[Archived] Boycott the Barnet FA Cup tie

[Leonard Venkhater]

Well there's been plenty of opposition on this message board! A casual reader would be able to see that.

Again, I think protesters have done well not to organise anything public during the last few weeks.

Where you may be right is in the need for concerned supporters to see/be assured that protests have not disappeared.Rather  people are biding their time.

Last night I happened to stumble on an old thread called "Puppets or Puppeteers" from way back in 2011. At that time I had never read BRFCS/BRFCC and I relied on the Telegraph and Radio Lancs!!!

In 2011 I had no idea of all the issues in Mr Mullan's piece at the start of the thread. And I know I am not the only one.Reading it last night made my blood boil, when I think how my kids and I were sticking behind our team back then. Unknowingly, we were passionately supporting a lie.

I don't blame original organisers from being bitter about lack of support from many fans. Oh, how I get that. All I am saying is that there were many people, who their communications had not reached.Could it be the same even now?

[MCMC1875]

Here it is Leonard 

 

[Paul]

52 minutes ago, Suhail Slayer said:

Sorry Paul... what are you organising yourself or proposing to get involved in ? We will support you.

 

In terms of the other groups you mention. They are no doubt hoping Tony can get us promoted like the rest of us whilst making plans for the B scenario.

Don't forget these individuals who put the effort in to do things are first and foremost ALL passionate Blackburn Rovers supporters.

 

As a NAPM I will not be going to a Barnet game or a Man U game (as per boycotted last season).

As part of one of the "small groups" I can also confirm efforts are not dried up and you are very welcome to get involved.

Well I spent three years working as part of the founding Trust committee, single handedly obtained the ACV on Ewood Park, attended many meetings on behalf of the Trust, stood on street corners distributing leaflets and flyers. Attended any number of Supporters Direct meetings to get the original Trust (not the existing one) off the ground having been one of 30 who turned out before Venkys had even been heard of.  Helped Blackpool** at the inaugural meeting for their Trust, assisted with their ACV. To this you could add 20+ years of direct involvement with a whole range of activities you’ve probably never heard of but all were very public in their time.

Oh yes and experienced direct intimidation from other “protesters.”

Excuse me if I feel I’ve done my bit and I’m in a position to hold the opinion opportunities have been missed in the past and not much is currently happening.

** just one example of a significant missed opportunity. 

Over to you...........

[Stuart]

@Paul has certainly done his bit.

Personally I would have to think long and hard before joining any future organised protest. It all seems too late now. Nothing has changed and yet everything has changed. Not enough fans cared when it mattered, when we had national media attention. Ignorance is no excuse.

All of the things Harris mentions in that video were dismissed as fiction and conspiracy theory by most fans - especially the most vociferous on here. After the event and now Harris is prepared to go on camera it’s all too late. Maybe there are fans who still need educating about what happened but that doesn’t and won’t change anything.

Seeing off Venkys at this stage, even if we had a metaphorical silver bullet, would leave us with no club due to the spiteful @#/?s likely reaction. How can it be that we can sit and watch effing Wigan get taken over by a Chinese consortium (Rugby-town Wigan FFS!) and yet when we were linked with the same and told that “Venkys won’t sell”? The same folk said it was tin foil hat nonsense.

I have a deep and unhealthy hatred of Venkys and Kean et al but they have ridden out the worst of the storm and are still our jailers.

My only wish now is that the whole miserable lot of them end up in prison. Now that would be something to get excited about.

[Paul]

Thanks Stuart and very much agree with your post. 

Sadly all we can do now is wait.

[MCMC1875]

12 hours ago, Paul said:

Thanks Stuart and very much agree with your post. 

Sadly all we can do now is wait.

Several initiatives are being worked on.

[USABlue]

On 10/19/2017 at 17:12, tomphil said:

Joe Nuttall might get a go in this, therefore we should expect 10k on  

I doubt it, Mowbary has already spoken about it and IMHO TM is not about to give the lad a chance to prove him wrong so soon.

[USABlue]

On 10/19/2017 at 12:41, pk1875 said:

As an earlier poster mentioned it is indeed a difficult time to be actively organising protests etc. BRFCAG hasn't disappeared, maybe not in the public eye as much at present but certainly still active. 

