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Did bad reporting harm the attendance ?

Posted: 10 Mar 2012, 20:47
by Dave
Must admit to still being confused as to what our current capacity is, however was dissappointed to hear the gate read out as 3920, I did consdier doing this thread yesterday, thought I would see what the attendance was first. this was a very high interest game, it should have sold out with people turned away.

Palm FM ,aired a news story during Friday about expected crowd trouble, and this appeared on the web site.....http://www.palm.fm/p/news/local/heavy-t ... -plainmoor" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I personaly do see this as bad reporting, and has rightly upset many Rovers fan's, it makes me wonder how many families, and supporters who are easily put off by such scare stories did not attend the game today, I must admit to reading through both there main and alternative forums, and picked up no hint or suggestion that any Rovers fan's were intending to cause trouble today.

There were more than enough gasheads here today, around the ground there was no sign of any problems before or after the game, and there were no problems in the home end's either, nothing but good natured banter between us, and it was nice to see both sets of supporters joining in with "buckle chants" :) As a gulls fan I would have no problem welcoming them back to our club.

I would like to know who fed this story to Palm FM, and who decided to run it, I can't believe it was our club, as what a massive "P/R" own goal it would have been.

I wonder if an apology is in order here, and hope in the future we see no repeat, as should promotion be gained there are quite a few clubs in league 1 or about to join it from the Championship, who will fill our away end with bristows bench built.

Re: Did bad reporting harm the attendance ?

Posted: 10 Mar 2012, 20:49
by Southampton Gull
I thought the Rovers fans there and the ones I saw outside the ground were a credit to their Club.

Re: Did bad reporting harm the attendance ?

Posted: 10 Mar 2012, 21:00
by Colorado Gull
I also thought that the Rovers fans were very good today and when they sang "Goodnight Irene", I thought it sounded fantastic. There was no trouble, just good banter between fans :)

Re: Did bad reporting harm the attendance ?

Posted: 10 Mar 2012, 21:29
by friendlygas
I actually thought the entire experience today was a credit to BOTH clubs. The atmosphere was great and I thought it was a good game to watch. It was a great shame that we couldnt get in the Boot and Laces as I am sure there would not have been any trouble. Were there many Rovers fans in the Home areas? I have the feeling we wont be visiting you next season unless its in the JPT Cup. Your players have a tremendous "Never say die" attitude and I think this will get you automatically promoted. For us it will be a season of what might have been but wasnt!!! Thanks for a great day out.

Re: Did bad reporting harm the attendance ?

Posted: 10 Mar 2012, 21:45
by Dave
I don't think there was any where near the number of Rovers fan's in the home end as expected, there were some dotted around, faces in the crowd that I have never seen before .

Re: Did bad reporting harm the attendance ?

Posted: 10 Mar 2012, 22:00
by TPence89
I will also jump on this band wagon and say that it was a pleasure to be at the game today. Was good to see so many fans at Plainmoor and lots of very good support for both teams. Lots of good banter between fans and players, and between both sets of fans. Was in the Popside and there was no sign of any trouble that was talked about pre-match. Glad we managed to get a result in the end but feels like a missed opportunity with the teams around us failing to win... Onwards and Upwards! COYY!!

Re: Did bad reporting harm the attendance ?

Posted: 10 Mar 2012, 22:13
by miagsygas
I wasn't there today but I'm glad it went well. I know relationships between the two clubs and fans were strained during the summers happenings but I've always liked Torquay, the club and the fans. We aren't a bad bunch either, apart from a few you get with any club.

Re: Did bad reporting harm the attendance ?

Posted: 10 Mar 2012, 23:33
by Glostergull
I don't know who put this story around, But he or she wants a damn good slap. or at least locking in the stocks and rotten tomatoes thrown at them.
This was from a fans perspective one of the best games have ever had the fortune to attend. The atmosphere was brilliant and did both clubs a real credit. I don't think i hardly heard a nasty chant from the massed ranks of Rovers fans and when they had surrendered their two goal lead I expected some Verbal aggro from them. Nothing!. Good natured. Humorous. Friendly. Ready to chat. I would welcome them back any day. They are the best fans I think we have seen at Plainmoor for many years. and to hear both sets of fans singing the same song together was hillarious. I doubt there are many clubs that can boast that.
I just hope that the moron who spread that story hangs his head in shame.

Re: Did bad reporting harm the attendance ?

Posted: 11 Mar 2012, 01:11
by Trojan 67
forevertufc wrote:Must admit to still being confused as to what our current capacity is, however was dissappointed to hear the gate read out as 3920, I did consdier doing this thread yesterday, thought I would see what the attendance was first. this was a very high interest game, it should have sold out with people turned away.

