.Stuart. Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Find it a wee bit alarming that someone from Irvine hadn't heard of Irvine meadow or knew which level junior was until they were 17 , the meadow are a big club in junior football and the name is unique and it's not like Irvine juniors which could be very misleading , Irvine meadow are very very well known throughout Scotland though and the town is genuinely missing out on fans when someone aged 17 hasn't heard of them , it could in a way explain their relatively poor crowds for the size of town Irvine is as potentially they could be one of the best supported clubs in Scotland per town population and recent success . Irvine is a town of 37,000. Our average crowds are 200/300. The vast vast majority of people from Irvine don’t know what Irvine Meadow is, nor care and a massive amount of folk don’t understand what ‘junior’ football is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lokloyal Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 2 minutes ago, .Stuart. said: Irvine is a town of 37,000. Our average crowds are 200/300. The vast vast majority of people from Irvine don’t know what Irvine Meadow is, not care and a massive amount of folk don’t understand what ‘junior’ football is. Sadly East Kilbride Thistle suffered the same way in many respects Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillonearth Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 2 minutes ago, Lokloyal said: Sadly East Kilbride Thistle suffered the same way in many respects Different places face different challenges in attracting crowds - the new town sides suffer from a high proportion of the population being incomers with no real roots in the place. East Kilbride is a town of nearly 100,000 people, but virtually no-one I know that lives there - and there are a lot - seems to think of themselves as a native East Kilbrider. Most city clubs are in a similar boat - our natural catchment area in the west end of Glasgow is probably one of the most transient areas in Scotland...very few people live their whole lives there which creates its own challenge in attracting people to support the local club, notwithstanding the alternative attractions within 20-odd minutes' walk of the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lokloyal Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 11 minutes ago, Hillonearth said: Different places face different challenges in attracting crowds - the new town sides suffer from a high proportion of the population being incomers with no real roots in the place. East Kilbride is a town of nearly 100,000 people, but virtually no-one I know that lives there - and there are a lot - seems to think of themselves as a native East Kilbrider. Most city clubs are in a similar boat - our natural catchment area in the west end of Glasgow is probably one of the most transient areas in Scotland...very few people live their whole lives there which creates its own challenge in attracting people to support the local club, notwithstanding the alternative attractions within 20-odd minutes' walk of the ground. Very relevant points-as I have also said before City Clubs face the huge challenge of rapidly evolving and constantly changing local populations as well as endless alternatives to junior football which small village and town communities just don't have.Its the way of the modern world however and we just need to try to attract fans as best we can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clash city rocker Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 47 minutes ago, .Stuart. said: Irvine is a town of 37,000. Our average crowds are 200/300. The vast vast majority of people from Irvine don’t know what Irvine Meadow is, nor care and a massive amount of folk don’t understand what ‘junior’ football is. Medda support went down when the new town was created and the Fullarton area was lost to build the Mall. The support at the time they won Scottish and were wanted by the seniors was well decent , biggest club in Ayrshire and arguably whole of juniors. The vast majority of population of Irvine really have no affinity with either of Irvine clubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theshed Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Very relevant points-as I have also said before City Clubs face the huge challenge of rapidly evolving and constantly changing local populations as well as endless alternatives to junior football which small village and town communities just don't have.Its the way of the modern world however and we just need to try to attract fans as best we can. I don't really buy into this city clubs fans having loads more alternatives than village clubs fans [emoji2]Village clubs fans do all the other modern day social activities like attending the not too far cinema , local gyms ; have rugby clubs , local pubs/ eateries , armchair fans and loads support the old firm as well with buses leaving from towns outwith the big smoke , think it's a bit of an ancient myth to be honest and a bit lazy .Maybe in terms of one off games like the Scottish cup final with beith v pollok we drummed up more local interest pre game in visiting local schools etc but week to week there shouldn't be much difference , in actual fact most clubs in Glasgow play out of town like suburbs that are similar to small Ayrshire Towns . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Stuart. Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Medda support went down when the new town was created and the Fullarton area was lost to build the Mall. The support at the time they won Scottish and were wanted by the seniors was well decent , biggest club in Ayrshire and arguably whole of juniors. The vast majority of population of Irvine really have no affinity with either of Irvine clubs. Surely the Fullarton area supported the Vics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillonearth Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 18 minutes ago, theshed said: I don't really buy into this city clubs fans having loads more alternatives than village clubs fans Village clubs fans do all the other modern day social activities like attending the not too far cinema , local gyms ; have rugby clubs , local pubs/ eateries , armchair fans and loads support the old firm as well with buses leaving from towns outwith the big smoke , think it's a bit of an ancient myth to be honest and a bit lazy . Maybe in terms of one off games like the Scottish cup final with beith v pollok we drummed up more local interest pre game in visiting local schools etc but week to week there shouldn't be much difference , in actual fact most clubs in Glasgow play out of town like suburbs that are similar to small Ayrshire Towns . To an extent I agree as there are largely the same distractions....there are just proportionately a hell of a lot more of them in the more nightlifey parts of cities. As I said above I previously lived in the west end and moved to Cambuslang which although not part of Glasgow proper is to all intents and purposes a decent-sized suburb of it. I remember I used to have 50-odd pubs within a 10-minute walk from my front door, about the same amount of restaurants and God knows how many takeaways. Now? Half a dozen pubs down in the main street - none of them fantastic - two restaurants and some slightly iffy takeaways. It's a nice area and I'm glad we moved here - its suits me better as I'm at a stage in my life where I'm settled and don't feel the need to be out on the batter every weekend - but having lived in both I'd never make a case for there being more going on here than where I used to live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The