Re: That, in the words of Ross O'Carroll-Kelly...

By John Rogers11/5/2018 08:37Fri May 11 08:37:17 2018In response to Re: That, in the words of Ross O'Carroll-Kelly...

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I too am looking forward to the change in league. Yes, I am concerned about the impact on playing staff / management and yes, on paper the travelling does seem to be a bitch but...

There are a number of clubs we have been to before (Basingstoke, Farnborough, Chesham) others no further but arguably easier journeys than some we've lost (Banbury, Hartley Wintney, Gosport) a handful of local-ish journeys (Harrow, Staines, Kings Langley, Beaconsfield, Walton) and then some enticing looking away days to Wessex and the West Country.

I don't think we have been shafted particularly so much as unlucky - the border had to fall somewhere and unfortunately for us it fell wrong. But if it wasn't us, it would have been Corinthian / Kingstonian or Bognor and Worthing. Not much good for anyone. With any restructuring you're not going to please everyone and you're not going to cut down on travelling for every team.

The way I see it from a supporters point of view (which I realise differs from the players and staff) is that we have a choice. We either look to make the best of the situation, continue to build the club off the pitch and commit every spare penny we can afford to the twelfth man scheme, or we moan about how unfair this all is and lose the momentum we've built over the past eighteen months.

Despite the setbacks of the last week, I believe we are a club on the cusp of potentially going places. That's only going to happen if we all continue to pull yin the same direction. Hendonboy said to me the other day that when he attended matches in the last week we felt like a club progressing rather than one battling to stay alive.

The shift is likely to mean larger costs for the club, so perhaps fans could do all they could to keep £1 spare if possible to put in the bucket collection to go towards the twelfth man. Let's say that raises £200 per home match, then that's an extra £4200 over a league season.

If you buy a pint then perhaps put any coin change into the bucket collection - I realise for some every pound counts and they will need it to make ends meet. Of course, wholly understandable - but I think that's the kind of mindset we need to apply to the football club if we want to progress. Maybe even bag up your coppers and donate them as well. I recently counted up how much I had and it came to nearly £12. Many people contributing a little on a regular basis can go a heck of a long way.

I realise I've gone off on a tangent here, but I still firmly feel that we have it within our power to make a success of things, even in the Southern League. We have to make it so. We are fans owned. We are the club.