I have been stunned over the last week or two to be approached by work colleagues etc who are long time Rovers fans who saw the Nick Harris videos and where like "Oh god I didn't know that" How there are still Rovers fans who don't know what has happened is unbelievable and something that needs addressing. 

As for a boycott of the Cup game? Would it be noticed? There are those who will attend and those who wont whether a boycott is called or not.

Where can I see these?

 

Should I have just scrolled down a little more?

[USABlue]

23 hours ago, Paul said:

OK I’ll add a rider to this. All visible opposition to Venkys has disappeared. I’m not criticising just giving my observation. If the EWMC group is active it’s passed me by and I’m interested. For those not interested it must be non-existent. 

The opportunities to unite the fan base, create real protest and opposition were missed several years ago. This for all too obvious reasons for those who were truly interested. Unfortunately this still hangs in the air for many supporters.

Missed but not at all helped by the media mis representation of Rovers fans at the time.  Made out to be the real villains.  Of course mainstream swallowed it hook, line and sinker.

The whole episode is perhaps one of the  most bent dealings in football and nothing was done, FA are useless.

[USABlue]

21 hours ago, MCMC1875 said:

Here it is Leonard 

 

All that yet nothing was done, how corrupt is that?.

[Neal]

16 hours ago, Stuart said:

Personally I would have to think long and hard before joining any future organised protest.

 

Good post Stuart but i'm surprised by this. Any opportunity to fight these people should be seized upon and done with conviction after what they've done... Regardless if it will change anything. 

[Stuart]

21 minutes ago, Neal said:

Good post Stuart but i'm surprised by this. Any opportunity to fight these people should be seized upon and done with conviction after what they've done... Regardless if it will change anything. 

I’ve done it all Neal. Minority protests might be good at bonding a small subset of the fanbase, and in fairness will very welcome when it does finally pop, but they aren’t hurting Venkys enough to sell.

I think better than protesting about how much We Want Venkys Out - and we do - efforts would be better spent in preparing for the inevitable. Working with the Rovers Trust to make plans for when a new (L2 or non-League) owner Group is required a la Pompey - ironically our opposition today - make sense, for instance.

Who would lead that? Can we avoid three or four disparate fan groups vying for the role of saviour? Can the personality differences be resolved? Does anyone have links to a potential funding source? Who at the FA and FL do we need to be ready to speak to. All of those NAPM season ticket monies should be in a war chest somewhere - although that’s unfair of me to suggest.

At this stage building as sturdy a life boat as possible might be a better option than looking for ways to sink the ship.

[Neal]

1 hour ago, Stuart said:

I’ve done it all Neal. Minority protests might be good at bonding a small subset of the fanbase, and in fairness will very welcome when it does finally pop, but they aren’t hurting Venkys enough to sell.

I think better than protesting about how much We Want Venkys Out - and we do - efforts would be better spent in preparing for the inevitable. Working with the Rovers Trust to make plans for when a new (L2 or non-League) owner Group is required a la Pompey - ironically our opposition today - make sense, for instance.

Who would lead that? Can we avoid three or four disparate fan groups vying for the role of saviour? Can the personality differences be resolved? Does anyone have links to a potential funding source? Who at the FA and FL do we need to be ready to speak to. All of those NAPM season ticket monies should be in a war chest somewhere - although that’s unfair of me to suggest.

At this stage building as sturdy a life boat as possible might be a better option than looking for ways to sink the ship.

 

Some good points there and coincidentally similar points I was going to make on Talksport last night had I been given the chance, I think they perhaps didn't want any names or organisations having the finger pointed at. Seems EWMC meets would be best place to discuss this. I still think there is some value to showing them they haven't won and keeping our situation in the media, the football community needs be shown all is not well... Besides, it's free advertising for us each time the club is shamed in the media to any potential owner looking for a club to take over... If they did't half as @#/? as Venkys they'd be considered a hero. 

[Husky]

On 18/10/2017 at 14:55, Crimpshrine said:

However, a massive almost 100% boycott of an FA cup match would help. Is anyone really that bothered about this match against Barnet that they can't bring themselves to miss it for the long term good of the club?

 

 

Most of the managers and players seem to boycott the FA cup these days so it's time for fans to do the same.

