Bristol Sport - why the criticism?

[Cowshed]

couple of people having a disagreement which seems to have rumbled on for the first 3 home games. Its embarrassing. As for running on the pitch in talking about this season. The only reason this didn't happen last season is because most of these 'fans' were to high up out the way in block e of Williams to get on pitch.

my point is I hope the club do not waste 1 minute longer with anyone from the atyeo as you had your chance and due to a minority you have blown it.

What was your view on the behaviour of a far far larger minority of fans in the Dolman against Rovers?

Should Bristol Sport also not waste time on the overwhelming majority in the Dolman stand? 

[BS2 Red]

What were the fights in the Atyeo about? I missed the burnley game. 

Somebody said that there were going to be big screens in the South Stand and things spiralled out of control from there.

[Guest]

Due to the way the consultation proceeded from its inception it was not have been possible to look at other options. The Supporters Club and Trust proposals fell foul of detail that had not been revealed.

I get that, what I was meaning is I don't think on reflection the club would have agreed anything else and also, in my opinion, nor should it have. 

The Dolman is a premier view (for this season anyway) so I think we can reasonably rule that stand out for standing/flags etc. As for the South Stand I can appreciate it being novel for many fans who will want to go in for that alone and for the benefit of the facilities etc. The facilities suit families too in the other two stands and whilst the Ateyo can, not well. Makes sense to make that the 'adult' area  

In spite of good reasons that the supporters club may have had which I'm sure they did, and as someone who seeks out the area so set aside, I think we're in the right stand and the only thing I would've done differently is reverse the home section and away section. 

[Cowshed]

I get that, what I was meaning is I don't think on reflection the club would have agreed anything else and also, in my opinion, nor should it have. 

The Dolman is a premier view (for this season anyway) so I think we can reasonably rule that stand out for standing/flags etc. As for the South Stand I can appreciate it being novel for many fans who will want to go in for that alone and for the benefit of the facilities etc. The facilities suit families too in the other two stands and whilst the Ateyo can, not well. Makes sense to make that the 'adult' area  

In spite of good reasons that the supporters club may have had which I'm sure they did, and as someone who seeks out the area so set aside, I think we're in the right stand and the only thing I would've done differently is reverse the home section and away section. 

And the role of a consultation should be to inform. Detail was not revealed.

At the open day [summer 2013] and on occassions after till 2015 fans, including the Supporters Club and Trust were of a mind that the South stand could be used for an unreserved area. There is clearly something wrong with that. Bristol City and Bristol Sport did not inform fans every "step of the way" as pledged [early 2013].

There is much room for improvement.

 

[swampy]

I once supported City but it is now just a brand .. non league Trowbridge Town .. 

[BCFCS82]

The current situation is a compromise from both sides; BS lose revenue by selling fewer seats, the fans who want to stand (something technically illegal) can do so, wave flags, etc.

Often 'really listening' seems to mean more like 'do everything we say' in reality.

Hi mr robin

I would just like to point out, that standing at a football match isn't illegal, as in a law where you can get arrested and sent to prison for.

[slartibartfast]

I once supported City but it is now just a brand .. non league Trowbridge Town .. 

Heard it ALL before, well **** off and play on their forum, have a hunch you'll be playing with yerself!

[B1ackbird]

Perhaps Bristol could employ someone who can manage the game better than kicking into the corner in the first 10 minutes, of an important play-off final, subsequently losing promotion...

only a thought like...

 

 

 

[Robin1988]

Hi mr robin

I would just like to point out, that standing at a football match isn't illegal, as in a law where you can get arrested and sent to prison for.

Maybe so. Moot point however.

[Spoons]

Cowshed, what do I think of the fans who ran on pitch against rovers from dolman??? Awkward, I was very drunk at the time and we haven't played them in ages. I'm very sorry foe my behaviour!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Spoons]

For someone that doesn't have any answers you say a lot - most of it rubbish.

 

The mass brawl you refer to has been confirmed as involving 3 people with others intervened to stop. Yet you label one quarter of the ground with this.

You have said "everyone in the ground is waiting for the next fight to happen". Really?

