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Didn’t know where to post this so I started a new thread.
I didn’t want to travel all the way down to the Crawley for the yesterday’s match, and I didn’t really want to watch it on iFollow so I decided to do something different and I went to watch Chesterfield vs Halifax two of our possible opponents next season.
I just wanted to watch a football match with no stress, no afternoon of tension followed by disappointment and a hollow feeling in the pit of the stomach.
I also wanted to see if a striker called Quigley could score.
The match was quite good, not much difference in quality to league 2.
I don’t usually comment on individual players, I leave that to others. However ….
For Chesterfield.
Joe Quigley size wise was a like our Quigley, not quite as mobile but won and laid off more balls in the air. He didn’t score.
Ryan Colclough looked one of the more skilful pacy players on the pitch (for this division?).
Jones in midfield repeatedly passed the ball backwards and sideways, was the only player moaned at late on in the match with the fans shouting “forwards” even though they were two nil up at the time.
For Halifax.
Millenic Alli in the early part of the match looked strong, like a cross between Abraham Odoh and Kwadwo Baah but he frequently ran the ball out of play or lost possession and failed to pass a number of times when others were in good positions. Did not run back to help defence.
The overall atmosphere in the ground was positive.
Tickets cost £24 for adults (£2 cheaper if you buy online before the match day). Seemed to be a lot of people buying individual “on the day” match tickets. Season cards are expensive. Adults £378 - £462 depending on stand.
We will be lucky to get 1700 next season. Much much less if the club keeps walk up prices near to this years levels. There has to be a complete rethink of the way the club is run starting at the very top and covering every level. The Trust needs to move away from the comfort of the Boardroom and be back in a position to represent the fans rather than the club once more.
There are half a dozen well supported traditional teams in the fifth tier who are much bigger than us, and a dozen or so up and coming teams who will be hungry to progress.
I have watched several conference matches this season, and most have been of a higher quality than the product we produce. Sadly, I can see us struggling again unless some harsh decisions are taken...not necessarily by those currently in office.
We will be lucky to get 1700 next season. Much much less if the club keeps walk up prices near to this years levels. There has to be a complete rethink of the way the club is run starting at the very top and covering every level. The Trust needs to move away from the comfort of the Boardroom and be back in a position to represent the fans rather than the club once more.
There are half a dozen well supported traditional teams in the fifth tier who are much bigger than us, and a dozen or so up and coming teams who will be hungry to progress.
I have watched several conference matches this season, and most have been of a higher quality than the product we produce. Sadly, I can see us struggling again unless some harsh decisions are taken...not necessarily by those currently in office.
The Trust, whether with a specific connection to the boardroom or not, have fallen short numerous times over the years because of their inconsistency in following a process where the club are fully aware of being held accountable in the public domain.
For example: A set structure for meetings, regularity, reporting of them, setting action points and following up when these have/haven’t been met.
Anyone who has been involved on the Trust board should be able to admit that this could and should have been better throughout various regimes. I certainly can.
On Chesterfield in the first post: they regularly didn’t use that stand behind te goal when they were in the league as well. When we were relegated from L1 under Coleman, away fans were housed on the side. It’s not something they’ve adapted for non league.
Are you Rochdale based if you don’t mind me asking? If you are then surely Oldham would have been a better option travel wise given we’ll be playing them and their opponents yesterday next season.
Are you Rochdale based if you don’t mind me asking? If you are then surely Oldham would have been a better option travel wise given we’ll be playing them and their opponents yesterday next season.
Wondered that myself.
When I was your age, I used to enjoy the odd game of tennis. Or was it golf?
Are you Rochdale based if you don’t mind me asking? If you are then surely Oldham would have been a better option travel wise given we’ll be playing them and their opponents yesterday next season.
Hi Kel,
I live close to Rochdale. It would have been easier to go to Oldham, but to be honest I have never really enjoyed the atmosphere there.
I looked at all the matches I could go to, I even considered going to Wrexham vs York but chose Chesterfield as I have always enjoyed visiting there. It is easy to park, the stadium is well designed, and you get a good view of the match.
I had watched Chesterfield on TV in the Ratcliffe the week before, prior to the Dale game against Swindon and noticed that they had a striker named Quigley and that Harry Maguire’s brother also played for them.
I then read about Chesterfield and how they are a “fan owned” club but on a different model to ours so I was intrigued and wanted to see first-hand how they were doing.
Chesterfield had consecutive relegations from league 1 and league 2 and narrowly avoided a third consecutive relegation from the national league.
Then in 2020 their community trust charity (their equivalent Rochdale AFC Community Trust) with council help purchased the club to be “fan owned” and run on a breakeven basis.
