Non League Day 22.03

[Dowlo]

However I can also think of a large number of people I know personally, not to mention faces I can recall of people I don't personally know, that have walked away from the Club for one reason or another and no longer attend matches. I know people move on, life moves on, but you can probably count on one hand the amount of past board members at this Football Club who still attend matches and I personally find that incredibly sad.

Bit of a long (some may say boring) read.

Speaking from my own personal point of view, since the whole "Maxwell Saga" and then subsequent Nunn disaster spell, just left me feeling complete apathy towards attending games and the club in general.

The last game I went to was Needham away Feb 2023. It was a dire game and summed up the state of the club at that time and confirmed in my own mind that making the 160* mile round trip to watch games from time to time just wasn't really worth it. To watch a group of players who weren't really trying, and knew they wouldn't be there come the end of the season.

Since the subsequent relegation and with a fixture list now including teams like Coventry Sphinx, Loughborough Students and Hinckley LRFC, it just doesn't make for an appealing Saturday afternoon entertainment.

I want the club to do well and I think the current people in charge have done a fantastic job in steadying the ship. Certainly looks like that looking in from afar.

However the very nature of the league the club is currently in, the constant chopping and changing/ revolving door of players through out the season and the overall unappealing list of fixtures and grounds to go to, it just doesn't feel it gives floating/ "old" fans something to reinvest in.

When the club was climbing the ladder the first time, it was exciting, players and fans were engaged and united behind a new project. 800+ coming to games at the D&D. This time around it feels like the prospect of reaching the Central League again is miles away. Decent players aren't drawn into the club by R&D name anymore. Good players at this level will play it front of 1 man and his dog for the money rather than AFCR&D the 350* fans each week.

I tip my hat to those that still go week in week out. They are the true hardcore fans. However for me personally, I look back at 2001-2023 years spent watching R&D and AFCR&D with a sense of nostalgia. I had some fantastic days watching the old and new clubs.

Perhaps if I was still based more locally and didn't have other family responsibilities and hobbies etc, then I may still be attending. The fact that I choose to prioritize different things on a Saturday without really missing going to watch AFCR&D is a position I didn't think I'd ever be in. I'd suggest though that I'm one of many, given the general slide in attendances from 2011/12 up to now. That includes a lot of "household" faces too.

Of course I wish the club all the success going forward and I'll always keeps tabs from afar. For as long as it's playing at Hayden Road and getting through 25-30* different players a season, I honestly can't see things changing too drastically in the near future. It will just keep treading water and playing at the level it's currently at. Given that it's run on a shoe string budget and entirely by hard working volunteers, that's no mean fit though!

[rickthediamond]

The last time we were in Step 4 we still felt like a big club for the level, and it seemed like nothing could stop our eventual rise to Step 3. This time round, considering we were relegated (technically) 2 seasons in a row, and our crowds have seen a semi-significant drop, it just doesn’t feel that way any more.

We are still a big club for the level compared against the average, and boy do teams still like to beat us, but I would say it feels different now.

The excitement of the new club rising up the leagues was going to wear off at some point, unless you have endless money to burn you are going to have struggles eventually.

I do agree about the league, tbh it’s not particularly appetising, other than the games against Corby and Wellingborough, and perhaps Rugby too, I can’t say it’s a particularly great lineup of clubs. A couple decent grounds in there and some very well run clubs, but not many big clubs. Worcester are big of course, but I can’t say there is much of a rivalry there.

The fact we have nothing to play for is a big deal though as previously mentioned, a lot of the clubs that you wouldn’t particularly care about playing normally ended up being really exciting games last season because of our fight for survival. If we can gain some momentum next season, it’ll be the same.

[BartonRaz]

However I can also think of a large number of people I know personally, not to mention faces I can recall of people I don't personally know, that have walked away from the Club for one reason or another and no longer attend matches. I know people move on, life moves on, but you can probably count on one hand the amount of past board members at this Football Club who still attend matches and I personally find that incredibly sad.

Bit of a long (some may say boring) read.

Speaking from my own personal point of view, since the whole "Maxwell Saga" and then subsequent Nunn disaster spell, just left me feeling complete apathy towards attending games and the club in general.

