[MrMatt]

With everything going on at the club at the moment I was thinking what I would do if I was chairman of the club.

I was imagining what I would do if I had an unlimited budget but you’re not allowed to spend it on the playing budget until you’ve got an average attendance of 3k. So how are you going to do it?

My initial ideas were:
- The club are lucky to have so much space available outside the ground so we put artificial grass around the ‘waste land’ and make it a fan zone. Beer tents, different types of food stalls,  penalty shootouts for kids, photo opportunities with Roary. Something that opens early and creates a bit of pre match buzz.

- Advertise everywhere. Posters all over the city, radio adverts, social media posts. 

- Regular competitions to win tickets and merchandise 

- Pop-up tents at the Quays where people can buy tickets, scarfs, shirts etc.

- Stadium improvements to the T-End, making it bigger and more like the old T-End. Put a roof over the scoreboard side

- Join the two seated stands to make one long stand. Close the ground in as much as possible to keep the sound in

What would you do?

[Neil]

Hire a press gang.

[Paul]

Build an intercounty ballistic missile system and point it at Whaddon Road?... seriously, enclose the ground with proper stands/seating (something like Dartford to make it a stadium people want to visit) and use the waste area beyond the chicken run to build a grandstand complete with conference facilities, meeting and training rooms etc that we could rent out for community use. None of which will happen in my lifetime unless Elon Musk steps in to save us...

[Neil]

Tar and feather anyone that leaves the GL1-4 postcode to support a higher ranked team in the GL postcode area.

[Allan Woodham]

Has no one cotton on. June/July statement put out by the club stating that AP & EM wanted to buy all the shares. They were approached for a management buy out . But this didn't mean they own the club or ground. Therefore, I can only speculate that they have bought the rights on the catering etc. PC says he is Chairman , but in what context? If AP & EM are the majority shareholderd and own the ground, they must therefore call the shots regarding the Club. It would be senseable for the Supporters to meet with the majority shareholders to discover who exactly is in charge of the Club and to find out in what direction they want the club to go.

[Kitto]

Allan, you're about a year behind the rest of us here. What you're talking about took place in 2022 and was discussed at the time.

Also, this isn't the right thread for the conversation.

But just to make it clear again...

AP & EMG own the ground.

Chambers have come in to run the club essentially on a try before you buy deal...they have an option over the next three years to buy the club & stadium. Chambers & Steve Rowbotham are Directors of the Club, which allows them to make the necessary decisions to run the club.

There was literally a meeting a couple weeks ago with Chambers & EMG in attendance,.and they were answering questions.

[Tigermatty 2.0]

There isn’t a short term fix.

The foundations we need to get right are around community, commercial and marketing.

1. Community plan was to apply for funding and set up pop up football sessions around the city delivered with our partners, combined with other educational activities. Get the club more visible in the community.

2. Commercially we need to be moving in the right circles locally. I would almost certainly look at headhunting a local commercial manager, with good contacts, and start making the most of the businesses on our doorstep. Goes hand in hand with point 1 because businesses want to fulfil their social obligations.

3. Digital marketing has been working quite well this season, but it will only get you so far if you are only ever reaching a small % of the local audience. More paid marketing is needed to reach a bigger audience. If the matchdays are profitable then just give away free tickets to schools and football clubs every match. Just get them in the ground and then sell them as much as you can, it’s oldest trick in the book. Make it easy for people to buy stuff.

[Darran]

There isn’t a short term fix.

The foundations we need to get right are around community, commercial and marketing.

1. Community plan was to apply for funding and set up pop up football sessions around the city delivered with our partners, combined with other educational activities. Get the club more visible in the community.

2. Commercially we need to be moving in the right circles locally. I would almost certainly look at headhunting a local commercial manager, with good contacts, and start making the most of the businesses on our doorstep. Goes hand in hand with point 1 because businesses want to fulfil their social obligations.

3. Digital marketing has been working quite well this season, but it will only get you so far if you are only ever reaching a small % of the local audience. More paid marketing is needed to reach a bigger audience. If the matchdays are profitable then just give away free tickets to schools and football clubs every match. Just get them in the ground and then sell them as much as you can, it’s oldest trick in the book. Make it easy for people to buy stuff.

Sadly some people don't care about any of that because all they care about is the fact we are bottom. Still apparently they didn't do anything good according to some.

[Paul]

There isn’t a short term fix.

The foundations we need to get right are around community, commercial and marketing.

1. Community plan was to apply for funding and set up pop up football sessions around the city delivered with our partners, combined with other educational activities. Get the club more visible in the community.

2. Commercially we need to be moving in the right circles locally. I would almost certainly look at headhunting a local commercial manager, with good contacts, and start making the most of the businesses on our doorstep. Goes hand in hand with point 1 because businesses want to fulfil their social obligations.

3. Digital marketing has been working quite well this season, but it will only get you so far if you are only ever reaching a small % of the local audience. More paid marketing is needed to reach a bigger audience. If the matchdays are profitable then just give away free tickets to schools and football clubs every match. Just get them in the ground and then sell them as much as you can, it’s oldest trick in the book. Make it easy for people to buy stuff.

Matt is right. I'd add developing a social marketing 4Ps framework (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) to guide a flexible strategy to implement the above and consider other factors. Growing the club is obviously about the playing side  - but it's also about the community side that frustratingly we've not yet put in place. The Chambers appeared to understand that part. We can only hope lessons have been taken onboard and we can inch forwards again with plans for a proper community initiative. Hope...