You say don't like it don't come - so in your view not possible to question and challenge?

"The Atyeo had its chance but they have blown it due to a minority". Is that how it works?

 

The lads in the Atyeo do a great job in the face of antipathy or at best apathy, as they did in the Williams and the East End.

 

mass brawl?? Never said that , I said fighting with own fans is embarrassing. I stand by that. Fighting with your own fans two weeks running is even more embarrassing?? Would you agree with that? As for running on pitch when we score a 90 plus minute equalizer I get that and understand. But surely the atmosphere created in Atyeo must be questioned if it has created 2 seperate events of home fans fighting with each other two weeks running.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NickJ]

mass brawl?? Never said that , I said fighting with own fans is embarrassing. I stand by that. Fighting with your own fans two weeks running is even more embarrassing?? Would you agree with that? As for running on pitch when we score a 90 plus minute equalizer I get that and understand. But surely the atmosphere created in Atyeo must be questioned if it has created 2 seperate events of home fans fighting with each other two weeks running.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No you didn't say mass brawl but anyone not there reading your comments could read it like that.

When I was a kid I can first recall 2 City fans having a fight in the Williams about 40 odd years ago, and occasionally since. Its not a big deal.

One thing I would agree with you though - so sorry not all you say is rubbish - is that ends are better and have better atmosphere when they happen naturally rather than created by suits allocating areas. You didn't exactly say that but it was the gist.

[Cowshed]

"Cowshed, what do I think of the fans who ran on pitch against rovers from dolman??? Awkward, I was very drunk at the time and we haven't played them in ages. I'm very sorry foe my behaviour!"


It was 2013 No idea what point was being made here.

[Mr Popodopolous]

On 9/7/2015 at 17:44, Robbored said:

Is it that expensive? 

How much did Sheffield Wednesday want for the City league match - £39 if I remember rightly.

I know that the Englands World Cup games are over a hundred quid. Not second tier rugby I know but still horrendously over priced.

Interesting, this is a year on exactly from this thread- wonder how this has progressed in that time. Financially, quite well I reckon.

This point however- 2nd Standard of rugby v 2nd standard of football in the UK is not comparable. Not remotely. Saw an interesting piece on 2nd tier of rugby the other day, lots of semi amateur sides, Bristol were BIG fish indeed, like attendances of 1,000 at places not uncommon, sometimes less. The gap between the two may well be comparable (Prem v Champ in both) but the standard is not remotely in the same ballpark- for 2nd tier stuff rugby that is exorbitant, vastly so. It's not great for football either but rugby especially!

To be clear, £39 for Sheff Wed away is bad, definitely so. But Championship is of a high standard in the football, increasing all the time...£32 for 2nd tier rugby for the reasons outlined above is appalling.

The interesting Times Piece in question about Greene King IPA Championship:

Quote

 

It’s realists against the dreamers in rugby’s ‘wild west’
Owen Slot, Chief Rugby Correspondent
September 6 2016, 12:01am, The Times

Franks, a two-times World Cup winner, will face Richmond’s part-timers on Saturday
GARRY BOWDEN/PINNACLE

Some people call it “living the dream” and I say “good luck” to them. Playing sport professionally was probably, once, the dream of many who come to read these pages, but you would never have imagined it the way it is in the Greene King IPA Championship.

In what is effectively English rugby union’s second division, you might play before a crowd of a thousand, but often it will be less. You might earn £10,000, but many will earn less. If you get injured, you might find yourself out of a job and your income closed down altogether. It is tough; it requires all of the hard work and commitment of the Aviva Premiership, but brings none of the glamour. Perhaps most concerning of all is that some clubs cannot even provide what most would describe as adequate medical cover.

You take your chance in the Championship. You take your risks. You are, by definition, a rugby romantic. Your calling is obsessive, glorious and foolhardy. And you know that the sums don’t add up. Yesterday, London Welsh were called to the High Court, facing a winding-up order. Players had not been paid, coaches had been laid off. This, one of the most historic clubs in England, established in 1885, provider of numerous British Lions, was facing administration and the threat of liquidation.

