I don’t buy this ‘only realistic user’ is Reading at all, plenty of parties could in theory buy this facility.
It’s one of the best training facilities in the country, any top women’s team that are based in the south east could purchase it (Arsenal/Chelsea) etc. Wasps could have it along with any southern rugby club.
Newcastle could buy it as a southern hq
Anyone could buy it and if it is genuinely for sale then someone will
I wanted to express my gratitude for the friendship and common interest we have developed. It's your dedication and enthusiasm that keep this community thriving. As we work toward our common goals, let's continue supporting one another, welcome fresh perspectives, and develop as a team.
I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing as a long-time supporter of Wycombe Wanderers to express my concerns regarding ticket pricing and the impact it is having on matchday attendances. I believe there are a few areas where improvements could be made to encourage more families and younger supporters to attend matches regularly.
I would like to share some personal experiences that highlight these concerns. A friend of mine, who has two young sons that are passionate about football, last attended a Wycombe game during the playoff final against Sunderland. He had invested in full kits for both his boys at full price, only to learn shortly thereafter that O'Neills would no longer be our kit supplier. Naturally, his sons were upset that they could no longer wear their kits to support their team, and my friend was frustrated by this turn of events. This frustration was compounded by a random phone call from the club during the close season, asking if he wanted to purchase an advertising hoarding for £5,000. As you can imagine, this left him feeling alienated, and as a result, the club has lost four potential regular supporters.
Furthermore, I experienced a frustrating situation with a season ticket subscription for my son a couple of years ago, which cost around £1.67 per month. My primary intention was to secure priority for away tickets and potential playoff games. However, an issue arose with my Direct Debit, and despite the payments not going through for reasons beyond my control, the club repeatedly attempted to fine me. I recently received a letter stating that I owe £63 in fines, which is significantly more than the ticket's value. This has left me, a supporter of over 30 years and a parent of a young footballer, with a sour taste in my mouth.
Most recently, I took my 4-year-old to his first-ever football match. My ticket cost £28, my 8-year-old's ticket was £10, and I was charged £10 for my 4-year-old as well. While my youngest enjoyed the experience, he spent much of the game watching YouTube on my phone. This totaled £48 before considering additional costs for petrol, parking, and food to watch a third-division match. With the approaching colder months, I can't justify repeating this expense, meaning four more fans will likely not attend.
My concern is that out of eight people who genuinely want to support the club regularly, none of us feel able to do so under the current pricing and policies.
I firmly believe that the club needs to give parents more incentives to bring their children to matches. Charging £10 for a 4-year-old is excessive. Offering tickets for children of this age for a nominal fee, such as £1 or even free, would encourage more parents to attend with their young ones regularly. Alternatively, a season ticket for children could be priced at £60, with a complimentary kit included (even if it is last season’s). Providing a small incentive, such as a beer token or burger token with an under-8s ticket, could also be a simple yet effective gesture to show appreciation for their support.
It often feels like the relationship between the club and its supporters is one-way—focused solely on revenue without considering the long-term benefits of fostering a loyal fan base. I understand that football clubs are businesses, but thinking long-term is crucial. Engaging families and young supporters now will yield much greater gains in the future.
The club frequently discusses concerns about low attendances, but these seem like relatively easy wins. Word of mouth would quickly spread among schools and local football clubs if more affordable and family-friendly options were available. The children are the future of Wycombe Wanderers; getting them interested now could lead to significantly higher attendances in the next 5 to 6 years.
My story represents two families, totaling eight individuals, but I wonder how many more share my views. I hope the club will consider these suggestions and take steps to address these issues.
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. I remain a dedicated supporter and hope to see positive changes that will benefit both the club and its fans.
May need a small bit of rework. Not sure the suggestion of a beer token for U8’s is quite pitched right.
By all means send your letter if you wish to do. I strongly suspect their response will be that U11 tickets are already priced at £5 each or £39 (under £2 per game) for a season ticket. To be fair it feels like a valid response. You may want to put your response to this point in your original letter.
I think I remember the Couhigs saying something about they'd discovered some fans were getting the free or super cheap kid tickets, just to stop someone sitting next to them. And they were amazed to see we'd allow premium view Frank Adams tickets to go like that so put a hasty stop to it.
Very good points and fully taken on board. I should probably have suggested that the £10 ticket was for the only stand that you are not subject to the elements. They are cheaper elsewhere, but the weather on the Saturday (Rotherham) that I took my boy to was terrible. I spoke to a couple of other guys and they said they are put off taking their kids because of the parking followed by the walk in the rain.
