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slartibartfast

By slartibartfast
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Between heaven and hell

Between heaven and hell

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Dark Wood Covert said:

The standard is on par with L2...

Clearly something isn't right when their average is 1700 (capacity is just over 5000), for a club at the top end of the Conference (on a regular basis these days) so no, there is no incentive or advertising.. just a couple of tiny posters on the ecotricty building and Batemans Sport shop... Considering the district of Stroud has a population of around 115,000, you would've thought a club on the cusp of playing in the Football League could attract more fans through the gates so I stand by my comments

Wrong, the top few sides. might be on a par with league two but the rest are shocking. Add to that they have had a manager who was extremely negative with a style of play that wound up even the most loyal of fans. A chairman that is only using the club for his own business marketing and publicity for his vegan views.

Also when you do go up there you have to try and get down the bloody hill after which can be a nightmare.

Quite honestly you could cover Gloucestershire in FGR posters and no one would bother, from Tetbury down through the Stroud valley your either City,  Gas or Swindon.

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Wanderingred

Wanderingred

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, Leveller said:

Why? I'm not quite sure what people have against Dale Vince, unless they are against hippy types in principle.

Apart from being a vegan and enforcing that in the club, he's just another successful local entrepreneur who's bringing success to his local club by investing in it. That should ring bells on OTIB.

Just my personal opinion - Not really a fan of bankrolled hobby clubs. It can never be sustainable. I much prefer clubs like Burton and Accrington who can achieve success by excellent management and a good team spirit.

The bit you've highlighted annoys me a bit about him too. Why enforce your personal beliefs on an entire fanbase? Imagine if Steve L was for example a muslim and didn't allow alcohol anywhere near the ground on matchdays...

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Manon

Manon

Posted
Posted

FGR are never going to be a massive draw even in the immediate surrounding areas. 1,700 in the conference is bloody brilliant.

Despite once being branded as 'Stroud', there was little interest from Stroud itself. Granted they were a big pub team then, but anyone from over there knows it just isn't that sort of place. Had Nailsworth and Stroud been northern working people's towns then they might have had some clout, but the populace is similar to Bristol in that there is an apathy; the majority just aren't interested in football. There's the rugby, then there's the large hippie/green element and the well to do. They have been punching above their weight for a long time.

 

Good luck today though!!

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Lanterne Rouge

Lanterne Rouge

Posted
Posted
25 minutes ago, Manon said:

FGR are never going to be a massive draw even in the immediate surrounding areas. 1,700 in the conference is bloody brilliant.

Despite once being branded as 'Stroud', there was little interest from Stroud itself. Granted they were a big pub team then, but anyone from over there knows it just isn't that sort of place. Had Nailsworth and Stroud been northern working people's towns then they might have had some clout, but the populace is similar to Bristol in that there is an apathy; the majority just aren't interested in football. There's the rugby, then there's the large hippie/green element and the well to do. They have been punching above their weight for a long time.

 

Good luck today though!!

Maybe they do need to move a bit further south down towards Yate/Thornbury. Would they get any more if they did?

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spudski

spudski

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, Dark Wood Covert said:

Er... just to point out, its just not Nailsworth... its the surrounding areas to Nailsworth.

Stroud, Stonehouse, Dursley, Ciren, Tetbury etc. Enough of a populus to get some kind of interest. 

Like Chris Brown says, FGR are not advertised enough if at all in the local area... prices are indeed too high in general at the level of football to the more casual football fan or the kids to persuade them to go on a regular basis. They need to have incentives to attract new fans 

I really don't undertand your reasoning fella...with respect...They are a non league outfit...why would they attract more fans? To get 1700 for non league games in such a small catchment, and especially where it is, is amazing imo.

If they had been playing in the Football league for a few years, it may have generated more interest. Like Cheltenham or Grimsby.

But they haven't. They are a non league team with no League history.

Why would thousands from all the areas you mention, want to fork out the best part of £150 to go and watch a team they don't follow?

What football club in the Vanarama has thousands watching them?

Anybody in the areas you mention, if they want to follow League football, watch either Cheltenham, Swindon, us or the gas.

If you are going to watch non league football in the places you mention, you would go to the likes of Cirencester to watch...not travel to watch more non league at a town you don't live in.

If they do go up...then more interest may develop....like it did when playing pre season friendlies against League teams.

