Is anyone else really peed off with this season results/performances?
Smith is the biggest joker going, any other club in our postion would have sacked the manager months go - as Braintree did and look at where they are now!
Enough is enough after 12 years of watching my beloved Wings I am not going to another game home or away until this idiot Smith is no longer Manager of my club, which is having its heart torn out.
If they really are your beloved Wings now is not the time to desert them.
Spot on ! Managers, Chairmen and players come and go but real supporters usually dont .
SJ
CRAP!
Please tell me just what the hell you are supporting.
1) A private business. There are better and (certainly more local ones to me) to support than this one.
2) The team (a.k.a The shirt). I am not sure how many of them support themself at the moment so why should I?
3) The club as a representation of my local identity. Do I really want to support something that says the area I come from is just happy to jog along? Heaven knows we are not the most popular team amongst the rest of non-League at the best of times either.
4) Because I enjoy a day out, a beer and a game of football. Lets face it, I do the first two anyway. My view is now that spending the money 4 or 5 times a year to go and watch Rosenborg would be a better investment if I just want to watch a game of football. It has certainly been more fun, even if I did pick the first defeat at Valerenga since 1995 and a freezing cold night a Schalke to do it!
5) Because its what people think I do or because I always have? Maybe the worst of all reasons to continue.
10 years ago enthusiasm was easier to maintain as I had not seen us go round this cycle so many times. Smith is merely a symptom rather than the problem. We will go round the loop again. I don't want to go through this every x months although perversely, the best hope is that we are right in the sh*t come February and they are forced to go out and appoint someone with a track record just to try and save the Hobbins investment. I can't be bothered to watch the crap (and pay for the privilege) that would have to occur on the pitch to get to that situation any more.
I have attempted not to carp from the sidelines since I made my decision and if you think differently you are welcome to keep paying your tenner for the privilege. Aside from a possible p*ss up in Bath you'll probably not be seeing me anytime soon unless things change.
And if all the long term fans think like that, Given the clubs commercial performance, WHAT FUTURE DOES IT HAVE UNDER BARRIE HOBBINS??
The point to concentrate on is
Smith is merely a symptom rather than the problem
I believe that 100% you can slate whoever is manager, But if the club aspires to just take and not invest on and off the field then its a vicious circle.
We need a new owner, Proper commercial department, A reserve team and not this farce we have at the moment, Some ambition.
Its not really to much to ask is it for a club at this level?
When we have new owners things have a chance of changing, Until then its De Ja Vu for the foreseeable.
Im not sure if Stafford feels the same as me in that he wants to go but has had enough of being taken for a C*** by the club and under new ownership before the bug wears off he would be back?
Welling United is unwell and has been for years. I still laugh at the club calling the WUISA a parasite... POT AND KETTLE , POT AND KETTLE!!!
I support the team and not the owner. It will stay like that until he goes.
-- Edited by JgFc at 00:08, 2007-12-31
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Alexander O'Neal 1987 "I'm fed up cos all you wanna do is criticize "
If they really are your beloved Wings now is not the time to desert them.
Spot on ! Managers, Chairmen and players come and go but real supporters usually dont .
SJ
CRAP!
Please tell me just what the hell you are supporting.
1) A private business. There are better and (certainly more local ones to me) to support than this one.
2) The team (a.k.a The shirt). I am not sure how many of them support themself at the moment so why should I?
3) The club as a representation of my local identity. Do I really want to support something that says the area I come from is just happy to jog along? Heaven knows we are not the most popular team amongst the rest of non-League at the best of times either.
4) Because I enjoy a day out, a beer and a game of football. Lets face it, I do the first two anyway. My view is now that spending the money 4 or 5 times a year to go and watch Rosenborg would be a better investment if I just want to watch a game of football. It has certainly been more fun, even if I did pick the first defeat at Valerenga since 1995 and a freezing cold night a Schalke to do it!
5) Because its what people think I do or because I always have? Maybe the worst of all reasons to continue.
