Thetownend.com

I see that Brizzle City have turned down Brizzle Rovers request to ground share, so I would imagine that leaves us as the next biggest ground to Rovers.

Othersthat are considering a Bath and Cheltenham

I quite expect the board to agree to this as it would be a pay day for them.

We will have no seats left if this is agreed to - I for one don't want to ground share with Rovers.

Whatever the board want the police and I assume SBC will have a say, not too mention the fans.  But if youlike a totally wrecked pitch and no seats then I guess it's perfect.

Wouldn't want to share with the gasheads at all think it would end up costing the board more than they would make.

For what its worth I can see them sharing with Bath just because they played there for so long and it would cause the least trouble all round.

It's got to be rejected. Think how much more Luggy will moan about being unable to train on the pitch :)

Well, realistically it is either us or Cheltenham: Bath would cost too much to bring up to current league standards.

Whaddon Road's capacity is much less than ours and is a little further away (only by a couple of miles) from the Memorial. Plus, our catering/hospitality facilities are much better than Cheltenham's.

Do the math ...

Wouldn't this depend on the terms of our lease?  we may not even be able to essentially sub let.  I'd have thought the Council would want to be involved.  Personally we should tell them no right now, more hassle than it would ever be worth.

But, if it were to go ahead, our rent bill would be cut in half - how is that too much hassle? As a club which is always in debt, it should at least be considered. Especially if some of the extra cash goes towards players

if the game with Rovers coming up is anything to go by, I'd guess the policing bill would be big and they can charge whatever they like to football clubs without any right of appeal.

Add into that the cost of maintaining the pitch (we can't afford to do much more than stick some forks in it as it is).  Cost of ground maintenance, prospect of trouble in the surrounding area meaning locals become hostile towards the club etc.

May not all be financial loss and there could be a bit of profit, but overall I can see it "costing" more.

I believe the cost to bring Twerton Park up to standard is minimal.  

Plus they would save in policing and more expensive rent from us.

Capacity is irrelevent to be honest as any move will be based on there attendance figures of this season.  Agree with the catering and hospitality being better but think personally the minuses outweigh the plusses so cant honestly see them coming here.

As for rent being slashed in half and cash being available for players that would be great under a new board but just like the Lukas money I would have serious doubt this would be invested in the squad  :?

Come on we all know the local residents are under the spell of Mike Bowden if he tells them that Rovers coming will make their grass grow greener and the flowers more pretty in their gardens (how he sees it in his head) then they are bound to agree to it.

Have the regs changed alot since the 90's when Rovers were last at Twerton?  I can't see them going anywhere other than Bath. Certainly not Swindon - someone made a really good point on a previous thread about this - what happens if the scum get promoted via the playoffs - Rovers vs Oxford at the County Ground :shock:

It's a LOT more than you think ...

But Rovers would have to foot the bill for the policing so how does that cut into our costs?!?!?  If the pitch it damaged, then Rovers would have to 'pitch in' (ha!) to fund groundkeeping etc.

At a time that the localresidents need to be looked aftre more than ever, it would be the most basic error imaginable to even talk abut a groudnshare, subjecting them to football during every single weekend and most weekdays of the season - and kissing goodbye to any hope of meeting a compromise in ground development.

I have to admit that is the utter downside ...

We'll see. Might never happen :)

not to mention hundreds of rovers roaming swindon town centre on saturdays  :hide: would be absolute carnage.

the WDP article says that Twerton Park is pretty much off the agenda too - leaving us or Whaddon Road...

Ninian Park is close too? :wink:

Like I just said - too expensive to bring up to league standards, no corporate facilities.

I can't see the board turning down potential revenue regardless of the practical problems. If the lease allows it I bet they go for it.

Sod the residents and the state of the pitch, its cash for the boys.

no matter what the long-term implications are for revenue from a new ground. Absolute muppets.

Note how City turned it down, in part owing to the concerns of the fans...

Do we dislike the Gas that much?

I think they'd go for Cheltenham anyway.

team bath play at twerton aswell

hmmm well our board would just love the extra cash wouldn't they?  :-))( not good

would be interesting if only to see how much the rovers board charge for tickets...

I know a couple of Gasheads at work, they want Swindon rather than Cheltenham as Whaddon Roads a bit of a shit to get to.

