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Post by heartofgas on Mar 2, 2023 17:12:47 GMT
No, I'm not talking about my C grade at GCSE but club location.
I often wonder this but I think the south west geography has an impact on the success of Rovers and the other south west clubs. As a region we must have, by a long way the least amount of premier league/championship years ( and even then its only if you count Swindon and the Welsh clubs who have been in the prem). If you look at London, midlands and the north west there is so much infrastructure around football. If you become a coach at West Brom you have 6 or 7 league clubs within easy commute. In addition to this if you are in the one of these favorable locations your away attendances are much larger as for a lot of teams you're not too much of a drive away.
I guess my point is we will have to go over and above what teams in other locations do to achieve the same results. Not to Bring it back to the stadium but one of the first levelers would be to get facilities that match those of clubs in more favorable locations. and much as it is counter intuitive we should be hoping all the other south west clubs get success and grow their capabilities.
Discuss?
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Post by wallywalters on Mar 2, 2023 17:33:26 GMT
I've never understood why Bristol doesn't produce more top footballers. By top footballers I mean those that go on to play at the highest level of the game. They really are a rarity compared to other cities of our size and a lot smaller. I presume it's down to not having a top flight football club and nothing to do with Bristolians DNA
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Post by aghast on Mar 2, 2023 17:34:12 GMT
It's because we spend too much time playing and watching rugby, and chewing on mangelwurzels.
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Post by Windmill Hill Gas on Mar 2, 2023 17:42:53 GMT
You raise some good points. I think that's partly why Barton has tried to create a bit of a Scouse colony! I guess you could say the north east is a slightly less successful hotbed too. Other arguably more geographically isolated places have had more success than the south west though. Such as Norwich, Ipswich, Portsmouth, Southampton, Bournemouth. I think having some good rugby teams in the south west and south Wales has an impact too.
Having 2 clubs in Bristol has probably hindered us both
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Post by miltongas on Mar 2, 2023 18:01:12 GMT
I also think this hinders some of our loan options. Many players like to be loaned without having to relocate for a relatively short period of time. If you live around Manchester/Liverpool or Birmingham or London there are so many options without having to move home. I realise this doesn’t stop loans happening but I believe it has an impact.
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Post by yattongas on Mar 2, 2023 18:17:28 GMT
No, I'm not talking about my C grade at GCSE but club location. I often wonder this but I think the south west geography has an impact on the success of Rovers and the other south west clubs. As a region we must have, by a long way the least amount of premier league/championship years ( and even then its only if you count Swindon and the Welsh clubs who have been in the prem). If you look at London, midlands and the north west there is so much infrastructure around football. If you become a coach at West Brom you have 6 or 7 league clubs within easy commute. In addition to this if you are in the one of these favorable locations your away attendances are much larger as for a lot of teams you're not too much of a drive away. I guess my point is we will have to go over and above what teams in other locations do to achieve the same results. Not to Bring it back to the stadium but one of the first levelers would be to get facilities that match those of clubs in more favorable locations. and much as it is counter intuitive we should be hoping all the other south west clubs get success and grow their capabilities. Discuss? I’ve always been of the belief that either Bristol club could attract crowds of 30-40k week in and week out if either were to get to the premier league. I also firmly believe that the Gas could get 15k in the championship and more if doing well. We just need the stadium and the ambition . |
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Post by Topper Gas on Mar 2, 2023 20:00:20 GMT
Do we need a new stadium to attract players or is there other reasons they choose other clubs over ROvers, more money/lower living costs, staying in known football hotbeds, etc? On a list of the top 10 factors for a player choosing a club over another one I'd imagine "play in a good stadium" comes way down the list, the contract offer, the manager, chances of success/winning something & decent training facilities, must come higher?