10 years ago enthusiasm was easier to maintain as I had not seen us go round this cycle so many times. Smith is merely a symptom rather than the problem. We will go round the loop again. I don't want to go through this every x months although perversely, the best hope is that we are right in the sh*t come February and they are forced to go out and appoint someone with a track record just to try and save the Hobbins investment. I can't be bothered to watch the crap (and pay for the privilege) that would have to occur on the pitch to get to that situation any more.
I have attempted not to carp from the sidelines since I made my decision and if you think differently you are welcome to keep paying your tenner for the privilege. Aside from a possible p*ss up in Bath you'll probably not be seeing me anytime soon unless things change.
So if and when things pick up will you come back like some fairweather charlatan ? I dont support Neil Smith , some of the players I think are crap and I certainly think a change of ownership would be beneficial . But I would NEVER stop attending matches home or away just because the going got tough. See you when we get good , I suppose . SJ
Thats a bit silly mate. Stafford has been to more Welling games than you could dream of during nearly 30 years.
Ok lets take one of your points... You dont support smith and some players are crap but you still go.
OK... the money you pay (at the ground) who does that go to? And those people that goes to.... They run the club ?? And hire and fire?? So when you are pi ssed off at the owners , what would you suggest as a course of action?
A Do nothing , just continue to feather the nest for them when they invest nothing back not even transfer fees or cup runs...
B Boycott the club until things change or they go
B could have a direct impact if a lot of people did it, A would solve nothing.
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Alexander O'Neal 1987 "I'm fed up cos all you wanna do is criticize "
I take it you don't plan on seeing me anytime soon then!
The weather has been far from fair many times in the last 20 odd years (Butterfly Lane to the Vetch Field/Priestfield) but if the best justification you can make for me continuing to turn up is to otherwise be called a 'fair weather supporter' that probably says I've made the right decision. (Refer original point 5)
There isn't a wrong or right with this - every one is entited to their view and to take what every action they feel is right. I will keep going but totally understand the view of those that stay away.
What is worrying is that we have clearly lost the more "casual" supporter - as the attendance of 464 on Saturday reflects - local derby over Christmas. Now we are starting to lose the die hard supporters. Smith and the Hobbins are ruining this club.
I'm seeing less and less familiar faces at the games these days - a very worrying sign.
This is my first season in over 20 years where we've got to the new year and i haven't attended an away match. I just won't waste my time and money watching them at the moment. I'm still (just) up for watching them at home in the hope that we can rescue this season but I'm certainly not enduring rip off train fares & traffic jams for it.
Each to their own. To me it has become a passion. I don't attend every away game - and this year I have missed a couple of home games because of work, but when I'm not there I'm constantly wondering what the score is and pacing up and down if we are 1-0 up with minutes to go. However good or bad things are Welling are my Club and I would still go and watch them if they ended up in the Kent League. I've been watching them pretty regularly for about 20 years now so I have experienced plenty of bad times.
So I suspect my answer to Stafford would be 2 ie the team (or the shirt). That's really what football is about and why a lot of supporters don't go around changing clubs (no dig intended) just because things go wrong, however badly. It isn't something you can necessarily logically justify, it's a heart over head thing.
Right or wrong, I still go to as many homes games as possible, but I can understand how others feel and why they stay away. Stafford made some really good points, but it is down to the individual spectator to make up their own minds. ( I don't agree most times what the lottery money is spent on, but I still play in the hope of winning ) As Chelwing said, it's worrying when the supporters are staying away..........surely the Hobbins and the rest of the 'boardroom' realise what is / can happen and should care. As for boycotting the ground, will the Hobbins etc really care? ( as they should do ) As a relatively newcomer to WUFC, I have seen and heard a fair amount from various people and I for one would love to see someone take over this club who have a passion for the game, a passion for Welling United and a CLEAR, DETERMINED AND WORKABLE BUSINESS PLAN, to take the club forward.
If absence of logic is a criteria for supporting football clubs this one at the moment should be a prime candidate for a roll up audience of 6 figures.
If you read the last two sentence of the Courtjester post more carefully ask yourself if supporters SHOULD go round changing clubs, chiefly THIS CLUB!
It is a psassion and not one that can be 'switched off' when things go badly
I think you should support the team whatever happens
Too many gold diggers out there - that is why we love non league
This doesn't necessarily extend to turning up though does it?
