EUFC needs you!

[Gally221263]

Roly Edwards asked, in the latest e-mail communication for the same level of support, in numbers and vocally, this weekend as we had last, when we had almost 1400 inside Stonebridge Road.

Personally, unfortunately I can't see it, a fair amount of those 1400 were from the west country, how many are Droylsden going to bring?.

My main point is going to be an old one, I received an e-mail with the match advertised by way of a poster, I received this because I have a season ticket and I have contacted the club to be put on this list, they are preaching to the converted, I will be there regardless of rain or snow, it's the floating fans that this type of communication needs to be aimed at surely.

I know you can't just pluck e-mail addresses from the air and send these posters everywhere but I haven't seen the match advertised as I get off the train in Gravesend. A poster is up in my local pub and I don't even live in Gravesend, by it's up anyway. Isn't it the job of the club to send this information to non-converted, the floating fan, Charlton Pathetic haven't got a game tomorrow, it must be because of the number of internationals in their squad, anyway this was a chance to get some of their fans through into the ground.

Was this a game that could have been played tonight instead of tomorrow?

Come on Gravesend & Northfleet and Meopham and all locla areas, the club needs your support.......NOW

[Hirsty]

A Friday night game would have been good, but as Droylesden are part time they did not want to, and could not, travel down for a Friday night game.... which is fair enough.

 

Cheers,

[BustaGut]

Even though I am not a season ticket holder, the club have my email address as they were asking supporters, as they entered the ground, if they were interested in keeping up to date with club news via email,must be a few others of those about to,maybe worth another go.

[Richard C]

Its not even the ones that are in the ground though. It's the ones in the town that dont have a clue we exist!!

[ChrisEggleton]

Hmm, Droylsden what do we think guys, 10-20 fans?? lol. Probably just 100 as they are only a small part-time team. I wish we could still have a 1400 attendance though!! Cmon fans, lets support the fleet!!

[Slartibartfast]

Unfortunately Chris, with the early start and so much sport on the telly I think we will be lucky to get 900 today and I fear it might be lower.

[BustaGut]

Originally Posted By: Slartibartfast

Unfortunately Chris, with the early start and so much sport on the telly I think we will be lucky to get 900 today and I fear it might be lower.

Sadly I make you correct

[Gally221263]

Following on from saturday's woeful crowd figure, i have sent the attached letter in the Gravesend reporter, hopefully for publication:

 

An open letter to all the Armchair EUFC/GNFC football fans living in Gravesham and surrounding areas.

 

It is time that the local community stood up and started to support Ebbsfleet United football club (Formerly Gravesend & Northfleet football club) before it's too late. In the words of General Kitchener, your club urgently need your help. This club is acting as a standard bearer for the local area and therefore deserves the local community's support

 

The club that I and others have followed faithfully for a number of years needs the support of everyone in the local area. The club has made massive strides in the last couple of years, taking the decision to go fully professional, signing some high quality players, getting a young and forward thinking management team in place. The chairman and the board of directors have managed to get a high profile sponsor (Eurostar) in place for the next couple of seasons but all of this hard work and any of the above means nothing if we continue to get crowds of less than 800. The club was very unlucky to finish just outside the promotion play-offs places at the end of last season, which for a club the size of ours was a massive achievement. You don't finish that high in what is a very competitive league without lots of hard work and by playing some decent stuff.

 

It's quite basic, the club needs more people to come through the turnstiles on Saturdays afternoons, instead of sitting on your hands why not go and support your local club, there can be no excuses, at least give it a go, what can you lose, if you don't enjoy yourself then you don't have to return but at least you're tried it, you will be pleasantly surprised by the standard of football on show. Once you've tried it you'll be back.

 

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that the club can't survive, even at a subsistence level, with the number of supporters coming into the ground on match days. Before the club, which has been in the borough for about 100 years in it's various guises, reaches the end of the dream.

 

YOUR LOCAL CLUB NEEDS YOUR HELP

 

A worried but committed EUFC/GNFC fan

 

[David Holden]

Good letter, let's hope that they publish it.

[Hirsty]

They will edit it and put it somewhere that no one can see !! Probably just under the "Elvis is living in my garden shed" sensation !!

 

Agreed....a good letter....well done Gally.

 

Cheers,

[Slartibartfast]

I am sure they will post it and give it at least equal prominence to the one last summer about the club not knowing what it was doing and letting all the part-timers leave without having any replacements for them.

Good letter fella.

[Harry J Allstars]

Very good letter Gally, if we had more of these letters going in to the Reporter then they would have to start printing them.

 

However whether or not it will have any impact on the people of the town is a different matter.

[ChrisEggleton]

Thats a great letter, i only hope everyone will read this and take it into account. I have another idea... In every copy of the Gravesend Reporter, and the annoying free papers, they could put the match poster inside instead of all those "wasted" Takeaway menus, restaraunt adverts etc.. That may attract more people!

[KShep]

Harry J, good point about the Reporter having to take notice of more letters, I will send mine tomorrow. If we all follow Gally's lead then we can't really be ignored and can be taking steps towards sorting this problem out!

