If we did end up as a non league club would you rather
Carry on supporting the club in its current format in the hope it would one day bounce back
Start again free from any ties to rent and Wave goodbye to all the issues but with the momentum of 3000 fans. Whether that’s as a Phoenix club or taking the plunge of stepping away from Bescot
Seeing Hereford get to Wembley yesterday made me wonder
Just a thought because like many have mentioned just can’t see us getting back if it goes tits up
Careful what you wish for, just because AFC Wimbledon have done it, look at many Phoenix clubs that have stagnated - FCUM, AFC Liverpool, AFC Blackpool etc.
I don’t know where I’d stand as I’ve not weighed up the pros and cons Properly
The main Pro I could see at the moment is That WalsallFC in its current format whether it’s L2 or NL is stagnating to the point of regressing. Would an alternative path be that different and with the backing of 2-3000 as has been proven in the success stories would put them back at a level not to far away
Also to add … those that fail ran as rival / alternates not reformed clubs
We will struggle to get fans go to Walsall fc nevermind a AFC Walsall I honestly think we’d end up in a few years like Darlington,Chester, Hereford type club if we go down, The stadium will be a weight around the neck of the club in a number of ways not just the rent but just the general up keep of it I know a lot of people slag bescot off but the facts are it’s a good league 1 ground and costs a lot more to maintain than a pitch a portaloo and a cabin selling hotdogs that some of these poxy clubs play in.
Club would have to drop much lower to do stuff like just upping sticks from Bescot and start from scratch, taking midland combination or whatever league Tamworth are in now.
And surely you do that in knowledge council or whoever helps and locates land and all that unless you just groundshare at Hendesford as suggets but that simply isn’t a viable long term strategy as then the club has even less identity than it does now.
I hate the impasse and rent issues at Bescot as much as anyone and have no real love for “the venue” other than it’s incredibly easy to get to by train.
Would love a Rotherham/Luton style ground just off the town centre but if there was no interest doing that when club were firmly mid table league 1 I can’t really see there being much more prospect in the depths of non league.
Has the Bury phoenix club even got off the ground yet or is there still squabbling, Wimbledon only club really in last 20 years that had no choice with what happened.
Difficult one. A new club would always be more difficult when the ‘old’ one is still hanging around. You’d have a % of fans who won’t support it which is what makes it more difficult than if we went bust and were forced to support it or someone else, you’d have almost everyone behind it.
There are pros to it though, okay we might not be as high up in the pyramid system but let’s go back to Robs thread where he asked what people would miss in the EFL. I think the majority said not much, if anything. So a new club wouldn’t lose much of what we enjoy either as long as your mates follow along too.
The added plus would be everyone pulling in the same direction, from top to bottom, a new sense of unity that has been lost at Walsall for years.
Does that positivity of having a ground (albeit a lot smaller) that we can actually call our own and a board that we all connect with and that are us and we all feel a part of, outweigh the negative that we could end up bobbing around the real low tiers of non league for years, if not forever?
I would prefer to stick with the original club but if we go into non league I won’t be attending any matches. If we stay up with the current manager and his cheap cast off and loan signings I won’t be renewing my season ticket. I am fed up of us being a well run club at the accountants but being a poorly run club where it matters, on the pitch.
Would love to be involved/support a Phoenix club, free of the leach and the malaise, fan run, with all profits ploughed back in. Loads of positives.
However, it wouldn’t work if Walsall FC were still playing, it would just become a competitor of it & would struggle. Saddlers would need to go bust etc… for a Phoenix to work.
I will always be a fan of Walsall FC, the club is in my veins, but i will only support them financially & physically on occasion now. Bath City have more ambition & direction, are local & cheaper, Walsall FC will always be the club I love, but not necessarily the club I like.
Really hope this changes, love to have my club back & soon.
If we drop into the NL then we arent coming out. The club have massively lost their way.
If Walsall wernt there anymore… im not doing any phoenix club thing or starting again watching crap park football. Probably just lose interest completely and get into something else on a Sat or go and watch my local team at Bridgnorth.
I think the current 76.4% shareholder would not regard it as an option at the moment nor in fact any of the other directors/shareholders who are owed money
In principle I wouldnt mind moving away from the Bescot - but dont see any other options. We cant build a new ground without being shackled to a bigger financial commitment can we?