How could the UCL improve?There are a large number of things which are very positive in the UCL at the moment, but I wanted to raise a couple of issues and give you guys the chance to say what you would do with them, or raise other topics…
The FA Cup & FA VaseNot since the days of Stamford and Spalding as UCL sides have we made a decent fist of either competition. Ok, Raunds did ok about 10 years ago…
I know member clubs have privately admitted that the league doesn’t help them out in August/September/October when these ties are coming thick and fast. Should UCL Premier Division matches be postponed in the run-up to big Vase and Cup ties and is it the responsibility of the league or can club fixture secretaries sort it out?
How much of a profile raise would a UCL Club in the first round proper of the FA Cup be? We all know which club I would like it to be, but I would settle for any side, even St Neots(!) making it to help raise the profile of our competition.
Think of what Chasetown achieved in their FA Cup run. I am sure that their club has benefited by becoming more popular, and other member clubs of the Alliance have had the knock-on effect of more supporters through the gates to come and see their club take them on?
The FA Vase is a competition that realistically we should have a side in the UCL capable of winning. When you look at Wisbech (and the number of their players with UCL experience) and their achievements in recent seasons, they have outlasted the majority of UCL clubs in the competition.
Stamfords win in the competition seems a long time ago now…
The ImageIt is simply not ‘trendy’ to support a UCL club. Fine, I accept that. Just as I accept that people are allowed to support a Premiership club from a city they may never have been to (usually Manchester United). But what I cannot accept are people not supporting their local team.
This could be an area for the UCL to tap up? Good football, cheap admission, friendly (unless its Holbeach!!) atmosphere, good afternoon out.
How can we get people to take a local pride and come out to support their team?
The CrowdsSadly the UCL crowds do not stack up well against most of their equivalent leagues. There is a density of league clubs in this part of the world as well as all the London clubs within an hour.
It has amazed me in the past how many people turn up to Yaxley midweek matches in POSH woolly hats and I wonder if Rushden/Northampton fans turn up at Raunds/Cogenhoe etc. when their club is away or has no match?
How can we exploit this to get fans supporting our clubs?
Having said that I do accept there are a number of clubs who have shown a healthy increase in their attendances this season... what are they doing that the rest are not?