Peter Parker
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Richard Walker
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For Sale
Jul 8, 2014 18:11:28 GMT
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Post by Peter Parker on Jul 8, 2014 18:11:28 GMT
A few weeks ago I suggested that this was a great time for someone to get Rovers on the cheap and my comments were dismissed as " rose tinted". Perhaps the Orient situation has made people realise that there are people out there looking to acquire a club that they can build. Whilst the fans can see only gloom and doom , we are a club in a major city with a brand new stadium in the pipeline and ready access to the Football league which many foreign investors want. It is true that the team itself is on an all time low but ironically that is the easiest thing for a monied person to correct. By just throwing money Clarkes way and by building a team of mercenaries , we could reach the Championship within 3 years . As we stand at the moment such a thought sounds ridiculous but that is the reality of the situation. Will it happen ? Who knows - probably not knowing our luck. People have been sniffing around but obviously they did not have the money or offer enough to entice Higgs and Co to part with their shareholding. It probably would be a good time as we are at a low point, but the club would need to actively look to get out amd write off their debt
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2014 18:11:47 GMT
A few weeks ago I suggested that this was a great time for someone to get Rovers on the cheap and my comments were dismissed as " rose tinted". Perhaps the Orient situation has made people realise that there are people out there looking to acquire a club that they can build. Whilst the fans can see only gloom and doom , we are a club in a major city with a brand new stadium in the pipeline and ready access to the Football league which many foreign investors want. It is true that the team itself is on an all time low but ironically that is the easiest thing for a monied person to correct. By just throwing money Clarkes way and by building a team of mercenaries , we could reach the Championship within 3 years . As we stand at the moment such a thought sounds ridiculous but that is the reality of the situation. Will it happen ? Who knows - probably not knowing our luck. People have been sniffing around but obviously they did not have the money or offer enough to entice Higgs and Co to part with their shareholding. Two very different scenarios here. Barry Hearn wrote off debts,someone has come in to move Orient forward. They hope. The Rovers board want there money back so won't write off a penny. There is no chance of anyone getting Rovers on the cheap unless said debts/ loans are paid back as part of a deal. Then a token penny for the Rovers may happen.
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Post by swissgas on Jul 8, 2014 18:15:52 GMT
A few weeks ago I suggested that this was a great time for someone to get Rovers on the cheap and my comments were dismissed as " rose tinted". Perhaps the Orient situation has made people realise that there are people out there looking to acquire a club that they can build. Whilst the fans can see only gloom and doom , we are a club in a major city with a brand new stadium in the pipeline and ready access to the Football league which many foreign investors want. It is true that the team itself is on an all time low but ironically that is the easiest thing for a monied person to correct. By just throwing money Clarkes way and by building a team of mercenaries , we could reach the Championship within 3 years . As we stand at the moment such a thought sounds ridiculous but that is the reality of the situation. Will it happen ? Who knows - probably not knowing our luck. People have been sniffing around but obviously they did not have the money or offer enough to entice Higgs and Co to part with their shareholding. I don't think that's true because Nick tried it and failed. My guess is that the new Leyton Orient owners will be putting all their cash into building the football club into a successful one and once they do that will look at either exercising an option to buy the Matchroom Stadium or build a new ground suitable for a team on the up. Barry Hearn has got Leyton Orient into a position where they look as though they may be on the up and that is why a football minded person has accepted the challenge of taking them forward. If he had wanted to invest in real estate he would have bought some office blocks or apartments in London or Rome. I'm afraid the Rovers board have brainwashed many fans into thinking the cart comes before the horse and now they may be hard at work trying to sell a Unicorn to people who want to buy a football club.
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Post by salfordsgas on Jul 8, 2014 18:38:39 GMT
1 - suggesting that those fans who came to Cardiff / London weren't gasheads is very disparaging to them. most of them went a long way and spent a lot of time and money to go and support Rovers.
i'll give you a very simple example. My 2 brothers came. they went pretty regularly to Twerton when they lived in Bath. after moving away neither went as much of course, but they go to away games and the odd home game if back in Bath. neither can drive and neither has much money. yet they came from Leeds and Nottingham. My best friend friend also came, from Bicester. He's a Norwich fan and we've been going to each others matches regularly for over 20 years. he's therefore been to a lot of gas games, including some when 2 men and his dog have been there. he is an honorary gashead in anyone's eyes. To even suggest that those three aren't proper gasheads is insulting. I'm sure most of the 35-40,000 will have similar stories to tell.