The other idea I had was with every kids replica kit, they receive 3 free home game tickets. As a paying adult I would then buy a full kit for my kid(s), and pay £28 x 3 (plus food and drink at the game). That's a massive gain on them currently receiving NOTHING.
The club did offer an incentive for kids season tickets. For midweek games, adults could use their kids' season ticket (on the assumption that kids can't make late kick offs), to get "bums on seats" - an EXCELLENT idea. But....the marketing is so poor and I don't even know if that exists this season. I would literally plaster this all over socials and the website if I was in charge!
A small passage on the website reads:
"And we're continuing the opportunity for you to use child and junior season tickets for supporters of any age at our home midweek league games, recognising that evening games aren't always practical on school nights. Just show the child or junior season ticket at the turnstile and you'll be granted access, no matter your age."
There is another graphic on the website that explains where all the season ticket money goes. £8,000 on replacing seats - which infuriates me even more knowing a lot of that is caused by visiting supporters ripping them out!!
so Cat’s argument is not that prices for kids are too high (assuming that you think £5 is reasonable) but that family stand prices (where the club is encouraging kids to go) are not available in other parts of the ground.
That is a perfectly reasonable argument but quite a different one to the one he appeared to be making.
Correct. £5 is fairly reasonable but you are subject to the elements in "The Woodlands" stand. I didn't want to chance that with my young children.
My sole argument is to offer more of an incentive to parents. My story involves 2 families that want to, but can't go every week. The prices are excessive enough to stop us from going.
If I could, I would go EVERY week home and away. As it stands, I can manage about 2 or 3 home games per season (and only when the weather is good).
Get the kids invested NOW, and in 5 or 6 years, my story alone, involves an additional 6 supporters (2 adult plus 4 kids). Multiply that by the amount of people that feel the same as me, plus the people that don't even consider going because they can't.....guess what????......long term, you've lost yourself hundreds of supporters.
All those parents that LOVE football, live in Wycombe, but sit on their sofa every Saturday watching Paul Merson talk drivel. There must be hundreds, if not thousands. Get them into it. The adults pay, the kids enjoy. The kids are the future - guess where my kids will take their kids as it stands.....to the park!
Make it affordable, market it well, get people on board.
I had to take snacks to the ground because I'm not paying £15 in burgers. I'd rather go to Five Guys if that's the case.
Make a kids' burger - £3 or £4. EVERY parent will buy one!
Sell kits with an incentive - every parent will buy one!
"Parent and child" parking close to the ground - EVERY parent would think that's AMAZING!
I'm reeling these off as I'm sat here. Has the club not even visited the idea? I'm so passionate about it that I want to bang on the door of who's responsible and shake their head!
It’s a reasonable point to put to the club that you don’t think the existing family stand is fit for purpose. I would try to be clear and avoid obvious easy responses in what you say.
i disagree with the point that the kids could no longer wear the replica kits. Of course they could still wear them. Changing kit suppliers happens all the time, you don’t need to be in the latest kit constantly.
it’s a choice and whilst that type of thing is frustrating it happens everywhere. Lots of products get a newer version released regularly and the old version only gets discounted after release of the new version.
Im not sure that would really put me off coming to football with my kids.
My son is 6 and I’m thinking about bringing him to games.
We currently sit in the FA stand and have a great view. I can bring him to games but have to pay £210 for a season ticket or £15 for a match is a massive amount, especially when he may not enjoy it.
Or I can give up my seat and move downstairs to the family stand where it’s £39 or £5 per match where all the seats in the middle blocks are taken (unless you sit right at the front and get wet) and again he may not enjoy it, meaning I’ve lost my nice seat and have a crap view.
So haven’t brought him yet. We don’t make it particularly easy, and I’m a person who goes thick and thin for 30+ years.
Only one question @thecatwwfc - why could the kids not wear there full kits anymore? I still wear my Verco sponsored top. Am I doing it wrong?
There’s not a whole lot wrong from your open letter from a fans perspective, but putting my corporate hat on for a moment I can see a lot of counter points that the club could come back with.
there isn’t a dress code for what people can wear and no one is or should be looked down on for wearing a kit a year or even 20 years out of date.
