Copulate off Salford

[PuB]

I’m not so sure Ian is a Salford fan at all.

 

[T.A]

So why did you support ManU beforehand then, if you're not from Trafford?

In any case, isn't Moor Lane in one of those odd places that is within Salford City Council, but it's not really Salford since it's on the wrong side of the Irwell?

I think one side of the ground is part of the Bury metropolitan area. Its very close anyway.

 

[kieran_vale]

The Championship has already been corrupted beyond belief. It is EPL2 in all but name. In the 80s and 90s it was relatively easy for clubs like Oldham, Swindon, Vale and ourselves to survive at that level. Now it is all but impossible, as the struggles of Rotherham, Peterborough and co. at that level demonstrate, despite heavy investment. League One is a glass ceiling for most small clubs now, and that ceiling will probably be lowered further in the next few years.

Those were some great times in the 90s. That Tranmere side with Aldridge and Muir or Vale with Guppy and Naylor just won’t happen any more. Have reconciled myself with the fact that best realistically any of the clubs mentioned best we can hope for is maybe a run at the L1 playoffs and if we are very lucky a season in the Championship but the days of us competing there are now long gone.

 

[Laker]

Seem to remember Cambridge had a decent spell at that level under Beck (well remember is the wrong word, remember being told is more accurate), while the longest spell we've ever had in the same division was still our spell in the old D2 (broken only by a single season in the old D1). Can't see that happening again.

We were there 91-93, just two seasons. We had a longer spell there in the late 70s/early 80s but that was in the days of split gate receipts which existed to level the playing field, a concept beyond anyone’s dreams today.

 

[valefan16]

Those were some great times in the 90s. That Tranmere side with Aldridge and Muir or Vale with Guppy and Naylor just won’t happen any more. Have reconciled myself with the fact that best realistically any of the clubs mentioned best we can hope for is maybe a run at the L1 playoffs and if we are very lucky a season in the Championship but the days of us competing there are now long gone.

Well we were almost in the Championship play offs bar a Mansfield style bottle job them last three games when 5th and needed three points from three games or whatever it was!

Could never happen now of course but them days as said some clubs of this level today were pretty solid at that level!

Some of those 90s Vale sides...

 

[Bartonyellow]

We got to the championship and stayed there for 2 seasons and but for 2 goals at Bolton at the death it would have been 3 seasons.
So it can be done.. But it's hard.

 

[Gladders]

We were in the championship 91 till 03, with only one season outside of them. Small club punching whilst in that league.

Don't see us ever getting back there and even if we did it would only be a season. The money involved is far too much these days, would need a large investor, new ground and plenty of success to keep the fans.

 

[Jabba the gut]

The Championship has already been corrupted beyond belief. It is EPL2 in all but name. In the 80s and 90s it was relatively easy for clubs like Oldham, Swindon, Vale and ourselves to survive at that level. Now it is all but impossible, as the struggles of Rotherham, Peterborough and co. at that level demonstrate, despite heavy investment. League One is a glass ceiling for most small clubs now, and that ceiling will probably be lowered further in the next few years.

This is the huge danger of Salford.

I'm becoming more and more convinced that what they're really about is apeing the RB Leipzig model. Take a compliant vehicle - a small club with none of the baggage others might have and too small a fanbase to cause problems - and supercharge it with absurd money in order to use it as a Trojan horse to crash the top table.

The already huge money of the EPL is predicted to explode further, so you can see the logic of it - spend what seems like silly money to eventually get many times silly money by the back door.

You can bet your life that if the Salford model works, a few Saudi billionaires and far-east tycoons are going to suddenly demonstrate a curious inerest in Bogglesthworpe Academicals of Step 15, playing in their own ground in the urban area of a northern/midlands city away from the ridiculous real estate prices and land values of the South.

After all, why bother with a Plymouth, a Bradford, or even a Cambridge or Colchester and subject yourself to the various hurdles, scrutiny, expense and ballache of uppity fans asking tedious questions about tradition and soul when you can avoid all that by starting much lower down with a much more compliant vehicle whose handful of fans you can steamroll and accepting it will take a couple of extra guaranteed promotions to achieve your ultimate goal?

