Reginald74 wrote:

Can we get 2500 ?

As of this morning, Northampton Town had sold 630 terrace tickets. That's an increase of only 80 since last Tuesday, suggesting that most of their fans intending to travel have already bought theirs. When added to their small seat allocation and any last minute sales, that's probably going to amount to a maximum of 700.

I'd love to think that we could sell 1,800 tickets. Does anyone know what we've sold so far?
 

We struggled to get 500 last weekend vs Welling. Non-league is tough. A town like Chippenham should be pushing 800+ EVERY week but for some reason people stay away. No idea why.

I know non league attendances have declined a little the past decade or so, but is a little disappointing that its not looking likely we'll sell out one of our biggest games in the history, especially when we did at this round in 2005 against a fellow non league side!

I think 2800 is the capped capacity for this one with Northampton taking 1000 of those tickets and us retaining 1800. You also have to take into account that the numbers above are only tickets physically SOLD by the football club. This game will break the 2000 mark and that for me would be deemed a success I think. I only have one other reference point for a game of this size at home and that is Vauxhall at the Vase Semi, but you have to consider that with that game, everyone in the town and had been slowly paying attention to the fact Chippenham were creeping closer to Wembley Stadium, Bedlington at home was a big attendance as well from memory and the town was being constantly hit with reminders of these occasions through the local rag and other sources. Unpopular opinion but I don't think enough has been done to market the game to the people of Chippenham, the casual football supporters who we are looking to engage with such an occasion and my only hope is that once we have the additional 300-400 Chippenham supporters in the ground that we do something to try and drag them back.

We are in a luxurious position with Northampton being only the second of a potential 5 game run at home with Welling already gone (and sadly larger amounts of tickets that I thought would move closer to the game would move at Welling and that was destroyed by the weather) then of course the big game against Northampton in the FA Cup but then a home game the following Saturday against Slough (who need no introduction), Tuesday night against early playoff contenders Hemel Hempstead and then a potential home tie in the FA Trophy the following Saturday. 

We need to do all we can not only on the pitch but in the terraces and in the "Marketing and Commercial" areas to ensure that the people who are coming to the Northampton game "just because" turn into a portion of our gate for certainly the next two fixtures at home and hopefully a third in the FA Trophy a fortnight later. It's a monumental fortnight for the future success of the club, we have seen how hard it is to make this stage of the FA Cup in recent years, with now even bigger clubs playing in the National League and huge budgets across the North and South Divisions, Chippenham are very blessed to be here and we need to make the most of it, as there is no guarantee we come back next season for another crack at getting this right. 

So I really hope that we have looked into how we are going to get these casual fans to come back, if we have placed any "deals/special offers" on the following games. Personally I would be looking at targeting these people actively whilst we have them in the ground. Collections for the Bluebirds Budget Boost! We have often walked around with collections for various other causes and with a degree of success, we should be looking out for ourselves in our biggest fixture of the season to date. Can we grab a few extra quid out of people, can we squeeze anything out of our travelling supporters. For example the gauntlet heading up to the Main Entrance, merchandise, 50/50 tickets, programmes etc. Is this going to replicated at the Sheldon End entrance as more often than not on occasions like this, away fans simply get shepherded in and out and the only emphasis is on them not disrupting the peace. This is not going to be a malicious terrace battle, there is going to be no trouble to worry about here so now we focus out energies elsewhere, how can we make these guys spend money. Logistically, we cannot make money on bar from Northampton, it's simply not big enough, and we cannot due to restrictions that still blow my mind, serve them alcohol from a bottle bar and plastics down by the old club shop. So how can we get them engaged in the day and quick to their wallets. If they have sold some 700 tickets, wouldn't it be fantastic if we could just chuck a bucket down the far end for the Budget Boost, operate a 50/50 ticket sale at their end of the ground and make them feel as associated with the day as possible. 

It's only Tuesday and my birthday is on the Saturday, I said to my colleague this morning what is crazy is I could not care less for my own birthday as I am just looking forward to Sunday and the best present of all. A big game, at the ground I love, with the club I adore and hopefully a massive day in the clubs history, result pending ;) 

COYMB