They provide cheaper seating options for you to choose from
parking needs staffing and maintenance that needs to be covered. Many of the parking it’s offsite and out of their control. Parking within their control is limited is space
Your kid watching YouTube rather than the game isn’t there fault (I’ve taken my two to games from 4 or 5 and take iPads. They are put away as teams come out of the tunnel at the start of each half)
your life admin on the direct debt foul up is annoying but again, not there problem. They have to have rules in place because otherwise the approach to the same issue to two different people could be wildly inconsistent. Annoying yes, but how long has this been going? How proactive have you been in calling them up and paying it off before the letter was sent?
Cost itself isn’t the major is here imo, but Value for money is . £48 isn’t cheap but compared to other family afternoons out certainly isn’t excessive. This could be reduced to £34 in the family stand for the same family. A trip to the cinema for the same people is only £9 cheaper. The entrance for a 2 year old for a 90 mins session at Playtrain softplay is more expensive than a ticket to the frank Adams stand for an under 11’s. I would suggest you haven’t seen value for the £48 which is an issue that the club CAN address.
Football is an outdoor sport. It rains in England. Plan appropriate clothes. Kids love splashing in puddles it’s not them that’s annoyed by rain it’s us, the adults.
i don’t disagree with the a lot of the post though that the club could do something to help increase kid attendance, but some of it sounds like reasons for not attending rather than adjusting and finding reasons to attend.
That said, the Kid a quid games always seemed well attended - but did they ever bring people back in numbers week on week? If no, then it’s just a loss making exercise.
I remember Jim Melvin and Chuck Mousadik coming to my school for after school training which really enhanced my want to support Wycombe (even after Jim packed about 8 of us in his white escort and drove us from Downley to Penn and back as our pitch was flooded). That was at middle school, I’m 43 now. Thats were an unbreakable link to the club was formed for me. I know “Wycombe wanderers” have come to my kids schools - but how many current players go out and capture the kids imagination by training with them on an afternoon?
I’m sure there’s better ways to get hooks into new younger fans without giving things away.
i guess the tl:dr is this: I agree with Rob’s philosophy that giving things away for free doesn’t drive loyalty and return visits. That’s how things become disposable - its value to you is zero if it’s free. Even if you’re given a free ticket or 1000, you lose nothing if you don’t attend last min. Pay a £5 for a ticket and it’s starts to be a tangible loss for deciding last minute not to go. That’s why advanced cheaper pricing is good.
they could use the assests it has to drive attendance - something it hasn’t done for years. They can and should do more.
Whilst not for one minute dismissing all the many valid points about families, many, many (actually around 50 eek) years ago I remember going to matches at Loakes Park (and Jeffways coaches away) with my mates from school and my (dodgy) memory seems to think that the terrace was populated by a high proportion of teenage/young adult boys (predominantly - so there has been some improvement).
I know times have changed and we are societally less inclined to let 14/15 year old boys roam freely but whereas families are vital, if we can tap into that mid-late teens market where they can come without families in tow but with friends in their peer group I think there is room for some growth.
Part of the joy of spending my salad days in the family stand was huddling up against the elements, it's character building. The view is pretty good from the highest rows. Personally I don't think the club should be giving away kids' tickets too cheaply in the premium stands - otherwise what is the point of having a family stand? Also, there's the benefit of being able to avoid rowdy, swearing fans - exposure to that would possibly have put me off wanting to come back as a 8/9yo far more than a bit of rain.
Now that's not to say the club couldn't incentivise use of the family stand more - discounts on family meals from the kiosk in that stand; meet and greets with players at the start or end of the match... And I still think the club are really losing out by not marketing effectively to local schools - they should be looking to fill the family stand each week with one off heavily discounted tickets. That will create an atmosphere that will hopefully encourage people to want to come back.
All premier league clubs advertise when they are getting a new kit and discount the outgoing ones. There was a cleverly worded statement from the club on the old O'Neils kit that "insinuated" we would be keeping it, and then didn't. I will have to dig up the quote.
I'm happy for that not to change, as I understand what you are saying - but then the simple answer to that is, I will never buy a replica kit. Who's loss is that?
You have made some very good points that have made me think twice about my stance. My argument is more targeted towards the fact that I think more could be done to get bums on seats and there need to be more incentives to do that. Most parents that I speak to see it as a "hassle" to go and watch Wycombe with their kids, because of what comes with it. You're right, not all of that is the clubs' fault/problem, but if they made more of an effort to soften the blow, it might bring more in?
Chesham United got 1100 today with f-all away fans. Yes everything suited them - weather half decent; no PL on; team doing well - but they are growing their attendances by such a margin that it makes it embarrassing for our commercial team that ours are dwindling.
I parked in Water Meadow car park for about 2.75 last time, 5 minutes walk.