Then, as had been expected, a last-minute reprieve was granted with the confirming of a last-minute investor. “A major California-based investment group”, according to the club’s website, had acquired London Welsh. To which the only logical reaction is: why?

This was not the first time the club had faced possible administration. Seven years ago, they actually failed to duck in time, but as ever, a willing and ample pocket was found to breathe life into the cadaver.

Some clubs, however, get their sums wrong and go into freefall. Manchester were in the Championship in 2009 but are now in the equivalent of level seven. Orrell were in the second tier in 2005 and are now at level eight.

If you watch a sequence of pre-season interviews with the captains of the Championship teams, available on the RFU website, there is a telling comment from Will Warden, of Richmond, the team promoted last season to the Championship from National League One.

“Are you concerned about the potential mismatches that Richmond will inevitably face this season?” he was asked. He answered thus: “I’m not scared of going out there and losing games. I’m scared of going out there and losing the club that we’ve got.”

Indeed Richmond are a club of which I am a fan, though not solely — a declaration is required here — because the Slot family are members. The point Warden was making was that Richmond will not be lost due to their success in scaling the heights to the Championship.

Warden was the only one of the captains to turn up to the Championship pre-season media day in a suit — and that was because he was the only one coming from work. Richmond are paying their players only a match fee; they are a team made up of part-time players with jobs. They made the mistake of shooting for the stars once before and went bust, and they have vowed that won’t be happening again.

The result is that, on Saturday, Richmond (wage bill negligible) will play London Irish (wage bill about £3 million). A measure of the mismatch will see Richmond’s Tim Walford, a financial analyst who played his way up through the B and C team, propping down against Ben Franks, the All Black World Cup-winner. That cannot be right.

This, though, is the Championship: a place where dreamers meet realists, where professional meets amateur, where heavyweights meet those punching above their weight and where no one makes a profit. Some have called it the “wild west” of rugby; without the clubs’ benefactors, Richmond would actually be the last gun standing.

The RFU clearly don’t know what to do with the Championship, or what it is for. It pays each club £530,000 a year; the Championship clubs feel that they should get more. Yet why bankroll further a product to which TV and footfall have remained so resolutely immune?

Here, though, are four reasons.

One: it may be the players’ choice to keep living the dream in the Championship, yet it is negligent to allow them to do so when medical support is clearly inadequate. For starters, the RFU should cover private medical insurance for the entire Championship; this is not a posh perk, it is a necessity to be able to work. Some players tell you that there are not even sufficient pitchside doctors for head injury assessment; that is a scandal. The RFU should pay for two doctors per game minimum. And also fund extra physio support; allow these diehards to be the best they can be.

Two: In the Premiership, players are put on a standard contract. No such thing in the Championship, where contract loopholes are legion, as are the horror stories about injured players being made redundant. A minimum requirement for RFU funding, for those wishing to pay full-time players, is a minimum wage and a standard, protected contract.

Three: The Rugby Players’ Association (RPA) does great work providing career advice and work opportunities for Premiership players. However, it provides no such service for Championship clubs — because it cannot afford to. It should be the right of a professional player that he can access the services of his union; the RFU should guarantee funding to expand the RPA and ensure all players are similarly served.

Four: To warrant funding, clubs should have a development obligation and, for every match-day squad, field a certain number of players under the age of 25.

However, do not fund more players. Do not splash money on the wild west, just tame it.

Last Friday night, in Newcastle, the Falcons named on their bench a new prop called Sam Lockwood. He had never been in an academy, had been picked up by Leeds Carnegie after university, but it didn’t work for him there. He then got picked up by Jersey, made 50 appearances in two-and-a-half years in the Championship, and became, according to Dean Richards, the Newcastle director of rugby, the best loose-head in the league. Thus, at the age of 27, Richards made him a Premiership player.

If you keep the Championship, rough and ready as it may be, some will go bust, some will punch way too high, but you keep a dream alive.

 

Make no mistake £32 in that League in that context is overboard- it was quite fun though, different teams, the smaller sides- some entertaining games!