Thankfully the French treated the Wanderers fans far better than its own club does.
Wonderful hospitality by the locals both inside and outside the ground.
Especially the bar owner and regulars of the bar outside the ground, who not only
extended his open hours to accommodate those who travelled independently but
bought them copious amounts of Kronemburg and Pernod. The Anglo/Francais relations
certainly seemed to be flourishing as both sets of fans sang each others national anthem
without knowing any words.
Players confirmed to us before the match,that the game was always going to be played
in Coutance, so why those in charge chose to mislead its own fans to where the match was being
played is anyone's guess ??
But perhaps next time the 'One Wycombe' line gets blurted out, they will be reminded how they
treated lifelong Wanderers fans who had the audacity to travel independantly.
Comments
The photos posted on facebook between players and fans seemed very 'entante cordiale', did any club offical take the time to explain the communication 'gap'?
You cant hold the players responsible, and we did not receive any apology or explaination. I saw Mr Cecil the media big wig there, but no attempt was made
at either the ground or the bar outside when the Wanderers fans were clearly based.
The players were quite sympathetic with how we were treated by the club. 'One Wycombe' My arse !!
When the Chairman demonstrates lack of respect to fans, you can't really expect his minions to either.
Sounds as though a number of people who paid good money to follow the team did not get the level of respect such dedication warranted.
Well done Chas and all the fans that made it across looks like once again our away support has done us proud it's so frustrating the club struggles with basic communication.
P.S Stay away from the absinthe .
It's not the first time lions were led by donkeys to France.
I lost two great uncles in the 2nd battle of Arras I don't think the comparison stands.
OK that was meant to have been a slightly tongue in cheek comment Morris. It was not a direct comparison to events played out in the first world war in which I also lost a great uncle and my two grandfathers both fought and survived. Sorry you decided to take this so literally. Just to put your mind at rest the Gasroom isn't actually a room and there is no gas in it.
Could have been an O.A.P's outing to France by the look of it. Bless 'em.
Andrew Howard blamed the French when I spoke to him after the match, before eventually apologising.
Exactly how were the French to blame, if the game was always going to be played
in Coutance ? Did the French ply the media man with cheap red plonk for weeks on end
so he was confused and continued to say the match was gonna be played in Averanches ? As well as the Motts officials whose itinerary also stated the game was being played in Averanches ? Something smells, about the whole episode.
Here's my theory, based on no evidence whatsoever.
Andrew Howard, who has a holiday home in Coutance, organised a training camp there for the Wycombe squad as a thank-you for the hard work last season and a team bonding exercise for the coming year.
Maybe he also knows someone high-up at US Avranches, and maybe he suggested the two teams play each other when Wycombe were over in Coutance.
This then spiralled into a friendly, but instead of it being organised through the proper channels in each club Howard probably told the management team at WWFC that it had all been sorted out by himself and they just needed to turn up.
Hence probably everyone in the club assumed it was taking place in Avranches and Motts were duly informed of the fact. Howard probably only realised people were labouring under this misapprehension shortly before WWFC tweeted about the right location - and then did something about it.
He probably didn't even consider that fans would actually travel to what was, in effect, a training camp.
As I say, it's just a theory. But in my opinion this shows Howard in a pretty good light - organising a training camp probably at his own expense to help the team ahead of the new season.
On this one I'm inclined to give the guy a break.
You are wrong, the fixture was arranged weeks ago and was detailed on the official website. If anyone thought no fans would travel they are idiotic.
It was a brilliant trip for those who travelled. However, next time I will check with the club rather than Motts where the game is being played.
Ah well. Things go wrong. I'm sure people will learn from this and do things better in future.
@Onlooker why would you check with the Club? Motts probably would have given you the answer.
Motts told me it was in Avranches.