The unofficial secrets act

How much information should a football club keep from their supporters?

It’s no secret, Bromley Football Club love a secret. Whether it’s injuries and suspensions, the sudden disappearance of Chef Ali, or how long a whacking-great flag is going to be covering a fifth of the seats in the Glyn Beverly Stand, certain information is for a privileged few. But is that a bad thing?

If you’re willing to dig a little and ask the right people, you could find answers to all of the questions above. But the average fan doesn’t have the time or the contacts. Then again, would it change much if you did know the answers? You’d still go to the game, right? So, what’s the problem?

A football club is in a two-way relationship with its fans. The club relies almost entirely on their support to function and grow. While, in return for their support, fans hope to be entertained and to feel like they’re a valued part of the relationship. 

But, let’s be honest, it’s an open marriage. The club doesn’t mind if you have a little fling on the side with another club, so long as you turn up for dinner more often than not. Similarly, fans are willing to forgive certain transgressions: poor performance among them.

But is there a line in the sand?

Clearly, Bromley think they’re toeing the line quite nicely. And they must be right: attendances are good and the club is growing on and off the pitch. But there’s an inescapable murmur of disquiet in the stands and digital salons; a sense that the fans are always the last to know.

We’re not used to that feeling anymore. With the world at our fingertips, we’ve grown accustomed to having information now, now, now! Even waiting more than a few seconds for a website to open sends us into an eye-rolling huff.

So it’s fitting that, as I write, Bromley’s line-up for the away game against Aldershot has just been announced on social media. Chris Bush and Billy Bingham are missing from the line-up but no reason is given. Fans are replying to the club’s post, hoping for an update, but they’re not getting one. 

We know why, though. Bromley’s manager, Andy Woodman, has gone on record as saying he doesn’t want to give anything away to the opposition in advance. How much Aldershot’s manager could do with that information is debatable, but if you knew Chris Bush was having Saturday off you might spend less time preparing your defence for long throws.

But what’s the harm in giving fans an update when we’re moments from kick-off? The opposition will have had the team sheet for at least an hour, so it’ll be pretty clear who’s missing. Ah, but what about the next opposition? If Scunthorpe found out that Billy Bingham is out for the foreseeable future, they might… Well, they might do something.

Reading between the lines then, you could deduce that these absences aren’t going to be a one-game-wonder. Wait. Is Billy Bingham facing weeks on the sideline? Months even? We’re doomed, aren’t we…? That’s the problem with a lack of information. It creates rumours. Misinformation. Fake news. 

Then again, when I first started watching Bromley, social media hadn’t been invented yet. If you wanted to know how Bromley were lining up against Aldershot, you’d have to pay 5p for a photocopy of the team sheet and you’d have to be in Aldershot to get it. Want injury news? Ask the person next to you.

Isn’t this all quite quaint then? Going into a game not knowing who’s in and who’s out? It’s just like the old days. Relax, enjoy the game, and get your Nokia 3310 out at half-time for a quick game of Snake.

But beware the green eyes of envy. Your modern fan is used to being in-the-know, and with good reason. Turn on Sky Sports News or TalkSport and you’ll be peppered with Premier League injury updates and prognoses. Specialist surgeons are called upon to speculate. Grizzled former players hobble into the studio to relive their experience with the same injury. Is it too much to ask that Billy Bingham’s hamstring give an interview at this difficult time?

This isn’t the Premier League, though. This is the National League. The spotlight shines a lot dimmer in these parts. But that’s how it’s always been. And, perhaps, that’s why we like it. Less noise. Less parade. Wonky stands. Bumpy pitches. Players you could have a beer with.

But it’s becoming less like that, isn’t it? The National League is, for the most part, a fully professional league and the ‘product’ is becoming slick and stage-managed. Clubs who once wore their heart on their sleeve now drip-feed carefully curated content into the glittering gutter of social media, with room-filling elephants frequently airbrushed out.

Which brings me back to the giant flag in the Glyn Beverly Stand.

We know why it’s there. Several years of errant shooting has smashed the seats to smithereens. Honestly, was that brittle plastic ever stadium-worthy? If the new seats are made of the same mix of fruit punnets and biscuit crumbs, I suggest putting up some nets.

Photo credit: Steve D

The seats need to be replaced, obviously, but the considerations must be a minefield. Can you retrofit new, stronger seats to the existing beams or do you need to rip up the whole lot and start again? If you do one section, do you have to do them all? If you do it in phases, it’ll look weird. Either way, it’s gunna cost you. What to do, what to do? Put up a flag. Nothing to see here.

The flag, I suspect, was put in place to buy time while a decision was made. But preseason has been and gone and the flag lives on. Why? We don’t know. Do we need to?

This is where Bromley’s newly created Supporters’ Board comes in. They meet regularly with the club’s hierarchy to maintain a dialogue between the club and its fans. Reading through the minutes of previous meetings, “how long is that flag going to be there?” is exactly the kind of question they might pose to the club. In fact, it’s my understanding that they discussed doing that at this week’s meeting.

While deferred questions are a feature of the minutes, the meetings are a positive step where communication is concerned. If you have an issue you would like to raise with the club, the Supporters’ Board can be contacted via this link. In fact, Board’s chairman is none other than the creator of From Bromley with love, Machel St Patrick Hewitt.

So where do we land on this issue? Personally, I don’t mind if injury and suspension news is thin on the ground as it reminds me of the old, pre-information days. And, for what it’s worth, I think the club get their communication right more often than not. But these are just my views and I know a lot of fans feel differently.

They have every right to. A relationship with a football club may be an open marriage, but it still requires an element of trust. When information is clearly being withheld, that trust is tested and suspicion is just a side-glance away. After all, none of us would withhold information from our significant other, would we? 

Wink.

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