2 - the OP never suggested they would all turn out week in, week out. if you read his original comments it certainly doesn;t say anything about that.
An ex manager of mine went to Wembley,he is a season ticket holder at Ashton gate and would laugh in your face if you called him a "gashead",he went for a day out with his mates,another bloke I know took his son they have never been to football before or since,if you want to believe that Rovers are (or have the potential) to become a massive club you carry on. I went to my first game in 67 and I have watched football in other places over the years,Rovers may have under performed over the years but sleeping giant no way,actually there isn't much point in talking about this any more because the fantasists are going to keep pointing to the "40,000 gasheads" where the realists will ask when the last crowd over 20,000 was ?. Asking when the last 20,000 crowd was is plain stupid (no offence meant). The simplefact of the matter is Rovers have not had a ground legally allowed to have a crowd of 20,000 since the late 1970's when interestingly we had a crowd of over 26,500 against Southampton. Not really sure what tha validity of your point is.
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Cheshiregas
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Post by Cheshiregas on Jul 8, 2014 19:15:19 GMT
To buy a club it firstly has to be up for sale which clearly BRFC is not.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2014 19:18:43 GMT
An ex manager of mine went to Wembley,he is a season ticket holder at Ashton gate and would laugh in your face if you called him a "gashead",he went for a day out with his mates,another bloke I know took his son they have never been to football before or since,if you want to believe that Rovers are (or have the potential) to become a massive club you carry on. I went to my first game in 67 and I have watched football in other places over the years,Rovers may have under performed over the years but sleeping giant no way,actually there isn't much point in talking about this any more because the fantasists are going to keep pointing to the "40,000 gasheads" where the realists will ask when the last crowd over 20,000 was ?. Asking when the last 20,000 crowd was is plain stupid (no offence meant). The simplefact of the matter is Rovers have not had a ground legally allowed to have a crowd of 20,000 since the late 1970's when interestingly we had a crowd of over 26,500 against Southampton. Not really sure what tha validity of your point is. Well the point I was trying to make ( not very well it seems) is that there are not 40,000 "gasheads" out there and IMO not even 20,000. BTW whilst we did have a crowd of 26,500 against Saints ( I was one of them) in the next home cup game we had 23,500 against Ipswich ( including me) so we lost 3000 in a month ? no less away supporters,so how many Rovers supporters where at those games ? about 20,000 ? it was 1978 so in those 36 years how many of them have died ? or have we been multiplying like rabbits to reach this 40,000 "gasheads" ?. Whilst you are almost right about not having the ground capacity since then to hold 20,000 we did play some home games at Ashton Gate which could have held more,but are you seriously trying to say that we would have had more than 20,000 in those 36 years ?. How may times have Rovers sold out for a home game in those 36 years ? you had to go back to the 70s to find a 20,000+ crowd well there were only a few 20,000 crowds in that decade all against bigger clubs,not much football on tv and bigger crowds generally.
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Post by Surrey Gas on Jul 8, 2014 19:29:02 GMT
therealist is surely an ironic name when you post about 40,000 "gasheads",surely realism is facing the facts not coming up with armies of fans that don't exist.
1 - suggesting that those fans who came to Cardiff / London weren't gasheads is very disparaging to them. most of them went a long way and spent a lot of time and money to go and support Rovers.
i'll give you a very simple example. My 2 brothers came. they went pretty regularly to Twerton when they lived in Bath. after moving away neither went as much of course, but they go to away games and the odd home game if back in Bath. neither can drive and neither has much money. yet they came from Leeds and Nottingham. My best friend friend also came, from Bicester. He's a Norwich fan and we've been going to each others matches regularly for over 20 years. he's therefore been to a lot of gas games, including some when 2 men and his dog have been there. he is an honorary gashead in anyone's eyes. To even suggest that those three aren't proper gasheads is insulting. I'm sure most of the 35-40,000 will have similar stories to tell.