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bcfcchris2016

bcfcchris2016

Posted
Posted

I think if Forest green do get to the football league, it is essential that away fans do not confuse Nailsworth with Nailsea. 

About 3 years ago, I was working outside a supermarket in Nailsea one Tuesday night and a guy approached me to say where Forest Greens ground is. He said that he was a Braintree fan and that the match kicks off in 20 minutes. 

The look of horror on his face when I told him he's almost another hour away and the horrible mix-up he made. 

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GodEmperor Palpatine

GodEmperor Palpatine

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, spudski said:

I really don't undertand your reasoning fella...with respect...They are a non league outfit...why would they attract more fans? To get 1700 for non league games in such a small catchment, and especially where it is, is amazing imo.

If they had been playing in the Football league for a few years, it may have generated more interest. Like Cheltenham or Grimsby.

But they haven't. They are a non league team with no League history.

Why would thousands from all the areas you mention, want to fork out the best part of £150 to go and watch a team they don't follow?

What football club in the Vanarama has thousands watching them?

Anybody in the areas you mention, if they want to follow League football, watch either Cheltenham, Swindon, us or the gas.

If you are going to watch non league football in the places you mention, you would go to the likes of Cirencester to watch...not travel to watch more non league at a town you don't live in.

If they do go up...then more interest may develop....like it did when playing pre season friendlies against League teams.

Did I say thousands? Sorry but to me you're putting some spin on this, I said attract more casual fans.  Their are plenty of casual football fans in this area who support clubs they will never go and watch on a regular basis... like I said before, there are 115,000 people who live in the Stroud District.. You only need to attract a small part of that and it would build over time. FGR have been on the up for a few years now with an increasingly big budget (one of the biggest in the league) and are on the cusp of playing football league you would think they would be attracting more fans to watch even now.  

Thats my reasoning

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GodEmperor Palpatine

GodEmperor Palpatine

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, Between heaven and hell said:

Wrong, the top few sides. might be on a par with league two but the rest are shocking. Add to that they have had a manager who was extremely negative with a style of play that wound up even the most loyal of fans. A chairman that is only using the club for his own business marketing and publicity for his vegan views.

Also when you do go up there you have to try and get down the bloody hill after which can be a nightmare.

Quite honestly you could cover Gloucestershire in FGR posters and no one would bother, from Tetbury down through the Stroud valley your either City,  Gas or Swindon.

 L2 is an extremely poor league and clubs who make the transition from Conference to L2 are comfortable enough. You're right about the chairman though...

Plus as I responded to Spud, there are plenty of casual football fans in the area who don't support  either City, Sags and Swindle... Basically the club, should be advertising the better and we're talking about an area that covers upto Hardwicke/maybe Quedgeley down to Berkeley and Wotton.. still £17 for an adult is too high IMO

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spudski

spudski

Posted
Posted
43 minutes ago, Dark Wood Covert said:

Did I say thousands? Sorry but to me you're putting some spin on this, I said attract more casual fans.  Their are plenty of casual football fans in this area who support clubs they will never go and watch on a regular basis... like I said before, there are 115,000 people who live in the Stroud District.. You only need to attract a small part of that and it would build over time. FGR have been on the up for a few years now with an increasingly big budget (one of the biggest in the league) and are on the cusp of playing football league you would think they would be attracting more fans to watch even now.  

Thats my reasoning

No worries fella...we will have to agree to disagree.

When you look at the Clubs in this league, their history, league or non, and also take into consideration type of people living in catchment area, then I still feel FGR's are doing very well with crowd figures.

I really don't think a few posters around towns is going to make much difference.

I'm a regular at FGR when in the country, so speak to people there and have some knowledge of what's going on.

Take a look at these figures for comparison with other clubs... http://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/confprem/attendances

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...

...

Posted
Posted

Let's get something straight, without any more PISSING ABOUT.

:bruce_h4h:

Are we saying the sags and FGR should be merged, AND share stadiums??

OK then.

What are we going to call them, what is the ground going to be called??

Bristol Green Forest?

Forest Bristol Green?

Rovers Forest?

And the stadium??

The Ecotricity ****-nest?

The Rachmenjanni Eco-bowl?

WTF??

 

Uncle TFR

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Nogbad the Bad

Nogbad the Bad

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Super said:

not sure I get the forest green love in on here.

