Torquay United Fans Forum

MellowYellow wrote: ↑13 Sep 2017, 19:36 So what do the Bath City fans think; a few forum comments are:

"I would have been fine if he had left to better himself, but a team only one division higher, in freefall with madness behind the scenes...."

"...am more annoyed given how he's been able to build his own side here this year, and then he leaves for the Torquay basket case."

"... I personally wouldn't go to Torquay under the current circumstances..."

"... it will be a struggle to prevent Torquay being relegated..."

We even seem to be the laughing stock of the Southern League.

MellowYellow wrote: ↑13 Sep 2017, 19:36 So what do the Bath City fans think; a few forum comments are:

"I would have been fine if he had left to better himself, but a team only one division higher, in freefall with madness behind the scenes...."

"...am more annoyed given how he's been able to build his own side here this year, and then he leaves for the Torquay basket case."

"... I personally wouldn't go to Torquay under the current circumstances..."

"... it will be a struggle to prevent Torquay being relegated..."

We even seem to be the laughing stock of the Southern League.

Bristol_Gull wrote: ↑13 Sep 2017, 12:48 Your post lives up to your username! Hahaha!

I think Kuhl is very much committed to football!

Admiral wrote: ↑29 Aug 2017, 13:50 As I mentioned in the phoenix club topic, Chester fans formed a group called City Fans United when they were on the brink of liquidisation. The group was used as a back-up option for if/when the club was wound up. This was the springboard they needed to start competing the following season in the Northern Div 1, under the ownership of their own supporters. The money raised in the initial CFU membership and donations scheme was enough to help form a club which went on to achieve 3 consecutive promotions (with a lot of hard work of course).

http://www.cityfansunited.com/index.php

If people want this to happen here, regardless of what happens to Osborne's TUFC, then maybe us, the fans, should start planning for the future IN CASE the worst happens. Torquay Fans United?

Just a thought, well worth a read into how they did it.

brucie wrote: ↑28 Aug 2017, 22:03 I will give you the reason we cannot compete. Nicholson has blown the budget on signing a half crocked bunch of wasters - will that do for starters?

If Gi are so intent on running the club down then why not keep Nicholson or better still Numpty Dumpty in charge. Simple we won't win a game all season and mission accomplished without further outlay.

A phoenix club is a completely ludicrous idea. How many people do you think would turn up to watch a Torquay United side in the Peninsula league - 25 if your lucky. Its basically a bunch of amateur blokes kicking a ball about on a Saturday afternoon.

Who cares if Steve Breed comes back either. Whats he doing now? Oh yes he is playing at being a "manager" at Watcombe (after being turned down for the Torquay job which he allegedly applied for)

Andy keeps banging on about "how it all went down hill as soon as Ling went"

Utter nonsense. Lings side had completely gone in six months before he went wibble.

Jeff has it completely right. Nicholson signed a bunch of his mates and had those dining out on being good six years ago.

You are in a dream world.

Jeff wrote: ↑28 Aug 2017, 21:23 Giving up implies the current club dies though? It's not dead yet, it's just on deaths door thanks to a failed Summer of recruitment by KN. Getting behind whoever the new manager is would be a better start.

If the fear is that GI will drop the club like a hot potato if they don't get their way, wouldn't efforts be better spent in ensuring there is a fan-based structure to take over running of whatever is left?

Jeff wrote: ↑28 Aug 2017, 21:09 Exactly this. The fact we have a Trust that not everyone is on-board with clearly demonstrates this.

If the TUST suddenly came out and said "we've been working on a Phoenix club for the past 18 months and here are the details......." it might generate a groundswell of support. Forum chatter will not

dannyrvtufc4life wrote: ↑28 Aug 2017, 20:57 One of the biggest difficulties of an 'AFC Torquay' would be getting supporters together who could get organised and stay on the same wavelength.

WestLondonYellow wrote: ↑28 Aug 2017, 20:45

WestLondonYellow wrote: ↑28 Aug 2017, 20:40 If saying that it would be a hard road with a lot of problems to solve is making out it's a peice of piss then yeah I'm guilty.

Also, if trying to get people to stick there hand up and declare interest in taking this offline is attempting to create a new club on an Internet forum, again, guilty. All I'm doing is using the most useful medium to try and bring the right people together, to then talk in person, offline.

I'm not cock waving about £500 for Christ sake, it's hardly an amount to imply I'm loaded. And when you put it up against the money currently spent on season ticket or match tickets etc, it's offset anyway by not attending Plainmoor. Added to that, it's a commitment I'd be will from make.

