In July 2004, 94 members of Wycombe Wanderers FC voted against the idea that one day the club could be controlled entirely by one single person. Over four years later, that one person, Steve Hayes, now finds himself in such a position. The debts owed to Hayes mean that his vision, of life intrinsically and inescapably linked to London Wasps Rugby Club, is the one we are forced to follow, with the only alternative being financial ruin. The appointment of Mark Ashton as a non-Executive director of Wasps, as well as Chief Executive of Wycombe, is the clearest indication yet of the future we as fans have to look forward to.
Mark Ashton’s past at Vicarage Road is largely irrelevant. The ferocity of the criticism directed at him by Watford fans doesn’t bode well, admittedly, but it remains the actual appointment itself, rather than individual appointed, that should send warning signs to Wycombe supporters.
Firstly, if there was ever a token, miniscule attempt by the football club to even slightly address the level of debt and its levels of spending, then the idea of a Chief Executive at Wycombe would be laughed at like the idea of playing David Gipp in goal. But there isn’t because everything is bank rolled by Steve Hayes, and while he is happy to pay for everything, nobody at board level will do anything other than buy him a beer. Wycombe supporters still talk about tightening our belts and living with our means, yet we’re so far away from that it’s almost laughable. Such phrases have been rendered archaic by the way the club is now run. If Steve Hayes wants a Chief Executive, then Wycombe Wanderers has a Chief Executive, employed on a salary that could buy two Paul Bensons and win us the league. It’s not about balancing the books; it’s about what Steve Hayes wants, and his ambitions with London Wasps.
Secondly, Mark Ashton’s position as a non-Executive director of Wasps and what is represents, which is the idea, once again, that Wycombe Wanderers are not enough. Not enough for Steve Hayes, not enough for Wycombe District Council, not enough for Mark Ashton. Steve Hayes couldn’t have attracted someone of Ashton’s experience and ambition by only offering a role at Wycombe. And WDC won’t build a new ground for Wycombe Wanderers without London Wasps. Steve Hayes wouldn’t pump millions of pounds into WWFC if all there was at the end of it was a League 2 title for Wycombe and an open top bus ride through Downley. It will never be enough. This is the future we face, a football club that sits as an after-thought, an irritating little brother that keeps failing his promotion exams, despite its Uncle Steve spending millions on their education. Buck your ideas up son, or it’s Military School/John Beck as manager for you.
For us, Wycombe Wanderers are more than enough and it’s been that way for a hell of a lot of other people for over 120 years. It is a thoroughly depressing realisation that the future of the club we love is in the hands of people who, frankly, need something else to keep them interested.
If we have to accept that we’ll never be Manchester United, or we’ll never sign a player for a million pounds, or we’ll never have a ground that holds 20,000 people, then so be it, we are what we are. Tagging ourselves onto a rugby club in order to chase some strange reflected glory in a stadium that isn’t ours, financed by people with one eye on the rugby results, personally, just isn’t my cup of tea. But, with a Wasps director installed as the Wycombe Chief Exec, there’s very little chance now of being able to drink something else.
Chin chin, and all that. Excuse me if I pass.
