Paul, I will try to address a few of your points.
I too belong to a small club (and will only be a maximum of 50 players) and the way the clashes are set up, we too will never win. The first clash got a lot of members playing and we were 12th -14th (by memory) overall.
Second one new member played, 3rd and 4th no-one played. The reason are they are not fair and geared solely for WGT to make money. So it is unlikely until it is skill based that any of our club will play.
So WGT with it stubborn attitude really is driving players away.
Your club has a good mix of tiers and tournaments (kudos to you), which I would hope would be enough to keep players occupied - and so they do not have to fork out for passes (and bear in mind CC levels really have very few benefits). In your case I would get some members to put up a sleeve of balls to run instead of the CC clash - drive it from within with something tangible for your members.
As you say, this game can be expensive to play, and buying CC passes is not money well spent IMO, especially if those members can ill afford to do so, but some players may feel pressured to be seen to be doing their fair share. But playing this game can be fun with starters equipment - it depends on the individual and what they set out to achieve.
Yes this clash appears to have had bugs .....again and if this occured players should inundate CS with complaints, then maybe they will be fairly compensated. And as for matching clubs, again it must be fair and results based on skill (have tiered clashes) as if they are not, then what is the point of playing?
I take no notice of names lol - I have been called much worse! I admire your passion, but remain objective - I wish WGT did - then they might be on a winner with a lot more clubs and players participating.
The way it is it will have a limited lifespan as the current model is like flogging a dead horse.