WOOD: IT’S NOT ENOUGH
HASTINGS United chairman Billy Wood is carefully trying to solve the financial balancing act of letting fans in against a reduced capacity – and admits the current limits came as a blow.
The well-supported Isthmian League South East club could only welcome 200 supporters, including 20 away fans, into their friendly fixture against Folkestone Invicta yesterday.
Last season, Hastings had an average attendance of 607 and even attracted 1,189 at Pilot Field in February for their clash with Ashford United.
Chris Agutter’s side were three points clear when the season came to an end and chief Wood reckons more four-figure crowds would have followed during the run-in.
The ambitious Arrows were well-prepared for the return of fans by selling all the tickets in advance online, but Wood knows many missed out.
“It’s been a very interesting four or five months,” he told The NLP. “Going from being at the summit of the table and looking like we’d finally progress into Step 3, with a National League long-term plan. To have that stripped from us was incredibly tough to take but we sucked it up and we’re over it now.
“We decided to be a little bit ahead of the curve. We’ve focused on and off the pitch to get the club’s branding as polished as it possibly can be to reach the wider demographic of the town.
“For a lot of clubs, a crowd of 200 is quite a hefty feat. For us, it’s a shame. We do have quite a large ground and with our risk assessment we could have easily managed to have 15 per cent of our capacity. To only be able to have 15 per cent of the minimum required at Step 4 is tough to take, but some is better than none.
“The one thing that upsets me is there are lots of fans that are going to be disappointed that they can’t come to games.”
Dilemma
Next month, the club will be able to admit 400 spectators as the FA Cup and league gets underway. But having already sold nearly 300 season tickets this summer, it leaves only 100 general admission tickets available, leaving Wood with a dilemma of what to price them at.
“We’re very well run in the sense that commercially and based on the attendances from last season, financially we’re good,” he said. “However, the forecasting has been hard because we genuinely don’t know how we’re going to make X, Y, Z.
“At the same time, we’re committed to delivering a brand of football, a level of player and we completely have full faith and belief in our coaching staff and our manager to deliver the title this year. To strip the chance of him being able to do that, I know other clubs have reduced budget or don’t have the finances they once had, I don’t think we can afford to do that on many levels. We can’t afford to stop the momentum of the potential Hastings has.
“The ticket prices may vary in this period of time as we come out and can have more fans in. The more we can have in, the cheaper the tickets will be. You don’t want to take too much away from your supporters because, ultimately, they are the ones who want to be there.”