Aldershit

[frimmers3]

Back to the videoz.

Love the Police presence, on copper on his bike, shooing people out of the road.

And the courtage including an fat spotty mother pushing a buggy.

Evey time you see it you find another gem.

one day you will see the real parade rather than the nobfest oft quoted.

Both of them were probably enjoying a nice ploughmans lunch while that spaz fest was going on.

possibly..have you seen this reading fan related tom paxton video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN3rN59GlWw

[Royal With Cheese]

Interesting. I also clicked on this Aldershot realted link while I was there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80niZnYCB04

[Gloria Gooner]

Having visited it recently, Aldershot have the sort of ground that quite a few team board posters are nostalgic for.

Hello!

i believe the home terrace roof is made from old Anderson shelters. I'd rather watch my football under that than in the Madejski.

It is a gr8 ground. Nice social club too.

[roadrunner]

But whilst it's adequate for their supporters, what's the need to move grounds? Is there a vast, untapped, market for Aldershot matches they'd be able to meet with a new ground?

You could have asked the same of little old Reading when we all scoffed at moving to a 24000 all seater plastic pudding bowl. New stadiums get more bums in the ground. Reading have never looked back, why not the same for Aldershot, although at a lesser scale?

[Alan Partridge]

Aldershot's ground certainly has some 'character' Floodlight pylons, the trainline running along the side of the ground almost, the excellent stand behind the goal (although posts are dump, only thing that lets that end down) Also the walk to the away end is unbelievable, i think you actually walk as far as Reading before you turn off for a park, and then down the hill to the entrance of the away end. It really is truly bizarre hard to explain if you've never been there. The complete lack of a terrace or stand behind one goal lets the ground down really but the Wreck is definitely worth a visit.

[Svlad Cjelli]

But whilst it's adequate for their supporters, what's the need to move grounds? Is there a vast, untapped, market for Aldershot matches they'd be able to meet with a new ground?

You could have asked the same of little old Reading when we all scoffed at moving to a 24000 all seater plastic pudding bowl. New stadiums get more bums in the ground. Reading have never looked back, why not the same for Aldershot, although at a lesser scale?

Except that Reading in the Mid-90s had had a run of matches for a season or so where they were regularly at or close to capacity, and a significant number of matches where it was clear they could have sold many, many more tickets than they had available. They were also turning away numerous corporate customers because they couldn't cater for them.

I see nothing of that ilk at Aldershot.

Many clubs have moved grounds, and many, many chairmen see it as a universal panacea for solving finacial ills - but only in certain circumstances is it actually worthwhile.

[Muskrat]

I was there as well. Mark Whitlocks finest hour.

In fact they were so impressed they signed him off us!!

[SLAMMED]

How hilarious. You've spelt Aldershot with an 'i' to make it a rude word.

[Norfolk Royal]

But whilst it's adequate for their supporters, what's the need to move grounds? Is there a vast, untapped, market for Aldershot matches they'd be able to meet with a new ground?

You could have asked the same of little old Reading when we all scoffed at moving to a 24000 all seater plastic pudding bowl. New stadiums get more bums in the ground. Reading have never looked back, why not the same for Aldershot, although at a lesser scale?

Except that Reading in the Mid-90s had had a run of matches for a season or so where they were regularly at or close to capacity, and a significant number of matches where it was clear they could have sold many, many more tickets than they had available. They were also turning away numerous corporate customers because they couldn't cater for them.

I see nothing of that ilk at Aldershot.

Many clubs have moved grounds, and many, many chairmen see it as a universal panacea for solving finacial ills - but only in certain circumstances is it actually worthwhile.

Good post.

[LWJ]

Back to the videoz.

Love the Police presence, on copper on his bike, shooing people out of the road.

And the courtage including an fat spotty mother pushing a buggy.

Evey time you see it you find another gem.

Lol @ the ginger in a burberry hat.

[frimmers3]

all it is missing is rumblestix,pants and beards.

[roadrunner]

all it is missing is rumblestix,pants and beards.

It is a pretty humiliating video in all honesty.

[floyd__streete]

all it is missing is rumblestix,pants and beards.

Rumblestix were a dire fad 'inspired' by our former managed which the fans rejected almost from the off and thankfully died a death after one game. Pants day was one of the most original football protests for years and generated lots of publicity in getting the supporters frustrations across. Beard day was an amusing and welcome once-a-season tradition which brightened up the soulesness of the era of modern all-seater stadia. So as usual, your attempted point-scoring has resulted in an own goal.

These videos - with the streets of Aldershot almost bereft of revellers celebrating your club's best ever season - rather sum up the apathy of the town towards its team, hence why the 1926-1992 club was just allowed to die, hence why the new club's home attendances are amongst the lowest in league football. When RFC were promoted last in 2006 there were 100,000+ people estimated out on the streets of the town to salute the team. This kind of pride in the town perhaps explains in part why our own club wasn't allowed to just die without so much as a whimper in 1983.

