Alex said that
I don't think a club is going to fold because of a switch from Game Fee to Membership
The point I'm trying to make is the incremental cost to individual players at the point at which they first are asked to play in a league. Sometimes that would be enough to put people off. Conversely once they have started playing in a league they are far more likely to get hooked and thus more likely to remain with the club.
An Example: Say a club has expenses of £960 p.a. A couple of players moved away over the summer so now it has say 12 members paying on average £70 each, membership plus league fees, a projected income of £840 p.a. A despondent committee can't cut expenses any lower then Fred and Bert turn up. They've been playing each other at work and want to play a bit more seriously. They pay a membership of £50 each. Our club are now just £20 short of covering their expenses, by dipping into reserves they can hang on in there. The teams are a bit short handed and ask Bert and Fred to play in a few matches. Now playing club members they keep getting beaten easily but on bottom board of Division 6 in the League they are more competitive. By the end of the season they start winning and drawing. They then don't worry too much about the gulf in standard between them and the rest of the club as they can see they are making progress and join up for the following season happy to pay £70. Everyone is happy.
Under our compulsory membership scheme at some point, whether at their first game or after their first 5 league games, they are told that they now have to pay a membership fee to the ECF. They haven't really got going yet and this is the last straw. They throw in the towel with the 2nd half of the years fees not yet paid. Our club are now £70 down on the year. The exhausted committee members decide that enough is enough and the club folds.
It is this Mr Mccawber effect that I am on about with membership numbers slipping to hazardous levels. I am sure it is very much evident in some, not all, clubs in Worcestershire. Now I think chess is in the doldrums currently and that it will pick up eventually. There are so many people beavering away to try and make that happen. Some clubs might be on the edge at the moment but if they get past the current problems might do well in the future. The time to be enforcing these types of changes is when clubs are in a healthier state generally. This is only going to happen when people start feeling more prosperous.