I'd guess I've still got about 13 years and nine months in the bank between games before I'd overtake the longest self confessed gap between matches. Shall we revist this topic in about 2020?
Good retort Stafford, but does that mean you are no longer a passionate follower of the club? After all, you have supported WUFC for the best part of a tidy while and have read with interest some of your threads on here about past times. I know and appreciate that you can follow a team from afar and of course, can follow more than one team, but I for one would like to see you and JgFc at the ground before 2020..........we might be back as a Sunday League outfit by then........at least Ellis will feel at home
Its a good thread, differing opinions and apart from SJs little pop no one is going mental, Its clear a lot of fans are not happy, Some now stay away , others go to the games.
People can understand how people feel . maybe the club will start to see that this is getting silly.
One thing that really gets to me is, you dont see barrie or our general manager let alone our chairman in the press addressing issues or laying out blueprints, where as for every club above park footy you will see their officials in the press.
Ive nailed my colours to the mast, as soon as the hobbins no longer "run" the club i will be back.
I just hope we arent playing in the 6th division of the eltham and district league by then and there a chance of the club at least trying to get back challenging in this league at the very least.
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Alexander O'Neal 1987 "I'm fed up cos all you wanna do is criticize "
If absence of logic is a criteria for supporting football clubs this one at the moment should be a prime candidate for a roll up audience of 6 figures.
If you read the last two sentence of the Courtjester post more carefully ask yourself if supporters SHOULD go round changing clubs, chiefly THIS CLUB!
If it was a logical thing surely none of us would be Welling supporters- we would all be off pot hunting with Man U, Chelsea or Arsenal. Football supporting has nothing to do with logic - I have wasted thousands of pounds going to watch matches I was almost certain we would lose, and usually proved depressingly right. Logic would have dictated that that I would have stayed at home and saved my money. It hasn't been a social thing usually either. If football was down to logic presumably all those Leeds fans should have packed up a long time ago.
It's each to their own - if some people want to see it as a fairly scientific issue fine, but to me it isn't. Whoever the manager, whoever the owners I will watch Welling.
Good retort Stafford, but does that mean you are no longer a passionate follower of the club? After all, you have supported WUFC for the best part of a tidy while and have read with interest some of your threads on here about past times. I know and appreciate that you can follow a team from afar and of course, can follow more than one team, but I for one would like to see you and JgFc at the ground before 2020..........we might be back as a Sunday League outfit by then........at least Ellis will feel at home
I don't do blind faith\love etc with anything (with some rather graphic personal history consequences!).
If you judge Welling United as a business the current business acumen does not project that it is worthy of support even if that were to be the case.
If you support the 'team' as in 11 players on the park you'd need to support them if they were wearing Juve's black and white and club crest rather than Welling's. You can't tell me that's going to happen for any of us.
So I support the 'team' as in the ideals of the club or the area that you originate from. Now it won't change that Welling is the area that I originally come from but I can't say I have a clue what the current ideals of the club are (i.e. something like the reasons Barca are only 'sponsored' by UNICEF) or that I'd necessarily agree with them if I knew.
We all started to do this because it was fun, not an obligation. In the end you become the office oddity for being the bloke who travels a 450 miles round trip to the Isle Of Wight on a Tuesday night. Now its not going to be fun every time but when you stand there thinking week in week out this is no fun, and much of the cause is largely avoidable if we'd learned our lessons, you begin to wonder what else you could have done with the afternoon, as you only get to live it once. And I wasn't the only one thinking that.
I've done being the only bloke being stood on the terrace pissed wet through at Southport at the end of a 5-2 defeat. It wasn't pleasant but in a way I could live with it because it was a group of blokes who looked like they cared with a management\administative side that was fairly competitive for their day. AND THAT I COULD SUPPORT.
The world moved on, we stood still or moved more slowly. And we seem unresponsive to that fact. I'm not saying we have to be leading edge but there are so many other examples out there of similar clubs getting more out of their potential resources. As with the personal experience, I can point this out but its not going to change anything it would seem until they decide they want to change. All you can do is be in fairly close proximity to pick up the bits with them when they decide to. And, to be honest, I can no longer justify paying for the privilege just to watch the waste.