clean living guy Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 I'm a Gartcairn fan just like my father and his father before me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lokloyal Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 30 minutes ago, theshed said: I don't really buy into this city clubs fans having loads more alternatives than village clubs fans Village clubs fans do all the other modern day social activities like attending the not too far cinema , local gyms ; have rugby clubs , local pubs/ eateries , armchair fans and loads support the old firm as well with buses leaving from towns outwith the big smoke , think it's a bit of an ancient myth to be honest and a bit lazy . Maybe in terms of one off games like the Scottish cup final with beith v pollok we drummed up more local interest pre game in visiting local schools etc but week to week there shouldn't be much difference , in actual fact most clubs in Glasgow play out of town like suburbs that are similar to small Ayrshire Towns . It's self evident I think that a City will offer more alternatives and much more readily available simply because of size and population. Modern cities just don't possess a sense of local community as there sadly isn't one due to constantly shifting populations/immigration and development.Shawlands and Pollokshaws are no more suburbs than Tollcross or Govan or Springburn or Baillieston and these aren't suburbs either-just all part of Glasgows City sprawl.It is all an amorphous mass sadly. Detached rural towns and villages don't have those issues as they maintain a local identity with a local population who identify much more with the village club-you could ask many people at Shawlands Cross less than half a mile from Newlandsfield if they could tell you where the ground was-and many wouldn't have a clue.I doubt the same would ever happen in any West Lothian or Ayrshire town or village.Cup finals bring out the local population for the big day out from small villages -there is no such feeling or sense of identity with Pollok or Benburb or Petershill or Shettleston or the Ants or Vale of Clyde etc. Junior football is in essence village football and with the loss of any sense of that in an urban setting has come the loss of any community which may once have existed too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wingnut Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Stayed in Castlemilk and still have relatives there,always thought that they would have had a junior team somewhere along the years but it’s never happened that I know of and the place is enormous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glensmad Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Stayed in Castlemilk and still have relatives there,always thought that they would have had a junior team somewhere along the years but it’s never happened that I know of and the place is enormous. Jump on the 46 and get off at the Main Street. We're only a short walk... [emoji16] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Pennel Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Ah,...Beith...too many big city attractions, what with whores on every corner and suchlike... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wingnut Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 I’m in Midlothian Glensmad and know where your ground is,was the first junior ground I was in as a boy when John Ward played there,just wondered why the size of Castlemilk never thought of having a junior team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ardenvohr6 Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Surely the Fullarton area supported the Vics? I and a lot of my family were Meadow fans. Many lived in Fullarton at some time. I supported Medda because that was where I was taken as a child, from age 3 until I could go myself. Senior teams I was aware of as a small child was Rangers and Killie. Celtic only when I was older. I was at 63 and 73 finals and left the town in 1975. Due to work, playing sport and family I had little or no opportunity to watch Medda. I watched my new local team, Dumbarton, mainly because I was paid to watch them and Rangers, because they were my big team and my son’s favourites. But I always looked for Medda’s scores on Sunday. My wife thought I had lost the plot when I announced my intention to watch them in the big Scottish Cup. The distance to Selkirk and Brora delayed it, but I went to the Arbroath game and have missed very few since. It’s 96 miles a round trip, often extended by picking up a pal in Eaglesham who loves watching “real fitba’” in the juniors. I’ve introduced three nephews to the grade and re-introduced two sisters, a brother-in-Law a niece and her husband and their son and one of his cousins.I’ve lost count of old school pals and other friends I’ve met as a result and a huge number of non Irvine friends who follow my Facebook updates of the games I attend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lokloyal Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 48 minutes ago, Black Pennel said: Ah,...Beith...too many big city attractions, what with whores on every corner and suchlike... Just like Finnieston lolololol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dipple burn Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Put the ball over the clubhouse roof and it lands in my parents garden. When growing up you didn't get much closer to your favourite team than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clash city rocker Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 1 hour ago, .Stuart. said: Surely the Fullarton area supported the Vics? .. and everybody that stays on Tannadice Street supports Dundee United ?. Have never seen anybody in Irvine wearing a Vic's scarf apart from a few at the ground on matchday. Have seen many wearing Medda scarves ...at least think they were Medda scarves lol Medda have always been the club in Irvine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Stuart. Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 .. and everybody that stays on Tannadice Street supports Dundee United ?. Probably? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul-r-cfc Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 My cousin signed for Pollok in 2004 so went to my first few games in the 04/05 seasons. He was there two years i think so my attendance dwindled after that. After many good intentions of going back, me and a pal went to the Montrose replay in 2007 when we were 13. Again, didn't immediately start going back but towards the end of that season there was a point where Pollok had a mental amount of games in hand and basically had to win all of them bar 1 to win the league. Made it to most of the matches and was effectively watching Pollok every couple of days at one point! By the time the last game against Glenafton came round, Pollok had to avoid defeat by 5 goals or something daft to win the league. Cue going 3 nil down (or 2, can't remember exactly) in the first half before winning 5-4. Ended up being 17 of us there from my group of pals bahind the goal and there's a belter of a photo of us jumping on the goalscorer (whose name escapes me for now) Next few seasons coincided with me getting a celtic season ticket but was still going to Pollok when celtic weren't at home. After giving up my season ticket 4 years ago, started going a lot more regular and got more involved as a member the last two seasons. Have hardly been to any games this season as I referee in the afternoons but will hopefully put that right in the new year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.