Rage Online

Excellent comments from Eales, and very reassuring to read. Clearly the representations he has received from fans (and, I'd suggest, the boycott of the early stages) has made an impression. Full credit to him for acknowledging that the experiment for which the club voted has been a failure.

If only the Football League would make a similarly unequivocal statement, eh?

Kairdiff Exile wrote:Excellent comments from Eales, and very reassuring to read. Clearly the representations he has received from fans (and, I'd suggest, the boycott of the early stages) has made an impression. Full credit to him for acknowledging that the experiment for which the club voted has been a failure.

If only the Football League would make a similarly unequivocal statement, eh?

Indeed...... IF The Football League issued such a statement then I would consider the Boycott has been successful and had made the point that we wanted it to. This would allow me to go to Wembley with a clear conscience and enjoy a fantastic victory. Unfortunately, they aren't going to be quite so proactive I fear and they, along with my own opinions, will prevent me from watching my team at Wembley.

What a massive own goal!


(This doesn't mean that I wish to stop people from going if they wish to, people are entitled to decide for themselves without getting a lecture.

Well a similar view to one he has expressed before but this time he has got the board on board and they will not vote for this again next year. Doesn't that mean the protest has been successful in as much as it can have been for our club? The club have listened and agreed with the fans who have boycotted and won't vote for this again.

EFL aren't going to come out with a statement until all clubs have voted on it - but given the lack of top Premier league clubs interested and the treatment of those clubs such as Luton I would be frankly amazed if there was support for this format again.

I'm not sure what more the club need to do here - I am surprised that some are still continuing their boycott, has this made anyone change their mind on the issue?

ty cobb wrote:Doesn't that mean the protest has been successful in as much as it can have been for our club?

Well yes, but the protest was always against the Football League primarily for drawing up and recommending the measure. I can't speak for others, but my actions in boycotting were never aimed primarily at the club (I even sent a contribution towards the tickets of the games I boycotted). Eales backtracked on the decision to vote for the changes almost as soon as the supporter backlash came in. To be honest, if he'd been at the AGM rather than GB-T, I doubt we'd have backed it at all.

ty cobb wrote:EFL aren't going to come out with a statement until all clubs have voted on it

The final decision is one for the clubs, yes. But the Football League could announce that they've reflected on the lower attendances and the supporter discontent, and that they'll be recommending to clubs that the B Team trial is discontinued and that there is meaningful engagement with supporters prior to any decisions being taken on next season's format. Neither of those are radical things to concede; indeed, it would really just bring forward the announcement they'll inevitably have to make after the meeting on 11th April. I can't speak for others, but that would give me confidence that the boycott had worked.

Kairdiff Exile wrote: I can't speak for others, but my actions in boycotting were never aimed primarily at the club (I even sent a contribution towards the tickets of the games I boycotted).

That's very generous of you KE, did you receive any kind of acknowledgement from the club for this?

Hog wrote:

Kairdiff Exile wrote: I can't speak for others, but my actions in boycotting were never aimed primarily at the club (I even sent a contribution towards the tickets of the games I boycotted).

That's very generous of you KE, did you receive any kind of acknowledgement from the club for this?

Had a courteous response from Mr Eales to my first contribution back in the summer. I only sent the second cheque a few weeks ago (before the semi-final), so I'll give him a bit longer yet.

Kairdiff Exile wrote:

ty cobb wrote:EFL aren't going to come out with a statement until all clubs have voted on it

The final decision is one for the clubs, yes. But the Football League could announce that they've reflected on the lower attendances and the supporter discontent, and that they'll be recommending to clubs that the B Team trial is discontinued and that there is meaningful engagement with supporters prior to any decisions being taken on next season's format. Neither of those are radical things to concede; indeed, it would really just bring forward the announcement they'll inevitably have to make after the meeting on 11th April. I can't speak for others, but that would give me confidence that the boycott had worked.

The EFL could go further and say that they will not present B-Teams as an option for voting on. After all, we have been told many times that it is just a 'one year experiment'. They could easily say that they are reviewing the options for the competition but B-Teams will not be on the list on which the clubs will get to vote.

If Shaun Harvey had any sense he would do this. Sadly I very much doubt he does......

