Windsor Observer

[Tuffley Rebel]

I don't know if its in the slough edition but on the back page of this mornings Observer thefre is a plea from the WEFC chairman for more locals to turn up and watch them next season.

He goes on to say that if the crowds don't increase they will not be able to sustain a higher level of football and Dennis Greene will have his budget cut.

He compares the crowds to Slough and praises the fact that despite playing at The Slag we still draw crowds three time as much as our landlords, and in the local derby we boosted the attendance with over 500 fans.

It seems he is slightly embarrased by this.

 

Does anyone know why the residents of Windsor can't be bothered to turn up and watch a sucessful lower league team?

[chels - WEFC]

aint got a clue mate. some of our fans watch prem, div 1 and div 2 games.

[GarySTFC]

Rivalry aside, it is a shame as they have put together a good side and how more people didn't jump on the bandwagon and support them when they were really flying in the opening half to three-quarters of the season is beyond me. They are trying to do all they can to boost it without success, but how often do we see that at many other clubs at this level? The pull of watching football on the telly rather than coming along and supporting the local team is far too much for your average fan and in turn it will end up killing off a lot of clubs at our level than run beyond their means.

 

I've got a lot of respect for what Peter Simpson has done at Windsor and how he and the other director (Kevin Stott??) have bankrolled a very good side for this level only to see the response from Windsor residents not match their ambitions. Obviously with us taking the remnants of a Conference fan base around with us, even though we're homeless, and outnumbering the tennants support by three to one, must be even more galling for him.

 

But at the end of the day and I'm sure as many of us have said before, the long term future of the club is the most important thing and that is what I hope the STST can work toward securing on their formation next Wednesday. Whether it be with Martyn Deaner, Alan Thorne or whoever, STFC is the most important thing. Other than us fans of course!

[Paul Stephens]

While i agree that it is unfortunate that many sides do not get the support they deserve it does not follow that people will rush to watch a side because it is having a successful season. Football watching is a habit, and it takes a long time for habits to become ingrained.

I have often complained about my children's junior school in farnham common being subject to constant invites to football related fun days from a recently relegated league team 12 miles away.

However they have the right idea, you need to catch the children young and build good habits into them. Clearly we have lost a percentage of our crowd because of the move to Windsor. The best ways to overcome this are

1) to have a winning team

2) to encourage junior and youth teams (lots of parents and relations)

3) to promote family entertainment and family related activities

[BFR]

Before The Thorne's scrapped the position, we had Brian McDermott working in the community with local school and the stand at Wexham Park was often littered with school kids. It is certainly something that should be reconsidered by the club - but until we are back in Slough it would not seem worthwhile to try to promote the club within the Slough Community.