The L2 Playoffs

[Conker]

Yeah and I reckon it's very close between you and Salford so what is your point?

I think people overestimated Salford because of their astronomic losses published at companies house. They don't have the fanbase and revenue of mansfield.

I can't see Bradford and Rovers spending anywhere near as much.

You don’t need the same fanbase or revenue to be fair mate, it’s easy to get around.

You suspect Mansfield have the biggest budget in the league, I think that’s ridiculous but we’ll get over it, particularly you being a Exeter fan on your way to a top two finish in L1

 

[kieran_vale]

Salford are clearly the biggest budget. Let’s be honest it’s not the great tradition and support which attracted Matt Smith to them. Beyond that who the hell knows. I couldn’t even tell you where we stand in comparison to other clubs other than our top earner was on £1850pw this season and that’s only because DC revealed it in a interview with The Times (though I believe we offer a number of incentives on top of that).

Are there really many of Mansfield’s permanent players that you’d imagine they really pushed the boat out on? Oates for example was someone coming off the back of one good season in the league below and hadn’t done it at this level before so can’t imagine we’re talking mega money.

 

[Conker]

Salford are clearly the biggest budget. Let’s be honest it’s not the great tradition and support which attracted Matt Smith to them. Beyond that who the hell who knows. I couldn’t even tell you where we stand in comparison to other clubs other than our top earner was on £1850pw this week and that’s only because DC revealed it in a interview with The Times (though I believe we offer a number of incentives on top of that).

Are there really many of Mansfield’s permanent players that you’d imagine they really pushed the boat out on? Oates for example was someone coming off the back of one good season in the league below and hadn’t done it at this level before so can’t imagine we’re talking mega money.

Yeah if you go and actually look at our business it’s ridiculous what some are making out on here, we actually shifted the last of our ‘mega money’ signings in Andy Cook to Bradford. O’Toole was a free agent signing middle of the season, Quinn was about to pack it up, Hewitt was signed from a relegated Grimsby side. I suppose the biggest stand out was Danny Johnson who scored a decent amount for Orient and maybe Hawkins because I think we paid a small fee.

We spent a lot of the season really short on quality in certain areas, there’s a reason that injury crisis left us 12 games or whatever without a win, we were relying on cheap loans like Richard Nartey to try and fill in our defence. Made a few small fees ourselves too.

I think it’s just a case of people not taking enough notice to realise how it’s changed at Mansfield since the Flitcroft, Evans, Dempster eras, Clough prefers to sign Burton Albion players than big money players.

 

[WilsdenBantam]

Yeah if you go and actually look at our business it’s ridiculous what some are making out on here, we actually shifted the last of our ‘mega money’ signings in Andy Cook to Bradford. O’Toole was a free agent signing middle of the season, Quinn was about to pack it up, Hewitt was signed from a relegated Grimsby side. I suppose the biggest stand out was Danny Johnson who scored a decent amount for Orient and maybe Hawkins because I think we paid a small fee.

We spent a lot of the season really short on quality in certain areas, there’s a reason that injury crisis left us 12 games or whatever without a win, we were relying on cheap loans like Richard Nartey to try and fill in our defence. Made a few small fees ourselves too.

I think it’s just a case of people not taking enough notice to realise how it’s changed at Mansfield since the Flitcroft, Evans, Dempster eras, Clough prefers to sign Burton Albion players than big money players.

There’s always a lot of guess work with player wages, I doubt many people are privy to seeing their pay checks. But people have said Cook in on north of 3k per week and he’s apparently not our highest earner. But we also thin our squad out with a lot of cheap crap who can’t get another club which I hope will stop now.

 

[valefan16]

It all depends on how the budget is done, as mentioned above our top wage is £1850pw officially but the reality is much different because the reason it’s lower than you’d expect for the likes of James Wilson is down to the incentive set up we’ve implemented, for example we pay bonus’s on each week in the top 7 spots, plus various other add ons.

So calculating where you are is variable as some clubs pay a flat fee with less incentive based payments.

