League 2 General Chat Thread

[Conker]

Vale and Carlisle over Northampton and Orient isn't right in L1.

I come across Lincoln fans on twitter that genuinely believe they are a bigger club than Grimsby and it really confuses me.

 

[Son of Cod]

I come across Lincoln fans on twitter that genuinely believe they are a bigger club than Grimsby and it really confuses me.

A couple of potential explanations would be...

...because they only know the Cowley era onwards. Ignorance is bliss when you don't know about almost a century and a half's worth of history
...or they're trolling
...or as you say they genuinely think that

I'm big enough to admit that I absolutely cannot wait to get back in the same division as them and beat them. I hope we can send them back down to L2 and unfurl a banner about how we were only "eternally" in their shadow for a few years.

 

[Pilot_Phonic]

A couple of potential explanations would be...

...because they only know the Cowley era onwards. Ignorance is bliss when you don't know about almost a century and a half's worth of history
...or they're trolling
...or as you say they genuinely think that

I'm big enough to admit that I absolutely cannot wait to get back in the same division as them and beat them. I hope we can send them back down to L2 and unfurl a banner about how we were only "eternally" in their shadow for a few years.

From afar, i'd agree with that. Lincoln were like trying to flog a dead horse whilst Grimsby were rolling up in Division 1 back in the 90s. Since the Cowleys, they have turned a corner and a steady midtable league 1 team without any real threat of going up or down.

 

[Conker]

A couple of potential explanations would be...

...because they only know the Cowley era onwards. Ignorance is bliss when you don't know about almost a century and a half's worth of history
...or they're trolling
...or as you say they genuinely think that

I'm big enough to admit that I absolutely cannot wait to get back in the same division as them and beat them. I hope we can send them back down to L2 and unfurl a banner about how we were only "eternally" in their shadow for a few years.

I come across lots who genuinely believe it.

They have done really well in recent years and fair play to them, I recall visiting Sincil Bank on a Tuesday night back in the conference with a similar amount of Stags fans to the home turn out!

 

[DearneValleyRover]

It seems to mainly be the clubs that have been in L1 recently. I get that they're not going to put their prices down necessarily but for the same bunch of teams that were the most expensive last season at £25 to then all put them up by a couple of quid is a pisstake. Rochdale were £25 too, can't imagine those prices going down well at all in the National League.

Interesting read on DV/Palestine too, I didn't know any of this. I also didn't really know that his politics were seemingly vanity based, does kind of add up really. Seems like quite an image/aesthetics driven individual and that bleeds through into FGR. Not saying it's bad to have a brand at all but I always thought that he had the politics/knowledge side of things locked down.

One thing that I would add though is that his support of Labour is probably partly down to wanting to oust the Tories, isn't it? I've traditionally voted Greens in locals and Labour in General Elections and although I'm wrestling with continuing this I'll probably stick to it and vote for Starmer when the time comes even though I really don't like him.

Very poor that DV is displaying authoritarian characteristics by not even entering a discussion about that flag. Clubs should not be used to push divisive political agendas. Our owners have taken quite a lot of advice from DV apparently, now I'm wondering if that was actually not a smart move!

Ours are still £20

 

[Luke Imp]

A couple of potential explanations would be...

...because they only know the Cowley era onwards. Ignorance is bliss when you don't know about almost a century and a half's worth of history
...or they're trolling
...or as you say they genuinely think that

I'm big enough to admit that I absolutely cannot wait to get back in the same division as them and beat them. I hope we can send them back down to L2 and unfurl a banner about how we were only "eternally" in their shadow for a few years.

There are a fair share of Grimsby fans who still cling onto your Championship stint so all fans focus on certain aspects of history and it's all cyclical anyway. Probably to ups and downs for us I suppose because we're a pretty even split between L1 and L2 in our history.

FWIW, and you'll know better than me, but I'm not sure Grimsby have the potential at the minute to reach the highs of our 9k/10k attendances (and I say that because I think you've lost a generation of fans because of Fenty) but you'd never be in danger of dropping as low as our did in the Conference, albeit yours still dropped to 3k at one stage, Mansfield 2k, Wrexham 3k - so the arse falls out of all attendances when you get down there whoever you are and your away attendances as a % of home has always been impressive.

But I don't really know what constitutes a bigger club anyway - stadium size? facilities? budget? turnover? title wins? cup wins? number of season ticket holders? average position in the league pyramid over 5 years? 10 years? 25 years? 50 years? a bit of all of them?

Ultimately, fans turn up when their team is successful and gloat (if you're that kinda person, I don't get it personally but each to their own) and don't when they aren't - it's as simplistic as that. Lincoln, Grimsby, Wrexham and Mansfield have all found 'new' fans with increased attendances and season ticket holders when it's all going swimmingly with a bit of momentum but that's the nature of football. The difficult part is keeping them engaged when it goes into reverse or plateaus!

 

[EnglishRed]

'Bigger club' arguments, particularly in the lower reaches of British professional football, are largely nonsense.

