Strained Relations

[Colin Zeal EFM]

Saturday 16th August 2003. Carshalton away. Start of a new season. New hopes, new faces and hopefully, a new start between EFM and chairman John Gibson.

 

Half-time.

 

Thornsy, Laz and I walk past the main stand and spot some familiar faces enjoying a half-time coffee in the back rows.

 

"Rex Winn - gissa wave," we sing, and Mr Winn duly obliges.

 

"Geoff Brown - gissa wave," and Geoff follows suit.

 

"Eamsie - gissa wave," and Mr Eames also raises a hand.

 

Fourth in the row is Gibson.

 

"Gibbo - gissa wave," we sing in yet another attempt to patch up the difficulties that exist between us.

 

"[***!!***] off," was the curt reply.

 

I look up in disbelief, and then three or four seats away from him, another director launches into a string of abuse, aimed in our direction.

 

And what provoked this reaction?

 

Well. I am held in contempt by our chairman because of an incident at Hendon almost 18 months ago, at a game I wasn't even attending.

 

Since then, I have tried, tried and tried again to bridge relations between EFM and John Gibson. I tried speaking to him at both the Christmas and End-of-Season parties. I tried again on St George's Day to pacify things, and last December, I even responded to his wild allegations in the Observer by speaking to their reporter and saying EFM have no cross to bear with Gibson and publically thanked him for saving our club.

 

In return, we are brushed aside amid allegations of trying to cause trouble by going onto Aldershot forum before Christmas and stoking things up, something that has since been admitted by a 12 year-old schoolboy. It is generally assumed within the hierarchy at the club that EFM were responsible for the damage done to the advertising hoardings at the end of last year, something that is so preposterously ridiculous and insulting, that it beggars belief. And on Saturday, after booking places on the coach with Peter Knock and Ian Bangs, we were told a few minutes later that we were 'banned' from travelling by the Chairman, and we'd have to get the train. That's 'we' as in not only me, but also Lee Wood and Mark White, two people who have, as far as I'm aware, never crossed the chairman once in his 18 months.

 

My wife will tell you that I am genuinely upset by events at the club. On Saturday night I was absolutely gutted. I feel villified for things I have never done, and it's so frustrating because the chairman won't even give me the time of day to talk to him about things.

 

Various people, including both Steve Eames and Peter Lewis, have suggested some kind of round-the-table sit-down talk between the two parties, which we (EFM) would certainly be in favour of, but I can't even get close enough to the chairman to suggest this.

 

At the time of writing this, I seriously feel like I never want to go to see St Albans again. The huge enthusiam I had at 2.59pm on Saturday has wilted into complete apathy (and that's not due to the result either!)

 

But if I don't go back, then I feel as though 'wrong' has won through. And I'd be cutting off my nose to spite my face, and doing myself out of my enjoyment for the sake of one man who has taken it upon himself to try and drive me and my friends from this club.

 

So. See you guys tomorrow night behind the goal.

 

 

[Laz]

I'm glad to hear you are not going to quit after the unfortunate incident on Saturday, Zealster. And why should you. You have City in your blood and don't deserve to be treated like this.

 

Is this not a thread for the Football Forum where it would be more widely read?

[AFF]

You will be there, Tuesday, Zealster.

 

Oh, by the way. For "vindicated", try "villified".

[CANV EFM]

come n be a canvey fan.. we'd love to have you at the club.. the club treats all its best fans with the utmost respect.. especially the ones that create a great website from scratch, do loads to publicise the club, work closely with the local press to maximise exposure, take loads of pictures, provide up to the date information on the web and viA e mail for the fans, have a match reports up online a few hours after the game, provide a full history with a massive backlog of fotos and reports and provide meesages boards for one n all for the princly charge to the club of er less than 1p...

naturally the club rewards such loyal support with inside info the the first blag on any news.. or, its sets up its own crappy website and basically tells em to poke it.. makes you want to become a southend fan, well it would but they are even fking worse.!!!

[ESG]

stick with it CZ...

