is anybody out there

[fiz]

Forums a bit like the crowds nobody bothering to turn up

[xed]

i've not been on the forum for a while because i am busy at work (makes a change), i was at the game on Saturday, when not getting drenched, i did get the impression that some people are getting frustrated at the way the club is being run. I also spoke to a former committee man and what he had to say about the chairman is not worth repeating here (i've got better things to do than receive writs from Chadwick Lawrence). There's some deeply unhappy people at the club and i think the club is going to have big problems before long. The rumour about the club talking to Tesco again wouldn't surprise me at all. It's all about the bottom line.

[richardkelly]

Its been a farce from start to the finish

I truly cannot beleive that the same people who were so against selling the ground would now be so two faced as to begin negotiating with Tesco's.
Then again maybe I can
Nothing would suprise me anymore!

[matsui]

So, is it true, that negotiations have re-opened with Tesco ?
The chat overheard at ASDA seemed to indicate this. Would be typical to hear whats going on in this way, usually its via the Evening Post.
As Kelly said, nothing would surprise anybody anymore.
I thought the "new" committee had pledged to keep the members informed. As before we've heard nowt !

[fiz]

don't think for a minute that the club are in negotiations with Tescos that would really P**s our kit sponsors off. This thread was more about the lack of interest in ossett town both on and off the pitch not who the club may be negotiating with. There needs to be more done to raise the profile of the club in order to gain further investment to take the club forwards.

[matsui]

Take your point Fiz.
Good to see a little bit more activity on the Forum. But as you said, the 1800 sad signers of the great petition, have scurried back from whence they came !!!

[ossettpeteinnz]

Hey guys, has anyone actually ever seen this petition? I've heared one or two references to the fact that it has not been seen, is it 1800 different names that are on there as well?
Granted the only information I can gather about what is happening is from this forum but there certainly doesn't seem to be any good news coming out of the club. I've had a quick flick through the junior tables and nobody seems to be breaking any records, I guess following the success of last years under 16's is proving difficult. What about the academy and the reserves is there any hope in their teams? The first team are following the path of recent seasons and look like heading for mid table security. Come on Graham or Martin assume your pseudonyms and cheer us all up with your 3, 5 and 10 year plans for the club. Most importantly how in the short term do you intend to get the support back up to a respectable level. Where are they all going? Ossett Albion don't get that many, Wakefield and Emley are on their way down, Leeds United are charging ridiculous prices you can't tell me that all the men folk of Ossett are enjoying their Saturday afternoons shopping in Wakefield. There must be some incentive or dangling carrot to tempt people back. Why not start with a suggestion box on the bar which is opened only by an independant person who will come along to monthly meetings and discuss options?

[xed]

suggestion box wont work, there's seems to be 4 standard responses to any new ideas

1) where's the money coming from for that?
2) who's going to do that?
3) what the b****y h*ll do we want to do that for?
4) what's it got to do with you?

usually accompanied by much snarling and angry looks or hoots of derision. Hence why i keep my mouth shut now when i'm in the club.

Having a suggestion box on the bar would not work because some one will see you putting a bit of paper in the box and at the first opportunity "grass you up" to the committee, so immediately you get labelled a trouble maker and subjected to snide abuse behind your back.

sorry about the negativity Pete, obviously i spend too much time at Ossett Town and their negativity is starting to rub off on me.

[ossettpeteinnz]

Sorry xed, I've just read my post again and it sounds like I have just drunk 12 bottles of Lion Red lager, I can assure you I was completely sober. I guess I'm as frustrated as everyone else and want to see some dynamic and inspirational management, (yes I'm still sober as I'm at work at the moment) what's the plan for raising the crowd? surely there must be some short term targets in place like 200 by xmas, 250 by Spring (March 1st) and 300 by the end of the season. It's not a big ask and very achieveable, from what has been said maybe you should tell the committee it was their idea and it may get implemented.
I'm used to the "snarling and angry looks" not sure who you are but you have probably met the wife and the "hoots of derision" I used to get every time I asked if I could turn the tv over on a Sunday night at the club.......yes, I was part of that infamous gang but was not involved in any underhand stuff that may or may not have gone off.
The negativity is understandable and so is the frustration but I guess all we can do is keep trying.
One day we will look back at this when we are playing Grimsby in the conference at our new Firth Stadium with a crowd of 3,500 and laugh!! (HIC!)

[xed]

only 84 watching last night.

don't know what the club can do. Admission is fixed by the league, price of beer is fixed by brewery, all the other promotional ideas the club have had like free tickets to school kids don't seem to work. there was no football on tv last night so that cant be blamed, weather was ok, not sure what else would work.

