of course he can say about the crowd - i think his expectations on the crowd were a bit over the top but our overall attendances have been down this year (even though our average is up due to wimbledon)
i am disappointed as well to be honest but have stated why we dont get big crowds on another thread
He is entitled to his opinion but i think he should be focusing on on the field matters and not those off it.
As i said in the other thread in my opinion he should be thanking those who did support the team on the night. Those who could not go - myself included - are no less behind the team and himself than anyone else.
My views are in another thread but what was wrong with thanking the 200+ who turned up and then expressing disappointment at the low attendance?
i agree with that and that is where i think he is pi$$ing people off - he needs to thank the ones turning up first and then he can have a go at the no-shows
Mr. Ford. Unfortunately, you are becoming boring with your thoughtless and ill-considered comments on the size of the crowd. Please concentrate on the playing side of the Club, achieve good results and the crowd will then increase! Personally, I and all the other supporters who attended the game last night would have appreciated a thank you for turning up on a very cold night rather than criticising the supporters who were unable or unwilling to attend for whatever reason.
In fairness I'm sure I read something in the local press recently praising the Welling fans. It was pretty disappointing to have such a low crowd last night.
I am sick and tired of AF whingeing about the size of the crowd. As has been mentioned already on this thread his job is to get things right on the field of play (and, to be fair, he is making a decent job of that)
Tuesday was rearranged at short notice after the Saturday postponement. Allied to the fact that money is tight (especially at this time of year) and it was brass monkeys the size of the crowd was of no great surprise to me.
Perhaps he should thank the ones that did make the effort to attend and a few public words of praise for the WSU and thier considerable help with his playing budget wouldn't go amiss either.............
Personally I think not going to a game because it's too cold is a LOUSY excuse. Can you imagine if the players said 'ooh, too cold tonight, don't think I'll play!' (Ellis Green, maybe!) Just put some extral layers on, move around a bit, and sing and clap, that'll warm you up!! And I suppose money is tight but I don't mind parting with £10 every other week cos I know my attendance, and the attendance of non - Welling United supporting mates that I've brought along is going to financially benefit the club.
Ben the cold excuse is more one that would put off casual fans who would boost our attendance when none of the surrounding league clubs are playing like tuesday.
My views are in another thread but what was wrong with thanking the 200+ who turned up and then expressing disappointment at the low attendance?
Agreed. Someone might also want to remind Andy Ford that there is a credit crunch so to speak, and things like attending non league football matches tend to go first, when there are more important things like paying bills and buying food to spend money on.
Also, it gets bloody cold at the Park View Road ground these days, due to it being winter, so he should be glad anyone bothers to turn up at all. I'm not expecting anything much from Andy Ford, but it would be nice if he could acknowledge our existence occasionally :) If he doesn't cheer up soon, he might get some stale mince pies flying his way on New Years Day :D
I trust Andy will walk over to the Welling Fans at the end of the game this weekend and shake all of their hands and thank them for going i trust his players will automatically go to the fans rather than he having to usher them to go.
He could have spun this so much better.
"I just want to say i know there have been some shocking results and i was told we were shyte when we were knocked out of the FA Cup, but i would just like to thank those that braved the cold and spent their money and gave us support"
"If you could all try and bring one friend or family member to a game in December we can get bigger crowds to push on. PS The players have had a whip round and donated £50 each so we have £900 to give to the fans to go towards 2 coaches to Hednesford as a thank you for some of the superb support weve had this season"
LOL
No its.. "Im a bit f*cked off no w*nkers can be F*cked to turn up, dont you realise how great we are and dont you want success in the cups and promotion ffs"
-- Edited by JgFc at 12:15, 2008-12-18
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Alexander O'Neal 1987 "I'm fed up cos all you wanna do is criticize "
Thank God it wasn't that strong JgFc but I lnow what you mean.
The whole thing about problems is you don't throw the baby out with the bath water, you build on the positives.
There is a hard core of Welling fans many of whom travel to away matches whenever they can and they are the foundation stone from which the Club needs to build. Players and management thanking them for their support at the end of all matches, without prompting, cost nothing more than a couple of minutes of their time. But what we get is many players having to be told to thank the fans and the manager rarely doing so but being quite happy to make embarrassing comments about no shows in the local rag which gives the impression that supporters/fans are merely a cash cow.
In my opinion Mr Ford's outburst was probably a direct result of being over budget (as reported in the local press a couple of weeks ago) despite it having been increased significantly and low gates in the FA Trophy games can't help that situation.
We all have our part to play in attendances. In my opinion: Supporters are with their significant contribution to the playing budget and their attendance at as many home (with a couple of exceptions) and away matches as they can. Hell we even see them encouraging fellow supporters to take a sickie and others to run the risk of needing a hot water bottle by dodging family visits and Christmas shopping!!! The Club are not fully addressing the issue. Mr Ford and his players are doing better than I had expected in the League but failed to get past more hungry sides in the FA and Setanta Cups thereby earning a total of £0 towards the kitty. As a direct comparator Ade in his first full season earned £18,250 + considerable shared gate from the Huddersfield tie in the FA Cup and also £12,000 + shared gates in the FA Trophy. We have earned £9,000 + insignificant shared gates so far in the Trophy. There is a further £6,000 + shared gate money up for grabs on 10 January when we play Unibond leaders Hednesford Town in the next round and that should be Mr Ford's focus at this time NOT attendances at PVR.
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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
