Aldershot- Why I Think The Club Are Right

[Santa]

Errrmmm....nope. Explain how it was likely, it was possible but it only became possible because Torquay lost at home to Farlsley last weekend (sorry not Droyldsen) which is something which most people would see as unlikely.

[UP FLEET]

A question i keep asking and ive mentioned before on more than one occation is. Why can we not do similer to Aldersh1t and build a fence/mesh frame in the stonebridge side so the facility is there fr this kind of thing in the future. Money is not the issue, surely sponsership can be exchanged for a bit of steel work, it cant be that costly. But as per normal no bugger listens.......

[billywizz]

Your not alone i agree with your post,the club had no choice,those who did not show missed a great game,the shots fans added to the atmosphere and made it a special evening,those that wish to moan,get on with it,we all have the right to have a moan now and again...............OH WHEN THE FLEET

[eufckev]

Should've known Kayne would write another essay

 

[Andrewc]

 

 

 

Having a go at me is easy.............

 

Having a go from afar is also easy isn't it ! I'm just so bored with the constant bickering from some people who appear to criticise at every given opportunity and only seem happy when doing so.

[The Doctor]

I just think, at the end of the day, Kent police need to learn that the highest estimate by one person on an internet board is not 'intelligence'.

[Red Shadow]

The Doctors point is spot on. The Police did not research this properly or appear to consult with the correct sources and have simply over reacted.

And to take on BK's earlier point. Would it have been so difficult to have sold tickets along side the Wembley ones? And if so we might have encouraged a few more irregular punters to come along.

[Bernard]

An excellent, well-considered post, KShep! I have to say I largely agree with what you have said. In the end, the Aldershot fans promised did not all turn out, but they still almost doubled our support. Their part of the Stonebrdge Road side was packed to the rafters, and they filled out the Swanscombe End well too. Indeed, it wouldn't surprise me if they filled the capacity limit behind the goal. If any more had turned up and we hadn't given them part of the Stonebridge Road side, it would have been carnage trying to squeeze them (ilegally) into the Swanscombe end.

 

Also, the argument posited by John Pearce that we should serve up the same deal they gave us is ludicrous, eye for an eye twaddle. Why should we lower our standards to treat other fans badly? Why not make our club renowned for accommodating away fans as best we can (better indeed than we did againt York this year, forcing them to stand in the pouring rain)?

[Hannah]

But they brought the same amount for the first leg semi-final and they managed to fit..

 

 

 

[Harry J Allstars]

If you had 1,500 people outside your door all offering

[Hannah]

Originally Posted By: Harry J Allstars

If you had 1,500 people outside your door all offering

[Harry J Allstars]

Not Kent police, they might overreact.

[Hannah]

They might evacuate Meopham to accommodate.

[American FLEET FAN No1]

Originally Posted By: Harry J Allstars

Not Kent police, they might overreact.

They might not turn up............Or like when I was burgled, they turned up two days later..........Shortage of manpower was their excuse!

[KShep]

 

Originally Posted By: Riverview Red

 

Does the club really think that this was the way other clubs behave in similar circumstances ? If it does, it is totally deluded !

 

 

So don't away fans get proportionally larger ticket allocations in the FA Cup where traditionally more supporters follow their team on the road? I know Charlton have been given a larger allocation when they have promised a large away following at Middlesbrough and Blackburn. That makes three clubs that are 'totally deluded' from personal experience alone. I'm sure there are more.

 

Originally Posted By: Riverview Red

 

Since when have we become the hosts of other clubs championship celebrations ? !

 

Yesterday could have been Aldershot's equivalent of our Wembley. Were we really going to be the sour spoil-sports who, for the sake of a couple of hundred people clinging onto their regular spots, would stop potentially hundreds of fans from seeing one of the most important days in their club's history? In hindsight the numbers were misinformed, but we weren't to know that.

 

Originally Posted By: Riverview Red

 

Do Man United believe, that because on their last away game of the season they were about to lift the title, the home club would suddenly give them another 50,000 tickets and kick their home supporters out of their regular seats - of course not !

 

Or indeed any Man U away game, where they "may want to have 50,000 tickets".

 

Don't Man Utd usually play teams where the attendances are by-en-large the majority of the capacity? 500 or so Fleet fans were there last night in a ground capable of containing 5000- 10% filled up. A tad different to allocating half the seats to Man Utd fans at Goodison Park in 2003 for example.

