The 2025 FA Trophy Final - Aldershot Town v Spennymoor Town (Match Day Thread)

[Aldershot]

Spennymoor Town have released limited-edition Wembley shirts to commemorate their FA Trophy Final appearance. The one-off shirts, which come complete with commemorative embroidery to mark their historic trip to Wembley, are available to pre-order in a range of sizes and cost between £35-40.

It's a shame we haven't done something similar and have been shown up by a team in a lower division in terms of producing something that is sure to generate extra revenue for the club. In many ways it shows how we've gone backwards as a club over the years as I remember us producing something similar for our Play-Off Final in Stoke. Now if you go to the online club shop just to purchase the regular home kit (no commemorative embroidery) you are met with the message "**PLEASE BE AWARE ORDERS FOR DELIVERY MAY NOT BE DISPATCHED BEFORE WEMBLEY**". It comes across as very tinpot.

I’m sure the club would always welcome volunteers to help dispatch outstanding orders. More productive than having a dig online.

I must admit I expected a comment along these lines when posting my message. The club has dedicated volunteers who do a great job and full credit to them. But let's remember this is a full-time professional football club. It's a sad state of affairs if a club that that only averages 2,400 fans can't run a half decent operation and has to rely on volunteers to do everything. This kind of blind loyalty and wearing of rose tinted glasses is what allows the club to remain mediocre. This has been a pretty dire season and whilst the FA Trophy Final is extremely welcome it is merely papering over the cracks. However it also provides an opportunity to try and capitalise on all this extra support. A chance to make extra money for the club and perhaps bring some new people through the door next season. Once again it seems like we are doing the bare minimum and just hoping some people will decide to return next season rather than actively trying to gain new supporters or increase revenue streams.

[chimpster99]

If, like me, you had called into the club shop yesterday, you would have seen the scale of the challenge that our amazing team faces in getting vast amounts of merchandise unpacked, logged, stocked, sorted into orders, re-packaged and dispatched. Cut them all some slack please!!

As for the shirts, it was an impossible task because we have a bespoke Errea design. Errea apparently cannot service an order for large quantities of them in the required timescales, and we cannot supply shIrts from other sources under that contract. Spennymoor are supplied by a small local provider (motif8) and their demand will be a fraction of ours, so a completely different situation.

[Birdman]

If, like me, you had called into the club shop yesterday, you would have seen the scale of the challenge that our amazing team faces in getting vast amounts of merchandise unpacked, logged, stocked, sorted into orders, re-packaged and dispatched. Cut them all some slack please!!

As for the shirts, it was an impossible task because we have a bespoke Errea design. Errea apparently cannot service an order for large quantities of them in the required timescales, and we cannot supply shIrts from other sources under that contract. Spennymoor are supplied by a small local provider (motif8) and their demand will be a fraction of ours, so a completely different situation.

I can certainly vouch for the volume of stock and the work involved that the office staff are having to deal with. They’re not just dealing with the pre-ordered merchandise but also the supporters who come into the front office to collect their orders or to buy said merchandise whilst also taking phone calls from supporters (or whoever) during this busy time. So yes, as chimpster has said, cut them all some slack please.

[NorskShot]

The recent posts above about retailing and the club shop do confirm that the clubs attempts at other income streams is very 'tinpot'. A club that can get 18000 fans for Wembley should have a far better retail set up, and this seems to be another massive opportunity that has been poorly met.
I'm not having a go at the shop volunteers, I'm sure they are doing a great job.
The club badly needs a shake up, top to bottom

[brian bloomfield]

Errea are notorious for needing long lead in times. However let's say it takes 2 hours to set the machines up and a day to print 500 shirts we will always be trying to jump in front of someone else's production run.
If we have ordered already for next year trophy shirts could have an impact on next seasons sales but rather a bird in the hand than 2 in the bush.
12 days to go and after Barnet on Saturday I've become acclimatised to extortionate pricing

[Aldershot]

I can certainly vouch for the volume of stock and the work involved that the office staff are having to deal with. They’re not just dealing with the pre-ordered merchandise but also the supporters who come into the front office to collect their orders or to buy said merchandise whilst also taking phone calls from supporters (or whoever) during this busy time. So yes, as chimpster has said, cut them all some slack please.

Again this isn't a dig at the volunteers or the staff who work at the club. The point I'm trying to make is the club seem to be cutting corners and not employing enough staff to meet demands. As usual it seems we are run on a shoestring budget and seem content to merely be a mid-table NL side. The club lacks ambition and it's apparent in all areas of how the club is run. Loyalty often overrides logic with football supporters so they know they can get away with more and often take the fans for granted.

