chris wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:00 am
interesting debate on the future of football at the moment.
talk about connecting the clubs to their future fans
sowing seeds now for the supporters in 20 years time
about football not being a product
This is at the heart of the reservations I have about the new city tournament.
I grew up with cricket in Scarborough - at the cricket club, my local cricket club. As I grew up, I was asked to become involved - in my case, operating the scoreboard.
The club, who were admittedly very successful at the time, drew crowds of 300-700, even topping 1,000 for some big games. County matches staged at Scarborough were the exciting icing on the cake, and the big reward maybe one day's trip to a Test. Sadly now the attendances at Scarborough matches have dwindled to a handful.
If you are growing something, it needs to have roots. Grow up from the bottom, with local interest.
Now cricket has become top-heavy, the season buried under an avalanche of England games, which just seem to be milked as a great cash cow to fund everything.
The T20 Blast has brought back a lot of cricket interest locally, with good crowds at small counties. It's a big success. But the will with City Franchise is to have more big "events" at big grounds, and the Blast, shunted to the side, may well suffer.
You don't "grow the game" by simply loading up grounds with beer boys and girls on a night out.
"Ask not what your club can do for you, but what you can do for your club." How many spectators at City Franchise will ever have that maxim in mind?