Where is the WOODWORK.........???

[Chris G.]

Have you seen it.......??

 

I can only assume it is a large piece.

 

Maybe a Giant wardrobe or chest of draws, perhaps a huge washed up pile of Driftwood on a remote Canvey beach that nobody's noticed.

 

Is there a mahussive underground timber lined bunker or cave in the Hadleigh Downs ?

 

 

All i know is that "The Woodwork" contains in excess of 5,000 Canvey/Castle Point residents who Come out of this secret location now and again to witness the efforts of their Local team when they win and win and win. But when they sometimes loose,it's back to "The Woodwork".

 

I have it on good authority that both Gray's and Southend also have their own Woodwork because of late, lot's of locals have surfaced from within it,and no doubt will return when the winning slows or stops.

 

One thing is for sure though...... "The Woodwork" only contain's the Fickle supporter and not the true supporters who follow their team for the love of the game and not just the glory of winning.

[cangull]

Was that a piece from 'Byron, Chris?

[Chris G.]

No......IKEA

[The Great Eckscape]

Quote:

Chris G. said:
No......IKEA

Typical, the Swedish ruining the English game yet again!

[Guest]

I know for a fact we have lost some to Grays & Southend.

 

I have even seen one poster on the Grays site boasting about how he "used to support Canvey".

 

How can you used to support a team, if someone came over the lane and said they used to support someone else I would send them back where they came from.

 

You cant "used" to be something, surely you support your local team. When I lived in London I supported Leyton Orient, just because I moved I did not stop supporting them I just dont go as much as I used to.

 

I blame the parents, what sort of father allows his son to spend saturday afternoon on the PS2 when he should be supporting his local team.

 

I had one boy tell me the other week he could not play on sunday because he was going on a bike ride, [****!!****] bike ride.

 

What was the parents doing, no wonder the country is full of fat little bastards who cannot run.

[Yellow Bungle]

MOB, well said. A most eloquent outburst.

[Guest]

I feel a bit better now, but really where are all those people that turn out at Villa Park???????

[richard sparkes]

gravesend are giving out 8500 free tickets to kids until the end of season

[Spursman]

Basildon, where I live is an area where Canvey should be looking to promote itself as it is a tremendous catchment area for fans being only 20 minutes away from the club.

 

The thing is, the club itself has to make the effort to get out into the community and sell itself. Pre season there was a big promotion in the town centre by Southend with several players there and a sort of a road show with a double decker bus etc. with free tickets being given away as prizes to locals, balloons for the kids and all sort of give aways. Now SUFC has hardly been noted over the years as being a well run club but they realised how if the people are not coming to you, you have to make the effort to go to the people - something Canvey must do if the crowds are ever going to rise above the hardcore of fans the club already have.

 

Football fans are fickle and will always want to watch glamour clubs and successful teams they see on the TV but with the prices of watching league football as they are now, the club has to promote themselves as an ideal opportunity for a dad to take his kids to watch a decent standard of football in a trouble free, friendly enviroment at a fraction of the cost of watching Arsenal, West Ham or Chelsea. Complimentary tickets HAVE to be given to schools within a 10 to 15 mile radius and the club has to do more to attract fans. Adverts in local papers, Echo etc. Kids for a quid games. Posters at the railway stations such as Basildon, Pitsea, Benfleet, local pubs and shops in these areas - anything to get the name across to people in these areas is worth trying.

 

Why not do as Southend did and have something like a roadshow in Basildon Town shoping centre with a few babes dressed up, some of the players, music and some ticket giveaways for prizes - this would bring the club to people's attention, wouldn't cost too much and it would be money well spent as I know if this was tried and done well it would definately bring people through the gates. What would the club have to lose? It has surely to be worth a try hasn't it?

[CANV EFM]

not much point promoting off the island unless the club relocate to waterside farm.. the 'local' part of local loses its edge when you cant get to the ground easily.. having the ground there opens up south benfleet.. also there is no point trying to compete with southend.. we should be looking to offer a cheaper more friendly type atmosphere and making sure we get alternate fixtures whenever pos..

some friday night football as well to mix it up a bit..

but basically we need a nice new ground at 'the farm' with a nice new bar.. lets face it if your used to watching west ham or orient or even southend, park lane is an essex senior league dump.. not without its charm for the regular but not a draw for the casual fan ...

[blooming barmy bongo]

i agree with canvey loon, the marketing for our club is basically crap, i have seen no promoting of the club, its as if the board don't want us to suceed, they have to relise that they need to spend money to make money. Promoting the club is what it is all about, without fans there would be no team. How many of the team are attending the firework party, sorry to be downhearted, but it is fustrating!!! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wall.gif" alt="" />

[Phil Old Boy]

Interesting thoughts above.

 

Wouldn’t of thought if there were no fans there would be no team. There is not enough money coming through the gate to pay these wages so it must be being funded elsewhere and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know who’s paying.

 

What we know is that there is potential for larger attendances to watch Canvey games with the bigger games we have had in the past, home and away.

 

A couple of thoughts:

The cost: even this is still a lot of money for people. Personally I have a lot more money going out than coming in each week, but what the hell, I’m not going to miss out and try to see what I can but many others must be taking the decision not to go simply as they put other principals first.

