Quote:
Originally Posted by shakermaker
...and then the whole 'why don't they want to go' argument comes in with it's million and one reasons.
I don't claim to be an expert on these things but we do seem to have missed out on several opportunities to bring in the crowds & milk our famous name.
|
Tell me about it! I've already gone on and on...and on about the woeful lack of merchandising enterprise shown by the club. That's why I've said the low crowds are a major reason; they're certainly not the only reason for our limited revenue. This is only a guesstimate, but I reckon we could have made thousands and thousands of pounds from championship merchandise in the summer when we were a national news story. We could still be making money hand over fist by exploiting our famous name, especially with some retro-type merchandise, capitalising on the enduring fascination with our history.
Yesterday, we could have been doing a roaring trade by selling booze to thirsty Stanleyites and County fans from bars behind the Clayton and Coppice Ends...but they're not there, so that's another pile of cash lost.
Despite all that, it still remains a fact that a major source of any club's revenue is its gate money and our gates have been much lower than anticipated this season (1,900 home fans for the first home league match after 44 years?...come on! No wonder the League Paper had the headline "Accrington Gripped By Apathy").
And, yes, I'm preaching to the converted and, yes, we've been over the reasons dozens of times before but it's still a fact that people need reminding of from time to time.
However, the apparent indifference of the locals makes it even more imperative that the club does start to develop new income streams like a revamped and expanded merchandising operation, new licensed bars and more!