There also seems to be a hint of if you don't like what is going on and voice your doubts then feel free to 'bugger off'. At this stage that is an invite I find difficult to refuse. As I attened mainly away games it also means I am not putting £15 a season in other clubs coffers, which still helps Welling a bit.
I feel quite sorry for Smith because, to an extent, I see him as being a victim of circumstance. He may have known what he was walking into but I suspect not and he may well have shafted any career he may have in management in the last 6 months. It may be all entirely his own doing but my suspicion is its not and that rankles. I suspect he certainly couldn't have had a much harder task.
That's my views. They are what they are. Aside from my passing interest in Southend (which is well known), this is the English club I want to support. If they or circumstances change then you'll probably see me about but I'm not going to clog up this forum any more.
Happy New Year to one and all. Above all enjoy what you do.
Thats a bit silly mate. Stafford has been to more Welling games than you could dream of during nearly 30 years.
Ok lets take one of your points... You dont support smith and some players are crap but you still go.
OK... the money you pay (at the ground) who does that go to? And those people that goes to.... They run the club ?? And hire and fire?? So when you are pi ssed off at the owners , what would you suggest as a course of action?
A Do nothing , just continue to feather the nest for them when they invest nothing back not even transfer fees or cup runs...
B Boycott the club until things change or they go
B could have a direct impact if a lot of people did it, A would solve nothing.
or C Bail out when the going gets tough ! ( Im sorting of winding you up here JGFC)
But lets be honest if everyone had this same attitude what sort of investor would even consider putting any money into Welling ?
Its a crying shame though , and a catch 22 , I can see both sides of the argument . If we do as I think and support the team man and boy through thick and thin it MAY look as if we accept whats going on at the club. However if we all boycott the club it leaves it an even more unattractive proposition for any saviour . Surely the best way to show your displeasure is to voice your opinion from the terraces ! My main gripe was that 'my beloved wings' line was thrown out , and Stafford goes to watch other teams instead. No offence Stafford but I cant get my head round that ! SJ
What I have found most interesting in this thread is that at least 2 of the contributors stuck by Welling through thick and thin in what in all honesty were lean years in the National Conference and for a varying number of years since but both have chosen to talk with their feet and yet the implication from some is that they are fair weather supporters. I am sure that they are not the only ones as I live almost next door to one for a start and I myself dont have a season ticket for the first time for many a long year. The question surely is what is the significant difference between now and the Conference years when we regularly found ourselves in the lower reaches of the division and escaped relegation more than once due to other clubs misfortunes.
I personally believe that it is the way the Club has been run since we finally failed to beat relegation from the National. In my case what kept me buying a season ticket was the team who I felt deserved support even if the way the Club was being run didnt. This was a significant area of difference between JgFc and myself which I, and I know Ade, discussed with him on the day of Glovsies funeral, the only occasion I have ever met JgFc. My stance changed last season when we had the best manager since Nicky Brigden and the squad were busting their balls on the pitch but the Club did not invest which clearly indicated that they had no desire to return to the National Division and both the Manager and players were wasting their time and energy. This was reinforced by my opinion of the Clubs treatment of last years under 18s which displayed an approach to youth football which on the Clubs part (not Ade and his management teams I hasten to add) I believe was shortsighted. Im afraid I dont agree with PIs politically and I see WUY as a sporting equivalent - an abrogation of responsibility. I concede that the Club has moved back in the right direction with the college based side and maybe that is an acorn which will grow into an oak tree but that remains to be seen.
In passing subsequent to resigning Ken Brooke, last years Under 18s Manager was offered the position of Manager of the Kent County FA U16 side which he accepted and that side has won both of its games without conceding a goal and Im sure the KCFA appreciate both his ability to develop young players, his enthusiasm and his organisational skills. Five of the former Welling lads are also doing well in the Tonbridge Angels Ryman Youth League side and others are playing in Kent League reserve sides.
