[Archived] Fans Unite Under ‘We Are Rovers’ Banner

[OJRovers]

Any news from WAR? Anything?

[yoda]

Looks like cease fire

[Norbert Rassragr]

Just been reading about Coventry, manager has resigned today and the council have confirmed that the owners are trying to sell the training ground for housing.

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/coventry-city-confirm-ryton-training-11929483

They're in a very similar boat to us, boycotting on mass, we need all these types of clubs fans to come together, we're stronger together.

Not sure how we achieve that though, this is exactly the sort of thing WAR should be looking into.

Rovers, Leeds, Coventry, Charlton, Blackpool are all clubs being run by mad owners, yet the FA are more interested in paying off greedy managers and signing NDA's.

Scandalous.

Coventry is the blueprint for the path we are on. Within 5 years that'll be us without a shadow of doubt and I'm just beyond amazement people still refuse to even comprehend it.

All the hallmarks are here.

Indeed Coventry are where we will be heading under Venky's. They barely get 10,000 at matches (Wasps probably average 13,000-16,000), their acdemy facilities may be bought out by Wasps to go with the Stadium and SISU, the owners of Coventry City have done eff all. No one really can get hold of the people in charge, and when they went into administration a few years ago, SISU did a Ken Bates and bought it from themselves.

Coventry City fans are despondent, angry and without hope. It has got so bad that most just look up the result on the phone whilst food shopping. And believe me, in 5 years time, Wasps will be the big show in town, if they are not already.

[tomphil]

Yes I was talking to a Coventry fan the other day and I think he said the council own the stadium and are happy to sit back and do nothing because they are drawing rent in from the rugby and football. The club shop is a kiosk in the local Tesco next to the ground or something.

Thing is I actually remember not long ago, just pre Venkys I think, sitting down to my dinner before going to Ewood and Coventry were on the lunch time kick off on the box. I think they were still in the Champ then and the place was totally empty, the only fans you could see were a little bunch of away fans, Millwall or Cardiff I think it was but only about 150 the rest of the ground was banks of empty seats. I recall thinking hell what a mess they are in I'm glad we'll never be like that !!!!

That match on tv that day always stuck with me for some reason.

Fast forward a few years from then and there we were and I'm convinced another 5 of this set of corrupt fools will see us in a similar vein to the Sky Blues of now. In fact they may well be higher up than us

[roverclitheroe]

What's happened to the Venkysout revolution seems to have slowly disappeared, gutted to be honest.

[Iceman]

it shouldn't be targeting a game that was a couple of months away , it should of been targeting every game.The silence is deafening and embarrassing and the ones onn the top table should now be hanging their heads in shame .

All the momentum, poof, gone

We

Are

Rudderless

WAR

[Mike E]

What's happened to the Venkysout revolution seems to have slowly disappeared, gutted to be honest.

On its way back. Meeting tomorrow at Ewood WMC, plus statement from BRFCAG

[Jock]

Indeed Coventry are where we will be heading under Venky's. They barely get 10,000 at matches (Wasps probably average 13,000-16,000), their acdemy facilities may be bought out by Wasps to go with the Stadium and SISU, the owners of Coventry City have done eff all. No one really can get hold of the people in charge, and when they went into administration a few years ago, SISU did a Ken Bates and bought it from themselves.

Coventry City fans are despondent, angry and without hope. It has got so bad that most just look up the result on the phone whilst food shopping. And believe me, in 5 years time, Wasps will be the big show in town, if they are not already.

Awful whats happened to Cov. Always enjoyed Highfield Road. Not sure how much fight their fans have but a tleast they did stick up for themselves against aggressive stewarding at the Ricoh.

There is a clip of it on Youtube with banners being taken off them and the fans fighting back. Cant see us doing that.

[pk1875]

Any news from WAR? Anything?

Quite a busy week or two for BRFCAG, meeting with The Telegraph (not lancs), meeting with club, organising protests, press releases etc.....