Was 15 quid for me, fiver for under 16s and free for under 12s, quid for decent chunk of flapjack at the tea bar, couple of Rough trade rarities played pre match.
Comments
I don’t buy this ‘only realistic user’ is Reading at all, plenty of parties could in theory buy this facility.
It’s one of the best training facilities in the country, any top women’s team that are based in the south east could purchase it (Arsenal/Chelsea) etc. Wasps could have it along with any southern rugby club.
Newcastle could buy it as a southern hq
Anyone could buy it and if it is genuinely for sale then someone will
Yes. All of this. The whole thing seems like a big fuss about wrong assumptions to me.
I wanted to express my gratitude for the friendship and common interest we have developed. It's your dedication and enthusiasm that keep this community thriving. As we work toward our common goals, let's continue supporting one another, welcome fresh perspectives, and develop as a team.
As my Nan would’ve said, ‘Lovely words’.
Dear Wycombe Wanderers Football Club,
I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing as a long-time supporter of Wycombe Wanderers to express my concerns regarding ticket pricing and the impact it is having on matchday attendances. I believe there are a few areas where improvements could be made to encourage more families and younger supporters to attend matches regularly.
I would like to share some personal experiences that highlight these concerns. A friend of mine, who has two young sons that are passionate about football, last attended a Wycombe game during the playoff final against Sunderland. He had invested in full kits for both his boys at full price, only to learn shortly thereafter that O'Neills would no longer be our kit supplier. Naturally, his sons were upset that they could no longer wear their kits to support their team, and my friend was frustrated by this turn of events. This frustration was compounded by a random phone call from the club during the close season, asking if he wanted to purchase an advertising hoarding for £5,000. As you can imagine, this left him feeling alienated, and as a result, the club has lost four potential regular supporters.
Furthermore, I experienced a frustrating situation with a season ticket subscription for my son a couple of years ago, which cost around £1.67 per month. My primary intention was to secure priority for away tickets and potential playoff games. However, an issue arose with my Direct Debit, and despite the payments not going through for reasons beyond my control, the club repeatedly attempted to fine me. I recently received a letter stating that I owe £63 in fines, which is significantly more than the ticket's value. This has left me, a supporter of over 30 years and a parent of a young footballer, with a sour taste in my mouth.
Most recently, I took my 4-year-old to his first-ever football match. My ticket cost £28, my 8-year-old's ticket was £10, and I was charged £10 for my 4-year-old as well. While my youngest enjoyed the experience, he spent much of the game watching YouTube on my phone. This totaled £48 before considering additional costs for petrol, parking, and food to watch a third-division match. With the approaching colder months, I can't justify repeating this expense, meaning four more fans will likely not attend.
My concern is that out of eight people who genuinely want to support the club regularly, none of us feel able to do so under the current pricing and policies.
I firmly believe that the club needs to give parents more incentives to bring their children to matches. Charging £10 for a 4-year-old is excessive. Offering tickets for children of this age for a nominal fee, such as £1 or even free, would encourage more parents to attend with their young ones regularly. Alternatively, a season ticket for children could be priced at £60, with a complimentary kit included (even if it is last season’s). Providing a small incentive, such as a beer token or burger token with an under-8s ticket, could also be a simple yet effective gesture to show appreciation for their support.
It often feels like the relationship between the club and its supporters is one-way—focused solely on revenue without considering the long-term benefits of fostering a loyal fan base. I understand that football clubs are businesses, but thinking long-term is crucial. Engaging families and young supporters now will yield much greater gains in the future.
The club frequently discusses concerns about low attendances, but these seem like relatively easy wins. Word of mouth would quickly spread among schools and local football clubs if more affordable and family-friendly options were available. The children are the future of Wycombe Wanderers; getting them interested now could lead to significantly higher attendances in the next 5 to 6 years.
My story represents two families, totaling eight individuals, but I wonder how many more share my views. I hope the club will consider these suggestions and take steps to address these issues.
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. I remain a dedicated supporter and hope to see positive changes that will benefit both the club and its fans.
Yours sincerely,
thecatwwfc
Seriously... send it in !
May need a small bit of rework. Not sure the suggestion of a beer token for U8’s is quite pitched right.
By all means send your letter if you wish to do. I strongly suspect their response will be that U11 tickets are already priced at £5 each or £39 (under £2 per game) for a season ticket. To be fair it feels like a valid response. You may want to put your response to this point in your original letter.
So it is £5 for an U11 pro rata via a season ticket, but £10 per game otherwise?