 

[Mighty_Bantam]

'Bigger club' arguments, particularly in the lower reaches of British professional football, are largely nonsense.

Big clubs in the lower leagues are defined by the number of times "massive club" and "get back to the league where we should be" are mentioned in new signing interviews.

On that, we've nailed it down.

 

[Conker]

I think Mansfield deserve credit for increasing the fanbase on a sustained basis for years now despite being in the same division for 10+ years and that includes some crazy fuckups.

You look at Lincoln and it all made sense with a couple of promotions in just a few years and the FA Cup run, all we’ve had since we got promoted back to the EFL is a couple of promotion chokes and a disastrous day at Wembley!

 

[Mighty_Bantam]

I think Mansfield deserve credit for increasing the fanbase on a sustained basis for years now despite being in the same division for 10+ years and that includes some crazy fuckups.

You look at Lincoln and it all made sense with a couple of promotions in just a few years and the FA Cup run, all we’ve had since we got promoted back to the EFL is a couple of promotion chokes and a disastrous day at Wembley!

Is there any plans to sort that monstrosity of a stand down one side of the pitch?

Sure that would allow you to really kick on crowds wise.

 

[White Army]

'Bigger club' arguments, particularly in the lower reaches of British professional football, are largely nonsense.

I agree.

However, the list compiled by myself below is correct.

1. Bradford City
2. Swindon Town
3. Wimbledon
4. Stockport County
5. Tranmere Rovers
6. Wrexham
7. Notts County
8. Doncaster Rovers
9. Gillingham
10. Grimsby Town
11. MK Dons
12. Walsall
13. Crewe Alexandra
14. Mansfield Town
15. Colchester United
16. Newport County
17. Barrow
18. Morecambe
19. Crawley Town
20. Accrington Stanley
21. Sutton United
22. Forest Green Rover
23. Harrogate Town
24. Salford


*Runs for cover

 

[Gladders]

There are a fair share of Grimsby fans who still cling onto your Championship stint so all fans focus on certain aspects of history and it's all cyclical anyway. Probably to ups and downs for us I suppose because we're a pretty even split between L1 and L2 in our history.

FWIW, and you'll know better than me, but I'm not sure Grimsby have the potential at the minute to reach the highs of our 9k/10k attendances (and I say that because I think you've lost a generation of fans because of Fenty) but you'd never be in danger of dropping as low as our did in the Conference, albeit yours still dropped to 3k at one stage, Mansfield 2k, Wrexham 3k - so the arse falls out of all attendances when you get down there whoever you are and your away attendances as a % of home has always been impressive.

But I don't really know what constitutes a bigger club anyway - stadium size? facilities? budget? turnover? title wins? cup wins? number of season ticket holders? average position in the league pyramid over 5 years? 10 years? 25 years? 50 years? a bit of all of them?

Ultimately, fans turn up when their team is successful and gloat (if you're that kinda person, I don't get it personally but each to their own) and don't when they aren't - it's as simplistic as that. Lincoln, Grimsby, Wrexham and Mansfield have all found 'new' fans with increased attendances and season ticket holders when it's all going swimmingly with a bit of momentum but that's the nature of football. The difficult part is keeping them engaged when it goes into reverse or plateaus!

Well as you say attendances come and go as do stadium size, season ticket holders, facilities, budget etc.

The only thing that doesn't change is historical success, so on that front we have mostly been a second division club so we will cling onto that until it's no longer true.

 

[Conker]

Is there any plans to sort that monstrosity of a stand down one side of the pitch?

Sure that would allow you to really kick on crowds wise.

The word from the owners/club always been get to L1 and we will crack on with it, but we should be moving forward with it now but admittedly that’s easy to say when it’s a multi-million pound thing and not your money.

 

[EnglishRed]

I agree.

However, the list compiled by myself below is correct.

1. Bradford City
2. Swindon Town
3. Wimbledon
4. Stockport County
5. Tranmere Rovers
6. Wrexham
7. Notts County
8. Doncaster Rovers
9. Gillingham
10. Grimsby Town
11. MK Dons
12. Walsall
13. Crewe Alexandra
14. Mansfield Town
15. Colchester United
16. Newport County
17. Barrow
18. Morecambe
19. Crawley Town
20. Accrington Stanley
21. Sutton United
22. Forest Green Rover
23. Harrogate Town
24. Salford


*Runs for cover

Notts County should surely be higher? FA cup winners, several years in the top flight.

I'd be raging if I was them.

 

[Luke Imp]

Posting this because I can vaguely recall Swindon losing some players for the WC? Anyway, all the worldwide fees are listed in the download on the below link (from page 60 onwards), they got $108k.

440 clubs globally receive share of over USD 200m in FIFA World Cup 2022™ benefits

Following the FIFA World Cup™, 440 clubs from 51 member associations across all six confederations will benefit from the FIFA Club Benefits Programme by receiving a share of the revenue for the release of players to participate at the final tournament.

www.fifa.com

 

[White Army]

Notts County should surely be higher? FA cup winners, several years in the top flight.

