FAO Everyone...

glassboypaul wrote:I remember when we lost at Rothwell in the FA Cup 7-1, we came out looking like Real Madrid but got smashed. Tannoy took the piss at the end as well.

Rothwell, what a dump that place was! Remember drawing 0-0 in a league game there in about 2006 when Andy Wells blazed the ball over the top of a completely open goal from 10 yards out! The Beast kept getting bollocked by Dave the Glassboy for constantly swearing that day too! On the way back Sam, Mike from the Moorings' cousin, nearly rolled the van taking the bend on the M5 by Oldbury far too fast considering the weight we had in the back that day! We were all rolling around on top of each other in the back,I was sure we was about to crash. Sam blamed the Beast for it for some reason. The Beast used to get the blame for everything!

I also remember the 3-2 defeat there on the opening day of the season. Bello and Morgan Brookes scored but we fell to a late defeat due to giving a daft penalty away.

I remember Mike from the Mitre giving the keeper some stick before a free kick that he promptly spilled and Bello scored!

Even from my place on the side of the pitch you could here Mike in his distinctive tones! "Come on Stour, they're shit" was a particular favourite.

This thread needs the music from the Hovis adverts playing in the background with all this nostalgia.

flexcavana wrote:This thread needs the music from the Hovis adverts playing in the background with all this nostalgia.

We ought to have an 80's theme day down at Amblecote.

People like Ulster Jim and M6 Dave would love it,for once their clothes would fit in

What happened to TCP? Another stalwart at the club sadly missed.

Think TCP man got his ticket for making certain inappropriate comments I'm lead to believe. Don't think I'd dare elaborate in these politically correct times!

glassboypaul wrote:What happened to TCP? Another stalwart at the club sadly missed.

Banned for racist language.

You could name ten ex-supporters who don't attend anymore and there will be at least eight different reasons why. Strangely enough, I don't think not feeling wanted anymore would be high up the list of the long-term regulars who've stopped. But I go back to my earlier point that the worry isn't who's gone, it's that they aren't being replaced. It might sound strange at a time when gates are higher than they have been for decades but a lot of the new arrivals seem to regard the ground as an extension of their Saturday drinking rather than being too bothered about the club. I hope that doesn't sound snobbish or elitist but I do worry about the future. Last night's gate was down due to a perfect storm of competition apathy, lack of visiting support, Albion being at 'um, freezing cold weather, December and in my case unreliable trains but it says more about our regular hardcore support than 1,444 v FCUM does.

Tricky Tree wrote:

glassboypaul wrote:What happened to TCP? Another stalwart at the club sadly missed.

Banned for racist language.

That's a real shame he left because of alleged racist language.

The club shop will take a big hit in revenue. I know Andy Hill and Jim were always working hard, getting him programmes from here there and everywhere.

Who will replace that revenue?

Can't make tonight as I have to much work on.

Just hope that the meeting goes well and both parties appreciate what is actually been done.

I do not understand what all the fuss is about. The Man from Mars would think that we are a club in crisis whereas we are still finding our feet in a new, higher-standard league, we are not too far from a play-off place with the season not yet half way even though we have suffered serious and lengthy injuries to key players such as Ben, Luke and Louis.

To be honest, how the club was run 10/20 years ago is of very little concern to me. What happens today and tomorrow, figuratively speaking, are my interests.

Over the last 6 seasons that I have been attending most home games, we have finished 16th, 9th, 8th, 6th and two play-off positions AND three successful cup runs AND with steadily-increasing gates. All of this to me is progress on the pitch. Well done to Gary and his management team but PLEASE Gary get our side to return to playing football ie the ball on the ground and cutting open defences with passes and NOT route one !

Off the pitch, there have been vast improvements to the playing surface, club house, floodlights, changing rooms etc etc. Yes these have been paid for by the cup runs and the c£47k grant and increased sponsorship but also a lot of behind-the-scenes work has also been resolved eg sorting out responsibility for underground tunnels, boundaries and subsidence issues etc. All of these take many, many hours of unpaid work and shows progress. Well done to AP and his management team who are running our club along professional lines and with commendable ambition. After all, they want SFC to do well just as much as us ordinary fans.

Concerning the so-called 'them and us' barrier, my personal experience is that, whenever I've needed points clarifying, most of the directors have been friendly and approachable.

Have been to a few 150 Club nights and find them a useful way of meeting officials and players.