They even, like the Dale, sell shares in the club to fans but are more realistic and honest about their worth.
The Trust, whether with a specific connection to the boardroom or not, have fallen short numerous times over the years because of their inconsistency in following a process where the club are fully aware of being held accountable in the public domain.
For example: A set structure for meetings, regularity, reporting of them, setting action points and following up when these have/haven’t been met.
Anyone who has been involved on the Trust board should be able to admit that this could and should have been better throughout various regimes. I certainly can.
On Chesterfield in the first post: they regularly didn’t use that stand behind te goal when they were in the league as well. When we were relegated from L1 under Coleman, away fans were housed on the side. It’s not something they’ve adapted for non league.
I know how difficult it can be trying to organise things with the Trust and fully accept that it could have been better when I was involved. Unfortunately, when everyone is a volunteer, keeping to "black and white" structures as you allude to isn't always possible.
Based on how things are at the moment, and from conversations with two current Trust reps, I think it was better to be on the outside looking into the club, rather than inside and too comfortable to ask relevant questions or criticise.
I know how difficult it can be trying to organise things with the Trust and fully accept that it could have been better when I was involved. Unfortunately, when everyone is a volunteer, keeping to "black and white" structures as you allude to isn't always possible.
Based on how things are at the moment, and from conversations with two current Trust reps, I think it was better to be on the outside looking into the club, rather than inside and too comfortable to ask relevant questions or criticise.
In that case, there's a perfectly obvious remedy
Instead of talking amongst themselves, why isn't the Trust taking steps to ballot its members on this matter? This is something worth serious consideration and it'd be very remiss to not be proactive, when being reactive is also a possibility
I know how difficult it can be trying to organise things with the Trust and fully accept that it could have been better when I was involved. Unfortunately, when everyone is a volunteer, keeping to "black and white" structures as you allude to isn't always possible.
Based on how things are at the moment, and from conversations with two current Trust reps, I think it was better to be on the outside looking into the club, rather than inside and too comfortable to ask relevant questions or criticise.
It’s not always possible but getting them in place and visible to all members was where things fell down - as I’ve said before, a failure on my part whilst on the Trust board. The meandering nature of discussions with the club took far too much time and didn’t effect change enough.
On whether, the Trust had someone on the board or not: unless the club knew that their actions (or inability to act) would be consistently followed up for all supporters to see, then nothing would really change. And it hasn’t.
Only my opinion that from experience and as we’ve seen over the years, it actually made it harder for volunteers not having a consistent structure in place. Without the Trust and all their hard work we’d undoubtedly be in a worse place though and it is indeed a thankless task.
The Trust’s newsletter this weekend should hopefully give all members and fans a clear idea of what they’ve planned and routes forward.
I live close to Rochdale. It would have been easier to go to Oldham, but to be honest I have never really enjoyed the atmosphere there.
I looked at all the matches I could go to, I even considered going to Wrexham vs York but chose Chesterfield as I have always enjoyed visiting there. It is easy to park, the stadium is well designed, and you get a good view of the match.
I had watched Chesterfield on TV in the Ratcliffe the week before, prior to the Dale game against Swindon and noticed that they had a striker named Quigley and that Harry Maguire’s brother also played for them.
I then read about Chesterfield and how they are a “fan owned” club but on a different model to ours so I was intrigued and wanted to see first-hand how they were doing.
Chesterfield had consecutive relegations from league 1 and league 2 and narrowly avoided a third consecutive relegation from the national league.
Then in 2020 their community trust charity (their equivalent Rochdale AFC Community Trust) with council help purchased the club to be “fan owned” and run on a breakeven basis.
They even, like the Dale, sell shares in the club to fans but are more realistic and honest about their worth.
I was interested in the Chesterfield situation after your post so did a bit of Googling and saw this piece about them from the athletic a couple of days ago.
“ Chesterfield, who are next in line below the current top three of Wrexham, Notts County and Woking in the hunt for promotion out of National League, are another club operating in the red to stay in the arms race. Their financial support comes from Phil and Ashley Kirk, wealthy fans who last year agreed to invest an initial £1million into the club they grew up supporting. “Our only wish is to do good for the town and for the club,” the Kirks said last year.
Those resources have ensured Chesterfield remain able to compete under Paul Cook, a manager with many years of experience in all three EFL divisions, after posting losses of £2.37million last season, but also underline a stark reality. Without a willingness to take a heavy financial hit, the thought of reaching the EFL grows ever more fanciful. Losses are more of a necessity than a choice.
“It doesn’t make it right but, for clubs of a certain size, you’re almost expecting a loss,” says Chesterfield chief executive John Croot, a stalwart who joined the club’s board in 1987.
