Free football Saturday was a success, says delighted Bourne chairman

Monday 14th December 2009

SITTINGBOURNE officials were left breathing a huge sigh of relief as well as patting themselves on the back for a job well done as a crowd on near 350 took advantage of free entry to watch Gary Abbott's side come from behind to beat Fleet Town at Bourne Park on Saturday writes Mike Green.

Speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk, Sittingbourne chairman Andy Spice expressed himself a happy - but very relieved man.

He said:, "Its been a great day and what a great atmosphere as well. I think everyone has enjoyed and what a great result for us anyway to beat a good Fleet side and the game itself was very entertaining."

When asked why the club had taken the decision to make a Saturday game free entry when a lot of their local rivals were playing, Mr Spice admitted that "we thought we'd have to do something a bit desperate to try and get people in especially this time of year because a lot of people are Christmas shopping.

“But today has been absolutely excellent especially as we've been round with a bucket too and a lot of people have admitted that they've actually put more in the bucket than they would have normally spent. Everything has worked in our favour and its been great!

"Having said all that, on the way down here this morning, it was pouring hard with rain and I did actually have doubts as to whether we'd done the right thing or not - the crowd could have been worse than normal, and we'd get no money in at all.

“But the bar’s been busy all day - they've been queues at the burger bar and the whole afternoon has been absolutely fantastic. I must admit that I did find myself wondering that it could have been a bad idea, but we've had a great day, and its proved to be a winner!”

Looking forward we asked Mr Spice exactly how bad things currently are for the Brickies.

He said: "I don't think its good for any Non League club at the moment, with the recession hitting everyone and the fact that there's a lot more TV football today so that people can stay indoors in the dry and the warm rather than come out on cold wet days - that doesn't help us much.

“Also there seems to me that there's a lot more Youth football being played on a Saturday now than there used to be and that must take crowds away as Mum and Dad, Nan and Granddad understandably want to go and watch them instead of coming to places like Bourne Park. There's lots of factors...

“The prices that the Premier League Clubs and League Clubs charge for their game is a premium one, and given that clubs like ours charge a lot less for our games, there's still a chance that the bubble over football at the moment will burst sometime soonish, and we've all got to be careful.”

Brickies boss Gary Abbott was also very happy with the turnout and he hopes that his side did enough to attract those "extra" fans back - starting with the Championship Manager Ryman League Cup game against Margate on Wednesday night.

Abbott said: "Got told about the free entry and Andy (Spice) wants to try and get more people through the gate which is something we desperately need to help pay the bills - 348 is more than double what we have been getting so I just hope that those who did come down today saw a good game - saw that we try and play good football - there was great movement and great passing from us today - hopefully they'll go away after enjoying a good entertaining attacking game and that some of them will come back on Wednesday night against Margate!"

Visit Sittingbourne’s website: www.sittingbournefc.co.uk

Visit Margate's website: www.margate-fc.com

www.kentishfootball.co.uk will be covering this game.

Sittingbourne v Margate

Championship Manager Cup Third Round

Wednesday 16th December 2009

Kick Off 7:45pm

At Bourne Park, Central Park, Eurolink, Church Road, Sittingbourne, Kent ME10 3SB