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Post by Del on May 8, 2014 12:33:02 GMT
I wasn't there on Saturday as I had to be in France. I was of course hoping to see a game at GGL next Saturday until the result came through via mobile phone dashing any hopes of that. A lot of people were obviously pretty fed up with what they saw and we do seem to be serial failures in the play-offs. All in all I don't think we should be too downcast though. We finished 2nd and made the 1st round proper of the cup. I think the thumping that Kidderminster handed out knocked us back for a crucial few weeks and to be honest demonstrated just how big the gap is between Conference and Conference South. If we made promotion I don't like to think how much money would be needed to strengthen the team enough to stay up. Our gates just aren't big enough to sustain the wage bill and putting the gate price up doesn't work as Salisbury's gates prove. Being at the sharp end of Conf. South, in a league where we are a decent sized club, and hopefully prioritising the cups isn't such a bad place to be in my opinion. So what happens if you get knocked out of the cups early.Whole season gone & nothing to look forward to. Yes that would work.Should really get supporters through the gate. |
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billy
1st team skipper
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Post by billy on May 8, 2014 12:48:12 GMT
What is the long term goal then ? Do Sutton United want to get in the Premier League ?
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Post by Andy K on May 8, 2014 12:56:21 GMT
What is the long term goal then ? Do Sutton United want to get in the Premier League ? Not speaking for anyone else, I'd say no. But then what do you mean by long term? 5 years? No. 10 years? No. 100 years? very slightly possible perhaps. |
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billy
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Post by billy on May 8, 2014 13:00:53 GMT
In two years time they could be in the league. Some non league fans may drift away.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2014 13:15:16 GMT
My personal opinion is that clubs are far better off being in League Two than they are being in the Conference National.
The amount of extra funding teams in League Two get compared to the Conference National is quite significant and the cost of having a full time squad with the travel involved in the Conference National I can't imagine is much lower than the costs of having a full time team and the travel in League Two.
I am not saying it is a realistic target for SUFC at present to try and get into the football league and wouldn't condone over stretching financially to achieve it however if you could manage to get a part time team up from the Conference National into the football league then I believe the extra funding and extra away support boosting your attendances would help you support a full time team a lot more than the Conference funding and away support would.
You'd also be entering the FA Cup at the first round stage and be competing in the League Cup which gives you extra chances of having a game against a bigger league club. Also you get to play in the Football League Trophy which gives you a chance of winning something at Wembley. You’d also get extra media exposure etc.
Just out of interest, I'm not old enough to remember when we played at the same level as Wycombe but obviously they have managed to maintain their position in the Football League since they went up in 1993. What were their attendances like back in the days of them being a non-league club? Did they always have decent sized crowds that could sustain league football (like Yeovil did when they were in the Conference) or have they increased since they became a football league side? Were they a much bigger club than we were when they knocked us out of the FA Trophy semi-finals or have they grown much bigger because they have been in the football league for so long now?
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Post by Andy K on May 8, 2014 13:23:47 GMT
Certainly one reason why Wycombe and Yeovil have become more sustainable is the fact they are not that near bigger teams. Yeovil in particular, but Wycombe (and Crawley) have a decent catchment area where they are the biggest team around. This is why I think the whole Eastleigh thing is a bit silly. They are far too close to a Premiership side to have idiotic ambitions.
Of course so are Sutton. 3 Prem clubs (albeit now 2) within easy reach of Sutton and another 3 slightly further afield but still easy to get to. This is one reason why our board are looking more at the sustainable approach. Oh and apart from the fact that too many boom or bust sides have shown them that it doesn't work.
