Woodward: Not concerned by low crowd (From Bucks Free Press)
Send your news, photos and videos by texting bucksfreepress to 80360 or email
Wanderers chairman confident gates will increase
3:50pm Thursday 15th November 2012 in Sport By Alan Feldberg
Don Woodward
ATTENDANCES for Wycombe Wanderers plunged to a new low last weekend when only 3,020 fans turned up at Adams Park to see them lose 2-1 to Rochdale.
That figure marked the lowest home crowd for Blues for a Saturday League match since they were promoted to the Football League in 1993.
Just days earlier Gareth Ainsworth had been appointed permanent manager after a month as caretaker boss, but even that failed to galvanise the town.
However, co-chairman Don Woodward insists the news isn’t as bleak as it appears.
He said: “There are no alarm bells. Lots of things are going on with attendances.
“We’re realistic of where we are in the league, what league we’re in and who we were playing.
“It would be lovely if we were getting 3,500-4,000 regularly and we could build on that, but there will be games when it’s going to be touch and go if we get 3,000.”
Woodward also points to the stark economic climate as a contributing factor.
Rochdale brought about 300 fewer fans than the last time they came to Wycombe and Woodward says that, having spoken to chairmen around the country, everyone has noticed a dip.
Further, he admits the club hasn’t been doing everything possible to sell itself to the town since the takeover in the summer.
The thinking there is that the matchday experience wasn’t up to scratch and if new supporters turned up and were disappointed they might have been turned off for good.
Woodward said: “A lot of things have changed and I’m confident if people come along now the matchday experience will be better.
“We will be doing more promotions and marketing now. There are lots of initiatives.
“That hasn’t been a priority, we’ve been concentrating on stabilising the club in recent months.”
And while 3,020 might make grim reading, it’s not terminal. In terms of the break-even point for Blues on a matchday, Saturday’s crowd was on the limit.
Woodward said: “Between 3,000 and 3,500 is ok, but that is only part of the overall business. There are other income streams.”
Comments(3)
WycombeMan&Boy
says...
9:14am Fri 16 Nov 12
Having got that of my chest, we also want value for money especially in a time of recession. So presently I'm spending my money elsewhere when I know I'll get something that I preceive is good value, sadly that's not Adams Park for every home game as I now pick and choose which games to watch or I stay at home.
Re; the matchday experience, I haven't bought a programme, clothing or any food on site for many seasons due to the cost. I will have beer after the game but only because you can't get out of the car park for a while but even that isn't up to scratch now. Real Ale at £3.00 a pint would be ok if was kept and served properly. I switched to bottled Old Speckled Hen and last time it came in a 330ml bottle where previously it was 500 ml but the price was still charged a £.2.90 for not much more than a half pint! So even that's stopped as I'll sit in my car and listen to the radio.
For info, I visited Reading FC recently and got the Park & Ride, a seat behind the goal in a great stadium and enjoyed a superb atmosphere and got all this for £30. Not the best 2nd half performance by the home team to be fair but it was against top class opposition for much the same money as it costs to go to Adams Park where I can watch ordinary, and sometimes dire performances and enjoy a generally sub-standard matchday experience.
I sincerely hpe someone at WWFC takes notice of the above situaiton as it doesn't bode well for the future of the club.
cw1989
says...
10:12am Sat 17 Nov 12
true blue says...
4:33pm Thu 15 Nov 12