http://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/article/20130424-homelessfa-789495.aspx We may have got a lot wrong over the past few years but City's involvement with projects such as this and the great work that the Community department is also doing, makes me prouder to be a Bristol City supporter. Are we as a club finally getting our act together? I know the first team is the top priority, but all the other building blocks are being put into place to help that priority become more achievable and sustainable.
City might be finally getting their act together in the community. That is a might. Even around Bedminster there can be little sign of the club.A community club should be getting involved everywhere it can.This years upfest festival are city in amongst it? Big festival thousands attending and leaves a legacy for visitors to see right on the doorstep. local pubs are being painted by artists anything city related being done? There are many ways to build goodwill reputation and support.
If you desire to be a local success then you need to get involved in a lot of community projects such as this. Not living anywhere near the area leaves me at a disadvantage as far as being up with what community involvement Bristol City gets involved in on a regular basis. A keystone of getting backsides in the seats is community involvement and working with schools and local footballing interests. I believe that when we were previously in League One we consistently had the highest home attendances of all the teams in that division and targeting those figures should be a priority for next season because stadium atmosphere is also a key contributor in success. I have never felt that Ashton Gate is a ground where other teams fear to tread but a change in the decibel level can soon turn that around and perhaps the tag of "Fortress Ashton Gate" can become a reality rather than a wish that has doing the rounds for way too long. Put all the key factors together at the same time and your belief that you can be successful has a better than even chance of coming true. Philosophy lesson over for the day.
Compared to most grounds Ashton gate is noisy. That type of thing in English football is now dead and buried v abroad where a lot of young lads are heading on weekenders. One thing I have noted on trips abroad v here is how much more visible the club's are. Clubs in Germany and the Netherlands boss their towns. Question here is why can city fans can get eastend stencils and all the associated spin offs into bars, cafes, pubs and local galleries but city can't do similar. A well thought out campaign could engage local schools and businesses and raise the profile. Reminding people that the club exists can never be bad thing. BCFC should be attempting to become part of the consciousness.
Good points 3 lions. I went to Berlin in October 2011 and the Hertha Berlin fans were all over the city on match day and inside the stadium, about 80% of fans had a shirt or scarf or banner. Bloody noisy 46,000 in the Olympic stadium. And Dortmund tonight and Bayern last night certainly made themselves heard. I've seen Bayern fans going to a home game in February with snow everywhere, wearing just their club shirt, while everyone else has about four layers on! Yes these are big clubs but in Bristol we are the BIG CLUB so let's nag the BCFC to promote themselves a lot more within our own City. Wherever we are in the league system, we have to make Bristol kids PROUD to be a City fan. Just like us old un's were back in our childhood. We admired other teams but in all my life, I've never felt the same about any other club as I feel about MY CITY.
Your point in the last paragraph was attempted via the when the moon shines forum which was responsible for some of the things seen outside and inside the ground. Not sure if the club get it or city's fans.sometimes you have to see how it works and think it can here. Club I think of is St Pauli yes the politics and culture are like nothing else but the relentless self promotion is relevant. Club might go we have to meet financial fair play but campaigns don't have to be expensive. Goodwill is out there to be used fans got George Ferguson's, tobacco factory factory to display a huge banner off the roof andvdrther down the road the Spanish bar has a wall with stickers and city stencil, down the road Red and white cafe similar then the luckwell pub and on that goes but it's low scale and all coming from the same set of fans. What's needed is fans and club having some sort of manifesto on how to achieve getting the club seen beyond "it's all about winning".
This could be a thoroughly interesting topic. City are the club not only of Bristol but the region, but appear reticent about their status. Google when the moon shines and you see a page of colour and zest for City, check otib it's topics about Suarez. Same club totally different attitudes.
Have you been to Union Berlin? The club sounds "interesting". Agree with points made. Visit a German club and you are left in no doubt of their importance. St Pauli outside stadium around the Reeperbahn feel like the biggest club in the world.
I think we have already got a great club, good history (apart from '82), traditional stadium, we just need to modernise the product we've already got and step up to the stadium expansion as and when we can, leave all the whiz- kid stuff to womens make up and after shave sales.. We are a third tier football club preparing for the new challenge. Up the City..
Modernising without thought could create a dull and unappealing football club. Clubs mentioned have used creative means to increase their reach, support and this crosses over into the stadium. An ounce of St Paul's cool.= increased revenue. There is also a clear sense of traditionalism running through the mentioned clubs.
. Use the club's traditions to advertise it. Ernie was created in part to be easily drawn and be attractive to kids as well. Ended up also being used as numerous tattooes as well. Cost to BCFC was nothing. Nothing to do with whizz kid stuff all to do with a bit of pride. Sticking scarves flags in Windows painting walls is pride. We let the big clubs have bristol as their territory by thinking small and thinking we are second best.
Clubs should have a social context. The c in FC should mean community. Some of the worlds most successful clubs are multi sport associations. Interestingly the German clubs handing the top Spanish sides their arses this week have extensive not for profit sub sections of their clubs committed to activities for the common good. This is common pratice in Germany and in part explains their gate figures outstripping the best and richest league in the world. German clubs cultivate different and healthier relationships with support by operating entirely different models of FC's. I do feel that Ashton Gates atmosphere is/was one of the best in the championship. This could be improved upon by employing the practices of the Germans to galvanise links between community and club.
Good points Cliftonville. The Hertha Berlin game I referred to above was between two mid table sides in mid October. By the end of the season Berlin had been relegated but their attendances held up in the slide. For next season, it's my suggestion to City that at least 2,000 free tickets for each home game are given to children and aimed specifically at the under tens or twelves. That way we might encourage local boys to gain a real affinity with their local club before they become too indoctrinated with the top of the Premiership. By all means they can have a second team that they like but their first love should be BCFC (or even BRFC).
It is hard to compete with that blanket saturation of the Premiership, but one of the easiest has to be by BCFC engaging the community at as many levels thus the community then becomes more engaged. My son will be attending a community trust course this year. The coaching is economically priced, cheap even. By being accessible and inclusive there BCFC can get themselves in credit with parents of six to nine year olds. That makes sense on many levels. There is a word for this in German verein, meaning roughly club. I would like to see BCFC becoming a club in the sense of a open, public, community [regional] based football club v solely a business. Read these forums sometimes and that basic principle is often absent.
