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Fan Expectation
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:53 am
by Biggles
I was wondering what our Fan base Expectations are nowadays, Only bringing this up now because of Wrexham who are run by a Fan Trust
since 2011 are considering selling out to Two Hollywood Actors.
I know Wrexham are a far Bigger Club with a greater Potential Fan base and the majority of fans it seems are keen to rise back up to the Football League and that is why it seems they have voted to listen to the offer of the Money with promises of major investment and Glory.
As usual peoples memories are wiped of the chaos and heart ache of financial lifelines from Sugar Daddy Owners disappearing overnight when Glory appears on the Horizon again.
Are you happy Bumbling along in Tier 3 with maybe a very short Journey into Tier 2, as we will never in my opinion generate enough income
to Sustain National League Status.
If a Sugar daddy comes along with pockets full of gold and makes a play for our club whats your thoughts, do you think the membership will just see glory and the holy Grail of Football League suddenly wash away the years of Angst we went through, how fickle are we ?
Do we want fame and Glory again or just happy with being B movie stars
Re: Fan Expectation
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:18 am
by BartonRaz
Having historically spent decades at a (sometimes much) higher level, this will be Wrexham's 11th season in the Conference. Having never experienced anything like that sort of stagnation following Diamonds I can't imagine what that would be like, but my guess is it would be boring and there might be discontent amongst the fan base that could prompt a change of ownership model. A bit different perhaps if you've stagnated at a high level or a level you associate the club with, but neither is true of Wrexham.
In the case of Diamonds, if you could promise me we would get an owner like Max Griggs and would go on the sort of journey RDFC went on then yes I would take that personally because quite frankly I would give my left bollock to re-live it all again. If it was a short term fix to get us up a division or two, like we have seen / will see at the likes of K*ttering and Nuneaton, then no I wouldn't want to get involved in that.
Re: Fan Expectation
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 11:46 am
by Dbsl
A great response from Bartoraz. I was about to respond in exactly the same vain
Re: Fan Expectation
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 4:27 pm
by nsman
Its certainly starting to feel like playing budgets get mentioned a lot these days and we may have "found our level". I was hoping that a new ground might stimulate increased support and sponsorship but we don't even seem capable of getting a lease signed after many months. Maybe we should start carefully looking for new ownership. Presumably we could vet the potential new owners and build in some fan board membership as a check and balance.
Re: Fan Expectation
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:09 pm
by Phil-the-Diamond
I don't understand how our budget is spoken of as being low when we have a much bigger following than most teams in our league. If that is correct then all it means is that other clubs have money being continually poured in with no hope of ever getting it back, or, building up huge loans. Of course, a really rich owner might be happy to just gift it to the club. I didn't follow the club until around 15 years ago so I guess I haven't really seen the better days.
Re: Fan Expectation
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 8:10 am
by oliv272
Just out of interest could someone actually buy the club if the members voted for it? I assumed that wasn't possible with the set up of the Community Benefit Society.
As for expectations I'd be happy with the occasional brief stint in Tier 2 every now and again a decent FA cup run here and there, I don't think much more would be possible without a Max Griggs type situation.
Re: Fan Expectation
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 4:47 pm
by Brownie
Given it’s football the expectations of most will always be above anything that’s realistic, however personal I feel over the last couple of seasons there has been a hidden (though not very well) fear of progression above step 3. This has resulted and will continue to mean a large turnover in playing staff as many players will want to push themselves beyond the aspirations of the Club.
I’ve been around the Club a lot over the past 8 years and consider myself fairly observant, having attended 2 matches this season and 2 at another Club (also fan owned and on it’s arse a few years ago) the difference is staggering.
If the Club is to progress and personally I feel it’s more than capable of doing so it must have more support and involvement from business, it’s hard work I know but a 1 season deal with a company can generate what you could realistically get from 50 supporters.
As someone who runs a small business I appreciate how bloody difficult it is at present, but I also look at other Clubs at Diamonds level and see a steady flow of new businesses coming on board. Almost all the existing fund raising initiatives whilst sound and hopefully successful are aimed at the same regular diehard 300 and I would fear the golden goose if not being strangled is getting slowly choked.