 

 

Originally Posted By: Riverview Red

 

The real reason for giving over over half of the ground to the Aldershot fans was because the club saw an opportunity to make extra money guaranteed and to hell with the Fleet faithful. This has been the attitude of the Board for its whole regime (changing the name to the ridiculous "Ebbsfleet", without consultation was another prime example).

 

No, I think the real reason the club gave some of our stand to the away fans was so we could accomodate a large number, should their team win promotion to the Football League.

 

As for the Board making a quick buck, hasn't the club been greatly assisted in past years by loans from the Directors? Or have I missed the conniving money-grabbing ploy by investing your own hard-earnt money in something you love?

 

Originally Posted By: Riverview Red

 

If more Aldershot supporters had turned up than their away allocation allowed, they would have had to stay on the street and be dealt with by local police - ie a civil matter and nothing to do with the club!

 

Much like the car-parking fiasco where cars were being broken into by the dozen? And that of course wasn't the club's problem or a blemish on its image. Would you have been happy to sit/stand in the comfort of a few square metres last night whilst Aldershot fans who had travelled a fair distance to see their team win the league were locked outside, causing trouble? Would you begrudge them a bit of 'your' space so they could 1) not resort to street-fighting and 2) watch the most important game they have played all season?

 

 

Originally Posted By: Riverview Red

 

I for one, boycotted the game (my first missed home game of the season) along with at least another 40 or 50 Fleet faithful (that I personally know) last night on principle. And, lets not forget at the the start of the day the club had given the whole of the Stonebridge road side to Aldershot! It was only after many, many phone calls of protest to the club and local radio that it relinquished a little.

 

If having to move 50 yards to the right at a home game, for a one-off occasion, deters you from going, then I have no sympathy for you. I respect that you've been a supporter for much longer than I have and that you've gone and supported the team consistently this season- I could never knock that. But what a petty reason to miss your first game of the season! And what a game you missed too!

 

Originally Posted By: Riverview Red

Another shambles just like the accounts and mounting debt !

 

Although a weird idea, thank god for My Football Club.com ! At least we know that its boss is a shrewd businessman to be able to convince so many people to part with

[Harry J Allstars]

Kayne, you are an absolute legend.

 

And post of the year goes to....

 

[Ian_D]

Superb post, Kayne.

 

When are you running for PM?

[Hirsty]

Just to make the point once again, as per Brian K's comments, it was not the club's decision to allocate extra space for Shots fans, it was Fireman Sam of the elf & safety committee.

 

Cheers,

[BustaGut]

Does anyone not think that a lot of the disgruntled comments is due to the fact that Ebbsfleet supporters had to submit to changes twice, in a matter of weeks, yet the other club did not have to make any changes to accommodate Ebbsfleet. So it may seem things were a little bit one sided, IE first round we had to kick off early , second leg oops is OK to kick of a three, at there ground, Was there trouble at Ebbsfleet? to the best of my knowledge no, Was there fan trouble at Aldershot yes. So maybe it was right to have a early kick off, and Aldershot were wrong not to also, which makes our clubs decision correct. Did anyone applaud our club for getting it right?(no fan trouble) We are all very quick to put our own club down, yes that does includes myself. If it had gone the other way and loads turned up, yet the club had made no plans to deal with them, we would have all chastised them for that, A lot would be saying they should have taken action well before the fans hit the ground etc. At first I had a knee jerk reaction, over the idea of home support being moved, and my first instinct was to think the club were just using us a pawns, but thinking on it , whatever they did or did not do, they were leaving themselves open for criticism. Has been comments that it was all about money, yes of course that plays a large part in decisions, I think we all forget it is not just a club but a business, To improve, to move on, to buy or hold onto to good or better players the club needs money and lots of it. How many times have I seen on here supporters complaining , that a opportunity has been missed to make money. When they do try and make money, IE accommodate a large away support to take more money we moan about that. So how can the Club win with fans like us ?

[Hannah]

a) It appears the decision was out of the Club's hands anyway so why keep mentioning their role in this.

 

Had 2000 fans turned up then it would have been a sensible decision. But they were never going to and everyone knew they wouldn't so it wasn't necessary and as a result lot's of people got p****ed off. In future a more accurate way of estimating away support must be put in place somehow for future games like these. I think that's the moral of the story.

 

c) It's done, it's over with. Let's lay this thread to rest now and look towards future games.