone.
I stopped last September for a whole lot of reasons, @Malone , all health and fitness related but exacerbated by the need to walk from the Honours Lounge to my seat in the upper tier of the Frank Adams stand. I have suffered for many years from episodes of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation (PAF) which causes the heart rate to increase unpredictably and spontaneously to 150 to 170 ‘beats’ per minute. It’s more a fluttering than a beat. It usually self-corrects after about an hour following consumption of pints of water and rhythmically tapping the carotid artery (in the neck) at 60 taps per minute. The unpredictable nature of these episodes has led to great anxiety on my part about going out alone and the fact that many episodes over the years have occurred pre match at the ground or on the way from the car park to the ground just compounded the situation.
I ‘let myself go’ physically during the pandemic as a result of stopping all exercise (for fear of an episode of PAF whilst out walking). A couple of friends offered to walk with me - my wife has arthritis and can only walk very short distances - but, to my shame, I never took them up on their offers. The consequence is that I have lost about 80% of the muscle power in my legs. Hormone injections for prostate cancer have also made a contribution.
On top of all that I no longer relished the prospect of sitting outside for a couple of hours as autumn approached.
I’m quite relaxed now about having stopped attending matches. The Gasroom and the internet are godsends.
I know what you mean @Malone there are discussions on here about things I never knew existed...time marches on but sad to see longtime supporters being upset or put off by the changes. They'll always have Vipienne I suppose.
@micra, had seen a few bits and pieces from you, but thanks for putting that across. Sympathies from your youngest internet son for what is a tough combo of aspects!
It sounds like you've picked the only sensible option really.
As an absolute exercise obsessive myself, I hope you can get back into that at least. See if you can ease in to a bit with those kind friends. Or maybe get a home treadmill / cycle for very gentle efforts when someone else is home?
I think you have it quite right in that last sentence. I found the online only season quite fine to be honest. A brilliant option to have. It doesn't feel that long ago that us having ONE game every few seasons on Sky felt exciting beyond belief!
Always interesting to hear other's game experiences etc.
When Wycombe put up that wall of those we'd lost over the pandemic, I noticed one old gent on there, who'd sadly passed away.
Never knew him by name or anything really, but recognised him from the OWWSA coaches from years back.
He and his wife did every game, and they had an endearing habit of sitting solo across the aisle from each other, on the optimism of getting a double seat each.
Every single time, they ended up having to squeeze into one double, as the numbers (bar some real distant northern ones!) were too high for much room.
I took a bit of time wondering how she's getting on, does she still go, is it too painful to go solo, after presumably years of it being a thing she shared with her husband.
Quite sad really.
But anyway, too deep for a Friday night, so erm...where's the signings and kit!? We demand satisfaction!!
Can I pick you up anything from the ground @micra to help "keep you in touch" as it were. No problem for me to walk down the road and put it through your door. I can still pop into Morrisons and pick up the odd bit for you if you like?💁
That’s very kind, @EwanHoosaami. There are one or two items that only Morrisons seem to stock (remember the famous la vieja Fábrica marmalade?) but we’re ok at present, thanks.
Hope you and your good lady (kidults as well, of course) are keeping well. I’ll give you a bell soon. Lunch somewhere would be good.