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Post by yattongas on Mar 2, 2023 20:17:52 GMT
Do we need a new stadium to attract players or is there other reasons they choose other clubs over ROvers, more money/lower living costs, staying in known football hotbeds, etc? On a list of the top 10 factors for a player choosing a club over another one I'd imagine "play in a good stadium" comes way down the list, the contract offer, the manager, chances of success/winning something & decent training facilities, must come higher? Plymouth are a good example of a club with an improved stadium , which attracted more fans and better players . Their geographical position didn’t stop them . Bristol is a big city and great place to live , with the right investment success will happen and the crowds will turn up…… even more so than Plymouth . |
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Post by heartofgas on Mar 2, 2023 20:29:33 GMT
I've never understood why Bristol doesn't produce more top footballers. By top footballers I mean those that go on to play at the highest level of the game. They really are a rarity compared to other cities of our size and a lot smaller. I presume it's down to not having a top flight football club and nothing to do with Bristolians DNA I live in the East Midlands and within 30/45 minutes of me there must be at least 10 premier league/league with top rate academies. The competition is fiercer. For coaches it makes sense to be located here as you have the widest choice of clubs. So I think for the kids in Bristol they don't get the same opportunities or the same quality of coaching hence why fewer make it. |
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Post by Topper Gas on Mar 2, 2023 21:40:43 GMT
Do we need a new stadium to attract players or is there other reasons they choose other clubs over ROvers, more money/lower living costs, staying in known football hotbeds, etc? On a list of the top 10 factors for a player choosing a club over another one I'd imagine "play in a good stadium" comes way down the list, the contract offer, the manager, chances of success/winning something & decent training facilities, must come higher? Plymouth are a good example of a club with an improved stadium , which attracted more fans and better players . Their geographical position didn’t stop them . Bristol is a big city and great place to live , with the right investment success will happen and the crowds will turn up…… even more so than Plymouth . Did the ground attract better players or was it just the money it created? I've no idea what a pro footballer looks for when it comes to living but you sense most of the present Rovers squad are still based in the north west and must just share lodgings in Bristol. |
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Post by CrispPusher on Mar 2, 2023 22:19:53 GMT
Never bought into this, maybe no easy access to loan players, however even Yeovil were able to heavily utilise the loan market to some success. Swansea is the arse hole of Wales and they never seemed to struggle to attract players, probably more to do with players used to modern facilities not wanting to commit to playing at our 'quirky' little ground if anything.
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Post by Topper Gas on Mar 2, 2023 22:23:04 GMT
Never bought into this, maybe no easy access to loan players, however even Yeovil were able to heavily utilise the loan market to some success. Swansea is the arse hole of Wales and they never seemed to struggle to attract players, probably more to do with players used to modern facilities not wanting to commit to playing at our 'quirky' little ground if anything. But they were content to play at Yeovil's ground? Perhaps the fact the tents might be dismantled this summer is JB's doing rather than TG's?? |
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Post by CrispPusher on Mar 2, 2023 23:53:05 GMT
Never bought into this, maybe no easy access to loan players, however even Yeovil were able to heavily utilise the loan market to some success. Swansea is the arse hole of Wales and they never seemed to struggle to attract players, probably more to do with players used to modern facilities not wanting to commit to playing at our 'quirky' little ground if anything. But they were content to play at Yeovil's ground? Perhaps the fact the tents might be dismantled this summer is JB's doing rather than TG's?? When are loan players committing themselves beyond what the club paying their wages agrees with the borrowing club? Perhaps I should use bullet points for context next time? |
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Post by singupgas on Mar 3, 2023 1:17:32 GMT
I don't also don't buy into it.
We've a sh** ground, we float bottom half of league 1 and in league 2.
Simply the club needs to be better.
We have a 2 tent, and a load of rusting metal sized problem holding us back. But nobody able to find a way of getting us out of it.
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Post by phillistine on Mar 3, 2023 9:10:24 GMT
Its different cultures.
When i was younger i lived in various places before settling down in Bristol and i watched a number of different clubs. There was no doubt at all that generally football was taken much more seriously the further north that you went. I lived in Newcastle for a while and you could tell United's result if you went out on a Saturday night. The town would either be bustling/ party town or it would be dead - there seemed no middle ground.
You have to remember that these clubs drew their support from very working class areas - mining and mills - and the saturday afternoon footie was a release from a hard life. Family traditions were built around going to the match and the kids of today still go along because they were brought up as football fans and they had to opt out if they didnt want to go. i came from a different area and had to persuade my Dad to take me.
