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CJS/JUNIOR REDS


generation1

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My name is John and with my wife Claire and a few others we started and ran these junior clubs for over 20 years.

some of the people involved are still around ( Kate Masters ,Jean and Joe Reeves) some have sadly passed on and the others seem to have lost their passion for City.

whilst the cubs were going we ran subsidised trips for our young members with the clubs agreeing swops of tickets to keep the cost down, we fed the youngsters who visited us and gave them ground tours and played

friendly football games against them.

this burst of memory has been brought about by our recent trip to Watford who were one of the better clubs at this. I am proud to say that we were one of the last clubs to do this type of thing but have a yearning for the way things used to be.

am I alone in missing the way some things were and wanting more of what has passed 

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3 hours ago, generation1 said:

My name is John and with my wife Claire and a few others we started and ran these junior clubs for over 20 years.

some of the people involved are still around ( Kate Masters ,Jean and Joe Reeves) some have sadly passed on and the others seem to have lost their passion for City.

whilst the cubs were going we ran subsidised trips for our young members with the clubs agreeing swops of tickets to keep the cost down, we fed the youngsters who visited us and gave them ground tours and played

friendly football games against them.

this burst of memory has been brought about by our recent trip to Watford who were one of the better clubs at this. I am proud to say that we were one of the last clubs to do this type of thing but have a yearning for the way things used to be.

am I alone in missing the way some things were and wanting more of what has passed 

I had many fantastic away days as a youngster, thanks to your great work. I loved the friendly matches before City played and the ticket arrangements meant that coach & ticket for away games was always such great value, as a kid.

My first ever visit to Wembley was a junior Reds tour once, before a Brentford away game.

Also the Christmas parties, with all the players were great and lasting memories were made. 

I was mascot away at Watford once and it's a memory that I'll always cherish. 

Thanks John & Claire, your efforts will always be appreciated. 

Rob. 

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My Son Philip was a regular away supporter on the Junior Reds coach from a very young age. He always enjoyed his days out and was always well looked after. It's a shame that young fans of today don't have a similar club to go to away games with. 

John could also have mentioned Terry as one of those who helped with the youngsters. 

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4 hours ago, generation1 said:

My name is John and with my wife Claire and a few others we started and ran these junior clubs for over 20 years.

some of the people involved are still around ( Kate Masters ,Jean and Joe Reeves) some have sadly passed on and the others seem to have lost their passion for City.

whilst the cubs were going we ran subsidised trips for our young members with the clubs agreeing swops of tickets to keep the cost down, we fed the youngsters who visited us and gave them ground tours and played

friendly football games against them.

this burst of memory has been brought about by our recent trip to Watford who were one of the better clubs at this. I am proud to say that we were one of the last clubs to do this type of thing but have a yearning for the way things used to be.

am I alone in missing the way some things were and wanting more of what has passed 

Used CJS all the time with my dad, mum and sister. It's what got me hooked on football.

Forever grateful.

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4 hours ago, generation1 said:

My name is John and with my wife Claire and a few others we started and ran these junior clubs for over 20 years.

some of the people involved are still around ( Kate Masters ,Jean and Joe Reeves) some have sadly passed on and the others seem to have lost their passion for City.

whilst the cubs were going we ran subsidised trips for our young members with the clubs agreeing swops of tickets to keep the cost down, we fed the youngsters who visited us and gave them ground tours and played

friendly football games against them.

this burst of memory has been brought about by our recent trip to Watford who were one of the better clubs at this. I am proud to say that we were one of the last clubs to do this type of thing but have a yearning for the way things used to be.

am I alone in missing the way some things were and wanting more of what has passed 

One of the things that this post doesn't mention is the sheer amount of work carried out by John, Claire, Jean, Joe, Dawn, Terry, Terry, Lynn, Kate, Carol & Stuart (amongst others) to make the CJS possible.