A few have probably got a soft spot for FGR after some very enjoyable pre season friendlies there, not much more to it than that I expect.

I've been a couple of times over the years when City aren't playing, it's a very pleasant drive from Bristol once you get off the motorway, and lots of interesting places en route, or not far off, to stop off and explore.

The veggie fanatic is off putting though, had a great beef lasagna in the clubhouse last time.

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GodEmperor Palpatine

GodEmperor Palpatine

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Super said:

not sure I get the forest green love in on here.

None from me, have about 10% interest in the club.. just look out for their results being a couple of miles away but thats about as far as it goes. Did go with my dad to watch them away at Oxford in the cup.. pretty poor experience and didn't help that they sing songs with Rovers in them (obviously) Couldn't bring myself to behind them on that basis, petty I know but you know ;)

For the record, it was a freebie ticket

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GodEmperor Palpatine

GodEmperor Palpatine

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, spudski said:

No worries fella...we will have to agree to disagree.

When you look at the Clubs in this league, their history, league or non, and also take into consideration type of people living in catchment area, then I still feel FGR's are doing very well with crowd figures.

I really don't think a few posters around towns is going to make much difference.

I'm a regular at FGR when in the country, so speak to people there and have some knowledge of what's going on.

Take a look at these figures for comparison with other clubs... http://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/confprem/attendances

I get your premise but the bold sentences I have issue with... you're a regular at FGR when in the country, fair enough but I've grew up and lived in the area for the majority of my life (barring 5 years) and even in recent times they do not try to attract new fans to watch... You would've thought Vince would be seriously trying to potentially increase the fanbase by doing more but he doesn't. He isn't a billionaire so its not a plaything, he's a businessman and while as some say he uses the club as a platform to publicly state his vegan views/making a statement he will still want some kind of return in the long term which he will not get if he doesn't market or advertise the club in a more positive way.

 

If FGR are playing league football, there is a small fanbase to be had... not just a percentage of the 115,000 of the Stroud District, but the surrounding like the Cotswolds, Ciren, North Wilts and so on. It could be a league club next season but given the budgets are totally lopsided to the fanbase, they will not survive unless they attract the more casual fans who support United, Liverpool etc but can't go on a regular basis, they could attract this demographic as it is league football .

 

People say that City need to be targeting the more part-time football fan in Bristol into coming to watch City s its a club on the up, on a smaller scale this could apply to FGR in my area and thats what I was getting at.,, there needs to be more done.

 

You quoted 'I really don't think a few posters around towns is going to make much difference.' which was the point I was making anyway and need to be more proactive into making FGR an attractive proposition to go and watch

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havanatopia

havanatopia

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, Manon said:

FGR are never going to be a massive draw even in the immediate surrounding areas. 1,700 in the conference is bloody brilliant.

Despite once being branded as 'Stroud', there was little interest from Stroud itself. Granted they were a big pub team then, but anyone from over there knows it just isn't that sort of place. Had Nailsworth and Stroud been northern working people's towns then they might have had some clout, but the populace is similar to Bristol in that there is an apathy; the majority just aren't interested in football. There's the rugby, then there's the large hippie/green element and the well to do. They have been punching above their weight for a long time.

 

Good luck today though!!

Some earlier poster mentioned the population of the 'Stroud District' was about 106,000 so, being a non-believer, I googled it and found that the 'city' of Stroud has a population of 2,721. Thats right folks its a city and it has a population of 2,721 I believe less than Congresbury, which is a village. On what planet would someone be to grant the place city status? Does it have a cathedral? Is it a place for Mormon worship or perhaps has an ancient Buddhist shrine in its mist that city status must be bequeathed upon it? I read a little more and noted that Stroud, the city, is in Oklahoma. Then I realised that such matters of detail, while hugely important to the land of original English and proper Fish & Chips means little or nothing in the land of the Big Mac where you can obtain City status by putting up a flag pole and announcing yourself democratically elected mayor by youz, yourself and your little scruffy dog.

Stroud the town in the UK, meanwhile, is about 12,000. Not nearly enough to sustain a football league club; just go ask the fair people of Aldershot; they tried it a couple times.

Good luck to Forest Green if they make it though.

5 hours ago, Super said:

not sure I get the forest green love in on here.

