CHELMSFORD CITY chairman Mansell Wallace insists he is not worried about the drop in crowds at Melbourne Park so far this season.
Just 581 fans were in attendance as the Clarets were beaten 2-1 at home to Weston-super-Mare, down on last season's average of more than 700.
New manager Dean Holdsworth has seen his team win one, draw one and lose two of their opening four games, and the attendance has got lower for each of the three home fixtures.
Last season's Saturday games brought in an average of 800 fans, but so far the matches against Staines and Weston have brought in 602 and 581 respectively.
But Wallace is confident things will pick up both on and off the pitch.
"It's a funny time of year," he said. "It's still very good weather so I think families are wanting to spend the best part of the summer at barbecues and things like that, there's a lot of holidaying still going on and a lot of cricket still going on.
"I think a lot of people aren't really in the football mode at the moment but come the middle of October I think the crowds will start picking up nicely.
"It is a work in progress, we've all said right from the start that we've got to be patient.
"We'll be producing with Dean a team that Chelmsford will be proud of in years to come, but we've just got to be patient.
"There's not a magic wand or a switch we can switch, it's something we've got to work at, build on and be done gradually, and I'm sure Dean is the man to do it."
Holdsworth has retained just four players from last season's squad, and his new-look outfit is taking time to gel – and Wallace is pleased with how things are shaping up, despite City sitting 17th in the embryonic Conference South table.
He added: "If I'm being quite honest, it wouldn't have surprised me if we'd lost our first four games because we've been playing teams that have been together for a while and we haven't.
"The team has got to gel, they have got to play together more.
"I'll be interested to see how we are doing after ten games.
"This is a learning curve, we knew it and it's probably gone better than I expected.
"I think we've let in too many goals because of the lack of understanding at the back and I'm sure that will be addressed, but there's been a lot of good play and we're just not finishing off the moves and again that will come.
"We've seen quite a few passes where one player feels somebody will go one way and they've not so the ball has been lost.
"But that will come with practice, and as they train more and play more together, they will get to understand how each other plays."
Holdsworth's squad has a mixture of young and experienced players, and Wallace believes the future of the club is looking bright.
The club has retained its link with Chelmsford College for its academy programme, and Wallace is excited by the prospects coming through.
"It bodes well for the future," he added. "We've got the experienced players who will obviously be a part of helping to bring the young players on, we've got a clutch of them coming through – already some of them in academy have taken the eye of Dean, so we're looking for that.
"The guys at the college have recruited some very good players for the academy. We're looking at the academy in three or four years' time to be producing quite a lot of Chelmsford City players.
"It's a no-lose situation for us. If they're good and play for City then we get the benefit.
"If they're even better than us then obviously we'll get a return for them.
"It's something that we want to nurture, ideally getting local boys to play for the local team. I think that's the aim for any non-league club really."
