Football Club

[Sue]

Here goes my head, I dont want a merger but rather that than fold.

[GarySTFC]

Fold and reform in some form of Slough guise or lose all our identity by merging? Look at how well it did for Hillingdon when they merged with Burnham some years ago. They quickly disappeared and have re-emerged as Hillingdon.

[Guest]

saw uxbridge v hillingdon on tuesday ..

 

hillingdon had about 10 people there.. uxbridge had about 100 half of those come in at half time...

 

<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

 

the only merger i could see working is with Beconsfield...

 

slough road

slough side of m40

run by slough people

have slough in the name

 

 

<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

 

but still would like to see if we can get through this season and see what happens..

 

its a very very very very long way back....

 

chris <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

[Guest]

Havant Waterloovile Lymington New milton they seem to have worked so why cant Slough/Windsor think this is the only way forward but i know most supporters will be split down the middle on this issue

[Guest]

If merging is anoption maybe you are looking at the wrong partner. There are currently yourselves and a club within 4miles of Slough in trouble. One has their own ground on an extremely long lease with modern facilities but no chairman and no support, yourselves have no ground but an enthusiastic ST and fanbase. I know the likelyhood of Slough and Beaconsfield merging is all but nil, but if me to me its a no brainer!

[Roger Rebel]

Anon are you counciler Stokes?

[Guest]

No m8, I most definitely am not, you got the wrong end of the stick and all that.

[Guest]

Agree with Chris think a merger with Beconsfield would be the best idea as we would keep our name

[brighton_rebel]

This is the article i wrote for the programme about merging..Slough is a big enough town to have it's own team

 

MERGER MOST FOUL

 

Remember Burnham and Hillingdon Borough? In 1985 Hillingdon lost their ground and were about to fold, so decided to merge with Burnham who took their place in the Southern League. Just two seasons on and the Hillingdon bit of the title was dropped. Four years later Hillingdon Borough (1990) FC emerged and now play in the Spartan South Midlands League.

 

So what’s this piece on non league trivia got to do with the Rebels?

 

One way Slough Council would like to wriggle out of helping to find us a new home in the borough would be to merge with another local club. Windsor for example, have a ground but could do with some more supporters. Slough are well supported, but homeless - so put the Rebels and the Royalists together – and bingo! Problems solved.

 

Except that’s not how I or many other Slough fans see it.

 

I remember when I first started watching Slough in the late seventies, we would regular play against Walthamstow Avenue, Ilford and Leytonstone- three of the amateur game's most famous clubs. But over a period of time these clubs disappeared and amalgamated and eventually we were left with just Dagenham and Redbridge FC. Initially this new monster of a club didn’t see any real increase in crowds – it was only some good cup runs and decent Conference campaigns that people started to flock to Victoria Road.

 

As for those three proud East London clubs, Ilford and Walthamstow Avenue have reformed, albeit at a lower level in the pyramid. And there’s the rub. Despite identikit housing estates and High Street chains doing there best to make every town centre in the country look the same, towns do have their own identity. Slough is a very distinct place from Windsor, Maidenhead, Burnham or Beaconsfield. The Rebels are steeped in history and I feel part of the club. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t bother with all the travelling if the Rebels ever did merge – it wouldn’t feel like my club, it wouldn’t be the same one that I’ve seen play so many times.

 

I’m not alone. Oxford United fans weren’t best pleased when dodgy crook Robert Maxwell came up with the idea of them merging with Reading to create Thames Valley Royals. A few seasons back some shareholders of Oswestry Town said they preferred their club to fold and that any assets be donated to Morda United or Ellesmere Rangers rather than see the club merge with its former Welsh Premier rivals Total Network Solutions. Total Network used to be called Llansantffraid until a new chairman took over and decided to rename the club after his company. But he became stuck with his expansion plans and when Oswestry, one of the oldest clubs in the world, were forced to resign from the League of Wales with crippling debts he pounced and despite protests from some shareholders, the clubs merged and a new stadium is now being built in Oswestry – although the club will just be known as TNS (The TNS chairman was one of the main people who hassled the BBC to include the League of Wales results on sports report – nothing like a bit of free advertising). Even local Slough councillors don’t like the idea of merging when it comes to their club.

 

When one of our supporters asked an old acquaintance and now a Slough Borough councillor who happens to be a Watford supporter how we would like it if Watford merged with Luton Town the councillor looked at him in disgust. Surely this cannot be the same councillor who reckons it’s a good idea for Slough to merge?

