We should be very worried Today like every Friday I have to pick up my boys from school The school roughly has about 350 pupils give or take and is in south Bristol. As it is sport relief today the kids was aloud to wear football tops or any other sport related tops and kits, of course my boys was wearing their city tops. as the kids came out of the classrooms I spotted Man U Man C Arsenal Chelsea and the most popular Liverpool. On the way home I found out from my eldest that the only people wearing Bristol City shirts was him and my youngest lad 2 kids out of 350ish I knew that they was in the minority supporting their local team but didn't realise it was this drastic
I think it is the same in every part of the country OTIB. Here in Watford, most boys support ManU or Chelsea. However as they grow older they gravitate towards their local team, as it is where their 'mates' go. My eldest was a fervent MU fan but now supports Watford, home and away. He even has a season ticket. My youngest is stuck with Bristol City, poor lad. What kind of supporters do clubs really want - the 5-13 year olds that wear a rip-off replica shirt from the market, or the 14yrs + kind that go to games and buy a ST and a pasty at the game? It's all about their age I think....hopefully not so bleak. Chin up.
my Freddie is the only boy in Dorchester to wear a City shirt, Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City & Liverpool are seen the most. My brother in law in the west midlands a Baggie fan said the kids up there do wear local teams shirts, but of course they are or have been premier clubs recently, until we get into the promised land this unfortunately will be the norm in Bristol, peer pressure to support the top team is hard on kids but we have to keep encouraging our kids what is in our blood to support our team.
The Bristol City community trust do run coaching in Knowle, but what contact do BCFC have with that school? What players have visited? Players rarely even visit the coaching events ran by the Community Trust for kids in Bristol and Keynsham. BCFC forms its own future. It does not do nearly enough off the pitch to combat the EPL. Too much its all about winning v a club, a club in its purest sense being part of its community.
I've seen him - does make you feel good when you see it! Funnily enough when you get older and support a team like City (in a place like Dorchester) there's more "street cred" than supporting one of the big teams - most football fans are interested (probably more out of sympathy!!) Back to City - they have to keep encouraging young kids to come - things like "quid a Kid" schemes and the free/cheap tickets for local youth teams etc
I like to think that the club would want adults from within the city to take their kids down whatever age they may be, But we have already lost a generation of fans in their 20s and early 30s to Man Utd and the others. Pubs in and around the Bedminster/Bishopsworth area are awash with plastics when they are on tv The clubs need to send players to the schools once every so often, My eldest is nearing the end of primary school and no visit is made, it would be huge for the kids and could convert a few especially if we throw in a handful of free tickets, it isn't like we haven't got enough empty seats in Ashton gate at the moment. Maybe with every new signing we could make them go to a training session/school once a month written into their contracts with 30 odd players (including youngsters) we could reach thousands of kids a year, minimal effort for the players just to kick a ball around with them, plus they will remember the experience for years and get more fans at the same time.
Players do visit local clubs but my son goes to school in South Bristol, but my Son has never seen a City player at any of his schools in years. He also attended Bristol City community trust training for six months, again he did not see any players visit. I did contact BCFC regarding using players to produce training clips for kids on you tube. Simple clip demonstrating a side step, step over etc. JET would have been perfect for this and it could have been used to create a BCFC skills award for schools, kids clubs e.g. increase contact and have fun doing it with City. The club said they were looking into doing clips. I have asked twice about this over a time span of a year, they are silent. If the above is the reality of BCFC's performance away from the pitch, these Chelsea shirts in their backyard are a symptom of how poor the clubs performs in its own community.
Its always been there-When I was an 11 year old at school, it was all Man U and Leeds-Leeds had a great side (that we beat of course in 1972),and Man U had Best, Law, Charlton, Stepney etc. 10 years before that, it was Wolves- To their credit, two from that era, still support Wolves and Leeds. The ones that irritate me most is where you see middle aged (Women mostly) with Chelsea shirts on. I doubt very much if they have followed them for more than a couple of years and even less likely to have seen them anywhere else than on Sky. I have a couple of lifelong Chelsea fans and it seems a bit of a shame when they sometime get accused of glory hunting. Chelsea have seen some pretty thin times over the years too- Kids will always follow the big 4- This isn't helped by the greater exposure and coverage TV gives them, (in my day, Match of the Day was one main match and one highlights match in black and white- If the game had ended 0-0 that was tough)- Kids will always follow winners and the few dedicated ones, largely people like ourselves, will always be the backbone of a local team, but the more City can win, the more it will spiral up. Locally, very few kids follow Exeter but you do see some youngsters wearing red and white striped shirts and I think that's great. Its not much fun lately being an Exeter fan at the moment (they won at home yesterday for the first time in 13 ) and their attendances have fallen. But those that do, deserve respect.
