Beveree Chat

Met Police say they are hosting us on the 19th July

I understand that there are 7/8 friendlies in the pipeline, some still to be confirmed.

Hope we have a couple of friendlies against sides at a similar level to us. Playing pro clubs rarely tells us anything but may help with a decent gate. Playing much lower ranked sides is all about getting fitness levels up and testing different shapes and combinations and has its obvious benefits. However, in recent years we don’t seem to have many games when the first choice XI actually play together against the type of team we are likely to meet in the league. With a number of new players joining the more familiarity gained by playing together against relevant opposition the better.

agree with tony 100%..so many friendliest appear with trialists or youth players who are nowhere near Conf south level. better to have a clear idea of a side early one and play competitively in friendlies

Absolutely agree, there seems to be this misconception that fans want to see lots of glamourous sides playing us but those games are so meaningless they have become borderline farcical in more recent years. I think most fans would much rather see our team taking shape and getting used to playing alongside each other against more realiatic oposition.

Schedule is out. Looks a reasonable balance 1 x Step 4, 3 x step 3, 1 x step 1 and two pro club XI's.

https://www.hamptonfc.net/news/preseaso ... 05255.html
Saturday 9 July – Hayes & Yeading United (a)

Tuesday 12 July – Charlton Athletic XI (h)

Saturday 16 July – Hanworth Villa (a)

Tuesday 19 July – Met Police (a)

Saturday 23 July – QPR XI (h)

Monday 25 July – Carshalton Athletic (a)

Saturday 30 July – Woking (h)

Looks a really good mix of friendlies.
Nice to see Hanworth Villa, and build those relationships.
Would be good if the eventually became like a feeder club where could send promising youngsters to get first team game time, or players coming back from injury on dual registration. Should be a good boost to their finances with a Saturday friendly, hopefully a big crowd for them.

Two pro XI's is good, and could also be a way to build links for potential young loan players.

Would be nice if could rekindle the old relationship with Brentford, but it seems to be getting harder to get pro clubs to send a first team.

I would assume pre season training would start a couple of weeks before the first game. Might see a few new faces?

Lord Elpus wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 9:51 am Absolutely agree, there seems to be this misconception that fans want to see lots of glamourous sides playing us but those games are so meaningless they have become borderline farcical in more recent years. I think most fans would much rather see our team taking shape and getting used to playing alongside each other against more realiatic oposition.

Surely the entire point of playing "glamourous" sides is that if you play a pro club, even an "XI" it attracts a bigger crowd, boosts the club coffers, and you sometimes attract more casual fans throughout the season.

Well yeah, of course, there are those who will always be impressed by the "name" of a league club but I think an increasing number of regular and longer term supporters know that the games are only likely to attract an under 18 type side, or younger, are pretty dull as a spectacle, and don't attract that much in the way of crowds anyway.

Exactly, Noticeable how few attended recent pro team PSFs. Pro teams either don’t see the value or don’t want to risk their better players. There are other ways to attract new supporters.

What are your suggestions on better ways to attract new supporters then?

Here's 1, Alvechurch, step 3, who I followed for a few years, have announced season ticket prices.
u18s season ticket (6 - 17 year olds) £21 , that's £1 per game, an absolutely brilliant price strategy!!