Croydon’s longest established non-league football club is running a recruitment drive. And they’ve borrowed an advertising trope from billionaires club Manchester City to encourage crowds of football fans to Croydon Arena.
The Trams’ latest promotional poster is “Welcome to Croydon”: with overtones of City’s “Welcome to Manchester” taunt of their Salford neighbours in 2009 when they signed Carlos Tevez.
It is all part of the club’s build-up to Non-League Day on October 7, with free entry being offered to the home game against Bearsted to those who download the club sponsors’ Sportswik app.
“The Trams” are currently riding high in the Southern Counties East League, having been able to draw on the rich pool of talent from Kinetic Academy, which has helped develop 28 players to secure contracts in the professional ranks over the past six years.
Croydon play eight divisions below Premier League neighbours Crystal Palace, who today face the daunting trip to Manchester City, but who – in common with all clubs in the top two divisions – will be without a fixture on October 7.
Croydon want Eagles fans to come along to the Arena on the day and they are asking fans of all teams to retweet the image from @croydon_fc with the hashtag #WelcomeToCroydon.
In the next fortnight, commuters at East Croydon Station will be greeted by an army of Kinetic football academy graduates who will be handing out flyers offering free entry to the match.
If it worked for Tevez…
Non-League Day is always scheduled to coincide with an international break, when professional clubs from the top two tiers do not play. It therefore provides a platform for grassroots clubs to promote their brand of volunteer-led community football – while giving fans across the country the chance to show support for their local non-league side.
Martin Burr, new chairman of Croydon FC, said: “Our club is proud to carry the name of an area which boasts nearly 450,000 inhabitants. We encourage people from across the borough to come down to Croydon Arena to sample our brand of football.
“There is a fresh energy within the club. We have big plans and a really creative team behind the scenes – what we need now is the supporter base to match and push the club on to the next level.”
To gain free entry to Croydon FC v Bearsted FC (KO 3pm on October 7) simply download the Sportswik sports social media app on your smartphone via Google Play or the Apple Store and follow Croydon FC once registered.
To get direct access to the team feed copy and paste this link – https://sportswik.app.link/ZgEpgWMoxG from your smartphone browser to download.
At the game you can post comments, pictures and videos to the team feed and contribute to the Non League Day experience.
For fans who can’t make it to the game, there is an option to receive match scores to keep up to date with all the action.
- Today, Croydon face Sevenoaks in a league fixture at the Arena. Kick-off 3pm.
- Win a trip to Wembley with schools football reporting test
- Kick off a media career as an apprentice with Croydon FC
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