Wednesday, January 18, 2006
One magpie
I'm having one of those days where nothing seems to have gone quite right. It started from the moment I woke up when I felt like crap despite having quite a good nights sleep. Then I didn't really take anything in at the one lecture I had today (though that's quite normal at the moment). Next came the text telling me that no one had booked the five-aside pitch for the afternoon (the time my team normally has a kick-around), the one wednesday afternoon that I'm free for over a month. Great.
There's more than that but you get the point. It's been like that all week as well. I think remember seeing a magpie the other day so that probably explains it. The weather isn't helping my mood much either.
Hopefully I'll be able to blow away the misery this weekend when I head up to London to a party with a couple of my old uni friends who I've not seen for too long. Should be good. Well, maybe.
There's more than that but you get the point. It's been like that all week as well. I think remember seeing a magpie the other day so that probably explains it. The weather isn't helping my mood much either.
Hopefully I'll be able to blow away the misery this weekend when I head up to London to a party with a couple of my old uni friends who I've not seen for too long. Should be good. Well, maybe.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
A sense of community?
My article from the FA Trophy game against Histon 14/01/2006
In last week’s programme I wrote about the atmosphere at St James Park not helping the players’ performances on the pitch. Sadly we had a good example of what is wrong during that game. Some people booed the team off at half time and also booed at times in the second half. Needless to say I rather enjoyed the chant which a few (no idea who … ) started after we scored the winner: “You only boo when we’re drawing.”
Alex Inglethorpe spoke to the official site during the week about the negativity of some fans saying that he can understand a crowd booing a lack of effort or a referee but not a side that are currently in 2nd place in the league. And I agree with him: if a player is working hard, it does nothing for his confidence and performance level to be booed because he misplaced a pass.
Anyone who has played sport knows the importance of confidence to performance. Supporters can do a great deal to help the performance on the pitch when things aren’t going well by staying positive and not getting on the players’ backs. It is easy to be encouraging when things are going well, but it’s when we’re struggling that the team most needs the crowd to be behind them. As a general rule, away from home our fans are much more likely to stay positive when the team is up against it. This may explain why our away form is so good this season, winning as many on our travels as at the Park.
Aside from the negativity of some, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how our attendances have held up in the Conference. When we were relegated I had horrible visions of playing league matches in front of sub-2000 (Torquay-sized) crowds and having to go part-time (that is, in my moments when I thought we’d make it to the start of the following season). However, over the last few seasons we’ve averaged about 3500 despite few teams bringing much of a following with them and having no real derby game to boost the average. I never thought we’d get over 6500 for a Conference game in November!
I think there are a couple of reasons why we’ve managed to keep attendances up. The fact that we’ve been at the right end of a league table for most of the last few years has certainly helped. But perhaps just as important has been the takeover by the Supporters’ Trust. With the fans now in charge, the sense of ownership and community spirit that greater supporter involvement has produced has encouraged people to turn up more regularly. With no “Sugar Daddy” to prop us up, it’s vital that this is maintained. The club will live or die based on the efforts of the fans.
Our next 3 games in the league are going to be difficult. We face Morecambe away, and then Accrington and Stevenage at home: three of the top 7. I am sure the attendances will mean our average is kept above the 4000 mark for the season, although the rearrangement of the Accrington match (because of Sky) will mean we don’t get as big a turn out as perhaps we might have done for that one. I hope that those who can make the games get behind the team in what are bound to be close contests.
In last week’s programme I wrote about the atmosphere at St James Park not helping the players’ performances on the pitch. Sadly we had a good example of what is wrong during that game. Some people booed the team off at half time and also booed at times in the second half. Needless to say I rather enjoyed the chant which a few (no idea who … ) started after we scored the winner: “You only boo when we’re drawing.”
Alex Inglethorpe spoke to the official site during the week about the negativity of some fans saying that he can understand a crowd booing a lack of effort or a referee but not a side that are currently in 2nd place in the league. And I agree with him: if a player is working hard, it does nothing for his confidence and performance level to be booed because he misplaced a pass.
Anyone who has played sport knows the importance of confidence to performance. Supporters can do a great deal to help the performance on the pitch when things aren’t going well by staying positive and not getting on the players’ backs. It is easy to be encouraging when things are going well, but it’s when we’re struggling that the team most needs the crowd to be behind them. As a general rule, away from home our fans are much more likely to stay positive when the team is up against it. This may explain why our away form is so good this season, winning as many on our travels as at the Park.
Aside from the negativity of some, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how our attendances have held up in the Conference. When we were relegated I had horrible visions of playing league matches in front of sub-2000 (Torquay-sized) crowds and having to go part-time (that is, in my moments when I thought we’d make it to the start of the following season). However, over the last few seasons we’ve averaged about 3500 despite few teams bringing much of a following with them and having no real derby game to boost the average. I never thought we’d get over 6500 for a Conference game in November!
I think there are a couple of reasons why we’ve managed to keep attendances up. The fact that we’ve been at the right end of a league table for most of the last few years has certainly helped. But perhaps just as important has been the takeover by the Supporters’ Trust. With the fans now in charge, the sense of ownership and community spirit that greater supporter involvement has produced has encouraged people to turn up more regularly. With no “Sugar Daddy” to prop us up, it’s vital that this is maintained. The club will live or die based on the efforts of the fans.
Our next 3 games in the league are going to be difficult. We face Morecambe away, and then Accrington and Stevenage at home: three of the top 7. I am sure the attendances will mean our average is kept above the 4000 mark for the season, although the rearrangement of the Accrington match (because of Sky) will mean we don’t get as big a turn out as perhaps we might have done for that one. I hope that those who can make the games get behind the team in what are bound to be close contests.
