When Waitakere City FC and Norwest United FC started discussions about merging, there was a lot to consider. Bringing two progressive clubs who had been competing against each other for years into a functional partnership to develop “the greatest club in the west” was no small task.
Once the decision was made to merge, they only had one summer to put together their new club, the West Coast Rangers.
Management needed to make sure they had the right tools at hand from the get go.
Both clubs had used different club management software systems prior to the merge, so staff were able to compare and contrast their experiences to ensure they had the best solution going forward. The key for decision makers was that the system be simple to use for all club stakeholders.
After consideration, they decided Friendly Manager was a great fit and the best way forward.
The team was conscious of making a great first impression for the brand new club.
For most people, the initial connection was going to be through the new club’s website, so it was a top priority to get that right. WCR engaged graphic designers who created great branding which reflected where the club had come from and what it was hoping to achieve. The challenge was to find a website platform that would professionally display the desired look and feel of the brand, but was still simple to edit and keep up to date.
Friendly Manager was able to provide a templated website that was flexible enough to customise, yet could easily be maintained by administrators.
The online registration process also needed consideration. This was a new club - it needed to feel well organised and professional - and it needed to work well! For a club of its size, there was no capacity for people getting stuck trying to join.
The registration process also needed to feed data into an easy-to-administrate system for the club managers to use. Friendly Manager not only provided that, but seamlessly transferred that data into Comet and Xero with integrations that removed the need for any double handling.
Right from the start, WCR decided to use club management software to do the heavy lifting and save their whole team time.
Mike Casey, the President of Waitakere City FC said:
“Friendly Manager have a positively refreshing approach and provided a great outcome.”
Both management and members are now enjoying the benefits of the decision to implement Friendly Manager.
