Tony Le Mesmer Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Just type in Yorkie the Lion bike stunt in youtube and it'll come up. Classic! That was the old Yorkie though .They got a new one but nothing to do with any disciplinary issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van der MoodHoover Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 1 hour ago, Tony Le Mesmer said: The last bit is spot on Hants and a big bugbear of mine. I am aware many lower league clubs have limited staff , income and resources but there are stacks of things that can be done on a match day that cost next to nothing or even nothing and they can engage and excite fans as well as make some money too. Yeovil now have a fan park outside Huish which caters mainly for kids and younger fans with playstations, players mingling and playing table football and the like with the kids. Photo opportunities, treasure hunts and all sorts outside the ground to make coming to the ground more interesting. I know for a fact that some season tickets were randomly delivered to the purchasers doors by manager Darren Way and there is just a whole community aspect to the club with people making the effort. Little things stick in the mind. It's often the little things. Derby's kids fanpark area is pretty embarrassing for a club the size of Derby but I'm pleased it's at least there. Most clubs have nothing and do nothing for kids. Half time entertainment at York consisted of some bloke picking lotto tickets out of a plastic bucket and that's it. They have a kids room in the back of the family stand with some manky colouring pencils and bags of sweets but that's it. Atrocious. In fact the best thing I ever saw from the mascot Yorkie the Lion was when he cycled around the corner flag during a game when a corner was about to be taken ! Google it. It's actually funny. Yorkie bike stunt. Lol anyone who can find itvand put in a youtube link that would be very very appreciated. Clubs have the whole of the run up to kick off to captivate fans and half time is 15 minutes to a captive audience so take advantage is what I say. For your memories Tony.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Le Mesmer Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Haha Hants! Quality. I really need to learn how to post videos. There's loads of lower league nonsense going off. I'm just rubbish with technology and computers. Brings back memories. Standing in the Shippo terrace getting cramp and hoping I won't need to use the toilet facilities back there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TelTheRam Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 On 7 November 2016 at 00:02, Tony Le Mesmer said: York City. A combination of disillusionment with how the club has been run into the ground, contempt and disregard for fans, poor facilities and stupid ticket prices for the level of football both for kids and adults, joke of a chairman and ineffective trust both of which have no intention of communicating with fans, ridiculous charade regarding the new community stadium which should have been opened two seasons ago yet a digger is still to even start digging (York council IMO have no money and no intention of ever building it), just all round rank and gross phoenix nights esque amateurish running of a football club and fans don't have a voice. Driving the length and breadth of the country to pay 20 quid to get in at the likes of Salisbury City with one ramshackle bog for 500 city fans had to stop. I couldn't do it anymore. Those who run the club have given up and so have I. Chairman Jason McGill recently admitted he's lost interest in the club and hasn't got time for it anymore so he wants to concentrate now on HIS business JM Packaging and has appointed a new Chief Exec to oversee the running of the club. The new Chief Exec is ex manager Jackie McNamara who got the club relegated into the national league, brought in a new squad of players in the summer, most on 2 year contracts - none of which are good enough, he had not won an away game in 29 tries, got battered at then bottom club Guiseley 6-1 and took York to 5th bottom of the National League. He then had the luxury of deciding whether or not he should step down and offered his resignation if the club didn't beat Braintree in a recent league game in which they drew. He then resigned but took over as caretaker boss until a new manager was found!! He got fined for fare dodging on a trip back to Scotland on the train so he could pick up a new car. Now he's running the whole club! It really is absolute madness of a scale I don't think I've ever seen at a football club. I've lived in Derbyshire for over ten years now and my kid was born and lives here so thought I'd pick a local club that is well run and offers value for money and by and large treat fans with regard. That ruled Chesterfield out immediately which is a shame as I'm 5 minutes away from the Prozac. I just decided one day that enough was enough and although my kid went to a few York games with me, I want her supporting a local club who won't end up going bust within the next 10 years. We thought about Matlock Town also as i have a passion for tiny obscure non league