|
Post by phillistine on Mar 4, 2016 11:57:22 GMT
Having lived upt'north for a few years in my early twenties I was struck by how different the towns are with regard to their footie. When Newcastle or Sunderland won the towns came alive and Saturday night was party after party. If they lost , the atmosphere died and Saturday nights were dead. It was really noticeable. You could tell how the team had performed by the mood of the city.
When I first moved down to Bristol I noticed that the atmosphere in town on a saturday night was the same regardless of how the footie had gone and whilst a few people were obviously affected by it, the mood of the city was not deeply affected.
I put it down to the fact that certain cities are perhaps more traditionally working class and maybe footie is steeped in family tradition in a way that its not in a city which doesnt have a history of top class footie.
Having said that footie has completely changed and it is no longer such a working class sport. Tv has introduced a whole new culture who are used to enjoying their sport in comfort and in fact it is far less class driven than it was perhaps in the 60's and 70's even.
Brighton are a great example of a club who have been transformed as they now appeal to a much greater cross section of the public than they used to.
I do accept that maybe more people play sport in Bristol and there are a number of alternatives open to people but make no doubt about it- if we get a new stadium then a whole new legion of " fans" will be attracted to the club. I think people underestimate just how many people travel outside of the city to watch top flight or higher league football on a regular basis. A friend of mine took a car load of fans to watch Man United v Watford on Wednesday and on closer questionning he actually admitted that if Rovers get a new stadium and go up the ladder then maybe he will stick to watching his footie in Bristol. You could argue that these are not diehard fans but they are the floating crowd and there are a lot of them.
|
|
|
Post by Antonio Fargas on Mar 4, 2016 12:25:36 GMT
A friend of mine took a car load of fans to watch Man United v Watford on Wednesday and on closer questionning he actually admitted that if Rovers get a new stadium and go up the ladder then maybe he will stick to watching his footie in Bristol. You could argue that these are not diehard fans but they are the floating crowd and there are a lot of them. Yeah, I think a lot of people would support a good Bristol team over a world class non-Bristol team. They just don't want to support a sh** Bristol team.
|
|
|
Post by gaslife on Mar 4, 2016 13:19:07 GMT
A friend of mine took a car load of fans to watch Man United v Watford on Wednesday and on closer questionning he actually admitted that if Rovers get a new stadium and go up the ladder then maybe he will stick to watching his footie in Bristol. You could argue that these are not diehard fans but they are the floating crowd and there are a lot of them. Yeah, I think a lot of people would support a good Bristol team over a world class non-Bristol team. They just don't want to support a sh** Bristol team. All football clubs have a hard core of 'real fans' who 'keep the club going' no matter what. Successful clubs also have thousands of 'customers' that provide the income for progression. Some of these may become real fans over time. To attract new customers and there are potentially many out there, it is essential that Rovers move on from the dilapidated, outdated rugby ground and small-club thinking. In the future, we can expect half-time prawn sandwiches and expensive vehicles in the car park. These things go hand-in-hand with the higher standard of football which we all want.
|
|
|
Post by Topper Gas on Mar 4, 2016 13:19:27 GMT
Really? Please elaborate, what is there to do in Bristol that there isn't in any other city? Firstly, I'm not saying Bristol is full of unique things to do, but there is a good range of things for all. I myself hardly watched rovers for 20 years up until the conference year because I played football. It was often said when I played (although I have no proof how true this is) that Bristol has more people partaking in amateur football than anywhere in the UK. Many other amateur sports take place too - where I live, rugby and cricket are far more popular than football, there is a Netball team too. Outside of sport there's the science museum, m-shed and Bristol museum. You can go to the Zoo, visit the SS Great Britain or take a discovery walk around the harbourside. If you're into art there's Spike Island, Arnolfini or take in a Banksy tour. You can see a show at the Hippodrome, the tobacco factory or Old Vic. If you want to be more active there are cycle paths, Ashton court and Leigh Woods. We're also not far from countryside and seaside. So in my opinion, for people that are not currently hooked on watching football, there is an abundance of things to get out and do. Most of those attractions are places you take your family once or twice a year, the zoo, others once every 5 years, the SS GB, probably the biggest attractions in Bristol which weekend are shopping & the cinema etc, which every big city has available. As far as as amateur football, if it is true it is the biggest in the country does that also imply we must have plenty of 30+ year old retired players who have a big interest in football we could attract?
|
|
|
Post by yatetown85 on Mar 4, 2016 14:01:36 GMT
I play Saturday mornings, kick off at 10, finish at 12, still have loads of time to get to the Mem! No excuses ;-)
|
|
|
Post by garystash on Mar 4, 2016 14:16:23 GMT
Firstly, I'm not saying Bristol is full of unique things to do, but there is a good range of things for all. I myself hardly watched rovers for 20 years up until the conference year because I played football. It was often said when I played (although I have no proof how true this is) that Bristol has more people partaking in amateur football than anywhere in the UK. Many other amateur sports take place too - where I live, rugby and cricket are far more popular than football, there is a Netball team too. Outside of sport there's the science museum, m-shed and Bristol museum. You can go to the Zoo, visit the SS Great Britain or take a discovery walk around the harbourside. If you're into art there's Spike Island, Arnolfini or take in a Banksy tour. You can see a show at the Hippodrome, the tobacco factory or Old Vic. If you want to be more active there are cycle paths, Ashton court and Leigh Woods. We're also not far from countryside and seaside. So in my opinion, for people that are not currently hooked on watching football, there is an abundance of things to get out and do. Most of those attractions are places you take your family once or twice a year, the zoo, others once every 5 years, the SS GB, probably the biggest attractions in Bristol which weekend are shopping & the cinema etc, which every big city has available. As far as as amateur football, if it is true it is the biggest in the country does that also imply we must have plenty of 30+ year old retired players who have a big interest in football we could attract? I agree, I was just making the point that there are plenty of other options - too many to list. As per your point on the ex-players - yes there must be a population of them that could be tapped into.
|
|