A match day for these guys started at 10am and ran until 6. All that time was spent on duty - running the shop, running the football in Greville Smyth, looking after visitors. Add into that the work in the week - they washed the kit, organised the coaches, sorted out the banking, bought trophies. It's not a push to say for the committee it was sometimes a full time job, and to run the same thing on the same scale, you'd need hugely committed unpaid people, or have to employ at least 1 person full time with several more on a matchday.

Could it be done again? 

Possibly. The one thing I'd say is st a lower level it works better because things are less corporate, and the clubs have more capacity for ground tours etc in a matchday for visitors (if less space)

However, city could do this. As against 50 comps in the old days, it's probably 100 comps for visitors. 80 kids, 20 adults. Loss of c£1000 a game potential income, but more than doable. Then get recipricols for away games - and just charge for the coach (old days it was typically under a tenner for kids and under twenty for adults).

Even if it's just the tickets and a room with food set up, I'd reckon between lost income and staff costs it's about a £50-£100k cost/income loss per annum. I'm sure the club would consider this - but other clubs have to be on board too for it to work (in the past maybe 50% were). Just illustrates the value of what was done.

People like the committee are the lifeblood of this club and football generally and we all should doff the virtual cap.

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I loved going to games as a junior red, living in portishead made many friends from Bristol , home games were good , also having a room of our own to get together ,

i recall city v Notts county getting tasty !  But the away   games were brilliant , playing football against other junior teams , Mansfield etc , although being a kid away to  Cardiff was scary especially  as we beat them ! 

The banks family , joe and jean reeves put in so much effort ,  it could be done again, after all we have 5000 spare seats on a match day ! 

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thanks for all the kind comments ,glad to know so many enjoyed it. it was not a lack of goodwill from City that brought about its end but rather that other clubs stopped doing it.

as mentioned it was maybe a lower league thing but despite the long hours we loved doing it.

sadly Lynn and Carol are no longer with us and we have also lost that great man Steve Webb who used to do the ground tours and join us on away trips

.could it be done again?maybe but the format would need drastic changes.

 

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Being away at Burden Park in the home end was pretty scarey time with the locals not that happy to see us. Playing football for the Junior Reds at both Nottingham clubs on their training pitches was ace and captaining the team and scoring a goal , the closest I got to playing for my beloved club. Home matches in the club room . All the guys from Yate and Portishead who became my friends . My kids also became Junior Reds and went away with the Banksy's and Ashton Kate . My best ever times . One common cause Bristol City . 

Run by volunteers who where like family . I will never forget what they did for me as a kid . Could it happen again....I hope so. 

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11 hours ago, generation1 said:

thanks for all the kind comments ,glad to know so many enjoyed it. it was not a lack of goodwill from City that brought about its end but rather that other clubs stopped doing it.

as mentioned it was maybe a lower league thing but despite the long hours we loved doing it.

sadly Lynn and Carol are no longer with us and we have also lost that great man Steve Webb who used to do the ground tours and join us on away trips

.could it be done again?maybe but the format would need drastic changes.

 

I remember a cold night at Stoke away Steve had his leg in plaster and had it resting on the seat in front. Someone's wayward shooting in the warm-up hit his rested leg! Very amusing.

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Went to City home games twice with my school for free when I was in primary - I'm from a City family but it really helped seal the deal for me. 

We won both and the atmosphere was amazing - I vaguely remember City Kids or a similar name but it might not have been theirs. Either way thank you for all the work you all did! 

I'm guessing City still do similar free ticket things through the Foundation? 

Definitely got the capacity now we could fill the extra seats with schoolkids who will become our next generation of fans... :chant6ez:

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Playing pool in the junior reds room and using polystyrene cups down the pockets to stop the balls going down and save yourself 20p. Great times.

I was mascot at Boro away and then later a ball boy. Away games were brilliant espicaly playing against the other teams, reading this has bought back a lot of memories.  the windows going in at Millwall cracking day. 

Great, great times and all thanks to the junior reds. A real shame it's still not going. 

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