sides but in the end I sold out to the razzmataz that accompanies supporting a club with 30,000 fans. More for the kid than me if it has to be said. I don't want her making the same mistakes as me and spending half her younger years following a tin pot team with a tin pot business model. Business Model being rip fans off, ignore them, treat them like dirt and take advantage and do this for years and years and years and just rely on those die cards that will keep coming and keep the club afloat when its probably best if the club goes under, gets reformed at a more realistic level financially and fairly and run by the fans so everything and everyone has a say and is accountable. So long as those thousand or so keep turning up then nothing need ever change for the better. I'd rather watch a reformed club at the very bottom of the pyramid for 10 quid a game and feel a part of it all like its my club than be made to feel totally abandoned by the one in it's current guise. Derby as a choice is more by default really due to the local factor but as far as my kid goes I think it was a good choice. You can't just switch clubs and feel the same passion. I've been to every Derby home game this season and I see the passion and excitement a lot more in my kid. She loves getting involved with the flags and all the match day stuff but me, rather sadly from a footballing perspective I feel a bit empty inside. I mean I enjoy the games and all that but I feel like a neutral really rather than a fan to whom a win REALLY matters. Still, it's early days and I take solace in the fact that people find other partners they feel just as strongly about as their first so translating that, maybe I'll give it time and it will be like I've been Derby forever. I admit. It's an odd one. That will all change on December 11th Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Le Mesmer Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 Yes indeed, my first ever Derby / Forest match. Hopefully it will be a cracker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tombo Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 On 07/11/2016 at 00:02, Tony Le Mesmer said: York City. A combination of disillusionment with how the club has been run into the ground, contempt and disregard for fans, poor facilities and stupid ticket prices for the level of football both for kids and adults, joke of a chairman and ineffective trust both of which have no intention of communicating with fans, ridiculous charade regarding the new community stadium which should have been opened two seasons ago yet a digger is still to even start digging (York council IMO have no money and no intention of ever building it), just all round rank and gross phoenix nights esque amateurish running of a football club and fans don't have a voice. Driving the length and breadth of the country to pay 20 quid to get in at the likes of Salisbury City with one ramshackle bog for 500 city fans had to stop. I couldn't do it anymore. Those who run the club have given up and so have I. Chairman Jason McGill recently admitted he's lost interest in the club and hasn't got time for it anymore so he wants to concentrate now on HIS business JM Packaging and has appointed a new Chief Exec to oversee the running of the club. The new Chief Exec is ex manager Jackie McNamara who got the club relegated into the national league, brought in a new squad of players in the summer, most on 2 year contracts - none of which are good enough, he had not won an away game in 29 tries, got battered at then bottom club Guiseley 6-1 and took York to 5th bottom of the National League. He then had the luxury of deciding whether or not he should step down and offered his resignation if the club didn't beat Braintree in a recent league game in which they drew. He then resigned but took over as caretaker boss until a new manager was found!! He got fined for fare dodging on a trip back to Scotland on the train so he could pick up a new car. Now he's running the whole club! It really is absolute madness of a scale I don't think I've ever seen at a football club. I've lived in Derbyshire for over ten years now and my kid was born and lives here so thought I'd pick a local club that is well run and offers value for money and by and large treat fans with regard. That ruled Chesterfield out immediately which is a shame as I'm 5 minutes away from the Prozac. I just decided one day that enough was enough and although my kid went to a few York games with me, I want her supporting a local club who won't end up going bust within the next 10 years. We thought about Matlock Town also as i have a passion for tiny obscure non league sides but in the end I sold out to the razzmataz that accompanies supporting a club with 30,000 fans. More for the kid than me if it has to be said. I don't want her making the same mistakes as me and spending half her younger years following a tin pot team with a tin pot business model. Business Model being rip fans off, ignore them, treat them like dirt and take advantage and do this for years and years and years and just rely on those die cards that will keep coming and keep the club afloat when its probably best if the club goes under, gets