£10 at the top end of that age range is probably just about arguable, but for a 4 year old is madness.
No it’s £5 per game or £39 (under £2 per game) for a season ticket.
In Mr catWwFC's post he says he paid £10 each for a 4 year old and 8 year old.
I'm assuming what you quote is family stand and he's talking Frank Adams stand.
The clubs website shows that tickets for U11 are £5 per match.
https://www.wwfc.com/tickets/prices/
I think I remember the Couhigs saying something about they'd discovered some fans were getting the free or super cheap kid tickets, just to stop someone sitting next to them. And they were amazed to see we'd allow premium view Frank Adams tickets to go like that so put a hasty stop to it.
Very good points and fully taken on board. I should probably have suggested that the £10 ticket was for the only stand that you are not subject to the elements. They are cheaper elsewhere, but the weather on the Saturday (Rotherham) that I took my boy to was terrible. I spoke to a couple of other guys and they said they are put off taking their kids because of the parking followed by the walk in the rain.
The other idea I had was with every kids replica kit, they receive 3 free home game tickets. As a paying adult I would then buy a full kit for my kid(s), and pay £28 x 3 (plus food and drink at the game). That's a massive gain on them currently receiving NOTHING.
The club did offer an incentive for kids season tickets. For midweek games, adults could use their kids' season ticket (on the assumption that kids can't make late kick offs), to get "bums on seats" - an EXCELLENT idea. But....the marketing is so poor and I don't even know if that exists this season. I would literally plaster this all over socials and the website if I was in charge!
A small passage on the website reads:
"And we're continuing the opportunity for you to use child and junior season tickets for supporters of any age at our home midweek league games, recognising that evening games aren't always practical on school nights. Just show the child or junior season ticket at the turnstile and you'll be granted access, no matter your age."
There is another graphic on the website that explains where all the season ticket money goes. £8,000 on replacing seats - which infuriates me even more knowing a lot of that is caused by visiting supporters ripping them out!!
In one stand only is what you're for some reason ignoring.
Clearly Mr cat bought in the stand that says £10 as per his post! And subsequent follow up post.
Main surprise is that the Frank Adams would actually br £15 for that age range. But no doubt that links to my post about the Couhigs just above.
It was the Origin Stand. Didn't fancy getting wet in the "family stand". He's only 4!
so Cat’s argument is not that prices for kids are too high (assuming that you think £5 is reasonable) but that family stand prices (where the club is encouraging kids to go) are not available in other parts of the ground.
That is a perfectly reasonable argument but quite a different one to the one he appeared to be making.
Correct. £5 is fairly reasonable but you are subject to the elements in "The Woodlands" stand. I didn't want to chance that with my young children.
My sole argument is to offer more of an incentive to parents. My story involves 2 families that want to, but can't go every week. The prices are excessive enough to stop us from going.
If I could, I would go EVERY week home and away. As it stands, I can manage about 2 or 3 home games per season (and only when the weather is good).
Get the kids invested NOW, and in 5 or 6 years, my story alone, involves an additional 6 supporters (2 adult plus 4 kids). Multiply that by the amount of people that feel the same as me, plus the people that don't even consider going because they can't.....guess what????......long term, you've lost yourself hundreds of supporters.
All those parents that LOVE football, live in Wycombe, but sit on their sofa every Saturday watching Paul Merson talk drivel. There must be hundreds, if not thousands. Get them into it. The adults pay, the kids enjoy. The kids are the future - guess where my kids will take their kids as it stands.....to the park!
Make it affordable, market it well, get people on board.
I had to take snacks to the ground because I'm not paying £15 in burgers. I'd rather go to Five Guys if that's the case.
I'm reeling these off as I'm sat here. Has the club not even visited the idea? I'm so passionate about it that I want to bang on the door of who's responsible and shake their head!
It’s a reasonable point to put to the club that you don’t think the existing family stand is fit for purpose. I would try to be clear and avoid obvious easy responses in what you say.
your call though
i disagree with the point that the kids could no longer wear the replica kits. Of course they could still wear them. Changing kit suppliers happens all the time, you don’t need to be in the latest kit constantly.
it’s a choice and whilst that type of thing is frustrating it happens everywhere. Lots of products get a newer version released regularly and the old version only gets discounted after release of the new version.
Im not sure that would really put me off coming to football with my kids.
My son is 6 and I’m thinking about bringing him to games.
We currently sit in the FA stand and have a great view. I can bring him to games but have to pay £210 for a season ticket or £15 for a match is a massive amount, especially when he may not enjoy it.
