Everyone remembers last year when we had countless column inches devoted to Mike Lewis and Tony Petty recounting their sorry tales whilst the web-sites fought the battle of the written word by pointing out just what crap we have been fed by those people. But now, with the club facing the possibility of losing league status the Evening Post are taking our problems to a much wider audience
For too long now, it appears that the internet fans have had a reasonably clear idea of the situation at the Vetch whilst the average fan in the street thinks that the club is ticking along nicely. Well if the coverage that the EP have given persuades some that the club is worth fighting for and gets them back inside the gates then all the better.
I have read letters in the Evening Post in the past 6 months that defy belief. “We need new players”, “We should spend this on that” etc etc. Well, to coin the old phrase money doesn’t grow on trees and we have to commend the directors and the trust for what they are saying at the moment. Leigh hit it right in his statement that the club has never been this open. Back in the days of Lewis and McClure we were skint but you never heard the rumblings. Honesty will usually pay and whilst the fans don’t directly influence results on the field they certainly have a big part to say in the financial viability of the club.
I had a correspondence with a Hull fan the other day on how they managed to up their crowds when they were up against it. This is what he had to say “Another factor is in part connected to the above in that the local media were right behind it. I actually hate the Hull Daily Mail but they do know how to sell a story and kept the clubs fight on the front page for months on end. The local radio Station not to be left out also kept doing special programmes on the Tigers. That certainly helped as it was all a lot of people talked about.”
Now if there isn’t a lesson to be learned there then I don’t know where there is one. The Evening Post have made a good start and it is up to them and also Swansea Sound to keep hammering the message home. A crowd of even 4,500 on Saturday is only enough if it consistently stays at that level and yes there is impetus at the moment it has to be maintained between now and May.
The club has taken a step forward in putting a true picture on the current situation and at last those in Adelaide Street are sitting up and taking notice. Well done to all concerned – let’s hope that this is rewarded with what we all want. Success for Swansea City.
Onwards and Upwards?