reformed at a more realistic level financially and fairly and run by the fans so everything and everyone has a say and is accountable. So long as those thousand or so keep turning up then nothing need ever change for the better. I'd rather watch a reformed club at the very bottom of the pyramid for 10 quid a game and feel a part of it all like its my club than be made to feel totally abandoned by the one in it's current guise. Derby as a choice is more by default really due to the local factor but as far as my kid goes I think it was a good choice. You can't just switch clubs and feel the same passion. I've been to every Derby home game this season and I see the passion and excitement a lot more in my kid. She loves getting involved with the flags and all the match day stuff but me, rather sadly from a footballing perspective I feel a bit empty inside. I mean I enjoy the games and all that but I feel like a neutral really rather than a fan to whom a win REALLY matters. Still, it's early days and I take solace in the fact that people find other partners they feel just as strongly about as their first so translating that, maybe I'll give it time and it will be like I've been Derby forever. I admit. It's an odd one. How will you feel if York City starts to change, they do a Burton, and we end up playing them twice a year? Awkward question I know but...would you ever go back if things changed?...or are you Derby for good now? And you can give an honest answer to that, I don't bite. You've got a season ticket and you actively chose Derby, that's more than most! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Le Mesmer Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 1 hour ago, Tombo said: How will you feel if York City starts to change, they do a Burton, and we end up playing them twice a year? Awkward question I know but...would you ever go back if things changed?...or are you Derby for good now? And you can give an honest answer to that, I don't bite. You've got a season ticket and you actively chose Derby, that's more than most! I won't be going back. Unlike the brexit vote , once a decision is reached I stick with it. I've contacted the chairman on numerous occasions, given the board ample opportunity to engage and work towards solutions to fans issues but they're just not willing to do so. We're talking year upon year of this and if nobody at the club is willing to even acknowledge there is a serious disconnect between board and fans let alone listen to concerns then we reach the end of the line. No guilt, no bitterness. Just being true to what I feel is right. My support, efforts and financial investments in the club from buying a programme to sponsoring a player have ended and nobody can say I'm not being a proper fan without having a comprehension of the mitigating circumstances for my decision. Perhaps if I'd not had the kid who I've always wanted to get into football then I might have just binned footy off altogether but I know how important it is from a sense of pride and identity viewpoint to support a local club. She is Derbyshire so must follow a Derbyshire club, preferably the one closest to home. That is Chesterfield but for various reasons I feel they are also run unprofessionally and I've not really had much of an affinity with them despite being here over 10 years. I've always liked Derby County and the times when Saunders played and McMinn and the like. Went to the ipro a few times for a look around with the kid and thought bugger it. Why not. Let's get season tickets and go for it. The kid is now a ram and wants to go all the time. The decision has been made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rynny Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 On 07/11/2016 at 17:48, Tony Le Mesmer said: Haha Hants! Quality. I really need to learn how to post videos. There's loads of lower league nonsense going off. I'm just rubbish with technology and computers. Brings back memories. Standing in the Shippo terrace getting cramp and hoping I won't need to use the toilet facilities back there. Just copy the address bar at the top of the page and paste it here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van der MoodHoover Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 5 hours ago, rynny said: Just copy the address bar at the top of the page and paste it here. All true. Alas , my warm glow of technological brilliance has been exposed for the sham it was . The forum has made it all idiot proof (even Boycie could do it ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rynny Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 3 hours ago, HantsRam said: All true. Alas , my warm glow of technological brilliance has been exposed for the sham it was . The forum has made it all idiot proof (even Boycie could do it ) He still manages to break it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 10 hours ago, Tony Le Mesmer said: Yes indeed, my first ever Derby / Forest match. Hopefully it will be a cracker. That'll be unusual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sith Happens Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 16 hours ago, Tony Le Mesmer said: Yes indeed, my first ever Derby / Forest match. Hopefully it will be a cracker. A christmas cracker even Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OohMartWright Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 18 hours ago, Tony Le Mesmer said: Yes indeed, my first ever Derby / Forest match. Hopefully it will be a cracker. I don't care if it's crap as long as we win! