Ilkeston Updates

[RaidenYeltz]

There is a Twitter post from a Blyth Spartans fan looking forward to receiving us on Saturday and welcoming our fans, many comments I read from opposition fans speak highly of our fans, whether you agree or disagree with this banter you'll never stop it.

Just ask FC UTD, too.

[wednesburystokie]

Can any committee or association really cater for every one of its members wishes?

One man's bap is another man's roll.

I think the association has done very well since its inception less than 12 months ago at both ground maintenance and listening to its members.

It's a fucking cob.

Guesty will be on next telling us all its a Brioche as he is the poshest man I know

[RaidenYeltz]

Can any committee or association really cater for every one of its members wishes?

One man's bap is another man's roll.

I think the association has done very well since its inception less than 12 months ago at both ground maintenance and listening to its members.

It's a fucking cob.

Guesty will be on next telling us all its a Brioche as he is the poshest man I know

I don't even know what that is! Is it a sex toy?

All I know is, a bap is what you play with to instigate the use of a sex toy, and a roll is what you have to move out the way t use said sex toy, on a certain sized woman!

I've said 'sex toy' too much here. I've got a feeling a line has been crossed.

[RobYeltz]

Bizarre, or not, it's reality!
P.S. A super game which I enjoyed immensely, with my pals.Bravo! Hoorah!

Embarrassing. You can forget the sarcasm as well.

I would like to point you to a section on the FOTG website. The following is listed under some of their aims

*To promote and maintain the history and independence of Halesowen Town FC within the local community and beyond and in doing so, encourage the club to ensure it appreciates and welcomes its supporters.

*To increase the opportunities and ways in which supporters of HTFC can express their affiliation with, and actively support Halesowen Town FC.

*To give a voice to those supporters of Halesowen Town FC.

*To campaign on behalf of the members of Halesowen Town FC.

Do these aims apply to all fans or just the ones that agree and conform? Welcomes its supporters? Give a voice to those supporters? Yes you do to the ones that agree with the clique. To be fair to Rob, we have had long exchanges about what happens at the club and he does give an awful lot of time. But I think some of the posts I've received on here over the past couple of years, don't fall under the above. The FOTG, in my opinion is not fulfilling the aims it has set out above. Fantastic at doing the ground, but are you a working party or a supporters association? If it is the latter, then it is something you need to consider

Ok, I'll take the bite. Despite the fact that over the weekend I've exchanged enough text messages with you that my phone bill is horrendous you've made this public, and therefore as a right of reply I will too. In future I'll not respond to your comments but I want to make a few things clear for the audience.

The FOTG was set up initially as a fundraising draw much in the mold of what was run previously. However, after a period of time it became clear that members of the draw could offer more than just their £10 per month. After speaking to these people involved it became clear that they had skills in building, plumbing, electrics, carpentry and many other trades. At this point I thought it would be a good idea to utilise those skills to help the club further. In effect people gave their time freely and the club benefited from their skills. I'm fairly confident this has been the case for a number of years and not just since I got involved.

You claim that the aims of the FOTGSA is not meeting it's aims. Whether you are correct or not is up for debate, and dare I say up for discussion. The aims were put together after looking at clubs of similar size and stature to ours and then made to fit what we thought would suit Halesowen. The Supporters Association is still relatively new and one of the things we have to do is sit down at the end of the season and see what we can do to improve, like any organisation. They're aims, and not set in stone. Call it a starting point if you like? Any of the members who feel they need to be changed are welcome to contact me by the usual means.

One of the issues you have is that you claim it doesn't represent you and your concerns as a supporter, especially about certain players or officials getting abuse. I don't believe it is a major problem personally, as mentioned elsewhere Halesowen is widely known as being a welcoming place by visitors, we have a few folk who get carried away, like any other club in the country. Despite this I have listened to your viewpoint. I have even offered you the suggestion of writing a fans charter that we can then discuss, we will promote it through the FOTG and pay for provisions to support the initiative. The idea being that supporters can come along, sign the charter and it can be displayed on a large wall inside the ground. You have chose not to do this.

I'm not sure what you expect me to do in terms of the issues you've raised on the forum or at the ground. My suggestion to you was that on here you speak with the moderators or board owner, or at the ground the match day stewards. You have decided you don't want to do this. I can simply not be responsible for the actions of grown adults.

The working parties have become part of the Friends of the Grove as we have generated money from the monthly draw. We have said all along that the money generated from the draw is used to pay for things that the club doesn't necessarily budget for. For example, if Steve Lynch came to me and asked for money to buy tracksuits for the players (this is just an example by the way) the response would be 'No'. The finances for said tracksuits should be accounted for by the club and therefore isn't the remit of the FOTG. Neither is the new cafe, pitch or floodlights. We are here to try and improve the facilities and I believe we have done that. We have discussed with members of the club a ground improvement plan for the short, medium and long term.