Salford will be top of course. Waste of money that is mind!

 

[saddler78]

Ours was the same as Northamptons whatever that is look at the difference in the two sides this season.Cheers Fullarton.

 

[mozzavale]

I've no doubt it was a minority but it would appear from the images from the pitch, and what I could see happening in front of our stand, that the minority was in the early hundreds. Any retaliation from our stand ( and I have not seen any evidence whatsoever that broken seats were flung onto the pitch) was due to the fact that rather than celebrate on the pitch with your players the "minority" decided to goad our fans (again, to be expected) but also resorted to throwing full drink bottles (albeit plastic) and coins. The bitterness towards your club is due to the fact that all of this appears to be swept under the carpet as you prepare for Wembley. As an aside we have been in this position before. I was in the stands in 1993 when Tranmere fans invaded the pitch at the end of our playoff semi and moved menacingly towards our fans. Rather than goading or fighting us they ( to a man) proceeded to shake the hands of our support and wish us well in the final. Finally with regard to supporters chasing a bus of Bradford supporters. Social Media images support the fact that it was about 5 or 6 under 15's. Now that's what I call a minority

You can clearly see a seat being thrown here. This was from a Vlog a Swindon fan put on YouTube, it was one of many items thrown at Vale fans as soon as they approached the Swindon end. Vale fans shouldn't have retaliated, but let's not rewrite history.

You then refer to Tranmere, but what about the Sheff Utd play off semi? Swindon fans headed straight to the away end and can clearly be seen launching missiles at the Sheffield fans.

At the end of the day it was a fiercely contested tie over 2 legs and Swindon fans and players are understandably upset about it, but playing the victims in an attempt to force action against Vale is just childish retaliation from very sore losers.

From the footage I've seen of Swindon players and staff after the pitch invasion, I think it's in Swindon's best interests not to push on this one, they won't like the outcome. It wasn't pretty at all.

 

[Devon_Lad]

Devon_Lad Sorry shag, back to the dark web for you, make sure you read through the thread next time. If I didn’t use the word ‘probably’ you might not quite be talking completely out your arse, but I did.

No, that doesn't relate to your accusation an Exeter fan said you "probably have the most gigantic budget in the league"

Please retract, correct the record and apologise.

 

[leedsvaliant]

View attachment 17267

You can clearly see a seat being thrown here. This was from a Vlog a Swindon fan put on YouTube, it was one of many items thrown at Vale fans as soon as they approached the Swindon end. Vale fans shouldn't have retaliated, but let's not rewrite history.

You then refer to Tranmere, but what about the Sheff Utd play off semi? Swindon fans headed straight to the away end and can clearly be seen launching missiles at the Sheffield fans.

At the end of the day it was a fiercely contested tie over 2 legs and Swindon fans and players are understandably upset about it, but playing the victims in an attempt to force action against Vale is just childish retaliation from very sore losers.

From the footage I've seen of Swindon players and staff after the pitch invasion, I think it's in Swindon's best interests not to push on this one, they won't like the outcome. It wasn't pretty at all.

100%. They clearly felt a bit silly after a week of saying how they were the better team and this arrogance stemmed from the manager downwards. Pure deflection tactics from a manager and team who messed up big time.

 

[mozzavale]

Almost 40k is a decent crowd .

What was the split ?

Hard to tell in the end. The day before we announced the exact number sold at that point, think it was 16,340. Mansfield weren't exact, they were going with "sold over" until the day before when they said 16,500, which was likely an approx figure. The lack of "over" made me think they rounded up.

Combined that put the attendance at approx 32,800, yet there was another 5k on the day.

Mansfield definitely had more in the bottom tier on the tunnel side, but there were blocks with lots of empty seats on the opposite corner. Vale definitely had more in the 2nd tier, probably about double the number of Mansfield.

It probably evened itself out. Made for a great atmosphere from both sets of supporters.