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loweman2 Posted November 9, 2016 Author Share Posted November 9, 2016 15 hours ago, eddie said: That'll be unusual. This one wasn't bad ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Canitbé Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 On 11/7/2016 at 00:02, Tony Le Mesmer said: York City. A combination of disillusionment with how the club has been run into the ground, contempt and disregard for fans, poor facilities and stupid ticket prices for the level of football both for kids and adults, joke of a chairman and ineffective trust both of which have no intention of communicating with fans, ridiculous charade regarding the new community stadium which should have been opened two seasons ago yet a digger is still to even start digging (York council IMO have no money and no intention of ever building it), just all round rank and gross phoenix nights esque amateurish running of a football club and fans don't have a voice. Driving the length and breadth of the country to pay 20 quid to get in at the likes of Salisbury City with one ramshackle bog for 500 city fans had to stop. I couldn't do it anymore. Those who run the club have given up and so have I. Chairman Jason McGill recently admitted he's lost interest in the club and hasn't got time for it anymore so he wants to concentrate now on HIS business JM Packaging and has appointed a new Chief Exec to oversee the running of the club. The new Chief Exec is ex manager Jackie McNamara who got the club relegated into the national league, brought in a new squad of players in the summer, most on 2 year contracts - none of which are good enough, he had not won an away game in 29 tries, got battered at then bottom club Guiseley 6-1 and took York to 5th bottom of the National League. He then had the luxury of deciding whether or not he should step down and offered his resignation if the club didn't beat Braintree in a recent league game in which they drew. He then resigned but took over as caretaker boss until a new manager was found!! He got fined for fare dodging on a trip back to Scotland on the train so he could pick up a new car. Now he's running the whole club! It really is absolute madness of a scale I don't think I've ever seen at a football club. I've lived in Derbyshire for over ten years now and my kid was born and lives here so thought I'd pick a local club that is well run and offers value for money and by and large treat fans with regard. That ruled Chesterfield out immediately which is a shame as I'm 5 minutes away from the Prozac. I just decided one day that enough was enough and although my kid went to a few York games with me, I want her supporting a local club who won't end up going bust within the next 10 years. We thought about Matlock Town also as i have a passion for tiny obscure non league sides but in the end I sold out to the razzmataz that accompanies supporting a club with 30,000 fans. More for the kid than me if it has to be said. I don't want her making the same mistakes as me and spending half her younger years following a tin pot team with a tin pot business model. Business Model being rip fans off, ignore them, treat them like dirt and take advantage and do this for years and years and years and just rely on those die cards that will keep coming and keep the club afloat when its probably best if the club goes under, gets reformed at a more realistic level financially and fairly and run by the fans so everything and everyone has a say and is accountable. So long as those thousand or so keep turning up then nothing need ever change for the better. I'd rather watch a reformed club at the very bottom of the pyramid for 10 quid a game and feel a part of it all like its my club than be made to feel totally abandoned by the one in it's current guise. Derby as a choice is more by default really due to the local factor but as far as my kid goes I think it was a good choice. You can't just switch clubs and feel the same passion. I've been to every Derby home game this season and I see the passion and excitement a lot more in my kid. She loves getting involved with the flags and all the match day stuff but me, rather sadly from a footballing perspective I feel a bit empty inside. I mean I enjoy the games and all that but I feel like a neutral really rather than a fan to whom a win REALLY matters. Still, it's early days and I take solace in the fact that people find other partners they feel just as strongly about as their first so translating that, maybe I'll give it time and it will be like I've been Derby forever. I admit. It's an odd one. Just been back on the forum and seen this, really glad I asked. I find it very interesting that despite the general consensus being that those who support lower league clubs have the better deal (lower ticket prices etc.) your story