Hamdon Mart

City are at Norwich in midweek. Not sure how many will make the trip, a few hundred perhaps. As against 18-20k that could/should have paid their respects at AG tomorrow. Big difference. City aren't home again till 1st October, almost two weeks after she's buried. The moment will have gone by then.

I've been on Twitter for most of the afternoon and haven't seen any evidence of this. Quite the contrary in fact, they've been congratulated for making a fair, sensible decision and communicating it properly. Football's big problem is that it is more worried about "how things look" than actually dealing with facts and getting to the root causes of things. Once you start worrying about the wrong things, you take your eye off the ball and make decisions that are either slightly baffling or plain stupid. This has been evidenced many times over the years. The Gate would have been fantastic tomorrow. Might have sold a few more tickets on the day, upwards of 18-20k people paying their respects, belting out the National Anthem and sharing the day with fellow like minded folk. You can tell people get comfort and strength from being with others; yes, there's a few goons that are at Balmoral, Windsor & Buckingham Palace to be seen on TV but for a lot of people, they are there (and would be at the Gate tomorrow) so they can meet up with others & talk about their memories of the Queen. Have a pint or three, raise a glass to the Queen (and to the new King) and celebrate a life well lived. Instead, many will probably spend the day grizzly, on their own, sat in front of the box and fed up. And feeling like that, many people won't bother to pay their respects anyway. The Queen will have been buried for nearly a fortnight before City play a home game, the moment by then will have gone. Tell me that's the right decision.

If his son plays in the JPL, chances are it won't be his club's decision.

Toolstation Western League have said "The intention is to continue with the League programme with the recommendation of a minutes silence before kickoff. If clubs wish to wear black arm bands, they are approved. The decision is subject to any instruction from the Football Association."

I said last night on Twitter that I think they will call off the fixtures for this weekend but that I politely disagreed with that policy. For me personally, I'd love to pay my respect to the Queen by belting out "God Save The Queen" Tony Adams-style at the Gate tomorrow joined by 20,000+ like minded others. Could also have a two minute silence or two minutes of applause as well then into the game. If people want to mourn the Queen in a non-football environment, then feel free to do so... the country has entered a period of national mourning for ten days so there will be plenty of opportunities to mourn in a more reverent fashion.

This has been the culmination of many years' hard work from Jay to get to this point and I for one could not be any happier, this was the best deadline deal ever! I remember there were a few whispers that the club would retire the shirt until Jay was old enough to wear it but this was many years ago when Jay was in Exeter's academy. Back then, it would still have been somewhat of a pipe dream; although he has always been a gifted player, that is still some jump to be a good enough player to play in League One at 19 and whether he feels it or not, there will be pressure on him because of his dad's name. My two lads and I visited all 92 clubs in 2 weeks to raise money for the ASF and met the family who are some of the nicest people I've ever met. They treated us to match tickets (we finished at Exeter City on a Saturday) and lunch and arranged a special on-pitch presentation at half time. They must be busting with pride at what Jay has achieved and is still achieving and Jay's younger brother Taylor's not a bad player either.

Thanks!!

Following on from the last question then about subs (and I should really know this...) I thought you had to make your five subs in three "blocks" plus half time but City's were on 78, 82, 87 and 90+3. I presume that's part of the concussion sub scenario then too.

To be fair, taking him off when the game is won means he gets a decent individual ovation from the fans which will boost his confidence IMO.

I've watched City for three seasons, this is my fourth and tonight was as good as I've seen Massengo play. Treat him right, get him to sign the contract and he will be a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggge asset for the club, either playing wise or to sell & finance other transfers. I like the lad; 100 games in the bank six weeks after your 21st birthday is damn impressive.

I produce Cadbury Heath's programme (in association with the vice chair) and they're a lovely little club with some great people involved there. Chuffed to bits they won last night!

