Kenilworth_Stokies
New Member
Hello Cov fans,
By no means a gloating post, more of a 'been there, done that' from a fellow fan. I've been reading this forum for a while now with increasing alarm. No fans deserve to lose their club as you are threatened with doing.
As a Stoke fan raised in Kenilworth, whilst all around me at school were celebrating your FA Cup win in 1987 I was watching my club fall down the football pyramid. Relegated out of the top flight in 1985, and then relegated again in 1990 to the same third tier where you now find yourselves.
It's tempting to assume that league will be a rout to cheer yourselves up a bit at a time like this. It won't. It will get worse before it gets better, as we found under the incapable management of Alan Ball, finishing as low as 15th in 1991. Every team you will play will make you their cup final. Every away game will be like a throwback to the 1970s.
But assuming you survive it all, which I'll come to in a minute, it is possible to bounce back, no matter how long it takes, as we have proved. Just keep the faith.
With regards to SISU, it seems to me that you need some sort of coordinated response, rather than this continued lacklustre disaffection. Our erstwhile local rivals Port Vale have just managed to oust their old board by a campaign known as Starve Em Out, with a coordinated boycott of season tickets and merchandise, supporting only at away games. They ran a website totalling up lost revenue by pledges from those intending to boycott purchases of a stated value. It's a dangerous game to play, particularly when SISU have already threatened to liquidate you, but in all honesty, what choice do you have? Th Vale went through Admin, with a 10 point deduction, to get what it now seems like will be a new owner.
If you don't amputate the gangrene it will only get worse, no matter how painful it is to do so. No half measures, only all-out coordinated boycotts work in these scenarios.
Good luck in Division 3.
By no means a gloating post, more of a 'been there, done that' from a fellow fan. I've been reading this forum for a while now with increasing alarm. No fans deserve to lose their club as you are threatened with doing.
As a Stoke fan raised in Kenilworth, whilst all around me at school were celebrating your FA Cup win in 1987 I was watching my club fall down the football pyramid. Relegated out of the top flight in 1985, and then relegated again in 1990 to the same third tier where you now find yourselves.
It's tempting to assume that league will be a rout to cheer yourselves up a bit at a time like this. It won't. It will get worse before it gets better, as we found under the incapable management of Alan Ball, finishing as low as 15th in 1991. Every team you will play will make you their cup final. Every away game will be like a throwback to the 1970s.
But assuming you survive it all, which I'll come to in a minute, it is possible to bounce back, no matter how long it takes, as we have proved. Just keep the faith.
With regards to SISU, it seems to me that you need some sort of coordinated response, rather than this continued lacklustre disaffection. Our erstwhile local rivals Port Vale have just managed to oust their old board by a campaign known as Starve Em Out, with a coordinated boycott of season tickets and merchandise, supporting only at away games. They ran a website totalling up lost revenue by pledges from those intending to boycott purchases of a stated value. It's a dangerous game to play, particularly when SISU have already threatened to liquidate you, but in all honesty, what choice do you have? Th Vale went through Admin, with a 10 point deduction, to get what it now seems like will be a new owner.
If you don't amputate the gangrene it will only get worse, no matter how painful it is to do so. No half measures, only all-out coordinated boycotts work in these scenarios.
Good luck in Division 3.