[Jerry St Clair]

These videos - with the streets of Aldershot almost bereft of revellers celebrating your club's best ever season - rather sum up the apathy of the town towards its team, hence why the 1926-1992 club was just allowed to die, hence why the new club's home attendances are amongst the lowest in league football. When RFC were promoted last in 2006 there were 100,000+ people estimated out on the streets of the town to salute the team. This kind of pride in the town perhaps explains in part why our own club wasn't allowed to just die without so much as a whimper in 1983.

Harsh. Promotion to the Premier League is guaranteed to bring out thousands of glory hunters. A better comparison would be our Division Two championship win in 1994 when you can see the open top bus driving down a near deserted Oxford Road on the Year Of The Royals video. When it arrived outside the Town Hall, the square was barely half full (again, it's on the vid).

And our club was saved from Maxwell in 1983 because of Roger Smee, not the fans.

[floyd__streete]

These videos - with the streets of Aldershot almost bereft of revellers celebrating your club's best ever season - rather sum up the apathy of the town towards its team, hence why the 1926-1992 club was just allowed to die, hence why the new club's home attendances are amongst the lowest in league football. When RFC were promoted last in 2006 there were 100,000+ people estimated out on the streets of the town to salute the team. This kind of pride in the town perhaps explains in part why our own club wasn't allowed to just die without so much as a whimper in 1983.

Harsh. Promotion to the Premier League is guaranteed to bring out thousands of glory hunters. A better comparison would be our Division Two championship win in 1994 when you can see the open top bus driving down a near deserted Oxford Road on the Year Of The Royals video. When it arrived outside the Town Hall, the square was barely half full (again, it's on the vid).

And our club was saved from Maxwell in 1983 because of Roger Smee, not the fans.

You first point is a fair one, JSC. Point of order though re: 1983, I think that Roy Tranter deserves as much respect in that regard as Smee. The point I was trying to make is that the fans protested and made their feelings clear that they didn't want the club - which as I understand it, was on its knees financially - just to die; there is a good picture in the RFC Pictorial History 1871-1997 (IIRC) of the demo march through Broad Street. Local media got behind the campaign too. The club wouldn't die through apathy.

[Svlad Cjelli]

You first point is a fair one, JSC. Point of order though re: 1983, I think that Roy Tranter deserves as much respect in that regard as Smee. The point I was trying to make is that the fans protested and made their feelings clear that they didn't want the club - which as I understand it, was on its knees financially - just to die; there is a good picture in the RFC Pictorial History 1871-1997 (IIRC) of the demo march through Broad Street. Local media got behind the campaign too. The club wouldn't die through apathy.

Yep, but it's relatively easy for a club to get people onto the streets to support it when its threatened by a crisis. What is not so easy is to get those same people to make the effort to put their hands in their pockets and spend their time coming along to support the club on a regular basis.

[Jerry St Clair]

You first point is a fair one, JSC. Point of order though re: 1983, I think that Roy Tranter deserves as much respect in that regard as Smee. The point I was trying to make is that the fans protested and made their feelings clear that they didn't want the club - which as I understand it, was on its knees financially - just to die; there is a good picture in the RFC Pictorial History 1871-1997 (IIRC) of the demo march through Broad Street. Local media got behind the campaign too. The club wouldn't die through apathy.

Absolutely, Roy Tranter's contribution to the Smee takeover is undeniable. But, ultimately, dedicated fans cannot save a club. I've no doubt that Aldershot had fans with similar drive and determination in 1992. What they didn't have was a Roger Smee or a John Madejski. Instead they got Spencer Trethewy.

Without the man with the cash, no amount of supporter activism can save a club.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Without the man with the cash, no amount of supporter activism can save a club.

I know a lot of supporters at Exeter, AFC Telford, Bury, York City, Chester FC, Halifax, AFC Scarborough and various other clubs who would argue with that.

True, supporter ownership may not make a club particularly competitive under current rules, and supporter ownership doesn't scale up the leagues very well, but clubs can certainly be "saved" just by supporters.

[frimmers3]

as was aldershot town. it would be nothing but churlish to ridicule those that cared.

[Jerry St Clair]

Without the man with the cash, no amount of supporter activism can save a club.

I know a lot of supporters at Exeter, AFC Telford, Bury, York City, Chester FC, Halifax, AFC Scarborough and various other clubs who would argue with that.

Yes, but most of those clubs plummeted down the leagues or were reformed as different entities further down the pyramid. Which is what happened to Aldershot.

My point is that Reading were saved by Smee, and he enabled it to carry on as the same club at the same level. Without him the club would very likely have been merged into Thames Valley Royals. I don't think Reading supporters could have prevented that on their own. We may have reformed "AFC Reading" further down the league.