'The Club' - are we part of it or removed from it?

The Reds Report tweeted this morning about the staff at the club, see below:

I guess the point is that it wouldn't be fair for fans to blame people who work at the club for the events of the last few days / weeks / months and I'd agree with that, particularly when they're presumably being told what to do. It should've said 'staff at the club have been superb' but hey ho.

But that's not my point. It's made me think about who or what the club is. The ground and surroundings? The name? Badge? The owners? And what about us - the fans? I think I've always thought that I'm part of it and that explains why for me it's not optional about whether to go to matches, to support the team irrespective of performances / results etc. It's why if I didn't support Barnsley I wouldn't go to football at all.

I've had a realisation though that the owners don't believe us fans are part of the club, that instead we're followers who are somehow removed from it. It's a big difference and the consequences potentially profound. I think followers are likely to be less emotionally invested and as a result less loyal.

The anger and upset about recent events suggests to me that we do consider ourselves part of it and I suspect that the owners may be surprised at the level of emotion surrounding everything. I wonder if the franchise model they're more familiar with in the US produces followers instead?

I generally try to see the good in people and there's a positive intent behind most actions humans take and so I'm looking for the owners intent. I'm inclined to believe that they have fundamentally misunderstood the Barnsley community and the relationship it has with its football club.

Perhaps they are coming to understand it now. I hope so because their actions are alienating the very people they need to move the club forward, breaking down their sense of involvement and driving them towards followership. Some may never come back......

 

I think the owners are well aware of what part fans play in a club and that’s why when a Head Coach is saying publicly he needs this type of player or that player implying it’s not his fault we are in the bottom three , the owners have to do something about it which is HC shuts up or he gets sacked or HC touts himself round for a new job ,gets one ,and starts spouting off again to get sacked !!

 

Nobody thinks bad of the staff just the owners

 

Somewhere in Texas, September 2017...

"Hey gentlemen. So I've compiled the report you asked for. Here's what I found.

Research shows that you're hard pushed to find brand loyalty stronger than in European soccer, particularly in England. A core of tens of thousands keep paying to follow one team regardless of the quality of the product and have a lifelong loyalty to the brand. Tickets, merchandise, subscriptions, media - a multitude of revenue streams. They don't swap brands or have a connection to other brands. In fact, they actively hate rival brands. Think of it like going to watch your favourite movie again and again every weekend for the rest of your life, buying all the merchandise and never paying to watch another movie. I know, right?

Okay, so the profile of the area. It's post-industrial. An area of low educational attainment and low socio-economic status and the soccer team is huge in the community. Huge, like people live for this brand. These guys have got nothing else going for them and this is the primary leisure activity in the area that is accessible to all demographics. Man, woman and child and I'm talking like from birth to death they're customers, literally.

I mean, don't quote me on this, but these guys aren't exactly your upper crust brainy Brits, yanno what I'm saying? You can pretty much do what you like providing there's a team to watch and these guys will keep coming. What with the education levels being so low, it'd be rather easy to put a few quotes out there and get them onside. A customer base of tens of thousands onboard for life whatever the quality of the product. That's what we all dream of right?

There'll naturally be some slight fluctuation in customers depending on how the team are performing but that's small fry. The real money is to be had from other revenue streams and you've already had the report on the dollars to be had from player trading and human stock. If you can find a way of doing that and giving the core customers enough of a product so they back you and keep turning up, the opportunities are huge here.

Go for the purchase guys, play this one right and it'll be worth your while."

 

Can't beat the truth sometimes as much as it hurts.

 

My perception is our owners absolutely don't understand the fans, the depth of history of the club, the rivalries, the complexities and nuances of our region and football from a fan perspective.

I got the feeling Patrick may well have tried to educate them in his eagerness to look for ownership compatibility, but I've yet to meet an American person with depth. That's a huge sweeping statement as I've met but a tiny number in comparison to their populace, but my limited experience to date tells me that's a just statement to make.

The lack of understanding isn't that important at times, but when it comes to identity and history, I think it puts them very poorly placed to make comment and make comment in an educated incisive way. Things I find offensive (too harsh a word, but I can't think of a lesser word that quite fits) are referring to our town as a city. Creating short term stories for attention that have a faux feel to them. Making promises that aren't kept. Using hyperbole when its not warranted. Treating good people in a manner that is seen to be unfair and unmerited to the majority.

I think they do see us as customers. Like an American franchise where we turn up with enough colours that it looks like the club shop has been sick on us. To eat as much food as we can cram into our cakeholes and then trot off as happy members until the next time when we start the experience all over again.

