Cheltenham managing director James Watts has told Gloucester Live that the club needs to produce more revenue and he has a plan to achieve it.
The former Hereford general manager recently left Swindon.
"It’s
a role I’ve wanted for a while and I am enjoying it so far," Watts said.
"I wanted to run the day-to-day operations and Cheltenham is
within an hour of my previous clubs, so it falls within the network of
contacts I’ve built up.
"I’ve
known people who have played and managed here, as well as having
contacts in the academy set-up, so this role stood out for me and as
soon as I had a conversation with owner Mike Garlick, it was where I wanted to be for
the coming season.
"If
the club were to achieve that in the next 18 months or two years, the
next stage is to make sure we are sustainable in League One because a
lot of clubs go up, come back down and struggle, or drop into
non-league.
"We
have to keep expectations realistic, but there is no reason why the
club can’t grow its fanbase with its location and being an affluent
area; I see potential there.
"We
have to build structures and processes correctly to make sure that if
the club goes further on the field, we are able to match it off the
field. If that doesn’t marry up, we’d be in trouble.
"Historically,
I think Cheltenham fans understand how difficult League One is. For the
club to go back to that level, with even more investment and bigger
wages in football now, we have to be commercially and operationally in
that position. I don’t see any reason why we can’t get there."
Watts has plenty of ideas.
"There
is the possibility of a summer concert, which would generate revenue,
but that’s just like one more match day and it needs to be a venue as
much as a football ground.
"The
fanzone we’ve had for the England World Cup games has generated money,
as concerts could too. Oktoberfest, a Christmas Fair and Santa’s Grotto -
there are loads of things we have the ability to do to generate that
extra revenue, along with room hire, parties, wakes, weddings and
conferencing.
"What
I’d like to do is aim for 40 revenue-generating days instead of 28. A
lot more can be done here because of the location and that’s something
I’ll be looking to drive forward with the team here."
Currently the average gate at Cheltenham is around 4000.
"I
have always tried to bring in more young fans, going into schools with
the community foundation, running soccer camps and introducing ticket
initiatives, as well as having more mascots, and that’ll be an area to
target here.
"It’s
also about giving value to your commercial partners, who’ll then tell
other companies and your client base grows. It was something I did at
Newport and Swindon, building that commercial area to drive attendances,
which has helped both clubs.
"We
also need to start targeting national businesses outside of Cheltenham.
There is no reason why we can’t increase crowds by 10 or 15 per cent
and, if we are winning games, why not 25 per cent or have sell-outs?
"As
long as Steve Cotterill is winning games, we have to ensure the
commercial operation is the best it can be. If fans are enjoying what
they are watching, we can add extra elements to create both a family
environment and a commercial environment. It all goes hand in hand to
help the club reach the next level."