[Aldershot]

As for the shirts, it was an impossible task because we have a bespoke Errea design. Errea apparently cannot service an order for large quantities of them in the required timescales, and we cannot supply shIrts from other sources under that contract. Spennymoor are supplied by a small local provider (motif8) and their demand will be a fraction of ours, so a completely different situation.

Errea were the kit supplier for the 2003/2004 season limited edition shirts that I mentioned earlier. By the time the FA Trophy Final comes around it would've been over a month since we beat Woking to qualify for it. There was a 13 day period between the Hereford United SF2L and the POF at Stoke. Didn't seem to be any issue then when we had a more ambitious owner and a clear goal and vision for the club.

[Cph.shots]

Spennymoor Town have released limited-edition Wembley shirts to commemorate their FA Trophy Final appearance. The one-off shirts, which come complete with commemorative embroidery to mark their historic trip to Wembley, are available to pre-order in a range of sizes and cost between £35-40.

It's a shame we haven't done something similar and have been shown up by a team in a lower division in terms of producing something that is sure to generate extra revenue for the club. In many ways it shows how we've gone backwards as a club over the years as I remember us producing something similar for our Play-Off Final in Stoke. Now if you go to the online club shop just to purchase the regular home kit (no commemorative embroidery) you are met with the message "**PLEASE BE AWARE ORDERS FOR DELIVERY MAY NOT BE DISPATCHED BEFORE WEMBLEY**". It comes across as very tinpot.

I’m sure the club would always welcome volunteers to help dispatch outstanding orders. More productive than having a dig online.

I must admit I expected a comment along these lines when posting my message. The club has dedicated volunteers who do a great job and full credit to them. But let's remember this is a full-time professional football club. It's a sad state of affairs if a club that that only averages 2,400 fans can't run a half decent operation and has to rely on volunteers to do everything. This kind of blind loyalty and wearing of rose tinted glasses is what allows the club to remain mediocre. This has been a pretty dire season and whilst the FA Trophy Final is extremely welcome it is merely papering over the cracks. However it also provides an opportunity to try and capitalise on all this extra support. A chance to make extra money for the club and perhaps bring some new people through the door next season. Once again it seems like we are doing the bare minimum and just hoping some people will decide to return next season rather than actively trying to gain new supporters or increase revenue streams.

I can obviously see your point but as the club has a very limited budget isn't it better to save money for the playing budget, where we probably are not allowed to field volunteers and save a bit on the admin side. Of course it bites back at times like this and maybe an appeal could have been made for extra volunteers but maybe Spennymoor have someone who knew where to find stuff at fairly short notice. I'd imagine just about everyone has been surprised by the amount of tickets sold so far in our end and it must be very difficult to estimate the amount of merchandise needed without having a lot left over or not enough, I'd imagine it's also a case of cash up front, would the club have enough? not looking through rose tinteds, just trying to be objective.

[chimpster99]

As for the shirts, it was an impossible task because we have a bespoke Errea design. Errea apparently cannot service an order for large quantities of them in the required timescales, and we cannot supply shIrts from other sources under that contract. Spennymoor are supplied by a small local provider (motif8) and their demand will be a fraction of ours, so a completely different situation.

Errea were the kit supplier for the 2003/2004 season limited edition shirts that I mentioned earlier. By the time the FA Trophy Final comes around it would've been over a month since we beat Woking to qualify for it. There was a 13 day period between the Hereford United SF2L and the POF at Stoke. Didn't seem to be any issue then when we had a more ambitious owner and a clear goal and vision for the club.

Supply times for new shirts and re-stocks in recent years suggest that whatever they were doing 21-22 years is ancient history. Unless you source locally you won't get that kind of reactivity nowadays, the flip side to which is you won't get the same kind of quality either. I'd guarantee the club looked into it, but it's better to not offer the shirts than to try and fail if the supply chain can't be relied upon to hit a short deadline.

[Cph.shots]

I can certainly vouch for the volume of stock and the work involved that the office staff are having to deal with. They’re not just dealing with the pre-ordered merchandise but also the supporters who come into the front office to collect their orders or to buy said merchandise whilst also taking phone calls from supporters (or whoever) during this busy time. So yes, as chimpster has said, cut them all some slack please.