The last game I went to was Needham away Feb 2023. It was a dire game and summed up the state of the club at that time and confirmed in my own mind that making the 160* mile round trip to watch games from time to time just wasn't really worth it. To watch a group of players who weren't really trying, and knew they wouldn't be there come the end of the season.

Since the subsequent relegation and with a fixture list now including teams like Coventry Sphinx, Loughborough Students and Hinckley LRFC, it just doesn't make for an appealing Saturday afternoon entertainment.

I want the club to do well and I think the current people in charge have done a fantastic job in steadying the ship. Certainly looks like that looking in from afar.

However the very nature of the league the club is currently in, the constant chopping and changing/ revolving door of players through out the season and the overall unappealing list of fixtures and grounds to go to, it just doesn't feel it gives floating/ "old" fans something to reinvest in.

When the club was climbing the ladder the first time, it was exciting, players and fans were engaged and united behind a new project. 800+ coming to games at the D&D. This time around it feels like the prospect of reaching the Central League again is miles away. Decent players aren't drawn into the club by R&D name anymore. Good players at this level will play it front of 1 man and his dog for the money rather than AFCR&D the 350* fans each week.

I tip my hat to those that still go week in week out. They are the true hardcore fans. However for me personally, I look back at 2001-2023 years spent watching R&D and AFCR&D with a sense of nostalgia. I had some fantastic days watching the old and new clubs.

Perhaps if I was still based more locally and didn't have other family responsibilities and hobbies etc, then I may still be attending. The fact that I choose to prioritize different things on a Saturday without really missing going to watch AFCR&D is a position I didn't think I'd ever be in. I'd suggest though that I'm one of many, given the general slide in attendances from 2011/12 up to now. That includes a lot of "household" faces too.

Of course I wish the club all the success going forward and I'll always keeps tabs from afar. For as long as it's playing at Hayden Road and getting through 25-30* different players a season, I honestly can't see things changing too drastically in the near future. It will just keep treading water and playing at the level it's currently at. Given that it's run on a shoe string budget and entirely by hard working volunteers, that's no mean fit though!

Not boring at all - fascinating insight in to the mindset of someone that's slipped away.

Taking all point on board though I do think that the main instigator in you slipping away from the Club is almost certainly the distance. Point taken about uninteresting clubs and revolving door of players, but I genuinely think if you'd have been to any matches during the Great Escape last season for example, there's no way you'd have failed to get swept along in that.

[Dowlo]

Not boring at all - fascinating insight in to the mindset of someone that's slipped away.

Taking all point on board though I do think that the main instigator in you slipping away from the Club is almost certainly the distance. Point taken about uninteresting clubs and revolving door of players, but I genuinely think if you'd have been to any matches during the Great Escape last season for example, there's no way you'd have failed to get swept along in that.

I did listen to some of the end of last seasons relegation battle games on Radio Diamonds, whilst driving out and about or doing stuff around the house. Which is a fantastic asset to have for a club at this level by the way! Joseph and Co did a great job whenever I listened in.
You could look at it another way re the attendance I suppose. If 50/60 people are tuning in via Radio Diamonds each game, they may not be at the game itself , but they are supporting/following along, so in a weird technical way could be looked at as part of the match day attendance numbers. People who are engaged in match days, albeit not in person.

[sussexdiamond]

The answer to improving attendances is blindingly obvious. Win matches. Doing just that not so easy though.
I will always contend that most people will come to see a winning team even if every game is 1-0.
The potential for 500-600 is out there. I now live 150 miles away but get to about 10 games and would do more if we were in promotion contention. Or we were in Southern League.
The past 3 seasons have seen a dramatic decline in our results from the Peaksy era but I do believe the management have the basis for a decent team next season. Next season we need to complement our usual Step 5 recruits with a couple of Step 3 players or loanees. Notably at least one "Ryan Inman" type player and regular striker and a couple of defenders.
I envisage quite an exodus in the summer as several are just not good enough for step 4 let alone step 3 potential. I expect that Harriman and Porter are already planning their targets for next season.