The Official #BteamBoycott Match Day Thread

[Costanza]

Yep, I'm going to the Oxford game and don't see an issue with that.

[Reg Smeeton]

I must confess to having clicked on a link to Chelsea TV and watched most of the match online.  Because this was in full knowledge of the destruction of STFC and the lower leagues generally, I must admit I did feel very guilty but I just couldn't help myself.  Sorry Reg.

No problem. You'll be able to subscibe to Chelsea TV and watch their B team games in the Football League til your heart's content...when the PL and FA finally finish off traditional football.

[RedRag]

Yeah, but my half and half Chelsea / Swindon scarf will have become sadly redundant

[RedRag]

Gimmick competitions are hardly new. The only major issue here is the presence of U23's.

Branco was 26 but our's was virtually an U26s

[leftside]

Wow some sweeping statements going on in here. Let's face it people will  attend regardless, I think that by attending against league teams and boycotting the b team fixtures shows more than boycotting the whole thing. It shows that people are prepared to watch the Football League Trophy which is what is should be.

Il be going to Oxford as will thousands of others, to suggest we are supporting the introduction of B teams and the future demise of the league is frankly laughable.

Unfortunately, I can only see the PL and FL viewing the competition as a whole, and so any kind of 'successful' attendance of any of the matches, regardless of whether they involve U23/development teams or not, will contribute to whatever conclusions the PL and FL will want to draw from the competition.

Personally, I'm not going to attend any of the Town fixtures because I think the lower the individual match attendances, the lower the average attendances and the lower the cumulative attendances, the better chance that the competition in this format will not be repeated. 

The greater the perceived success of this competition in its current format, the greater the chance that U23/development teams will be ushered in to the FL, and consequently the greater chance that the existence of clubs like STFC and Pox will be under threat. This is just my belief and not based on anything but my total distrust of the PL, FL and FA in doing what I think is best for professional football in England.

Sure, there are a lot of ifs, buts and maybes, but making a stand now at the very least makes me feel better. What others choose to do is up to them, which is, of course, their absolute right.

[Ells]

Unfortunately, I can only see the PL and FL viewing the competition as a whole, and so any kind of 'successful' attendance of any of the matches, regardless of whether they involve U23/development teams or not, will contribute to whatever conclusions the PL and FL will want to draw from the competition.

Personally, I'm not going to attend any of the Town fixtures because I think the lower the individual match attendances, the lower the average attendances and the lower the cumulative attendances, the better chance that the competition in this format will not be repeated.  

The greater the perceived success of this competition in its current format, the greater the chance that U23/development teams will be ushered in to the FL, and consequently the greater chance that the existence of clubs like STFC and Pox will be under threat. This is just my belief and not based on anything but my total distrust of the PL, FL and FA in doing what I think is best for professional football in England.

Sure, there are a lot of ifs, buts and maybes, but making a stand now at the very least makes me feel better. What others choose to do is up to them, which is, of course, their absolute right.

Excellent post and my thoughts exactly.
At the end of the day the powers that be will do whatever they can to make out this wasn't a disaster, and if that includes looking at attendances on the whole then it seems fair to assume they'll do that.

It'll be painful if we do manage to beat the Pox but I'll still feel I've done the right thing.

[@MacPhlea]

Was looking at the tables and noticed that some teams have played 1 game and got 2 points - how does that work?!

[Flashheart]

Was looking at the tables and noticed that some teams have played 1 game and got 2 points - how does that work?!

Draws go to a penalty shoot out for an extra point.

Yes, you did just read that correctly.

[THE FLASH]

Unfortunately, I can only see the PL and FL viewing the competition as a whole, and so any kind of 'successful' attendance of any of the matches, regardless of whether they involve U23/development teams or not, will contribute to whatever conclusions the PL and FL will want to draw from the competition.

Personally, I'm not going to attend any of the Town fixtures because I think the lower the individual match attendances, the lower the average attendances and the lower the cumulative attendances, the better chance that the competition in this format will not be repeated. 