2 - the OP never suggested they would all turn out week in, week out. if you read his original comments it certainly doesn;t say anything about that.
Well, I bought 7 tickets for the Wembley game - 2 of us were season ticket holders, 2 for my wife and daughter (who dont really enjoy watching footbal regularly), my father who is blind so wont go to the new ground for obvious reasons, his partner who is Dutch and may go to a hamdful of games and my mate who is a Palace fan. So, only 2 of my group of 7 are likely to watch the Gas on a regular basis. The point is, lots of people enjoy a day out at Wembley (or the Millenium) but not so many enjoy watching football/Rovers every week. Dont kid yourself that we can suddenly have 40,000 fans to support us - that takes years and years of success to build that sort of support on a regular basis.
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Post by bristolian on Jul 8, 2014 19:56:04 GMT
therealist is surely an ironic name when you post about 40,000 "gasheads",surely realism is facing the facts not coming up with armies of fans that don't exist. The reality is 36,000 and 40,000 did turn up to watch Rovers like I stated, there was also the WBA game in the FA Cup where Supporters Club rep Steve Burns claimed they could have easily sold 30,000 as the demand was there. I didn't imagine that, it happened. Rare and unique occasions yes, but shows a level of potential that not all lower league or non-league clubs can offer, as highlighted by the attendance in the recent League Two playoff final for example. This is a city with a surrounding area catchment potential of over 1 million people here we are talking about, our last match also attracted an attendance of 10,500 after the worst season in the clubs history. The reality, as I see it, is there are two ways we could go: The Stockport County way - formely getting6,000/7,000 attendances in L1/L2, now getting 2/3,000 attendances in the Conference Prem/North. The Brighton & Hove Albion way - formerly getting 5/6,000 attendances in L1/L2, now getting 27,000 attendances in The Championship. Over to the board of directors... Brighton only got 5/6000 because that was the capacity of the Withdean, historically they have always been a well supported club so the fan base was always there. We on the other hand rarely fill the Mem unless it is a special occasion. It takes a period of sustained success to build a fan base that we just don't have most of the time. If we went to Wembley this season we would still take 40k but the following Saturday we would be back to the usual 6k (if we are lucky in the Conference). I fear the Stockport route is the far more likely of the two.
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For Sale
Jul 9, 2014 16:40:52 GMT
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Post by salfordsgas on Jul 9, 2014 16:40:52 GMT
Asking when the last 20,000 crowd was is plain stupid (no offence meant). The simplefact of the matter is Rovers have not had a ground legally allowed to have a crowd of 20,000 since the late 1970's when interestingly we had a crowd of over 26,500 against Southampton. Not really sure what tha validity of your point is. Well the point I was trying to make ( not very well it seems) is that there are not 40,000 "gasheads" out there and IMO not even 20,000. BTW whilst we did have a crowd of 26,500 against Saints ( I was one of them) in the next home cup game we had 23,500 against Ipswich ( including me) so we lost 3000 in a month ? no less away supporters,so how many Rovers supporters where at those games ? about 20,000 ? it was 1978 so in those 36 years how many of them have died ? or have we been multiplying like rabbits to reach this 40,000 "gasheads" ?. Whilst you are almost right about not having the ground capacity since then to hold 20,000 we did play some home games at Ashton Gate which could have held more,but are you seriously trying to say that we would have had more than 20,000 in those 36 years ?. How may times have Rovers sold out for a home game in those 36 years ? you had to go back to the 70s to find a 20,000+ crowd well there were only a few 20,000 crowds in that decade all against bigger clubs,not much football on tv and bigger crowds generally. I think you are preaching to the converted here. I have never claimed we have 40,000 and don't know anyone who does. The point about being able to mobilise circa 20,000 though is very valid. Without capacity restrictions we would have those numbers for the WBA etc games. It wouldn't happen every week far from it but it's all about building support. As previously pointed out Reading, Swansea, Brighton etc never used to get the crowds they currently get. Or are yo suggesting we just accept our 6/700 of recent years and leave it at that?