So with Coventry easily selling out their allocation of 40,000 and being given 6000 more and with us well on track to get over 30,000 sold we're looking at an attendance of over 70,000 - wow!

This means any boycott will have no impact whatsoever - this is not to belittle those who are making that choice, it is just a true statement. Any numbers below last year for Oxford could easily be put down to Wembley fatigue in any event.

Far better to come along, take part in the protest before the match and then enjoy a fantastic game at a near sell out national stadium.

Don't die in a ditch - come along and watch Oxford make a bit of of history, we hold the record for the highest non league attendance, come and watch us break potentially break the lower league record as well (in case you're wondering that is currently 76,935 for Man City v Gills in the play off final).

ty cobb wrote:we hold the record for the highest non league attendance,

I don't think we do anymore. More watched the 2015 final between Bristol and Grimsby.

ty cobb wrote:come and watch us break potentially break the lower league record as well (in case you're wondering that is currently 76,935 for Man City v Gills in the play off final

Isn't the record the 80,841 that watched the Wolves v Burnley final in this same competition in 1988?

For the record, I agree with your point on the attendance making any attempt to quantify a boycott of the final pointless and meaningless. It is now simply left to individuals to decide whether they can stomach it or not. Following the final, it will be for the clubs to follow DE's lead and show the EFL that the successful boycott of the early rounds proves that football fans have no wish to be subjected to B-Teams.

I meant league games rather than finals, however, as I then used a Wembley final for my second point I see it wasn't very clear..............

The joys of using Wiki to try and find a fact - if we need to beat 80,000 we def need all of our fans to turn up!

Kairdiff Exile wrote:

Hog wrote:

Kairdiff Exile wrote: I can't speak for others, but my actions in boycotting were never aimed primarily at the club (I even sent a contribution towards the tickets of the games I boycotted).

That's very generous of you KE, did you receive any kind of acknowledgement from the club for this?

Had a courteous response from Mr Eales to my first contribution back in the summer. I only sent the second cheque a few weeks ago (before the semi-final), so I'll give him a bit longer yet.

In case anyone's interested, I had a very polite reply from Darryl today (via his PA), saying that the cheque would be passed on to the Community Trust (fair play), and reasserting his comments from the programme the other week. No reply as yet from Shaun Harvey at the Football League - indeed, I don't expect to get one.

Kairdiff Exile wrote: In case anyone's interested, I had a very polite reply from Darryl today (via his PA), saying that the cheque would be passed on to the Community Trust (fair play), and reasserting his comments from the programme the other week. No reply as yet from Shaun Harvey at the Football League - indeed, I don't expect to get one.

What if the EFL come out and say no B teams are in - will you come to Wembley - will you ask for your money back?

ty cobb wrote:

Kairdiff Exile wrote: In case anyone's interested, I had a very polite reply from Darryl today (via his PA), saying that the cheque would be passed on to the Community Trust (fair play), and reasserting his comments from the programme the other week. No reply as yet from Shaun Harvey at the Football League - indeed, I don't expect to get one.

What if the EFL come out and say no B teams are in - will you come to Wembley - will you ask for your money back?

Of course not, you absolute tube. Rather than constantly looking for oneupmanship opportunities, maybe just accept the post for what it is: a well-intentioned compliment to our chairman.

I agree that me boycotting the final will have very little impact. But if, as I fear it may, this 'experiment' continues into another season (then another, and another), then it is even more important for individuals to hold their ground on this now, as any attempts to repeat a boycott next season will be met by 'but you went for a nice day out at Wembley, you hypocrite - why should we listen to you now?'

Which is a real drag, because I'd love to go. To all those going - have a good one. But for me, this competition seems to have been the final straw in terms of our league campaign, which would make the season effectively over for me, which is a shame, considering the talents of the squad and manager. Just look at our jaded and befuddled performance on Tuesday night, which even Appleton put down to the effect of a Wembley ficture coming up. It would be a shame if we've squandered a blast at the play-offs (and the attendant prospect of a Wembley appearance with meaning) for this, the poxiest of competitions, however excited fans and management alike are getting about it.

I agree with the previous poster. Was thinking the same about the petering out of the league campaign...