17 years on, the phrase ‘three-year plan’ is enough to frighten any Woking fan after what started as a ‘new era’ at Kingfield ended in relegation the following April. 

Relegation to the Blue Square Bet South was a wake-up call for the club, but after a reduction in funding and subsequent declining league positions – eleventh, fifteenth, and seventeenth place finishes – it wasn’t a huge surprise. 

To arrest the club’s decline, chairman David Taylor set out his vision as we headed into the 2008/09 season. In a one-page article in the matchday programme for the opening game he set out three priorities, four cornerstones and 21 projects that would help take the club to the next level. 

Clearly, the plan failed with only 10 wins that season, confirming relegation. However, that isn’t the focus on this blog. We take a look at some key points, how they have aged and the impact they might have on the club’s current leadership as some of the challenges still remain. 

‘Make more money than we spend and remove our dependence on an individual benefactor’ 

Ensuring the club was a successful business was at the heart of the plans. That was tricky in 2008, and is pretty much unheard of today. Last summer Kieran Maguire, who specialises in the accountancy of football and financial matters, told the BBC Woking had lost £25,000 a week in the 22-23 season, and 23-24 was “substantially worse”. Previous owner Drew Vople also told the BBC he had invested more than £3m, but the club still found itself staring down the barrel of administration. 

It’s fair to say if you are looking to make money, stay far away from owning a football club. However, without individuals willing to invest the future for clubs at this level looks very bleak. Woking’s new Chairman and head of the Cardinal Football Group LLC, the majority shareholder of the club, Todd Johnson, will be well aware of this fact and it will be interesting to see how looks to maximise revenues on the journey towards some sort of financial sustainability. 

Ground Redevelopment

One of the 21 ‘projects’ outlined by Taylor was to ‘redevelop Kingfield Stadium’. Kingfield remains unchanged nearly two decades later, despite attempts to either improve areas of the ground or build a brand new stadium. 

New facilities would allow the club to generate more revenue, but would take significant funding. The club thought they’d found a balance with GolDev pledging to build 1,048 flats to support the funding for a new stadium, however the plans were rejected in the planning stage.

Again this will no doubt be an area the new ownership is keen on, with improvements, albeit short-term, already rumoured to be taking place to improve the experience for away fans and increase match day income. 

The future status of the vacant land on Westfield Avenue is likely to be key to any plans. If residential properties are approved then the club will have lost a big opportunity to develop, even on a small scale, and will face an even bigger task to increase revenue.

Similar ideas, years apart

As well as facing similar challenges, a number of proposals from Taylor have been a key focus for Johnson. For example both have placed an emphasis on: Improving the playing surface, creating better communication and sharing of feedback from fans, and better aligning the academy and first team 

Some more unique ideas from Taylor’s blueprint included ensuring KC Kat was present at all home games, launching a music festival and launching a Woking FC beer brand. It’s hard to see these ideas being replicated this time around.

What happens on the pitch is crucial

What was missing from the masterplan in 2008 was selecting a management team that could assemble a squad capable of fulfilling the ambitions set. Kim Grant commented in his programme notes ahead of the opening game that we had ‘the foundations for a successful campaign’. Ultimately Woking would go on to lose that fixture to Altrincham, and Grant would depart with his side still winless after seven games. Taylor also offered his resignation to the board, but it was refused.

Although there will no doubt be internal targets, thankfully the current ownership group is yet to make a bold ambition, such as gaining promotion within three seasons or achieving an average home crowd of 3,000 fans. With the experienced Neal Ardley and Simon Bassey in the dugout Johnson will no doubt be hoping they, with the support of Director of Football Jody Brown, will look after all football matters as he uses his business experience to build the club. History tells us it isn’t easy, even if you have all the right ideas. 

Images courtesy of wokingfc.co.uk. To view all matchday images head to the club’s offical website.