 

no 1 man is bigger than the club

 

 

[Webbo MFI]

I think he was refering to Ian

[GHA EFM]

Zeal. I believe fqt is on holiday at the moment. Upon his return, have a word with him. Or Charlie Farnsbarnes. Aren't they the two big cheeses in charge of away coach travel?

[Laz]

I think the supporters club have to answer the question here. I suggest you go to the hut tomorrow and demand to know what is going on.

[Little Miss Urchin]

Or you could just give a big <img src="/images/graemlins/icon29.gif" alt="" /> to what this a*s* does/thinks/says. You're there to support the team and, quite frankly, if he can't see how important fans are (even the EFM) then he really is not worth worrying about.

 

S*d it, I say. Go along to each game with your mates, drink the bar dry of the cloudy stuff and make yourself so vocal you make yourself hoarse. Well, maybe not that extreme but you get my point.

 

Football's meant to be enjoyable, don't let this a-hole get you down.

[Rob_the_Saint]

Can I just remind everyone that whatever their feelings on this matter, personal abuse, especially of club officials, will not be tolerated on this forum. I have no say on what happens outside of this forum, of course.

[Laz]

Best keep the personal abuse to the terraces then, which is what the club officals do. (Read above.)

[EFM The Firm, The Voice]

I was there on saturday and quite frankly for a man who proclaims to hate swearing so much he always responds to us with a volly of abuse.

 

I spent the whole of the Hendon game at home last season trying to patch things up with him, I mentioned all the stuff that CZ has mentioned that we were accused of and have since been found to of been not guilty of. He had the hump that day because a fire extinugister had been stolen from the clubhouse, he accused me of it, he even wrote something to that affect in the programme that night, the person who stole it went to Mr Gibson later that night and admitted it. I'm not fishing for an apoligie but surely he can't hold that against me.

 

I'm with Zeal on this it's getting me down. A majority of the supporters like EFM (and the ones that don't are attached to that 'hate' mob who forced out the last chairman and did more to harm the image of the club than we ever would).

 

I have been watching City home and away for years now and will continue, I was at this club before Gibson and will be here after Gibson. Again to suggest we'd smash the club up is quite frankly the biggest insult ever, we love this club and would do nothing to harm it.

 

That is all - I think Zeal covered most of it.

[YELLOW]

Zeal mate! Keep the faith!

 

I don't think this Gibson bloke appreciates the support you give the club. The support you give St Albans is second to none. I'll always remember the Canvey games. How many team's supporters would be still singing, chanting and urging their team on at 5-1, 6-1 down?

That type of support is priceless!

 

OK you guys like a drink and sometimes it gets a bit rowdy but we need the banter to return to football. It's just harmless fun.

 

At the end of the day as Thornsy said you'll still be around long after Gibson has left the club.

[EFM Trev]

The start of a new season is usually the chance for a clean slate. The friendlies may well start in July, but a large number of us don't bother going to them. If I'm going to pay a not insubstantial amount of money watching football, then the least I'd expect is either a competitive match or a match against decent opposition. Of course, it's not the club's fault that Arsenal didn't put a decent team out, or that West Ham couldn't make it. It's hard luck, but there we go. So: eyes down for a full house and away we go for the start of the season.

 

Unfortunately, though, this season doesn't appear to have got off to the best of starts, does it? From what I've heard, the performance on the pitch on Saturday was utterly insipid. The less said about that, the better.

 

Events off the pitch, therefore, are taking precedence. Plus ca change, and all that. It is not really my place to go back over the entire history of EFM vs John Gibson - it has been documented already in this thread, and there enough other places that you can look in if you want the full story. Suffice it to say that the two "sides" don't exactly see eye-to-eye. It's a pity that it has only taken one league game for the animosity to re-surface.

 

I daresay that there will further developments on this subject tomorrow night. The sensible thing to do would be for both sides to sit down, with no alcohol having been consumed first, and thrash out an agreement of some sort. A clear set of boundaries that, if they are broken, mean that the club can take further actions against the individuals concerned. In return, the club need to probably provide some sort of assurance that there will be no threats of expulsion without proper justification, and no implications of blame should anything "happen" at the club. It should be a free and frank exchange of views.