goes against what I myself believed. I have to say, I was considering going to watch York for the few years that my girlfriend lived there whilst she was at uni but always found myself put off by the ticket prices. It was £17 each and this was at a time when for just £8 more I could go back to Derby and watch us at the height of our 13/14 season. A real shame that fans such as yourselves have found themselves so disconnected with their clubs, particularly in the lower leagues. However I suppose it reflects the fact that many people move around the country more readily in the modern world, and therefore find it difficult to actually get to games. It also brings home that some of the clubs in the lower tiers are just as poorly run as those in the higher echelons of the game, just that liquidation etc. is a far more real threat at that level. I count myself fortunate to be a Derby fan at a time of relative stability, at least in terms of club ownership and finances. Good to have you on board as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Le Mesmer Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 1 hour ago, Howard Canitbé said: Just been back on the forum and seen this, really glad I asked. I find it very interesting that despite the general consensus being that those who support lower league clubs have the better deal (lower ticket prices etc.) your story goes against what I myself believed. I have to say, I was considering going to watch York for the few years that my girlfriend lived there whilst she was at uni but always found myself put off by the ticket prices. It was £17 each and this was at a time when for just £8 more I could go back to Derby and watch us at the height of our 13/14 season. A real shame that fans such as yourselves have found themselves so disconnected with their clubs, particularly in the lower leagues. However I suppose it reflects the fact that many people move around the country more readily in the modern world, and therefore find it difficult to actually get to games. It also brings home that some of the clubs in the lower tiers are just as poorly run as those in the higher echelons of the game, just that liquidation etc. is a far more real threat at that level. I count myself fortunate to be a Derby fan at a time of relative stability, at least in terms of club ownership and finances. Good to have you on board as well. Some lower league clubs are on the ball and offer a good all round day out at the footy for a reasonable price but a lot are just going through the motions and hoping for that one season that will lift everybody. For most though they never materialise and you are left with a badly run club, poor football, poor everything really and you can often just sense the apathy and staleness in the air at some of these grounds. 17 quid at York you said, that presumably was to stand on the terrace in the Longhurst? Not overly extortionate but it's when I used to go with the kid and in the seats, 21 for me and 12 for her at 4 years old so you're talking 33 quid to sit in a ramshackle stand with a poor view and crap footballers for a game against Mansfield. At Derby the same tickets are often cheaper and the standard of football, facilities and players is a million times better. Well......maybe not the first one. Thanks for your comments though, much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Canitbé Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 6 minutes ago, Tony Le Mesmer said: Some lower league clubs are on the ball and offer a good all round day out at the footy for a reasonable price but a lot are just going through the motions and hoping for that one season that will lift everybody. For most though they never materialise and you are left with a badly run club, poor football, poor everything really and you can often just sense the apathy and staleness in the air at some of these grounds. 17 quid at York you said, that presumably was to stand on the terrace in the Longhurst? Not overly extortionate but it's when I used to go with the kid and in the seats, 21 for me and 12 for her at 4 years old so you're talking 33 quid to sit in a ramshackle stand with a poor view and crap footballers for a game against Mansfield. At Derby the same tickets are often cheaper and the standard of football, facilities and players is a million times better. Well......maybe not the first one. Thanks for your comments though, much appreciated. Not sure where I'd have been, but I decided against it as I know for a fact I've watched Derby play for a very similar price recently and as you say, the football is much better. Not to mention the fact that I'm a lifelong fan so the experience is as a whole much more satisfying. Unless they don't turn up of course, in which case it often spoils my weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Le Mesmer Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 5 minutes ago, Howard Canitbé said: Not sure where I'd have been, but I decided against it as I know for a fact I've watched Derby play for a very similar price recently and as you say, the football is much better. Not to mention the fact that I'm a lifelong fan so the experience is as a whole much more