EASTSIDE URCHIN INVESTIGATES

[Eastside Urchin]

Had a spare few hours today so spent some time shopping in Upminster & Hornchurch as well as a lunch date with the family and a trip to take nipper out to the park.I hadn't planned on doing any investigation work today but I bumped into an ex Hornchurch follower in upminster first thing and got talking about the club,he asked how the gates were going and I said they were down from a couple of years ago.I asked him why he didn't come down any more to which he replied " I just stopped enjoying it,things changed and the place didn't seem to have the same buzz once we went bust" He said he hasn't been since we our first season back in the prem so it's not a case of new owners etc.

Over the next few hours I bumped into about 15 other people I have seen over the bridge,the reasons given for not coming anymore,ranged from the atmosphere on the terrace to lack of atmosphere in the bar,a couple of people said we should get the urchinettes back and get some glitz back into the club,others just said they were fed up with the ryman premier or lack of atmosphere,one fan who was coming until last season said that he can now watch football on the net and prefers to do that,but not one person put it down to cost.

All of the above mentioned points apart from watching your team on the net can be remedied,ok urchinettes cost money but the atmosphere could be better and if we get out of this league the gates should increase but what else can we do?

[kimbles left foot]

I'm surprised people commented on the atmosphere....the numbers might not be as great as past seasons but we still have a fairly decent atmosphere compared to the majority of sides in this league.

The sooner we are out this league the better in my opinion as it is abit ground hog dayish...I think crowds would pick up 25% if we did go up

[Eastside Urchin]

I think it was more the banter on the terrace that they were commentating on rather than the atmosphere.We used to give the lino and ref stick but it was usually reasonably good natured

[missunderstood]

Tooting & Mitcham, Guilford City and Ebsfleet United all offer half price entry to season ticket holders of other clubs (apart from that days opponents). Apparently it quite common practice in Scotland.

I tend to watch Dagenham & Redbridge these days when Romford have a non local away game, and I usually bump into quite a few of our ex supporters. When I ask why they no longer watch us the answers range from, the atmosphere, the price is not much more expensive, and the bad language at non league grounds.

 

In my opinion its ridiculous that local rivals don't work together to try and alleviate a serious problem that is harming all of us.

[Eastside Urchin]

I don't agree with half price entry to fans of other clubs,why should the hardcore be penalised by paying full price when others can watch for a fraction of the price.

Someone else pointed out that 4/5 years ago the eastside was full of a mix of ages,now it seems to be mainly youngsters and a few older ones. We used to get a few people aged 50 and over standing in there but they seem to have dissapeared,it may be due to the bad language from the youngsters,one said he could handle the likes of me and bob screaming at the ref every now and then but when there's 13/14 year old kids calling the ref a c**t every 5 minutes it's a bit off putting

[urchinman1961]

i still think results put bums on seats and any chance of that went out of the window against concord when some faces from years ago appeared and probably wont be back after that abject display and the first half this saturday was quite hard to digest and thats for the hardcore which we still have left

[Miss.A.F.C.Hornchurch]

The sooner we are out this league the better in my opinion as it is abit ground hog dayish...I think crowds would pick up 25% if we did go up

 

Agree with that.

 

Rob, hope you said to these people that they should come back to the club on match days.

[Eastside Urchin]

The cup defeat wasn't pretty but to be honest there was only 2 people who came last week who I recognised,one who has been on and off for 3 years and another who has been away for 3 years who turned up Saturday so couldn't of been that put off.

[Eastside Urchin]

The sooner we are out this league the better in my opinion as it is abit ground hog dayish...I think crowds would pick up 25% if we did go up

 

Agree with that.

 

Rob, hope you said to these people that they should come back to the club on match days.

 

 

 

While I agree with Kimble,there are about 15 clubs in the same position as us who have been in this league for the same or longer than us,some,Like Ricay seem to have not suffered crowd wise while others like us have.

 

Yes Annie,I told them to come back,some said they will pop over but most people say that

[YELLOW]

Someone else pointed out that 4/5 years ago the eastside was full of a mix of ages,now it seems to be mainly youngsters and a few older ones. We used to get a few people aged 50 and over standing in there but they seem to have dissapeared,it may be due to the bad language from the youngsters,one said he could handle the likes of me and bob screaming at the ref every now and then but when there's 13/14 year old kids calling the ref a c**t every 5 minutes it's a bit off putting

 

I'm not sure if that's a good enough reason not to attend matches. Don't get me wrong, I'm not keen on that sort of thing and some people take the abuse way too far but if that was me I would just move to a different part of the ground rather than not go to games at all.