I guess its just the name and the fact they are a little village tucked away in the midst of the green hills of Gloucestershite. i Mean Gloucestershire. 

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GodEmperor Palpatine

GodEmperor Palpatine

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, havanatopia said:

Some earlier poster mentioned the population of the 'Stroud District' was about 106,000 so, being a non-believer, I googled it and found that the 'city' of Stroud has a population of 2,721. Thats right folks its a city and it has a population of 2,721 I believe less than Congresbury, which is a village. On what planet would someone be to grant the place city status? Does it have a cathedral? Is it a place for Mormon worship or perhaps has an ancient Buddhist shrine in its mist that city status must be bequeathed upon it? I read a little more and noted that Stroud, the city, is in Oklahoma. Then I realised that such matters of detail, while hugely important to the land of original English and proper Fish & Chips means little or nothing in the land of the Big Mac where you can obtain City status by putting up a flag pole and announcing yourself democratically elected mayor by youz, yourself and your little scruffy dog.

Stroud the town in the UK, meanwhile, is about 12,000. Not nearly enough to sustain a football league club; just go ask the fair people of Aldershot; they tried it a couple times.

Good luck to Forest Green if they make it though.

I guess its just the name and the fact they are a little village tucked away in the midst of the green hills of Gloucestershite. i Mean Gloucestershire. 

I said it about the district... so basically you're saying that FGR cant sustain being football league because Stroud (as a town) has a population of 12,500? No, the district of Stroud is not confined to that but includes an area stretching from Hardwicke to Wotton/Kingswood (village) and Frampton to Minchinhampton... all populations mount up. 

 

http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=6275265&c=Stroud&d=13&e=61&g=6427920&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1463326281366&enc=1&dsFamilyId=2491

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havanatopia

havanatopia

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, Dark Wood Covert said:

I said it about the district... so basically you're saying that FGR cant sustain being football league because Stroud (as a town) has a population of 12,500? No, the district of Stroud is not confined to that but includes an area stretching from Hardwicke to Wotton/Kingswood (village) and Frampton to Minchinhampton... all populations mount up. 

 

http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=6275265&c=Stroud&d=13&e=61&g=6427920&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1463326281366&enc=1&dsFamilyId=2491

0-2 .. Looks like Grimsby have answered my question.

Go one better next year FGR... incremental steps.

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spudski

spudski

Posted
Posted
55 minutes ago, Dark Wood Covert said:

I get your premise but the bold sentences I have issue with... you're a regular at FGR when in the country, fair enough but I've grew up and lived in the area for the majority of my life (barring 5 years) and even in recent times they do not try to attract new fans to watch... You would've thought Vince would be seriously trying to potentially increase the fanbase by doing more but he doesn't. He isn't a billionaire so its not a plaything, he's a businessman and while as some say he uses the club as a platform to publicly state his vegan views/making a statement he will still want some kind of return in the long term which he will not get if he doesn't market or advertise the club in a more positive way.

 

If FGR are playing league football, there is a small fanbase to be had... not just a percentage of the 115,000 of the Stroud District, but the surrounding like the Cotswolds, Ciren, North Wilts and so on. It could be a league club next season but given the budgets are totally lopsided to the fanbase, they will not survive unless they attract the more casual fans who support United, Liverpool etc but can't go on a regular basis, they could attract this demographic as it is league football .

 

People say that City need to be targeting the more part-time football fan in Bristol into coming to watch City s its a club on the up, on a smaller scale this could apply to FGR in my area and thats what I was getting at.,, there needs to be more done.

 

You quoted 'I really don't think a few posters around towns is going to make much difference.' which was the point I was making anyway and need to be more proactive into making FGR an attractive proposition to go and watch

Fair enough fella...but I actually believe FGR's are very pro active in trying to bring fans and money into the Club.

There are Free tickets for under 10's.

Half price tickets for anyone with a Football League Season ticket.

A school Ambassador programme.

Free school shirts. They gave out 500 free shirts to kids.

A fit 2 last programme.

They do an awful lot in the community, especially through schools.

The Gym membership is good. It's used massively and is of good quality.

The Conference, Wedding and Pub hire bring in revenue and interest.

They were actually short listed for the Football business awards recently.

I don't live that far away either, and have all my life. I know the type of people that live around this area...the majority are not interested in Football.

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