| Colchester United, History and the Community 08:20 - Mar 15 with 2206 views | GOSBTS |
Morning all!
As many of you know I've only been following the U's for the past 12 months and have only moved/worked in the area since November. I was wondering whether any of you could share your thoughts/knowledge on how connected you feel the club is to the community, its own history and the history of the town. The reason I ask is that I noticed in the match day programme that there are few features/nods to the club or the town's past. Brighton regularly do features in their matchday programmes focusing on games gone by in the 70s and 80s. Then I began wondering how connected the town are to the team. For example, I see few ties between the University (a big player in the town I gather) and the club. But this could all be due to my ignorance of having only resided in the area for a very short period of time, and only going to games and reading matchday programmes in the past 12 months.
I am hoping to start my PhD in History at Essex Uni in September so I do love a bit of history, especially when it's related to football, so whatever light you guys can shed would be really interesting! [Post edited 15 Mar 2019 8:24]
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| Colchester United, History and the Community on 13:20 - Mar 15 with 2171 views | wessex_exile |
Without a doubt I'd say more so in the past, less so now.
I would imagine others will have their own opinion on why, but my view is that the relatively remote location has disconnected the club from the local community, both physically and spiritually. Layer Rd really was a special place - it was a tip also, but we loved it warts and all. There is no doubt from a commercial point of view we had to move, and there many here who actively helped achieve that (even I managed to fill a few pages of petition signatures at Swindon and Torquay), so you have to take the rough with the smooth I guess. It does also have to be said, taking the halcyon-day rose tints off, there has always been an overriding level of apathy about the club from the local population, a significant proportion of which probably moved out to Colchester from London, and with their own allegiances already established. And then of course there's the Ipshit factor, but it will be interesting to see how that pans out next season, following their nailed-on certain relegation :-)
Essex University is an interesting conundrum, as I know in the past the club has worked hard at trying to attract students to matches, but from my perspective it seems with very limited success. As with those who move to the town from elsewhere, those students who are interested in football almost certainly support another team, and potentially one that is in direct competition to the U's? Before Florence Park came into being, the club did actually train at the university for a while.
The military connection is much stronger, and the club has always and continues to maintain these connections with the Garrison (never mind the Remembrance Day shambles last year).
If you're starting a PhD in History at Essex, and despite your first love allegiance to Brighton, perhaps you could also be our man at Uni, drum up some interest among your fellow students to come along to the Community Stadium? Of course, it will really help if we're playing League 1 football by then. |  |
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| Colchester United, History and the Community on 09:23 - Mar 16 with 2123 views | GOSBTS |
| Colchester United, History and the Community on 13:20 - Mar 15 by wessex_exile |
Without a doubt I'd say more so in the past, less so now.
I would imagine others will have their own opinion on why, but my view is that the relatively remote location has disconnected the club from the local community, both physically and spiritually. Layer Rd really was a special place - it was a tip also, but we loved it warts and all. There is no doubt from a commercial point of view we had to move, and there many here who actively helped achieve that (even I managed to fill a few pages of petition signatures at Swindon and Torquay), so you have to take the rough with the smooth I guess. It does also have to be said, taking the halcyon-day rose tints off, there has always been an overriding level of apathy about the club from the local population, a significant proportion of which probably moved out to Colchester from London, and with their own allegiances already established. And then of course there's the Ipshit factor, but it will be interesting to see how that pans out next season, following their nailed-on certain relegation :-)
Essex University is an interesting conundrum, as I know in the past the club has worked hard at trying to attract students to matches, but from my perspective it seems with very limited success. As with those who move to the town from elsewhere, those students who are interested in football almost certainly support another team, and potentially one that is in direct competition to the U's? Before Florence Park came into being, the club did actually train at the university for a while.
The military connection is much stronger, and the club has always and continues to maintain these connections with the Garrison (never mind the Remembrance Day shambles last year).
If you're starting a PhD in History at Essex, and despite your first love allegiance to Brighton, perhaps you could also be our man at Uni, drum up some interest among your fellow students to come along to the Community Stadium? Of course, it will really help if we're playing League 1 football by then. |
Thanks for the really insightful response Wessex. Very interesting to hear about how the stadium and migrated population plays a part in this. I guess for me having the stadium near Mile End is very helpful driving from Sudbury, but in reality it is quite far from the town centre and transportation doesn't seem brilliant. I've seen a lot of West Ham fans boarding trains from Colchester and in my wife's family alone there are quite a few Ipswich fans from back in the day. I wonder if this might also begin to change if we do get promoted and play at least a season in the same division with them?
Regarding the University - absolutely! It would be wonderful to see a concerted effort between the University and club to encourage more students to attend. It's the same at Warwick University (where I studied) - you'd think lots of students would attend Coventry City games but it's on the wrong side of the city and the club doesn't seem to make any efforts to drum up interest on the campus. In any case I'll be flying the flag proudly if/when I start the course!
Whenever I tell people at work or my in-laws I'm going to a Col U game they seem a bit shocked, which is a real shame considering it's the local team. However, it was like this with Brighton back in the Division 3 days when I was growing up. It just seems such a shame as the town has such a rich history and would be lovely to see the club intertwined with it. [Post edited 16 Mar 2019 9:25]
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| Colchester United, History and the Community on 19:46 - Mar 17 with 2072 views | bwildered |
The club do a huge amount of Football in the Community - FITC - work, just like many others , with coaching and representation in many areas. This is vital work in the first connections to the football club.
The Uni is a very multi cultural society, and would suggest most incumbents have already been suduced by the more fashionable Premier and Champions league teams, with those who might attend U's games more has the curiosity value, and more likely to return if the entertainment / result is positive . |  |
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