To our season ticket holders and subscribers, Happy New Year! Thank you for being a Wanderer. Your support literally allows the club to exist. I think it’s fair to say that the past year has been one of great ups and downs on and off the pitch. Two years ago, few believed we would begin 2021 playing in the Championship. Even fewer would have believed that during 2021, our play would result in a point accumulation in the top half of the division, or that over the last six matches, our points gained would be in the top six. Nonetheless, because we started the year with a significant deficit, we were relegated by a mere point. (Let’s try to forget the referee wrongly calling back Daryl Horgan’s great goal against Derby or, for the moment, Derby’s other transgressions.) This season, in what is surely the toughest League 1 in a generation, we have been one of the top teams in the division. It is certainly reasonable to believe we will be playing in the Championship next year. When we began our development squad, few understood our approach. Today, we have had several of those players consistently start in the first team and even more play significant minutes for us as we battle our way back to the Championship. In the past year, we have been able to completely remake our training ground. The fields are well tended. There is a new first team changing room and showers, a changing room and showers for the development squad , the first ever changing room and showers for our coaching staff, a rebuilt and expanded by 50% medical area with new equipment, new facilities for boots and kits, re-done coaches offices with a new dedicated area for our analysts (we now have three), fast Wi-Fi throughout the facility, and our new meeting and media building. Our players and visitors in this new year will see our commitment to Championship level facilities is more than words. Last year saw the migration of our ticket system to NewC. We now have the best cloud-based ticket program in the EFL, including the Championship. This was done to enhance our ability to serve our supporters. We have plans for further enhancements during the coming year. In fact, it has allowed us to put into place the first-of-its-kind subscription plan in the UK. Beginning today, we will be rolling out additional benefits for our members. We will also begin a month-long push to add new subscribers. We think you will find it exciting. The utilization of the subscription plan should allow us to achieve true year-round financial stability and let us properly plan for 2022 and beyond. During the past year, we have turned Adams Park into the most technologically advanced stadium in the EFL. From the things you see (scoreboards, perimeter boards, TVs ), to hear (the best audio system available to enhance listening, and a separate one to provide safety), to use (our WiFi is literally among the very best of any facility in the UK), and those you can’t see but make your experience safer (new CCTV, phones, radios), every aspect was done to make your stadium not just better but best. This year we will be leaving iFollow and the EFL-provided website. Instead, we will migrate to a new system controlled by the club and sensitive to your needs. No club in the Championship will have a better technological footprint or ability to communicate with its supporters. Soon, we will make an announcement that demonstrates our commitment to enhancing our media presence on TV and radio. Last year saw a quantum leap forward in our relationship with the WorldWide Wycombe Phenomenon. From less than 10 countries represented, we now have over 70. We now have a unique relationship to a Spanish media. And we are committed to better communication with you. In addition to my occasional emails, as a season ticket holder, you will receive updates from our media department. We have also added a member of the staff whose primary job is to assist you. Our new subscriber concierge will be not just be sending you information, he will be there to help you with any special request you might have. No one in the Championship has anything similar. Of course, the Club had to deal with the myriad issues presented by Covid. They ranged from the important (the loss of friends and supporters), the frustrating (our fans not watching their club in the Championship), and those that made us proud (the Club’s use of the stadium for tens of thousands of vaccinations). I am confident that we leave 2021 behind with no good thoughts about this pernicious disease. I am just as confident that we face the New Year with great hope that was strengthened by all that was accomplished despite the obstacle that is this pandemic. You may have noticed how often I mention the Championship. It is deliberate. That is the standard to which we hold ourselves. As I look forward to next year, I feel a bit like the kid reading Dr. Seuss “Oh, The Places You Will Go” for the first time. It is truly exciting to be involved with this club. So many things are happening and we seem to be on the right course. I want to go over all of them with you but I need to leave a few things for later! Missy, Pete, and I wish you the Happiest of New Years. I am confident that this year, I will continue to be proud to say: Yeah, I’m a Wanderer! Rob Couhig Chairman
The couple of interviews I have mentioned on here from Rob, I am not surprised ifollow is getting the boot.
