Smaller than a flea

You do all realise, I hope, that he joined the forum today. I wonder which team who play in red in south Bristol he supports?

Kaiserbcfc posts a lot on gasheads.org (the one that isn't gaschat) supporting City and says he's been banned on here.

We barely register on the radar of big Championship clubs any more. No denying it. But we seem to be on the up and I would like to think in 4 or 5 years with a new stadium we might get close to where you are.

It's a thread about Bristol Rovers. Thanks for asking though.

I'm confused by this thread. Nottingham Forest, having just won the European Cup, were laughing at their little neighbours Notts County way back when. Fair enough. But no. We have just been promoted to a league you last saw in.....let me check....ah yes...2014-15. One which, the season before, you were at one point in being danger of being relegated from under O'Dismal. So we are now playing the same teams you played all of 12 months ago. Yet a vast gulf exists. You only think of us when you see a blue shirt in Bristol. Other than that, we do not register. You are in a different league, not just literally, but metaphorically. Apparently. I'm making no claims about Rovers being a big club in any sense, but some on here (not all by any means) honestly need to get a sense of perspective. Bristol City are perceived by the big boys in the Championship as being about on a par with Millwall or Rotherham. You might improve and creep up the Championship, but we are talking now, not some golden time in the future.

Our place is historically one League below you, and it looks good for now. Love him or mock him, our manager seems to be doing a great job. Could it be three promotions in a row? Too early to guess, but we're on the up at last.

Rovers paid £2.3m for 50% of the Mem. Bristol Rugby Club and BRFC agreed a clause that should either party ever go bust, the other could buy the other 50% for a nominal £10,000. We were so badly managed that we never paid off any of the £2.3m, and finally Barclays bank wanted out. At which point Nick Higgs was forced to get a Wonga loan from MSP finance. No denying the fact that Rovers have been woefully mismanaged over the last 16 years or so. Or perhaps longer.

It's all students celebrating before their exams.

Sorry to reply again, but I thought I needed to refer you to the legendary thread named Non-League Bristol Rovers. A few chuckles and 1,000,000 views.

Have you looked on gaschat, sorry slagchat, lately to see how many newbies have been offering their opinions about the blue few? I assume not, but I can tell you that a lot seem to care more than you. Admittedly a lot have been banned, which seems a bit harsh to me, which is why I try to be polite on here. I don't mind if you want to be rude to me.

That is a very good point.

That's your opinion. What do you think the opinion of the 24,000 City fans and 3,000 Rovers fans watching the game would be? Serious question.

Bristol.

If I replied like that after the Hull result I'd probably be banned on here. So I stick to reasonable debate and no abuse, just discussion. Many on OTIB can see that Rovers are doing well and perhaps finally, after so many years, are going places. Wouldn't it be great to have both Bristol clubs doing well, in new stadiums, playing each other regularly in front of 25,000 crowds?

History. All history. Eastville was allowed to run into decripitude by the owners, not helped by a large fire that accidently happened there, the groundshare at a Southern League club was never going to attract fans, and a long spell at a rugby ground unfit for purpose and without any investment by the now-departed old regime were all events that held the club back and maybe could have resulted in oblivion. Just like Brighton, playing in cr*ppy grounds for decades does tend to limit the attendances a bit. Things have now changed. One division apart next year. Who knows after that?

Mind the gap....

I don't think there's much doubt that Rovers attract away attendances on a par with City. The question is why their home crowds are so much lower. Clearly being in the Championship City attract more fans. Rovers average about 7,000 recently. City about 15,000, but constrained by the rebuild. I would guess if the ground was complete, and for sake of fairness, City were doing pretty well in the Championship, there would be about 22,000 there. If Rovers are in League 1 next season, the crowd would increase to about 8,500 - 9,000, and if (bear with me) they get to the Championship, maybe 11,000, or nearly a sell-out every week at the Mem. I base my opinion on recent attendances, not those from decades ago. If the UWE actually gets built (and there's no evidence yet that it will), I would expect Rovers in the Championship to up their crowds from my 11,000 projection to 18,000 or so, which is modest compared with how Brighton did. There is a gap, but place both teams in the same league with modern stadiums and it's not much.

Sir Nick has a long history of misleading comments. He didn't say he knows nothing about the consortium. He said he doesn't know who they are, which is not the same thing at all.

I think this whole consortium thing might turn out to be a total fabrication. A few loyal Rovers fans have been used to "out" a false rumour, designed to flush out who on the Board are loyal and who are actually traitors in Higgs' eyes.

Colin Sexstone left Plymouth Argyle yesterday. I wonder if he's got anything else lined up? Rumours are rife. https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07796376/filing-history

For all you lot who think we're all deluded and are heading to the Prem as soon we build the UWE in 2045, there are some who can have a laugh about it all http://gaschat.co.uk/thread/4054/plan-brick