Attendance was 403 (for the pedants among us!). Came up as a last minute decision and glad I did as I got to meet @shahanshahanagain which is always a Brucie bonus. Thoughts on the game? Very impressive display by City particularly in the first half; think Shania Hayles is an upgrade on Mel Johnson and I like the look of the Boddy/Syme axis in midfield. Mustaki looked decent and Brooke Aspin had another good game at the back. Abi Harrison was, well, Abi Harrison and rattled in another unstoppable shot from the edge of the box. Second half was a bit disjoined with players going off then coming back on again in different positions but all in all, worth a fiver of my hard earned to see the slightly new look Robins. Lauren Smith is a very, very good manager, extremely under rated too, I'm glad she's our manager.

It wasn't Pritchard, it was Corry Evans.

It was Corry Evans that crocked Massengo.

I thought that the capacity for football matches was 26.5k because of the segregation. The Atyeo holds 4.2k (?) and Downsy announced there was 2,352 from Sunderland so 1,848 shy of capacity in that stand. 26,500 - 1,848 leaves 24,652 which is pretty much what was said. From my vantage point in the Lansdown Upper, there were a few dozen empty seats in the South Stand block nearest to the Lansdown. On a footnote, when I worked for Yeovil, the ticket office manager said there would usually be between 10%-12% of ST holders that don't turn up for games. Leaving aside the fact that Yeovil were/are s**t, if that equates to City as well, it means that around 1.5k ST holders don't get to games which would also explain the disparity between what we see and what the crowd is announced as.

Agree with Gazred on this one. Had a similar choice a couple of years ago, laptop or tablet & went for tablet. Found it far more flexible and last year, bought a keyboard/shell case off eBay for about £15, effectively making it feel like a laptop anyway.

? That's the one, it had to be. Bless him, he will be sorely missed. Hope the club do something for him; appreciate they can't do it for everyone but even a still picture of a red fedora on the big screen at a certain time in the match would be IMO a fitting tribute.

If that's the same gag I've heard him tell often, I'll never hear it again without thinking of him.... ?

Really sad news to read this morning. ? First met Stoney about a decade ago when his grandson started playing for my youth football team. He'd come along and cheer him on, all the while his encouragement would be interspersed with gag after gag after gag. A lovely guy that would do anything for anyone. Think there was an urban myth that one game he was refereeing his own team and he headed them a last minute equaliser from a corner (or something similar). A very sad day for local football in general. Love and best wishes to the family, all of whom are massive City fans.

A fascinating thread, this, especially as I've started research on a book about this very subject. I actually started the research more than two years ago and have dozens of celebs (some, er, more celeb than others!) that have agreed to do an interview for my book. Some of the names mentioned on the thread are spot on, others are a little wide of the mark. I plan to start interviewing/writing at the end of this year and hopefully, the book will be out sometime in 2023.

I think they're completely on their own which is probably part of the reason why they're in such a financial state. I'd take Mollie Green, scorer of that iconic 97th minute winner that saved the club on the final day at Watford, and possibly Katie Wilkinson too, the captain. They've also got former City stars Charlie Estcourt & Olivia Fergusson too. It's quite sad that after that extraordinary finish to the last campaign, a lot of the good feeling and momentum seems to have been lost albeit by making a decision that in the medium to long term, should be the right one.

Hibernian Women have announced the signing of Ava Kuyken. Sad that she's going, more often than not she'd impress me in centre midfield.

Another good UTC podcast with a City link is Aaron Wilbraham, that's a good listen too.

Listened to this episode this morning, a really good listen (even for a Yeovil fan, it mentions Gary, Lee, McIndoe etc). Won't spoil it for anyone but that prison gym story, bloody hell. Have just done some further research on that one.... gulp! Slightly off topic but if you go through the library of UTC podcasts, some of them are absolutely superb. The second part of the Clarke Carlisle one understandably gets a little dark but on the other end of the spectrum, FFS don't listen to the Andy Woodman ones when you're driving or else you'll end up in a hedge. So, so funny!!

The trouble is though, clubs that advertise positions with what is perceived to be a poor salary will probably find somebody that WILL do the job for that salary & therein lies the problem. Folks circumstances are different and some will work for it if they have a few quid in the bank as a buffer. Some graduate type peeps will do it for the experience and a springboard into a different / better paid job elsewhere in the industry. If I was qualified enough to do this for £20-24k, I would possibly consider it. However as someone who has started working in football relatively recently (and in my mid fifties), I'm unlikely to be considered for the role.