Ive said it before and i will say it again. There is no chance it will be the CG. You only have to look at how much they are spending on police for the Rovers game in a few weeks and how much the home game must have cost. The OB will never let it happen.

Tell them they can both fuck off

I like the idea. Get to watch a league game every week. :)

(I don't mind rovers, used to watch them in Bath when I was younger).

yeah but, just imagine playing rovers away, at the county ground.

i'd go on the stratton bank, just for the novelty value.

IF we did stay down and we did ground share we'd sell out the away end for the Rovers game....infact we could probably take the best part of 7,000  :D

Why don't they use Bath Rugby Ground? That will really piss the locals off  and the Gas Fans will have nowhere to park :D

Wouldn't it be so wierd, sitting in the away end of our own ground.  :?

Not for me I started watching the Town from the Stratton Bank.  It would be good fun to sing "you're supposed to be at home" though

They could go up in the playoffs with us in an auto spot

A big no from me, it's a stupid idea on so many levels.

*The pitch would get destroyed.
*The stadium would get trashed especially after their last game at the CG.
*There would be stupid amounts of trouble, just look at the sunday when they trashed that pub for no reason.
*It would anger local residents and destroy any hopes of redevelopment.
*Would cause plenty of logistical problems.

Fuck them, they can go back to Twerton or end up at Weston super mare or some non-league dive, I want them no where near our ground.

Saying that, with this being such a stupid the present board will say yes.

Cant help but think it would be a bit of a laugh.

I agree with yeovil. Probably be some trouble first few games and then everyone would get bored of it and just all get a long.

Imagine if they got a home draw against us in the FA Cup :mrgreen:

Erm meaning we were away at the County Ground if that makes sense...or Rovers V City or Oxford in Swindon that'd be ace :mrgreen:

If the unthinkable did happen and Rovers did play here next year, surely they'd make the town end the away end for rovers games?? usually when club ground share (Selhurst park for example) clubs have different home ends, therefore when rovers play they make the TE away fans??

ted, that sounds like logic to me. it'll never work.

Spot on!

They discussed this on Soccer Night last night, Pitman seems to think it's odds on the be us. But then again, what does Pitman know? :shrug:

Could this be a 'leaving' present to the supporters, the current incumbants sign a deal knowing fan's don't want it just before they depart but they go ahead anyway

From what I've heard I'm gonna say 80% chance at the mo ...

City have rejected it. Rovers are on record as saying they couldn't think of a single adavntage that Cheltenham have over us.

So its between us and Bath. And it is fairly obvious our facilities are a better fit.

Jed Pitman is an Ubercunt.

From a purely personal point of view, living 2 mins walk from the CG and having seen the 5h1t Rovers fans have caused in Swindon before, I do not want to smell 'gas' every couple of weeks.  

I not sure it would destroy any hopes of a ground redevelopment, but if residents have to suffer grief because of a ground share, it isn't likely to make people feel very charitable if they are asked to back a redevelopment in the future.

Nuddy in your role can you rather forcefully suggest this to Bowden et al, whilst we all know the club want the cash, and frankly they don't care what the fans think, but providing the police allow it, the only decent obstacle could be how it jeopordises the development, and you guys could make it clear to them.

According to the yocal news, we should all know who Rovers are sharing with in the next 10 days.

I thought the police would quite welcome a chance of some more overtime and obviously the club would like the money so I can this being likely.

Would be the worst thing to happen to the club in years - disastrous if it happens

Would seriously alienate local residents and businesses, so have a serious impact on ground redev. Any money would almost certainly have to be split with the council as it would effectively be a sublet. I wonder if they've consulted the council yet as to the cash split and/or whether they'd even allow it. Or are they planning on signing the deal, then asking the council?

Wouldn't put that past the board.

Maybe they think they're American !!?  :D

Doesn't affect them once they've left does it - just jumps the price up. The Council would surely be against it - but then I'm sure Cheltenham council would likewise.

am looking into this....

And have they also asked the police. I'm sure they would love to have thousands of Rovers fans come down every other week.

This plan seems to have a 'fatal flaw' in it, as they probably would need more coppers 'than you can shake a stick at!!'

Where's Bowden when you want to ask him a question?

Mr Bowden certainly has been very quiet of late.