Again this isn't a dig at the volunteers or the staff who work at the club. The point I'm trying to make is the club seem to be cutting corners and not employing enough staff to meet demands. As usual it seems we are run on a shoestring budget and seem content to merely be a mid-table NL side. The club lacks ambition and it's apparent in all areas of how the club is run. Loyalty often overrides logic with football supporters so they know they can get away with more and often take the fans for granted.

We are run on a shoestring budget, as are many clubs and other businesses......households too.....look around you, if you work does your company have people just sitting around waiting for some extra business to come in?

The front office is quite small as well so not even much space for extra people, should the club hire a small warehouse of shop to accommodate staff and merchandise?

[Cph.shots]

The recent posts above about retailing and the club shop do confirm that the clubs attempts at other income streams is very 'tinpot'. A club that can get 18000 fans for Wembley should have a far better retail set up, and this seems to be another massive opportunity that has been poorly met.
I'm not having a go at the shop volunteers, I'm sure they are doing a great job.
The club badly needs a shake up, top to bottom

Everything comes from China and would have to flown in adding extra cost and that's taking for granted it can be produced and booked in on time.
Just an idea but can't you buy customized shirts online?

[FloridaPhil]

Spennymoor Town have released limited-edition Wembley shirts to commemorate their FA Trophy Final appearance. The one-off shirts, which come complete with commemorative embroidery to mark their historic trip to Wembley, are available to pre-order in a range of sizes and cost between £35-40.

It's a shame we haven't done something similar and have been shown up by a team in a lower division in terms of producing something that is sure to generate extra revenue for the club. In many ways it shows how we've gone backwards as a club over the years as I remember us producing something similar for our Play-Off Final in Stoke. Now if you go to the online club shop just to purchase the regular home kit (no commemorative embroidery) you are met with the message "**PLEASE BE AWARE ORDERS FOR DELIVERY MAY NOT BE DISPATCHED BEFORE WEMBLEY**". It comes across as very tinpot.

I’m sure the club would always welcome volunteers to help dispatch outstanding orders. More productive than having a dig online.

I must admit I expected a comment along these lines when posting my message. The club has dedicated volunteers who do a great job and full credit to them. But let's remember this is a full-time professional football club. It's a sad state of affairs if a club that that only averages 2,400 fans can't run a half decent operation and has to rely on volunteers to do everything. This kind of blind loyalty and wearing of rose tinted glasses is what allows the club to remain mediocre. This has been a pretty dire season and whilst the FA Trophy Final is extremely welcome it is merely papering over the cracks. However it also provides an opportunity to try and capitalise on all this extra support. A chance to make extra money for the club and perhaps bring some new people through the door next season. Once again it seems like we are doing the bare minimum and just hoping some people will decide to return next season rather than actively trying to gain new supporters or increase revenue streams.

Excellent post!

[FloridaPhil]

I can certainly vouch for the volume of stock and the work involved that the office staff are having to deal with. They’re not just dealing with the pre-ordered merchandise but also the supporters who come into the front office to collect their orders or to buy said merchandise whilst also taking phone calls from supporters (or whoever) during this busy time. So yes, as chimpster has said, cut them all some slack please.

Again this isn't a dig at the volunteers or the staff who work at the club. The point I'm trying to make is the club seem to be cutting corners and not employing enough staff to meet demands. As usual it seems we are run on a shoestring budget and seem content to merely be a mid-table NL side. The club lacks ambition and it's apparent in all areas of how the club is run. Loyalty often overrides logic with football supporters so they know they can get away with more and often take the fans for granted.

Brilliant!

[James Frazer]

If you want to take a break from moaning, pop down to Wellington Street and enjoy the Jerome's window display. They have a display to commemorate VE Day as well as a mini Subbuteo set-up to commemorate ATFC at Wembley.
I'm sure someone will find fault.

[Birdman]

The recent posts above about retailing and the club shop do confirm that the clubs attempts at other income streams is very 'tinpot'. A club that can get 18000 fans for Wembley should have a far better retail set up, and this seems to be another massive opportunity that has been poorly met.
I'm not having a go at the shop volunteers, I'm sure they are doing a great job.
The club badly needs a shake up, top to bottom

There aren’t any shop volunteers, they’re all paid employees.
With regard to ‘18,000 fans for Wembley’, the clue is in the word ‘Wembley’. How many supporters or fans went up to the Britannia Stadium, Stoke in 2004 for the play-off final for a game that was imo much more important? 7,000 max? So, Wembley or Stoke? Chalk ‘n cheese really.