Relegation: An opportunity
Dec 27, 2017 12:36:36 GMT
Frank Owen’s Paintbrush, Rio Doherty, and 3 more like this
Post by iandychesterfc on Dec 27, 2017 12:36:36 GMT
No-one wants to be relegated, that much is obvious. However, we have to brace ourselves for it given the state the club has been allowed to slide into - what happens next will be possibly, one of the most vital moments for our club.
To wallow as we are will see us consigned to a status as a conference north club, with attendances which will range from 1000-1500 dependant on the opposition and with feint hope each year of promotion from a highly competitive league in terms of player recruitment all from the same catchment area.
In my view, which will probably become a manifesto if i can find the time, the only way the club can deal with the relegation is to see it as an opportunity to return to what i thought we built the club to be. I wasted many a rant in type and at meetings crying about pricing people out of coming - decimating attendances and warned that it would come home to roost at some point. I'm not going to say i told you so, as i look at where we are with nothing but sheer annoyance at those who professed we needed to decimate attendances 'to compete'.
I met with board members who said it was the only way to survive - that attendances were not as important as staying in this league. This league of no-mark southern play-teams that suck the life and soul out of watching Chester.
So if (perhaps when) relegation occurs - that argument will be dead. Or at least i hope it will be.
It will then take courage for those who have advocated a model based more on FCUM than say, Wrexham. We cannot escape the fact we had 3,000 plus in our first seasons (gimmick or not) we cannot escape our highest attendance was in a league 2 below this. It's all so depressing to look at this now.
So, for me, as i've championed and tried to campaign a million times before a £10 terrace is essential moving forwards. People will pay extra to sit, the do when we go away and thats out of 200 on average.
What it will take thereon in is a shift in culture from the 'can't do' to 'let's try'. Momentum is key in any business, if you stagnate, or worse drop - you need to do something radical to reinvent your position. We can't diversify as other businesses can, so we need to pivot from trying to be this feted 'professional club', which to many feels no different from SV days (in some cases worse as we watch what was a beacon of an ideal, turn into something of a car crash).
Of course it's not all about a £10 terrace - this is merely your flagship idea which then demonstrates a new vision, a new fresh (being an important word when you stagnate) approach to what Chester FC is (and should ave remained).
I have no qualm with the financial controls that came in following the first 2 years, it made sense but that approach has intensified and now shackled us to this fearful state you see the club in.
We may not get relegated, if we don't then it will be too risky with the lowest budget of all time to try these things - i get the counter-arguement. However, if we do - we must use it as a chance to rebuild the club, rebuild the fanbase and get back to making the club enjoyable again. FCUM get 3000 even when they are struggling, we have destroyed our fanbase so much that we are breaking records for low attendances. I speak to lots of fans who no longer attend - performances matter yes, but they struggle to justify the cost because the club means so little to them now - it is no longer a champion of fan-ownership, but a leaking ship, bowing ever deeper towards the abyss. It wont die, the club will continue with the 1000 or so which will go no matter what - but it will never achieve anything like the goals we set in 2010 unless our attitude towards our main income changes.
To wallow as we are will see us consigned to a status as a conference north club, with attendances which will range from 1000-1500 dependant on the opposition and with feint hope each year of promotion from a highly competitive league in terms of player recruitment all from the same catchment area.
In my view, which will probably become a manifesto if i can find the time, the only way the club can deal with the relegation is to see it as an opportunity to return to what i thought we built the club to be. I wasted many a rant in type and at meetings crying about pricing people out of coming - decimating attendances and warned that it would come home to roost at some point. I'm not going to say i told you so, as i look at where we are with nothing but sheer annoyance at those who professed we needed to decimate attendances 'to compete'.
I met with board members who said it was the only way to survive - that attendances were not as important as staying in this league. This league of no-mark southern play-teams that suck the life and soul out of watching Chester.
So if (perhaps when) relegation occurs - that argument will be dead. Or at least i hope it will be.
It will then take courage for those who have advocated a model based more on FCUM than say, Wrexham. We cannot escape the fact we had 3,000 plus in our first seasons (gimmick or not) we cannot escape our highest attendance was in a league 2 below this. It's all so depressing to look at this now.
So, for me, as i've championed and tried to campaign a million times before a £10 terrace is essential moving forwards. People will pay extra to sit, the do when we go away and thats out of 200 on average.
What it will take thereon in is a shift in culture from the 'can't do' to 'let's try'. Momentum is key in any business, if you stagnate, or worse drop - you need to do something radical to reinvent your position. We can't diversify as other businesses can, so we need to pivot from trying to be this feted 'professional club', which to many feels no different from SV days (in some cases worse as we watch what was a beacon of an ideal, turn into something of a car crash).
Of course it's not all about a £10 terrace - this is merely your flagship idea which then demonstrates a new vision, a new fresh (being an important word when you stagnate) approach to what Chester FC is (and should ave remained).
I have no qualm with the financial controls that came in following the first 2 years, it made sense but that approach has intensified and now shackled us to this fearful state you see the club in.
We may not get relegated, if we don't then it will be too risky with the lowest budget of all time to try these things - i get the counter-arguement. However, if we do - we must use it as a chance to rebuild the club, rebuild the fanbase and get back to making the club enjoyable again. FCUM get 3000 even when they are struggling, we have destroyed our fanbase so much that we are breaking records for low attendances. I speak to lots of fans who no longer attend - performances matter yes, but they struggle to justify the cost because the club means so little to them now - it is no longer a champion of fan-ownership, but a leaking ship, bowing ever deeper towards the abyss. It wont die, the club will continue with the 1000 or so which will go no matter what - but it will never achieve anything like the goals we set in 2010 unless our attitude towards our main income changes.