satisfying. Unless they don't turn up of course, in which case it often spoils my weekend. The one thing that does get my goat though is this general sympathy amongst higher tier football fans for the plight of lower league clubs. Especially the clamour to get the Premier League to help out a bit and filter some of the riches down to the lower levels. I believe in a lot of cases it's totally misguided. Some of these clubs are that badly run they'd just waste it and be in a much worse position after it. Take Torquay United as an example. Riding high in league 2 a few years ago, local lady lotto winner Thea Bristow pops in, "I've millions upon millions to invest so can I be chairperson?". Of course you can Thea. Clueless board members sack manager Martin Ling by text during his first bout of well documented depressive episodes. Ling had got Torquay to the play off semi the season before and had made the club money already by selling on the likes of Eunan O'Kane, Mark Ellis, Bobby Olejnik et al all of who he got on free transfers. Ling would spend large periods of time commuting to south Devon and away from his family as he didn't relocate. The sacrifices were huge and they just binned him off callously when he needed help the most. Rumours were spread allegedly by club sources although i have my own club sources there that confirm this, accusing Ling of having a drink problem and further tarnishing Ling's name. The board somehow in the space of 2 seasons managed to waste over 6 million quid of Thea's money whilst simultaneously getting the club relegated into the conference and most of the board members jumping ship with their bounty and leaving an elderly woman with no media training whatsoever to frequently face the press amid turmoil. Amazingly Thea wrote off all of the money she was owed back and resigned. Give some of these lower league chairmen a bit of coin and they get ideas above their station. It's like getting a birthday card from your grandma when you're 9 years old and inside, instead of a tenner there's 50 quid. You go mad and then it's gone. Ask Chesterfield fans if they could trust the Sheffield mafia that are currently running the club with an influx of money and see what their answer would be. In any case, I don't see why clubs should get handouts from above. If they were run efficiently and successfully then they wouldn't need them. Clubs like AFC Wimbledon. They know their onions. From nothing to league 1 takes structure, organisation and fans who are engaged. If they weren't then the club wouldn't have got very far. Yeovil Town have had many recent meetings regarding club / fan interaction and engagement and how it can be improved and they are doing something about it. There are worthy causes, worthy clubs but they'll find out that if they run themselves properly and engage the whole community and fanbase, success is only a matter of time. It's no secret that appalling run clubs get relegated. You'll not find many, if any that flourish. Plymouth are a club who have turned their fortunes right around. On the brink a few years ago and now after hard work, dedicated club / fan involvement and togetherness they are making the best of it and will be going up finally this season IMO. Leyton Orient. At the bottom and struggling. I wonder why? Why should they get any sympathy? Or money for that matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Canitbé Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 18 minutes ago, Tony Le Mesmer said: The one thing that does get my goat though is this general sympathy amongst higher tier football fans for the plight of lower league clubs. Especially the clamour to get the Premier League to help out a bit and filter some of the riches down to the lower levels. I believe in a lot of cases it's totally misguided. Some of these clubs are that badly run they'd just waste it and be in a much worse position after it. Take Torquay United as an example. Riding high in league 2 a few years ago, local lady lotto winner Thea Bristow pops in, "I've millions upon millions to invest so can I be chairperson?". Of course you can Thea. Clueless board members sack manager Martin Ling by text during his first bout of well documented depressive episodes. Ling had got Torquay to the play off semi the season before and had made the club money already by selling on the likes of Eunan O'Kane, Mark Ellis, Bobby Olejnik et al all of who he got on free transfers. Ling would spend large periods of time commuting to south Devon and away from his family as he didn't relocate. The sacrifices were huge and they just binned him off callously when he needed help the most. Rumours were spread allegedly by club sources although i have my own club sources there that confirm this, accusing Ling of having a drink problem and further tarnishing Ling's name. The board somehow in the space of 2 seasons managed to waste over 6 million quid of Thea's money whilst simultaneously getting the club relegated into the conference and most of the board members jumping ship with their bounty and leaving an elderly woman with no media training whatsoever to frequently face the press amid turmoil. Amazingly Thea wrote off all of the money she was