[MGAndy]

Quite a busy week or two for BRFCAG, meeting with The Telegraph (not lancs), meeting with club, organising protests, press releases etc.....

Thanks for the update Paul.

That's what it's all about....communication.

That's why we all presume the Trust have disbanded and gone on an 18 -75s coach holiday with Birdy. 😁

[Ben-2000]

The Trust have left everyone high & dry by the looks of it and gone silent again, like they were for about 3 years previous.

So glad I never joined.

[Amo]

What's happened to the Venkysout revolution seems to have slowly disappeared, gutted to be honest.

We won a couple of games.

[Iceman]

We won a couple of games.

Worth celebrating

[Norbert Rassragr]

Yes I was talking to a Coventry fan the other day and I think he said the council own the stadium and are happy to sit back and do nothing because they are drawing rent in from the rugby and football. The club shop is a kiosk in the local Tesco next to the ground or something.

Thing is I actually remember not long ago, just pre Venkys I think, sitting down to my dinner before going to Ewood and Coventry were on the lunch time kick off on the box. I think they were still in the Champ then and the place was totally empty, the only fans you could see were a little bunch of away fans, Millwall or Cardiff I think it was but only about 150 the rest of the ground was banks of empty seats. I recall thinking hell what a mess they are in I'm glad we'll never be like that !!!!

That match on tv that day always stuck with me for some reason.

Fast forward a few years from then and there we were and I'm convinced another 5 of this set of corrupt fools will see us in a similar vein to the Sky Blues of now. In fact they may well be higher up than us

That's pretty accurate, though it is Wasps that own the stadium 100%. The council owned 50% and something called The Alan Higgs Trust owned the other half. Wasps bought the council out first, then when the Alan Higgs Trust put their half up for sale a bit later, Coventry City's owners tried to buy it through some holding company that was in receivership (or some similar sounding con), but Wasps just put the cash up front.

When the stadium was council owned, they took no interest in really promoting the team, the facilities there and so on and the various owners either tried their best, or like SISU couldn't give a crap. The reason why Highfield Road was binned was maybe because a then chairman called Richardson wanted to knock it down and build houses.

So he probably did a deal with the council to build the new stadium, but Coventry City pay rent and the council get 50% of the profits from the conference hall, casino and so on. I could be wrong about that but the chairman did make a killing out of the houses built on Highfield Road (and then manager Strachan is alleged to have got a kickback), and Coventry City didn't get revenue from the facilities at the Ricoh.

Compare that with the massive efforts Wasps are putting in to promote the stadium, the club and the facilities (the Midlands gig of Bruce Springsteen's recent tour was here, as some MTV weekend festival. And there are two international rugby league games in November). They are really hammering it.

[McClarky]

Seriously, not having a go at anyone here. What has happened to WAR? Would love to hear what the situation is. Any chance of a statement of some sort?

[mark1875]

Seriously, not having a go at anyone here. What has happened to WAR? Would love to hear what the situation is. Any chance of a statement of some sort?

I touched on this on another thread the other night. W.A.R is not a new organisation, it is an umbrella which 4 existing supporter organisations stand under to reach the same goal - new owners.

Each organisation continues to operate in its own right, as they did before, whilst some initiatives will be worked on together by a couple, a few, or all 4 organisations, where possible.

I, as chairman of the BRFC Action Group can only speak on behalf of our organisation.

We attended the Bi-Annual club meeting last week and posed difficult questions to the top table, which was well documented. Whilst this meeting began at 6pm, it was the early hours of Friday morning before the evening ended for some of our committee members because as soon as we left this meeting, we traveled immediately to Manchester to meet with a reporter from the Telegraph on the back of their exposures last week, the meeting being arranged very quickly and confirmed at extremely short notice.

On the back of the Bi-Annual meeting with the club, and what occurred during this meeting, we released a statement.

