FAN TRAP?

First impressions are half the battle...

By Matt Harris

I was reading another one of those articles recently about how to attract a bigger fan base in Non-League. We’ve had that discussion at Culverden before; how just 1% of the town’s population turning up to a Tunbridge Wells match would produce a gate of 600.

Often clubs up and down the country resort to ‘Kids-for-£1’ or ‘Kids-Go-Free-With-A-Full-Paying-Adult’ as they look to secure a support base for the future. And very often the said committees despairingly conclude a few home-games down the line that their efforts have bourn no fruit.

I took part in a recent discussion on Tony Kempster’s excellent website about the fact that rather worryingly, many clubs lower down in Non-League have an aging fan base with very few people aged below 40 among their average crowds. Nothing wrong with that in itself, but where will it leave the club in 20-30 years time?

All the usual discussion was being put forward about how to bring in more kids to secure a future support-base for the club after the elderly population on the terrace are long gone. Then it occurred to me, kids can be offered every incentive possible to come along and support their local club, but if their parents don’t enjoy the experience, they’ll take their kids to the ‘better club’ down the road.

So in my opinion, the schemes to draw in more young fans are not directed at the right people. If parents enjoyed coming to the ground on a Saturday afternoon, they’d more than likely drag their kids along - £1 entry or £3 entry - on a regular basis!

There are some places I’ve been, where I really wouldn’t want to spend my Saturday afternoon again if I wasn’t following my team there. They tend to be thoroughly miserable places: with drab, dingy and lifeless club houses, that offer a poor range of drinks, and a scattering of regulars, few of whom seem to enjoy being there. Step outside the clubhouse, and all you can hear is the distant rumble of a road/railway, but nothing except the occasional groan from the crowd.

Some places give the impression of a kind of limbo - trapping tortured souls on a Saturday afternoon, rather than being a venue for enthusiastic supporters enjoying a football match. Is it any wonder such clubs are seeing a decrease in attendances, and seem unable to draw in any new blood on the terrace?

 
I know many clubs have very few willing volunteers, and those committee people who are involved are stretched to the limit, but in some cases, a club chooses to invest its cash into the playing side to achieve quick success and then expect its volunteers to carry out off-pitch work for nothing. These clubs should re-think their priorities. But even for those clubs without an abundance of wealth, what about focusing maintenance parties attentions on the clubhouse during the winter months.

What difference if a club brightened up the club house, kept it in good repair, maybe even offered a hint of music across the bar? Would you become a regular at a pub that didn’t look to offer maximum comfort and hospitality to those who drink there? Look at how show houses sell new-builds on estates (no matter how cheaply the house has been put up). They incorporate all the subtle touches needed to draw potential customers and land a sale...

What if people, new or regular were offered a sincere and friendly greeting at the gate, at the bar, at the coffee hatch and over the tannoy? I suspect half the battle would be won in selling the club to a ‘newbie’. Next time around they might come back, with their kids in tow… And as a support base grows, so does the possible list of volunteers to maintain an enjoyable, well run venue to watch football.

Sadly, too often, first impressions aren’t right at a Non-League club, and if you don’t get it right with the casual observer first time around, chances are you’ll be waiting a long time for a second chance.