owed back and resigned. Give some of these lower league chairmen a bit of coin and they get ideas above their station. It's like getting a birthday card from your grandma when you're 9 years old and inside, instead of a tenner there's 50 quid. You go mad and then it's gone. Ask Chesterfield fans if they could trust the Sheffield mafia that are currently running the club with an influx of money and see what their answer would be. In any case, I don't see why clubs should get handouts from above. If they were run efficiently and successfully then they wouldn't need them. Clubs like AFC Wimbledon. They know their onions. From nothing to league 1 takes structure, organisation and fans who are engaged. If they weren't then the club wouldn't have got very far. Yeovil Town have had many recent meetings regarding club / fan interaction and engagement and how it can be improved and they are doing something about it. There are worthy causes, worthy clubs but they'll find out that if they run themselves properly and engage the whole community and fanbase, success is only a matter of time. It's no secret that appalling run clubs get relegated. You'll not find many, if any that flourish. Plymouth are a club who have turned their fortunes right around. On the brink a few years ago and now after hard work, dedicated club / fan involvement and togetherness they are making the best of it and will be going up finally this season IMO. Leyton Orient. At the bottom and struggling. I wonder why? Why should they get any sympathy? Or money for that matter. Makes you really appreciate how lucky Burton Albion have been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brady1993 Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 22 minutes ago, Tony Le Mesmer said: The one thing that does get my goat though is this general sympathy amongst higher tier football fans for the plight of lower league clubs. Especially the clamour to get the Premier League to help out a bit and filter some of the riches down to the lower levels. I believe in a lot of cases it's totally misguided. Some of these clubs are that badly run they'd just waste it and be in a much worse position after it. Take Torquay United as an example. Riding high in league 2 a few years ago, local lady lotto winner Thea Bristow pops in, "I've millions upon millions to invest so can I be chairperson?". Of course you can Thea. Clueless board members sack manager Martin Ling by text during his first bout of well documented depressive episodes. Ling had got Torquay to the play off semi the season before and had made the club money already by selling on the likes of Eunan O'Kane, Mark Ellis, Bobby Olejnik et al all of who he got on free transfers. Ling would spend large periods of time commuting to south Devon and away from his family as he didn't relocate. The sacrifices were huge and they just binned him off callously when he needed help the most. Rumours were spread allegedly by club sources although i have my own club sources there that confirm this, accusing Ling of having a drink problem and further tarnishing Ling's name. The board somehow in the space of 2 seasons managed to waste over 6 million quid of Thea's money whilst simultaneously getting the club relegated into the conference and most of the board members jumping ship with their bounty and leaving an elderly woman with no media training whatsoever to frequently face the press amid turmoil. Amazingly Thea wrote off all of the money she was owed back and resigned. Give some of these lower league chairmen a bit of coin and they get ideas above their station. It's like getting a birthday card from your grandma when you're 9 years old and inside, instead of a tenner there's 50 quid. You go mad and then it's gone. Ask Chesterfield fans if they could trust the Sheffield mafia that are currently running the club with an influx of money and see what their answer would be. In any case, I don't see why clubs should get handouts from above. If they were run efficiently and successfully then they wouldn't need them. Clubs like AFC Wimbledon. They know their onions. From nothing to league 1 takes structure, organisation and fans who are engaged. If they weren't then the club wouldn't have got very far. Yeovil Town have had many recent meetings regarding club / fan interaction and engagement and how it can be improved and they are doing something about it. There are worthy causes, worthy clubs but they'll find out that if they run themselves properly and engage the whole community and fanbase, success is only a matter of time. It's no secret that appalling run clubs get relegated. You'll not find many, if any that flourish. Plymouth are a club who have turned their fortunes right around. On the brink a few years ago and now after hard work, dedicated club / fan involvement and togetherness they are making the best of it and will be going up finally this season IMO. Leyton Orient. At the bottom and struggling. I wonder why? Why should they get any sympathy? Or money for that matter. Great post. I have to say your knowledge of lower league football is impressive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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