please log in to view this image Visit the website at wwfc.com A message from the chairman please log in to view this image Dear Fellow Wanderer, Transfers, Derby, and unacceptable behaviour at matches are on everyone’s mind today. I originally planned to update you during this week on the state of the club and the many improvements we are implementing. However, events have overtaken those plans for now. Our philosophy for each transfer period is consistent. We will engage to the extent we can make the club materially better and not violate our commitment to financial sustainability. Pete, Gareth, and the staff have looked at many players. Scouting prospects is now an ongoing 12-month-a-year process with multiple in-house analysts. We only invite players into our club who meet our standard of excellence on and off the pitch. Our commitment to the club’s culture is rock solid. As of now, we have not found anyone in this window who will improve our squad for a price that we want to pay. We like our team. In part, this is because Gareth, Dobbo, Pete, Sam Grace, and the entire staff have done such a phenomenal job with our developmental squad. Please take a moment to think about how many have played key roles as members of our first team during this year. Each of them has a huge future in football. And our club will be better in the future because of the training and experiences they are gaining now. Derby is an interesting situation. Its administrators continue to peddle the premise that Wycombe is somehow responsible for its possible demise. Nothing could be further from the truth. Wycombe had nothing to do with its accumulation of approximately £60 million in debt, including nearly £30 million to the government, £20+ million to the holder of the note of Mr. Morris which is secured by the stadium, approximately £8 million of other football debt, and, of course, the many smaller non-football creditors from the Derby area. As of today, the administrators have not stated their plans for the resolution of the debt with any of its creditors. Although they announced a "preferred bidder" would be known "before Christmas", it has not been named. Nor did they meet their own deadline of over a month ago of making the announcement "imminently". Nothing has changed concerning the disagreement between Wycombe and Derby. There have been no discussions, no calls, nothing since I visited their offices in London last November. There are multiple reasons why Derby owes Wycombe money. Perhaps the simplest to understand is that Derby, once it lost its arbitration, deliberately delayed turning over its reconstituted financials to avoid relegation. It did not even meet the panel’s deadline of August 14, which probably would have still allowed Wycombe to compete this year in the Championship. This cost Wycombe the difference in net revenue between competing in the Championship and League 1 this year and created likely financial losses beyond this year. But the real reason for this letter is to discuss fan behaviour. On Sunday, the EFL issued a statement with which I agree. In addition, Adebayo Akinfenwa has spoken to the media to give his thoughts. You can find both on our website. When Missy and I were in the UK several weeks ago, the board met and, at my request, affirmed our policy of zero tolerance for abusive behaviour including language whether it involved supporters, players, staff, and the opposition. In fact, it includes everyone. One of the first things we had to do this year was ban several of our own fans for their behaviour. It was not easy but we will not have an abusive atmosphere. Your children and you should not have to put up with it. No one should. All of which brings me to this past weekend‘s incidents involving my friend, Bayo Akinfenwa. From the first day I met him, I knew that he was a person who understands the principles of leadership. He has the capacity to take a situation seriously and yet enjoy himself. Fans throughout the world love to watch him play and appreciate his enjoyment of good natured banter with opposing fans and players. At the same time, he and I agree there’s no place in this world for hateful speech or attacks on others. I was tremendously proud of the way he, the gaffer, and the rest of the team handled the situation on Saturday. It was perfect. Kudos as well to the MK Dons’ captain, manager, and players. There is simply no excuse for such behaviour and we will not tolerate it. Those responsible will be expelled and not allowed to return. One of the things that makes me proudest of my affiliation with Wycombe is observing our players and their relationship with supporters of all clubs. It fills me with joy to see one of our players who has just finished a very hard-fought game take the time to shake hands with a fan, put an arm around a youngster, or take a moment to let everyone in attendance know how much the fans are appreciated. I will not allow those who do not respect others or the game to ruin the special relationship which exists among players, staff, and supporters. If there is a violation of our policy, that person or person will be expelled. It’s hard to believe we now have more than a week without football. I’m not quite sure how to spend them. Hopefully, it gives the boys a chance to heal and be ready for the final third of the season. Plus, we can make sure WanderersTV is up and in place. Lots of good things are ahead for us as a club. Missy and I look forward to spending a lot of time with you at Adams Park. Today, I am proud to say, Yeah, I’m a Wanderer too. Rob Couhig Chairman Wycombe Wanderers
