Who will be here next season in the NLS?

[lucy6lucy]

You've totally missed the point Dave.

I'm saying that protesting is unlikely to make CO have a sudden pang of conscience nor is it likely to change anything at all.

It's more about having some sort of constructive outlet for fans who feel marginalised to vent their frustration. Whether it changes anything at the club is another matter entirely.

I'm talking about giving fans a voice and the opportunities to have those voices heard rather than expecting any specific outcome.

I feel going forward that this is important and will at the very least bring a sense of togetherness for the fans instead of even further devisive arguments about who is right and wrong.

The time for arguing about who is right and who is wrong has long gone and it will always be split. The time now is to find positive things to get involved with in order to reconcile this huge chasm that has opened up between sets of supporters based on their differences.

Any supporter has to feel like they are making a difference even if actually they are not which i think is why a lot of fans have gradually given up over time as they feel even making the effort to attend is pointless as it makes no difference.

Your view is that you are a supporter and in the truest sense of the word you support the football club regardless and I respect that. Of course I'm sure you'd like things to be better at the club.

Other people may approach the same situation differently and it's time now that these differences were understood by each side , respected and finally put to bed and everyone start to work through together how best to proceed.

Without sounding harsh/blunt Andy, Dave attends most home matches as he states. I attend pretty much every northern match and the odd home match. You attend no matches yet drivel about us fans and what we should do. The fact is whether you take this the wrong way, you deserted the club to support York city and then when the shit hit the fan with York you came back to us(without going to a game). So is that what a fan should do, support different teams based on circumstances or remain loyal to their team. It's very easy to sit behind your tablet telling what us fans should do, but real fans attend and support there team through thick and thin

[Dave]

You've totally missed the point Dave.

I'm saying that protesting is unlikely to make CO have a sudden pang of conscience nor is it likely to change anything at all.

Trust me Andy I'm not missing your point. By mentiong Owen Oysten what I'm saying, and you've understood this, is, if a well organised and pasionate group such as the Tangerine Knights have thus far failed to chnage anything at Blackpool, if Bristol Rovers fans failed to stop their club from being made homeless, then add in Hereford and others, what makes anyone think protesting at Torquay is going change anything.

And just being honest Andy, if your down in the area when the club our at home next season, come and meet up with me, if you don't want to buy a ticket, I'll buy one for you. We'll go into Boots and Laces, then up to the Gulls nest, then to the popside, and I'll show you more than 100 reasons why, there will never be a protest at Torquay, your wasting, your breath and that one me old mate.

The problem here is, the golden moment for fan ownership came and went, I know people who were prepared to invest both thier time and money into getting the fan ownership ball rolling, they won't now, the goodwill that was there, has gone.

Your senitment is right, there were far to many people wavinng their 'on loan to the conference' flags, who held the opinion, it wasn't so bad first time around, whilst others like myself, who knew excatly what was coming this time around, the club hadn't been passed over debt free, as Merse rightly said on here the other day, the damage had already been done long before GI rolled into town.

No one on a previous board, seemed to be able to grasp, the amount of income relegation from the football league was going to cost the club, season on season, But hey, that's history, nothing can change it, we are now laying in the bed, made by ourselves.

[Yorkieandy]

Ok. Have it your way then. Insular United. (in response to Lucy not you Dave). Just seen your post as i posted the reply.

[Yorkieandy]

Fair, mature and reasonable post Dave. Thanks for your thoughts mate and for not judging incorrectly through ignorance like many do on here. Factually incorrect statement above from lucy being a case in point.

I just feel there must be something fans can do other than just turn up and keep hoping for better if you see what i mean? It just seems such a shame but i probably have to accept that this isn't the case.

Is it simply a case of supporting through the bad times no matter how long that might be or how low the club sinks and even if the good times may never return? When do you make that decision? Or do you have it made for you when the club ceases to exist and only then?

[moneylife]

TUFC til I die! Can't make many of the games but always buy some merch and always listen to every match. I remember the most recent time we dropped to Conference League and the press all stating that Torquay fans can finally get used to winning more often than not! How wrong did that prove to be?!? Well the same can easily be said about Vanarama South, but tbh a lot of the teams in that league and below have smashed us out of various cup tournaments in recent years so I'm not expecting us to dominate or nothing.

That said, if we can keep the spine of what we have at this current moment alive I wouldnt write us off from bouncing straight back.

Furthermore, I'm not given up on us pulling of Great Escape 3.0 yet!!!

[Yorkieandy]

Without sounding harsh/blunt Andy, Dave attends most home matches as he states. I attend pretty much every northern match and the odd home match. You attend no matches yet drivel about us fans and what we should do. The fact is whether you take this the wrong way, you deserted the club to support York city and then when the shit hit the fan with York you came back to us(without going to a game). So is that what a fan should do, support different teams based on circumstances or remain loyal to their team. It's very easy to sit behind your tablet telling what us fans should do, but real fans attend and support there team through thick and thin

I notice quite a few fans on here saying they won't go again or will find something else to do on a saturday, especially if the poll is to be believed. I presume they are different to me then? Thick and thin? Real fans? Stop being selective to suit and at least be consistent. Any criticism for those people?