 

[Devon_Lad]

Hard to tell in the end. The day before we announced the exact number sold at that point, think it was 16,340. Mansfield weren't exact, they were going with "sold over" until the day before when they said 16,500, which was likely an approx figure. The lack of "over" made me think they rounded up.

Combined that put the attendance at approx 32,800, yet there was another 5k on the day.

Mansfield definitely had more in the bottom tier on the tunnel side, but there were blocks with lots of empty seats on the opposite corner. Vale definitely had more in the 2nd tier, probably about double the number of Mansfield.

It probably evened itself out. Made for a great atmosphere from both sets of supporters.

Bit tinpot really. We had attendances of over 40k when we played Morecambe in the national league, then over 42k when we also played Cambridge in the national league as well. Yet massive Vale and massive Mansfield couldn't get 40k? lols

 

[Conker]

Hard to tell in the end. The day before we announced the exact number sold at that point, think it was 16,340. Mansfield weren't exact, they were going with "sold over" until the day before when they said 16,500, which was likely an approx figure. The lack of "over" made me think they rounded up.

Combined that put the attendance at approx 32,800, yet there was another 5k on the day.

Mansfield definitely had more in the bottom tier on the tunnel side, but there were blocks with lots of empty seats on the opposite corner. Vale definitely had more in the 2nd tier, probably about double the number of Mansfield.

It probably evened itself out. Made for a great atmosphere from both sets of supporters.

Christ almighty, you battered us atleast let us win in the massive department for selling a few more tickets instead of doing a full blown analysis.

 

[mozzavale]

Christ almighty, you battered us atleast let us win in the massive department for selling a few more tickets instead of doing a full blown analysis.

Was just answering the question how I saw it. Was a good attendance from both. Good to see an even split with no attendance shagging going on

 

[mozzavale]

Bit tinpot really. We had attendances of over 40k when we played Morecambe in the national league, then over 42k when we also played Cambridge in the national league as well. Yet massive Vale and massive Mansfield couldn't get 40k? lols

Tinpot? Have a word with yourself. Congrats on the "we've got more daytrippers than you" award.

For L2 it was a great attendance, with both clubs taking approx 18k in the end (no way was there 5k neutrals). There's been much worse over the years.

 

[Devon_Lad]

Tinpot? Have a word with yourself. Congrats on the "we've got more daytrippers than you" award.

For L2 it was a great attendance, with both clubs taking approx 18k in the end (no way was there 5k neutrals). There's been much worse over the years.

Just expected more from Vale, not necessarily Mansfield, but I honestly thought Vale would've taken 10k or so more than that.

 

[mozzavale]

I thought maybe 20k but years of mismanagement coinciding with Stoke's 10 years in the Prem has cost us a generation of new young supporters.

Added to that the transport issues getting down there. Coaches booked up all over the place for; Liverpool, Wigan Warriors and Huddersfield playing Rugby League final at Spurs, close to Mansfield so competing with them for coaches. It all had an impact on the final number.

All told though, we've been in 5 finals in my lifetime, this was our 2nd highest following. Somewhere between 16k and 18k might be far from massive, but tinpot is a bit if a stretch.

My take is, it shows how good our home attendances have been these last few years if this was the pool of supporters we've got to attract from.

 

[Vale on Trent]

It looked like we had a few more than Mansfield on the day - about 18k in the end. We had more ‘full’ blocks and more in the second tier. However, Mansfield’s following was probably more impressive than ours.

I expected us to take over 20k. Especially with not playing at Wembley in so many years. We’ve definitely lost a few fans over the years. Hopefully we’re now on the way up and our fan base will increase a bit.

However, I suppose you’ve got to take into account we’re a small city with two football clubs. Most of the casual / part time football fans have probably latched on to Stoke over the last ten years.

Anyway, is anyone else still buzzing?

Up the Vale x

 

[leedsvaliant]

It looked like we had a few more than Mansfield on the day - about 17k / 18k in the end. We had more ‘full’ blocks and more in the second tier. However, Mansfield’s following was probably more impressive than ours.