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Post by davef on May 8, 2014 14:41:27 GMT
Simon,
Going back to the 60s and 70s Wycombe were always the best supported side in the Isthmian League, even their away support would just about fill an end at Sutton. By 1993 they were top of the Conference of course, pushing to achieve their long-term ambition of Football League status and we were in the Ryman League so, yes, by then they were a bigger club than Sutton. And I don't think any Sutton fans who remembers our old rivalries would begrudge them their success, they always had massive potential.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2014 15:17:46 GMT
Simon, Going back to the 60s and 70s Wycombe were always the best supported side in the Isthmian League, even their away support would just about fill an end at Sutton. By 1993 they were top of the Conference of course, pushing to achieve their long-term ambition of Football League status and we were in the Ryman League so, yes, by then they were a bigger club than Sutton. And I don't think any Sutton fans who remembers our old rivalries would begrudge them their success, they always had massive potential. Cheers Dave, I guess it is similar to when I remember Yeovil being in the Conference 14-15 years ago and always having decent enough support that would sustain a football league team. My main point in regards to being better of in League Two as opposed to the Conference National is targeted at those teams that are operating full time in the Conference National. As the Chairman of the Board you are probably in a better position than most as to what the current ambitions for SUFC are or could be? I doubt many would have imagined 20 years ago teams such as Fleetwood, Dagenham and Redbridge, Morecambe, Crawley and Stevenage being in the football league. Obviously a few of those are only there due to being bankrolled to that position. Does the board (or even just yourself personally) feel that the club could grow into a side that is capable of reaching the football league or is the Conference National the highest they feel we could go? Obviously a lot of hard work is going into trying to improve the club both in terms of facilities and our support base but where does the board feel/hope this hard work will lead us? |
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Post by Stewart on May 8, 2014 15:36:19 GMT
Promotion does not guarantee good/better crowds. Welling a club very similar to us have not fared well. Their crowds are generally the same as last season. Only the visit of Luton upped their averages.
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Post by davef on May 8, 2014 15:40:09 GMT
The aim is always to be competitive at the highest level that we can sustain. What that means in practice changes over time and is influenced by a myriad of factors.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2014 15:58:23 GMT
Promotion to the Conference National will not Stewart, I agree. Promotion to the football league probably would though. Only 7 teams in the Conference National average over 2k for home attendances. In League Two only 3 teams average under 2k for home attendances.
Not that I have an burning ambition for SUFC to be a football league club and I guess if the FA introduce B teams to this level of football then it will kill off non-league football anyway.
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Post by Del on May 8, 2014 17:38:03 GMT
Welling have never had great attendances in the Conference.Maybe due to the fact that the club have only been in around a short time in relative terms.Braintree are a better example as their crowds were not great in the Isthmian league.Are immediate goal should be Conference football and see where we can go from there.
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Post by Andy K on May 8, 2014 18:08:34 GMT
I always think the same rules apply - the better you are doing, the more the crowds will come. Look at our championship year, and compare that to our relegation season. If I'm right as well, this season has been our highest average crowd since we got promoted. No coincidence that it was our highest finish too!
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Post by wiltshire on May 8, 2014 21:13:14 GMT
I agree that any team and player should try to be the best they can and if we managed to make it into the Conference I would be delighted. However, we should be realistic and certainly shouldn't be demoralised or hacked off by finishing 2nd, albeit getting thumped in the play offs. The play off was a big disappointment and I wasn't even there. Unless we are lucky/careful enough to home grow a young and gifted team that can carry us up and has the potential to improve a lot pretty quickly I honestly don't see how we could fund a prolonged stay competing against much bigger clubs with much bigger incomes. Luton took several seasons to get promoted back to the league as did Oxford and next year Bristol Rovers will be in the Conference (gates of 7-8,000 versus our 6-700). It is a professional 4th Football League in all but name. A season up there might be fun if kept in perspective but would almost certainly involve regular tonkings like last time. Being a yo-yo club might be a reasonable aspiration I suppose, but I confess that I do like the FA Cup and Trophy and would take a good run in either of them any day.
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Post by sdavison on May 8, 2014 22:04:18 GMT
I always think the same rules apply - the better you are doing, the more the crowds will come. Look at our championship year, and compare that to our relegation season. If I'm right as well, this season has been our highest average crowd since we got promoted. No coincidence that it was our highest finish too! Was this year not skewed slightly because of the free entry we gave to 1 game and getting over 2000 in. Whilst i'm not denying that it was a great initiative what I am saying is that it's not very comparable as we have not done this in previous years. |
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