When i came down here i was surprised as to how big rugby is. i never knew that people watched rugby like i watched football- week in week out. Even today i go to the pub and there is probably more discussion about the Bears that either the Gas or the sxxt.
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Post by playtowin on Mar 3, 2023 9:27:01 GMT
You could argue that the more higher ranked clubs in an area the more kids from the region get to be coached by higher standard people and play higher standard opposition.
I think having Plymouth,Exeter,Torquay,Yeovil,BCFC1982 LTD. ,Rovers ,FGR ,Swindle ,Cheltenham,Newport,Cardiff and Swansea all in the football league would help with the numbers of youngsters getting decent coaching.
Could add Gloucester ,Merthyr , Taunton ,Bath , WSM ,Weymouth and some team based in the Norton Radstock area.
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Post by warehamgas on Mar 3, 2023 20:18:21 GMT
No, I'm not talking about my C grade at GCSE but club location. I often wonder this but I think the south west geography has an impact on the success of Rovers and the other south west clubs. As a region we must have, by a long way the least amount of premier league/championship years ( and even then its only if you count Swindon and the Welsh clubs who have been in the prem). If you look at London, midlands and the north west there is so much infrastructure around football. If you become a coach at West Brom you have 6 or 7 league clubs within easy commute. In addition to this if you are in the one of these favorable locations your away attendances are much larger as for a lot of teams you're not too much of a drive away. I guess my point is we will have to go over and above what teams in other locations do to achieve the same results. Not to Bring it back to the stadium but one of the first levelers would be to get facilities that match those of clubs in more favorable locations. and much as it is counter intuitive we should be hoping all the other south west clubs get success and grow their capabilities. Discuss? Yes, I’m sure you’ve got a point but, let’s take the north west. I suppose we could have been geographically sited in the Greater Manchester area and then we could have had the advantages that the clubs north of Manchester have had. Clubs there have been able to have access to the academies and talent of the Manchester clubs and the Liverpool clubs. Not that it did Oldham, Bury any good whatsoever nor Stockport for a period of 10 or so years. Rochdale have relied heavily on loans, esp Man City, and it looks sadly like they are going out of the league, so I think there are other factors in play. Of those 5 clubs in the Greater Manchester area, all traditional league clubs with proud histories: Bury defunct as an EFL club, Oldham out of the EFL and likely Rochdale as well, sadly. Stockport out of the league for 12 or so years and Bolton should also have been out had the EFL not decided to give them far greater consideration than they did Bury in 2019. Not a great advert for being in the same area as such big clubs. I think I’m happy that we play where we do, in the area we do. And we have had some good loans even apart from Elliot A who was prepared to come from one extreme to the other to play for us. Other things decide the opportunity to get loans not just the geographical area. UTG! |
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Post by Topper Gas on Mar 3, 2023 20:32:25 GMT
I guess there are only so many football fans in any region of the country, as the fact that the two Manchester clubs are now getting combined attendances of over 100K a week swallowed up all that regions football fans?
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Post by warehamgas on Mar 3, 2023 20:38:44 GMT
I guess there are only so many football fans in any region of the country, as the fact that the two Manchester clubs are now getting combined attendances of over 100K a week swallowed up all that regions football fans? Apart from them never playing home at the same time I think your basic point is right. The success of 3 of the 4 PL clubs over the past 10 years must have sucked many neutrals to them and away from the smaller clubs. UTG! |
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Post by gasgas3 on Mar 3, 2023 23:04:56 GMT
Chicken and Egg.
Clearly I’m Blue. But I genuinely believe the city of Bristol needs a Premier League team at some point. If that’s the **** so be it.
Either Gas or the **** make it, can only benefit both teams with players and coaches moving to the area.
Having experienced first hand through my own lad and his mates playing for Rovers, City, and Southampton Academy the standard of coaching and structure at Prem level is completely different gravy.
Stadium is a part of it of course, but younger players believe me want to play league football, regardless of how good the stadium is.
There are some unbelievable young players in Bristol, just a shame we don’t have the attraction because of lack of top flight football.
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