Wigan boss Steve Bruce tries voice broadcasting

Steve Bruce, manager of Wigan Athletic, will call 10,000 season ticket holders this week and ask them to attend the home FA Cup clash with Chelsea FC on 26 January.

Wigan Athletic is a regular user of Relay Station's voice broadcasting technology.

In December 2007, manager Steve Bruce used the technology to "call" nearly 3,000 supporters to promote half-season ticket sales.

The response was overwhelming.

Relay Station's voice broadcasting is one of the most effective means for clubs to interact and engage with fans.

The technology is a proven generator of revenue streams for many Premiership and Championship clubs including Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Coventry and Stoke City.

All that clubs need do to benefit from Relay Station's technology is record a message from the manager or player on an MP3, copy the telephone numbers of fans from a database to a spreadsheet, and send both to Relay Station with instructions on when to broadcast.

The personalised message is sent to the mobiles or landlines of all fans simultaneously (or spread out over a number of hours to avoid overloading ticket office staff) and they have the option to opt out from future broadcasts in the unlikely event they do not wish to receive personalised messages from their club.

"Wigan's FA Cup tie with depleted Chelsea promises to be one of the highlights of our season and the team needs as many fans as possible at the JJB Stadium to spur them on and get a result," said Antony Clark, Wigan's sales director.

"Relay Station's voice broadcasting technology will enable Steve Bruce to get that personal message out to season ticket holders in a most effective way".

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