At least in Germany with their tradition of 51% fan ownership Red Bull are universally hated and abused (in the sense of chanting at them) at games. It would be something to see our clubs' fans unite against Salford in the same way ("Copulate Off Salford" ringing out at every game would be mint) but years of Greed is Good being the mantra of UK society and EPL brainwashing probably makes that a pipe-dream.

 

[Jabba the gut]

My family are United fans, that's how most get their team

Maybe my kids will in later life tell their peers they're Salford cos their dad took em to games. If they support United that's fine by me.

That's how clubs grow, it's all cycles.

Be serious. Football clubs do not normally grow by billionaires hopelessly distorting fair competition overnight. Even in the explicit franchise system of the uber-Capitalist US there are regulations preventing that.

 

[Jabba the gut]

We were there 91-93, just two seasons. We had a longer spell there in the late 70s/early 80s but that was in the days of split gate receipts which existed to level the playing field, a concept beyond anyone’s dreams today.

Revenue sharing went even further - we woud all get exactly the same share of broadcast revenue as Manchester United for example. Lots of other regulations levelled the playing field as well - however the idea of solidarity and the belief that we all depend on each other is passé now. Greed Is Good.

 

[Jabba the gut]

We got to the championship and stayed there for 2 seasons and but for 2 goals at Bolton at the death it would have been 3 seasons.
So it can be done.. But it's hard.

Yes, but that was considered an outstanding and rare achievement, one which will become more and more unlikely as the money from the EPL ossifies football. The injection of megamoney from the opposite end by Salford and any other billionaire carpetbaggers they inspire in future will exacerbate the process.

Once upon a time many clubs could aspire to mix it in the second tier from time to time - York, Stockport, Walsall, Colchester, Southend, Hereford and many more. Grimsby have actually spent considerably more seasons in the 2nd tier since the introduction of the 4th tier than our Green rivals, believe it or not. Not only that, but Carlisle, Oxford and Wimbledon could even reach the top-flight without megamoney, Swindon won a major trophy and the likes of Ipswich, QPR & Norwich were fighting for the title with Manchester United and Liverpool.

I seriously worry that under a system where doping is not only accepted, but praised, the future aspirations of many of us will be limited to competing for a place in L2, unless we accept that owners will become all powerful and we fans will be reduced to the status of extras in a TV show.

 

[Trapdoor]

Salford and their ilk are a downright insult to fan owned clubs.
It's basically taking everything we have worked for, over a decade and saying "fuck building a fair and sustainable club, we wont be held accountable to the same standards and practices as the rest of you".

Stinks.

Hope the class of 92 choke to death on their prawn sandwiches.

 

[Jabba the gut]

Salford and their ilk are a downright insult to fan owned clubs.
It's basically taking everything we have worked for, over a decade and saying "fuck building a fair and sustainable club, we wont be held accountable to the same standards and practices as the rest of you".

Stinks.

Hope the class of 92 choke to death on their prawn sandwiches.

They're an insult to all clubs who try and suceed on their own merits by skill,planning, patience, ingenuity etc. Accrington aren't fan-owned but I have huge respect for their owner and what they've achieved. If Salford suceed and encourage others they will kill clubs like ours.

 

[Carver]

Urgh, Salford!

When I hear that name I think of that TV show Shameless or some other depressing image of some chav infested Manc shithole.

Who taaaalk laaak this.

 

[Jabba the gut]

It’s just a shame for the real fans of Salford City who have watched their local team for years, only to have its heart and soul ripped out by a few ex pros. The sad thing is, a lot of United fans (Salfordian included) will jump on the bandwagon when in reality they don’t give a toss.

If the club was owned by a random Arab bloke there would be nobody jumping on the bandwagon. It’s sad. I bet the real fans in the National League are happy to see the back of them.

I hope all of our real football teams, with our real football fans, who have been there since day one (Exeter included!), smash them. Can’t wait for them to get bored and Salford drop like a stone. Here’s hoping.

Sadly, I'm pretty sure that everyone hoping Salford will drop like a stone, or that they'll plateau in L1, or that the billionaire/millionaires will get bored are in for a big disappointment.

