“It’s my club, not your club!”

[One Team]

Interesting discussion between the Colchester United chairman and supporters (link contains swearing just in case you need to know!): 

 

[Partridge is a robin]

Owura edwards just scored for "his club"

[ExiledAjax]

Do Oldham have a new Chairman? Nothing on the web about that. Yes Lemsagam has been a disaster, and recently said he wants to sell, but I don't think anything has happened there yet.

Cowling has an interesting history, and features often in the "Lower league chairmen writing mad blog posts that have been nowhere near a lawyer" list.

[CHIPLEY RED]

This wont be a universally agreed view but I think the fan is out of order and the chairman is right. Verbally abusing anyone in that way is out of order and actually it is the chairmans club as he owns it and probably funds it.

[Bris Red]

18 hours ago, One Team said:

Interesting discussion between the Colchester United chairman and supporters (link contains swearing just in case you need to know!): 

 

Embarrassing really

[KegCity]

47 minutes ago, CHIPLEY RED said:

This wont be a universally agreed view but I think the fan is out of order and the chairman is right. Verbally abusing anyone in that way is out of order and actually it is the chairmans club as he owns it and probably funds it.

He owns the club, but it belongs to the fans, as it is at City. Owners, managers and players come and go but the fans stay.

[Marina's Rolls Royce]

1 hour ago, KegCity said:

He owns the club, but it belongs to the fans, as it is at City. Owners, managers and players come and go but the fans stay.

So , out of interest- do you feel the same way about your local pub? It may be owned by someone but it belongs to the drinkers? Trouble with this view is about the money- it's always about the money. Colchester , in common with many a business which have a place in a local community, are not exactly flowing with cash or the level of support which makes the business sustainable. Many people want the facility to be there but aren't always willing to support it other than as and when it suits them.

I support BCFC but not from my sofa but with hard cash. I dont go looking for basically illegal free streams which deprive our club of desperately needed money and then go bleating on about no money for transfers.

When City announce losses of over £30 million in a season ( year) I thank the lord that I don't own the club and I have zero liability for the losses. Fans are great when money is being spent on transfers/trying to get a promotion but turn very quickly if it doesn't work out and the club is in serious debt. Just ask any Derby fan.

And whilst I'm on a rant- how difficult is it to pay £5 to OTIB and become a supporter? It's OUR forum after all..... isn't it???

[Port Said Red]

1 hour ago, KegCity said:

He owns the club, but it belongs to the fans, as it is at City. Owners, managers and players come and go but the fans stay.

This is a fallacy the fans like to believe, we are just followers of a team through choice, it doesn't belong to us.

Edited January 19, 2022 by Port Said Red

[TheReds]

1 hour ago, KegCity said:

He owns the club, but it belongs to the fans, as it is at City. Owners, managers and players come and go but the fans stay.

Feel free to make me a cash offer for the bit that belongs to me, you can then double your bit.

[KegCity]

1 hour ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

So , out of interest- do you feel the same way about your local pub? It may be owned by someone but it belongs to the drinkers? Trouble with this view is about the money- it's always about the money. Colchester , in common with many a business which have a place in a local community, are not exactly flowing with cash or the level of support which makes the business sustainable. Many people want the facility to be there but aren't always willing to support it other than as and when it suits them.

I support BCFC but not from my sofa but with hard cash. I dont go looking for basically illegal free streams which deprive our club of desperately needed money and then go bleating on about no money for transfers.

When City announce losses of over £30 million in a season ( year) I thank the lord that I don't own the club and I have zero liability for the losses. Fans are great when money is being spent on transfers/trying to get a promotion but turn very quickly if it doesn't work out and the club is in serious debt. Just ask any Derby fan.

And whilst I'm on a rant- how difficult is it to pay £5 to OTIB and become a supporter? It's OUR forum after all..... isn't it???

No I don’t because I don’t “support” a pub in the manner someone does a football club because a football club is not simply a business despite the attitudes of many these days. My view is that whilst the owner owns the club, it’s the fan base that make it what it is and it’s their club. I know some people like to act as if Lansdown is Mr Bristol City, for example, but he’s really safeguarding the club and running it. The club was here before he arrived and providing he doesn’t hire another Mark Ashton it will be here when he leaves. It’s part of the community. You can make a strawman comparison to a pub but they’re clearly not the same thing. Both have “customers” and owners but by that logic you can compare pretty much anything with transactions involved, they’re clearly very different organisations.