And once more for the millionth time, can you explain to the viewers my reasons for stopping going to Torquay and going to watch York for a bit? No, of course you can't because you don't know the reasons despite me sending you a detailed PM quite a while back which you accepted as fair enough despite not quite being able to understand. Makes no odds to me but just for the purposes of clarity, don't post inaccuracies about me when you don't actually know for sure what my intricate relationship with the club is and how it has affected me.

Even when you try to help people at this club they still have a pop. Osborne has got it easy. Fans would rather fight with other fans instead of trying to come together for the greater good.

[lucy6lucy]

Fair, mature and reasonable post Dave. Thanks for your thoughts mate and for not judging incorrectly through ignorance like many do on here. Factually incorrect statement above from lucy being a case in point.

I just feel there must be something fans can do other than just turn up and keep hoping for better if you see what i mean? It just seems such a shame but i probably have to accept that this isn't the case.

Is it simply a case of supporting through the bad times no matter how long that might be or how low the club sinks and even if the good times may never return? When do you make that decision? Or do you have it made for you when the club ceases to exist and only then?

Andy, never intended to sound ignorant, but you ditched Torquayunited for York city..you then stated how they communicated with fans better etc, then it went wrong, then you come back to support Torquayunited behind a keyboard.

[Yorkieandy]

Andy, never intended to sound ignorant, but you ditched Torquayunited for York city..you then stated how they communicated with fans better etc, then it went wrong, then you come back to support Torquayunited behind a keyboard.

You are right in a sense Lucy but the reasons go much deeper than even i understand sometimes. I have made mistakes. I didn't expect them to follow me around like this though. Can people just not forgive mistakes and try understanding for once?

The thing is, if i went to every match for the next 15 years, got TUFC tattooed on my forehead and gave the TUST half a million quid, i'd still be that bloke who reacted in a different way to relegation from the football league to most people and went to watch York for a season or so. That mistake will always be people's leverage in arguments against me so in that respect i know how Thea Bristow feels. One mistake (albeit a huge one) and she's the evil one who let everyone down despite being a lifelong fan and giving the club millions.

[Jerry]

Another question. I am concerned even if CO does decide to sell i feel he won't sell to a fans group so is it possible in business for a fans group (such as the TUST) to persuade a businessman to buy the club from GI and then straightaway that businessman sells to the fans group (obviously for a profit otherwise it wouldn't be worth their while) in a pre-arranged contract? Therefore CO thinks he is selling to a genuine businessman but in reality that businessman is just the go between to obtain the club and then sell it to the fans.

Not sure why you think this? Clarke Osborne's a businessman, I very much doubt he would give a toss who bought the club if he decided to sell.

[Plainmoor78]

Not sure why you think this? Clarke Osborne's a businessman, I very much doubt he would give a toss who bought the club if he decided to sell.

I think yorkie is getting CO confused with Dave philips. Philips didn't want to sell to the trust because he did not believe they could finance a return to the football league, and this goal was more obtainable under private/commercial ownership.
CO doesn't give a flying **** for the future of the club, so if he gets his money back he won't care where it comes from.

[Yorkieandy]

Fair point Jerry. I'm just presuming if he decided to sell than that would mean he had not been successful in what he was trying to achieve at the club and may put spite over anything else. Like you say though, he's a businessman and therefore if he's not making money or even losing money then you'd expect him to sell regardless of who that is to.

That is my reasoning for posting what i did but again, maybe not the conventional thought process that most other fans would use.

[Teigngull]

Yorkie, don't fret sunshine, I understand your predicament, I have mates who were total TUFC supporters who on the first relegation to the blue square uprooted & turned their allegiance down the road at Cornwall argyle. The thing is with them they deny any affinity with TUFC, at least you realised your misdemeanor before you ended up in denial, for that you have my full admiration.
Now let's get back on topic ffs.

[lucy6lucy]

Yorkie, don't fret sunshine, I understand your predicament, I have mates who were total TUFC supporters who on the first relegation to the blue square uprooted & turned their allegiance down the road at Cornwall argyle. The thing is with them they deny any affinity with TUFC, at least you realised your misdemeanor before you ended up in denial, for that you have my full admiration.
Now let's get back on topic ffs.

Absolutely.i will attend at least six matches. Andy? How many you going

[standupsitdown]

So long as we still play at Plainmoor I will come down for a few games a year and attend some aways in the South East or other interesting places (fancy Bath, Weston, Bognor away next year).
If we move from Plainmoor to a soulless stadium out of the town I'll be unlikely to bother with home games. Plainmoor, its atmosphere and memories is part of the attraction for me.

[Scott Brehaut]

Absolutely.i will attend at least six matches. Andy? How many you going

Lucy,

I’ve attended the square root of zero this season. Does that count against me?

The fact is, people have slated Andy for a couple of years now, and yet there are people now stating on here that a further relegation will keep them from Plainmoor.
Even with those confessions, Andy is still the one pulled up about it. Whether it is because he is more vocal than most, or just because he is willing to put his head above the parapet, I don’t know, but I don’t get this constant outpouring of disdain shown towards him.

He is big enough to stand up for himself, but I just find this constant haranguing a bit rich now in light of this thread.