I don't have any problems with SFC's up-to-date lines of communication and particularly like Gary's Q & A page in the programme. OK sometimes I find things out first in the Express and Star but the subjects soon appear on the club's website. However, there are a few areas where mistakes have been made, notably Paul McCone and the 'agreement' with Gary when Paul first returned. This was never credible.

Concerning the current finances and bearing in mind our early cup exits will result in only c£10k of prize money, I feel that the club will do well to breakeven this season unless pruning of costs takes place. However, the current bank balance should still be in a healthy position, even after the apparent 'give away' of Sean Geddes. Also it seems that the planned further ground improvements of £12.5k have been put on hold.

Therefore, funds should be available for investment in players.

Summarising, to me, SFC is not in a bad place. OK we all want us to be doing better but I'm hoping that after tonight's meeting, we the club, players, directors, coaching staff and us, the supporters, will be looking to the future with optimism AND AS ONE.

redpike wrote:I do not understand what all the fuss is about. The Man from Mars would think that we are a club in crisis whereas we are still finding our feet in a new, higher-standard league, we are not too far from a play-off place with the season not yet half way even though we have suffered serious and lengthy injuries to key players such as Ben, Luke and Louis.

To be honest, how the club was run 10/20 years ago is of very little concern to me. What happens today and tomorrow, figuratively speaking, are my interests.

Over the last 6 seasons that I have been attending most home games, we have finished 16th, 9th, 8th, 6th and two play-off positions AND three successful cup runs AND with steadily-increasing gates. All of this to me is progress on the pitch. Well done to Gary and his management team but PLEASE Gary get our side to return to playing football ie the ball on the ground and cutting open defences with passes and NOT route one !

Off the pitch, there have been vast improvements to the playing surface, club house, floodlights, changing rooms etc etc. Yes these have been paid for by the cup runs and the c£47k grant and increased sponsorship but also a lot of behind-the-scenes work has also been resolved eg sorting out responsibility for underground tunnels, boundaries and subsidence issues etc. All of these take many, many hours of unpaid work and shows progress. Well done to AP and his management team who are running our club along professional lines and with commendable ambition. After all, they want SFC to do well just as much as us ordinary fans.

Concerning the so-called 'them and us' barrier, my personal experience is that, whenever I've needed points clarifying, most of the directors have been friendly and approachable.

Have been to a few 150 Club nights and find them a useful way of meeting officials and players.

I don't have any problems with SFC's up-to-date lines of communication and particularly like Gary's Q & A page in the programme. OK sometimes I find things out first in the Express and Star but the subjects soon appear on the club's website. However, there are a few areas where mistakes have been made, notably Paul McCone and the 'agreement' with Gary when Paul first returned. This was never credible.

Concerning the current finances and bearing in mind our early cup exits will result in only c£10k of prize money, I feel that the club will do well to breakeven this season unless pruning of costs takes place. However, the current bank balance should still be in a healthy position, even after the apparent 'give away' of Sean Geddes. Also it seems that the planned further ground improvements of £12.5k have been put on hold.

Therefore, funds should be available for investment in players.

Summarising, to me, SFC is not in a bad place. OK we all want us to be doing better but I'm hoping that after tonight's meeting, we the club, players, directors, coaching staff and us, the supporters, will be looking to the future with optimism AND AS ONE.  

I don't think anyone can doubt or question the progress made on the field during Gary's ten year + reign at the club. I don't think anyone can doubt the progress made off the field too, such as the points raised by Redpike prove. I think the concern of some fans though is that they accept and acknowledge that it IS progress, but to the detriment of what??

It's human nature for a lot of people to be sceptical and worried by change. It happens in everything in every day life. For example,if you have a new gaffer in at work, you may feel slightly uneasy that the structure would change, if they wanted to reduce overheads by making redundancies,if all of a sudden your face didn't fit,etc. It doesn't mean that you're ANTI management/ownership, it's just that it's perfectly natural to be wary sometimes. I think this analogy perfectly describes the current thoughts of some people regarding Stourbridge Football Club.

Except for me, I don't think the board can do anything right in some peoples eyes on here. Thus, making them anti management.

Jack wrote:Except for me, I don't think the board can do anything right in some peoples eyes on here. Thus, making them anti management.

No Jack, people are very sceptical and wary of change and progress. That's all it is, trust me! It's been the case for centuries in all walks of life.

Jack wrote:Except for me, I don't think the board can do anything right in some peoples eyes on here. Thus, making them anti management.

Fair enough,lets just not bother with tonight then Jack.

