Quote:
Originally Posted by Haggis316
That's both a challenge and an opportunity for the Club.
It tells us that there is a lot of interest in Stanley.
Even if it cannot in most cases be turned into people on seats there may be possibilities for branding and merchandising.
MUFC excel at this but what percentage of their worldwide fan base visit Old Trafford every year?
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I've been saying this ever since I wrote an article about it called "Selling Stanley by the Pound" in the old "Barber's Pole" fanzine about 12-13 years ago.
Most clubs can only sell their merchandise to their fans. But, like MUFC, Stanley is almost an institution in English football - so much so, that even people outside their immediate fanbase will buy their merchandise, just to have a little piece of "one of football's most famous names".
The club was presented with a huge opportunity a few months ago when we enjoyed the sort of press and TV coverage that other small clubs can only dream about. "Accrington Puts The Smile Back On The Face of English Football" was one of the national daily headlines that summed up the general "feelgood" factor that the club's promotion engendered.
Accordingly, the club should have been ready to cash in on this with a wide and attractive range of "championship/return to the league/44 years and we're back" merchandise. Instead, we were offered two t-shirts which were stocked in such small quantities that they soon sold out, never to be restocked again. Meanwhile, the ebay unofficial sellers had a field day.
The club could have made a lot of money out of this, but that opportunity was a once-in-a-lifetime one and has gone now. However, Stanley should learn from their past mistakes by upgrading their merchandising operation with a greatly expanded range and high-profile advertising and marketing policies. With the attendances the way we are, we urgently need new sources of income and here's one that is staring the club in the face. Come on, Eric, Rob, do something now!