elhombrecito

Isn't it amazing how every 15er seems to know a City fan who is highly complimentary about some aspect of their club? It's like a younger brother, desperately seeking the approval of his older sibling. Bless.

Not quite as polished as the Kalas announcement video...

Uniqueness

I doubt it. They still go on about SL despite being owned by a tax-dodging offshore company, so I'm sure they'd find a way to explain how there situation is completely different, and besides, it was all somebody else's fault anyway.

Imagine supporting a team that spends less on facilities than AEK Boco FC

Somerset play in Taunton. Gloucestershire play in Bristol. I was born, raised and live in Bristol and don't think I have ever stepped foot in Taunton. Therefore... Gloucestershire la la la

Very true, a very interesting and informative thread, without the infighting that usually pops up at some point in OTIB threads. It does, however, have the unfortunate side affect of making me feel thick as pig shit though

@Red-Robbo @BTRFTG @italian dave @Monkeh @CotswoldRed I have moved your police cuts/government spending discussion here: Enjoy

Can we take this thread back to taking the piss out of the 15ers, and save the political discussions for the other forum please?

Sunderland Albion? Sunderland Nissan?

Imagine supporting a football club so rubbish, that your greatest moment in your history is when your biggest rivals finished the season as the 24th best team in the country, and ended the season by playing in the most famous stadium in the world, in the richest game in world football.

Four players in the Guardian team of the year: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/may/18/premiership-team-of-the-year-rugby-union

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/may/16/pat-lam-bristol-bears-premiership-the-breakdown Pat Lam: ‘Being a Bristol Bear is about more than rugby – it’s a vision’ The former Samoa, Newcastle and Northampton No 8 has worked wonders with the Premiership newcomers who have aimed far higher than mere survival this season. Pat Lam is on the shortlist for the Premiership season’s director of rugby award after steering Bristol not just to safety after winning promotion from the Championship but taking them into the final round this weekend with a chance of securing a place in the Champions Cup. It is easy to look at Bristol and not go beyond the fact that their owner, Steve Lansdown, is the richest backer of a Premiership club. They have made big-name signings, such as Charles Piutau, and the England No 8 Nathan Hughes is joining next season from Wasps, but Lam, who enjoyed coaching success with Auckland and Connacht, is looking to lay down roots that will serve the club for many years to come rather than splurging out to buy success that would be hard to sustain. “I am proud of the effort the boys have put in this season, but frustrated at the number of points we dropped,” said Lam before the final match at relegated Newcastle. “We could easily be higher up the table [they are eighth] but the growth of the group is most pleasing. When you come together as a team, it is what you make of the time you have together and the strong relationships we have built have gone a long way to establishing the Bears’ culture. “A goal of mine this season was to finish it under budget and we have. I am confident that when it comes to spending we will be nowhere near the top. People get confused because they look at what Steve is worth [£1.72bn] and compare it to all the other owners but we all operate under a salary cap. We are way under the cap this season and never once did we threaten to be near it. “Whenever I am approached about a job, I ask what the vision is. What stood out about Bristol was that Steve and Chris Booy [the chairman] were passionate about making a difference in the community. Rugby is successful when it is about more than rugby. If they had offered me the biggest contract in the world but said that the vision was just to win everything and be dominant, all about rugby success, as other clubs told me, I would not have come because it was not what I am about. When it became about community, inspiration and making a difference, I knew I was in the right place.” Lam drew up a five-year plan with the aim of establishing Bristol as a regular in the Premiership’s top four and adding a new shelf to the club’s trophy cabinet. His contract is up at the end of next season but he is in talks about extending it as the Bears look to the example of Saracens, who built success rather than bought it, laying down foundations that endure. “When I came here, 50% of our players were England qualified,” said Lam. “This season it is 70% and it will be 75% in the next one. I am not worried about my contract because I have such a strong relationship with Steve and Chris. We trust each other and I appreciate their support. When we were hammered at Worcester earlier in the season, they reassured me they had my back. We are aligned. “Laying down roots is the key for all successful teams. You need a core group of guys who understand the culture. If a player comes here just to get paid, he is in the wrong place. Before we sign anyone, we look not just at their rugby ability but their character, their coach-ability and their hunger to succeed based on a dream. It is more than a job. Players here enjoy doing community work because it is part of the vision they were sold on: being a Bristol Bear is about more than rugby.” Lam’s playing career straddled the amateur and professional eras and as a coach he tries to distil the essence of the former. “Players of my generation were blessed because for the first half of our careers we played for the love of the game while holding down a job and then got paid for doing what we enjoyed. What professionalism did not change was the team effort and sacrifices that have to be made. “What I loved about rugby as a player was that you were on the field with your best mates, a bond that grew through working hard together. You can think you are having a good time when you are out on the drink but you do not have to play sport to do that. On the field you trust each other and have each other’s back, like the military. “Professionalism is about the way you do things, not money. We are a high-performance team, not a social club. What I learned as a player with Auckland as an amateur was that the focus has to be on standards. We had the likes of Sean Fitzpatrick, Grant Fox, John Kirwan and the Whetton brothers and the approach was professional. I want Bristol to be a Champions Cup team that wins trophies as well as a club players are picked from by their country. We have to make it as close to an international environment as possible so that people do not step into the England environment and think it is a big climb. “When I first spoke to Bristol, there were four things I asked for. The first was the management team. It is not about one person: you have to surround yourself with good people and we have. We are holding player and staff reviews next week and we know there are things we could have done better. People are asking where are our signings: we brought in 22 players in my first year and 11 in my second. If you bring in that many every year you are doing something wrong. “We have Nathan Hughes and Dave Attwood joining. They will bring quality but they have to catch up other players in terms of understanding the club. It won’t take them long but if you had 20 others doing it you would be back to square one. I have been working hard with the academy, ensuring we have local players coming through. That conveyor belt is crucial” Only four of the 23 who featured in Bristol’s opening match of the season against Bath had been involved in their final match of the 2016-17 season before they were relegated. Lam has recruited internationals such as Piutau, Steven Luatua and George Smith but the campaign has been underpinned by young English players. The example is Saracens, not Toulon, and Bristol will struggle to do better business than Lam.

Anybody else planning on tuning in to the new documentary about the 15ers on Sky tonight?

Think I'll save my money for the Champions Cup games

Last minute score from Saints seals the victory ????

The comeback is very much on...

Cauley Woodrow sending them down in a 15ers shirt. That's the dream.

The only thing I can find that backs this up, is a list of average overall attendances for each team's away games. So this shows that the 15ers are not exactly an attractive proposition for home fans deciding which game to attend, but doesn't necessarily show they have poor away support... https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/league-one/attendances/away

They were also discussing the possibility of a play-off run a few weeks before the end of the 2013/14 season...

I've merged this again for you! Please post everything related to the 15ers in here...

That's the thing though, their support is decent. I don't think think anybody would say otherwise. The reason we take the piss out of them is that they repeatedly state that their support is amazing and that they deserve success because of it.

The irony of that comment (apart from the fact that we were averaging 11/12k around that time, certainly not as low as 9k), is that they would love to average anywhere near that level of attendance. In fact, they haven't even averaged over 10k since 1975

The big screen.