 ADAMS PARK - LETTERS TO THE BUCKS FREE PRESSPublished 14th July 2006 I would like to draw to the attention of all Wycombe Wanderers supporters the Adams Park Ground Naming Questionnaire produced by the Wycombe Wanderers Supporters and Founders Trusts on behalf of Wycombe Wanderers PLC. Many will have received the relevant documentation through the post and I would encourage every supporter to respond to this questionnaire. If you haven’t received a questionnaire, you can fill one in online at www.wwst.org. I would also like to explain some of the history which led to our home being named 'Adams Park' back in 1990. From its formation in 1887, the football club struggled for nearly a decade to find a home of its own in High Wycombe, living up to its name as “Wanderers”, playing at six different venues before making Loakes Park its home. The club paid ground rent to the then owners of the land and this situation continued up to the Second World War. The club had established itself in the Isthmian League by then and one of the most prominent players during this time was Frank Adams. Frank Adams playing career with Wycombe lasted almost two decades, after fighting in the First World War he returned to captain the side to two Spartan League Championships and three Berks & Bucks Cups, whilst representing the FA, Isthmian League, Berks & Bucks FA and Middlesex Wanderers. After retiring from playing, he was appointed a member of the Club Committee. The insecurity of the leasehold of Loakes Park had troubled the Club and, in particular, Frank Adams and as the Second World War ended he negotiated the purchase on his own account of the freehold of Loakes Park. Two years later, Frank Adams generously gifted Loakes Park to Wycombe Wanderers. Frank Adams had the honour of Patron bestowed upon him in gratitude. At a celebration dinner to mark the gift of Loakes Park back in 1947 then Secretary and Treasurer of the Isthmian League Mr. Andrew Ralston said that Wycombe Wanderers had made themselves the envy of every amateur club in the country. He added “They are all looking for a man of the stamp of Frank Adams to come to their aid.” Frank Adams died shortly after his 90th birthday in 1981. In 1985 a deal was signed and Loakes Park was sold for £3.4million. The proceeds were used to build our current home, Adams Park, opened in 1990. Then Director Brian Lee said at the time that "Many people in the Town, County and indeed Country, will remember Frank Adams with affection. His generosity in giving Loakes Park to the Club was no doubt appreciated at the time but no one could have guessed how much it has been appreciated over the years. It is with considerable pride and deep-felt gratitude that Frank Adams and Jack Adams are remembered and honoured in a tangible way by the naming of the new ground at Sands as Adams Park”. Former Club Secretary commented that "the name of the ground is a tribute to the late Frank Adams as without his generous gift of the Loakes Park ground to Wycombe Wanderers there could not have been a new stadium." Lastly Chairman Ivor Beeks said that "the new ground will retain its connection with Loakes Park, by naming it after the family that donated Loakes Park to High Wycombe in 1947. Adams Park is a fitting tribute to the Adams family, a family that has supported Wycombe Wanderers over the last century. Along with my fellow directors, I look forward to welcoming you to Adams Park, after all, support has been the backbone of this Club for generations, and memories do last forever." Before voting I would ask you to consider whether further sponsorship of the stadium shows any appreciation, pride or gratitude of what Frank Adams has given to our wonderful club? Would it really be a fitting tribute to a man who enabled the club to play at Loakes Park rent free for more than half a century? Is the potential income of greater value to us than Frank Adams contribution to the club? Does Frank Adams not deserve to be remembered and honoured any longer? Dale Hurman - Long term supporter and former editor of the Tales of a Chairboy fanzine. Wycombe Wanderers Supporters and Founders Trusts are balloting supporters on behalf of the Football Club as to whether the name of the Stadium should be eligible for sponsorship. I urge all supporters to respond to this questionnaire (available online via www.wwst.org) and send a clear NO to sponsorship. The name of the stadium should remain 'Adams Park' in recognition of the generosity of Frank Adams who, in donating to the Club the deeds to Loakes Park in 1947, made the move to the current location possible and enabled a clear financial footing for a club for which he played and was captain. When this issue was last raised in 2003, then Director, and current Sky Sports commentator, Alan Parry stated that such deals were "interfering with the very fabric of the game", highlighting the stadium name as one of three things, along with club colours and the name of the team itself, that should remain sacrosanct. Some have argued that anything that brings in money can only be for the good of the club. But where would this stop? Recently, one non-league club even auctioned its own name via Ebay. The 3 years of the previous sponsorship deal have lead to an erosion of the Club's identity to such an extent that, to the casual observer, Wycombe Wanderers play at the home of London Wasps, their tenants, because the renaming of the ground came hard on the heels of the tenancy agreement. Meanwhile, the suggested 'deal' of £50,000 over five years amounts to an average increase of only £10 per supporter per year, and pales in significance with the Club's other ongoing costs. £50,000 is not going to see a fundamental change of fortune in the Club's finances and (if the previous deal is anything to go by) will instead see an increase in antipathy towards the Club by its supporters. Wycombe Wanderers needs to retain its identity, rather than change it on a five-yearly cycle as one sponsor after another add their name to the Club's official address; it needs to keep its name and supporters need to act now to ensure that the long-term interests of the club, safeguarded by Adams, continue well into the twenty-first century. In essence, rather than promoting another brand via a further sponsorship deal, the Club needs to promote Adams Park as a 'brand' in itself and make the name of the stadium synonymous with Wycombe Wanderers, in the same way that Old Trafford is synonymous with Manchester United. The club have asked the supporters to register their opinion on this issue and it is incumbent upon every single supporter of the club to insure that we play our part. Marcus Wood, High Wycombe |
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