The greater the perceived success of this competition in its current format, the greater the chance that U23/development teams will be ushered in to the FL, and consequently the greater chance that the existence of clubs like STFC and Pox will be under threat. This is just my belief and not based on anything but my total distrust of the PL, FL and FA in doing what I think is best for professional football in England.

Sure, there are a lot of ifs, buts and maybes, but making a stand now at the very least makes me feel better. What others choose to do is up to them, which is, of course, their absolute right.

This for me.

I'm sorry that those who went have had to receive abuse especially on that FB page. I am just glad that they are in the vast minority.

[Red Frog]

Unfortunately, I can only see the PL and FL viewing the competition as a whole, and so any kind of 'successful' attendance of any of the matches, regardless of whether they involve U23/development teams or not, will contribute to whatever conclusions the PL and FL will want to draw from the competition.

Personally, I'm not going to attend any of the Town fixtures because I think the lower the individual match attendances, the lower the average attendances and the lower the cumulative attendances, the better chance that the competition in this format will not be repeated. 

The greater the perceived success of this competition in its current format, the greater the chance that U23/development teams will be ushered in to the FL, and consequently the greater chance that the existence of clubs like STFC and Pox will be under threat. This is just my belief and not based on anything but my total distrust of the PL, FL and FA in doing what I think is best for professional football in England.

Sure, there are a lot of ifs, buts and maybes, but making a stand now at the very least makes me feel better. What others choose to do is up to them, which is, of course, their absolute right.

Well that seemed to be anything but childish.

[Batch]

Unfortunately, I can only see the PL and FL viewing the competition as a whole, and so any kind of 'successful' attendance of any of the matches, regardless of whether they involve U23/development teams or not, will contribute to whatever conclusions the PL and FL will want to draw from the competition.

Personally, I'm not going to attend any of the Town fixtures because I think the lower the individual match attendances, the lower the average attendances and the lower the cumulative attendances, the better chance that the competition in this format will not be repeated. 

The greater the perceived success of this competition in its current format, the greater the chance that U23/development teams will be ushered in to the FL, and consequently the greater chance that the existence of clubs like STFC and Pox will be under threat. This is just my belief and not based on anything but my total distrust of the PL, FL and FA in doing what I think is best for professional football in England.

Sure, there are a lot of ifs, buts and maybes, but making a stand now at the very least makes me feel better. What others choose to do is up to them, which is, of course, their absolute right.

Good post.

BIB -  I'd imagine the fans considerations will be the last thing taken into account when/if the day comes. For me a football crammed with B-Teams would almost certainly end my interest in football, just as two tier cup competitions have.

So doing something now may be ultimately insignificant, but it least I feel like I tried. Its a personal thing.

[RobertT]

I have to admit to sneaking a peak at about 10 minutes of the stream of the game, but that was more out of the same kind of intent you have when watching a friendly - how do we look?  My post match thoughts are that it didn't register as a full 1st team fixture to me, I'd half expect to not see any appearances or goals count towards players records.  That to me shows the matched have zero integrity - if fans could watch them and not care about the results, why bother?  Friendlies would be as much use, but you'd probably not want them in the first few months of a season when there are plenty of other fixtures floating about.

The next worry is that if fans can feel that way about these fixtures, the lower divisions would indeed collapse if U23's were brought in.  I really have no idea whether or not it would improve the England team, and it's pretty prevalent in other countries, so I'm not saying it shouldn't be done.  Just that it would essentially kill the divisions below the 2nd tier, so anyone running football should be very clear of the impacts and expected benefits of any decisions.

[Ells]

I'm assuming the streams people were watching it on were illegal.. So if that's not a concern for you, breaking your boycott shouldn't be!

[Flashheart]

I'm assuming the streams people were watching it on were illegal.. So if that's not a concern for you, breaking your boycott shouldn't be!

That doesn't make sense.

[Ells]

That doesn't make sense.

It doesn't, it's phrased incredibly badly sorry (I'm on a lot of (legal) drugs)

What I mean is it's interesting that people have focused on whether they're breaking boycott, as if they're not watching something illegal.. And I think they should pay as much heed to the former as the latter.