Attendance today-Charlton at home and the appaling weather didnt exactly help. Hopefully the load of kids (pain that some of them were with constant screaming!) will bring a Dad next time.
Cant see next weeks game being a show stopper in terms of attendance and its an awfult time to kick off on a Sunday. With a return to winning ways lets hope the gates swell in the coming months
Being a kid myself, my dad says he will only watch Welling when I'm nowhere near. Something to do with me being a total embarrassment. On a serious note it brings back the question of how to attract more people through the gates? Maybe with Mr Day's experience of working with Charlton in the community he may have a few suggestions.
I think its been said a few times before on here but when Charlton advertise in all the local papers that under 18s can get in for a fiver and yet my son who is 14 has to pay £6 to watch Welling something isnt quite right. We have been to a few away games this season and most of the grounds he can get in for a couple of quid, if Welling can address this or possibly introducing a half season ticket for kids at a cheap rate it may help.
Those kids at the game yesterday were only really making a noise in the first half, not that it was a big deal to be honest.
Do Charlton home games really make that much difference to Welling gates? I think I've only met one Charlton fan in welling, and he was a pub landlord, and didn't last long from what i remember.
I know a few Charlton supporters who come to PVR when they don't make away games. I would have thought that their away support has got less with them having been relegated and the current economic situation so there could be potential. My reservation is that previous attempts to attract Charlton fans have not been that successful.
As far as the younger supporters go 1. I suspect that the majority of those at the game yesterday were from WUY with Kingsmore who I believe still get passes and seem to attend games as teams rather than with their parents and
2. If you look at the finances Charlton like any other pro Club gets far greater funding from within the game than non league Clubs and it makes sense for them to use some of that for promotion via special offers and Kids rates in the hope of building up a future supporter base. Its a privileged position somewhat like Tesco being able to sell goods at far less cost than your local shopkeeper because they get substantial discounts for volume purchasing.
3. I also believe that gone are the days when it was common for the kids to come to football with Dad. With changing culture and the amount of football on the box non league clubs have a much harder task building up their fanbase.
4. I think that the real target area should be the youth market and perhaps we should be focusing on things like discounted admission offers to local colleges and uni's.
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YOUTH are the future
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"The worst thing you can do is make a committment and not meet it and I understand that." Barrie Hobbins 14 August 2010
On another note, is it possible to somehow get fans to have a second team, that being the Wing's. I for example am a fan of Leeds United but I support Welling. Over time Welling have gone from being my second team to being my first.
Well, i support West Ham first and Welling second. Everyone i know that likes Welling United and goes to matches has another team.
On a side note. Is anyone here actually going to the Tonbridge game? I won't be, but I'll be making the three games in the space of a week early December :)
Trigger - Yes there is, Welling has become somewhat like my 2nd team in England or favourite non league team. Before I started attending games at PVR, I didn't really even know about Welling. There's just not much publicity on the club or non-league football as a whole really hence the reason why creating a strong fanbase at this level is so hard.
The age range of 11-21 should always be the prime target audience for attracing new supporters in my opinion.
By 21 those intrested in Football have usually got an alligence to a certain club. Attracting say, a Charlton fan who lives in Erith, to pay £10 to watch the Wings will always be a difficult task. The only ideas I have for attaching this group would be
1 match a season where admision is FREE for everyone. Just to get them through the gate for the first time.
A discount for season ticket holders of any Football League or Pl club
To attract those between the ages of 11-21 I propose the following:
Free entry for all Children under 14 when accompined by an adult
A token entry of £1 entry for kids aged 14-18
£6 entry (40%) for all Students with NUS card
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OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh When the Wingssssss
As a Spurs fan since the 50's I just find the prices nowadays ridiculous.
Cheapest seat at WHL is £33 and that's behind the goal. Best seats are £70. I'm not tight but I refuse to pay that for 90 minutes (if you're lucky) entertainment.
Also, the transport links are dreadful and parking almost impossible.
I just find it easier and to go to PVR, easier to get to (5 minutes), easier to park, friendlier atmosphere and nicer people.
If it were a choice of watching Spurs on the box or going to PVR I'd pick PVR every time.
To attract those between the ages of 11-21 I propose the following:
Free entry for all Children under 14 when accompined by an adult
A token entry of £1 entry for kids aged 14-18
£6 entry (40%) for all Students with NUS card
Completely agree. Needs to be a bigger discount for the younger members, I'm a student and £10 can be a bit steep at times, especially when it's my round in the bar for my old man
Well, i support West Ham first and Welling second. Everyone i know that likes Welling United and goes to matches has another team.
On a side note. Is anyone here actually going to the Tonbridge game? I won't be, but I'll be making the three games in the space of a week early December :)
Interesting point raised is that many of the clubs supporters regard Welling as their second team. If Welling drew their favourite team in the FA Cup which team would they support?
I support Liverpool as well as Welling. But if Welling drew Liverpool in the FA Cup I would want Welling to win.
I was just looking at the videos i took on saturday, and i was reminded of something a Welling fan kept shouting to one of the Staines defenders 'Yellow, blue, blue, yellow. Not yellow, blue, blue, blue. Yellow yes, blue noooooooooo' :D
Its been said before, but i have never seen another club with Wellings lack of commercial nous. When i was at Uni in Lancaster, Morecambe used to let students in for a pound, and had a lot of similar discounts. Look where they are now, and their crowds were the same as ours in the 1990's. I have mentioned it before but the club shop is a disgrace, still no kits or jumpers?, i bought a welling mug on saturday, but its so limited. If we are ever to progress this side of the club needs 100 % improvement. Even lower non league teams like Cray have more stock.
It is worrying that we are still wearing shirts advertising a previous sponsor for nothing! I suspect there have been attempts to try to get a new shirt sponsor but, crikey, we surely must have new shirts, with a new sponsor, some time before Christmas so that there is a selection of shirts and other items in the Club Shop?
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Oh, a mighty god is the god of gold, His empire never decays; In every age, in every clime, The hearts of men he sways.
Interesting point raised is that many of the clubs supporters regard Welling as their second team. If Welling drew their favourite team in the FA Cup which team would they support?
I support Liverpool as well as Welling. But if Welling drew Liverpool in the FA Cup I would want Welling to win.
I'm Liverpool too mate and have always said I'd sit back and smile! Sadly it's not very likely..