 

We all know that Mr Gibson holds all of the cards here. Should he choose to, he can, in theory, ban whoever he likes. I would, however, remind him of this: in an article in "When Saturday Comes" earlier this year, the falling standard of football in The Ryman League and rising age of the average supporter at Ryman League clubs was bemoaned. At the start of last season, Mr Gibson stated that City needed an average crowd of 550 in order to break even. They managed it, but only with the help of a 1500 crowd against Aldershot. Looking down the fixture list, unless we're in the top two next April, I can't see where a crowd of that size is coming from. In other words, City need all the support they can get - not just right now, but generally. Ten years ago, the local population could probably be counted on for the big matches. Nowadays, they can't. Take away the away support from that Aldershot match last season and what were we left with - 700? 800? If that. It strikes me, that handing out banning orders on people perceived as having misbehaved isn't the right way forward. Without having checked what did and didn't happen(and assuming that what has been already put here is correct), swearing at supporters can hardly be condoned either.

 

On the other hand... maybe we've had it easy these last few years. Most League clubs won't tolerate drunk people inside the ground. I'm not interested in debating the rights or wrongs of it - that's just the way it is. Without wishing to drag up the past (because, to be quite frank, it doesn't matter any more), EFM could, just occasionally, tone down their behaviour - I'm not commenting on whether the behaviour is or has been out of order or not. I'm commenting on his perception of it. There is a crucial difference that everybody needs to understand. I'll probably get flamed for saying it, but if the chairman's perception is that the behaviour is out of order, then something has to give. The key is dialogue. Let's all just try to keep it from degenerating into a slanging match, because I don't really think that does anybody any favours.

[AFF]

Well said/written, Trev.

 

If 'certain people' prefer to have no contact with 'certain people', well that's fine. Let them leave each other alone. Alternatively, let them discuss their respective views with each other in private. Public debate over sensitive issues here, or anywhere else for that matter, can make a bad situation worse.

 

As far as the football is concerned, it certainly wasn't good on Saturday, Trev. I don't know anything about football, but I think that this season will be the toughest on record. It is absolutely essential for all 24 clubs to finish in the top 13 and that can't happen. Every club will be 'going for it' like never before and The Mighty Saints need all the support that can be mustered.

 

Trev. Well said, again. Behave yourself tonight.

 

 

[Colin Zeal EFM]

All very well and good Trev, but your post bears absolutely no relevance to mine or my situation.

 

I cannot even say a friendly 'hello' to that man without getting an earful of abuse back, be it from him or a fellow director.

 

You seem to be forgetting, Trev, that I have never been lobbed out of a ground, I have never even been threatened with being lobbed out of a ground. I have not, during Gibson's reign at least, celebrated a goal by entering the field of play, and only once, at Aylesbury last season, have I had alcohol confiscated off me at a ground.

 

There was an unsavoury incident at Hendon two seasons ago involving a cider can. I was not even at that game.

 

Five of my friends were ejected at Stockport last season. I was not one of them.

 

A fire extinguisher was stolen from the club bar at the end of last season. I was not even in Hertfordshire that night.

 

So why am I treated by the man like I am??

 

"Discuss their respective views with each other in private"? I would be delighted to, but whenever I try to suggest this to him, I am not given the time of day. I cannot get within 20 yards of the man without being told to sling my hook.

 

 

[Laz]

I'm not sure what you would gain from speaking to him anyway. The man is a peanut brain.

 

Interesting you should mention Stockport. Last I heard on the subject was that the club would investigate. What have we heard? Nothing! Surprise, surprise.

[EFM The Firm, The Voice]

I think it was investigated but the outcome wasn't to the satisfaction of the club (i.e the Stockport Six were innocent)

[Laz]

Hmm! I always wondered how, from about 100 people standing, only EFM members were ejected. Any suggestions anyone?

[Colin Zeal EFM]

Surely you're not suggesting that someone from the club tipped off Stockport officials beforehand about potential 'trouble'-makers??