Palm FM ,aired a news story during Friday about expected crowd trouble, and this appeared on the web site.....http://www.palm.fm/p/news/local/heavy-t ... -plainmoor" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I personaly do see this as bad reporting, and has rightly upset many Rovers fan's, it makes me wonder how many families, and supporters who are easily put off by such scare stories did not attend the game today, I must admit to reading through both there main and alternative forums, and picked up no hint or suggestion that any Rovers fan's were intending to cause trouble today.

There were more than enough gasheads here today, around the ground there was no sign of any problems before or after the game, and there were no problems in the home end's either, nothing but good natured banter between us, and it was nice to see both sets of supporters joining in with "buckle chants" :) As a gulls fan I would have no problem welcoming them back to our club.

I would like to know who fed this story to Palm FM, and who decided to run it, I can't believe it was our club, as what a massive "P/R" own goal it would have been.

I wonder if an apology is in order here, and hope in the future we see no repeat, as should promotion be gained there are quite a few clubs in league 1 or about to join it from the Championship, who will fill our away end with bristows bench built.

Just tried to read the link and it's been taken down. Went into the Union Inn before and after the game and the Bristol Rovers fans were a great credit to themselves and their club. A lot of them were outside the front of the pub pre-match enjoying their favourite tipple (Blackthorn) and soaking up the English Riviera sunshine and Geoff (the landlord of the Union) asked me to go outside and "have a word" (about drinking on the street, not allowed).

About 20 - 25 of them in small groups of 4 or 5 and when politefully asked to go inside did so with no problem. Then I f*ck*d off quick to Boots & Laces before the next group of 20 -25 came out for the impromptu alfresco. :nod: ;-)

Re: Did bad reporting harm the attendance ?

Posted: 11 Mar 2012, 02:32
by cambgull
Today was always going to be a good natured day, both sets of fans had a common ground in disliked managers and a current one which was liked. I really don't think Palm FM would be much of a detriment to attendance figures, they weren't much different to Argyle and Crawley.

The way I see it is simple, a small local radio station said there might be trouble, there wasn't any trouble and the Palm FM article will be long forgotten whilst the good natured spirit of the match will stick in the memories of the fans who were there for much longer. Whether it had any effect on this game, I don't know, but will it have any effect on any other game? No.

Truth will out!

Re: Did bad reporting harm the attendance ?

Posted: 11 Mar 2012, 07:16
by Glostergull
One thing I would like to know is about what our ground capacity is meant to be right now. I thought it was around 4,500.
Now with the best will in the world. The Away end was full to capacity. The Family stand for a change was full with no visible empty seats. and the pop side seemd jammed to capacity. Where there any largish gaps in the pop side toward the away end or not?. Because at the family stand end we were pretty stuffed up and there couldn't have been even helf a dozen spare places to stand let alone 500 plus. so I can't see where 4,500 are meant to go.

Re: Did bad reporting harm the attendance ?

Posted: 11 Mar 2012, 08:12
by Modgull
Glostergull wrote:One thing I would like to know is about what our ground capacity is meant to be right now. I thought it was around 4,500.
Now with the best will in the world. The Away end was full to capacity. The Family stand for a change was full with no visible empty seats. and the pop side seemd jammed to capacity. Where there any largish gaps in the pop side toward the away end or not?. Because at the family stand end we were pretty stuffed up and there couldn't have been even helf a dozen spare places to stand let alone 500 plus. so I can't see where 4,500 are meant to go.
Yes there were at least two bays at the defending end of the Popside which were empty or at least sparsely populated.

I would have said 4,500 was an accurate assessment of the capacity of the ground at present.

Re: Did bad reporting harm the attendance ?

Posted: 11 Mar 2012, 08:46
by Aussie
It was the Rozza`s that caused the unwarranted rumours of violence, and Palm FM that spread them! Absolutely disgusting behaviour as the Gas were an absolute credit to their club, before, during and after the game. The intel ( if you can call it that ) was way off and misguided, someone should be sacked over this because the report itself could have sparked something off and it wouldn`t have been Gas vs Gulls, it would have been directed at the very people that are supposed to keep the peace!

Re: Did bad reporting harm the attendance ?

Posted: 11 Mar 2012, 08:54
by Southampton Gull
Could this be the start of a long happy and harmonious relationship between Gulls and Gasheads?

I can't remember a game of this nature before where the two sets of fans got along so well, considering the "previous" centred around Buckle leaving it was really refreshing to chat to so many Gasheads in a friendly manner and I hope it stays that way between both Clubs for as long as possible. It would be nice to travel up there for a League game and see something similar in all the pubs surrounding the Memorial Ground.

Re: Did bad reporting harm the attendance ?

Posted: 11 Mar 2012, 10:14
by tufc4life1
I was stood up end and it wasn't completely packed but was close the only bit which was empty was the block by where players come out, reckon you could of got 50/100 more fans in the end at tops.
Found some of there songs funny and you could hear them laughing at some of our songs the banter was fantastic, had most the ground singing hands up if you hate buckle.

I didn't see or hear any abusive language aimed at other set of fans or any bad hand signs.