Tinmans Love Child

It's next goal wins! COYR

View from the webcam!

I thought Leeds were very poor tonight offered nothing really, we gifted them 2 goals. We started well and should have scored really but we were so sloppy after the first 20 minutes and there was no urgency. JK's miss was clearly a save by the way saw it clear as day from the SS. Where that Agard goal came from I will never know but the Gate was buzzing from that moment on and a fantastic finish to the game in which a draw was easily deserved. The sound of the crowd at the end was so loud, shows that all the rubbish about acoustics in the new stands is nonsense, if 14k cheer and sing it's going to be loud! Hopefully this is something they can build on!

Is this a newspaper or an end of term project by a junior school?

I think this is brilliant by the EP, such an embarrassing story for Rovers anyway, now it's front page news!! I bet some of their fans are cringing at this!

Taken from Slagchat...

"I have read lots today, fog was in so couldnt fire the panzers down here in Lulworth so lots of sitting about contemplating the future.

As with most of you I am gutted at todays outcome. Not so much the decision but the money spent getting to it and potentially putting our clubs future at risk. I was never fully comfortable with the supermarket going up on the mem site. I dont see the mem as a war memorial but share the view of the Royal British legion and English Heritage in that it is the gates that are the link to the sacrifice made by our cities sportsmen and didnt want them in a supermarket car park.

These gates should form the centre piece of our club. We are the custodians of this memorial and in my opinion we should show them the respect they deserve They should stand at the main entrance to a stadium that is a fitting memorial to those that paid the ultimate price. Even have a small image in one of the quaters on the shirt to remind our players of those that went before them. These gates could help with the rebirth of our club and give us a new ethos of community development based on sport.

So how do we do this. We are clearly in debt but we have a unique selling point that has never been promoted. Something that could really attract investors. We use the memorial as a sping board to secure a fitting memorial stadium, ensuring that the intended legacy is fulfilled. People dont always want to invest in a football club but to invest in a stadium dedicated to the countries fallen could be another matter. Especially if it is allowed to be used by the local community as the original memorial was intended.

With a proper modern pitch there is no reason why local sunday league teams couldnt use it. Four of five games on a sunday with differnt teams having their chance to fulfill a dream of playing at a top class venue would pull in families of players etc making it potentially cost neutral whilst at the same time giving back to the community.

The running track from the original UWE plans could be utilised freely by anyone who wanted a safe enviroment to maintain fitness with UWE physio students on hand to provide fitness tips, classes and nutritional advice promoting healthy well being. These are just a few things off the top of my head. Have lots more but i think you get the point im trying to make.

So who pays for the stadium? Well im guessing we as a club we could get 10 to 15 million for the mem if the land was sold for housing. This enables the rebirth of a purpose built Bristol MEMORIAL stadium on the UWE sight using the existing plans. So potentially half the money. That half secures a home for Bristol Rovers and makes them the main custodian of the stadium and the ethos it is based on.

Other money could come from charities such as Help for Heroes and the RBL by allowing the gym space to be used free of charge by injured servicemen exclusivley during the working day when gyms are generally quiet and not at their capacity as part of their rehab. The MOD could also contribute as this is a cheaper alternative to what is already an overstretched area of the forces. A reidential space could easily be put in the back of a stand to accomodate 15-20 soldiers. Again Phsio students from UWE could benefit massivley from this all the while sticking to the roots of the stadium being a proper memorial. When not in the gym conducting rehab these forces personnel could have access to the university to attend courses for their transition to civilian street. A small residntial dorm/student accom could also be used for ex homless servicemen as a stop gap to helping them get back on their feet with career advice given through the UWE. Chuck in companies like BAE systems who sponsor these types of schemes and you could probably add another couple of million to the build cost. They would get free use of the confernce facilities which being next to MOD abbeywood would be perfect for procurement conferences etc.

Then theres the UWE. How much do they want this stadium. A few million from them towards the build costs and they would get more use than first proposed of the stadium.

National univerity sporting comps could be held here such as football rugby and hockey on top of the traditional wednesday afternnon sporting events held between unies. Clearly they already have use of the carpark but teaching space could also be free to use.

Both south glos and Bristol council could also get involved. The Bristol Memorial stadium would unlock 200 million of investment in south glos which will clearly benifit both councils. SGC in business rates and council tax etc and Bristol from the fact that regardless of living in south Glos most people shop in Bristol council areas adding to the local economy. They also have the cudos of enabling this project to get off the ground.

Add to that we we apply for football grants, national lottery and english heritage stating that we are building a new war memorial that has been enabled by the sell of the old site and true to the inscription on the gates, that is open for use by the community. This should see us over the line in terms of money for the build. If we are short we could even go to Steve Landsdown as owner of Bristol Rugby as he has the History of Bristol Rugby club to look after he would surely want to see the Memorial gates in fitting surroundings as an entrance to a Bristol Memorial Stadium. It would also keep City fans happy as so many of them have come out to show their disgust at the prospect of a supermarket taking over the memeorial site.

Anyone who helps with initial investment to build get to name a stand or enclosure. The stadium name has to have Memorial in it though. After all of this there probably isnt much room for extra non matchday income at first thought. But if the stadium is in constant use then money will be spent in retail areas. Weddings etc could still be held as well as conferences. Being an international class rugby stadium could also bring in revenue with finals such as the lesser european cup competition and the British and Irish Cup and Bath Rugby could also use for a couple of games a season. Concerts could also go ahead. An agreed percentage going back to charities that supported the stadium build. Clearly an annual rememberance service on rememberance sunday inviting local children, army regiments, and a major Royal etc to see what our club ethos is all about and how we support them.