 

Ground & Location: As mentioned, the regulars are used to the ground as we know where the club has come from, but I would of thought many others are put off by it. Here’s where perhaps one of the biggest decisions the club will have to make comes in. Do they go for the new ground with league aspirations or want to stay as we are at the pinnacle of non league which a number of people would like to continue.

We would attract more supporters if we had a new stadium at Waterside as it would be so visible and accessible. It would be like having a new club, but one we would get used to in time as we made it our own. Also to make this succeed, we would obviously have to go full time as well.

[richard sparkes]

i know its not down to us but is there anything we can do as fans to get more people through the turnstiles

[A Non E Mouse]

Pretty much agree with what CanvEFM has written.

 

We should be looking at our own doorstep first.

 

We have Pitsea and South Benfleet with big potential audiences. We also have an island with a population of 40,000.

 

It's a bit of a catch twenty two - a new ground could be a big breakthrough in more ways than one, but will also put a big financial burden on the club.

 

Does anybody have any news at all on the new ground? - it's gone very quiet and I assume that the club are waiting for news on grants and funding.

 

A lot of people on this forum seem to have links with junior leagues and stuff - should we target junior clubs more? schools and school football teams are also another option - but I presume these have all been tried with limited success.

 

I know that Canvey Island Youth team players used to get in for free (with identity cards) - how about extending this to other players in the Thundermite and Essex Junior leagues or whatever it's called? This could attract Boys/Girls (and parents) from as far away as Basildon to Shoeburyness. Target the leagues rather than individual managers.

[The Great Eckscape]

Quote:

Phil Old Boy said:
Interesting thoughts above.

Wouldn’t of thought if there were no fans there would be no team. There is not enough money coming through the gate to pay these wages so it must be being funded elsewhere and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know who’s paying.

What we know is that there is potential for larger attendances to watch Canvey games with the bigger games we have had in the past, home and away.

A couple of thoughts:
The cost: even this is still a lot of money for people. Personally I have a lot more money going out than coming in each week, but what the hell, I’m not going to miss out and try to see what I can but many others must be taking the decision not to go simply as they put other principals first.

Ground & Location: As mentioned, the regulars are used to the ground as we know where the club has come from, but I would of thought many others are put off by it. Here’s where perhaps one of the biggest decisions the club will have to make comes in. Do they go for the new ground with league aspirations or want to stay as we are at the pinnacle of non league which a number of people would like to continue.
We would attract more supporters if we had a new stadium at Waterside as it would be so visible and accessible. It would be like having a new club, but one we would get used to in time as we made it our own. Also to make this succeed, we would obviously have to go full time as well.

I think we should use our non league status to our advantage. There must be so many kids out there who's parents can't afford to take them to league matches, we could be the perfect alternative.

Following up from A Non E Mouse's idea, if we were to ask two junior teams each week to have a penalty shootout at half time in front of the main stand, this would get a lot of mums and dads over there. Then, they may bring their child back with a friend the following week to watch the game. Word of mouth would soon get around the junior leagues, especially when you consider how hyper active most kids are.

[Yellow Bungle]

Lots of good suggestions, but sadly nothing that has not previously been voiced by myself and others and then ignored by the club.

 

I pointed out to some of you the other week that I had never criticised the club, well, now is the time to start.

 

The club has a poor dialogue with the fans, and seems to positively discourage the involvement of supporter beyond painting the clubhouse. Evidence of this is plain in this forum, which is run outside the control of the club for reasons well documented, and seems to draw little or now official comment.

 

There needs to be more involvement form the fans if the club is to grow, or even maintain its core support. There needs to be a forum at which the club and supporters can exchange views and ideas for the future benefit of the club. Perhaps, initially this could take the form of a season-ticket holders meeting with board a few times a year. There can't be that many of us. Nothing confidential need be discussed, but we could be kept informed of generalities and objectives of the club. Who knows, we may be able to contribute this way.

 

However, in light of what happened to the old website, I fear that this fan input is neither sought nor wanted by the club. I do not mean this as a criticism of what individuals have donme and achieved over the past years, but just feel that the governance of football clubs, particularly small local clubs, needs to be inclusive and community based rather than withdrawn and aloof.

[Yellow Bungle]

... and isn't Woodwork playing for Middlesbrough these days?

[cangull]

Blimey Chris, IKEA!! I always thought you were an MFI man! I can understand your lean toward IKEA being from Sweden I presume? Your interests there may be the blondes!!

[South Mouth]

I still cant get my head around fans who change allegiance once another team does better. It really fu*ks me off!

 

Fans have become so snobby over the years because of the way they see football now. With the glamour of the Premier League, they expect everything to either resemble it or have a constant appeal playing against top teams, hence why we only get big crowds for FA Cup games for example.

 

Whenever i used to offer to take my dad over to the Lane, he turned his nose up because it was Ryman and now Conference football. Then again, he is a perfect example of being a snob because after years of preaching to me about being a West Ham fan and always supporting the team that you either come from or your family supports, he now has changed to Chelsea because apparantly he was born near there. Twat!

 

It just annoys me coz i live in Sheffield now but you dont see me going to watch United now they arewinning every game. Its only a liitle more to pay to watch than Canvey but you dont see me giving it, "well, i live here now dont i?"

 

Bollo*ks to that! Canvey all the way, even if we went the way of Hornchurch (Pray that never happens!)

[ken]

you can go and watch another team, it shows a little to much dedication if you will go without watching football. hell i will go and watch concorde if nothing else is on