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kingswood Polak
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For Sale
Jul 9, 2014 16:51:36 GMT
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Post by kingswood Polak on Jul 9, 2014 16:51:36 GMT
A few weeks ago I suggested that this was a great time for someone to get Rovers on the cheap and my comments were dismissed as " rose tinted". Perhaps the Orient situation has made people realise that there are people out there looking to acquire a club that they can build. Whilst the fans can see only gloom and doom , we are a club in a major city with a brand new stadium in the pipeline and ready access to the Football league which many foreign investors want. It is true that the team itself is on an all time low but ironically that is the easiest thing for a monied person to correct. By just throwing money Clarkes way and by building a team of mercenaries , we could reach the Championship within 3 years . As we stand at the moment such a thought sounds ridiculous but that is the reality of the situation. Will it happen ? Who knows - probably not knowing our luck. People have been sniffing around but obviously they did not have the money or offer enough to entice Higgs and Co to part with their shareholding. I don't think that's true because Nick tried it and failed. My guess is that the new Leyton Orient owners will be putting all their cash into building the football club into a successful one and once they do that will look at either exercising an option to buy the Matchroom Stadium or build a new ground suitable for a team on the up. Barry Hearn has got Leyton Orient into a position where they look as though they may be on the up and that is why a football minded person has accepted the challenge of taking them forward. If he had wanted to invest in real estate he would have bought some office blocks or apartments in London or Rome. I'm afraid the Rovers board have brainwashed many fans into thinking the cart comes before the horse and now they may be hard at work trying to sell a Unicorn to people who want to buy a football club. Totally on the money. Stop making sense ffs.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2014 17:30:45 GMT
Well the point I was trying to make ( not very well it seems) is that there are not 40,000 "gasheads" out there and IMO not even 20,000. BTW whilst we did have a crowd of 26,500 against Saints ( I was one of them) in the next home cup game we had 23,500 against Ipswich ( including me) so we lost 3000 in a month ? no less away supporters,so how many Rovers supporters where at those games ? about 20,000 ? it was 1978 so in those 36 years how many of them have died ? or have we been multiplying like rabbits to reach this 40,000 "gasheads" ?. Whilst you are almost right about not having the ground capacity since then to hold 20,000 we did play some home games at Ashton Gate which could have held more,but are you seriously trying to say that we would have had more than 20,000 in those 36 years ?. How may times have Rovers sold out for a home game in those 36 years ? you had to go back to the 70s to find a 20,000+ crowd well there were only a few 20,000 crowds in that decade all against bigger clubs,not much football on tv and bigger crowds generally. I think you are preaching to the converted here. I have never claimed we have 40,000 and don't know anyone who does. The point about being able to mobilise circa 20,000 though is very valid. Without capacity restrictions we would have those numbers for the WBA etc games. It wouldn't happen every week far from it but it's all about building support. As previously pointed out Reading, Swansea, Brighton etc never used to get the crowds they currently get. Or are yo suggesting we just accept our 6/700 of recent years and leave it at that? Well people on this thread have mentioned the 40,000 Wembley "gasheads" as an indication of Rovers massive crowd potential,and I was pointing out that it is a red herring IMO. I don't accept the 20,000 that you mention either,that happened less than 10 times during the 70s ? Now when you say 6/7000 of recent years,surely you mean recent decades ? like 4 decades. Face facts times have changed and live football is not the draw it once was,for instance in the 70s pubs shut at 14.30 and didn't open again until 17.30...now with all day opening you can sit in the warm have a couple of pints and something to eat and watch football on tv for less than the cost of going to a game !..IMO Rovers are doing very well to get the gates the are getting.
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jozer
Joined: May 2014
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Post by jozer on Jul 10, 2014 8:29:41 GMT
What sort of gates were C**y getting when they made the Championship Play-off final a few years back?