We would also be debt free on moving in the ideal world with a new board with areas of expertise in football but also on implementing community intergration and working with the forces. We wouldnt have a mortgage and so all match day revenue would be ours, again with a percentage going to forces charities. No doubt we would see increased attendances as the Bristol residents start looking at us as a real community based club rebuilt on the ethos of the memorial gates, giving back to and supporting those that have made a sacrifice in service of their country. A new covenant would be written so that bristol rovers would always have a home but no matter what level we play at we would always have to honour our commitment to helping the local community and supporting the forces. All of this should enable us to be competitive upto championship level.

As a football club we would find a new found respect amongst fellow fans around Britain. Big Teams would want to play us in pre-seasons and away fans would come and spend their money knowing that a % goes to forces charities.

So Nick. If you are reading this, feel free to give me a bell and ill help get your stadium built. Unfortunatley though, when it is you will be a fan just like the rest of us watching from the Royal British Legion end as the mighty gas attck the Help for Heroes end.

Anyway thats enough of my ramblings. Feel free to pick holes in this guys. Personally with the right leadership, i think it would be achievable".

He's got it all sussed out, easy peasy!

I'm making no comment on the shocking court decision today, honest.

The groundsman at the Memorial needs to sort his lines out, playing havoc with my OCD!

My boss is a gashead and earlier in the year he was talking to somebody about NLBR (as they were then) and I heard him mention that "I shouldn't talk about Rovers should I, BS2 Red hates them", quick as a flash I replied "I don't hate Rovers, I just feel sorry for them".

The look of pain on his face when he realised I pitied them was far better than saying I hated them.

And yes he refers to me by my forum username.

Whenever I get asked if I support City or Rovers, I used to say 'I think I remember a club called Rovers, didn't they used to play in the football league?' however now I just say 'I support City, I've never heard of Bristol Rovers' and that usually gets the response I'm after!

So technically, he doesn't have previous.

If you really want to get technical then no! The truth is I couldn't remember how to spell 'allegedly' when I posted originally so I plumped for 'previous' with a caveat in brackets. Subsequently I have got my act together in order to find out how to spell allegedly properly (as you can see)!

Rovers have just signed Cristian Montano who has previous for match fixing and rape (both charges dropped), sounds like a lovely chap

The Robin is the national bird? Never thought we had one.

Your question was rhetorical of course.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/robin-crowned-as-britains-national-bird-after-200000strong-ballot-10311482.html

Good lord, they're going to take over america next

Say an American invester/consortium took us over, surely one other sport would be American Football, it's a growing sport over here, albeit very slow, but if we got some sort of partnership with an American team, we could do pre-season over there, rather than playing some of the dross here, getting our name about, especially the Pirate aspect, with Football (real football) taking over in the US, we could get quite a fan base with our unique kit etc

Read more: http://gasheads.org/thread/3537/hope-higgs-talks-american-investors#ixzz3eY5kowvD

They sound like somebody you would see on The Apprentice!

Took a quick glance on their forum, words honestly fail me ,deluded don't do it justice.

There is one poster on there claims that no one would invest in BCFC because we play in red and white and are nick name is the Robins and yet he states that because Rovers play in quarters and are called the Pirates they have a unique selling point that investors would love.

I'm lost for words

I saw that too, brilliant!

FairPlay, if you can't laugh at yourself there's something wrong!

Wasn't it the Rovers Twitter feed that released the picture? They should have a word with them as the story would not have come out without that picture

I saw them driving down the ring road near Frenchay earlier, reminded me of the scene from Mike Bassett England Manager!

I agree it's a personal thing. I just don't think it's that much of an achievement.

Winning the JPT was a good day out which my son will remember for ever. Did i celebrate the victory like we'd won the FA Cup etc. no. Just like i wouldn't celebrate winning the conference play offs 'like we'd won the premier league'.

So by that rationale, should celebrations be on a scale depending on the level of achievement? Chelsea fans are allowed to celebrate the most, then Bournemouth fans but not quite as much, we were allowed a slightly less jubilant celebration etc etc maybe you think the open top bus parade for City was too much considering it's only league 1? You are talking absolute nonsense I'm afraid, we can all mock getting back into the league etc and it's fair banter, but to say they shouldn't have celebrated as much as they did is rediculous and only a completely biased football fan would think otherwise.

Really?

If that was us and we managed to get back into the league, i would just be satisfied that we were trying to rebuild. I've said before that Rovers are a div2/3 club and that's where i expect them to be. Dropping out of the league was an unthinkable, humiliating low.

Celebrating 'like we won the premier league' after winning the conference play off final on penalties, i would not be doing. To me it lacks dignity and looks tin pot.

Just like being proud of setting attendance records in the conference???!!

If it makes you happier City could drop down to the screwfix and set every record imaginable, but that's just pathetic.

Really? If City would have been so humiliated I would have been celebrating just as much as the Rovers fans did, if you don't celebrate winning promotion (whatever the level) there is something wrong with you. I hate the Rovers as much as the next man but they are just football fans supporting their team, same as us