Money does buy success in the end, if you have enough of it and depending on what you define as success. Salford have vastly more money than we've ever seen at this level - if they falter they'll just open the tap and dope some more.

Clubs have bought promotion to the Championship with less money than Salford have, let alone L1 - Lim alone is worth as much as Liverpool's owners.

The only hope is some kind of grassroots agitation to try and put a stop,to this becoming the norm, but so many fans have been brainwashed by the EPL reality TV show and our Greed is Good culture that I fear it will never happen.

 

[E10rifle]

In the interests of balance it seems Giggs grew up In Salford & his brother managed them once, so if you overlook the fact that he never previously showed any interest in Salford even when his brother was there, you could make the "local boy done good" argument in his case.

Pretty sure Giggs showed loads of interest when his brother was managing Salford. Mainly so Giggs knew when he was out of the house and could get on with fucking his sister-in-law.

 

[Trapdoor]

Not content with just fucking his in laws, he has now proceeded to attempt to fuck the entirety of the football league. smh.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

my bigger worry with salford is i still believe this is a Man Utd B side trying to get in via an official route, its why i think man utd aint bothered really with the checkacrap.

people need to keep a firm eye on any exchanges between both clubs and they need expelled if that was proven right.

sure man city were thinking about trying it a couple of years ago with Hyde then ditched the plan

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

and in respect of why i don't like clubs who are really here 'unofficially' and only here based on a money owner is it hurts most of the rest.

you go back 10 odd years and away supports were much better, away trips much better, games usually vs sides all of similar size and statue with an odd 1-2 clubs small but battling the odds and a couple of much bigger 'doing crap at the mo' clubs.

10 years later you've replaced clubs who bring 500-2000 away fans with clubs bringing 50 fans, games have alot less zest or atmosphere to them, a bunch of rubbish away games added at clubs with home fanbases you just know would ditch them without a whim if it went bad.

add in to that in order to get numerous players to state they 'would love to join' due to 'ambition of club' or 'brilliant facilities' blah blah they have to throw out tonnes of cash in agent fees, player wages and signing on fees it just raises the ceiling for everyone else.

their fans will state 'dont have to pay it' but when your best players suddenly claim and moan about being paid miles less than other players at exact same level its a football agents best excuse to cop off a massive cash bonus.

at least years ago when Wigan and Fulham fakely bought their status from Div 3 crap to top flight clubs they were gone and out the way soon after, now we've a load of them hovering around L1 and L2 constantly raising the wage barriers for the rest making L1 and L2 near impossible now to run sustainably.

 

[Deepcut Cobbler]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rushden_&_Diamonds_F.C.

Rushden and Diamonds FC, they were promoted into the Football League on the back of excessive funding, they were not doing too badly until the money pit was taken away from them...They are now AFC Rushden and Diamonds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFC_Rushden_&_Diamonds

 

[Si Robin]

Rushden are the go to example in this situation, the sad fact is though that they are the only ones - or certainly the most high profile one.

FGR, Crawley (though I don't think they're doping anymore), Fleetwood are all still around having got to the League, with FGR and Fleetwood owners showing no sign of pulling out. Chelsea and City (at a much higher level) don't seem to be slowing down either. It'll be interesting to see what happens to Eastleigh now the money has dried up.

EDIT: Thinking about it, weren't Histon financially doped to reach the league and only just fell short before dropping all the way back down?

 

[Indian Dan]

What’s the difference between Salford and Bournemouth? Both bankrolled way beyond their historic position in the pyramid.

I’d rather see Muff drop like a stone than Salford, tbh.

I fucking hate Bournemouth

 

[Luke Imp]

Rushden are the go to example in this situation, the sad fact is though that they are the only ones - or certainly the most high profile one.

FGR, Crawley (though I don't think they're doping anymore), Fleetwood are all still around having got to the League, with FGR and Fleetwood owners showing no sign of pulling out. Chelsea and City (at a much higher level) don't seem to be slowing down either. It'll be interesting to see what happens to Eastleigh now the money has dried up.

EDIT: Thinking about it, weren't Histon financially doped to reach the league and only just fell short before dropping all the way back down?

