Swindon Town in the community

[Parkin09]

This is something that has bothered me for a while, I've been going to Town as long as I can remember (I'm 23 now) My first memories are the 92/93 season and one of my earliest vivid memories is the Play-Off final (I remember being offered a bottle of coke by someone and the clang of Maskells goal)

Anyway the point I'm making is that these days it seems the club just doesn't do enough to 'indoctrinate' kids into supporting there home town team, I know we have pretty good attendences these days for the club we are but still whenever I'm back in Swindon 90% of the shirts I see are your usual United/Chelsea/Liverpool tat, I've lived in Bournemouth for a while and the majority of kids you see on a weekend in town are wearing Bournemouth shirts and usually once a month theres some sort of AFC Bournemouth community thing in the town centre getting kids involved getting them excited about there home town team, the players faces are all over buses, council vans (talking about recycling/litter etc) putting them into Kids minds, making them aware of there home team players.

I just think the club could be doing so much more to get people into there home town team, get them wanting to come to games and now is the absolute perfect time with Paolo and a lot of change at the club, building for hopefully a promotion season, I would just like to see a but more evidence of the club doing more!

anyone else had any similar thoughts?

[Batch]

The club, through Football in the community, does quite a bit coaching both in their own right and at local schools.

Season tickets are practically free for U10 too.

Maybe there could be more ticket incentives like the Ice Hockey does, where a few schools a week get ticket promotion opportunities. Obviously U10 are already free (I assume that's match-day as well as season ticket?), so maybe a reduced adult ticket as well.

But other than that I am not sure what else there is to do.

[Parkin09]

Like I said getting into the town centre at a weekend, during the close season, coaching at school is fine, but at the end of the day it's just another PE lesson for kids.

[DV]

I can only speak for myself (obviously) but my introduction to STFC had fuck all to do with anything STFC did in the local community.

I went because my dad took me. He started going when his dad took him. My gramp started going when his dad took him and so on and so forth.

Now, I guess most of them started going back in the day because if you wanted to watch football it was either go or watch match of the day. There was alot less football available back then.

I guess, those of you that have kids - will at some pint want to take them to football, some will stick with it some wont.

It must be harder to convince 7 year old little Jimmy that going to watch Swindon is a good, enjoyable way to spend his Saturday afternoons when he can sit at home, infront of his 45inch HD TV and watch a much better standard of football and all the 'top' players whilst sat on his laptop chatting to his friends on facebook - doesn't even need to leave his room!

Our only hope - is that for every dad who goes to football on a saturday there is a mum who goes shopping - little Jimmy cant stay home on his own. So has to either go to football with dad or shopping with mum.

When I was in year 5 at school - our class got given STFC tickets in the Town End for one game (Middlesborough - we won 2-1 - Fjortoft & Horlock scored) by then I'd already been going 5 years.

I think 3 other kids in that class already has season tickets and I doubt the rest of them ever went to about more than 5 games combined in the 16 years that have passed.

[Nemo]

I'm the anti-DV.

My dad is barely interested in football at all and nominally follows Spurs.

I support Swindon because I was involved in the Junior Robins when I was younger, and got a few free tickets through that in the mid 90s, and started going regularly because my friends did.

[herthab]

I blame the parents.

[Parkin09]

I'm the anti-DV.

My dad is barely interested in football at all and nominally follows Spurs.

I support Swindon because I was involved in the Junior Robins when I was younger, and got a few free tickets through that in the mid 90s, and started going regularly because my friends did.

this is exactly what I'm talking about! Stuff like the Junior robins seems a complete afterthought these days, it needs to be being pushed a lot more!

[Anteater]

STFC Football in the Comminity lads indeed do a pretty decent job promoting the club through the courses they offer for 3 year olds upwards and outreach initiatives at schools and have been very successful in changing the trend particularly over the last 8 years or so for kids having more focus on their home town team. I have the opportunity through my work to have witnessed this change. A few years ago out of a group of 20 kids on a course you may have had one or two wearing Town kit now its nearer half of them.

[Parkin09]

It's not even just kids really though, getting the club much more involved with other things in the Town can have a big effect.

[nevillew]

It's not even just kids really though, getting the club much more involved with other things in the Town can have a big effect.

Why not ask the club directly - have you any idea what they really do ? - how often are you back in Swindon  ? My perception is that they're pretty active, and Paul, amongst others, was regularly complimenting their activities.

[Paolo69]

Have to agree with DV on this one. Was virtaully the same at my school too. Which school did you go to DV?

Think the club does reasonable well on the community side too. AS has been said season tickets are free to under 10's i think and there's plenty of community people doing the rounds. Obviously they could do more but then it would cost the club more.

[nochee]

I blame the parents.

Me too, it's because of them I support Swindon. The buggers.

[mrverve]

My Mum used to work at Burmah Castrol and back in the early 90's the players used to come every year for a meet and greet session. The people that worked there took there kids etc. The 1st time I went was in 1992. I met all of the players that won promotion to the Premier League, Glenn Hoddle and John Gorman asked me what I wanted to be when I was older to which I proudly replied ''play for Swindon Town''. I don't know, it was just ingrained in me from an early age. I used to live on County Road and remember every saturday the hustle and bustle of matchdays. I started going properly in 1994 and never looked back since.

The community in my opinion do a lot. But like DV said, the amount of football now that is on the TV in fantastic HD and the amount of other things youngsters can do now at the weekends, it's difficult to reach out to try and persuade them to go to games, to watch lower league football, to buy the shirts etc.  

[TheDukeOfBanbury]

My lad came home from school yesterday and told his Mum, "Don't tell Dad I don't want to support Swindon anymore I want to support Liverpool."
Fair play to his Mum, who said, "Who supports Liverpool at school then."
He didn't reply.

Sorted him out at breakfast this Morning and told him to say to the other Kids, "I go and watch my team and I have led my team out onto the pitch before a game."
I told him that last season would not be repeated again and that I will be taking him to the open day in a few weeks time along with his 4 year old Brother.
He now is looking forward to the Crewe game and Mrs Duke Of Banbury is coming to the Pox game to sample an atmosphere at a footy match.

Its down to the parents 

[leefer]

Swindon Town in the community.

Community is the magic word,there isn't one in Swindon anymore, not much of one anyway as in many places in this modern world.
The Playoff final showed how much community we had...not a lot and shown in the stadium was there.
I am hoping that the passion shown by Paolo will rub off on the Town a bit like in Macari's time.