[kieronoliver]

for the last 15 years i've been going to the fleet really enjoyed it home and away proud to shout gravesend and northfleet wear the shirts be in the trust with a small monthly direct debit, season ticket etc me and my dad, then in the summer got kicked in the b-ll--ks when a name change happened to suit a sponsor no consultation just like it or lump it i chose to lump it. why should people support ebbsfleet when not many people know where it is, to me the point of supporting non league football was it is your home town team i was born in northfleet currently live in gravesend i have no affliation with ebbsfleet what so ever so i've dropped out of the trust don't visit stonebridge road anymore.i know i'm in the minority when it comes to the name change but its the way i feel but it could be i'm not the only one looking at the attendances

[FleetFanatic]

It's very true, I've been asking people how the games I've missed have been (I've missed too many games already this season, but that's as a result of work and other matters), only to be told that they didn't go.

 

It doesn't feel like their team anymore, apparently.

 

I'm surprised, but then when I think about it more deeply, I'm not so surprised.

[Slartibartfast]

Well I went to all of the home matches and apart from Histon they have gone very well thank you.

And guess what, the Fleet beating top of the table Torquay was every bit as good as the Fleet beating top of the table Oxford was last season.

Of course for anyone who doesn't go it won't feel like their team anymore because it isn't, they forfeited the right to be called supporters when they chose to stop supporting. For those of us that do go and cheer the lads on I can assure you that it feels very much like our team.

[Gally221263]

I understand the reservations about the name change, everyone does, which is why, in the letter, I mentioned GNFC.

I understand some people weren't happy about the name change BUT in the cold light of day would you rather watch GNFC under the rebranding of EUFC or no football at all if the club goes the way of Northwich and othes and folds because of a lack of support. It's time that the people who support this club, whether as GNFC or EUFC or both to stand up and show themselves.

Is it going to take something drastic for some people to realise something could go wrong, in that case I suppose in the future we will be able to look back to the good old days when football was played at Stonebridge road and not via a re-formed club playing up at the AEI playing fields below the Kent leagues

[Hempstead Gaz]

The problems with falling attendances are not just Fleet's. Many other clubs are experiencing similar drops.

That said, the club cannot be complacent.

It seriously needs to address the problem, not by giving freebies and inducements to those who go , but by investigating the reasons for non appearance by those who used to go, but do no longer.

I suspect there is no single reason, but an accumulation of many.

Name change.

Price rise.

Perceived poor value.

Poor facilites.

Lack of covered standing for both home and away fans.

Poor views for children.

Problems with damage to parked cars.

Perception of manager.

Lack of "star" player.

Lack of "flair" or "entertainment" on the pitch.

The list probably goes on.

 

Some of these things I agree with, others I don't.

But I am a regular supporter, so they don't particularly concern or bother me, but clearly to the 400 - 500 stay away fans they do.

 

As Gally said is his excellent and intelligent letter, the driving force ought to be the club, not just the fans.

 

Granted, we can all play our part, (and I have persuaded a die hard Dover fan to come v Exeter) but it is going to take a huge effort to get the regular gate of 1500+ we need to attain a sustainable and realistic chance for promotion.

Of course, a win against Exeter, then beating Gills 3-0 in round 1, Southend or Barnet in round 2, then an away draw against Man Utd in round 3, we we suddenly "inherit" 10,000 loyal, diehard fans.

 

 

 

 

[Andy Y. (G&NFC)]

 

I almost agree with the points made by C.G (Gonna sit down with a cup of tea and Rich Tea biscuit as a result.)

 

Perceived poor value. - Good point, and thats down to the poor facilities and apathy from the good people of Gravesham as much as bad marketing on the part of the club. I love the ground but thats because I'm one of those sad buggers that likes to stand in what I think of as a proper footballground, and San Siro Stonebridge is a "proper non-league" ground. Its location is and always will be a handicap (look at a few comments by away supporters, Torquay for example and that tells the story!) As for the cost of getting in? I think its too high as well, but it seems to be about the norm now unfortunately.

 

Lack of covered standing for both home and away fans. - Hmmm. Whilst I would like to see the away end covered I guess the cost is prohibitive, so thats one I cant see changing if we are shortly to move to a new ground. Out of interest, in an ideal World, I would have prefered a feasibility study in buying the builders yard next to the ground and redeveloping, but thats not an option financially I guess.

 

Poor views for children. Don't agree. I've taken kids for many years and thats never been a factor. In fact the kids love the fact they can move around.

 

Problems with damage to parked cars. - The car thefts etc have been going on for years, mine was broken into while parked up when I travelled to Aston Villa, this is a problem that comes and goes depending on if the local scroats are active in this area. Better Police outside the ground would help but as we all know, our lovely Town has a youth problem and little or no staff free to deal. The car that caught on fire a few weeks ago was a pure accident and not down to yobs.(My Daughters boyfriend was one of the fire crew that was called out.)

 

Perception of manager. - Best manager we have had for years, not a great interviewee but who would you sooner have? A George Borg/Chris Kinnear "friend of the press" or one that says little but makes sense when he does?

 

Lack of "star" player. - Good point, but we aren't really in a position to bargin are we? I would wager we pay about the lowest wages of any professional club, so the wage structure must dictate that we have a squad rather than a couple of "names." I would like to see Charlie Mac back though!

 

Lack of "flair" or "entertainment" on the pitch. - How many games have you watched this year! At time we have played pants, but at least we are trying to play football. Think back to when we first came up, then lack of flair would have been VERY accurate!

 

Whats the answer?

 

God alone knows, but isn't this the fun of following a "little club" rather than being on the Premiership bandwagon!

 

And before you start C.G its got nothing to do with team formations!