We didn't send it to the council but we gave it to the club 24 hours ago and told them of our intention. We don't have a direct line in to the Cryne family unfortunately, but we think they'll be supportive in the main.
All it needs now is people willing to listen. Politicians and millionaire business men seems like a winning combination
Well done the Supporter’s Trust, let’s hope this can be the catalyst that bring all things to a head.
Great to see the fight being taken up. I didn't get this bit …. ‘These multiple generations of supporters, that have experienced an ever-developing Oakwell over the decades, are the lifeblood of the Football club’ i havent seen an ever developing Oakwell.
Well in the last 30 years we've had three new large stands and the corner stand built. I'd say multiple generations have seen Oakwell develop over that period, I know I have.
Thanks for the letter. As direct as possible while retaining professionalism and civility. It also communicates what I don’t think the owners understand. Life is often hard round here. We get through it by sticking together. Some of us do that around the club. We are a community and a family (dysfunctional at times but hey ho) and we are bonded together whatever or gripes and disagreements. The West Stand fiasco doesn’t directly impact me in terms of location but it impacts my fellow supporters so it impacts me emotionally and makes me consider what and who I am, albeit in a minor way, funding. They seem to have made the calculation that they can get by with pissing off a 1000 of us without the rest of us showing any form of solidarity. They are wrong and your letter exemplifies that well. Results on the pitch won’t really change my attendance. Treating my fellow fans like crap however does make me consider whether this is something I can be associated with.
That's superb. Thanks for adding this to the thread as it's exactly where we were trying to come from. This line - Results on the pitch won’t really change my attendance - is everything. We could drop down the leagues over the next decade and I'd still be turning up at Oakwell providing it was just a case of us not being good enough or wealthy enough. Not sure that I'd still be there if we dropped whilst alienating all those around me and treating supporters with complete contempt. That's where the tipping point is for me. I've already written off Reading tomorrow despite deliberately fixing my diary to work in London today so I'm already here.
Superb letter Loko. In an ideal world it would be great if all 3 interested parties could sit round a table with the neutral body of BFCST over seeing proceedings which would hopefully give us a truer picture of whats going off and what work is happening behind the scenes to rectify the problems.
There's something about this that niggles a little bit. I could be wrong though. By only sending it to the Club but not the council or the Crynes, and then suggesting that the Crynes may be supportive, does that not appear to put the entire blame on the Club and not "spreading" the blame around all parties, which I feel may be apposite. You have to hear all sides to an argument and I feel that until all parties have seen this letter then it's almost like pointing the finger without hearing all views. As posts have suggested in recent days there appears to be elements of blame and shame on all sides. But as I said, I could be misinterpreting the issue. No blame intended.
I think you're ignoring the fact we deliberately launched today so it was printed in the Chronicle to get as many eyes on it as possible. Only two of the questions were aimed at all parties, the majority were aimed at the club and it's decision to close the West Stand. You also can't share something with people you have no contact details for.
Well done, Ben & Supporters Trust. A very professional letter, which should receive a reply just as professional and without delay.
I started watching late 60's. Ive seen the new stands build also but if we look at how the grounds been developed over last 30-40 years in general I would say its more about being maintained than developed. If we take the current generation and say age group up to 25 im not sure they have seen much happen and looking at the west stand perhaps they could even argue we are going backwards.
Honestly, I think this discussion sums up the BBS recently and the general mood around the football club at the moment. Maybe even the mood in society, I don't know. We seem to love to debate minor details or always debate something. Arguing over the title of the letter or a paragraph within it, rather than being focused on what the letter means, who it's for, and what the objectives of it are, feels like wasted energy to me. Maybe I'm alone in that thought though. The Oakwell of today is very different to the Oakwell of the promotion season, which is different to the Oakwell of Norman Hunter's team. That's multiple generations seeing Oakwell develop over time. If you disagree with that message, does it change the tone of the letter and what it's asking of the parties involved? I don't think it does.