After a bit of thought, I'd be in favour of a ground share with Rovers,  OK there may be  a few problems attached like wear of the pitch.  But the reaction from many on here justs follows the Daily Mail line that all football fans are thugs and oincapable of civilised behaviour.
 
   I'd prefer us offering Rovers a neighbourly hand.....it would be for a fixed term not forever, and we may find ourselves in a similar situation soon.

Nah, lets redevelop the County Ground one stand at a time, and have one of those massive Highbury-style murals behind the stand being done with smiley faces with orange hats on

Personally, and after speaking to a number of Town fans about it last weekend, we came to a conclusion it would be a bad idea.

Rovers fans didn't help their cause last year, when coming back on the train from a postponed game at Poxford, they wrecked one of the pubs opposite the train station, and bearing in mind that we've got the game at Rovers in 3 weeks time, it would difficult to police at the CG if there was trouble there.

Also, if the FC get in and their plans are approved by the council for redevelopment, it could cause delays in that.

According to a Gashead on the TFF BRFC have got an online vote - either Cheltenham or Swindon.

Found it. Looks like talks are at an advanced stage...

http://www.bristolrovers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,10328~1012273,00.html?ptvParm=

anyone fancy fixing a vote??? :twisted:

Really this has to be made alot more public in our local press than it has been.  There would be so many people that would object to this but are currently being kept in the dark (for a change) as talks continue to progress.

Too late for a leaflet for Mansfield? should be given to every supporter, posted through local residents/companies doors and really bring this groundshare into the public eye.

I am sure a petition would get thousands of signatures, we do not want Rovers trashing our ground, our pubs or our town the fact it is even being considered is an absolute joke  :evil:

I've just sent them a nice email to air my views.

Here's my email

Sam prepare another 25 page dossier on it, it seemed enough to turn Bob Holt's trousers brown.

I'll see what I can do...

Leaflet idea or petition:

If we put either a leaflet or petition together it should enclose newspaper clippings of the violence in the ground at the home game this year and also when they smashed up the Queens tap.  Honestly if this was made so much more public the opposition to this would be huge.

Just think when Swindon are playing away and you cant make it and you just want to nip into Town for a beer only to be confronted by loads of Rovers twats, to put it simply this cant be allowed to happen as soon as it effects my weekends drinking its getting personal  :evil:

I think it will be us.

From a practicality point of view, I can't think of one single thing that Cheltenham have in favour of us, from a Rovers point of view.

We have a bigger ground (We have more than double their capacity)

We have better facilities (Hard to beleive I know!)

We have more parking ( The parking in and around Cheltenham's ground and the town centre is appauling)

The train station is within easy walking distance (Cheltenham Spa station is right at the other end of Cheltenham to Whaddon Road, much further than Swindon Station to CG)

If we allow them to come here, they will choose us over Cheltenham. Cunts.

MY MAIN CONCERN

The Trust have got the local community onside with regards to the ground redevelopment. That has taken an awful amount of legwork and time.

It is a very short step from these people being our allies to painting all football fans with the same "hooloigan" brush again - out come the nimbies and all support for the Trust plans evaporate overnight !

Now that would REALLY piss me off !

18 months from the new year might, and I'm stabbing in the dark here, affect the start of our own redevelopment - 2 years from now there is an outside chance of progress with teh CG developnment if we get ideas on paper and out of people's heads.

Only two links I could find but say enough to give you a damning verdict on what a bad idea this would be:

http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/search/display.var.1078988.0.fans_clash_as_rivalries_boil_over.php

http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/search/display.var.884381.0.football_hooligans_given_community_orders.php

And of course we all know how ground redevelopments can drag on so 18 months could quite easily become 2 years.....

I'm sure Rovers fan's will probably favour our place as well though as we have the better facilities here.

I'm sure the board will agree the deal and then announce it to everyone....and wait for the council and police to contact them to discuss after all they do think they are important !!

Come to think of it, isn't it a bit inappropriate for Rovers to ask their fans to vote on it, but not bothered to ask us or Cheltenham our thoughts?

No it's wholly appropriate for Rovers to ask their fans to vote on it. It would be down to STFC to ask us for our thoughts, consult with local residents, check with the council etc. After all STFC are the ones with the relationship with the fans, community and council

None of which they seem to have done yet.

anyone emailed the Adver about this yet?

