You’d be surprised at the number of kids in my 10 year olds class that do. And younger kids. Mine won’t until she goes to secondary school and will need, yes need because digital is the only option, one for bus tickets etc. but even then, she’ll be 11 on the first day in September. Homework is even given and tracked by smartphone app in many schools. Hilariously even those that are trying to introduce a smartphone free policy
Smart phones are in use everywhere and infinitely more interesting that a program.
The programme used to be an essential part of my match day. Bought one every single game and for an odd period actually bought some for games i’d not gone to!
I’d read them cover to cover for a couple of days after.
But then it got to a point where you have 100s taking up space, you realise the amount of readable or quirky articles is very low and I eased away from them.
I do miss that stats page but even then the turnover of players is so high now, you don’t get as many high appearance players staying.
Everything is available online, the club will make you aware of any notable numbers online.
Very few people don’t have any online or tech presence these days, certainly not football fans as otherwise they won’t get in now we are cash only!
I did wonder if the “we’ll look at that” to everyone’s question was a more polite version than just immediately saying no.
As without being rude one person in a sparsely attended fans forum probably doesn’t always speak for 1,000s of fans.
Not just about the programme but other ideas mooted on the night.
Alternatively we just accept the position that we are a League 1 club with a small following in an environment where the minimum wage is higher than ever and we should not be employing more staff to deliver a product that will certainly be lossmaking. Appreciate I am youthful and eager to be authentically controversial, but I thought it was a thoroughly stupid question.
An aside on Matt, which shouldn’t be ignored. I think he’s done and is doing an excellent job for the club which he has supported his whole life.
I’d be astonished if he hasn’t had offers to work elsewhere, but has stayed loyal to WWFC. He now has at least one child under 5 yrs old and, as anyone who remembers will testify, that does change the work life dynamic.
I can fully understand why, unless the club has added additional resources since Phil left, there’s not as much coverage of the academy and women’s teams across all the different media streams.
Like with the departure of Phil we may not realise the value of what Matt does until he’s no longer doing it.
100%. I hope my comment doesn’t come across to suggest he isn’t pulling his weight as that’s not my intention. He, to me at least, seems to take more and more on and excel at everything he does do.
He is also human and no one can keep doing more and more without something slipping. For me online content has slipped this year compared to the Phil years and that criticism should not be aimed at Matt (or Darcy) as they are doing a good job with the time and resources they are given.
If I were in charge of marketing I’d invest in digital screens in areas with high footfall - the train station, shopping centres, leisure centre, library etc - and have them showing a cycle of greatest goals, fans celebrating (the more diverse the better), any positive movement in the table that can be graphicised, details of bus routes and parking, and QR codes to buy tickets for the upcoming match, maybe the odd discount as well. Gives us a visible presence, some dynamism, a sense of momentum and useful information.
Is there one specifically on the WWFC website? I don’t know tbh. But I would probably say the money that would be spent on a free 8 pager would be better spent creating a webpage on the club website that pulls data from one of the many many websites that specialise in such data.
Tbh, as @blue_since_1990 mentioned an online program would probably fit the bill well as a middle ground, which is based on a basic template and can be updated automagically by pulling data from specialised websites. But that still wouldn’t satisfy those that want a hard copy to take home
No need for the club to spend time doing that unless they can integrate an existing repository that will update itself - FotMob and others are so good for player-by-player stats these days. Would also depend who our official data partners are.
