Have just asked my nine year old, who has been with me to about 30 games now, what his opinion of going to Sixfields is, and he replied;
It doesn't matter where you sit, you get a good view of the game. I like the West stand because it has the best view.
He did then temper this by saying that it was a shame that we are playing rubbish though! Out of the mouths of children eh?!
However, his statements do raise some salient points, which have already been covered I think?
Do we invest in the infrastructure in order to attract & retain more supporters or will more supporters come naturally if they are watching an entertaining, winning team? Which should come first, or should both aspects be tackled simultaneously?
The attendances in the championship winning season did start to rise to the point where half of the South stand was assigned to home supporters on, from memory, three occasions. The will was there at the time but it was sadly extinguished within half a season with Page and JED at the helm. All momentum was then lost and we have gone backwards ever since. For those that back KT to the hilt, the buck has to stop at his door for this because, as Chairman, the overall strategy for manager recruitment is his, as is setting the strategy for off field activity.
So, and this is the million dollar question, what now???
3000 shareholders in the club amounts to 3 thousand salesmen. Doing something radical would almost certainly be of interest to businesses who may then consider associating themselves with it. It also promotes the romantic idea of the underdog which is an eternally popular idea. At least that’s what I think. That is the real point “I think”, all well and good but with something this important you don’t want to think, you have to know. Therefore the Trust or whoever canvassing opinion is vital. The canvassing process also has to be considered including addressing some of the major hurdles. If possible the additional canvassing of a snapshot of local businesses of various sizes would also indicate how attractive some of the ideas for the future of the club would be to them? Like I said with something like this you don’t want to think you want to know. That is going to take carefully considered action and participation.