[Skiptonrover]

Lost its magic with the byes everybody irrespective of league standings should start from the off, effectively denying the smaller clubs the chance of a payday & progression ensuring the more fashionable teams progress.

[MCMC1875]

 

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[Leonard Venkhater]

1 hour ago, MCMC1875 said:

 

Like

Comment

I only bet on Rovers going down!

Last seen at the Temple St Night Market....

[lraC]

 

[Miller11]

Any truth to the rumour that last season, when asked about his plans to spend during January, Balaji stated he was looking at heavily investing in Billy Hill, Vic Chandler and a young Lad Brokes???

apparently doing so would see a decent return??

[Mike E]

I've sat on this a while as it's really quite tenuous, but these Hong Kong whispers are pricking my curiosity.

A family friend lives and works in Shanghai regularly making business trips to Hong Kong. He's not into footy but definitely heard the words 'Blackburn', 'difficult' and 'gamble' mentioned several times at a nearby table while at a dinner meeting. Ofc he didn't get the full context as he was focused on other things, but it struck us both as odd. I wish I could put more meat on the bones (and we've both tried) but he knows no more than that.

He told me this about 3 months ago and said the overheard conversation related to last summer (2016). With it being positive on here at the time I found out (due to Mowbray), I didn't want to ruin the mood.

Indeed, it may be nothing at all and my mind running away with me, but his Mandarin is pretty good and I can't think of any reason, other than some sort of scam, that business locals in Hong Kong would mention Blackburn and gambling.

[Hasta]

We had this on the other thread Mike.

I don't doubt venkys are horrible dodgy swines, but what exactly could they have been gambling on?

We went down on goal difference and so much could have changed in that last fortnight.  If they won big money on relegation, they were bloody lucky that results went against us in the last week or so.

If we are on about spot fixing then we are implying that Mowbray is crooked which, for all his tactical faults, I can't accept.

I may be being blind but what's the hypothetical allegation, other than possibly some shrewd Hong Kong football gamblers realised that we were @#/? 

 

[Miller11]

Just now, Hasta said:

We had this on the other thread Mike.

I don't doubt venkys are horrible dodgy swines, but what exactly could they have been gambling on?

We went down on goal difference and so much could have changed in that last fortnight.  If they won big money on relegation, they were bloody lucky that results went against us in the last week or so.

If we are on about spot fixing then we are implying that Mowbray is crooked which, for all his tactical faults, I can't accept.

I may be being blind but what's the hypothetical allegation, other than possibly some shrewd Hong Kong football gamblers realised that we were @#/? 

 

Agreed on Mowbray's integrity... can't say the same for some of the players we've inexplicably signed over the last 7 years...

[Mike E]

2 hours ago, Hasta said:

We had this on the other thread Mike.

I don't doubt venkys are horrible dodgy swines, but what exactly could they have been gambling on?

We went down on goal difference and so much could have changed in that last fortnight.  If they won big money on relegation, they were bloody lucky that results went against us in the last week or so.

If we are on about spot fixing then we are implying that Mowbray is crooked which, for all his tactical faults, I can't accept.

I may be being blind but what's the hypothetical allegation, other than possibly some shrewd Hong Kong football gamblers realised that we were @#/? 

 

Could easily be what you said tbf.

I'm not alleging anything, just adding a very strange nugget of info to the whispers already going on.

It could be nothing, but it could be something. Haven't there been allegations re: gambling against some of our ex players in the recent past?

Why the hell would Chinese businessmen mention Blackburn and betting? My only conclusions are (I agree) bonkers.

[lraC]

8 hours ago, Miller11 said:

Any truth to the rumour that last season, when asked about his plans to spend during January, Balaji stated he was looking at heavily investing in Billy Hill, Vic Chandler and a young Lad Brokes???

apparently doing so would see a decent return??

You bet!

[lraC]

People seem to think that a betting scandal is far fetched, but stranger things have happened over the last 8 years. 

If I suggested that Watford would sack their manger right now and replace him with their currently unknown youth team coach, that on its own may seem strange. If they then went on a terrible run that lead to them just about Staving off relegation, but kept him that would also be strange. If they still continued with him next season, got relegated, but still let him carry on, then this would just be ridiculous. 

Of course, this amongst many other things have happened at Ewood, yet a betting scandal, just can't have happened.? I ask those who doubt this, why not?