[Chrisr]

Copied from another post. Originally posted by Maccawasagod.

there are half a dozen different tangents being gone off onto within this thread but this post needs picking up on Chris. For one thing we absolutely are a 2nd rate 4th tier club and we thank our lucky stars for it. That's not being defeatist but its celebrating the fact that a few generous people have ploughed their small fortunes into keeping our club going. Even if we doubled our home crowds we would still be the poorest club in the division. Practically every club in the division has double our crowd and practically every club has a stadium that earns income from avenues other than the gate money and FL money

1 Portsmouth 16,682
2 Plymouth Argyle 8,988
3 Luton Town 8,047
4 Doncaster Rovers 5,412
5 Grimsby Town 5,320
6 Carlisle United 5,178
7 Notts County 4,663
8 Cambridge United 4,621
9 Leyton Orient 4,506
10 Crewe Alexandra 3,905
11 Exeter City 3,886
12 Yeovil Town 3,667
13 Colchester United 3,662
14 Hartlepool United 3,535
15 Blackpool 3,513
16 Wycombe Wanderers 3,420
17 Mansfield Town 3,369
18 Cheltenham Town 3,196
19 Stevenage 2,719
20 Newport County 2,596
21 Crawley Town 2,243
22 Barnet 1,982
23 Morecambe 1,833
24 Accrington Stanley 1,721

~You wrote in your post "where are the brains that be that can develop the image" and it was written in a sarcastic manner. I find that highly insulting to the present Chairman who is trying his damndest to make the club self sufficient. I know you took umbrage at his right hand man over the disable concessions, and that's another discussion entirely. The fact remains that we have a skeleton staff doing their utmost to develop the stadium into something remotely resembling a FL stadium.

Another post mentions the away end and the appalling facilities. Quite correct to mention it, but until we have hundreds of thousands of pounds to spend then it just sits on the list of things to do.

Andy Holt stated that the first lot of ground work HAD to go on the Clayton End and upgrading the facilities for those that may come back. TICK

He has stated that the next lot of ground work will be done this summer on redeveloping the main stand concourse. Quite what this entails is anybodies guess but I would imagine something very similar to the Clayton End. Remedial work has been done in clearing the car park and additional land to make space, and also in securing the alternative shop and office facilities to the rear of the clayton end car park. So half a TICK

It is also blatantly obvious that work has been ongoing in tidying up the Accy Endm, maybe in readiness for some work?

We have also got the Whinney Hill side ready for work to begin. Groundwork is done, plans drawn up and permissions granted. This work WOULD HAVE been done had we got promotion last season, but in not doing there was little point.

A lot of the little quibbles we have here and there are just that, little quibbles. Hopefully it means that any problems are ironed out in readiness for some sort of bigger push off the field.

The Clayton End development means that particular stand is now earning money for the first time ever. They would love the other stands to join in but we/they have to walk before they can run.

Had one of our long standing fans come in with a Euromillions jackpot behind them I'm quite sure we'd have footed the bill all in one fell swoop and the ground would be running tickety boo by now. But that didnt happen and AH has come in with finite funds that he is trying to stretch as far as possible.

It was little over 12 months ago that he took over and we have moved on immeasurably since then, but when he first sat in the Big Chair he had a 3rd tie against Man Utd to look forward to and 2 big assets in Josh and Crooksy. The money earned from those three things was earmarked to do the things that we all want doing - but never came.

I love a moan when things are hitting the fan, but for now let's just trust the big mans plan and let it pan out. My biggest criticism so far would be the failure to announce what the plan is. Firstly it helps to build hype and secure the fans belief that all is good, but secondly it helps to head off unnecessary criticism as we can see that we are heading towards the things we are complaining about.

We all know that kids are the future, and so does Andy. IF we knew that a family stand was being built on the Whinney Hill side then we'd knock off the comments as we would know it was all in hand

In answer to Maccawasagod.

I think you have picked up on several threads not belonging to me, However I never write anything sarcastically. I have fully supported every effort that Andy Holt has made and I will continue to do that. You mentioned the disagreement I had with his right hand man on disabled concessions, I have already said that ship has sailed, I don't agree with much the right hand man has said because I judge people on results and action. You have in your post been a little less than positive, You have simply extracted the problems we all know about yet you don't offer any suggestions to improve these niggles.
A complaint or criticism is a way of putting something right. Everybody knows the future of the club is in young people attending. But the reality is they are not and at the moment I see nothing to entice them, We have to change that. As for blaming the Skeleton staff we have, you will never hear me calling any one of them. Or anybody who volunteers to help the club in any way will only receive gratitude and thanks from me. You have said it all in your first paragraph about the crowd size, even if we double it we will still be the poorest club in the division. Well this is the challenge not just for the management but for every committed fan of the club to change this. Success on the field will be the biggest factor, Just as important is the match day experience. The supporters club have done a great job in bringing the fanzone to life, This needs to be built on with other ideas. We have a worldwide brand in the Accrington Stanley name and we don't seem to be building on that. I am glad that the issues have made people actually think about the club in a realist view. we all know we will never cure the problems overnight and extra income is desperately needed. Andy Holt has kept this club afloat and progressed it as quickly as is possible. He knows what is needed and what it will cost. This is where the fans can show support in helping bring more people to the ground, we can all think of possible deals for tickets and other enticements. Once people do attend the club before, during and after the match is the time we need to convince them to keep coming. We can discuss these ideas on here or another thread, It is always easy to pick faults but putting them right is a different matter. So I just hope people keep discussing and putting forward ideas that may benefit the club. You may well notice that all the tangent threads are inter connected.