Southern League It Is Then

[BFR]

That is pretty disrespectful Mark

[Martin]

I think 14 of those games are sufficiently close that when travelling away we would take somewhere around the 100 mark. With some of those games that figure would be increased depending on when it is scheduled.

 

Some of the other games will see away attendances more akin to ours at Chelmsford but we shall see.

 

It is good to have Farnborough with us, even if it is in such unfortunate circumstances, it least that will be two more supporters matches for us.

[Guest]

I am concerned that our home crowds will drop significantly. Quite a lot of clubs in the Ryman brought 30/40 ish and sometimes more. I saw a few Burnham games against well placed opposition and it seemed some only brought about a dozen or so.

A shortfall of 3/400 over a season will have a noticeable impact on gate receipts.

[GarySTFC]

And would hopefully be factored in to any budgets the club do make. The loss of a big crowd against AFC Wimbledon will hopefully be set off against there being a number of very local sides in the league.

[Guest]

14 of Burnhams home games attracted less than 150, and that was against decent sides like Bashley, Swindon, Didcot etc. Their big gates 240+ were against the local sides. I'd like to think we could average at least 220, particularly if we are doing well.

 

[Woody SUFC]

None of the local sides brought many fans to Stag Meadow really Burnham had almost zero!

[Amber Rebel]

Originally Posted By: Woody WEFC

None of the local sides brought many fans to Stag Meadow really Burnham had almost zero!

really how many fans do windsor take away considering their average home attendance was less than burnhams

[Woody SUFC]

20/30 to most games sometimes more

[Clive_Thistle]

Must admit our (Windsor's) home attendance is pretty poor, however I would imagine we consistently had one of the biggest if not the biggest away support in the league last season. From memory only Didcot, Chesham and maybe Bracknell brought anything in the way of support to Windsor.

 

It’s unfortunate that the only team with big support home & away (Chesham) have been shunted into the Midlands division.

 

[brighton_rebel]

I know Mark's comments came over a bit desreptful but when we were doing well in the North and South Ryman we often outnumbered the home fans in places like Hertford (who ran out of tea by half time if i remember rightly), Wembley (remember two old blokes moaning about all the space we were taking up in the clubhouse).

That's not to say we have a right to be higher up the pyramid pecking order - you have to earn that by results. It just might be worth telling some places to get in extra beers and food like we did at Cobham when we worryingly noticed a few dusty bottles and one beer pump - they duly legged it to the off licence!

I think the season will feel like playing in the early rounds of the FA Cup - and we know from the Wroxham experience that it can end in tears.

 

 

[Amber Rebel]

Originally Posted By: Woody WEFC

20/30 to most games sometimes more

without being disrespectfull is that with or without the directors and officials of wefc

[mal316]

Originally Posted By: amberblue

Originally Posted By: Woody WEFC

20/30 to most games sometimes more

without being disrespectfull is that with or without the directors and officials of wefc

This is not including the offials or director and anyway are they not supporters of the club?

[Amber Rebel]

i agree i just thought it a bit unfair to say burnham brought next to zero when the burnham supporters are shall we say less conspicuous than other clubs who have their own posse

[Matt]

Our away support will be fairly good I'm sure. If we're doing reasonably well then I would hope 50 to the furthest games and up to 150 for the really local ones.

 

Looks like away support from other clubs will be minimal though, so I would imagine our home averages will drop to around the 225 mark unless we're challenging for promotion or get some really good off-the-pitch news. At least we'll get 100 or so 'away' fans from Windsor though (as well as six points!)

 

Have to say, some of the away trips do look quite interesting but none of the games there really grab me, except for Farnborough maybe. I guess what I mean by that is that I would look forward to going to Dover, Dartford, Kingstonian etc more. Still, we have to make the most of it - plus most of the grounds will be new to us, and there's the possibilities of some nice weekends away. Overall it's probably the best place for us in our current situation.

 

Shame about Farnborough's demise. It would be nice for us and them to both have good seasons. Without wanting to sound arrogant, I think both our clubs will be seen as welcome additions to this league.

[GarySTFC]

I think we certainly will! We'll add a few to the home gates and given our form on the pitch last season, many teams will be confident of getting some points off us as well! A very welcome addition!

[Martin]

I have noticed on the Southern League forum that fans from other clubs in the division looking at us from afar seem to be of the opinion that we will struggle badly and continue in "freefall". It'll all come down to the budget we have and how long Wilko is given to build a squad. We shall see.

[Mark44]

i didnt mean any disrespect, i think its great that we will be playing local sides and we do not desrve to do well this season just because we have a few extra fans.

[Guest]

Although we are well supported on away games, and the great support and atmosphere it provides, it is the home gates that matter in terms of revenue and playing budget etc.

We will only boost the coffers of other clubs if we take 50-100 to away games and the opposition bring a handful to our home games. Having watched Uxbridge a couple of times, the scenario

could be when we play Uxbridge we could take 100-150 to the away game making a gate of 260-330 and spending money in their club bar and refreshments hut, but in the return game we would get the 180-200ish core supporters plus a few extras, but no money from bar or refreshments. The effort on the pitch by Wilko and the remaining players has been brilliant, but without being the profit of doom, economics will have the final say.

 

 

[GarySTFC]

So what's the resolution then?

[Martin]

Ultimately its all about getting people trhough the gates. So it needs to be consistent and regular publicity for all home games. So regular spots on local radio, clear and accurate details in the local rags and publicity posters around Slough and Windsor. Also as Deaner encouraged us previously if we could all strive to bring a few extra people through the door now and then it would help.

 

We had 30 odd people doing the sponsored walk and they must have collected numerous sponsor some of whom must have been intrigued about what sort of football club inspires the devotion to walk 18 miles to a game. If we can each get one or two of them to try out a couple of games it would help.

 

Finally, I think if we could manage a settled squad that puts in regular decent performances we will attract a few more numbers as people like to see teams winning games.

 

Where the drive comes from to do these things is another question.