Billericay Town 1 Cray Wanderers 2

[Billericay Town Unofficial]

I think its fair to say that the majority of (sensible) fans want what is best for the club.

 

 

[The Town Crier]

On the subject of youngsters, when was the last time we had an Under 18 player involved in the first team? I thought we had a clear progression from youth to first team...

 

 

We have two teenagers starting every game..Issac and Ryan

[blue pilgrim]

We have two teenagers starting every game..Issac and Ryan

And I think they have done very well TC - Lets hope we can keep them for next season.

 

The point I was making earlier, was about giving current players a break by playing a few youngsters in a situation where there should be no fear of failure. If they are not ready, then so be it, but even a cameo subs apperance would be good experience

[billericayboy28]

Honestly feel the attendance might also be decreasing due to it being very quiet at New Lodge now. Don't get me wrong the fans that turn up week in week out are great but maybe if we sing all our songs like we used to it could really lift the team and increase attendances long term.

Just a small point, not a big deal. Will continue to go every week no matter what

[GazzaBTFC]

Honestly feel the attendance might also be decreasing due to it being very quiet at New Lodge now. Don't get me wrong the fans that turn up week in week out are great but maybe if we sing all our songs like we used to it could really lift the team and increase attendances long term.

Just a small point, not a big deal. Will continue to go every week no matter what

 

Yep, I believe that is what supporters do BB28... unfortunately there is a chicken and egg syndrome in thrall at the club. The singing lifts the team BUT some of the supporters feel that the team should present the supporters with something to sing about...

 

...hence "the chicken or the egg"...which comes first...

[Billericay or Harrogate]

I was not able to attend matches on either Thursday or Saturday due to other commitments. I have however enjoyed the banter on the website and clearly didn't miss much on Saturday. Just a couple of thoughts:-

 

1 Attendance figures - it cannot be surprising that crowd sizes have been disappointing. This is what happens when so many Saturday games get postponed. A rush of games in a short period of time takes it's toll on the supporters (as well as the players) due to other commitments, work and indeed finance. Paying out a tenner 3 times in a week may be beyond some peoples' budgets.

 

2 Social media including "twitter", Facebook and even the forum are great things but have the disadvantages of immediacy and anonymity. So people tend to say things in the heat of the moment that in all probability they wouldn't say to somebody face to face. Gazza is absolutely right, more personal engaging would be useful. There are no doubt plenty of jobs that could be done around the club for some who want to put their efforts and frustrations to good use.

 

I think our players have been heroic in recent weeks. Putting in all that effort as well as holding down jobs etc, travelling to games must be exhausting and they deserve a lot of credit for a good run of results barring one or two setbacks. They are capable of some good football ( the game against Maidstone was great but has attracted far fewer posts than Cray game !!!!!) and lets hope we can keep the nucleus of the side together. Isaac Layne has been a good example, a run in the team has shown he is an exciting player capable of scoring a few goals and as TC says he is still a teenager.

[GazzaBTFC]

As regards attendance figures, we always look to ourselves but we should look around. With a couple of notable exceptions, attendances are down all over Non League. I would agree with B & H that with the postponements people get out of the habit and find something else to fill the time. And then we have eight games in two and a half weeks!!! Trying for the players as well as for the supporters.

 

Regardless of the current situation, under normal circumstances, there is also a lack of forethought on behalf of those that put together the fixtures. No consideration is given to Champions League, National Competitions, etc. when setting the fixtures at the beginning of the season. As pointed out by some, wouldn't it be more beneficial to move midweek games to an evening where there are no major televised games? I fully accept that there will be some clashes. These would be unavoidable but it'll certainly help.Co-ordination would take effort but I was under the impression that is what the FA and its representatives are there to do. It may take some work but hey, about time they earned their salary in my opinion.

 

We are under the impression that grass roots football is important  to the good health of our national sport but the evidence displayed by the FA and the infrastructure from the Premiership through to the unrealistic wages that players earn due to the power of the television sponsors (as an example) belies this in my opinion.

 

Until the FA wakes up and removes its collective heads from its collective arses and puts in a plan to help those at the bottom of the pyramid we'll continue to see diminishing attendances together with an increase of clubs (some historic clubs as well) going into receivership. And that is a shame because I believe that in this age of social media, the local football club has something valuable to give back to the community that is real and tangible on a personal level. 

Edited March 31, 2014 by GazzaBTFC