I'd be raging if I was them.

You make a valid point. Maybe ive done Notts a slight disservice there.

If i start changing now though it sends the whole thing into disrepute, which im not prepared to do.

 

[Agombar stool]

Posting this because I can vaguely recall Swindon losing some players for the WC? Anyway, all the worldwide fees are listed in the download on the below link (from page 60 onwards), they got $108k.

440 clubs globally receive share of over USD 200m in FIFA World Cup 2022™ benefits

Following the FIFA World Cup™, 440 clubs from 51 member associations across all six confederations will benefit from the FIFA Club Benefits Programme by receiving a share of the revenue for the release of players to participate at the final tournament.

www.fifa.com

Cheers.

Yeah Jojo Wollacott and Jonny Williams were the players we got money from FIFA for. Wollacott had gone to Charlton and didn't even make the World Cup as he got injured, and Jonny Williams didn't play one minute of Wales awful campaign. Still, approximately £80k is very welcome.

 

[chipmunx]

Notts County should surely be higher? FA cup winners, several years in the top flight.

I'd be raging if I was them.

Getting stuffed at Wembley by Harrogate a few years ago undid anything good from the distant past.

 

[Ainsty]

I agree.

However, the list compiled by myself below is correct.

1. Bradford City
2. Swindon Town
3. Wimbledon
4. Stockport County
5. Tranmere Rovers
6. Wrexham
7. Notts County
8. Doncaster Rovers
9. Gillingham
10. Grimsby Town
11. MK Dons
12. Walsall
13. Crewe Alexandra
14. Mansfield Town
15. Colchester United
16. Newport County
17. Barrow
18. Morecambe
19. Crawley Town
20. Accrington Stanley
21. Sutton United
22. Forest Green Rover
23. Harrogate Town
24. Salford


*Runs for cover

Get lost, we are the smallest club in the Football League.

 

[White Army]

Our home game against Wrexham on 2nd September has been moved to a 12:30 kick off on police advice. Bit shit really.

 

[クレイグ]

My pet snake (Shut yer face, GTFCfish, this isn't time for a willy joke) is older than MK Dons, so they're bottom for a start.

We're definitely top of the massive table. The only other table we've ever topped is the European Crime Index table. You'll never sing that, lads.

 

[ForzaCounty]

Looks like the gravity of The Dream Factory has pulled yet another star into its orbit

Nick Powell: 'The United wonderkid tag feels so pointless now'

Nick Powell was a wonderkid when signed for United the year before Alex Ferguson retired - he's now at Stockport County in League Two

theathletic.com

“By this stage, I’d been to watch Stockport a few times,” says Powell. “We used to get some food, watch the match. I enjoyed the League Two atmosphere. I met Mark a few times and it just resonated with me, in a strange way.

“It was an eye-opener to see the drop (in salary). I want to make as much money as I can before I retire.

“But there are other factors: location, happiness, family. I had conversations with a few managers, in different leagues, and it was one of those times when you just have a gut feeling about something. My mate messaged me to ask where I was thinking and I said: ‘You know what? I do kinda fancy Stockport.’ It just felt right.”

Your faves could never.

 

[DearneValleyRover]

Our home game against Wrexham on 2nd September has been moved to a 12:30 kick off on police advice. Bit shit really.

Better than ours which has been moved from Bank holiday Monday to a 19:45 Tuesday evening

 

[EnglishRed]

Looks like the gravity of The Dream Factory has pulled yet another star into its orbit

Nick Powell: 'The United wonderkid tag feels so pointless now'

Nick Powell was a wonderkid when signed for United the year before Alex Ferguson retired - he's now at Stockport County in League Two

theathletic.com

Your faves could never.

I wonder what resonated with him when he met multimillionaire Mark Stott?

 

[ForzaCounty]

"We could go all the way up to half of Mullin's weekly wage," he was reported to have said

 

[Stocky]

Looks like the gravity of The Dream Factory has pulled yet another star into its orbit

Nick Powell: 'The United wonderkid tag feels so pointless now'

Nick Powell was a wonderkid when signed for United the year before Alex Ferguson retired - he's now at Stockport County in League Two

theathletic.com

Your faves could never.

This is fantastic business.

We get a quality player, he gets to fulfil a childhood dream and other fans get to watch a prestigious talent.

 

[EnglishRed]

This is fantastic business.

We get a quality player, he gets to fulfil a childhood dream and other fans get to watch a prestigious talent.

It's a fairytale story really.

 

[DearneValleyRover]

This is fantastic business.

We get a quality player, he gets to fulfil a childhood dream and other fans get to watch a prestigious talent.

Guaranteed season ending injury in the first minutes of the first game then

 

[PuB]

It's a fairytale story really.

I’m hearing Disney have severed ties with your lot now and the cameras are heading up north as we speak

 

[Robshep]

Our home game against Wrexham on 2nd September has been moved to a 12:30 kick off on police advice. Bit shit really.

The 6 games in the NL weren't exactly pleasant to be at to be honest. Probably to keep the boozing down to a minimum.