The FOTG will continue to work hard for the club to the best of our ability with time constraints we have. Despite the fact you have chosen not to be part of it I have always answered you with respect and courtesy. I have always been 100% transparent with you as I am with people in the draw.

[Johnny Bud]

Y27- just out of interest can you name a ground where 100% of the fans respect the opposition and referee?

Having watched thousands of games at all levels from
International to Sunday league I can honestly say I've never heard a game played in silence or with just positive comments being heard.

I have also had the 'pleasure' of refereeing a school game and being abused by the mother of a nine year old as I gave a 'dodgy' penalty against her son's team- they were 11-0 up at the time! I smiled, got on with it, and accepted that she was in the minority. I assume many players and refs do this weekly (and enjoy the fact that are being paid for their hobby!)

I'm not advocating or accepting abuse / excessive banter but it is a part of football, whether we like it or not...

[wednesburystokie]

On Saturday there were 6 or 7 Ilkeston fans who came and stood in the middle of the shed end, and to be fair they were all absolutely steaming, and I for one thought it had the potential to turn nasty.

They strarted chanting that we weren't singing, at one point one of them swore, straight away one of the others told him to stop swearing as there were kids about, despite the fact he was obviously hammered.

He immediately apologised and didn't swear again.

My point is, if anyone sees anything in the ground that's excessive or socially unacceptable either tell them, or report it there and then.

No point coming on here moaning that nothings being done, it's too late then.

Mind you the Ilk fan with 11 kids was a hero, the Ilkeston Raider, they all wanted some

[dazzlingdazza]

Forgive me as I am 4 days behind having been to Scotland for a friends wedding !

Erm.... To say I'm gobsmacked is an understatement, seems to me a certain person is good at moaning (everyone has a moan which is fine) but come on its week in week out, surely the best thing to do if you are not happy with things is to either help or to provide a positive solution, you mention that FOTG is not meeting its aims, why don't you come on board and help, perhaps you have some energy to thrust into the group ? Or even ideas that FOTG haven't got and can take them forward ?

Moaning is fine pal, but when it is after every match, it becomes predictable and a tad boring.

To end on a good note, I thought our performance Saturday was a decent one, our forwards looked lively and a threat, that's the best performance I have seen from Bradley Lewis and quite rightly got MOTM, though it was a good solid team performance. Enjoyed commentating on it though sadly there were technical issues.

Early I know but last away game fancy dress anyone ?

[andy]

27, if you have been coming for many years why have you only recently started bleating about this 'abuse'? It is no worse than it has ever been and is one of the nicest places to visit ANYWHERE. You are making us look bad in the eyes of neutral readers on here, for no discernable reason. If you don't like swearing, banter, passionate people getting a bit hot under the collar etc, then I suggest football is not for you. Try ballet or something.

[Yeltz27]

I will not be posting on here again. I am extremely disappointed by posts from a couple of people who I thought would have known better. There is a tiny clique that have taken over the club and it will be very interesting to see whether their loyalty remains when John Hill does eventually depart. There's always an excuse or a reason, or its somebody else's fault, or don't worry, there are worse clubs out there.

I am sure you all do think the behaviour is acceptable, but in reality it says far more about you than it does me. You only have to read the content of one or two peoples posts to see what type of people I've been battling against. By all means carry on as you are, but it's silly to just repeatedly ignore any criticism.

And I genuinely, honestly don't think the Grove used to be like this. If fan abuse wasn't an issue the FA wouldn't bother with a Respect campaign. Things like homophobia (which I have heard at the Grove) and referee abuse fall under their charter.

To suggest that football isn't for me is just beyond laughable Andy, and is another way of just turning it back on me. I've been going for 22 years, it's part of my life. Why should I stop going just because a new clique have arrived? I've seen many changes at the Grove and the Villa and we can always live in the hope that things will change, and inevitably they will one day. And if you are concerned about neutrals thinking you look bad, well, if it didn't happen in the first place then nobody could say anything about it. So you've only got yourselves to blame there if you are concerned about that.

Remember, it's always easier to blame somebody else than actually take responsibility for anything. Ever since my initial post about the fitness, that has been a recurring pattern.

Matt

[andy]

I have agreed with you in the past about standard of football, tactics or whatever, but it seems to me you now have to find a new hobby horse and after this one maybe another. Also I have been coming here quite a few years more than yourself and can assure you any 'abuse' is no worse than it has ever been. If anything I would say it is the least 'confrontational' period I can ever remember, to the point of the last few years being quite boring. Maybe like me you're just getting old but I don't take life quite so seriously....