“I tend to think clubs of our size generally lose around the £1million mark a year at this level. If you’re serious about challenging in the National League, that’s almost what you have to do. There are exceptions, like Sutton, who went up in the COVID year (2020-21), but it’s very hard to avoid a loss if you’re trying to win promotion.
“We don’t accept it’s the way it has to be. We’re fortunate we’ve got an investor, but it comes back to trying to become sustainable. We accept we can’t do that this year, or the year after. It has to be long-term.”
Can a club such as Chesterfield, who were relegated from League Two in 2017-18, ever hope to be sustainable while playing in the National League? “That’s a bloody good question, to be honest,” says Croot, who has welcomed an impressive average attendance of almost 7,000 to games at Technique Stadium, just south of Sheffield, this season.
“We’re going to aim to be, but it’s not as if we can say we’ll have a budget of £700,000 because then our attendances would drop accordingly and, in all probability, we’d be bottom half of the National League. We need help trying to be sustainable.”
Not quite a fan run/owned club when you’ve got two brothers pumping money in, albeit as supporters themselves.
I was interested in the Chesterfield situation after your post so did a bit of Googling and saw this piece about them from the athletic a couple of days ago.
“ Chesterfield, who are next in line below the current top three of Wrexham, Notts County and Woking in the hunt for promotion out of National League, are another club operating in the red to stay in the arms race. Their financial support comes from Phil and Ashley Kirk, wealthy fans who last year agreed to invest an initial £1million into the club they grew up supporting. “Our only wish is to do good for the town and for the club,” the Kirks said last year.
Those resources have ensured Chesterfield remain able to compete under Paul Cook, a manager with many years of experience in all three EFL divisions, after posting losses of £2.37million last season, but also underline a stark reality. Without a willingness to take a heavy financial hit, the thought of reaching the EFL grows ever more fanciful. Losses are more of a necessity than a choice.
“It doesn’t make it right but, for clubs of a certain size, you’re almost expecting a loss,” says Chesterfield chief executive John Croot, a stalwart who joined the club’s board in 1987.
“I tend to think clubs of our size generally lose around the £1million mark a year at this level. If you’re serious about challenging in the National League, that’s almost what you have to do. There are exceptions, like Sutton, who went up in the COVID year (2020-21), but it’s very hard to avoid a loss if you’re trying to win promotion.
“We don’t accept it’s the way it has to be. We’re fortunate we’ve got an investor, but it comes back to trying to become sustainable. We accept we can’t do that this year, or the year after. It has to be long-term.”
Can a club such as Chesterfield, who were relegated from League Two in 2017-18, ever hope to be sustainable while playing in the National League? “That’s a bloody good question, to be honest,” says Croot, who has welcomed an impressive average attendance of almost 7,000 to games at Technique Stadium, just south of Sheffield, this season.
“We’re going to aim to be, but it’s not as if we can say we’ll have a budget of £700,000 because then our attendances would drop accordingly and, in all probability, we’d be bottom half of the National League. We need help trying to be sustainable.”
Not quite a fan run/owned club when you’ve got two brothers pumping money in, albeit as supporters themselves.
Good Morning Kel,
That’s disappointing, if only clubs with an “investor” can survive / thrive in the National League where they do not get much in the way of handouts from the Premier League / EFL / FA.
Especially if it is one like Chesterfield with a home support of around 6,000 fans who pay high prices for entry into games.
I have bought my Euromillions ticket for tonight again.
This is an interesting video about COVID money distribution in National League.
Next season I hope our board will not be as naïve about football matters on and off the pitch, some of the people they may have to deal with in the National League do not seem very trustworthy.
A_Newby,you should have traveled just that little bit further and watched non league Notts County* at ML for a tenner and been a part of the 16,000 crowd plus it would give you the chance to watch the club that will take Dales place at the end of season
A_Newby,you should have traveled just that little bit further and watched non league Notts County* at ML for a tenner and been a part of the 16,000 crowd plus it would give you the chance to watch the club that will take Dales place at the end of season
* Oh the irony
Fook off Jimmy and your irony to boot 😀
'Only happy when you've got it often makes you miss the journey'
You going to the Mansfield game on Easter Monday James?
I couldn't get a ticket for Wrexham so will be making the short trip up the A60 to watch the game,although in the home end (free use of season ticket) I will be cheering Dale on
You going to the Mansfield game on Easter Monday James?
I couldn't get a ticket for Wrexham so will be making the short trip up the A60 to watch the game,although in the home end (free use of season ticket) I will be cheering Dale on
Not sure it is my day off so can't use that as an excuse.
'Only happy when you've got it often makes you miss the journey'
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