Don't understand what illegal streams has to do with the club belonging to the fans. I genuinely don’t get what you mean about debts etc, if anything that strengthens my point more? Look at Wimbledon for example, now technically the club is MK Dons as it belongs to the owners who do what they like. The actual club was resurrected by the fans and is now AFC Wimbledon. They’re two different entities, technically the business renamed, rebranded and moved cities, but it’s no longer the same club. 

I might be pedantic or too quaint about it but whilst the fans don’t sit down and do the spreadsheets they make the club what it is. It belongs to them. The contempt of Colchester’s owner to have an attitude of “it’s my club I’ll do what I like” rubs me the wrong way because whilst it’s technically true, in reality it’s not. If every fan abandoned the club the club folds, it’s not like a pub as you alluded to where other customers can be attracted unless you do an MK Dons where it’s no longer the same club.

1 hour ago, TheReds said:

Feel free to make me a cash offer for the bit that belongs to me, you can then double your bit.

I don’t want my bit at the minute let alone yours!

 

1 hour ago, Port Said Red said:

This is a fallacy the fans like to believe, we are just followers of a team through choice, it doesn't belong to us.

I would say owners have more choice than fans over which clubs they’re involved in. You’ll have the standard top 6 fan who chops and changes but I’d expect most city STHs feel more of a connection the club than an owner, it’s not a standard choice like in most markets. Who knows though, maybe football is just another day out these days?

[grifty]

29 minutes ago, KegCity said:

I might be pedantic or too quaint about it but whilst the fans don’t sit down and do the spreadsheets they make the club what it is. It belongs to them. The contempt of Colchester’s owner to have an attitude of “it’s my club I’ll do what I like” rubs me the wrong way because whilst it’s technically true, in reality it’s not. If every fan abandoned the club the club folds, it’s not like a pub as you alluded to where other customers can be attracted unless you do an MK Dons where it’s no longer the same club.

I get what you mean, however I view this as more of a "I've paid for the privilege to own this club and I will run it the way I see fit" rather than paying to own the club and then listening to fans gobbing off outside the stadium or on a forum and doing whatever they say because ultimately, it's his money.

[KegCity]

4 minutes ago, grifty said:

I get what you mean, however I view this as more of a "I've paid for the privilege to own this club and I will run it the way I see fit" rather than paying to own the club and then listening to fans gobbing off outside the stadium or on a forum and doing whatever they say because ultimately, it's his money.

Yeah don’t disagree that it’s his name attached to the club, just at the risk of being too romantic whoever the owner is isn’t actually bigger than the club. To me the fans are part of the club as they’re the ones that make it what it is.

I’d like to see a similar situation to the fan ownership in Germany but that won’t ever happen.

[spudski]

3 hours ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

So , out of interest- do you feel the same way about your local pub? It may be owned by someone but it belongs to the drinkers? Trouble with this view is about the money- it's always about the money. Colchester , in common with many a business which have a place in a local community, are not exactly flowing with cash or the level of support which makes the business sustainable. Many people want the facility to be there but aren't always willing to support it other than as and when it suits them.

I support BCFC but not from my sofa but with hard cash. I dont go looking for basically illegal free streams which deprive our club of desperately needed money and then go bleating on about no money for transfers.

When City announce losses of over £30 million in a season ( year) I thank the lord that I don't own the club and I have zero liability for the losses. Fans are great when money is being spent on transfers/trying to get a promotion but turn very quickly if it doesn't work out and the club is in serious debt. Just ask any Derby fan.

And whilst I'm on a rant- how difficult is it to pay £5 to OTIB and become a supporter? It's OUR forum after all..... isn't it???

That's an interesting comparison.

I was a regular at a watering hole for many years. As were all my local friends. One by one, people started to leave and frequent another watering hole. Most odd...what was going on. It was our 'home'...where we felt comfortable...and loyal to it.