We have worked closely and in conjunction with the Ewood Blues to discuss and put in place plans for the protests which were discussed at the open floor meeting last month. The planned protest was first discussed between myself and Birdy at the game in Cardiff back in August, once it was made public at King Georges Hall, work has been put in, to piece it all together, not just in terms of the 1875 protest but other elements which were also discussed at the meeting - and not just for the game against Wolves.

Many people are of the opinion that people arriving late won't be visual enough, and people leaving early will be misinterpreted. What happens between the 18th and the 75th minute is extremely important to those people! A lot of people want action and a lot of people want disruption - somebody said to me at the weekend that if Sky TV have to cancel programs or delay schedules due to the coverage of the game at Ewood overrunning schedule, then this will be the only success - and many people feel like this. People want to do more than arrive late and leave early and want to see action similar to the tactics used by Charlton Fans. For instance, if in the 75th minute, its 1-1 and Rovers are looking like they may score a winner, this alone will stop many people walking out....and an opportunity in front of the sky cameras will be wasted.

We have held these discussions and that is why there was going to be more announcements than the 18-75 protest, however a press release was issued by people not involved in these discussions, who appear to be organising something similar, but with less elements than what us and the Ewood Blues had discussed, and this press release got out first, which in turn nullified our release which was released later that day. As a result of this, the potential disruption element didn't make the local paper, and neither did the mention of protests at the next two home games before Wolves, which is a shame - because getting it out to the non-internet using supporter was a massive opportunity that has now been diluted slightly, as i was unaware other people had been organising a similar protest - after all - this was labelled 'Walk with Birdy". An opportunity missed, which is disappointing and was avoidable.

What happens now in terms of protests at the next two games, and in terms of the protest at Wolves? Well, there is a chance that it will now be confined to the 18-75 in-out element only, and we can only hope that this isn't misinterpreted or diluted due to how the game sits on 75, or how spread out people are, or how many take part etc. It was also key to us that the boycotting supporters played their part and a platform was provided for them to be involved that day, but again this was another element that will now be difficult for the same reasons.

So there has been movement and there has been work ongoing, i touched on our lack of communication recently as did Paul and we both agree that there is a need to be more active on here in terms of discussions. Many of those involved of the four organisations speak daily, and myself, Ste, Wayne and Birdy touch base with each other when one of us feels the need to discuss something - so there is ongoing dialogue,

I'm sure someone from the Rovers Trust will be better placed to discuss on here where they are at and what progress has been made since the open floor meeting, i know there is a lot of background work going into the trip to Pune but i feel any progress updates on that would be better coming from those more involved with it.

I hope this answers at least some peoples concerns, and i will endeavor to be on here at least daily to be more open on ideas and initiatives, and discussions as mentioned earlier.

[Paul]

Mark, I'm a bit confused now can I ask you to clarify please? I don't get the LT which is where I guess the press release by other people would be.

• The 1875 protest is now going to be a rather loose affair with some form of organisation by "other people" and in match protest/disruption? Is this connected to the discussion thread on here?
• BRFCAG will organise, along with Ewood Blues, the arrive at 18 and leave at 75 element but nothing else?
• I'd heard there was an information leaflet from BRFCAG to be distributed at the next two games. Is this now off the agenda in light of your remarks about the next two games and Wolves?

I'm asking because I wanted to take part in the 1875 action but I'm also keen to understand what I'm signing up for.

Thanks

[mark1875]

Mark, I'm a bit confused now can I ask you to clarify please? I don't get the LT which is where I guess the press release by other people would be.

• The 1875 protest is now going to be a rather loose affair with some form of organisation by "other people" and in match protest/disruption? Is this connected to the discussion thread on here?
• BRFCAG will organise, along with Ewood Blues, the arrive at 18 and leave at 75 element but nothing else?
• I'd heard there was an information leaflet from BRFCAG to be distributed at the next two games. Is this now off the agenda in light of your remarks about the next two games and Wolves?

I'm asking because I wanted to take part in the 1875 action but I'm also keen to understand what I'm signing up for.

