fund raising idea... ?

[le god cuervo]

whilst flipping through the tv channels on saturday afternoon i caught a bit of the george weah 'jubilee' game on eurosport. they had people playing like desailly, zidane, eto'o, song, melchiot, drogba, cisse... pretty much the best african players plus a few others. it was a bit like the tsunami match but without all the bigger names. i think it was something to do with marseille aswell?

anyway, it got me thinking, surely swindon could arrange a 'jubilee' match with all the quality players we've had over the last 10 or so years? we could have the wembley heroes of '93 against the div 2 champions of '96? i'm sure there are still people at the club who have contacts with former players? digby still works there, he can go in goal, then there are people like paul bodin, steve white, tom jones & alan macloughlin who all still work locally & i'm sure would take part. fair enough players like fjortoft wouldn't do it but i'm sure the likes of duncan shearer, micky hazard & craig maskell could be hunted down & persuaded to play? there must be loads of ex-players that would be up for a run around & a giggle

if it was arranged, promoted & marketed well (tickets no more than £10 - £15!!) i reckon we could be on to a winner. i would definatly go & watch the legends back in action. what do you guys think?

[walrus]

It's a fantastic idea and I would love to go and see that, particularly as I only began watching Swindon semi-regularly over the last couple of seasons when I've gained my independence by learning to drive, but it won't happen and it wouldn't be very profitable.  Sorry to be negative, but there is a reason why this sort of thing only happens with the big names.

The County Ground failed to draw 6,000 for many home games this season in a year which might well have seen us go onto bigger and better things had we successfully built on last season.  The year we made the playoffs, played superb attacking football and had a character on the pitch who many people enjoyed watching often saw us only rake in attendences of 6-7K.  So for all the oldies to come and play at the CG, we would undoubtedly have a lowered attendence, in addition to the fact that many players would charge extortionate fees for playing.

[sonicyouth]

I think it's a great idea and in the absence of a pre-season friendly it would be an ideal opportunity to utilise the window we've got free and bring some money into the club this summer.

[le god cuervo]

yeah i see your point walrus, but still a good idea in principle. if the players came out for free it might be worthwhile. i reckon we would get a few thousand out to watch, the same as a pre-season friendly, and maybe even some of the older 'stay away' fans who haven't been for years would turn up?

if swindon put half as much effort into advertising & promotion for something like this as they have with the elton john concert it might get somewhere.

[pauld]

Personally, I think it's a cracking idea. But the problem is in this bit:

if it was arranged, promoted & marketed well (tickets no more than £10 - £15!!) i reckon we could be on to a winner.

That's a big if for a club that can't even manage to sort out its own season ticket incentives in time for the early bird deadline.

[Johno]

i remember the club doing a game like this a few years ago at the county ground. it was like a random select 11 take on a swindon 11. Glenn Hoddle, Steve White, Calderwood, Taylor all played. I was Ballboy  

[Dazzza]

Would be superb.

Would cost a bit to get going so someone would have to have some capital and initiative to make it happen so that rules out the club!

Pre-season would be the best time of year what with a lot of ex-players still involved in the game or driving taxis.  Throw in a few of the current team and you'd cut your costs like accomodation and travelling expenses right down.

Anyone up to the task?

[Whits]

Anyone up to the task?

i'd give it a thought  

[Kinky Tom]

We could just play a home friendly with the current squad vs. a team of old players.  At least our team would get to play in front of the home fans before tha season kicks off.

[Kinky Tom]

Going on from that, we could ask Shaun Taylor to play/manage the old boys, he's not up to much at the moment.

[Dazzza]

Tell you what would be fucking class, if that Norweigan bloke tuned up.

[Marie]

i can get hold of mickey hazard, he may still be in contact with some of the older players.

[Kinky Tom]

Shall we pitch it to the club, as valued sponsors for the club?

[Ben Wah Balls]

But would Mickey want to do it after we banned him from here.

[Marie]

shame im talking about the real one.