Then the owners took their eyes off the pub, and started up another one. Standards dropped, prices went up, beer was kept badly, people started to complain, staff underpaid and under valued, locals who had supported for many years taken for granted. Instead of people chilling and relaxing in the pub, all you'd get was locals and staff complaining about everything, every day. Not a nice experience anymore.

Before you knew it, pretty much everyone that made it ' home', had moved to another pub and made it ' home'.

You really can't do that with a football club you support. But you can make change. Just stop going. 

If people stopped going instead of just complaining and still going, then Clubs would have to change.

Money talks. Why pay into something that we don't agree with. Why put up with mediocre? Why be overcharged for crap food and beverages? Why buy ridiculously overpriced advertising made of polyester and wear it? The more we pay and keep going...the more owners will just take fans for granted.

It's no surprise non league football attendances are going up.

The sooner fans start complaining with their feet, the better. Let's get this system to implode...it's totally broken.

Sooner the better imo. No reason why our club wouldn't start up again like every other club. At least, maybe we would have an equal base to start from, rather than now.

Put it out of its misery. I'm totally up for starting again. It's broken.

Edited January 19, 2022 by spudski

[Tin Soldier]

1 hour ago, spudski said:

That's an interesting comparison.

I was a regular at a watering hole for many years. As were all my local friends. One by one, people started to leave and frequent another watering hole. Most odd...what was going on. It was our 'home'...where we felt comfortable...and loyal to it.

Then the owners took their eyes off the pub, and started up another one. Standards dropped, prices went up, beer was kept badly, people started to complain, staff underpaid and under valued, locals who had supported for many years taken for granted. Instead of people chilling and relaxing in the pub, all you'd get was locals and staff complaining about everything, every day. Not a nice experience anymore.

Before you knew it, pretty much everyone that made it ' home', had moved to another pub and made it ' home'.

You really can't do that with a football club you support. But you can make change. Just stop going. 

If people stopped going instead of just complaining and still going, then Clubs would have to change.

Money talks. Why pay into something that we don't agree with. Why put up with mediocre? Why be overcharged for crap food and beverages? Why buy ridiculously overpriced advertising made of polyester and wear it? The more we pay and keep going...the more owners will just take fans for granted.

It's no surprise non league football attendances are going up.

The sooner fans start complaining with their feet, the better. Let's get this system to implode...it's totally broken.

Sooner the better imo. No reason why our club wouldn't start up again like every other club. At least, maybe we would have an equal base to start from, rather than now.

Put it out of its misery. I'm totally up for starting again. It's broken.

I would have disagreed with you a few years ago,

BUT the last few seasons at AG/Bristol Sport/Derby County & others and you realise that a lot of what you say is true. IMO Football in the Championship is most likely going to implode very soon. The Premiership is great with the £130million you get but you then have a “feast or famine” scenario where players wages are completely out of control in the Champ versus what income the club gets, so they then treat fans as punters etc. Parashute payments when relegated are causing this to snowball also, and players agents know this.

I have started watching local sport on a Saturday rather than go down AG and get ripped of by Bristol Sport every home game. Not really missing it much at the moment which is what has surprised me. Just decided to give it a bit of a rest this season. Quite a few others I know are doing the same.

 

Edited January 19, 2022 by Tin Soldier

[Marina's Rolls Royce]

@KegCity @spudski

The pub analogy works when it's a pub in a village- the only pub. I guarantee you that "customers" feel like it's their pub . It's not like any other business because it's at the heart of the community.

As for statement that BCFC is broken- what utter nonsense. It's not broken but it is seriously wounded like dozens of other clubs in the EFL ( probably most)and mainly due to the pandemic combined with all the money going to the PL and then PP and each and every club's need to either merely survive or its non stop quest for promotion.

Those who don't want to go to games yet pontificate on a forum about why they don't/won't support the club - well that's their choice but perhaps shouldn't be taken too seriously when they think of themselves as a fan or supporter.

Meanwhile over 20,000 of us think otherwise and cant wait for saturday albeit that we've usually been regretting it by 5.10 p.m..

[RedNachos]

All I'm saying is without Bristol City fans there is no Bristol City. Without an owner there is still a Bristol City

[Marina's Rolls Royce]

3 minutes ago, RedNachos said:

All I'm saying is without Bristol City fans there is no Bristol City. Without an owner there is still a Bristol City

How does a club without an owner work except when in administration?