Jeff wrote: ↑28 Aug 2017, 20:36 You are missing the point totally. You are making out like starting a brand new football team from nothing is a piece of p*** and can be done via an Internet forum and some internal messages. I'm trying to highlight that it's not going to be simple, and so many hurdles would need to be overcome before it even gets to the point of cock-waving that you can throw £500 a year at it.

I never said you needed a photographic memory of my posting history either. A quick forum search of "Phoenix Club" would have saved you starting up the same discussion yet again. Have a search now why don't you - if you think my views are negative, look at what people said about it 8/9months ago.

(And if it was such a good idea, do you not think that someone would have done something about this one of the other times it was raised and shot down?)

WestLondonYellow wrote: ↑28 Aug 2017, 20:25

WestLondonYellow wrote: ↑28 Aug 2017, 20:23 Lol, "not poo pooing the idea totally"

Nope, just 99.99999 %

Yes I would put 500 in annually. As for all your other questions, this is why it is better to find out who is actually prepared to do something before discussing how to resolve all those issues.

My apologies for not referring to the database in my head if all your previous posts and being aware of your stance on this already, although from here, your stance seems extremely negative.

Jeff wrote: ↑28 Aug 2017, 20:15 What utter flannel. "If you don't like my no-substance idea, post somewhere else".

If you would actually be bothered, you'll find a post by myself from back in maybe Jan/Feb of this year on this very topic. Not rubbishing it at all, just pointing out some of the many pitfalls that would have to be overcome. And nobody was able to come up with any comments that would resolve those pitfalls. So for me, nothing has changed.

To reiterate - there are NO ground suitable of hosting any level of senior football in the bay. So "AFC Torquay" would have to play miles away. Buckland or Coach Road. Not ideal. And for how long? How long will it take for a fan-owned club to raise the sort of capital to build a new ground within Torbay? Millions of years no doubt, seeing as we can't get behind the existing club enough to fund a decent NL team. Any new club would need to have a route-map back to playing in Torquay before a lot of fans would buy in.

What league would this new team pitch for? Absolute best hope would be the Western League Div 1 as it's a new club rather than a resurrection. More likely is the Peninsula League - 5 promotions away from where we are now. Would the "hardcore" 1500 fans stick by the club there? Not likely I'd say. Be lucky to get 10% of that.

How would the club generate income? Because with no ground and no other assets, it would just be gate receipts. So would the new club rely on a membership scheme then? What would that look like? One member = one vote? How much would the stake be? I guess someone would need to know how much the whole venture would cost to make that sort of statement. Saying "I'd put in £500" is largely irrelevant, as you have no idea how much of a percentage of that puts in. And is that a one-off payment or a yearly thing? As this is for the long term, right?

Where would the players come from? Remember, TUFC is largely ridiculed in local football circles and there is no comparably levelled club this side of Tiverton. We'd have to hope the cream of the Stoke Gabriel and Bovey Tracey sides would sign up.

That's just off the top off my head. I'm not poo-pooing the idea of a Phoenix club totally, but we - as a fan base - are so SO far away from being able to organise one. If someone thinks it's viable, wants to grab the idea by the balls, come up with detailed resolutions to the issues above (and more) and get some momentum going then fair play to them - I'll be interested and happy to get behind it if it's realistic.

But until then, it's just an ill-thought whim in someone's head

forevertufc wrote: ↑28 Aug 2017, 20:09 I will tell anyone who wants to listen, straight, A phoenix club will NOT work full stop without Plainmoor. Every successful Phoenix club project has been off the back of, the new club either retaining the existing stadium, i.e Aldershot, Chester, Fc Halifax, or having plenty of useable stadium's to move into, like AFC Wimbledon and others.

Jeff has it nailed here, where would AFC Torquay play, forget Coach road, sharing with Buckland, or using some pitch in a school, total non-starters, so where else, Clennon Valley, really ? is the Phoenix club going to invest the money to stop it flooding mid-winter, would it even have the money, would the phoenix club have the money to build at ground at the Willows, the only part of the bay flat enough to do so, doubt that also.

If any potential phoenix club could retain Plainmoor (and do we really think G.I hard nosed and very professional business men are going allow that to happen, they will end up with the ownership of the ground, despite any, and all efforts to stop them) then there could be some mileage in this, then of course there's attracting players, could AFC Torquay compete with an upwardly mobile Buckland Athletic who are heading towards the Southern League for the best players around the Bay, South Hams Teignbridge and afar, doubt that also.

There are some roadblocks to setting up a phoenix club in some areas, in this area there are mountains to climb.