Ive said it once and i will say it again, it will never happen!!!

If it does I will run on the pitch naked for the first home game of next season!

Thats 2 things I dont want to see at the county ground you naked and rovers fans  :cry:

Well, I said all this weeks ago.

Rovers would, I have heard from a few people there, prefer to come to Swindon just because the facilities are better.

That doesn't mean, of course, that it will or should happen.

woop woop woop

What sort of crowds do people think they would realistically get if they were playing their home games at the CG?  3-4000?

Exactly, Cheltenham would be more realistic for their attendances.

they seem to be worried  that if they have a decent season whaddon road won't be big enough for them.

Well personally if they did use the CG I think we should restrict them to 2 stands anyway, and restrict the capacity to say 5000 or 6000....as don't see why they should be allowed the whole thing, I certainly wouldn't let them anywhere near the townend

I was thinking that today actually.If it goes ahead i will be even more livid if they get the town end

Just give them the Bank and the Arkells.

No.

They don't set foot on my front lawn.

If they want to discuss that, they can do that with my husband.

He will be back on Friday!

[Quote from Jim Lovell's wife in Apollo 13]

That would be my preference if the unthinkable does happen  :D

honestly i couldnt give a fuck. dont know why your bothered its not as if you would be there.

No, because you will be 130 miles away.

Some of us have to live in this town and the consequences

 :evil:

(Nothing personal Mex)

Says someone living in Brighton  :D

It's just such a bad idea its untrue...

If Rovers get promoted through the play offs and we go up, won't it be strange when we're 'away' to Rovers.  :D

Does that mean we only get the Bank and the Arkells corner?

ah fucking get over it. you been down bottom of town ever? as if it matters.

I would hope as part of any agreement they allow us effectively 2 home games......As fun as the bank could be, I don't fancy it on a freezing cold Tuesday evening

I see on their official site that City turned down a ground share, why did we accept?

Money?

To be fair there would still be more liverpool and manure fans in the town than Swindon or Rovers.

There'd probably be a bit of trouble for the first few games and maybe any big games after that but people would soon get bored.

It's not just the trouble......there's having football at the CG every week and the congestion problems that this brings........it will infuriate the locals!

i think your all getting worked up over nothing

I've got nothing against Rovers fans. It'll mean that I can make friends in the CGH twice as often. fuck away games.

Why didn't they ask Yeovil or Gloucester rugby ? Closer to Brizzle too.

Tell that to a resident around the CG.

Football every Saturday???

Are you on a wind up here, Ian?

or go in the away end and cheer on who they are playing, plus you could leave secret things for the following weeks away fans like timed firecrackers

fuck me alan they decided to live near a football ground and its only for a couple of hours

They could allways ground share with Cardiff  :mrgreen:

With respect Ian, I don't think you understand the influence the locals have with Swindon Borough Council.

Piss them off badly and the CG redevelopment is likely to go out of the window.

It will be Shaw all over again  :wink: and where will that leave the club's future?

knickers and twist come to mind, fuck the residents, there was a football ground before they were there.

You're on a mission, you bugger.

Get on your bloody scooter and drive off the pier  :P

im deadly serious. what do they expect living next to a football ground a fucking opera crowd?

No, no you're not.

I'm not going to believe anything you say any more  :D

It's not just the fact that a bunch of fucking Worzels will be sharing our ground.

If i wanted to go out for a quiet drink on a Saturday afternoon when we we're playing ooop North and decided to go into the Town centre what are the chances of bumping into some Rovers lads wanting a ruck?, there's a very high chance IMO.

Where has it been posted that Swindon are looking to accept the offer? Or this talk of a fans vote?

would anyone on here buy a season ticket? :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Couple of quotes from the beeb site

"Swindon is the way, even if only because it has nicer facilities. Swindons vague skill might even rub off on us..."

"Cheltenham fan here - just to say I'd be happy for Rovers to groundshare for 18 months at our ground (which has changed a bit since rovers last visited) - more cash for us - and we can use it to maintain our League One status next season"

"Basically though, for the above reasons, I say CHELTENHAM, because the tight surroundings and potential better atmosphere will surely suit Rovers better"

" would probably prefer swindon, because it is a bigger pitch & we seem to play better football on wider surfaces......."

It will be intersting to see how the questionaire pans out...

Oh do fuck off.

