The Future is Bright

Bill Wingrove

The Big Interview Rich Williams meets the Wrexham FC Commercial Director, 

First and foremost, what do you intend to achieve in the commercial sphere here at Wrexham?
'In general, I would like to improve the commercial side of the club in all departments. Obviously we want better publicity for the club, and I'm sure I can help fulfil this. I want a better relationship with supporters, and find out what they would like done at the club. We want to attract more people to games, but we don't want to make false promises. We are on a small budget, and I would rather take small steps in building a better future for the club, than just go in at the deep end, and not make any progression at the club. I have had great experience in this field, 30 years in fact, and I am friends with Denis Smith. We intend to work closely together, and try any way possible in improving the club in all areas.'

What have you done so far in relation to achieving your aims?
'I arrived at the club in May, and my first target was to achieve a sponsorship deal. This was a priority. Our last sponsor deal with Carlsberg/Wrexham Lager had expired, and we needed to find a new company to sponsor us. We were inundated with offers, as the
chance to sponsor a league football club is really too good to pass up. We were happy with Gap Personnel's offer, and so we agreed terms before the end of June, ready for the Isle of Man Tournament. My second, but in essence a long-lasting aim, was to meet with supporters of the club, and find out what they would like to improve at Wrexham. Phil Sadler played a big part in this, and we have had various meetings with the WINS group, and open evenings. I feel that it is extremely important for the fans to voice what they think should be done in the commercial dealings of the club. The Away Travel Club last season was sometimes intermittent, and did not run regular trips to away games. This has been rectified for this season, and we now run trips to every away game at good prices. The Gold Bond scheme has proved successful in the past in making money for the club. Money is the lubricant of the industry, and we want more ways of making revenue like this one. I intend to enhance the Gold Bond system in every form possible.'

For a long time fans have cried out for better publicity for the club. How do you intend doing this?
'We have contacted our local radio station MFM, and they have agreed to sponsor the Pryce Griffiths Stand, and will publicise fixtures in advertisements. To give our club a modernised, young and vibrant feeling, you can expect our players, especially the Trinidadians, to help with these adverts, to appeal to the youngsters of the town. We have also made a record called Magic which is the "anthem of Wrexham Town". It is sung by all the players, and can only be a positive thing in making revenue, and publicity. The Wrexham town- centre lights will be turned on by a few Wrexham players, which again will hopefully increase publicity. Both of these things will hopefully enhance the profile of the club. As you will find out, Wrexham FC is a big thing in the town at the moment. I wish to take advantage of this, and get more people interested in the club.'

Supporters have also voiced concerns over the current state of the club shop. An idea has been to build a superstore in the town centre. What do you make of this?
'We are on a tight budget in terms of what we can realistically achieve at the club. We have expanded the club shop so that there is more room for people to go in there on matchdays, and we have agreed a deal with Sainsburys. When this new arrangement begins on 14 November, with Denis Smith to be present at the opening ceremony, there will be more shelf space, equaling more room for Wrexham AFC merchandise to be sold. Sainsburys have agreed to a no-profit deal for selling our products.'

Schemes in the past such as 'kid for a quid' have been successful in attracting more youngsters to games. However, this has not been carried out on a regular basis. Do you think this would help boost crowds at Wrexham? What other attendance-raising projects are you going to try?
'I have heard that that the "kid for a quid" scheme has been tried, tested and has been successful in the past, and I have seen other clubs doing it regularly. You can be certain that we will again be trying this before Christmas. When we recently played Darlington in the league, their prices for a family ticket were much more expensive than what we offer at Wrexham - £20 compared to £15 here. So we do offer good deals, and this can only attract more families to games, which can only be a positive thing.'