Eddie Hitler

As did Aldershot in that technical sense but there is still a club called Hereford playing which Hereford fans continue to support. That the limited company that previously owned Hereford went bust didn't mean that there was no Hereford to support. BRFC 1883 can be liquidated, the AQs can realise their charge on the Memorial Ground and sell it. The next day the supporters incorporate a new BRFC 2018, find a ground to rent, put together a scratch team and apply to play in the Conference the next season. With an average gate of 6k they'll be welcomed with open arms. The club continues.

Grasping at straws there.

No club in this country has ever actually gone AFAIK except by merger (Bristol Southend and Bedminster). Aldershot and Bradford Park Avenue are still plugging away. If they lose their ground then it's back to Twerton or the new Bath Rugby ground due 2021. As long as it has even a few hundred supporters who are going to pay to watch a club then that club will continue in some form.

I think you're being a little naive here Bob. In the world of football one does not simply "buy" a large screen TV as you or I would. Of course you don't. What you have to do is to go through a full process of exploring your options, getting some quotes, and putting your £250k a year London office on the case to seek out possible investment partners for the purchase. These things take time, the process can end up being as long as the grass growing at The Colony.

Two wrongs don't make a right but if the same happened to them it would at least serve to shut them up about it.

That's very shabby behaviour if true. They've probably priced cheaply as a favour too. It was a shame how many small local tradespeople lost money when we nearly folded in 82.

The owners are plenty rich enough; they have just come up with this spurious reason for not putting money in because they only own 92% so they don't want to put any in (above that loaned and secured upon the ground) because the 8% don't have to. They will grind them to a halt at this rate and relegation will crash whatever price they think they can get from selling. As well as wrecking the club they are damaging their own finances. Still, up to them.

Hamer is bloody cute in these interviews; he doesn't lie but he makes you think he has said things that he hasn't. He did not say that all the proceeds of player sales had been spent on new players. He said that all monies received, and bear in mind that he was very clear about big deferred instalments so these would not have been received yet so he isn't including those, had been reinvested in the squad. And as he stressed later squad investment includes wages. So he was strictly truthful but gave a false impression that the amount for which the players were sold was spent on new players. It clearly wasn't and he didn't actually say that; he just made you think that he did. Clever guy; that's why he earns £70k for a part time job. I worked with someone who similarly wouldn't lie; if there was a call and somebody didn't want to speak to the caller she would put her hand over her eyes and say "I can't see him." It's not telling lies but it is fooling people.

Whee!!!!

You wonder if this is widely known by the Gills fans. If so it might form the basis for some chants. "Second choice, you're second choice" "You couldn't buy the Gills" etc.

I think it's a club in-joke at Swindon to deliberately have the worst club badge in the Football League.

I don't mind what we have for a club badge as long as it has hash tags and ampersands.

The hyphenation of "leg-ends" is a masterstroke.

The Chairman role is usually a part time role, couple of days a week maybe, so £70k is pretty good. I'd have thought both he and the CEO are actually very busy owing to the apparently remote owners with their tight purse strings (so regular cost and payment schedule negotiation with supplier to stay within cashflow budgets) and requirement for endless updated reports on ground improvements, new ground, training ground. If the story of the training ground improvements is correct (sky high spec, £3m budget, cost estimates £11m, no attempt to bridge that gap just drop hands), and the lack of progress suggests so, then it's going to also be a fairly thankless job. I've worked in a situation where the Board was such that you knew you were wasting your time in bringing new projects to them yet they still demanded they be brought. It was like a silly parlour game.

Indeed. The only problem that the Rovers fans have is the mob of gurt Teds that follows them around wearing Rovers shirts whilst punching horses, playing boob cricket, and terrifying families. I know this because I read it in the Bristol Evening Post.

There seems to have been a mass awakening on their forum following Steve Hamer's obvious nonsense yesterday. Better late than never.

It is one thread Tommy. That is all you have to ignore: one thread.

"I suppose I was just stating my view.." I'll give you that now they are a bit of an irrelevance, I'm taking the long view that may be they will be a footballing force again. I admit that it's looking unlikely at the moment.

You may be right; these aren't simple questions. Although I'm glad nobody is trotting out the old ones about Downs League on Saturdays and "rugby city" as a get out of jail free card for the lack of success. Maybe we would be more successful as a one club city - though would you merge to achieve that? (I'm presuming the answer would be "no", as it would from pretty much everybody including myself)

Maybe I'm just getting old (older...) and rose tinted; I wasn't old enough to experience the Rovers' fans shenanigans in '82 and have only read about them on here. I also wonder how representative they are of their wider fanbase; both clubs have a range of fans with the more vocal posting on forums and the most vocal, usually those with the extreme views, being the most noticeable. Somebody on here posting "I hate gas scum!" is going to be more noticeable than my posting about gasheads who I have known and liked in real life. Who are, as middle class professionals, probably not going to be representative either. Most posters on Gaschat seem to regard Henbury Gas as a bit of a berk tbh. Anyway, as @Stortz poimted out: the gas have just been knocked out of the first round of the cup by a non-league side! That is funny. Memories of Hitchin.

Steve Hamer is being wheeled out to take the flak on Geoff's show on Radio Bristol at 6pm tonight. I wonder if they will allow callers? I enjoyed his rambling Count Arthur Strong type delivery last time, particularly his "Well, you know..." response to a question as to whether the youth teams had to buy their own kit (the eventual answer being: Yes because they enjoy doing so, or similar) so will give it a try as there is limited radio comedy about these days. Jumpers for goalposts.

? Out of reps; absolutely spot on.

There are a few in Gloucester; on here you'll have to get yourself down the Regal. Edit: not me these days but used to be.

That's also my take on it. I recall John Hall lecturing us in the early 90s on how the Bristol clubs should merge and so would then emulate the success of Newcastle as the only club in the city. Well Newcastle is hardly lighting up the league these days but Liverpool with the constant pressure from Everton continues to thrive as do the Manchester clubs. I think two club cities produce stronger footballing teams and that historically (though I'm not flogging through the stats) we have alway done better with Rovers snapping at our heels. Rovers have been hilarious these last few years but as a result have put zero pressure on us so we're now content to float around mid table Championship which we wouldn't be content doing if Rovers were top of L1 or in the Championship with us and occasionally being higher than us. As it is we have zero competition because I'm not counting the faux rivalry with Cardiff or Swindon.