Fans’ enthusiasm on the wane for online events
Maidenhead United FC
Maidenhead United hope to commemorate the club’s 150th anniversary next month with a virtual celebration for fans, however, Peter Griffin accepts people are starting to feel some fatigue for Zoom and online events.
He’s confident the club will come up with a suitable even to mark the milestone on February 16, the night United host Stockport County at York Road, however, he added that the last 12 months have made him realise how important and valuable the live match-day experience is. He said it’s made him appreciate what’s important about a football club, and it’s not just the match, the result or the club’s form, good or bad.
The club has several events planned to commemorate its 150th this season, but many of those have had to be placed on the backburner for a time when supporters are able to return to York Road. He desperately hopes that will be sooner rather than later.
“Yeah, we’re going to try and do as much as we can for the 150th anniversary,” he said. “But I think there’s a bit of fatigue for doing things virtually. It’s getting hard to be enthusiastic for doing things virtually. With Zoom and the livestreaming of games we’ve been able to stay connected with people, but all it’s done is highlight the only thing that’s really important about your local football club is going to watch them in person.
“Going with your mates, having a beer, being in the town centre before hand and looking forward to it is the most important thing, whatever the result. Whilst we can do a lot to keep people engaged and informed, it is tough and hopefully we can welcome fans back for a normal match day experience sooner rather than later. A percentage of it is about the game, but the rest of it is a social occasion. I’ve been reminded about that this year, if I ever needed a reminder.”
Griffin added: “Obviously, we were hoping to do great things this year, with lots of commemorative events and there was going to be full stadiums and loads of stuff, former players, golf days, loads of stuff going on at the ground, loads of memorabilia at the ground. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to do any of it. The virtual stuff is nice to do, but it’s not the same. We’ll just have to be patient until we can get supporters back in the ground I guess.”