Or I can give up my seat and move downstairs to the family stand where it’s £39 or £5 per match where all the seats in the middle blocks are taken (unless you sit right at the front and get wet) and again he may not enjoy it, meaning I’ve lost my nice seat and have a crap view.
So haven’t brought him yet. We don’t make it particularly easy, and I’m a person who goes thick and thin for 30+ years.
Only one question @thecatwwfc - why could the kids not wear there full kits anymore? I still wear my Verco sponsored top. Am I doing it wrong?
There’s not a whole lot wrong from your open letter from a fans perspective, but putting my corporate hat on for a moment I can see a lot of counter points that the club could come back with.
i don’t disagree with the a lot of the post though that the club could do something to help increase kid attendance, but some of it sounds like reasons for not attending rather than adjusting and finding reasons to attend.
That said, the Kid a quid games always seemed well attended - but did they ever bring people back in numbers week on week? If no, then it’s just a loss making exercise.
I remember Jim Melvin and Chuck Mousadik coming to my school for after school training which really enhanced my want to support Wycombe (even after Jim packed about 8 of us in his white escort and drove us from Downley to Penn and back as our pitch was flooded). That was at middle school, I’m 43 now. Thats were an unbreakable link to the club was formed for me. I know “Wycombe wanderers” have come to my kids schools - but how many current players go out and capture the kids imagination by training with them on an afternoon?
I’m sure there’s better ways to get hooks into new younger fans without giving things away.
i guess the tl:dr is this: I agree with Rob’s philosophy that giving things away for free doesn’t drive loyalty and return visits. That’s how things become disposable - its value to you is zero if it’s free. Even if you’re given a free ticket or 1000, you lose nothing if you don’t attend last min. Pay a £5 for a ticket and it’s starts to be a tangible loss for deciding last minute not to go. That’s why advanced cheaper pricing is good.
they could use the assests it has to drive attendance - something it hasn’t done for years. They can and should do more.
Whilst not for one minute dismissing all the many valid points about families, many, many (actually around 50 eek) years ago I remember going to matches at Loakes Park (and Jeffways coaches away) with my mates from school and my (dodgy) memory seems to think that the terrace was populated by a high proportion of teenage/young adult boys (predominantly - so there has been some improvement).
I know times have changed and we are societally less inclined to let 14/15 year old boys roam freely but whereas families are vital, if we can tap into that mid-late teens market where they can come without families in tow but with friends in their peer group I think there is room for some growth.
(and bring back Hubble Bubble…)
Space telescope?
Part of the joy of spending my salad days in the family stand was huddling up against the elements, it's character building. The view is pretty good from the highest rows. Personally I don't think the club should be giving away kids' tickets too cheaply in the premium stands - otherwise what is the point of having a family stand? Also, there's the benefit of being able to avoid rowdy, swearing fans - exposure to that would possibly have put me off wanting to come back as a 8/9yo far more than a bit of rain.
Now that's not to say the club couldn't incentivise use of the family stand more - discounts on family meals from the kiosk in that stand; meet and greets with players at the start or end of the match... And I still think the club are really losing out by not marketing effectively to local schools - they should be looking to fill the family stand each week with one off heavily discounted tickets. That will create an atmosphere that will hopefully encourage people to want to come back.
All premier league clubs advertise when they are getting a new kit and discount the outgoing ones. There was a cleverly worded statement from the club on the old O'Neils kit that "insinuated" we would be keeping it, and then didn't. I will have to dig up the quote.
I'm happy for that not to change, as I understand what you are saying - but then the simple answer to that is, I will never buy a replica kit. Who's loss is that?
You have made some very good points that have made me think twice about my stance. My argument is more targeted towards the fact that I think more could be done to get bums on seats and there need to be more incentives to do that. Most parents that I speak to see it as a "hassle" to go and watch Wycombe with their kids, because of what comes with it. You're right, not all of that is the clubs' fault/problem, but if they made more of an effort to soften the blow, it might bring more in?
Chesham United got 1100 today with f-all away fans. Yes everything suited them - weather half decent; no PL on; team doing well - but they are growing their attendances by such a margin that it makes it embarrassing for our commercial team that ours are dwindling.
Parking is a nightmare when they get over 1000.
I parked in Water Meadow car park for about 2.75 last time, 5 minutes walk.
Was 15 quid for me, fiver for under 16s and free for under 12s, quid for decent chunk of flapjack at the tea bar, couple of Rough trade rarities played pre match.
Lot to like down there at the moment.