Colchester United  ·  A demonstration

We gather first-hand insight, then bring it to life in a format the whole club can explore, connect, and use.

Pick one, or scroll
The Layer Road generation
“I've been going since Layer Road. I don't drive much now, so it often depends on whether someone can give me a lift.”
The matchday alliance
“There are five of us in the WhatsApp group. We make the plan together, and usually either everyone goes or no one does.”
The Cuckoo Farm family
“My son knows the fixtures before I do. We're only up the road, so if the timings work, it's an easy day out together.”
The lapsed local
“I still check the score every Saturday. I just stopped going regularly somewhere along the way, and once you're out of the habit, it's harder to start again than you'd think.”
◀ ▶
Fig. 01  ·  Current supporters

Who's
here?

Illustrative voices
Drag  →

The crowd hasn't changed.
Your understanding of it has.

A crowd can look like one audience. Look closer, and different relationships with the club begin to emerge.

Fig. 02  ·  Beyond the turnstiles

Who's
missing?

Illustrative voices
Select a seat

The people who aren't there
may have the most to tell you.

Every empty seat has a reason. Look closer, and different barriers to attendance begin to emerge.

Fig. 03  ·  The study

See the whole
audience.

A focused study of the people who already feel part of Colchester United, the people whose connection has weakened, and the people the club could bring closer.

01

Build the sample

Current supporters, occasional attendees, lapsed supporters, families, younger audiences, and local people with little or no current connection to the club.

02

Go to the source

First-hand conversations on matchday, around the stadium, and across Colchester, supported by documentary photography.

03

Connect the dots

We identify the different supporter groups, what strengthens their connection, what keeps others at a distance, and where the most valuable opportunities lie.

04

Bring it to life

An interactive, visual picture of the club’s audience, supported by a concise readout that teams across Colchester United can explore and use.

Attendance · Belonging · Community · Matchday · Marketing · Sponsorship · Commercial growth
Fig. 04  ·  The partnership

A real study,
made possible together.

A study of this scope would normally be valued at £10,000–£15,000. We're proposing Colchester United as Chilli Fig's founding football partner, with a contribution of £3,000 and the access needed to produce something genuinely valuable.

What we'd need from Colchester United
  • Help reaching a balanced range of current supporters
  • Access to relevant people across the club
  • One matchday for fieldwork and documentary photography
  • Permission to use the club’s name and an agreed version of the work as a public case study
  • A testimonial if the club is happy with the work
What Chilli Fig would deliver
  • Research design, recruitment, and fieldwork
  • Conversations with current, occasional, lapsed, and potential supporters
  • Documentary photography from the study
  • Audience groups, barriers, motivations, and opportunities
  • An interactive insight experience for the whole club
  • A concise presentation and discussion of the findings
One study. Two kinds of value.

A commercial tool that teams across the club can use, and a stronger evidence base for meaningful, representative supporter engagement.

Ticketing · Marketing · Sponsorship · Community · Matchday · Fan engagement
Colchester United  ×  Chilli Fig

Who's here?
Who's missing?
Let's go and find out.

Prepared for Colchester United
James Gatheral · Chilli Fig