An appeal to Wasps
Empty Seats at the Ricoh
By Greenwood
February 18 2015
This is a copy of a letter sent to Jeremy Wilton at Wasps in order to try to organise travel to Home games for perviously loyal fans. It is published here to try to raisde awareness with fans in the South East who would benefit from organised travel to the Ricoh Arena.
Sir
Your contact name has been given to me by the main Wasps office and I hope you'll allow me to crave an indulgence.
My name is Ian Edmed , I am a Kent RFU Society Referee, Level II RFU coach and I have been solely responsible for the organisation of about 30 or so coach trips from Old Gravesendians RFC and friends from the surrounding area to watch and support Wasps both at home (Sudbury, Loftus Road and Adams Park) and away, at Harlequins, London Irish and Saracens, along with trips to the 2 European Cup triumphs at HQ, the Championship wins and the Anglo Welsh success. Numerous London D/Hs, The Help for Heroes games and the knock-out cup final wins at HQ etc.; all these being over the last 20 years..
We have filled as many as 3 coaches (150+) to a couple of games, but usually 2 (100+) and always obtained our home tickets through The Community Team and have been well looked after by them, and on two occasions have been invited to form the guard of honour at the Help for Heroes games as the players entered the field.
Some of the youth players who came along in those early years are now old enough to bring along their own children on the excursions nowadays.
I now come to my main point. The move to Coventry has been a severe blow to somebody like myself, impeding on my ability to encourage enough people to make it worthwhile to travel by coach from our area, with their cost and time being relevant (£650 for a 52 seated coach). People are fickle I know.
I had advertised my intention to have at least 2 trips to Coventry during the remainder of this season on the Waspies.Net site under my pen name of greenwwod, but I cannot, much to my chagrin, get enough support from SE London and Kent based supporters to supplement my numbers......Result No trip (The first was the Harlequins home game in Feb)
I have been met with so much disappointment from that small amount of interested people that I am determined to try again in the near future with the intent to attend a later game.(Leicester perhaps?) Ultimately I do not want to admit defeat on this situation.
Is there any way that the Club can help me by posting an advertisement or my number and contact details on the mail web site for these ventures?
As I've said to others who have shown interest, if my contact and details were published, I'd be more than willing and able to arrange, as was done in the past, coach trips at some point for away games next season at venues such as Northampton, Leicester or perhaps London Irish for all London and Kent based Wasps fans who'd like to travel with a like-minded set of people. (Don Fowler, now deceased, arranged these trips many yearsago and an absolute success they were and certainly gave people like myself a wonderful chance to watch top class rugby at places I’d never have dreamt of. These consisted of both coach and train parties)
All it needs is 35-40 people to break even and for themto turn up at a certain place at a certain time and off we go!
Without this break-even number, all I am creating is disappointing supporters who cannot go.
All that is required is for me to be able to contact unknown Wasps fans in my surrounding area. I would do all the donkey work, I'm well used to it and even though I say it myself, an accomplished hand. I’d arrange any required tickets through the host club, be it Wasps or the opposition.
The way the team is playing and shaping up, I just feel by taking 40 or 50 extra persons to some home and away games would be a real bonus, not only for us, but the team and players as well.
I'm sure there are still a number of people in this area who would travel for the odd game in Coventry, but my problem is finding them and tooffer them the service that I’m prepared to give.
I am also sending a copy of this to Steve Henderson at the Fans Forum.
I'd appreciate any help or pointers the club can give me.
Regards
Ian Edmed
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loosehead, VespulaV.Chillham,Dazthelion,Waspontour, Rifleman H & Peter Brown I have all your details and hopefully this may encourage others and we can get at least 1 trip in this year.
greenwood (Ian)
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015:02:20:13:49:49 by greenwood.
“This machine kills fascists”
Woody Guthrie's guitar.
“This machine kills fascists”
Woody Guthrie's guitar.
Thanks Waspymatt.
Quote:RossM
No interest from the Beckenham area?
He already attends every home game .... sits behind me in Block 20 judging by the running commentary we get each and every minute of each and every game
At an away fixture
Lose
Win a trophy
Have a man sent off
Get beaten in a final
Publish a thread on this site
Upset people on this site
Anything else ?
Quote:greenwood
You can't be a true Wasps fan until you've seen 'em
Get beaten in a final
Blimey that's going back a hell of a long way!
Saracens & Bath. The Saracens loss was a gut wrencher...
Quote:DGPWaspQuote:greenwood
You can't be a true Wasps fan until you've seen 'em
Get beaten in a final
Blimey that's going back a hell of a long way!
Would mean that even people who'd supported for 17 years are real fans! Also forget any minors being real fans!!!
“This machine kills fascists”
Woody Guthrie's guitar.
“This machine kills fascists”
Woody Guthrie's guitar.
Quote:RossM
I was at Loftus Road when Paul Volley saw red for getting into a fight with a Gloucester player (name escapes me).
But Volls was often in scraps.... Narrow it down even more! After all, we play them at home at least twice per season (well it seems like it!)
:beer:
“This machine kills fascists”
Woody Guthrie's guitar.
I'll just separate 'em on the coach..
Keith Johnson
Camra Member 224855.
PS BRING BACK BARNEY WE NEED MORE ARGUMENTS!!!!
Could we park the coach in your relatives drive and deposit the Timothy Taylor empties in their bin !
Quote:greenwood
Thanks for the kind words midlander5.
Could we park the coach in your relatives drive and deposit the Timothy Taylor empties in their bin !
Brilliant!