It's going to be a cold night,i think i'll just stay home.

glassboypaul wrote:

Tricky Tree wrote:

glassboypaul wrote:What happened to TCP? Another stalwart at the club sadly missed.

Banned for racist language.

That's a real shame he left because of alleged racist language.

The club shop will take a big hit in revenue. I know Andy Hill and Jim were always working hard, getting him programmes from here there and everywhere.

Who will replace that revenue?

He freely admitted to the chairman that he called a player a (think of a Goodies song with Funky in the title).

I can only assume you are having a giraffe with regards to lost revenue.  He has bought approximately 5 old programmes costing 10p each over the last couple of years.  At last season's presentation evening he spent over an hour and a half in the shop and bought one programme for 10p.

Are you coming down tonight Devil? You might get to meet your mate Rasam!

From my point of view the only issue is are the club happy at the level they are at or do they want to achieve even more than what's already been achieved.

Hopefully they want to achieve more and that means promotion to the Conference North. You look at clubs in that league that are no bigger and probably not as well run as ours.

From a playing point it must be hard for Gary to bring players in without breaking the pay structure already in place. When we are in the Southern League we are the most northern club in the league and now we are the southern most club in the Northern League.

With regards the ground we should try and improve that all the time and not wait to spend money when we need to. Not saying spend a load of money but perhaps do it in stages.

Surely all we all want is the club to keep moving forwards.

I've just this second found out that my dear old Nan has had a stroke this morning. She will be 98 on December 27th. Mom found her on the floor when she got there an hour ago. I wont be going this evening now. Just about tops off the worst year of my life.

Nath wrote:I've just this second found out that my dear old Nan has had a stroke this morning. She will be 98 on December 27th. Mom found her on the floor when she got there an hour ago. I wont be going this evening now. Just about tops off the worst year of my life.

Sorry to hear this Nath.

I wish you & your family the best & hope to hear good news very soon.

Nath wrote:I've just this second found out that my dear old Nan has had a stroke this morning. She will be 98 on December 27th. Mom found her on the floor when she got there an hour ago. I wont be going this evening now. Just about tops off the worst year of my life.

Hope your nan is ok mate.

UlsterJim wrote:

Nath wrote:I've just this second found out that my dear old Nan has had a stroke this morning. She will be 98 on December 27th. Mom found her on the floor when she got there an hour ago. I wont be going this evening now. Just about tops off the worst year of my life.

Hope your nan is ok mate.

On her way to hospital now. The ambulance has only just left nans, they have been with her for over an hour. Mom's following in the car and will keep me informed. Mom said she appears to have come round a bit, don't know how long she had been on the floor for though, she was half dressed so must have been early this morning she collapsed. I've always dreded this day, Nan has never been ill. Fingers crossed. Thanks for message Jim and Neil, much appreciated.

UlsterJim wrote:

glassboypaul wrote:

Tricky Tree wrote:

glassboypaul wrote:What happened to TCP? Another stalwart at the club sadly missed.

Banned for racist language.

That's a real shame he left because of alleged racist language.

The club shop will take a big hit in revenue. I know Andy Hill and Jim were always working hard, getting him programmes from here there and everywhere.

Who will replace that revenue?

He freely admitted to the chairman that he called a player a (think of a Goodies song with Funky in the title).

I can only assume you are having a giraffe with regards to lost revenue.  He has bought approximately 5 old programmes costing 10p each over the last couple of years.  At last season's presentation evening he spent over an hour and a half in the shop and bought one programme for 10p.

I thought he invested quite heavily? He always seemed to be in the shop, rifling through programmes.

I still think we should get Simon Morris and the Beast back if possible. Stalwarts of the club.

And Mike from the Mitre? Can he be brought back?

Most importantly, best wishes to you and your family Nath, sorry to hear the sad news.

UlsterJim wrote:Are you coming down tonight Devil?  You might get to meet your mate Rasam!

Seeing as Nath isn't going then tbh i'm not sure i can be @rsed.

It seems like the majority are totally happy with everything at the club and have little issue with anything so there isn't much point me being there because i'm likely to be in a majority of one.

If,as it seems,95% are happy and think the rest of us are just whingers then to be fair you have to accept that your opinion isn't important and won't carry any weight.

Hope nan is on the mend Nath and hope to see you on Saturday.

When you read about Nath's nan doesn't that put all our moans into perspective.

With regards DA comment don't think you are on your own with your reservations.

Personally I think the club could be better at telling ALL the fans what is going on rather than the few who are in the know.