The chief executive of a Non League club hopes that their upcoming Berks and Bucks Cup fixture against Wycombe Wanderers will help generate an increase of supporters coming through their turnstiles.

Peter Bromage-Smith, who is one of the board of directors at Beaconsfield Town Football Club, has revealed that following the club’s relegation from Step 3 to Step 4 in the Non League pyramid last season, attendances have dropped from an average of 190 to roughly between 100 to 125.

The clash between the two Buckinghamshire outfits will take place on Tuesday, January 14, and despite the Chairboys expected to field a side full of development players and academy trialists, it is hoped that the cup tie could be the Rams’ highest attended home game this season.

Speaking exclusively to the Free Press, Mr Bromage-Smith said: “We have had a drop since last season and it is quite noticeable.

“Our crowds have never been massive, and when we split from the Slough arrangement [several years ago], a lot of fans went with Slough and that’s not a surprise due to their success.

“We saw our crowds go up last season when we were in Step 3 to around 170/200 fans.

“But since we have been relegated, it’s around 100/125.

“We had Flackwell here for Boxing Day and there were 370 people, but, around 300 were for Flackwell.

“However, I’m not decrying our fans as we have a few that go and watch the club home and away, but our fanbase isn’t building yet.

“We have to rely on the away team to bring in their fans.

“Of course, we would like to have a big crowd [against Wycombe] as it will be good for the players and revenue-wise, it will hugely help.”

Following their relegation last season, Beaconsfield have now changed their model and are using young players, with a handful of experienced faces in the team.

This was noticeable in their recent league fixture against Kidlington, in which the Rams fielded two under 17s, four under 18s and four under 19s.

At the time of writing, they are 14th in the  Southern League Division One Central, three leagues below the National League.

Mr Bromage-Smith continued: “We were promoted during the 2017/18 season to the league one below the National League South, and at that time, it was all about the now and then and not about the future.

“Fast forward to the change of management when John Underwood came in, we didn’t want to spend thousands of pounds a week on a budget for players coming in who are at the latter stages of their careers.

“Don’t get me wrong, we have had some great players come in, and I wouldn’t want to pigeonhole them in that way.

“It’s great to bring in good players, but we need to invest in the future.”

Wycombe Wanderers Matt Bloomfield will be present at the fixture which will be played at Holloways Park, but development team boss Sam Grace will be leading the messages in the dugout.

He said: “I know there is a huge amount of pride from our supporters to be part of that competition so it’s very important.

“Of course, we won’t be able to play any first-team boys because of the schedule that we just had, so it will be a few development boys and a few trialists and a few academy trialists as well.

“This is exciting for the football club and I am excited to watch them.”

The cup tie will kick-off at 7.45pm, and 300 programmes will be printed for the fixture.

The clash will also be live-streamed for those who cannot make the match.