Rage Online

Just a thought

Instead of boycotting the last stages of the FLT, why don't the supporters groups of the four semi-finalists get together and organise some sort of co-ordinated action, that does not leave supporters under pressure to not go to see their side at Wembley.

The easiest idea would be some sort of independent colour (eg purple) and then call upon all supporters attending the semi-finals and final of the competition to wear/carry/wave something of that colour at the game - hence allowing anyone who wants to go to go, yet the four groups of supporters come together to represent the entirety of the Football League clubs in the protest and opposition to the way the competition has been run this season......

I don't trust the Football League to look at anything other than the attendance figures. For that reason my boycott stays in place.

Oxford have been to Wembley on three occasions and I have attended every time so it will hurt me not to attend this time, assuming we get that far. The only reason I would like us to win is so DE can recoup some money.

I actually only half see it as a 'boycott' as such. There's also the fact that it's a bloody stupid devalued competition this season, thanks to the rule changes. So there's a "why should I care" factor too.

If the U's win at at Kenilworth Road on March 1st they will play Coventry City at Wembley on April 2nd 2017.
Coventry overcame Wycombe Wanderers 2-1 at the Ricoh Arena in the other semi-final.

I think Mooro's idea is a seriously good one.

If we beat Luton, then we could certainly work with Coventry fans (who are not the happiest bunnies in the world, for good reason) to at least make a press statement and take some symbolic action to show that, whether fans go to Wembley or not, the future of league football is more important.

I've just noticed the date of the final. For the last one, I was away on business in Poland and ended up watching a Live Stream of the match in the lobby of my (albeit very nice) hotel. This year I've realised I'm away in Sweden on business for the date of the final. Ergo, I'm boycotting it and I would urge you all to do the same....!

It is worth noting that Coventry City played their Semi-Final in front of just under 12,000 last night. Their last appearance at home at the same stage of this competition in 2013 saw just under 32,000 attend.

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/ ... y-12515349

Prize money for this season's competition.

How does the prize money compare to last season, does any one know?

Oh, and if a B team had won it, would they have been entitled the same prize money?

http://www.efl.com/news/article/2015/jo ... 28110.aspx

This says that last year's winner would get a total of £124,000.00 and suggests that this would be total winnings through all the rounds. Obviously a lot more this year but £1,000,000.00 was added to the pot by the PL in return for the inclusion of the B Teams. Talk about selling your soul......

All money won by B Teams throughout the whole tournament is put into a pot to be divided equally between all the proper teams in the tournament.

How's about this for an idea. Why doesn't the Football League decide upon what the format will be for next year before this year's final - announce it and then people will be able to decide whether to attend based on facts rather than supposition/concerns for the future.

Just a thought.

Radley Rambler wrote:How's about this for an idea. Why doesn't the Football League decide upon what the format will be for next year before this year's final - announce it and then people will be able to decide whether to attend based on facts rather than supposition/concerns for the future.

Just a thought.

That would be ideal but what are the chances of them actually doing that? They know it would be a PR disaster to announce that B Teams will be in the tournament next year but they want to stay in bed with the PL so, I presume that, ideally they would like to keep the B Teams in this competition. At the moment the outcry and media embarrassment in the early rounds is still too close to justify it. However, a big crowd at Wembley plus pictures of happy looking fans and directors will go a long way to 'proving' that the competition was a success. Perhaps the PL will also upgrade the prize money payment a bit to further sweeten the deal for clubs' boards who are wavering with their vote.

Despite his comments earlier on in the season, can you really imagine Eales et al voting for a competition, without B Teams, with reduced prize money next year when OUFC might be making a quarter of a million this year?

Let's face it, all decisions made in modern football are based on monetary factors not whether it is for the 'good of the game' or what the fans deserve.

Well the statement from the club on this is quite unequivocal http://www.oufc.co.uk//news/article/201 ... 13136.aspx

I think the point has been well and truly made and a large crowd at Wembley will not suddenly enable the EFL to claim all is well.

If we get through, and given our record at Looton it's a big if, the chance to see Oxford at Wembley with a chance of winning a competition, with a packed stadium will be too good to miss.

Does my attendance mean it more likely we will have B teams in the league in the future...................of course not.

God, when I saw your post Ty, my first reaction was "Oh god, not another club statement...!" - I was relieved it was an old one you'd dug out.

As for the rest of your post, surely even you would admit that there is a slim outside chance that the FL might maybe possibly use a large Wembley attendance to justify the competition or to say that despite the earlier protests, fans came around in the end. We can argue about the likelihood of that, but it is at least a possibility. To me, that's enough the justify a boycott. I wouldn't be able to look back on the day with any warmth if it was used post-hoc by the FL to further damage lower-league football.

I've never seen Oxford win at Kenilworth Road - missed the 1998
league cup win but seen countless other games there.

Mind you I had never seen a win at the County Ground until last Sunday !