BTRFTG Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 5 minutes ago, archie andrews said: bent turnstile operaters didnt help either......... In all my years I remain to be convinced that was ever a factor (turnstile clicks and counts whether or not you've paid). More obvious were that weird bunch (regular couple of dozen at the Open End) who'd turn up half way through the second half and come in for now't when they opened the exit gates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1960maaan Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 11 hours ago, BTRFTG said: 'The 8' could have walked away by unilaterally terminating their contracts. They didn't. They spent days in hard negotiation nearly putting the club under. Altruism didn't enter into it, irrespective how much that rains on ideological romanticism. That the club these days sees fit to flog branded merchandise of the event - pass the sick bag Alice. I don't blame 'The 8' for so doing, just as I don't blame them for signing the stupid contracts they were offered by the club, after all it was their and the their families livelihoods at stake and their green eyes had seen what Collier had done when exercising his contract rights. But be in no doubt they were given Hobson's choice, where the stark reality was that had they not acted in terminating their contracts they would have received little by way of compensation and wouldn't have played football for a very long time (some might argue they never did as they were past it or never good enough in the first place.) No Football Creditors in those days. It's interesting, too, the PFA and players takes on the eventual outcome differed. Bitter, the players sure were. Lastly, attempting to garner sympathy by reminding 'The 8' weren't on sums commensurate with today's players cuts no cloth. With most clubs (including our own) stood at the edge of a precipice as a result of paying wholly unreasonable sums in wages, we should be questioning today's folly and why we haven't acted upon the lessons of '82? 'The 8' earned around 3x the national wage at the time, plus bonuses, not the 50x some of our players currently enjoy. It provided them a decent standard of living, but one might argue they also never lost out on that they never had. Better we celebrate trying to restore a sense of normality to today's game than powder coat the past. I started to wonder why I didn't remember much about the players post City careers. The ages tell a tale, numbers of Pro games in brackets. Figures right as far as I can tell. Peter Aitken 28 (18 games) Gerry Sweeney 36 (12 ) Tainton 31 (19) Garland 33 ( played for City non contract after ) Merrick 31 (0) Jimmy Mann 30 (30) David Rodgers 30 (8) Julian Marshall 25 ? The fault lays squarely with the Board and money men, I admit I thought we would be in Div 1 for years, but they were supposed to plan for the long term. Part of the reason we went down from Div one IMO, 5 of those players were with the club when I started going in 1970/1. 10 hours ago, billywedlock said: Is there any other club that has gone into administration where the players have ripped up their contracts to enable a solution for survival ? There must be other examples ? I may be wrong, but I thought they changed some rules after what happened to us. 43 minutes ago, BTRFTG said: In all my years I remain to be convinced that was ever a factor (turnstile clicks and counts whether or not you've paid). More obvious were that weird bunch (regular couple of dozen at the Open End) who'd turn up half way through the second half and come in for now't when they opened the exit gates. Can't vouch for the Gate, but a mate worked at Eastville and offered me free entry if I wanted. I know stories of handing kids over turnstiles or hoping over, but nothing first hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTRFTG Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 (edited) 21 minutes ago, 1960maaan said: mate worked at Eastville and offered me free entry if I wanted. I understand that was the preferred option, the alternate being forcibly marched in at knifepoint..... Edited February 3, 2022 by BTRFTG 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTRFTG Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 25 minutes ago, 1960maaan said: I started to wonder why I didn't remember much about the players post City careers. The ages tell a tale, numbers of Pro games in brackets In addition to the number of games also look at the level they played at. As all who watched the decline will attest there was no chance of the Club looking to sell them as they weren't worth anything. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Shadow Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 1 hour ago, 1960maaan said: Can't vouch for the Gate, but a mate worked at Eastville and offered me free entry if I wanted. I know stories of handing kids over turnstiles or hoping over, but nothing first hand. When I was a very young kid my mum asked (told) her brother to take me to Eastville so she could go shopping. We went on the bus and he instructed me what I had to do when we got to the turnstiles. Just as we entered the door I dropped down and crawled under the turnstile then got up again once through. Worked a treat! Still became a red though thanks to my dad. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
And Its Smith Posted February 4, 2022 Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 Did they have a dream? I think I’d feel disrespected if I was one of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spudski Posted February 4, 2022 Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 This '8 men had a dream' headline is absolute bollox imo. It's typical of how over the years, history and truth can be manipulated to make it seem completely different to how it actually was. Then everyone starts believing the new narrative. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton_fan Posted February 4, 2022 Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 I remember chatting to Gerry Sweeney and he claimed he was the most successful manager in Bristol City's history with a win rate of 100%, although he was only in charge for one game! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted February 4, 2022 Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 22 minutes ago, ashton_fan said: I remember chatting to Gerry Sweeney and he claimed he was the most successful manager in Bristol City's history with a win rate of 100%, although he was only in charge for one game! Think it is also fair to say the Sween probably took it somewhat differently from many others of the 8. He was 36/37 when this happened, realised he was already very near the end of his long & successful career & was back working at the club under big Joe in the following decade. Still a pretty regular watcher of us, he genuinely doesn’t seem to have the scars others had. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red-Robbo Posted February 4, 2022 Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 1 hour ago, spudski said: This '8 men had a dream' headline is absolute bollox imo. It's typical of how over the years, history and truth can be manipulated to make it seem completely different to how it actually was. Then everyone starts believing the new narrative. 8 men had a nightmare, is probably more accurate. They were placed in a very invidious situation. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aa_bcfc Posted February 4, 2022 Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 I remember the action gate 8 saga well. I became a shareholder as did many others and attended all the following shareholders meetings until they were dispensed with. We were all incredibly grateful to the players for ripping up their contracts and they have been thanked on very many occasions. It might be an unpopular view but I think that after this current anniversary it’s time to put it behind us. Its right to be mindful of what happened but It’s now unnecessary to keep raking it up. Just my opinion as a fan regularly attending games since 1957/58. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davefevs Posted February 4, 2022 Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 Just saw a tweet from Scott Davidson that they’ve managed to get footage of Jimmy Mann’s 40 yarder past Shilton, and they’ll be showing that on the day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcfc01 Posted February 4, 2022 Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 4 minutes ago, Davefevs said: Just saw a tweet from Scott Davidson that they’ve managed to get footage of Jimmy Mann’s 40 yarder past Shilton, and they’ll be showing that on the day. Shame that he won't be there to see it himself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleepy1968 Posted February 4, 2022 Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 The present value of the unpaid contacts would be a pittance compared to the current expenditure., If Bristol City cared that much about 'The Ashton Gate 8' they'd have made restitution by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted February 4, 2022 Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 On 03/02/2022 at 10:37, Shuffle said: The Gas are parasites and remember all too well them trying to put us out of business & their fans even 40 years on gloat about our near miss. If you’re younger, you won’t have seen the rivalry too much but us older ones have memories and that’s why we hate the blue few amongst many other reasons This. I will forever despise them for what they tried to do back then, ******* vultures, always have been and always will be. Never forgive, never forget. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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