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Post by jupu on Dec 31, 2012 11:02:31 GMT
Our friends at Gloucester City have had a few years to get used to groundsharing and I admire their fans for sticking by their club in difficult times and difficult circumstances. Ditto Evesham to a lesser degree.
The suggestion that our NYD game might get postponed because Cheltenham have a big FA Cup game coming up got me thinking about the realities of groundsharing and lessons we can learn.
We know our average home attendance will go down and that we will have to plan our travel to and from games.
Like Gloucester we will have to accept that we might only have two or three sides of the ground open at Aggborough - assuming that's where we will be - and things like bar, catering, club shop will all be different to what we are used to at the Lane.
The reality is that the host club will still call the shots, we will be subservient to them to some degree. That's just how it will be and to my mind you have to be prepared to compromise and make the best of it. The alternative is having no team to support at all. Of course it could still come to that but Gloucester have shown that with dedication and commitment ground sharing can work.
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Post by cityspur on Dec 31, 2012 12:15:49 GMT
good point about commitment its not as tho kiddy is that far 20 minutes or so by car or train
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Post by zeke on Dec 31, 2012 12:38:28 GMT
Does anyone know if Evesham had any major hassles imposed by City? Games called off to protect pitch or anything else?
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Post by The Verner on Dec 31, 2012 12:42:01 GMT
I've said before that it doesn't bother me where we are playing the next 2 years, nothing will stop me from watching every game.
It makes interesting reading in today's Worcester News about the results from the recent survey over the £100 season tickets and 95% of people said they would buy this even if they don't go to the games.
If 400 people buy this ticket then that could pay two years of ground rent or near enough. Anything more than that would help the club to survive for the next two years.
There will still be people who will pay at the gate and there will still be people who will pay the full amount for a season ticket.
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Post by The Verner on Dec 31, 2012 12:44:02 GMT
Does anyone know if Evesham had any major hassles imposed by City? Games called off to protect pitch or anything else? No they didn't have any problems, games were only ever called off by a referee etc |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2013 22:14:08 GMT
It's all irrelevant. We are not in a position like Evesham or anyone else. We don't have a ground in preparation capable of generating income. Even if we moved to NW we'd be in greater debt than before the ground sale. Do you really think the good folk of Worcester will bother to travel to watch a home game? They can't be bothered to go to SGL. Gates will fall; budgets will fall; results will suffer and gates will fall further. It's a cycle that will kill the club before any ground move occurs. The club as we know it won't survive 2-3 years. It's over. The old WCFC is dead.
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Post by andy on Jan 30, 2013 9:36:47 GMT
If I recall correctly, one of the advantages of Kidderminster would be that both Clubs would fall under the same administrative jurisdiction - ie the Conference. Which means the opportunity for co-planning of fixtures. Which could likely mean a majority of 'home' games being on a Saturday
Clearly there are many other reasons for Kiddy ground-share, but it looks like ti could become more complicated if Kiddy were to gain promotion to the football league this season (I know, it didnt look likely after the first ten games, but they are on a fantastic run at the moment). In which case, the two fixture lists would be prepared separately, and we could end up with a lot more Sunday or midweek games under that scenario.
On the plus side, potentially, Telford are doing badly and look shoe-ins for relegation at the moment, while Hednesford, Stourbridge and Leamington are all pushing for promotion to Conference North. Having three or four more local Clubs would a) help boost gates with away fans and b) if as looks likely, a majority of Conference-relegated sides are Northern, then we could lose a number of the further southern fixtures, like Bishops Stortford. Potentially, we could end up with all of Telford, Nuneaton, Tamworth, Hednesford, Stourbridge and Leamington in Conf North next season - though all of them is unlikely. I cant see a situation in which we could be shifted south at the end of this year - with Stortford, Brackley, Oxford, Gloucester as 'protection' - unless they all somehow end up getting promoted and/or relegated, which looks highly unlikely.
Not having Hinckley looks like a certainty.
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