Thanks

The 18-75 protest will still go ahead and you will still be able to take part in it, however it was hoped that this would not be the only form of protest that day. There was other things discussed at the meeting, such as whistles, boycotting supporters actions and by many, in game disruption.

In the build up to the announcement for the 18in-75out protest, other elements had been discussed and where to be announced, and it was key that this was not just released on the internet, but to the wider supporter base too. However having picked up the LT yesterday morning, it appears we are just going down the road of an 18in-75out protest now, and nothing more was mentioned.

As for the information leaflet, yes these will be with us by the weekend, and plans to distribute them are underway

[dave birch]

The first four or five replies to an article on the protests in the LT absolutely stunned me.

Head in sand, or what.

Unbelievable.

[mark1875]

The first four or five replies to an article on the protests in the LT absolutely stunned me.

Head in sand, or what.

Unbelievable.

I've just read them too. Astonished.

[pk1875]

I've just read them too. Astonished.

I stopped reading the comments some time ago, too many Brnley fans commenting as Rovers fans, and multiple accounts. i personally know of one poster who has 7 yes 7 different account names.

[Paul]

I've just found the two articles. Yep the comments section is ridiculous.

I really despair at the rest. I don't see any meaningful protest or coordinated action coming out of this. I'm not knocking people for the efforts as I know from past experiences what it takes but after WAR what do we have:

The Trust doing nothing - big missed opportunity. Yet again

BRAG/Ewood Blues apparently watering down plans because others got there first

The Pro Active group pushing 1875 as though it was their own

Other semi organised individuals quietly beavering away in the background

There won't be any significant protest at this rate. WAR has proved to be a mistake as it raised expectation while taking away momentum and replaced it with little if anything.

[blueboy3333]

I've just found the two articles. Yep the comments section is ridiculous.

I really despair at the rest. I don't see any meaningful protest or coordinated action coming out of this. I'm not knocking people for the efforts as I know from past experiences what it takes but after WAR what do we have:

The Trust doing nothing - big missed opportunity. Yet again

BRAG/Ewood Blues apparently watering down plans because others got there first

The Pro Active group pushing 1875 as though it was their own

Other semi organised individuals quietly beavering away in the background

There won't be any significant protest at this rate. WAR has proved to be a mistake as it raised expectation while taking away momentum and replaced it with little if anything.

Agree with all of this from my limited view of things, the caveat being I don't know what people are doing in the background.

I don't get the LT 1875 article either. Glen M was in the LT being quoted in association with the WAR 1875 protest.

WAR hasn't worked. It's ok saying it's only an umbrella org but it isn't seen that way. It's seen as THE protest group. Simon Garner wasn't endorsing a few different supporter groups individually, he was endorsing WAR. Trouble is they don't represent anyone but the Trust. The whole 'we don't want to upset the owners' shtick is symptomatic of a bunch of opportunists who want first dibs on the club in the event of any sale. Not an unreasonable position for the Trust themselves to take considering why they were formed, but not in the least bit helpful as a strategy that will contribute to the owners leaving. Trite phrases like 'we are professional' also add nothing.

BRAG need to get back to what they were formed to do, independent of any other group. If they can form a loose coalition with past members who want to get pro-active then all the better. In fact that would be brilliant. That then amounts to a lot of people and resources who want exactly the same thing and will approach it in roughly the same way.

Can you imagine Coventry or Charlton fans 'not wanting to upset the owners'. Laughable.

[Roverall]

I really don't see WAR as doing anything other than confusing people.

What exactly is the point of an 'umbrella' organisation for groups that subsequently don't work together?

Appreciate people's good intentions but this whole thing has been a farce from the off.

It reminds me of the scene from the original Star Wars: 'Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're our only hope.' Substitute Glen M for Obi-Wan and that's really where it's at. I truly hope he can get something well-organised and tenacious off the ground because I for one am fairly tired of the mealy-mouthed politicking.

[Amo]

Can you imagine Coventry or Charlton fans 'not wanting to upset the owners'. Laughable.

Those Southern softies are putting our lot to shame.