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eppinggas
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Ian Alexander
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Post by eppinggas on Jul 10, 2014 10:48:38 GMT
IF the UWE is built, AND the Board actually communicate with the fans AND effectively market to the potential fan-base AND we are back in League football - then even in Division 2 gates of around 10,000 should be achievable. (OK - I admit a lot "IFS" and "ANDS"). Even in the last abysmal season we averaged 6,500 with a sh*t team, sh*t manager and sh*t BOD. I don't agree with the sentiment that we are 'stuck' at around 6 or 7,000 average attendance. I do agree that that is a comparatively healthy figure - given the 15 years of dross we have had to endure. It just feels like the BOD (and some of the fans) lack ambition. Maybe it's difficult to have ambition without any coherent strategy? I remember going to crappy Elm Park and watching Reading in the early 90's. Why should we feel we are unable to replicate what they have been able to achieve? (Yes - I know Madjeski bank-rolled them - but we should have the finances in place to build a new stadium). The key is the UWE build.
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Post by Phrench Phil on Jul 10, 2014 11:56:00 GMT
What sort of gates were C**y getting when they made the Championship Play-off final a few years back? 20,000ish and frequent sell-outs due to limited capacity! But, not totally surprising when they had been in or around the top two all season, were playing against 'top class' sides and were in reach of the 'holy grail'. Even with a 20,000 UWE capacity, I do not foresee a sell-out for the end of season title clincher against Braintree!
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Post by Phrench Phil on Jul 10, 2014 12:05:13 GMT
IF the UWE is built, AND the Board actually communicate with the fans AND effectively market to the potential fan-base AND we are back in League football - then even in Division 2 gates of around 10,000 should be achievable. (OK - I admit a lot "IFS" and "ANDS"). Even in the last abysmal season we averaged 6,500 with a sh*t team, sh*t manager and sh*t BOD. I don't agree with the sentiment that we are 'stuck' at around 6 or 7,000 average attendance. I do agree that that is a comparatively healthy figure - given the 15 years of dross we have had to endure. It just feels like the BOD (and some of the fans) lack ambition. Maybe it's difficult to have ambition without any coherent strategy? I remember going to crappy Elm Park and watching Reading in the early 90's. Why should we feel we are unable to replicate what they have been able to achieve? (Yes - I know Madjeski bank-rolled them - but we should have the finances in place to build a new stadium). The key is the UWE build. I also remember Elm Park (with its wooden flooring in the stand - just imagine the accidentally discarded cigarette!). I also agree that UWE is key, even to the extent that, without it, BRFC might well become AFC BR. But don't forget the different catchment area and level of success - there is only one team in Reading and they were knocking on the door of the premiership for several years prior to the new stadium: a few years of being near to the conference play-offs is not going to attract 20,000 or even 7,000.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2014 14:24:33 GMT
IF the UWE is built, AND the Board actually communicate with the fans AND effectively market to the potential fan-base AND we are back in League football - then even in Division 2 gates of around 10,000 should be achievable. (OK - I admit a lot "IFS" and "ANDS"). Even in the last abysmal season we averaged 6,500 with a sh*t team, sh*t manager and sh*t BOD. I don't agree with the sentiment that we are 'stuck' at around 6 or 7,000 average attendance. I do agree that that is a comparatively healthy figure - given the 15 years of dross we have had to endure. It just feels like the BOD (and some of the fans) lack ambition. Maybe it's difficult to have ambition without any coherent strategy? I remember going to crappy Elm Park and watching Reading in the early 90's. Why should we feel we are unable to replicate what they have been able to achieve? (Yes - I know Madjeski bank-rolled them - but we should have the finances in place to build a new stadium). The key is the UWE build. I also remember Elm Park (with its wooden flooring in the stand - just imagine the accidentally discarded cigarette!). I also agree that UWE is key, even to the extent that, without it, BRFC might well become AFC BR. But don't forget the different catchment area and level of success - there is only one team in Reading and they were knocking on the door of the premiership for several years prior to the new stadium: a few years of being near to the conference play-offs is not going to attract 20,000 or even 7,000. Don't recall Reading pushing for the premier for several years prior to getting there ground,but my memory ain't great. And Wigan were getting awful crowds but still got in the top flight,and because they had a new ground there fan base could grow watching good football,but the ground came first
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