 

Sometimes mergers works – Rushden and Diamonds were two small footballing sides who were amalgamated under chairman Max Griggs, who pumped money into the new club until they eventually reached Division Two. But that’s not really the point. For hard nosed businessmen, chairman and lazy councillors, a merger can feel like a good plan, but for us footie fans who are irrational, emotional people who value history and a sense of belonging to something special, its not an option.

 

Sorry, but Windsor Rebels or Maidenhead and Slough United just doesn’t do it for me.

[Guest]

Warren your right...just adding for debate...

 

merger most horror !!!

 

chris s

[Woody SUFC]

No offence but what's in it for windsor? 30-40 fans from slough perhaps but we'd lose just as many windsor supporters!

[Guest]

woody we have more than 30 fans mate

 

must be too used to your own crowd attendence

[dansilk]

He's meaning, far fewer Slough fans would turn up regularly to watch a WSE side, it just wouldn't feel like theirs. It wouldn't be a local side for Slough, it wouldn't even be 'your' side any more, and I certainly don't see it getting many new fans from Slough unless there was a real surge in performance.

 

Not to mention how many Windsor fans would continue to support a Windsor and Slough (or for that matter a Slough & Windsor!) side - for a good few years, less than now.

Obviously I don't know how our budget looks at all, so I don't know how critical the groundshare rent is, but as things stand we don't *need* a merger so fans wouldn't back it out of necessity: whereas from what's said on this thread Beaconsfield does stand to gain equally so they might go for a merger...

 

Overall I'd say a merged side might get 250-300 instead of the ~200 Windsor get now, and a lot of the diehard fans on both sides would turn away for at least a few years because they'd see it as betrayal. Maybe if Slough weren't seen as Windsor's great rivals it might work (I don't think Slough actually cared so much about Windsor one way or another until we met at the same level recently); I doubt other local sides would actually meet so much opposition, but I just don't think this is the right pairing.

 

And on a cynical note, as long as Windsor get hard cash from Slough ground-sharing, I can't see our board being keen to lose that in exchange for a possible increase in fanbase and a few new players. But would that £25K/season still be coming into the merged club? If not, chances are even the S from WSE might vanish again before much longer...

[A Rebel and a Saint]

I would like to hope that there is more chance of the name Slough Town or similar reforming at a lower level than merging with another local club. Like many others I do not think i could support a merged team like that, nor do I believe that either club would benefit from a merge.

[Matt]

Quote:

Woody WEFC said:
No offence but what's in it for windsor? 30-40 fans from slough perhaps but we'd lose just as many windsor supporters!

This is exactly what I said before. Very few of us would support a merged team, and why would Windsor even consider it anyway?

I would not go and watch a merged team. Slough is a big enough town to support a club at a good level (it's one of the biggest without a Football League club) and we should be looking to maintain a senior club in the town.

[Guest]

"....Slough is a big enough town to support a club at a good level...."

 

Given the current situation with the club and the experiences of the past 5/6 seasons, I think you would have a difficult time substantiating that claim!

[mattwefc]

i have to agree and say that there is very little in it for windsor, and at this exact moment in time the clubs are going in opposite directions. after relegation last year we are doing well again and could soon be at a higher level. slough however appear to be struggling and may not be in the higher division for too much longer.i dont see why a club going upwards and forwards may neccesarily want to join with a club that is not doin as well.

i am sure that the idea of a merger was suggested both 2 seasons ago and then last year as well and the same response came up from all parties as is coming up now. the people who dont want a merger are clearly in the minority.

the questions over which plauyers play and who coaches and manages as well as everything behind the scenes would aslo create problems with a merger. i think merging windsor and slough would create more problems than it would solve.

[Guest]

Quote:

mattwefc said:
the people who dont want a merger are clearly in the minority.

Are you sure about this?

Nice well written article by Brighton Rebel. Put forward some very good points.

I am totally against the mergers of football teams in the local area, even if it's teams i have no alleigance with. If anyone ever happens to be in Leytonstone High Street (you never know), pop into the Wetherspoons pub and you'll see an in depth history of the local football clubs which all merged to eventually form Dagenham and Redbridge as a timeline on the pub wall. It makes depressing reading.
I hope things all work out for the best.

[Woody SUFC]

Matt you are a tw@t aint ya.

[mattwefc]

ooops sorry about that. i meant in the majority. as you would be able to tell from the rest of what i said.