I was waiting for you to pipe up with your 'I know Paul Trollope' bullshit.

Wanker.

Not in a good mood Mr Sam?

:nod:

:mrgreen:

To be fair we were all waiting for Pookbury to come up with my mate paul......

But he does speak a load of 'Trollope'....





I'll get me coat.  :mrgreen:

Your mate Paul will probably give you a free season ticket.

a question for Pauld or someone like that. what does the trust make of the groundshare idea? is it something that they would be interested in should the consortium take over or is it something that is simply a no no? also what if the current board agree to it and then the takeover happens. would the trust then decide to cancel the agreement as such? or is this not possible?

I think this is a sufficiently big issue that it would warrant putting to the members before coming up with an "official" Trust line, but if you want my personal opinion, while I can see that the club have a responsibility to explore every avenue to bring in extra revenue, the scheme seems to me to be fraught with potential difficulties. I think the club have a responsibility to talk to Rovers and see what the revenue benefit would be, and then weigh that up against the potential costs, both financial and non-tangible.

My greatest concern, as others have said, would be that if such a scheme were to be entered into without proper consultation of both the local community and the council, and add to that the additional traffic, inconvenience and general hassle, the whole thing could so alienate the local community/council that it torpedoes the prospects of redevloping the CG. If there were any trouble that would exacerbate that several times over - and I don't necessarily think we'd see the "rivers of blood" every weekend scenario some have portrayed, but the problem is it would only take three incidents in the first season to completely tarnish the whole image of football fans in the Town. And it would be no good saying "Oh it wasn't us, it was them nasty Gasheads" - a lot of people don't differentiate they just do a simple equation of "Football = trouble, more football = more trouble". Look at the reaction of some of the locals around the time of the Shaw Tip debacle. It would be beyond ironic if we scuppered our own ground redev to help Rovers with theirs.

It's that aspect, damaging the club's long-term best prospect of viability for the sake of short-term cashflow, that worries me most and at the moment is tipping me into being opposed to it.

As for subsequently cancelling any agreement, I think that's getting very ahead of ourselves on both the Fans Consortium and a groundshare - neither are done deals as yet. But in general terms it would depend on the legal agreement between the two clubs, any penalties agreed for cancellation, the League's view etc etc as to whether it would be even feasible to cancel it. Any new board may find themselves stuck with such an agreement once it's been signed whether they liked it or not.

Like I say the above is really my personal opinion rather than a Trust view but I don't think I'm wildly out of step with it. Hope that helps.

There's another angle to this - the council.

I've given my copy of the club's lease away so I can't check, but it has a hell of a lot of clauses in it. Sub-letting is very probably covered and rightly so.

I can't see the council being favourable to any ground share tbh. Although it might well increase their prospects of getting the rent and rates on time there's loads of negative "bad for Swindon" aspects to this.

When the council are pushing for a bright shiny new Swindon town centre, the last thing they need is bad press because minorities (and yes, from both sets of supporters) want to face up every other week and give us yet more Adver "town centre shoppers shocked by bare knuckle fights" type headlines. Even though most fans are not interested in this sort of thing there will always be those who are. Journalists thrive on it.

Plus the club have quite happily overlooked any form of publicity or consultation with those that historically least matter to them. Like the fans, residents or council.

I'm sure there's also the well known clause in the Goddard Estate covenant from 18?? that stipulates the site on which the County Ground is built can only be used for sporting or leisure purposes.

On the basis that the rubbish served up by the Gas each Saturday could not even remotely be described as sport or leisure, I'd say the deal is dead.

Swindon fans probably had decades of jokes like because of his old man... Today sir, you have switched the trend.  :roll:

 :soapy tit wank:

What a coincedence, the club are going to start consultations with residents and fans next week.

http://www.swindontownfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,10341~1013673,00.html

Wouldn't have anything to do with opinions on internet forums, would it?

"Oooops, we did it again"

Maybe they've found a 'fatal flaw' !!!

Fair play, at least they are going to consult. As long as it's done properly and not just lip service, I think you have to give credit that it's being done.

Its all bollox...club wise.
Tis all...
Millom

That was pretty poetic millom. You ever thought of a change of career? You know I'd really think you'd make a good writer.

