FA Cup Second Round Draw

But losses have to covered either by directors or recovered later. Anyway I only gave Stockport as one example. There are others Leyton Orient,Wrexham,Hartlepool,Chesterfield in the Conference and York and Torquay in the divisions below. In addition there are other Clubs who I remember playing often such as Barrow and Aldershot etc . I accept we need new thinking and fresh hope but in many ways we have done well to maintain our position in Division 1 on our “gates” I will never forget when under Colin Lee we reached 10th in the Championship and the Town and its surrounds did not respond in sufficient numbers to maintain that position. Now you can blame JB for that if you like but at that stage he was engaged and funding a team with some of the best players we have ever had at Walsall.
As I said earlier I hope for new ownership but to pretend that will automatically propel us into the Championship may be wishful thinking. Anyway lets hope we win on Saturday and get a top club in the 3rd round when a lot of people will come who we only see about two or three times in a decade!!

We’re not even reinvesting what we make never mind making sustainable (ie nothing like the scenarios you keep listing) losses.

You’ve listed some cases of irresponsible spending. That’s not what the rest of the league is doing. Clearly it doesn’t mean apocalypse. You’re buying into their excuses.

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When Bonser proudly proclaimed “We’ll never chase the dream” he completely misunderstood what it is to be a football fan. None of us want stupid spending that will risk the future of the club but, on the flip side, if the only “dream” we have is surviving in the same position we’ve been for the last decade then it’s little wonder people are drifting away.

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With regards cup I honestly think with the FA cup being downgraded so much in recent times (maybe just for the big clubs) and reserve teams being put out in the 3rd round by a fair few, fans are asking why they have to fork out another 15-20 quid on top of their season ticket money to watch games clubs have already admitted are a lower priority than the league.

Obviously not something Bonser would consider in a hurry but I honestly think fans should get two FA cup home games as part of their season ticket free of charge. Some of the season ticket holders are of course being inconvienced anyway by losing their seat for Sunderland fans.

Maybe then generally you’d get better attendances. In the modern climate 15 quid isn’t that bad but it’s still extra expense on top of the league games. Tenner all round the ground would work better, it’s not like Sunderland need the money as they’re still getting parachute payments!

Hence the reason why i stopped buying my season ticket . You want to support a team , your team that has got ambition , and want’s to win thing’s .

I’d kidded myself for long enough wishing , hoping we would push on , but realised our Chairman , and his Director’s we’re happy just the way it is thank you very much …

I am not buying into anything. I am pointing out that there can be downsides to “chasing a dream”. I could not have been clearer we need new ownership and new hope. However it is right to point out that when we had a good team with some real quality the public did not respond in sufficient numbers to sustain it over the long term. At that JB was engaged and providing funds to the Manager but for him or anyone else to continue to do that with our fanbase is unrealistic.
To survive in the championship we would need “gates” of around 10,000…say 9,000 regulars. At the minute we get around 3,500 so there is a mountain to climb. We can only start on that climb with new owners and fresh thinking. The debate elsewhere on ticketing shows that clearly. I fervently hope that a change is coming. In the meantime all I can do is support this young and developing team and its young Manager the best I can and that is what I will do.

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You can support the team and manager without convincing yourself that we don’t have to speculate to accumulate or even make a moderate loss to achieve it just because that’s what big Jeff says.

It’s not chasing a dream, it’s giving the team every chance. You are insinuating I am advocating throwing money at the wall. I’m really not. I’m advocating competing like we can. Like virtually every team in the football league does.

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Yes, I remember Jeff’s statements on this in early 2000s.
His logic was that Walsall fans were presented with two home games together over Xmas and New Year.
Against Reading ‘only’ 8,000-something turned up to watch us play in a prestigious higher league.
The stadium barely held 10,000, I don’t quite know where these 1000s of extra fans were going to sit.

Just bought a ticket. It will be my first home game in a year. I asked how sales were going and the girl told me ’ very well’. So here’s hoping for a decent turn out.

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The game against Reading on January 4th 2003 had a gate of 5,987. The Boxing Day game in 2002 had a gate of 10,459 whilst the home game on January the 11th against Wolves had a gate of 11,037 so the Reading game was in between two major fixtures. After that gates were around the 6,000-8,000 depending on the opposition,
The following season after going 10th after an away win at Cardiff on the 26th December we had 8,089 against Reading on the 28th . After that gates were around the 6,000-7,000 mark until the last game against Rotherham when 11,049 turned up!!!

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That’s a very comprehensive answer thank you.

I fear I may have my Reading games mixed up there in terms of Bonser’s comments.
It was definitely the game after the Cardiff win I was thinking of, as I was out of the country at the time.
I recall the attendance and some remark being made on it, which I found harsh.

Bonser’s comments would have been more reasonably justifed looking at the 2003 games.
Nevertheless, that game being sandwiched between two 10k attendances, the point is still partly valid.
The average attendance was 9,161 across those three holiday games.

No problem…I had forgotten that we played Reading twice at about the same time of the year.

I was about to say there’s only one Reading match I want to remember…

However, I forgot about the 6-0 in around September 1985-ish ??

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Somewhere around the defeat to Accrington Stanley, shamefully I regret to admit that I was a little disrespectful about both the club and their gates. They have, however, even with gates that make ours look fabulous, produced a squad of players on a shoestring, that are far more likely to be in contention for a play off position than we are likely to muster. They achieved a record gate on Saturday for the visit of Barnsley, with a newly built stand full to the brim.
In my local BBC Look North news recently the club was featured as a shining light of how to run a football club, the club was bought out, not long ago by an unassuming local successful business man, who has now ploughed much of his personal fortune into the club without even a suggestion of complaint, he (unlike uncle Jeff, actually, and REALLY loves his local club).
They had invited loads of local schoolkids to the ground, given tours of the meagre facilities with pride, the players themselves handing out FREE Accy shirts to each kid, as well as numerous goodies.
We MUST clamour for a change at the top, otherwise the malaise around at the moment, (even though we can occasionally produce some signs of good football) will further enhance the ‘third rate’ feeling that
ensues currently.

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Me too. Hopefully a good one, as good as the 2-2 at FP way back in 1988. Eric Gates playing up the crowd during a corner at the street end, surges meaning you ended up yards from where you began - now that was atmosphere!

Good grief, I remember Eric Gates playing for Carlisle in the first season at Bescot.