I don't think a British supporter looks at sport this way. Yes, some things may be improved to a degree, but if the fundamentals aren't right, it matters not how varnished shiny and glossy the team, kit, ground and communications... it doesn't ring true. Likewise, if fairness and integrity start to slip, in this neck of the woods, hostility will burgeon very very quickly.

I think this is a big test for these owners because they don't know how hostile Barnsley people can be. Welcoming and salt of the earth once they feel its warranted. A deep desire to be understood and accepted, not to be hurt and rejected, but if let down badly... this towns people have a brutal hostility I've not quite seen in other areas.

Though its not the case in terms of financial stake, freeness of information or complete accessibility, BFC is mine. It always will be. Owners are temporary and but custodians. It may be irrational. It may be unreasonable. It may be inaccurate. But supporters are the club.

 

Ha ha....very good.

 

Like this a lot. Seeing the hostility now. And it's all the greater because it's yours. And mine. And all of ours.

 

All this yank bashing is really unhelpful and also v unhealthy. To read a statement to say that Americans have no depth is way over the top and a massive generalisation.
Whoever said that clearly hasnt met many Americans. For heaven's sake tone it down and don't forget we have Indian and Chinese reps on the Board also.
I will keep on saying it in the hope that things calm down..........please let's wait and see and hope / trust we get the truth of what happened rather than jumping to unsubstantiated conclusions.

 

I quantified my statement in my experience from the sample I've met.

We do have Chinese and Indian involvement in our club. My experience with senior Indian and particularly Chinese business people is extremely positive. As I outlined before, my limited involvement with American business people has been a less enjoyable experience. There will of course be exceptions to that. That's just my experience.

 

we been here before and we will be there again sometime, managers come and go just like players, yes gutted stendel as gone and good luck to him but how much longer was the nightmare going to continue, no settled team game to game and no settled formation, we are stuck with these owners for thd long haul so we have to get used to it no matter how much we hate it, if lee conway and crew went we either have no team or cowboys in charge, do we want to end up like Bury? no we dont so lets get behind the lads and caretaker gaffer and see what he can do !!

 

Chinese American indian British no matter how you dress it up you can't get away from the fact that the board acted like a set of cnuts... Anybody who knows me knows I very rarely swear so Sorry for the profane language but that's how I feel

 

I know that you quantified it.....and you were right to because if you've only met a few business Americans then that is definitely not an accurate reflection.....in my opinion.
I completely agree with you that we, as supporters, are the club but to make disparaging remarks about their (the yanks) lack of understanding of fandom is way off the mark.
There's a certain arrogance in assuming that your average British soccer (sorry, football) fan's club means more to them than say, a lifelong New York Mets fan from the Bronx etc etc
In all honesty all I'm trying to say here, again, is that we should calm down and lessen the hostility not fuel it.

 

Indeed, i'm trying to think of numbers of American senior business people, its probably in the 500-1000 realm, so certainly not fully representative of their populace, and of course, its a very varied country from region to region with many nuances. I'd say most of my contacts and associations have been East Coast, though I probably can't ration it down any further. Overall individual insights of American audiences is probably in the realms of half a million, but they aren't of the same classification, obviously.

No hatred for Americans at all. Just sharing my personal insights. Others will have completely different insights, of course, because everyones experiences are theres.

And i'm sure "sports fans" in US have sentiment for their favourite teams. But i very much believe its very different to football in this country and in our region. That was my point. That our complex place in football is much more nuanced than someone who has come to own us less than 2 years ago will immediately understand. I'm not sure how that is dialling up or adding fuel to anything. It just seems like common sense to me. But I understand and accept you may have a different perspective.

 

Asking myself some of these questions, Mr Wolvestyke (hence my post earlier). I feel less connection with the club than at any point in my life and I'm far from convinced these owners have the club's best interests at heart. You really have to ask yourself whether it's worth pushing your hard-earned at their business in these circumstances. The stadium is uncomfortable and increasingly inaccessible, and the nature of the owners' operation reinforces the always-present notion that the players are mercenaries, looking for further progression and a bigger payday elsewhere.

 

Are we all OK now on this board to be able to say that we've met a certain number of people from a certain country, and are thus able to say in our opinion that because they come from a certain place they seem to represent a certain pattern of attitude and behaviour?

Or might that be racist?

Just wondering...

 

I haven't felt like I've belonged for ages, but that's a ticketing issue and not exclusive to this regime.

 

Are we all ok to misrepresent what another poster has said? I'm not.

 

When you've stopped wondering it would be interesting to read the conclusion you've come to.
i guess you might be making the point that if someone came on here and called someone else a smartass thennthey would be saying that everyone else on here would therefore also be smartasses....which of course isn't actually anywhere near the truth.

 

You are well in the minority. Nothing wrong with that necessarily, but you are.