So we can expect a poll on the adver forum on Monday.  :roll:

Right I'm a little confused about this, Bowden was at the speedway last night and reckoned a decision will made today and was currently 80/20 in Swindons favour............so are they going to make a decision then carry out the the fans consultation as a consultation?

Also he was banding around a figure of 100k for it to anyone that wanted to listen. Is he talking out of his arse again or are the club just misleading fans?

That would be the traditional consultation process, as used by the council for many years.

Is so, they will make the usual schoolboy error of using the word "consultation" rather than "presentation".

Let us hope not.

As I understand it - The Bristol Rovers vote was to decide where negotiations should begin ie at which club - Cheltenham or Swindon.  

It may be that after consultations and discussions with the local residents - police - council etc that the Swindon move isnt feasible - but Rovers had to start their efforts somewhere so they decided to ask the fans where they would like to go.

Also I believe it was a PR move as they know the supporters wont be happy travelling that far to every home game and they want to make it appear that the fans themselves actually made the choice in part.

What Bowden said appears to be correct as Im reliably informed that the majority favour the Swindon switch over the Cheltenham switch - but this doesnt mean its definately going to happen - all that has been agreed is that Swindon as a club are happy to try and make it happen ie we agree to share providing everyone else is happy ie council residents police etc - of course we dont count (Swindon fans) as the current regime never involves us in any decision making whatsoever - as per usual we are just insignificant when it comes to them making some money HENCE we werent consulted.

My guess is that the local council and police and probably residents will all object too strongly and it wont happen.

so really that long essay you wrote just means it might happen.Thank fuck for your sources  :D

That is not what he said. He said the club will find out if Rovers are groundsharing with us.............TODAY!!!

Well Id be surprised if that was the case .. very suprised .. but then after this season ..  nothing would surprise me.

Hmm, I think the experience over the "plans in my head" etc should demonstrate that Mr Bowden is somewhat in the habit of talking cack.

Sturrock is backing the plans

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/sportlatest/display.var.1342327.0.swindon_town_boss_backs_share_plan.php

Sorry but I am not buying it

It goes against everything that PK said last night

We could be seeing a better standard of football next year on a pitch that is going to host in excess of 45 games

It doesn't make fucking sense to me

Fuck me Sturrock, I wonder if the truth about all these statements of yours will come out when the consortium take charge ?

It does make sense financially though Fred - BUT - we dont need them if the consortium is in power ..

Sturrock loves long ball football so buggering up the pitch is to our benefit against all those footballing sides isnt it? snigger snigger

Sorry fatters but that's bollocks..............How many times did we hear PS whinging this sseason that he could not get on the pitch to train ?

I know it is an extra revenue stream - but what price will we have to pay ?

Its not a trade off that is comprehensible IMHO

Im fucking livid

 :twisted:  :twisted:

Surely any additional finance would be minimal and would more than likely end up covering vandalism to walls, seats in the ground, replacing the pitch more regular.

Finance aside we have the devastating cost of us upsetting local residents by giving them football every week plus I don't think it will just be the odd bit of violence here or there I could see the 2 sets of supporters wanting to meet every other week looking to get 1 up on the other.

So all in all what will we get out of this damaged walls, seats and additional town centre damage as well as fuelling a rivalry which I can see getting worse and worse and for what a minimal amount of money that wont be used on the playing budget.

This cannot be allowed to happen its that simple  :evil:

Frwd - you need to chill before you have a heart attack mate.   :D

It all depends on the financial package offered I guess ... Sturrock just used the weather as an excuse for a dodgy result Fred ... simple as that.

For the record - im AGAINST the groundshare

Was just talking to some people at work about this (not football fans) and they were appalled they don't want Rovers fans here on a regular basis and says is there some kind of petition going around that we can sign, I said not yet.

This really needs to be considered and be in place for Walsall as with a few thousand signatures we would be in a much better position to argue this.  I know some people wouldn't mind but the majority do not want them here.

Any thoughts anyone?

Sturrock = Puppet

That is all

I usually have a chat with Marcus the groundsman when we are putting the flags up on a Saturday morning.

He has been completely pissed off so far this season that Sturrock's been using the pitch for training at all, as it's wrecking it.

If Rovers were to play I think he would resign tbh as he just couldn't keep it in good enough condition.

we dont use our pitch anyway? HOOF!

