Macclesfield Town Programme, 8th March 2008
Well done to all the supporters who followed the team to the three away games last week; especially those who went to Darlington despite the previous two disappointing performances. If you attended all three matches and travelled from Brentford, you will have clocked up an amazing 653 miles. Needless to say this would have cost you a considerable amount of time and money. Thank you for your support; everyone associated with the Club appreciates it.
Whilst this amount of travelling can cost you some significant sums of money it also costs the Club a significant amount too in travel costs and hotel bills. This season it will be around £50,000 which is a lot of money for a Club like ours. This made me think about the case for reverting to regional divisions in League 1 and 2.
The argument for doing this is:
That travel expenses would be reduced for clubs and supporters alike. The prospect of less travel would encourage more supporters to go to away games resulting in more spare capacity in football grounds being utilised (86% of the capacity at Darlington last Saturday wasn’t being used). There would be more local derbies and greater interest in matches generating a better atmosphere inside the ground, making the football “experience” more enjoyable. The 4 closest clubs, Barnet (15 miles), Dagenham (24 miles), Wycombe (30 miles), MK Dons (54 miles) have delivered our top three League attendances to date, 541 (3rd), 288 (11th), 606 (2nd) and 1076 (1st) respectively.
The argument against doing this is:
Due to the divisions being spit into two, there would be half the promotion/relegation places available in each so that it would be harder to get out of the League, like the Conference. As the season comes to an end the teams in mid-table would have less to play for which would adversely affect crowds as the season progressed. For teams in the south the visiting northern teams do not automatically mean low attendances; this season in League 1 a visit from Nottingham Forest or Leeds United usually results in the season’s highest attendance. Conversely a team from the same area does not always result in a high attendance, for example Dagenham & Redbridge’s visit resulted in our 5th lowest League away attendance of the season (288).
Personally, I vividly recall the plethora of end of season meaningless games prior to the introduction of the play-offs and I would not like to see a return to that. This in itself could negate the benefit of any increase in crowds earlier in the season as a result of the away following. I also have to say that by following the Bees “up north” I have enjoyed visiting parts of the country I would have never gone to otherwise. I am sure if you have gone regularly “up north” as an away supporter then you will have enjoyed that special atmosphere generated out of the “adversity”?!
If you have a view on whether there should be regional divisions in the Football League and have Internet access why not put your views across on the GPG where this topic is currently being debated?
Well this afternoon we welcome one of those teams from “up north” and it is important that we all do our bit by getting behind the boys for the full 90 minutes and help them get back that winning habit.
Let's work together!
Jon Gosling
PS Please excuse me if I wish my Dad a happy 84th birthday today; it’s only another season to go before he can get his free season ticket!
Comments can either be sent to me on or directly via comments page.
9th March 2008