[cup of tea]

The Riverside is far away from the noise and is unaffected. Could we have a family stand on that side if that's an issue.

[Eastside Urchin]

My personal opinion is that some people just get put off by that sort of thing,some will move but others will get fed up and stop coming,let's not forget that some non league fans just like standing on a terrace because they can't do it in the football league anymore.

[Eastside Urchin]

The Eastside used to police itself,I was talking to Bridgey about it the other day,he said the same thing.If someone got carried away they were pulled back into line sharpish.In a way it was easier to police when it was busy,now it's quieter it's almost more awkward to police,if someone goes over the top,you pull them over about it but it's pretty much in front of everyone.

As you say,the Eastside was and probably still is to an extent the heartbeat of the club in terms of matchdays,maybe there needs to be a code of conduct for the Eastside,as you say,I think swearing is a given but when it's completely unneccesary like it had been the last few months then it needs to be looked at,or maybe it is just amplified more because it's now half empty

[cup of tea]

You're always going to get swearing - I've heard it at lots of non league grounds. It's a cultural thing and you will never change that. I hear people swearing at work as well so it's becoming more normal to do it. Whether that's a good thing or not is another matter.

 

I tend not to but that's a personal choice (I miss out certain words on songs). Not always though!

There's one word in particular that I think goes too far (We all know what that word is). If I pull someone up over it, I either get ignored or looked at as though I'm mad so now I don't bother.

 

Perhaps I'm a misery as well and should go and sit on the Riverside,

[missunderstood]

You're always going to get swearing - I've heard it at lots of non league grounds. It's a cultural thing and you will never change that. I hear people swearing at work as well so it's becoming more normal to do it. Whether that's a good thing or not is another matter.

 

I tend not to but that's a personal choice (I miss out certain words on songs). Not always though!

There's one word in particular that I think goes too far (We all know what that word is). If I pull someone up over it, I either get ignored or looked at as though I'm mad so now I don't bother.

 

Perhaps I'm a misery as well and should go and sit on the Riverside,

What a shame that someone who has decent old fashioned values thinks he may be a misery, or people think he may be mad.

My grandson has just reached the age when he is picking up words, and I don't think his mum would be very impressed if he come home from a match and started using the language he would pick up at non league grounds from supporters, players and the benches. Because of the constant swearing he is probably lost forever as a non league supporter. You very rarely hear swearing at D&R matches, and you always see lots of mums and dads turn up with young children. A lesson to be learned from D&R perhaps?

[I am Spartacus]

IMO the worst of the language comes from the so called 'motovating managers'. At Margate in the past we have had our fair share of managers who could swear with the best of them BUT this season the award of the most foul mouthed (so called) manager must go to the incumbent in Sussex. His half time tirade could be heard in the stand even though he was in the dressing room.

 

Due to the location of the benches at 'ornchurch the residents of the Riverside can hear this at full volume.

 

Until something is done by the authorities (and clubs) to cut down on this unpoliced language I think parents will keep thier children away from the grounds.

[Eastside Urchin]

To be honest the managers are as bad as anyone,apart from the fact they hardly use the c word.

I must say that when Colin Mcbride was manager I never ever heard him swear,he was almost angelic

[serge]

bye the way dag and red support is crap no atmosphere crowd to small for there division they are not a good benchmark economics is the simple answer you ever support your local team or you dont any club will tell you how hard it is to attract new followers league postion will help people will always move away our best way forward is colins hard work in the clubhouse and loyal support through these hard times we at the club are 100% comitted to hornchurch and its fans try attending some of the functions held at the club this money ALL

 

SORRY ALL GOES TO THE RUNNING OF THE CLUB

[Eastside Urchin]

Gary,couldn't agree more with regards to functions.

I don't like saying this as chairman of the Supporters Association but the amount of fans that turn up to functions either put on by the club or the SA is quite frankly very poor

[Eastside Urchin]

Gary,couldn't agree more with regards to functions.

I don't like saying this as chairman of the Supporters Association but the amount of fans that turn up to functions either put on by the club or the SA is quite frankly very poor,hats off to those that turn up to every or most events but half the actual Supporters Association Comittee don't even turn up for the events,that itself gets on my nerves