In my opinion the way in which the Club is run remains as it has been for years, the manager appointed didnt have the qualities needed to achieve and the performances on the pitch I have seen this season clearly show that many of the players are not of the required standard for the Conference South. I think my decision not to buy a season ticket has been vindicated and I will continue to be selective in the matches I attend though if Im not ground hopping Im at the PC keeping an eye on what is happening in the Welling matches and posting updates on the forum.
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YOUTH are the future
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"The worst thing you can do is make a committment and not meet it and I understand that." Barrie Hobbins 14 August 2010
Oi Stafford dont you dare go anywhere. Just because you wont be going to the games until anything changes does not mean your opinion counts for nothing.
You will be like Bruno when he doesnt go "whats the score? whos on top? ffs welling come on!! yessssssssssssssssssss weve scored" and i still want to kick the cat (or pussy) when we lose and have the hump for a few days....
Your views will not be worth less mate because you are taking a sabatical. You have already stated when things improve you will be back! I will be too.
Now if only we had a supporters association Independent that could be as one. Do people understand now??? Im not some lunatic who wants to kill people all the time and cause trouble. I have blood that spells welling united and it hurts when we lose and hurts to see how we are run. I suspect that take the financial part away and and hurts me more how we are playing than those that run the club.
COME ON YOU WINGS!!!
I also know that should we get new owners our crowds will quickly rise to over 1000 a game in this league!! FACT.
We all support Welling United and the fact some of us now wont be taking for mugs after over 20 years on the terraces DOES NOT make us fairweather fans or less of a fan than others. Just more experienced of the way the club operates. By stamping our feet and saying enough it isnt the end, its a sabatical until the love affair becomes two way again.
Agree with stafford that smudger has possibly ruined his career by joining welling, he should also know we mostly think he is a symptom not the problem (although he hasnt given many signs he would be that great under a new boss by the players hes signed on a 4k budget)
-- Edited by JgFc at 12:48, 2008-01-01
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Alexander O'Neal 1987 "I'm fed up cos all you wanna do is criticize "
Its the take take take off the club. I have NOTHING against people doing stuff for nothing for them but that should mean MORE money available for the budgets and reserves and training etc etc, IT DOESNT DOES IT?
So why bother when all you are doing is feathering someone nest that gives nothing back?
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Alexander O'Neal 1987 "I'm fed up cos all you wanna do is criticize "
The main difference between now and the Conference years is that we did very well to stay at that level for so long (with a bit of help). We were a little fish in a big pond.
But relegation back to arguably our 'natural' level should have seen us competing at the top every year.
Maybe the club feel that promotion would be financial suicide in this day and age, but that should not stop us being one of the better teams in this league.
Its the take take take off the club. I have NOTHING against people doing stuff for nothing for them but that should mean MORE money available for the budgets and reserves and training etc etc, IT DOESNT DOES IT?
So why bother when all you are doing is feathering someone nest that gives nothing back?
Do you actually have any evidence as opposed to mere conjecture that anyone involved in the club is actually feathering their nest. I have never seen any signs of obvious wealth. I wouldn't expect the club to be run as a charity but I'm far from convinced that running Welling Utd is necessarily the best route to a comfortable retirement.
Anon I agree that we were a little fish in a big pond but there were several other little fish (no pun intended) in there with us.
But what about the quality of friendlies (pre and midseason), reserve side, youth development and last but by no means least the commercial management?
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YOUTH are the future
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"The worst thing you can do is make a committment and not meet it and I understand that." Barrie Hobbins 14 August 2010
My main gripe was that 'my beloved wings' line was thrown out , and Stafford goes to watch other teams instead. No offence Stafford but I cant get my head round that ! SJ
SJ
If I have ever used the phrase 'my beloved Wings' (except as a direct quote in this post) either written or verbal since I started supporting this club I will personally hand over £100 to you in Barrie Hobbins office. That phrase is probably the most trite ****e wheeled out by lazy journalists etc in the modern era. A redder rag to myself you'd find harder to unearth!
and you are not required to get your head around my reasons for watching any of them (nor the other 190 I've been to in that time, although I can give you the dates and scores if you want to verify I'm telling the truth)
As to if any of them are beloved or not, no. As they didn't put me on this planet, unless they are planning to walk me up the aisle or have my kids I think not. Its called perspective.
