CHAIRMAN SAYS “WE LOVE PROVING THE DOUBTERS WRONG”

Boreham Wood FC can announce, with the first game of the season now almost upon us, that our season ticket levels have not quite reached the five hundred mark that we had hoped, and budgeted for, in this very important post-pandemic recovery season of 2021/22.

Below are the numbers and the percentage decreases in each age category, despite us having one of the cheapest home support sales policies regarding season tickets within the National League.

SEASON TICKET SALES AND PERCENTAGE DROPS OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS

As you can see above, it’s not great but when compared with the big ex-Football League clubs like Wrexham with over 5,000 season tickets sold, Notts County with well over 3,000 season tickets sold, and others like Stockport County, Chesterfield, Southend United and Grimsby Town who have all sold thousands, we will have our work cut out yet again to compete this year.

Wood Chairman Danny Hunter said when asked to comment on the disappointing season ticket sales, “Please stop the negativity, it’s nothing that we haven’t overcome year-after-year, or certainly while I’ve been Chairman here. This season is not really any different to most and we’ve yet again put together a very competitive squad. So what if we are 200 down on our season ticket budget forecasts at present, it’s not that much of a disaster and I’ll just have to ensure we work harder.

“I know the challenges at this level and so do my staff, in truth so do my diehard fans, my old school supporters and even the younger members of the Wood Army are now getting to understand just what it’s like to support an underdog club punching above its weight. I feel It’s still very important at this stage for everyone to remember our strengths, even if some always want to highlight our weaknesses, which everyone knows is possibly our average home support.

“We already know that it is a factor, but it’s not the overriding one here because if it was, we would be playing our football at a lower level, like say, our friends at St Albans City who might still get bigger crowds than us but are perhaps light years behind us in terms of infrastructure, being full-time and the year-on-year success we’ve enjoyed over the last decade or so…

“So people can of course highlight things and, of course, let’s all address the elephant in the room, but let’s not get too caught up in it. Remember, our pitch is possibly the best outside of the Football League, we’ve built two fantastic new stands, we’ve built Premier League standard changing rooms, we’ve built a new training facility, put in new floodlights, completed new dugouts, built up and nurtured the largest sports education programme in the UK, and I’m putting in new seats to completely refurb the East Stand next week. On top of that, we’ve recently signed up with SCL as our new education partner, got a brand-new main sponsorship courtesy of Alan Swan and signed a 10-year agreement with Arsenal Football Club.

‘So, I feel that we go into the new season with a future as a small but ambitious club, with a very decent manager and talented squad, we still have room to manoeuvre within the transfer market and we’re actively pursuing two very good forwards who are weighing up their Football League options at present. I’m happy that Luke is not rushing to make wrong decisions, as lots of other clubs are doing, as it’s a long season. I’m also really happy that we’ll take a hundred or so fans with us to Weymouth on Saturday and I’m still convinced our town will turn out for us when we get to play Aldershot Town at home on Saturday week. But even if they don’t, then myself and my staff will just need to work harder, look at ways to improve ourselves and get the message out there, that we need vocal support, that we are a great community club and we still love proving the doubters wrong every season.” Hunter concluded.

OUR CLUB. OUR TOWN. OUR COMMUNITY.