More involvement is I feel required by some new blood along with those in place, after all it’s always better on a long journey to share the driving than risk falling asleep at the wheel.
I’ve been watching Diamonds and taking someone since 1995 and will always have an interest in the Club regardless of where I’m watching my football, and I feel the Club is very close to a crossroads if not already there and if ambition is not shown support may well start to dwindle, the hope of a run in either the FA Cup or Trophy may sustain some supporters but the majority want more.
In answer to Phil’s point, yes Diamonds probably generate as much as any Club in the league in gate receipts, but I would think commercial income is mid table or below and that’s where inroads must be made.
I’m sure some of my comments will be considered as criticism and not the constructive opinion of a long time follower but then that possibly Just highlights the points I’m making.
Re: Fan Expectation
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:44 pm
by Phil-the-Diamond
Brownie wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 4:47 pm
Given it’s football the expectations of most will always be above anything that’s realistic, however personal I feel over the last couple of seasons there has been a hidden (though not very well) fear of progression above step 3. This has resulted and will continue to mean a large turnover in playing staff as many players will want to push themselves beyond the aspirations of the Club.
I’ve been around the Club a lot over the past 8 years and consider myself fairly observant, having attended 2 matches this season and 2 at another Club (also fan owned and on it’s arse a few years ago) the difference is staggering.
If the Club is to progress and personally I feel it’s more than capable of doing so it must have more support and involvement from business, it’s hard work I know but a 1 season deal with a company can generate what you could realistically get from 50 supporters.
As someone who runs a small business I appreciate how bloody difficult it is at present, but I also look at other Clubs at Diamonds level and see a steady flow of new businesses coming on board. Almost all the existing fund raising initiatives whilst sound and hopefully successful are aimed at the same regular diehard 300 and I would fear the golden goose if not being strangled is getting slowly choked.
More involvement is I feel required by some new blood along with those in place, after all it’s always better on a long journey to share the driving than risk falling asleep at the wheel.
I’ve been watching Diamonds and taking someone since 1995 and will always have an interest in the Club regardless of where I’m watching my football, and I feel the Club is very close to a crossroads if not already there and if ambition is not shown support may well start to dwindle, the hope of a run in either the FA Cup or Trophy may sustain some supporters but the majority want more.
In answer to Phil’s point, yes Diamonds probably generate as much as any Club in the league in gate receipts, but I would think commercial income is mid table or below and that’s where inroads must be made.
I’m sure some of my comments will be considered as criticism and not the constructive opinion of a long time follower but then that possibly Just highlights the points I’m making.
Some good points there. What commercial income are we missing out on?
I really thought gates would increase with the return to Rushden, but I am not sure they have?
Re: Fan Expectation
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 9:43 pm
by Harry Flashman
Lets remember where we are this year. I have one short term expectation or hope and that is that the club can survive this crisis for all spectator sports and remain competitive at Step 3. We may have to accept that we have a ceiling on our fan base whilst playing our football at Hayden Road. Max brought in the fans in because he provided a football league ground attracting supporters to what was perceived to be a real football club.His money led to our success. We all know this!
When he had gone we could not sustain a club.
We have had near continual improvement on the pitch since reforming but there is little likelihood of a major sponsor or buyer on the horizon. I would scrap the new ground plans, attempt to renegotiate our position as tenants and enjoy our club as a community fan owned club. Leave the committee to get on with a bloody difficult job and as supporters and owners enjoy where we are in the pyramid. Yes we are at a cross roads but keeping a safe straight road may be the best option. Look at all again when we get through these dark days.
Re: Fan Expectation
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:08 am
by nsman
Scrap the new ground plans? That's the only light at the end of the current dark tunnel. Hayden road is not fit for purpose for a community based club. As far as I know, none of the community teams can play or practice there. If we want the cub to survive going forward we need our own community stadium with practice pitches, training facilities etc. so we can build income and gain younger supporters for the future.