I can remember back in the 70's we used to do a 'Bristol City Roadshow', we used to sell scratchcards as voulenteers around our local neighbourhoods, workplaces or pubs and hand in the money collected, pre match at a door in the Williams to a dear old lady, she used to bundle it into a drawer of a table she was sat at, no checks, no signatures, no problems, all done on trust and it worked well for ages. We as agents would nominate a pub, social club or venue in advance through the supporters club, of course we would have to arrange with the local management or owners for permission, the van would turn up on the night, players, managers, coaches, even directors sometimes, all posters and pre publicity handouts were available, events were organised on the night such as quiz's, Q and A sessions with BCFC people, autographs, memorabilia auctions, it was a great night. I arranged 2 nights out in the Yate area where I lived at the time, I had Merrick, Gow and Jimmy Mann turn up, right out in Yate on a Monday night, great support, reached right out into the local communities. They even treated all the agents and their families to a FOC holiday at Pontins for a week in the October for their efforts. Great efforts, great club, great BCFC people, we really were all in it together.
Here in Leeds its as if nobody has ever heard of Man U or Chelsea. In fact I think there probably has been one or two in the past who have worn a Chelsea shirt on the town, but they were never seen again. Probably buried in the M62. Strangely, I dont think anyone here under their mid-fifties would even know of a team called Bristol City A decent and prolonged run of success and all those Man U shirts will be a different shade of red
Thats due to the Dolmans, and AD, as well as the players. Yes we were really all in it together, which is how we kept Merrick and Ritchie of course. REAL supporter power ! And it had the desired effect. Just shows what can be achieved with solid unity, trust and patient belief. And that is why I cant see it ever happening again. I dont think today's Bristol football public have the capacity for patience and belief like in the 70s, or even in the Basso era. Alan Dick's Red and White Army ? RIP i'm afraid. 'Just believe' has moved on somewhere else
Plenty of City shirts at the local school last friday in BS4. Quite a few at the kids parks team in BS3. But the big but is there should and needs to be more and that actual signs of BCFC are rare. Businesses advertise, City don't appear to. Bristol sport here with City and the rugby may make the club more visual. Club needs that community feel you get with foreign clubs. Partnershiups and sponsorship with local businesses big and small. Links with everybody not just the schools who are purchasing the community trust coaching services. Clubs abroad do this to fight back v bigger neighbours. City don't have a bigger neighbour as can excuse just a think small time menality.
On a dog walk here in Frome this afternoon, two young boys aged about 9 or ten were playing football in a cul-de-sac, one with an old Man U shirt but the other with Frome Town kit, shirt and shorts. Great to see this, a boy supporting his own local Southern League club.
City used to run a bus from the forest through Chepstow (picking up the misfit Caldicott cider head) and straight to Ashton gate. This used to generate fans from over here, majority of the people my age still go. But little things like that meant the parents took the kids. No idea why it stopped though?
At my school most people only support premier league sides. I find myself standing up for City frequently and trying to persuade people to support their local club but it is a losing battle. However there always will be glory supporting girls and non football players (eg. Rugby players), however since city's downfall less people support Bristol City. There are still a 10-20 minority supporting their local club out of 150, but the premier league supporting group is far larger of around 50-70.
On a run from BS3-BS4-BS5 I see nothing of BCFC. ...Or virtually nothing cos the only something is put there by fans. Now If you are making a claim to something you claim it. Don't wear that Big club shirt here ... Its bat country. The odd big advert means something v nothing = Take it big five the territory is yours. If BCFC cant be seen in what should be their own gaffs backyard they should not expect Calne, Chipnumb, Frome, Melksham, Trowbridge to fall either.
I had a job interview on Friday and the person interviewing me was a Leeds fan as it turned out. When I said I was a Bristol City fan he asked whether it was Rovers that were called the Robins.
Also meant to add that when I was a kid at school the other kids supported either City, Rovers, Leeds or Chelsea, with the occasional mention of Arsenal and Liverpool
