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An idea for more fans at the Forest Green game

Next Saturday Wycombe entertain Forest Green at Adams Park. But I think the club have missed a great opportunity to get more bums on seats.

With England hosting Slovakia at Wembley on Monday 4th Sep there are consequently no Premier League or Championship games next week-end. Would it have not been a good idea to offer half-price admission to season-ticket holders of Premier League or Championship clubs who want to come to Adams Park for the match? Forest Green Rovers are a bit of a novelty as they are new to the Football League and therefore it might have created some curiosity as much as anything.

Whilst I am full of admiration for the volunteers who give their time to help the club I sometimes wonder if a bit more creativity & initiative could come from those charged with raising revenue. Perhaps things like this would be a better idea for increasing funds rather than the proposal to throw all the loyal hardcore supporters out of the Woodlands Bar in 2 years time in order to make way for more corporate hospitality? I would estimate 33% of those affected would never put their feet in Adams Park again. Wonderful idea!!!

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Comments

  • I like the idea about next week. I suppose the real challenge is to get news about the club, and initiatives such as the one you suggest, out there so that people hear them, think about them and, ultimately, take up the idea of coming along. Do you have any thoughts about ways to get word out to a wider audience? Bayo has been pretty good at getting our name known, hasn't he. And the goalie shirt did a good job, too. So how do we turn that into more fans?

  • As always for a promotion, does extra income from promotion outweigh income lost (and any admin cost) of running it?

    Not convinced.

  • That's where the art of free publicity, a la Bayo goal celebrations and goalie shirts, comes in, @DevC. That's kind of what I was getting at.

    Of course, each new spectator is worth more than one ticket's worth of income, given that a proportion of them will come back. (I know, I know: possibly not very many if the football is dour.)

  • Indeed but repeat customers holding other club season tickets likely to be low.

    As I say not convinced

  • Sure - the season ticket idea would be more of a one-off, wouldn't it. If you can get the message out there for free, then why not? Otherwise, you're right, you'd want to weigh up the cost: benefit.

  • I'm with @DevC on this. Why offer a cheap day out to people who have the money to spend the best part of a grand on watching the Harlem Grobetrotters Football League.

    They're not going to come back.

  • Because it's fun to have more people in the ground, good for the club to have more people spending money and uplifting for the players to have a bigger crowd.

    Apart from that, no reason whatsoever.

  • M3GM3G
    edited August 2017

    We should serve free Hog Roast, Kebab's, BBQ a real meat feast. Make sure the smell of meat drifts towards veggie teams tedious owner and players.

  • I still think we should go more to promote the Red Kites. They are usually more entertaining than the football. Get them trained to swoop up the ball boys for example, who will never be quick enough to move out the way

  • Quite a few Step 2 and 3 sides already have this in place. Wealdstone have picked up a lot of extra support from Football League and PL season ticket holders for example.

    I'd like to see WWFC try anything to be honest

  • We could promote it ourselves (at full price), by going on message boards of PL and Championship clubs and starting a thread inviting them to AP. I am happy to do this for two or three big clubs. I know Arsenal, West Ham and Aston Villa fans must be pretty disillusioned right now!

  • I did one for the Arsenal boards, and even found time for a shameless 'Wycombe Strong' plug.

    https://arsenal-mania.com/forum/threads/why-not-come-to-wycombe-wanderers-this-weekend.30448/

  • Seems a little strange to invite people to AP when I have not been to a game yet myself, but next time I am over from America, it is an appointment with destiny...

  • @Shev well done. you're right sometimes with a fan owned club the fans have to stand up and do something rather than waiting for the office. I thought of using Bayos goal celebrations as a trailer.
    As soon as I get back from my holiday I shall give it a try, no discount just come along and what's the worst that can happen someone calls us shit.. duh

    ps how's the build up to the hockey season going I really hope the Knights are a success

  • I like the way you think, @Shev.

  • I think discounts for PL/Championship season ticket holders is a good idea, as some of our local non-league sides offer. The strategy is to get locals who wouldn’t normally think of coming to Adams Park, or who can’t come if they are always watching their team, to try us out. We pride ourselves on being a ‘family friendly’ club, our hospitality is good and this season we seem to be guaranteeing goals and excitement on the pitch. If they like the experience they will be back, some maybe for good. I effectively gave up my top tier team in the 70s because I liked my first visit to Loakes Park so much, the joys of the 'cowshed'!

