2023/24 END OF SEASON REVIEW

THE WYCOMBE WANDERER

2023/24 SEASON REVIEW & AWARDS

 

SUMMARY

Once again, a statistical review of how many games I have seen and the costs. The number of games is nearly 30 less than last season. This is due to several factors - me slowing down, the bad weather and the number of fixtures that were forfeited towards the end of the season - often with little notice given or courtesy shown.   The number of Wycombe games (17) was the lowest I've seen in all of my 33 seasons watching football - aside from the pandemic season where I saw them just twice. It's a far cry from the 2003/04 season when I saw the Chairboys 79 times - including most reserves games and a few youth games.

 
However, there have been some records broken. I've been to 123 new grounds, my best-ever total in a season. The number of countries visited - ten - betters my previous best of seven, set last season. The weather continues to get wetter and wetter, so this as well as my opting to go further afield due to running out of grounds to visit has bumped up the average cost per game.

Looking at costs, the most expensive ticket was Genk v Standard Liege, still very reasonable at £24. I've also had free entry at 65 of my 174 games owing to luck with people not using their Wycombe season ticket and me going to several games at step 7. The total cost of tickets, £732 is my lowest spent in a decade and easily my best on a per-game basis since I've been hopping.

 
The most expensive part has been the travel and accommodation, including abroad seven times. The most expensive by a huge distance. I still don't think I have overpaid though. It has been an expensive year car-servicing wise thanks to my car being the victim of a hit and run and that has been factored into the total. But the further distances travelled for UK games on the train have also not helped. I'm also fed up of having to drive all the time to have very few drivers that live near me. However, Essex-based Dan & Richard have helped a lot. opportunities are still limited by them being 90 minutes (on a good day) away.

Food and drink have also seen the most expensive season on record. This is a strange and complicated formula. For groundhop games, I don't include food or drink that I've regarded as superb or when I've tried new things. For Wycombe games, I charge nothing to my costs if Wycombe win, half if we get a good draw and the full spend should we lose or get a bad draw. Wycombe having several poor games as well as a decline in the quality of food outlets (or perhaps me being fussier) has influenced this. 


2023/24 COSTS
 

Tickets £732
Food & Drink: £898
Travel & hotels: £3.920
Total: £5,500
An average of £32 in total per game

MOST EXPENSIVE OVERALL: Genk v Standard Liege (£96) which was down on my most expensive game of last season. UK-wise, it was York City v Wigan Athletic (£78) due to me driving on my own and having to stay in a hotel. I'm still pleased I got a game in though as the weather was frozen and foggy.

CHEAPEST: Four free games. Penn and Tylers Green v Uxbridge I walked to and it was genuine free entry. Three Wycombe games provided the perfect combo of walking to the game, free entry, good food and good performance. There were games against Leyton Orient, Peterborough United and Charlton Athletic.

WITH/METHOD OF TRANSPORT
Anwar Only: 7
Chris Only: 8 - 
Colin Only: 35 
Multiple Hoppers: 14 (Colin 14, Anwar 13, Dan 1)
Drove on own: 23 
Public Transport: 49
Walked: 18 

2023/24 AWARDS
 

 

BEST NEW GROUND: Artillery Bluebirds
A ground with a great reputation and rightly so. Incredible scenery and a great ground to boot. Ludicrously, our original game was called off due to rain in mid-July only for us to visit on a milder and dryer day in February.

 

 

MOST ENJOYABLE REVISIT: Luton T v Swindon T (FA Youth Cup)
Kenilworth Road is a much-maligned ground and wasn't one of my favourites as an away fan. However, having a nosey around the limited home areas we had access to revealed lots of time capsules and nooks and crannies to get photos of. A new Wetherspoons was a bonus too.

 

BEST ATMOSPHERE: Clapton v St Pauli 
It was the first game of my season and perhaps not the biggest crowd. But the atmosphere was decent in terms of noise and goodwill.

 

 

BEST HOPPING GAME: Brill United 4-5 Halse United
Remarkably, my second nine-goal thriller in a row. This was the best though, a real end-to-end contest in a game that never stopped being entertaining.

 

 

WORST HOPPING GAME: Epsom & Ewell 0-0 Met Police (FA Cup)
No magic here as a truly dire FA Cup contest was played out when I revisited Cobham FC.

 

 

BEST TEA BAR:  Horbury Town
Not many choices here but the chicken kebab was both delicious and healthy. Only a fiver too.

 

 

BEST CLUBHOUSE: Gillingham Town
Again slim pickings and only a Portakabin but Gillingham Town had the best range of cider I encountered all season.

 

 

BEST CLUB SHOP: Whitley Bay
A superb range of programmes and merchandise. Also a great hoodie purchased for £20.

 

 

BEST PROGRAMME: Feltham
Again, limited choice but this programme was handed out free and contained some history articles on the club. It's a super friendly club too.

 

FRIENDLIEST CLUB: CSM London
On a frustrating day where I lost a couple of games due to the weather, CSM London saved the day with their 3G pitch. A last-minute rush but they sought me out, shook my hand and gave me a free pin badge. One of many friendly clubs.

 

BEST WYCOMBE GAME: Wycombe 5-2 Peterborough United
Wycombe blew away Peterborough in a five-star performance, thanks to some help from their goalkeeper. It was brilliant seeing Wycombe-hating journalist Alan Swann going into meltdown as his team crumbled before his very eyes. Swann has had it in for Wycombe ever since a democratic decision was made to end the season early on PPG during the pandemic.

 

WORST WYCOMBE GAME: Wycombe Wanderers 0-3 Exeter City
A truly dire start to the season with us 3-0 down within ten minutes of the season starting. I knew at that point my decision not to buy a season ticket was justified.

 

WORST SATURDAY: 25th May. 
I'm OK with taking a Saturday or two off during June, it's just something you have to accept normally. In fact, I'm doing it out of choice on the 8th despite never having seen a game on that day. But when I was all keyed up for a lovely day in Southend at Wakering Sports, I was gutted when Harold Hill pulled out early morning. I did have a few backups planned, but one by one they fell and I ended up watching the FA Cup Final in a pub. Which is probably what all of the clubs that 'couldn't raise a team' were doing. The Middlesex League was especially chaotic in the latter stages with teams deciding that they couldn't be bothered. A real disappointment when the Premier Divisions should be showcasing the best that each local league has to offer.

 

 

BEST TAKEAWAY: Droitwich Tandoori
A simply sublime Mannkhush curry, one of the best curries I've tasted.

 

 

BEST PUB: The Bull Baiters Inn, Worcester

Sadly situated on the wrong side of town for the station. A great choice of cider and more dogs than Krufts. It's just a shame it only opened at 5 PM as my time in there was very limited due to the walk to the station and my booked train time. It'll definitely be returning if I can in the future.

 

 

BEST WETHERSPOONS: White Hart Hotel, Okehampton
Brilliant choice of real cider, good service. The best of the 77 new Wetherspoons I visited this season.

 

 

WORST WETHERSPOONS: Yr Hen Dderwen, Carmarthen
Awful service, took 30 minutes to get my drink.