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“This town ain’t big enough for the both of us…”


Silvio Dante

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37 minutes ago, phantom said:

Would not say a massive club, sadly the following is still low for the size of Weston. But much of this is because Weston has become a commuting town over the years so people already have affiliation with other clubs. 

There is a big City following in the town already that follow regularly, Weston will always struggle to push on to the next level

The association with the college is a massive thing for the club and town and hopefully see's the club bringing local players through.

As for getting to the National league, as much as the Bliss family have done an amazing job over many decades running the club, the step up in finances to compete at the next level up would surely need additional financial input

The league is certainly looking interesting, but lots of clubs are on the verge of the play offs

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It’s always surprised me that Truro has never really made a push for league football being the only city (I think) in Cornwall and not having any competition from league clubs in the county .

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2 hours ago, petehinton said:

Weston are an absolutely massive club and town for that level. To have 2/3 players of full-time (extremely decent) salaries at that level is unheard of really, and the quality/size of academy that's in place there now is really impressive. 

They're absolutely flying at the moment & look on course to go up. Would be amazed if they aren't in the National League in the next few years.

Why do they look on course to go up by being on the fringes of the playoffs?

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52 minutes ago, phantom said:

Would not say a massive club, sadly the following is still low for the size of Weston. But much of this is because Weston has become a commuting town over the years so people already have affiliation with other clubs. 

There is a big City following in the town already that follow regularly, Weston will always struggle to push on to the next level

The association with the college is a massive thing for the club and town and hopefully see's the club bringing local players through.

As for getting to the National league, as much as the Bliss family have done an amazing job over many decades running the club, the step up in finances to compete at the next level up would surely need additional financial input

The league is certainly looking interesting, but lots of clubs are on the verge of the play offs

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I scored after 7 seconds in my adult footballing debut against Met Police in a friendly playing for West Watford nearly 20 years ago.

My claim to fame and something I tell my missus every time the words Met Police are mentioned, even if its not to do with the football team.

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1 hour ago, Wiltshire robin said:

It’s always surprised me that Truro has never really made a push for league football being the only city (I think) in Cornwall and not having any competition from league clubs in the county .

I thought that Truro were going to be the next big thing a few years back, new stadium shared with Cornish Pirates. What happened to all that?

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6 minutes ago, myol'man said:

I thought that Truro were going to be the next big thing a few years back, new stadium shared with Cornish Pirates. What happened to all that?

The club's owner's business went into freefall iirc. Think he stopped ploughing money into them. Shame really as I think Cornwall would really get behind a league club.

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31 minutes ago, myol'man said:

I thought that Truro were going to be the next big thing a few years back, new stadium shared with Cornish Pirates. What happened to all that?

I think the thing with Truro is unless they go full time and pay people to move there, they’re always going to struggle to develop. The location isn’t as favourable for employment as here, for example, and teams like WSM and Yate are part time and rely on people having other jobs while playing for them. If those other jobs aren’t there in Truro, they get less players.

Add in that a standard away game (even here) is a few hours away adding massive costs and it’s difficult to see how they get much further. They’ve been bankrupt twice to my knowledge and sold their ground.
 

IIRC, Cornish Pirates have turned down promotion before as it’s not financially viable 

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27 minutes ago, myol'man said:

I thought that Truro were going to be the next big thing a few years back, new stadium shared with Cornish Pirates. What happened to all that?

 

Truro City was bought by the Cornish Pirates owner who has money but doesn't piss it away.

The Stadium for Cornwall, which is in a bonkers place IMO on the A390 which is best described as the traffic jam into Truro, is stalled awaiting government money that may never come.

Truro City is still playing at Treyew Road but developers are moving in and they will be ground sharing at Plymouth Parkway until the new Stadium is built; if ever.

There is no great tradition of watching football in Cornwall and crowds are low, if there any spectator sport it's rugby, so I don't see Truro City as having much potential.

If I was a betting man I could see Mousehole overtaking them; and I'm not joking.

They have several rich people backing the club and have a very professional set up 

https://www.mouseholeafc.co.uk/

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2 hours ago, petehinton said:

playing great football, scoring a lot of goals and in really strong form. Finding their stride at the right time

Just looked at the form table for the last six games, where they are about sixth, with Taunton top. Obviously it depends how many games you look at!

