Now that we have the money, I'd really love to see the club do something radical on ticket prices. There's always an argument that it won't work, but is there a better time to give it a try?
£31 for a seat in the Frank Adams is far too high for third division football under a leaking roof with truly basic facilities. By comparison, my other half is off to the theatre to see a play this Saturday afternoon, and her mid-priced ticket at a regional theatre is £27. There's even a household name in it - which isn't someone we'll see on the pitch this weekend at Adams Park.
Way back, theatre would have been regarded as 'for the toffs' and football 'the working man's game'. Absolute nonsense these days.
Take cars out of the equation. How easy is AP to get to then? Not very. I'm quite happy to walk from town, but that's not going to be an option for a lot of people for various reasons.
I echo the above comments. It is very easy to find free street parking within 5 mins walk of Bristol Rovers, Cambridge, and Exeter's grounds. I'm normally on a main road out of those places within 15 mins of the full time whistle. Orient and Charlton are 5 mins walk from TfL stations. Lincoln is also in the middle of the city, 10 mins walk from the train station and plenty of car parks.
Admittedly I've only done Stockport on the supporter's coach, but it seemed like there would likely be plenty of parking on the residential streets around the ground
I'd go Kassam's stadium too if you were travelling by train, it's a 4.2 mile walk from Oxford train station to the ground, only 2.5 miles from Adams Park to High Wycombe train station.
Add in they have no away end and your stuck in a corner I would put the Kassam as the worst. Slightly easier by car but with attendances of 11-11500 now every game I have heard it's horrendous trying to find any parking within 1.5 miles after 1.30pm.
I could make several suggestions but they are all things beyond my control….cheaper admission prices, better access and parking, greater presence in the town and surrounding areas, a better relationship with the local council etc. If we do get to the Championship I’m sure attendances will improve but I can’t do much about that either.
Yes but no idea where, could even be at AP if access is improved.
Would be quite happy with a new ground at AP if they built a second access road and managed to create another 500 parking spaces, I've never taken public transport to the ground so how far it is from a train station is irrelevant.
I would prefer it was within a 1.5 miles of the train station though for increased attendances.
I've said for years,and many times on here, if the ground was more In the center of town our attendances would be higher, better access for buses and trains. Big problem is though, where ??
Must admit though, the idea of Lommy buying up Hillbottom Road and turning it into Wycombe village, with car parks, restaurants and bars, whilst upgrading the current ground wouldn't be the worst idea
I’m an hour north not far but you have to get to the sands area at least an hour earlier to have a chance of parking so i rarely bother now especially as there are so many games on sky .If the stadium was maybe as it should have been at handy cross I would travel far more . Going back to the 90’s the crowds were 5-7000 on most games people just got sick of the parking issues with traffic wardens being very active in those days .
@James@glasshalffull my only suggestion would be that Bucks is a big commuter area, and they are building more and more houses aimed at more and more commuters. If I supported a London team, or even Birmingham (or Oxford now) the transport links are excellent and I suspect most would head into the capital for their football fix. It may be disappointing, but I fear there is little we can do about it except chase success and hope for a crowd dividend. I was always irritated to see plenty of MK promotions in Aylesbury, but none for Wycombe, but I can only assume the club have assessed all that stuff as of no value. I started coming to AP because of the club sending trainers to schools, including my daughters, and giving out free tickets for the kids as long as an adult bought a ticket and heigh ho fifteen years or so later...my daughter keeps an eye on scores from elsewhere and here I am...now part of the Gasroom mafia.
In the Gaz years posters on here cited the lack of entertainment as the main factor, despite a decade of relative success and the fact we got acres of coverage, thanks in part to Bayo. This term we've both had success and played as well as I have seen and we still struggle with crowds, so it's not necessarily the football ('I bought twenty friends to the game...who all said they would never come back!') or even the facilities (we've all put up with that and worse over the years) but engagement with the local community...and that's a club issue...and not much we can do about it, above and beyond trying to persuade twenty friends to come and watch.
Also we cannot complain about people wanting tickets to 'big games' and then moan about crowds. You cannot have it both ways.
I’ve always found it really easy to get away from Lincoln’s ground. Street parking about 5-10 minutes walk from the ground (across the bridge) and it never seems to take that long to get free of the traffic.
One of several grounds I can get home from in around an hour or less
The 2021 census shows the Wycombe population at 120k including Loudwater, Flackwell, Widmer, Hazlemere, Tylers Green, Downley and Holmer Green. We have a very large Asian population of around 15-20% which makes it even more difficult as generally they do not lean towards football.