But you're largely right- a shop without customers can't exist.

There is, however, one exception to this rule- bristol rovers dont really have any fans but just about scrape by in the conference or wherever they play these days.

[Erithacus]

It comes down to the definition of a club. On the one hand it is a clearly defined and legally-binding organisation, with rights and responsiblities apportioned to those who are the legal owner/s. This is a well trodden path.

The other hand: a club is a gathering of people with like minds, hearts and souls. It makes little legal sense but it is nevertheless also a well-trodden path that we all feel is truth. We all feel a kinship, a comradeship and common passion, despite having no real legally accepted substance.

Which aspect of a club you deal with depends on which end you look from.

[spudski]

5 hours ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

@KegCity @spudski

The pub analogy works when it's a pub in a village- the only pub. I guarantee you that "customers" feel like it's their pub . It's not like any other business because it's at the heart of the community.

As for statement that BCFC is broken- what utter nonsense. It's not broken but it is seriously wounded like dozens of other clubs in the EFL ( probably most)and mainly due to the pandemic combined with all the money going to the PL and then PP and each and every club's need to either merely survive or its non stop quest for promotion.

Those who don't want to go to games yet pontificate on a forum about why they don't/won't support the club - well that's their choice but perhaps shouldn't be taken too seriously when they think of themselves as a fan or supporter.

Meanwhile over 20,000 of us think otherwise and cant wait for saturday albeit that we've usually been regretting it by 5.10 p.m..

You've misunderstood... professional football in this country is broken...not the club perse.

We all want the club to do well...but why keep supporting a system ( not club as such) that isn't working?

The only way it will change is if people stop buying into it. 

Your comment about real supporters is ludicrous. Supporting a system that wants changing, that people want changing, makes no sense.

Why keep paying into a system that many don't approve of?

And as for the pub analogy...you can always get owners who will make the pub what the community want, if action is taken. Whether they leave, change etc. 

As a nation...we moan about everything, but do very little to change things. It's in our nature. We moan and just put up with things. We are so apathetic. 

I'd love to see football implode in this country in my lifetime. Start again under better guidelines. With local government that see it as beneficial to the community and provide better and cheaper transport and infrastructure. 

If other countries can do it, why can't we. 

 

[MC RISK77]

It is a good watch but I would argue that Escobar v Escobar is the best documentary on football I have seen. I was far too young to know who pablo Escobar was during the 94 World Cup and how he got so close to the national team.

Just now, MC RISK77 said:

It is a good watch but I would argue that Escobar v Escobar is the best documentary on football I have seen. I was far too young to know who pablo Escobar was during the 94 World Cup and how he got so close to the national team.

I meant the Two Escobars 

[Waconda]

10 hours ago, RedNachos said:

All I'm saying is without Bristol City fans there is no Bristol City. Without an owner there is still a Bristol City

[Phileas Fogg]

16 hours ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

And whilst I'm on a rant- how difficult is it to pay £5 to OTIB and become a supporter? It's OUR forum after all..... isn't it???

I notice mine has recently lapsed, but I don’t think it’s fair for you to try and shame people who aren’t subscribers. You have no idea of their reasons and it’s not your place to try and call them out. 

[extonsred]

10 hours ago, RedNachos said:

All I'm saying is without Bristol City fans there is no Bristol City. Without an owner there is still a Bristol City

Is there? Please explain! 

[KegCity]

1 hour ago, Phileas Fogg said:

I notice mine has recently lapsed, but I don’t think it’s fair for you to try and shame people who aren’t subscribers. You have no idea of their reasons and it’s not your place to try and call them out. 

Yeah, I didn't bother rising to that one.

 

12 hours ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

@KegCity @spudski

The pub analogy works when it's a pub in a village- the only pub. I guarantee you that "customers" feel like it's their pub . It's not like any other business because it's at the heart of the community.

As for statement that BCFC is broken- what utter nonsense. It's not broken but it is seriously wounded like dozens of other clubs in the EFL ( probably most)and mainly due to the pandemic combined with all the money going to the PL and then PP and each and every club's need to either merely survive or its non stop quest for promotion.

