Believe by Off The Post

Wigan Athletic Football Club Firstly I would like to thank Ed Jones for his on-going support and communication he has delivered during the BIG flag campaign, With fans naively calling for Martinez’s departure and faith dramatically decreasing, I thought it was the right time to highlight some of the supporters issues/ideas and try and inject some

enthusiasm back into the Clubs ‘family’. Six straight defeats but no reaction – this is a view of many supporters. When Bolton FC where in a similar situation, the Club rewarded the fans who turned up to the Wigan Derby by organising free Travel to the next away fixture at the Liberty Stadium. The Fulham £7.50 ticket offer is a great idea to introduce new people into the DW yet this was brought in before the current situation and still does not reward the regular attendees and Season Ticket holders. A lot of supporters are quickly heading to the ‘against Martinez’ corner with many naïve fans hosting on-going Petitions, I agree that the Newcastle result totally overshadowed the Latics performance, but fans still are still wrongly scapegoating the Gaffer. I believe a lot of this ill feeling could be resolved by a stronger willingness to communicate with fans and take into account there ideas and suggestions. This could be done by Match Day surveys, Setting up a Fan Liaison Email, including a suggestion page in the Latics Mag or even re-visiting the idea of the Web Chat (such as the Roberto Ipad Chat with the supporters). As Long as the Club is actively seeking the Fans opinions into how they can improve the Club/Match Day Experience, the Fans will be a lot more satisfied. Finally I am aiming to have the BIG Flag’s manufactured for the Liverpool Game on Sky Sports and will be using the Arsenal Home fixture to collect in the South Stands Supporters Club. Thank you for taking the time to read the above and I hope you can try and incorporate some of the ideas into the Clubs Strategies. Yours Sincerely, Wigan Athletic Supporters

DW Stadium – Wigan Athletic Ltd… so why does it not feel that way? Supporters are eager to show their pride, some bring their flags and lay them across the seats, but like myself after witnessing the hassle and torment of the stewards, is it worth the effort… Supporters are bemused by the fact that Warrior Supporters are welcomed to drape the DW in the home teams colours, whilst the Latics are constantly boxed in, confused to why they cant match the towns counterparts. One of the biggest problems at the DW is the relationship between supporters and stewards, each Steward has a different view, some disallow flags on Seats, whilst some happily allow. This confusion regularly causes anger amongst the Fans; with many feeling there support is not appreciated nor wanted. I’m sure this issue has been raised in the past but it seems the fans have not had any answer communicated to them into whether or not they can bring flags to be hung?

The Cherry and Whites may join in on the fun, but as far as we are concerned the DW is Wigan Athletic Ltd’s! When you visit the Emirates, Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, the sense of pride the club has is on show for everybody to see, it’s on the walls of the stadium as you walk around, every effort has been made to impose on opposition fans and it works! We may be ‘a small club’ but this doesn’t mean we have to have ‘small ambitions’, one of the ideas by the fans is to do external advertising on the DW, to give that feel of Pride and Unity. At the Junction of Stadium Way and Scot Lane, the first thing you notice is a portable trailer advertising

Rugby, when you go to McDonalds the first thing you notice is a portable trailer advertising Rugby, yes the season ticket campaign some good advertising, but this should continue and the club should look for prominent and permanent spots too advertise…

Finally, when you visit Ewood Park, something that has always stood out is the Clubs Crest incorporated onto the Pitch Entrance / Tunnel Walkout. Would this be possible for Wigan?

A positive that has been highlighted by the fans is the new Pitch Perimeter Advertising Boards!

A MASSIVE OPPURTUNITY! Yes that’s right the Wigan v Liverpool fixture is a massive opportunity this season to get the ball rolling for the New Year. With the 21st December maybe not the ideal date for families to start shedding out money to watch a Football Match and Sky Sports Covering the live fixture the last thing we want is a typical Empty Seat Backdrop being posted around the worlds Television. So why not… Run a Crimbo Pressie Promotion; get into the community and run free ticket competitions. Invite face painters and scarf sellers to the DW for the fixture, even do a Christmas Flag and Scarf reduction? This all heads for a fantastic atmosphere, an enjoyable family evening and should keep the crowd coming back during the following year. I’m not totally naïve and I understand a higher attendance will result in more

Stewards and Police Officers to be funded, along with the risk of supplying the towns ‘glory supporters’ with a free pass to watch Liverpool. But with a full stadium and the BIG flag in attendance, along with the Above Idea of hanging flags would begin to rival the Anfield atmosphere. With the biggest benefit being that the all the above is being relayed to thousands at home and finally answering those who stereotype the DW as a tumble weed nest!

Getting into the town and meeting the community is extremely important to improving Wigan Athletics relationship with the local supporters. The Ali and Mike Tesco meet and greet stood out to the supporters, it reminded those within the community that club still took valued Fans and were dedicated to improving that connection. The ‘BEAT ALI’ initiative aims to continue improving the clubs/supporters connection. HOW IT WORKS It’s really simple! You can take the interactive game anywhere, you can place it in the town centre, take it

to schools, have it outside during match days etc… A member of public has the chance to bag prizes/tickets by knocking the ball into either of the holes, the ball could be placed on a patch of fake plastic turf etc… You could involve Team Latics | Mascots | Local Football Clubs could give out joining leaflets (therefore also improving football within the community). It has a hose of benefits!