We really need to do something about this guys....i do not want bristol rovers here at all, and to hear sturrock saying he wants them here makes it even worse!!....

The pitch will get battered....there will be loads of trouble....it is just not worth it....we need to try and stop this from happening....I'd do anything to stop them coming here....just proves yet again that we have a bunch of clown running this football club.....

It will wreck the pitch.
They will wreck the ground.
The rivalry will just get worse.

The consortium has money.

All I say is no groundshare, and back the Consortium!

How long have I been saying that for now?

Ages. It was all you said for about a fucking month. You were wrong then and are wrong now.

I've said it before and i'l say it again, Sturrock dosnt strike me as the type of bloke who gets told what to say. He probally sees the extra income as a bonus for the club and has possibly been promised some or all of it for the playing budget. Potential trouble in the town centre isnt his look out.

As for the pitch, Reading and Wycombe's pitches seem alright with Rugby clubs playing on there every other week.

Whereas Rovers, Stockport, Rochdale have had their pitches well and truly buggered by overuse.

I'm no grass expert, but there must be some reason why some pitches take it and others dont

the way i read Sturrock's piece is that in an ideal world he wouldn't have it - but we're skint so we need the money - but £100k - no thanks. thats a joke.

Multiply that by 5 and we can start talking, but only if the Townend is an overflow and only if we're never away fans in our own ground (cups etc)

In my ideal world, we won;t need their paltry offering anyway, because BP can come in and sort the finances out. 100k, fucking hell.

Prem Rugby teams pay a significant rent though, so the clubs can spend a decent amount on getting the pitch up to standard or at least enough to repair it in the worse cases.  £100k, if that is correct is nothing compared to the damage to the pitch.  We spent £20k at least this season on reseading it, and that was just the cheaper option available which is now showing.

The last time I spoke to Marcus a few weeks ago he said that the club had only spend £10k out of the whole season's £20k budget. Most of that was on a spiking machine to try and relieve some of the compaction.

It is seriously underfunded.

Bowden's made an appearance on thisis....or at least he's trying to

:Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

I'm pretty sure league regulations would say this can't be done. If Rovers were the "home" side then we would technically HAVE to be the away fans. Atleast we'd fill the bank...

It would be weird. We're away fans at home.  :?

....'you're supposed to be at home...'

or is it 'Is that all you take away?'

I have done a petition about this, just awaiting it being approved then I will post the link for all those that want to sign.

It's ok for Sturrock to come out and say "The Groundshare would be ideal!" seeing as i can't see him heading out for a drink on Saturday night in the Town centre.....not unless he's a fan of The Casbah.

We should welcome Rovers here with open arms in my opinion. I know its not ideal but one day (hopefully) when we have a redevelopment we will need somewhere to play for a season or so, and I certainly don't intend going to Oxford or City! So Rover's will owe us one then!

Or you do the sensible option and do one or two stands at the time, we'll never be allowed to build on the cricket pitch or green space so the chances of needing to knock down every stand in one go is pretty remote.

Plus Rovers isn't exactly an easily accessable ground so wouldn't want to share with them in all honesty anyway...

   Its a classic, fella's supposed to be a top end executive and can't even do a quotes posting on a message board......I suppose you just get your secretary to do it for you at nPower....even some of the most mongish of thisis mongs can manage that.

I'd like to think The Nationwide Stand will stay with the other three stands replaced in some form. Whilst I agree with your post about building a stand at a time it all boils down to cost. I'm sure it would be cheaper to build all three stands together in say 12 months rather than building over three years?

 Rovers is eay to get to btw! Straight down the M32, come off at the Ikea junction and just follow the Muller Road to the top.

I prefer to use public transport due to potential car damage and parking problems. Rovers certainly isn't easy to get to by train that for certain. When you combine the cost of lower crowds and groundsharing costs I'm sure there would be little difference.

*BIG FUCKING BUMP*

Is it only me or does anyone else find it strange that the club have not issued some form of countenance statement, disgracing the actions of  the so called fans of BRFC.

It certainly gives credence to Glos Robins post above.

I can just imagine it

The deal is already done and then this happens

'how the fuck are we going to play this now ?"

Very interesting next couple of days

Perhaps a joint statement will be issued ???????

The Rovers board already said (previous to the vote) that they couldn't think of a single advantage Cheltenham had over Swindon.

