The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

Although I've entered into debate with Pigman over this issue, I absolutely support his comments about this messageboard being the place to debate these sorts of things. Big issues like this need to be aired, and possible solutions discussed, as the whole issue of dwindling support is absolutely key to the future of Rushden & Diamonds Football club.

I did feed Pigman the line that moved this thread back to the subject of ticket prices - but make no apologies for that. We need to look at what other clubs are doing, to attract fans or to generate additional revenue, and to debate whether they are relevant in our context. It's rarely as simple as being able to say "what is good for club X must be good for Rushden & Diamonds" - but sometimes there will be good ideas we can adapt / suggest to the club / volunteer to help the club put into practice.

We've lost an awful lot of excellent contributors to the Forum in its various guises over the years, and the number of debates we get these days involving well reasoned posts of at least a couple of paragraphs is getting ever smaller.

I too used to moderate a version of this forum, and do realise that some will struggle to follow these sorts of discussions, but without them we might just end up with a forum with little meaningful debate whilst the team is winning.

The forum could also be an excellent way of letting the club know what the fans are thinking, especially when a fans forum isn't on the horizon - but, again, as the number of contributors dwindles, and the general quality of contributions drops, it has lost a lot of its "clout".

The facility to ignore certain posters is there for those who wish to use it - I certainly make good use of it - but Pigman would be one of the last people I'd choose to "ignore".

The issue I have with it Formic, is that 13 weeks into the season we (a very few, unhappy contributors to the Board) are still discussing it. The discussion is literally going round and round in circles, endlessly saying the same thing, going nowhere with no response from the Club or the Conference. Frankly, I'm bored of it now. The issue cannot be resolved on here because we are not in a position to resolve it. We will still be 'debating' it at the end of next season, it won't change anything.
I really do feel that it is time to move on. The Club is well aware of how certain supporters feel, so now is the time to take it off this board and take it up directly with those who made the decision in the first place.

There's a big game at Nene Park today, it's the FA Cup, we're playing a team who are 2 leagues above us, we're expecting a larger than normal crowd and it's a game we're more than capable of winning. See you all there.

I haven't really got myself involved in this particular debate, but i want to expand on a point you just made Formic.

It's all very well debating this subject to death, offering different solutions, but do the club actually listen? Do people from the club read this forum? Most importantly, does KC read this forum? Even if they did surely it is too late now to do anything about it without pissing off those that have already bought trust memberships, season tickets, or even tickets for the Yeovil game alone.

I've seen so many potential solutions to this problem, many of them good and extremely viable, but in the end it's a waste of time.

I'm assuming after having a quick look at attendances last season compared to this that Pigman is in a small minority to have taken his particular stance anyway.

Although the increase didn't personally affect me I did speak to Matt Wild a couple of times about this increase during August who basically told me that the Club's hands were tied although they were still taking issue with the Conference's management over the directive.

However, I now think the time has come for Pigman, ToD and any other fan aggrieved by the Club's decision to personally discuss the matter with KC and/or HT rather than continually going on about the impact of the directive on this forum.

Bring on the Glovers. ;)