Freebie Friday: How to score the perfect PR own goal
Bromley FC find a way to upset their own supporters
Welcome to the Friday Freebie! For those of you who are new to the site this is the free piece coming at you every Friday to give you an idea of what you can expect to see behind the paywall besides the latest view of which game I’ve attended.
The piece this week I could have written about five times over such is the amount of happenings going on in non-league football from day to day, week to week so some of those may make it behind the paywall in the coming days.
This one is all about a rather contentious decision from National League outfit Bromley ahead of their meeting with title challengers Wrexham in two weeks’ time.
The Kent club emailed their season ticket holders on Thursday morning to ask them to ‘claim’ their ticket for the game despite the fact it’s completely down to the holder themselves if they attend or not and don’t need to inform the club otherwise.
The email also contained details of an increased Away End for the visiting Wrexham fans and the need for season ticket holders in the North Terrace behind the goal to be housed elsewhere for the afternoon in that respect, and the need to use the electronic turnstiles on advice from the police, of which there are two sets available to be used.
Having heard from Wealdstone fans, Wrexham were able to use normal standard turnstiles for their visit a few weeks ago, so I’m sure they can used the same ones I walked through as a Barnet fan earlier this season at Hayes Lane, pretty poor excuse to put in this email, just lame.
The Ravens currently have around 2000 season ticket holders but the low percentage of attendees so far this season is given as a reason they felt the need to move their own supporters to other areas of the ground.
Now, before I add why this is an extremely poor decision from Bromley FC I will point out I have nothing against Wrexham FC nor their supporters, as far as I am aware Wrexham didn’t ask for anything extra and please feel free to correct me if that is the case and they did.
If they did then the answer should have been no and I’ll tell you why as we go on through this blog.
An away section is an away section for a reason, I fully appreciate in a few grounds it can be increased in some logistical areas where it doesn’t cause an issue for home fans and creates no problem. Wrexham for example have already sold out the away end of 1900 tickets at Barnet for their April fixture and have been told no more, segregation at The Hive doesn’t really allow safely for anything more.
This is nothing more than gaining pound notes to the maximum, selling your soul to the devil if you will. I appreciate a need for making money, we all do but to do it at the expense of your own supporters who are there for 23 games a season, have already paid up front for the privilege of doing so, really stinks.
If I was Andy Woodman the Bromley boss I’d be knocking on the chairman’s door asking why he’s diluting the home support in favour of the opposition when his team are trying on the pitch to make the play off’s, it’s like giving Wrexham a 1-0 head start, utter madness!
If Bromley were stuck in mid-table, safe from going down and not in danger of making the play off’s, it’s more understandable, still not a great move but supporters probably might not be so up in arms. Halifax have managed to accommodate more Wrexham travelling fans without moving their own fans and given their position in the table I don’t see an issue with that.
I hear Torquay Utd are doing the same as Bromley in terms of allowing a bigger away support, a side fighting for their National League lives prepared to give Wrexham a helping hand cheered on by many more than their own, more pound note chasers.
Who will be there longer, Wrexham, the Bromley chairman or the Bromley supporters when it comes to Hayes Lane? Simple answer every time isn’t it and the middle man in this has got it all wrong.
So far I’ve not seen one ounce of support and instead plenty of fans from other National League clubs condemning the decision, I would go so far as to say 100% in what I’ve seen, Wrexham fans included in that figure that have commented so far.
What this chairman needs to remember is supporters won’t forget, they will vote with their wallets or purses when the time comes for season ticket renewal, they will remember how their own club treated them and I wouldn’t  blame any one of them for turning their back on this game, but the players on the pitch don’t deserve that, hit him where it hurts in the pocket come the summer, I’m sure he'll be the first to complain when numbers are down he’s dipping into more of his wealth to fund the first team squad and ground improvements.
Bromley FC, feel free to come at me and tell me the opposite, but I doubt you will, I’d love an explanation as to how you arrived at this point because I really don’t understand it, but one or two local clubs might be on the right end of a few quid through their turnstiles instead on 18th March.
I’d love to know what you think and how would you feel if your club decided you can move from the season ticket spot to accommodate the visitors, feel free to leave a comment.
A point well made Trevor. I totally agree. Seems like a short sighted decision.
It sounds crazy to me!