The latest from Chairman Ben Clasper, from the programme of our Home game against Havant & Waterlooville on Saturday, March 12th.

Last Saturday started off as a pretty normal Saturday in many ways, it was an away day so most of the morning was spent on WhatsApp figuring out who in our group was going to the game and then how and when we were all getting there. The prospect of a three-minute train connection at Wimbledon triggered enough anxiety to divert me via Clapham Junction to the sanctuary of a more leisurely quarter of an hour wander between platforms. My friends clearly prefer to live life on the edge as it ended up being just me and (long-suffering ‘why do we have to get there so early’ son) Freddie taking the less stressful route although we did spot two or three other pink scarves at the Junction. A handful of fans (the type you shouldn’t go on holiday with as they probably think it’s fine getting to the airport half an hour before the gate closes) did manage to jump off one train and onto ours at Wimbledon before our carriage cohort was rounded off with a couple who surprised us by getting on at Teddington (who knew that was a route?). Still, all in all, numbers you’d expect to see on any carriage of any train going to any game which pulled in somewhere between the ‘let’s go early for a pub crawl’ sleeper and the ‘it’ll be fine, we’ll just make it for kick off’ express.

But then we stepped off the train. And did a double take. ‘It’s your army’ grinned one of my more daring ‘3-minute-connection’ friends who had already spotted the sea of pink and blue wandering down the platform. Those of you who went will understand what I mean when I say the queue to tap out from the station was only just surpassed on the day by the queue for a beer at the game.

The support for this club never ceases to amaze and by kick off it was clear that the numbers on our train must have been repeated on many more both before and after our own arrival time. Our fans more than doubled the Hampton & Richmond attendance for any of their last three games and they posted a record attendance for their season. Importantly though it’s not just quantity, it’s also quality because our fans are a joy to be around and according to opposition officials, a joy to host. Watching this evolve over time it’s clear that it’s not just the songs that are spreading through our growing community it’s also the attitudes, behaviour and ethos of those that have been travelling for years.

One of our longest standing fans said to me on Saturday after watching our group assemble behind the goals ‘there’s so many of us… and so few I recognise… I guess that’s a good thing’. ‘I guess’ is right. Growth can and has gone wrong at other clubs and if we are honest we’ve had a couple of moments of concern ourselves as our own crowds increased but I hope that everyone that was present last Saturday left with the same impression I did.
As much as we enjoy those away days we’re looking forward to welcoming everyone home again for the next two weekends. Whilst it may raise eyebrows in some circles everyone associated with the club is at least a little relieved that it looks like we are coming out the other side from the huge spikes of the continuous sell-outs and we are returning to numbers that are easier to manage and result in a better match day experience. Whatever someone tells you believe me, the headaches of managing a sell-out far outweigh any financial benefit and we all feel that however popular we become we are a non-league club and buying tickets in advance should be a choice for convenience not a requirement or a strategy. I want people to find us the same way my group found us years ago, by just deciding on a Saturday afternoon to wander down the hill to watch our local team and then coming back because we had a great experience.

So I’d like to say thank you on behalf of the club, thank you to the newer fans who have taken our club to their hearts, thank you to the older fans who have welcomed them and gatekeep what we are and thank you to all fans for making sure that the only calls we receive about you are to praise you. You make this club what it is.