The population of Shropshire who only have one league club is reported on Wiki at 516,000 with close to 300,000 within a 25 minute drive of Shrewsbury.
I am as disappointed as you with the attendances but we have so many barriers, the biggest is probably the ground location.
When you look at the sheer amount of buildings and space up by the sports centre that could easily have been a decent location.
1mile from the town centre, albeit up a steep hill, but easy in and out from different directions etc.
Someone mentioned switching the hospital to where our ground is. I don't think that's at all doable both for space reasons and moving an essential facility so far out of town.
But moving the sports centre there could make sense?
Going back years now and maybe glasshalffull will know more detail but I understood the council made it very difficult for us to locate an appropriate site to build the ground . In those days there was loads of room to build a ground in front of the cinema at handycross . They didn’t expect wanderers to go anywhere so basically pushed us down to sands . If we had built there think it would be a different story although not such a lovely view.
Paucity of local media for High Wycombe that the club can engage with is a problem. 3CR we are peripheral, Wycombe Sound tiny, BFP a joke, tv understandably London centric.
Town demographic an issue. HW is a very different place to the affluent dormitory towns and villages surrounding it.
As an aside - an observation from Tuesday, I was picking up a mate from 6.28 train at HW station, there was the Adams Park bus sitting outside. As people started to file through the ticket barriers at 6.30 on the dot the bus departed virtually empty without waiting !
When crowds were larger there was no alternative way to watch the game or listen to a commentary. This doesn't seem to have been mentioned in this discussion. I assume the club must benefit from radio, internet and TV coverage. It is obvious from what people write here that many keen supporters prefer the comfort of their armchairs.
Comments
Now that we have the money, I'd really love to see the club do something radical on ticket prices. There's always an argument that it won't work, but is there a better time to give it a try?
£31 for a seat in the Frank Adams is far too high for third division football under a leaking roof with truly basic facilities. By comparison, my other half is off to the theatre to see a play this Saturday afternoon, and her mid-priced ticket at a regional theatre is £27. There's even a household name in it - which isn't someone we'll see on the pitch this weekend at Adams Park.
Way back, theatre would have been regarded as 'for the toffs' and football 'the working man's game'. Absolute nonsense these days.
Isn't there also a train station literally next to the ground?
Take cars out of the equation. How easy is AP to get to then? Not very. I'm quite happy to walk from town, but that's not going to be an option for a lot of people for various reasons.
I've always thought Cambridge is one of the easiest. Never worried about driving to any London Ground, access by train, bus and tube is so easy
I echo the above comments. It is very easy to find free street parking within 5 mins walk of Bristol Rovers, Cambridge, and Exeter's grounds. I'm normally on a main road out of those places within 15 mins of the full time whistle. Orient and Charlton are 5 mins walk from TfL stations. Lincoln is also in the middle of the city, 10 mins walk from the train station and plenty of car parks.
Admittedly I've only done Stockport on the supporter's coach, but it seemed like there would likely be plenty of parking on the residential streets around the ground
Stick it at Frogmoor, get Taf back so that he can say he’s scored in Club Eden.
I'd go Kassam's stadium too if you were travelling by train, it's a 4.2 mile walk from Oxford train station to the ground, only 2.5 miles from Adams Park to High Wycombe train station.
Add in they have no away end and your stuck in a corner I would put the Kassam as the worst. Slightly easier by car but with attendances of 11-11500 now every game I have heard it's horrendous trying to find any parking within 1.5 miles after 1.30pm.
Oh and sod building any stands, just build flats instead because according to fans of other clubs, we’ve got no fans!
I could make several suggestions but they are all things beyond my control….cheaper admission prices, better access and parking, greater presence in the town and surrounding areas, a better relationship with the local council etc. If we do get to the Championship I’m sure attendances will improve but I can’t do much about that either.
Yes but no idea where, could even be at AP if access is improved.
Would be quite happy with a new ground at AP if they built a second access road and managed to create another 500 parking spaces, I've never taken public transport to the ground so how far it is from a train station is irrelevant.
I would prefer it was within a 1.5 miles of the train station though for increased attendances.
I've said for years,and many times on here, if the ground was more In the center of town our attendances would be higher, better access for buses and trains. Big problem is though, where ??
Must admit though, the idea of Lommy buying up Hillbottom Road and turning it into Wycombe village, with car parks, restaurants and bars, whilst upgrading the current ground wouldn't be the worst idea
You've described what I do for Adams Park
Interestingly, FGR and Oxford are exactly 4.2 miles from Stroud and Oxford train stations if you walk.