[fiz]

maybe if we advertised that tv celebrities were at the club a few more may turn up, andy and kitty as Noddy and big ears, the comittiee as grumpy old men, rob o,brien as chesney, teletubies (tinky winky-foth, dipsy- kirk, lala-wally, poo- pugh).

[ossettpeteinnz]

And don't forget Beno as lurch!
xed you mentioned there were 84 watching last night but how many actually came through the turnstiles? Is that the official click figures or gate receipts? how many got in for nothing? how many came over the wall? How many came in and just went straight into the bar claiming they were not watching the match?
I suppose Gateshead wont have brought many with them on a Tuesday evening down the A1. Maybe that's one excuse that can be used but it is a pretty miserable number.
The average for the season in the league is 141, the highest crowd was for the first game of the season and the lowest was for the latest game which may also say something about the supporters feelings.
On their travels the average league attendance is 429 (268 without the Telford game) that would mean in approximate terms with a 50/50 split of full/half admission prices on the extra 127 people just over 650 pounds (sorry no pound sign on these bloody computers over here) in potential revenue, all subjecture I know but it is there.
If they were to drop the fees to 6 and 3 pounds and fund the extra 1pound and 50 pence out of the club coffers on a crowd of 200 they would make an extra 8 pound revenue against the average crowd at full price. The question is would that spur the supporters on to come to the game an extra 59 people doesn't sound many but it clearly is to the club. Would those extra 59 people make any difference in terms of vocal support to the players I don't know but they would certainly add to the night with beer, pies, raffles etc.

[xed]

i'm sorry to admit this but i wasn't there on Tuesday, i fell asleep in my chair at home and didn't wake up until after 8:30 i suppose i could have got up there for the 2nd half, but i know how annoying it is for the committee and supporters when they see people walking into the ground in the 2nd half and not paying a penny to watch the best part of the game. Judging by the times of the scorers on Tuesday i would have seen most of the goals had i gone to the ground.

Peter asks a question that has puzzled me for a while, who exactly is included in the attendance figures? I do know that the club are required by the league to send 20 complimentary tickets to the away team. Are these tickets included in the attendance figures? if yes, that means only 64 people actually paid money to watch the game on Tuesday; but that also means that the Gateshead players and management were included in the attendance, because complimentary tickets are usually given to the players, management and other officials of the away team.

I assume the attendance figures are compiled by that new guy who is the treasurer and is standing by the gate as you walk into the ground, he always seems to have a clipboard with him, so i assume he's doing a 5 bar gate of who's coming in and who's paying.

it might be an idea if we try and understand why people are staying away, i'm sure we all know someone who used to come and watch us regularly, perhaps we could make a note of their comments and post them on here (obviously keeping their names anonymous).

I know from one or two i know that the cost of admission is a problem, just as an aside, £7 would have bought you a standing ticket for the FA cup final back in 1985 (seats were about £20); quality of football is a factor, a lot of older people genuinely believe the game was better 20-30 years ago, all i would say to that is i watched Ossett Town when we were bottom of NCEL 2nd division 20 years ago and we were rubbish then. The clubhouse itself i have heard mentioned, it does seem to be not quite as spick and span as it used to be, but i understand the club are going to do something about the toilets. I'll have another word with the people i know and see what it would take to get them back into the ground and back into the club.

I'm off line now until Monday so i'll talk to you all then

bye!

[matsui]

The reason we don't go into the Clubhouse anymore, is becuase of the toilets. No other reason. We adults can manage, but I won't let our kids use them, nor will other people we know let theirs.

[ossettpeteinnz]

xed and matsui have both made a very good point there regarding the state of the toilets. It is one of those small things that doesn't automatically spring to mind when you are looking for reasons, but, it is surely a health and safety and environmental issue which should automatically push it to the top of any list. Is it just the outside gents toilet you are referring to or are the internal ones in the old building as bad? You will have to excuse my ignorance as I don't know if the outside ones are still there. The question I have to ask is if they are then why? I thought those sort of old toilets were part of history now and only found in some old run down park frequented by dirty old men. That is not to cast any aspertions on people who use these toilets now.
Presumably the committee are aware of this problem and I'm sure if someone from the environmental dept of the local council were to be made aware this would soon be sorted.
Matsui uses the word "manage" which is unacceptable to have to do that.

Anyway hope there is something a little more interesting to talk about after Saturday so will speak to you all then.