CELG(4) WPL 03
I am a very keen Football
fan and have always been very interested in the Welsh National
Teams and Domestic Leagues for a very long time. I noticed
the enquiry that has just been raised in regards to the future of
the League and I felt as though I needed to express my opinion as
it is quite an important aspect to my sporting life and I always
enjoy the League.
I know this is much easier said than done and pretty obvious
although there really does need to be a really big investment in
many aspects of the sport. There are so many kids out there
that play football in Wales but never get the support and the right
enthusiasm in some of the effected areas in Wales (using Aberdare
as an example). There are a lot of great, small local clubs
around although there is no end target or goal for them as players
apart from playing for Man Utd or Liverpool. I'm not saying
that Welsh Premier and Football league Clubs can compete with the
likes of Man Utd although these kids have no idea these clubs exist
and therefore playing in the Welsh Premier has not entered their
mind.
I feel that it boils down to 2 factors:
1. Development Academies located in regions
(More 5 a side/7 a side centres, encouraging more kids to play, FAW
trained coaches doing regular sessions, Giving the kids the dream
of playing in the Welsh Premier League).
2. A Major Marketing Strategy (Giving Clubs the chance to Re Brand
their clubs to gain more exposure)
I spent a couple of hours last night looking at the Web presence of
our Football Clubs and the Clubs in England and overall I feel it
is an embarrassment. Some clubs have good websites and some
Clubs don't even have a website which I think is terrible.
The Media is so important now and I think our coverage on the
Internet is awful. If I was a business who was approached for
sponsorship, the first thing I would do is check out their website
and in conclusion I really would not have invested in hardly any of
them. There is a sense of an old fashion mentality at a lot
of Clubs and they are afraid to let us "youngsters" get our hands
dirty. The League has no Facebook Page which I think is
disgusting in the modern world of Media. I think the future
of a lot of clubs are in danger because the Next Generation of Fans
and Club members are not being reached. If their local Club
can communicate with them by the use of Social Networking etc then
over the years there will be better crowds and a following. I
hope we don't leave it too late!
I'm aware it is not going to happen overnight and I know that
getting any investment is hard at the moment. If I was a
multi-millionaire then my local Club of Aberaman Athletic would be
an incredible force on and off the pitch through the use of local
young talent. It just needs some enthusiasm and ambition for
these kids to get involved, they are our future!
I hope that this has been helpful and I am very happy to help Welsh
Football any way. I look forward to hearing what issues have
been brought up and how we can help.
Many Regards
Matthew Davies