Histon were the year before we got relegated but I think that was the case, yes.

Kettering were another who threw silly money at it. They disappeared down the leagues quickly after admin and then further relegation(s).

North Ferriby are another very recent example and have now disappeared.

 

[Modernist]

The problem Salford have is fan base, it takes little time to bankroll a team up the leagues but a lot longer to establish a good fan base, they were getting crowds of less than 200 before the money, as soon as that money is taken away its not just down the leagues they go, Salford may well not exist at all, that's the difference between bankrolling teams like Salford as opposed to teams like Bournemouth, chances are Bournemouth would survive as a club.

 

[Conker]

Histon were the year before we got relegated but I think that was the case, yes.

Kettering were another who threw silly money at it. They disappeared down the leagues quickly after admin and then further relegation(s).

North Ferriby are another very recent example and have now disappeared.

I remember Histon beating Cambridge, must have been horrible for them considering it’s literally a little village actually in Cambridge!!

That bloody owner at Kettering was a nightmare, we had problems with him after buying two players from them, I actually remember playing Kettering in Rushden & Diamonds stadium after they vanished. I think Nene Park is demolished now.

 

[Luke Imp]

I remember Histon beating Cambridge, must have been horrible for them considering it’s literally a little village actually in Cambridge!!

That bloody owner at Kettering was a nightmare, we had problems with him after buying two players from them, I actually remember playing Kettering in Rushden & Diamonds stadium after they vanished. I think Nene Park is demolished now.

We played them there as well.

Ladak was the Chairman. Weird character. Soon realised he wasn't as football wealthy as he thought he was and pulled the plug.

 

[Vanni]

I remember Histon beating Cambridge, must have been horrible for them considering it’s literally a little village actually in Cambridge!!

That bloody owner at Kettering was a nightmare, we had problems with him after buying two players from them, I actually remember playing Kettering in Rushden & Diamonds stadium after they vanished. I think Nene Park is demolished now.

That 5-0 win over us barely registers on my radar, it was only a tinpot cup game anyway. What matters far more afaic is the league and they never did beat us in a league game so there!

What I mean is this. This year we were humiliated 6-0 at MK in the league and we were dumped out of the FA Cup by NLN side Guiseley. That 6 nil thrashing felt much worse to me than that defeat at Guiseley, only for the simple reason that anything can happen in cup games as history has shown us all time and time again.

 

[Davidimp]

Cooper was manager at Kettering for a bit under Ladak before Gazza arrived, absolute circus that place.
Yeah I'm sure nene park has been demolished, went once in 2003, they got promoted to league one that day and sat there politely applauding from the stands , no pitch invasion for them, strange bunch! Very swanky tea bar area in the away end built underneath the stand.

 

[Deepcut Cobbler]

We played them there as well.

Ladak was the Chairman. Weird character. Soon realised he wasn't as football wealthy as he thought he was and pulled the plug.

He was, he had Paul Gascoigne as their manager before he sacked him after 39 days! With stories of Gazza being drunk before, during and after training and matches...amongst other tales.

 

[AmberRich]

I remember Histon beating Cambridge, must have been horrible for them considering it’s literally a little village actually in Cambridge!!

Histon were a horrible little club.

When Cambridge City were in trouble their players wore "RIP CITY" t-shirts.

When we got into trouble they didn't just dance on our grave, they stamped all over it. Shame we weren't quite dead. Some so called "supporters" jumped ship and went over to Histon, they started calling themselves the "biggest club in Cambridge". Their arrogance was astounding.

The media absolutely adored them as well, much like the national media adore Salford.

They finished 3rd in 2009 just behind us, thankfully they were beaten by Torquay in the Playoff Semifinals.

I still can't forgive them though. In fact, I'm still slightly obsessed by them. I always follow their results and enjoy every defeat they suffer. I hate everything about the way that club achieved it's success. I still can't forgive the so called football fans that went and watched them, many of whom abandoned the U's when we needed them most. They tried to engineer and take advantage of us at our lowest point in our history, so fuck them until they are but a mere footnote in the footballing history books as a team that once beat Leeds in the FA Cup and now no longer exist.

Sorry for the rant.