Seen on FB:
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Well that completely explains why people are so pissed off and bored - and probably (rightly) quick to criticise.
Didn’t realise that!
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So if your in your early to mid twenties you have never seen or don’t remember a Walsall promotion
Crazy… how do we get new fans ?
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Is there really any need for this thread? It’s not new news, it was true at the start of the season. We all know Walsall have suffered (with the exception of Smith) for a long time. However for the first time in a long time there is an air of positivity and some people seem to delight in wallowing in a negative mentality. We can all see the benefits Trivela are trying to bring, why bring the mood down?
Just about to renew my Season Ticket.
Only thing that surprises me there is that there are clubs who have been worse than us in that regard. Time to fix it. UTS.
Cos parents like myself put a lot of effort into encouraging their kids to follow in our footsteps, I think. It’s no easy task but you have to teach them the right way, they will thank me later. Despite everything, I wouldn’t change being a Walsall fan for anything.
Our time will come again.
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Why do you think you’re the one to decide what threads are ok and which are not ok?
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All the sweeter when we do get the next one. If you had to pin me down on when, I’d say next season.
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It’s just a view. Feel free to continue to wallow in past failures then wonder why the club doesn’t attract new fans.
Doesn’t it show more what a shitshow Trivela inherited? And how they’re slowly and steadily turning the ship around?
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Meh, nothing unusual /fairly normal. Pretty much as we did for the whole(ish) of the 70’s and the whole(ish) 80’s.
Edit:
Admittedly we’d have probably got promoted under Buckley if the play offs had existed then.
Its a bit simplistic. Scunthorpe have been promoted three (?) times in the same period. I don’t see anyone volunteering to swap places with them.
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Didn’t we get promoted twice in the 80s?
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Wow. Nearly 20 years without a promotion. Some will look at that and see it as a positive that we’ve been relatively consistent in that period and to an extent, I am too grateful we’ve not been through some of the shit other clubs like your Bury’s etc have. But for me personally at 27 years old and following Walsall since 10/11 years old, I’ve seen 1 successful league campaign, which didn’t even end in promotion anyway. I always saw us as the most division 3 teams of all division 3 teams and low and behold, we go and get relegated in a period of time where division 3 is full of local rivals and sleeping giants. We’d easily be averaging 8k gates most weeks in that legaue and now we’re stuck in a 4th division where it seems half the legaue have the budgets of the Championship. With that being said, I see better days ahead for us under Trivela 
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It was the 60s and 70s when we didn’t move. Same division for nearly 20 years until 79.
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What year was it when we got promoted at Shrewsbury then? I remember my Dad telling me it was his first away game.
Yea, 80 and 88, so most of the 80’s 
But yea, also 63-79 , then relegated!
Absolutely but this is where we’ve experienced such a dichotomy of opinion and response over the season.
The variable between those angry frustrated and impatient from years of stagnation, who invariably took out their frustration on the current manager / team / regime and those that could see real evidence of significant change at the club before any sign of improved scorelines on Saturdays.
The latest interview with Rob Williams is excellent and highlights a clear change in philosophy in the academy that’s showing early signs of already bearing fruit that’ll benefit the club going forwards. Sadler should take huge credit for that as it’ll no doubt been driven by him and his staff at first team level.
I don’t need to go over all the old ground because I think now most can now see the rays of sunshine but that hasn’t only been shining since Xmas it’s actually the first green shoots of progress of things put in place in some cases two years ago.
When we look at some recent results where there’s no doubt whatsoever the crowd reaction to going behind literally fired the players and carried them an extra yard, to go on and take 3 points from games, I can’t help but wonder where we’d be if that had been the case had more been behind Sadler early on when boos rung out regularly in games where we went in at half time 0-0 or a goal down….
Accepted that there’s always a chicken and egg situation whereby players have a responsibility to give the crowd something to get behind but we’ve seen real evidence this year of the part the crowd play and how important they are when grasping the nettle and lifting the players when they’ve needed it.
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I’m not really arguing with your point as such. When you chose to follow a football club then it is what it is. I’ve had good times following Walsall and some dire ones.
Getting promoted at the beginning and the end of a decade isn’t the same as no promotion for 16/17 years, and only a few of those have had anything to get excited about.
We fight on though, what else can you do. If I was starting again today, I’d still choose Walsall, the Town where I was born and generations of my family have followed the Saddlers.
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It’s not a fantastic stat is it ?
However the crowds havent dwindled in that time and looking about we do have a fair few young fans, I was one of the very few at secondary school (87-91) who followed Walsall the rest were mostly dingles but it didn’t stop me shouting the loudest, my kids (20 and 18) have been season ticket holders 14 years and never seen us win anything but they’re both up and dressed long before me waiting to go to game, they’re proper hooked and I’m proud of that, I brought them up right.
In fact my daughter is off to Wrexham uni in the summer and she’s still insisted on a season ticket as she said she will be travelling back for home games.
As Blazing Saddler said our time will come and it will be welcomed with both arms when it does.
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