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2 hours ago, Wiltshire robin said:

It’s always surprised me that Truro has never really made a push for league football being the only city (I think) in Cornwall and not having any competition from league clubs in the county .

 

The long term best football teams in Cornwall have been Bodmin and St Austell; Truro only saw success through money being poured into it by Kevin Heaney a property developer.

They all thought he was a great benefactor but he had secretly sold the ground and that was from where the money derived.

Truro may be the only city but that's because of the Victorian cathedral.

It's smaller than Bodmin, St Austell, Newquay, Falmouth and Penzance and its traffic problems are terrible despite its small size.

And their crowds were tiny and playing in Plymouth is going to cut them further.

I quite like them but the reality is that that their glory days are now behind them.

Edited by Eddie Hitler
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27 minutes ago, Eddie Hitler said:

 

The long term best football teams in Cornwall have been Bodmin and St Austell; Truro only saw success through money being poured into it by Kevin Heaney a property developer.

They all thought he was a great benefactor but he had secretly sold the ground and that was from where the money derived.

Truro may be the only city but that's because of the Victorian cathedral.

It's smaller than Bodmin, St Austell, Newquay, Falmouth and Penzance and its traffic problems are terrible despite its small size.

And their crowds were tiny and playing in Plymouth is going to cut them further.

I quite like them but the reality is that that their glory days are now behind them.

Wow guess you learn something new everyday . I had no idea Truro was smaller than those places .

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19 minutes ago, Wiltshire robin said:

Wow guess you learn something new everyday . I had no idea Truro was smaller than those places .

 

On checking I am understating it slightly but it is down in fourth.

Though all these towns have seen huge amounts of house building these last six years or so and this only goes to 2011.  All are much smaller than Weston.

 

# Settlement Population[1]

2001 2011

1 Redruth (including Camborne) 39,937 42,690

2 Falmouth (including Penryn) 28,801 31,988

3 St Austell 22,658 25,447

4 Truro 20,920 23,041

5 Newquay 19,562 20,189

6 Penzance 20,255 19,872

7 Saltash 14,124 15,566

8 Bodmin 12,778 14,614

 

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3 hours ago, Eddie Hitler said:

 

On checking I am understating it slightly but it is down in fourth.

Though all these towns have seen huge amounts of house building these last six years or so and this only goes to 2011.  All are much smaller than Weston.

 

# Settlement Population[1]

2001 2011

1 Redruth (including Camborne) 39,937 42,690

2 Falmouth (including Penryn) 28,801 31,988

3 St Austell 22,658 25,447

4 Truro 20,920 23,041

5 Newquay 19,562 20,189

6 Penzance 20,255 19,872

7 Saltash 14,124 15,566

8 Bodmin 12,778 14,614

 

All bigger than Nailsworth…

Must be hard for Gloucester City fans considering all the trouble that their club  has had in recent years with their flooded ground (now all hopefully sorted) to have not just Cheltenham lording it over them but also Forest Green Rovers.

Imagine that - being a “City” fan with a local “Rovers” team above you in the league….

On the other hand don’t bother.  As far as Bristol is concerned, It’s not worth wasting your time on something so ludicrous!

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5 hours ago, LondonBristolian said:

Wow! My grandparents used to live at the top of Sunnyside Lane backing into the playing field. There was always football going on a Saturday but I had no idea until now that Yate Town used to play there!

Yate Town played on the pitch nearest the Cricket pavilion and Tennis courts for a while before they moved to Lodge road. Made my debut for Yate Town on that pitch, and scored :laugh: When they moved to Lodge road, the pitch was awful to start with... especially in the summer...never seen a ball bobble about so much. It's so much better now. A lot of clay soil in Yate. Not ideal for footy.  The other pitches beyond were played on by youth teams like Yate Utd boys. Known as the German fields as this was where there was a German POW camp during WW2.

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On 20/01/2022 at 18:35, Dr Balls said:

All bigger than Nailsworth…

Must be hard for Gloucester City fans considering all the trouble that their club  has had in recent years with their flooded ground (now all hopefully sorted) to have not just Cheltenham lording it over them but also Forest Green Rovers.

Imagine that - being a “City” fan with a local “Rovers” team above you in the league….

On the other hand don’t bother.  As far as Bristol is concerned, It’s not worth wasting your time on something so ludicrous!