Wigan Athletic I am writing to you to hopefully secure your help and support with my latest campaign. As you’re fully aware there are many naive critics of the Wigan Supporters constantly attacking our turnout. In a way to combat this and enhance the atmosphere and camaraderie at the DW I have just launched the BIG flag campaign. As a ‘small club’ I am trying to prove to the outside world we have BIG ambitions. The BIG flag would be used at the beginning of matches and in turn would give the team a huge boost. The flag has a proved a useful tool for Stoke City F.C and whilst I watched the Stoke v Bolton FA Cup fixture at Wembley, the flag was a great asset. We really do need your help! As you can understand getting supporters in this current financial climate to donate and reach our target of £4,000 is no easy hurdle. Therefore any help you can provide us with would be extremely appreciated, i.e. signed merchandise, message from Roberto supporting the campaign etc… I have enclosed a fundraising plan for the campaign and would be extremely grateful if you could have a look. Also I have enclosed other plans for the future of Wigan Athletic Supporters such as the ‘Raise the flag’ campaign’. Should you require any more information or need any contact, do not hesitate to contact me on the details below: Email: marketing@off-the-post.net Address: 2 Southdown’s Road, Chorley, Lancashire, PR7 3EU Thank you for taking the time to reading this letter and I hope I can count on your support!

Kind Regards;

Christopher C.J. Blackburn

Fundraising Plans Online Donations

Matchday Collection

Signed Latics Products (Auctions, Direct Sell)

Football Tournament (Robin Park)

Latics Shop (Shirt Release etc.)

Collection Tubs (Pubs etc.)

Latics Shop: - When the 2011/2012 Season Shirt is released at the Latics Shop it would be great to get the campaign involved i.e. Collections (whilst Roberto is doing shirt signing I presume?) The Big Football Tournament (Please see further enclosed) Collection tubs – Looking to spread as many collection tubs/tins around the local area as possible i.e. Pubs etc. Online Donations – Supporters can donate online at www.off-the-post.net! All donations will be logged in an excel sheet and will be processed securely by PayPal! Signed Latics Products – Any signed Latics Products would put real weight to the Campaign, allowing me to run competitions, auctions shirts and even use as prices i.e. Crossbar challenge prizes at the Football Tournament! Match day Collections – I would be aiming to raise the money by the first home fixture to put a real positive start to the season, but if this became unachievable it would be great to spread a small group of willing individuals around the East, South and West Stand.

Please see quotation attached, price quoted was £4,214.40 but live event branding would be happy to produce the flag (in accordance with strict guidelines) for £4000

outh a

Wigan Athletics Big Flag Campaign Facebook Page 710 Likes (so far)

1,900 Daily users Average Post Feedback â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 14.2% Franco Di Santo | Conor Sammon | Nouha Dicko | WAFC Players interact on the page. Page has been shared by WAFC Defender Emmerson Boyce

@WAFC_BIG_FLAG Daily Updates / Retweets 31 Followers (so far) Retweeted by 5 WAFC Players Over 500 Tweets

the BIG football tournament In order to kick start the campaign and get the ball rolling, I have organised ‘the BIG football tournament’. The tournament will compromise of 20 teams, all with a £30 entry fees, competing in a 5 a-side tournament at Robin Park on Sunday 17th July. The tournament will start with Group Stages (4 Groups separated in four 5 a-side enclosures) and will proceed onto Quarters, Semis and the Final. We are currently looking for sponsorship with a number of companies who are extremely interested. With the companies providing a cash price, this will minimise the expenditure and will allow as much as possible of the £600 raised to be applied to the Campaign fundraising. We are also looking to gather as many prizes as we can, as during the day we will be looking at setting challenges to keep everybody busy i.e. Crossbar etc., this is why if Wigan Athletic can at all spare anything, this would be a massive boost!

The Arena is looking at minimising the cost in order to help our fundraising, as I have outlined the benefits they will incur from the tournament: Many of the players involved will normally use Soccerdome’s or Playfootball.net’s facilities and the event could get them to get involved in the Arena instead, hopefully increasing future Arena bookings. The event would be widely promoted: Wigan Today Newspaper, Wish FM, Wigan Athletic FC Medias Team, Facebook, Off the Posts website etc., bringing in good coverage for the Arena

The tournament will be run in a similar style to the Lucozade Fans Fives

Fixtures

Group Stages 10 min per match 11am Kick Off

Quarter Finals 10 min per match 1pm Kick Off

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Team 1 Team 2 Team 3 Team 4 Team 5

1v2 3v4 5v1 2v3 4v5 1v3 2v4 5v3 1v4 2v5

1) Winner (A) v Runner Up (B) 2) Winner (B) v Runner Up (A)

Semi Finals 10 min per match 1:20pm Kick Off

QR Winner(1) v QR Winner (2)

Final 20 minute match 1:40pm Kick Off

1v2 3v4 5v1 2v3 4v5 1v3 2v4 5v3 1v4 2v5

3) Winner (C) v Runner Up (D) 4) Winner (D) v Runner Up (C)

QR Winner(3) v QR Winner (4)

Semi Winner (1) v Semi Winner (2)

the BIG banners Banners will be used to identify each 5 a-side arena the BECKHAM arena

the NEYMAR arena

the MESSI arena

the RONALDO arena

Raise the flag is another great way for the Supporters to reflect their passion for the Club. It’s a very simple idea but with effective results. Each east stand strip (ES1ES10) having alternatives Blue and White Card. At the beginning of the match, the fans simple hold the card up and reflects the Blue White Latics effect to the players, boosting morale and giving them that extra passion to push on in the game!

The ‘Raise the flag’ idea has been applied in many football tournaments with great effect. I.e. Manchester United’s ‘Spirit of 69’ and Barcelona’s ‘We Love Football’ at the UEFA Champions League final, along with the commonly seen St George Cross at England football fixtures.

Signed Latics items could raise money for the BIG flag campaign via auction. I.e. Signed Premier League Ball, Posters and Flags etc.