Pryce's own goal

As much as I admire Chairman Pryce Griffiths for the way he has brought stability and continuity to the club through prudent financial management and faith in Flynn when others wavered after the chaos and crises of the 1980s, I cannot help feel that he has scored a massive own goal. Supporters will recall his outburst to the press after the disappointing FA Cup home defeat to Rotherham…when he described the Wrexham attendance of 3,800 as a 'bloody disgrace'. Rotherham's 800 or so travelling fans boosted the total attendance to a not unrespectable figure, for us, of 3,800 - therefore indicating that the actual 'Wrexham' turnout was just over 3,000, considerably higher than a number of league attendances this season. Griffiths appears to have based his comments purely on the fact that we were playing in the FA Cup, and justified his arguments by referring to our relatively impressive record in the competition, clearly expecting greater loyalty from supporters purely because of this fact. 

What Griffiths failed to grasp was that - as was highlighted in the Bristol Rovers programme - the attendance actually compares favourably with gates at several 1st Round encounters in recent seasons. It should be remembered that this was a 1st Round tie against a relatively unglamorous side and, with the big boys not entering the competition until the 3rd Round, there was really not a great deal of incentive for floating supporters. What the club should have had the foresight to do was to issue priority vouchers at the turnstiles for a possible big draw in the 3rd Round, making very sure that this was well publicised beforehand to ensure that no-one had any excuse to whinge about not being able to get a ticket for a future 'glamour tie'. Griffiths' comments aimed at 'floating' supporters also appear to suggest that he expects them to turn up every week and demonstrate undivided loyalty to the club. While obviously desirable, it is completely unrealistic to expect this and, as at every club in the land, there are always going to be supporters who - for various reasons, not least financial - do not attend every game and are forced to make choices as to the games they do attend. Wrexham, as with all clubs, have a hardcore of fans who will attend every game no matter how poor the performance and whatever the weather; however, there are also several thousand more for whom a day at the Racecourse represents a leisure activity 'choice'. When displays have, at best, been variable (especially at home), as Mr Griffiths would no doubt accept, he should not be surprised when fans exercise their democratic right to go and do something less boring instead. 

Anyone who has travelled with scheduled airlines will probably be familiar with an end-of-flight announcement that goes something along the lines of: 'We realise that you had a choice of airlines today and we would like to thank you for flying with us'. It is a sentiment that the club would do well to endorse, instead of alienating those who do not attend every week with insulting comments made in the press. 

Paul Lindsay

It is now Red Passion’s policy to forward copies of this regular PR column to the club in the hope that it may feel able to respond to matters raised. So, the club has just received photocopies of the PR columns published in RP Issues 13-19. Watch this space!