    We have a team of professionals at the club who should be thinking up ideas like this, it only takes a few tweets from @wwfcofficial to get it going. This is going to be more beneficial in the short term than the General Manager telling loyal supporters in the Woodland Lounge they will be turned out to make way for hospitality packages when we get promoted, even more so when we get to the Championship (his stated ambition).

  • The club seems to have a safety first policy on marketing the club. Ideas like these were put forward at the recent forum and we're all straight batted back with the same answer. 'All these things take time and money we haven't got and we're not sure they would work'.

    I'm more in the speculate to accumulate camp and think these types of things will help. Hope the efforts of the few fan some traction .

  • How many higher level team ST holders may come to this game?

    How many of those would only come if tickets were half price.

    How many pay on the day customers coming anyway would borrow a season ticket from a mate and get in half price?

  • Don't know
    Don't know
    Hardly any

  • You only have to look at the massive effort by a franchise club to the North of here at getting extra people in. They are canvassing Aylesbury & Thame and how long before they start on Princes Risborough & High Wycombe? It simply doesn't work to throw your hands in the air and say "We don't have the resources". WWFC has a pool of Trust members who I'm sure would be only too willing to help but the club chooses not to use them - except for tidying and painting the ground.

  • I'm sure we've tried the discount for supporters of other teams before and I remember the furore because the offer was extended to those who buy tickets for the sham in Milton Keynes.
    From experience don't expect any suggestion to be welcomed by the club administrators, basically no matter how great it is you're just creating work for them. I sometimes wonder if I gave the club a cheque for a million would the reaction be unbridled joy or someone saying I suppose I have to queue up at the bank now.
    Shevs idea will work because it doesn't involve the club.

  • Do we know exactly how many people there are working / twiddling their thumbs at AP? I've no idea but I can see on twitter that poor old Matt Cecil seems to be spending his weekend off trying to sort out iFollow complaints. So I'm guessing it's not that many.

    Also hadn't heard about the Woodlands turf out, but hope none of the complainants are in that annoying group of supporters who'll countenance any outrage against traditions as long as it 'brings in revenue'. Give up your private bar with tea and biscuits for the greater good!

  • The Woodland Lounge has been a godsend in particular for elderly supporters like myself who need to get to the ground early in order to park reasonably close and to have somewhere to sit in comfort for an hour or two before kickoff. It's quite an expensive facility (£130 per season) and I fear may become prohibitively costly in its new format in 2019-20. One way or the other some of us may not be around!

  • Good job @Shev Reading is probably the closest to us isn't it? This is a good idea and a good effort by you keyboard quarters who can do this. Let's fill the Park!

  • Good post @A_Worboys it's a really simple and effective idea. Thame United had an offer on today, free entry for Oxford United season ticket holders.

    Plenty of Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea season ticket holders around this area. Stick a post on Twitter and see what happens I say. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

  • Can't just stick something on twitter without prior agreement on the precise nature of the offer can you?

  • No idea to be honest @micra the tweet I saw from Thame just said free entry to all OUFC season ticket holders.

  • edited August 2017

    I'm quite engaged by this idea but not sure how, in practice, I could do my part. For example, I would be very happy to put out a message inviting people to attend, and even go so far as to offer a ticket on the terrace to the first person to contact me, but not sure where I would go to issue the message. I have no online profile worth speaking of. Any ideas?

    I suppose if a number of us felt similarly, we could divvy up local Prem. clubs and contact a fansite each...

  • Would need the club to agree to the idea of course first. They could then put it on their social media and see what happens.

    No premier league football this weekend, if you show your season ticket on Saturday you get free entry.

  • Thanks @Morris_Ital @HCblue @NorsQuarters - I will try and do a few more clubs over the course of the week. It's free and it can't hurt! My best friend is an Arsenal ST holder and very disillusioned, and I can only imagine how many PL fans, especially of teams in some kind of crisis, would feel the same way.

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