I remember when all 3 clubs were in the same division,Cheltenham pipping Gloucester city to promotion to the national league.

All things considering ,Gloucester city have a hardy and loyal following.

Not been the best of times since the floods nearly put them out of business but it's great to see them back at meadow park.

3 games this season they have had more than 2,000 on the gate so the support is there

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11 hours ago, forbespm said:

I remember when all 3 clubs were in the same division,Cheltenham pipping Gloucester city to promotion to the national league.

All things considering ,Gloucester city have a hardy and loyal following.

Not been the best of times since the floods nearly put them out of business but it's great to see them back at meadow park.

3 games this season they have had more than 2,000 on the gate so the support is there

Just checked which other teams are in National League North with Gloucester and amazed that there are 9 clubs who in one form or another have been in the league, including the likes of York and Chester. By comparison, in National League South it’s only Maidstone who have ever been in the Football League, (and even then it was a brief visit) so you can see how the balance of power in football has shifted over the last few years at these somewhat lower levels. Plus the fact that when dividing the country in two, only the Cornish might consider Gloucester and Hereford as “The North”!

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18 hours ago, SecretSam said:

The one that mystifies me is Bath, how come they haven't managed to do anything. 

The West Country, however, struggles to support the league clubs it has now, let alone new ones.

It's all about the rugby in Bath. It's also a tough location as they're not a big club so most people in the area either support City/Gas or are closer to Wiltshire and support Swindon. 

I think if they somehow got to league 2 they might be able to build some momentum.

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3 hours ago, Dr Balls said:

Just checked which other teams are in National League North with Gloucester and amazed that there are 9 clubs who in one form or another have been in the league, including the likes of York and Chester. By comparison, in National League South it’s only Maidstone who have ever been in the Football League, (and even then it was a brief visit) so you can see how the balance of power in football has shifted over the last few years at these somewhat lower levels. Plus the fact that when dividing the country in two, only the Cornish might consider Gloucester and Hereford as “The North”!

I went to Gloucester city v york at the start of the season.I remember Ralph Milne scoring a last minute winner for city at bootham crescent.yes,some big clubs in national North.

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What about Mangotsfield? Not sure where they play, but is there a chance they could ever climb the pyramid to at least Conference level?

I'm just thinking of a team that play within Bristol, or at least within the Greater Bristol area, and they come to mind.

Edited by OneCity
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Great away win for Yate today at league leaders Farnborough. Certainly grinding out results. 

The recent game against Weston was very entertaining and a little bit fiesty.

How Weston's LB never got sent off I'll never know.

Love the banter you get between managers, players and fans at this level. 

Yate will also be hosting a BCFC legends team again Man Utd legends in July.

Whether it's Leg ends or Legends that play will be questionable.

Anyone else got into following their local team more recently?

I've been on and off over the years depending on circumstances.

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On 20/01/2022 at 08:10, Silvio Dante said:

…but what about a third?

I’ve posted here before about Yate Town -  pretty much smallest club in their league at level 7, and last night won their 4th game on the bounce to hit the playoffs. Weston Super Mare are one place behind, and the game at Lodge Road in two weeks looks set to be a cracker.

Anyhow, it got me thinking. Yate are punching above their weight now, and although there are plans to improve the infrastructure, getting anywhere higher than Conference South seems optimistic - unless there was a Salford style takeover.

So, if there was something of that nature to Yate, Weston or another club in our catchment area, could the Bristol area sustain a third league club, and where? I’d assume attendances of 2k-5k tops and the question becomes if that’s new fans or taken from us/Rovers. Would it impact? Is it sustainable?

It would, however, be a fantastic laugh to see Yate beat Rovers in a League 2 or Conference match!

We’ve got one - Forest Green Rovers - only 4 miles further from Bristol than Weston super Mare ...

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On 20/01/2022 at 08:35, Silvio Dante said:

That seems like a fantastic idea. I remember when Tranmere did that in the 90s and it galvanised the club - Weston look to have the biggest potential to do the same (although with the development of Yate/Sodbury, we’ll be nudging 40-50k conurbation population soon)

Southend United used to play at home on Friday nights as well back then and they brought that back as recently as 2013 to try and attract West Ham fans based locally to support the Shrimpers ... 

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