Those who don't want to go to games yet pontificate on a forum about why they don't/won't support the club - well that's their choice but perhaps shouldn't be taken too seriously when they think of themselves as a fan or supporter.

Meanwhile over 20,000 of us think otherwise and cant wait for saturday albeit that we've usually been regretting it by 5.10 p.m..

I just don't think they're comparable in practice, yes they're both "businesses" but there's a lot that makes a football club different to a normal business that isn't tangible. I'm obviously in the minority that think that so I won't try and convince you otherwise. As many village pubs have seen it doesn't matter if you're the only pub in the village as people will still switch allegiances, that isn't really a thing in football.

For the record I'm a STH at City, not sure if that comment about being taken seriously was a dig at me or somebody else.

[Marina's Rolls Royce]

10 hours ago, spudski said:

You've misunderstood... professional football in this country is broken...not the club perse.

We all want the club to do well...but why keep supporting a system ( not club as such) that isn't working?

The only way it will change is if people stop buying into it. 

Your comment about real supporters is ludicrous. Supporting a system that wants changing, that people want changing, makes no sense.

Why keep paying into a system that many don't approve of?

And as for the pub analogy...you can always get owners who will make the pub what the community want, if action is taken. Whether they leave, change etc. 

As a nation...we moan about everything, but do very little to change things. It's in our nature. We moan and just put up with things. We are so apathetic. 

I'd love to see football implode in this country in my lifetime. Start again under better guidelines. With local government that see it as beneficial to the community and provide better and cheaper transport and infrastructure. 

If other countries can do it, why can't we. 

 

On this point if none other, I heartily agree. As for implosion - I hoped this would happen to the banks in 2007/2008- it didnt and after government bail outs they were just as bad within a few short years.

I despair that for the price of a squad player at, say Man City, you could keep half the clubs in L2 afloat- maybe all of them etc. When 90% of the money seems to go to less than 10% of all our English clubs then it is indeed a broken system.

[ZiderEyed]

Really interesting thread, and one that speaks to misinterpretations about the sociocultural impacts of a professional football club in any city - in my humble and poorly informed opinion. 

I would heavily suggest anyone interested in how football clubs shape cities and vice versa read some of the work of John Bale, an emiment sociological geographer of footballing spaces. Bristol City, and the cultural spaces that exist in it's periphery (pubs, hotels, B&Bs, restaurants, takeaways) exist because of the inherent loyalty of normal people to the collective experience of football. The areas around Ashton Gate are the overflowing of collective consciousness that results in the physical environment that is our club. The club is defined by it's followers, but the club equally defines the people that follow it. 

Rising Sun, Miners Arms, Three Lions? Expressions of a wider consciousness in South Bristol. 

Equally, acceptance of commercialisation reflects trends in Bristol.

A 2-way street. 

[spudski]

3 hours ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

On this point if none other, I heartily agree. As for implosion - I hoped this would happen to the banks in 2007/2008- it didnt and after government bail outs they were just as bad within a few short years.

I despair that for the price of a squad player at, say Man City, you could keep half the clubs in L2 afloat- maybe all of them etc. When 90% of the money seems to go to less than 10% of all our English clubs then it is indeed a broken system.

Totally agree with you.

There are so many broken systems that we live with every day...and add to by continually supporting them. To keep supporting a system that's broken, it will continue and rarely change. 

The only way to change things is by not supporting the system with finance.

We all love our club...but imo, I could continue supporting the club in a system I don't agree with, and it will never change in my lifetime.

I'd love professional football to implode...to somehow start again. Hopefully under a level playing field. I'd be more than happy to support City under a new system. As it is...it's futile and no longer enjoyable as it should be.

We shouldn't as fans be feeling like it's a chore rather than a pleasure.

I don't care about results...just want a level playing field.

We need change.

In the same way the apolitical system needs change.

We vote, knowing politicians will constantly be looking to find deals that will financially benefit them.

Pay them a salary that is equal to the job. Ban any outside financial dealings.

Get a salary...do your job to serve the country.

We keep voting...the system will never change. 

Imagine a year where no one voted, and everyone stopped going to watch professional football and gave up their Sky subscription.

It'll never happen...but if it did...we would get change.

In the cold light of day...it's pretty simple. But we will always find excuses not to. Hence the hierarchy always taking control.