I expected us to take over 20k. Especially with not playing at Wembley in so many years. We’ve definitely lost a few fans over the years. Hopefully we’re now on the way up and our fan base will increase a bit.

However, I suppose you’ve got to take into account we’re a small city with two football clubs. Most of the casual / part time football fans have probably latched on to Stoke over the last ten years.

Anyway, is anyone else still buzzing?

Up the Vale x

We've had a torrid time for 30 years and Stoke have predominantly been the more successful club in that time and before. For some reason our city also attracts the plastic Man United and Liverpool fans, whereas somewhere like Leeds or Newcastle, you either support them or nobody.

We're a very small populated city with 2 clubs. Sheffield's population is more than double that of Stoke. Derby's is similar to Stoke but with really only one team around. Even Bolton has a bigger population than Stoke. So we do tremendously well to get 6k through the gate. We have a maximum pool of probably 25,000 who would 'follow' vale and most of them might go to one game or season or just follow the scores. If we could get to 10k average I think that would be fantastic.

 

[valefan16]

It looked like we had a few more than Mansfield on the day - about 18k in the end. We had more ‘full’ blocks and more in the second tier. However, Mansfield’s following was probably more impressive than ours.

I expected us to take over 20k. Especially with not playing at Wembley in so many years. We’ve definitely lost a few fans over the years. Hopefully we’re now on the way up and our fan base will increase a bit.

However, I suppose you’ve got to take into account we’re a small city with two football clubs. Most of the casual / part time football fans have probably latched on to Stoke over the last ten years.

Anyway, is anyone else still buzzing?

Up the Vale x

Still buzzing! Glad I’m on my holiday to recover from the emotional stress of the final weeks!

Attendance looked close, they had more of the bottom tier slightly us more in the second but have to see if official numbers get announced.

Was decent having an even split for the atmosphere and allowed it to swing rather than one set be drowned out by the other.

The Box Park was immense!

Hoped for 20k plus but the cost of living crisis and transport difficulties were always going to make it difficult to get close to the 28k from 1993.

On a side note Vale fans have raised over £1k to cover the Dazzlers £500 fine!

 

[Agombar stool]

Whilst I agree that there is a minority of idiots amongst our supporters, I think Swindon's reaction was way over the top to cover their own failings.

From all the video evidence I've seen it seemed like a lot of handbags on pitch. If any fan has struck a player then they should be dealt with accordingly.

One question I have to ask is why were the Swindon players hanging around on the pitch after and getting involved? They had ample opportunity to get off the pitch and down the tunnel but a couple of mates said they were going back for more verbals. Perhaps not the angels they were made out to be.

Additionally, video evidence shows clearly that Swindon fans were throwing missiles first. It doesn't make it right to throw them back but again not quite the angels.

Why did the Swindon fans stay around? If that was me I'd be out of the gates as soon as the penalty landed. It's a quick emptying stand too!

Like I said...I don't condone any of our idiots but it seems like Swindon were equally culpable in some aspects yet wanted to distract from the fact that they completely bottled it.

Not really interested on having a back and forward about this as in my mind it's consigned to history but to answer your questions about Swindon fans hanging around this is my take.

Obviously having just seen your team eliminated from the play-offs in the cruellest possible way, after an energy sapping game, it was the last chance to see some of these players in a Town shirt, others until the next season. When Iandolo missed the penalty a large number of fans did leave but I stood there, initially in shock, and then more in fascination as to the behaviour of the thousands of Vale fans on the pitch. My emotion was still of shock, and maybe a little bit of bitterness, but never really anger or frustration and I had no inclination to throw anything at Vale's fans, what would that have achieved? Being completely honest there were seats and bottles thrown from very few of our fans (who were told to stop by others), but in reality it never felt like it was going to simmer over. I was stupidly hoping the pitch might have been cleared so our players might get to come and take some applause but that evidently wasn't going to happen and then I stayed to watch out of morbid curiosity I suppose. In hindsight I should have just left and gone home.

 

[Bearsfam]

That'll feel like a knife in the back to Ben Bradley the fucking weapon

LOL