The walk from Stroud is particularly hilly
Most people you meet in the area support someone else, including a decent number of those that go to AP. Makes it a real uphill struggle
Is the household name any good at holding up the ball and bringing other players into attack...?
I’m an hour north not far but you have to get to the sands area at least an hour earlier to have a chance of parking so i rarely bother now especially as there are so many games on sky .If the stadium was maybe as it should have been at handy cross I would travel far more . Going back to the 90’s the crowds were 5-7000 on most games people just got sick of the parking issues with traffic wardens being very active in those days .
Going back to the 90's there wasn't the internet so people were more likely to leave the house to do something.
In the 2020s there’s the internet so I’m more likely to leave the house, go to football and get away from it!
@James @glasshalffull my only suggestion would be that Bucks is a big commuter area, and they are building more and more houses aimed at more and more commuters. If I supported a London team, or even Birmingham (or Oxford now) the transport links are excellent and I suspect most would head into the capital for their football fix. It may be disappointing, but I fear there is little we can do about it except chase success and hope for a crowd dividend. I was always irritated to see plenty of MK promotions in Aylesbury, but none for Wycombe, but I can only assume the club have assessed all that stuff as of no value. I started coming to AP because of the club sending trainers to schools, including my daughters, and giving out free tickets for the kids as long as an adult bought a ticket and heigh ho fifteen years or so later...my daughter keeps an eye on scores from elsewhere and here I am...now part of the Gasroom mafia.
In the Gaz years posters on here cited the lack of entertainment as the main factor, despite a decade of relative success and the fact we got acres of coverage, thanks in part to Bayo. This term we've both had success and played as well as I have seen and we still struggle with crowds, so it's not necessarily the football ('I bought twenty friends to the game...who all said they would never come back!') or even the facilities (we've all put up with that and worse over the years) but engagement with the local community...and that's a club issue...and not much we can do about it, above and beyond trying to persuade twenty friends to come and watch.
Also we cannot complain about people wanting tickets to 'big games' and then moan about crowds. You cannot have it both ways.
I’ve always found it really easy to get away from Lincoln’s ground. Street parking about 5-10 minutes walk from the ground (across the bridge) and it never seems to take that long to get free of the traffic.
One of several grounds I can get home from in around an hour or less
2030: Every game at AP is a sellout.
The 2021 census shows the Wycombe population at 120k including Loudwater, Flackwell, Widmer, Hazlemere, Tylers Green, Downley and Holmer Green. We have a very large Asian population of around 15-20% which makes it even more difficult as generally they do not lean towards football.
The population of Shropshire who only have one league club is reported on Wiki at 516,000 with close to 300,000 within a 25 minute drive of Shrewsbury.
I am as disappointed as you with the attendances but we have so many barriers, the biggest is probably the ground location.
Worth remembering for our game there next season.
I'd have probably arrived at 1.30 assuming an easy parkup in the overflow at the ground, but maybe not then now!
Reading some of your comments it looks like it’s time for me to get a new sat nav or leave a bit earlier for away games! Interesting topic though.
When you look at the sheer amount of buildings and space up by the sports centre that could easily have been a decent location.
1mile from the town centre, albeit up a steep hill, but easy in and out from different directions etc.
Someone mentioned switching the hospital to where our ground is. I don't think that's at all doable both for space reasons and moving an essential facility so far out of town.
But moving the sports centre there could make sense?
What does Wycombe hospital actually do these days? No A&E since goodness knows when obviously.
Going back years now and maybe glasshalffull will know more detail but I understood the council made it very difficult for us to locate an appropriate site to build the ground . In those days there was loads of room to build a ground in front of the cinema at handycross . They didn’t expect wanderers to go anywhere so basically pushed us down to sands . If we had built there think it would be a different story although not such a lovely view.
They have a brilliant cardio ward staffed by brilliant nurses/doctors. I have been admitted there 4 times in last 5 or 6 years.
Paucity of local media for High Wycombe that the club can engage with is a problem. 3CR we are peripheral, Wycombe Sound tiny, BFP a joke, tv understandably London centric.
Town demographic an issue. HW is a very different place to the affluent dormitory towns and villages surrounding it.
As an aside - an observation from Tuesday, I was picking up a mate from 6.28 train at HW station, there was the Adams Park bus sitting outside. As people started to file through the ticket barriers at 6.30 on the dot the bus departed virtually empty without waiting !
When crowds were larger there was no alternative way to watch the game or listen to a commentary. This doesn't seem to have been mentioned in this discussion. I assume the club must benefit from radio, internet and TV coverage. It is obvious from what people write here that many keen supporters prefer the comfort of their armchairs.