I suppose it was inevitable, but the amount of people lining up in an orderly fashion to take potshots at us for the admittedly shite attendance does still take a little bit of swallowing. Yes, we are fully aware that 4,500 for the return of Harry is pathetic. Yes, we are fully aware that it shows we have some of the most fickle fans in the country.
Yes, it WAS a shit day. But sadly, we knew it was coming, and in a rather perverse way, I’m glad it happened. Why? Well, it may well force the club to admit it’s still got a problem with attendances : we may still congratulate ourselves for the hyper-inflated attendances, but we know the real reason for that, and now possibly the chickens have come home to roost.
True, some may put the low attendance down to the power struggle, but if anyone genuinely feels the need not to come to WFC because of something that was blown out of proportion, then as far as I’m concerned, they can fuck off. Drillo has now mentioned the need for a new stadium in Wimbledon, although SH has written off Merton now, so in effect we’re in the shit (unless various things change….).
I am also (kinda) glad that it happened when Svein Bakke was there – before kickoff, and during the meeting, he looked out and looked a little sad that the attendance was so poor. I doubt if the irony of the situation was lost on him – maybe his report will mention something about that too – it’s all very well to put marketing second behind the team, but increasingly it’s becoming just as important. Don’t believe me? OK, we feel we have a “right” to keep the FF.
But if we’re not getting money in from the fanbase, then why should anyone be surprised that we have to sell them? And how do you increase the fanbase? By “forcing” floating fans to check out WFC. Yes, that really does mean club shops in Wimbledon. That really does mean moving base to a “better” area. That really does mean putting more emphasis on supporter involvement and “community”. We have none of these, yesterday bought it home to everyone. We’ve always defended ourselves from the “you’ve only got 3,000 fans so you don’t deserve success” bullshit. But now maybe, just maybe, I think they may have a point…..
So, we now find out that we’ve either got Fulham or Luton away (thankfully) in the next round. Anything less than a 2000 turnout from us at either of those two venues and (to quote a well known WFC webmaster) we may as well give up. I’m sure everyone deep down wants Fulham, I also hope everyone deep down finds a good excuse not to miss it.
You’ll be pleased to know that the NOTW have dug up an alcoholic, bitter has-been to write one of their exclusives today. Apparently, he used to be with us or something. He claims that he made the team great, he despises the new owners and he can’t understand why anyone won’t give him a job, because he knows that he did a top-class job at WFC. No, I’ve can’t remember who he is anyway, still he claims he’ll never go back to Wimbledon. Not that he’d make any difference