Soccer Night talked as if it was a done deal a few weeks ago.

I'm probably reading too much into this, then again if the ticket allocation to Walsall thread is true then nothing would surprise me. Makes you wonder if the next financial disaster is about to hit and we need all the money we can get now.

Not sure where they go from here if a deal has been done.

If it hasn't, tell them to FUCK RIGHT OFF. Literally. In those words. Through the press. And there end all correspondance.

 :D

Exactly R4E !

The fact that they are sitting on their hands over this gives me the inclination that it has already been signed sealed and delivered and now they face a rather disturbing dilemma on how they spin it

If it is a done deal at £100k per year then Rovers have certainly fucked us right over!

Atleast that's £100k towards seat replacements...  :|

God forbid they should draw City or Oxford at home in a cup tie

No Sam

The board have fucked over the fans and the people of Swindon in general

Fucking disgusting if true

I think it might be wise for them to issue some kind of statement ASAP (i.e. tomorrow)

(hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge Mr Bowden)

Like I've said elsewhere the only stumbling block could be the Council and the license or the Police - they could I believe insist on obnoxiously awkward kick-off times if they wanted.

Following Saturday i'm all for the proposed groundshare, i welcome our Bristolian neighbours with open arms.

Agreed, Bowden seemed confident that the deal was 80/20 in our favour and looking forward to the money. I remain convinced it is already a done deal.......where is this feedback facility that Starnes promised to have in place by now, just another lie?

On reflection I should have agreed to the chat with Bowden but oh well.

So he could fob you off with more crap?

My previous encounters with him have left me cynical I guess

True but think now it was maybe an opportunity lost, I'm sure he would just fob me off though so probly glad I didn't

Sounds like Lincoln had trouble with Wovers also :

Imps fans set to send complaint to Bristol Police.
By Nathan Jackson May 12 2007

A large group of Lincoln fans are set to complain to the Police force in Bristol after they just stood there whilst Imps fans were pelted with coins and bottles during the game. Despite making several complaints to stewards and the police at the ground, nothing was doing about the fans that threw the coins, and then the forces threatened to throw City fans out for swearing during chants. The problems all started about 10 minutes before kick off when a young female Imps fan complained to the stewards in the away end that she had a coin thrown at her. She pointed out the fan that threw it and the stewards just walked off. Some other Imps' fans were reporting incidents of bottle and coin throwing in their direction as they entered the ground.

A few minutes later a large section of police entered the ground and stood between the two sets of fans. Bristol Rovers scored soon afterwards and several bottles were seen being lobbed into the away end, as well as one or two coins being thrown. Although the police saw this, they choose to do nothing about it.

The incoming missiles into the away end soon ended, but then police started threatening to throw City fans out for swearing during certain chants.

This lead to several objections from Imps fans as to the fact the police seemed more than happy for coins and bottles to be thrown a Lincoln fans, but the Lincoln fans weren't allowed to have a few "tongue-in-cheek" chants.

It is believed that up to 100 of the fans that were in the terraced away end are set to launch an official complaint with the Police force in Bristol.

Football fans are teh scum of the earth...simply thats what some police think

by all accounts the main road outside the ground (gloucester road?) was shut for 45 minutes after the game whilst rovers fans went on the rampage. in their home town. after winning.

so what will sn1 be like on saturday evenings if the unthinkable happens?

they are a joke. this can't go ahead surely! well actually i forgot we have our wonderful board in charge  :roll:

http://www.otib.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=80360

might be a bit over-the-top, but have a read anyway.

Calm down lebowski, im sure the board will put the fans interests first before money.  :mrgreen:

I see the Bristol Evening Post has got some balls for a change :

http://www.epost.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144913&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231190&home=yes&more_nodeId1=144922&contentPK=17311833

Unfortunately, there is still no mention of the 'Inn on the Green' incident.

Further up Gloucester Road, staff at the Inn On The Green, which witnessed violence before the match between Rovers and Swindon Town two weeks ago, were refusing entry to anyone in a football shirt. The pub was closed until the match started at 5pm.

Nice to see Gerald Phillips is going around the boards dismissing this as unimportant and refusing to accept that Rovers cause trouble.....does he just like to disagree with everyone?

The bloke's a loon  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

He could at least use a different user name  :soapy tit wank: