[Delta Papa]

Hereford and Yeovil, much much smaller conurbations than Gloucester, both made (what is now) the Championship, allbeit for a very small time. But neither has (and it has to be said) a Premiership rugby club 2 miles away from them. This is where the money/sponsorship/publicity is focussed in Gloucester, there is very little of any of it left over for Gloucester City AFC. And that is what is missing - particularly the first mentioned.

The National League would be ambitious enough for City, I really don't think there's enough interest in local football, within the city atm, to aim for anything higher.

[Gladfans]

I completely agree with this. Unless we find a rich benefactor, we will yo-yo between Step 2 and Step 3.

Much further up the pyramid the same could be said of Norwich ( despite Delias money) West Brom et al.
I refer to my entries on numerous posts you can only self generate so much.

[Paul]

Much further up the pyramid the same could be said of Norwich ( despite Delias money) West Brom et al.
I refer to my entries on numerous posts you can only self generate so much.

I agree re self-generation of income. Would be interesting, as MeadowClark has said, to hear what the current owners want to achieve.

[Neil]

Isn't it sad how everything seems to be built on someone elses money. Wouldn't it be lovely if you could nurture your own talent and build a team off the back of that.

[Tigermatty 2.0]

Paul do you mean current owner? Eamonn is the majority shareholder.

As Si Robin says we have been unlucky, I don’t think it’s fair to judge our stay in the National League when for 12 seasons we were either outside of Gloucester or had no fans watching.

There is no reason in my opinion why we shouldn’t be aiming for the Football League. Unless you’re a phoenix club or an ex-league club then no one starts with a ready made fan base. We are getting very good crowds in my opinion for the level we play at and the fact that we may as well have been a brand new team when we returned in 2021.

What we have been lacking is a proper strategy off the field, which is now changing and we are seeing steady improvements. We had no commercial plan when we came home and since then we’ve been pretty much clueless. The sponsorship potential is there, businesses are interested, we just haven’t previously worked out what we are selling them and what they are getting from it. If we can’t even respond to an email they why would they want to sponsor us?

Take the hospitality as an example, until Boxing Day with the very rare exception we hadn’t sold a single hospitality package since being at Meadow Park. Now we have boxes booked up for every game for the rest of the season. The club makes a good profit on those boxes, and they are reasonably priced so we have been getting a lot of interest. But it takes a bit of effort and the desire to want to make it a success.

We all probably hoped that coming home would lead to instant success, but it’s become apparent that you need to build a club before you can build a team.

---

Isn't it sad how everything seems to be built on someone elses money. Wouldn't it be lovely if you could nurture your own talent and build a team off the back of that.

Name a non league club who got success off the back of their academy set up?

[Paul]

Paul do you mean current owner? Eamonn is the majority shareholder.

As Si Robin says we have been unlucky, I don’t think it’s fair to judge our stay in the National League when for 12 seasons we were either outside of Gloucester or had no fans watching.

There is no reason in my opinion why we shouldn’t be aiming for the Football League. Unless you’re a phoenix club or an ex-league club then no one starts with a ready made fan base. We are getting very good crowds in my opinion for the level we play at and the fact that we may as well have been a brand new team when we returned in 2021.

What we have been lacking is a proper strategy off the field, which is now changing and we are seeing steady improvements. We had no commercial plan when we came home and since then we’ve been pretty much clueless. The sponsorship potential is there, businesses are interested, we just haven’t previously worked out what we are selling them and what they are getting from it. If we can’t even respond to an email they why would they want to sponsor us?

Take the hospitality as an example, until Boxing Day with the very rare exception we hadn’t sold a single hospitality package since being at Meadow Park. Now we have boxes booked up for every game for the rest of the season. The club makes a good profit on those boxes, and they are reasonably priced so we have been getting a lot of interest. But it takes a bit of effort and the desire to want to make it a success.

We all probably hoped that coming home would lead to instant success, but it’s become apparent that you need to build a club before you can build a team.

---

Name a non league club who got success off the back of their academy set up?

Matt, no sorry, I meant the current Chair Colin, and the board...

[Darran]

If the likes of Sutton and Bromley can reach the EFL then we could. Bromley especially have impressed me with how they have gone about things in the last few years. On a personal note being a Non-League fan I'd be quite happy getting to the National League.

[MrMatt]

I would love to see us get into the EFL but there is something special about non-league football and it's nice being able to walk around the ground during the game rather than being restricted to one seat/stand.

Semi related question but for people who also support a 'bigger team' - what level would Gloucester need to get to for you to no longer show an interest in another team? Or maybe it would be Gloucester you would drop?!

[Gloucester Green]

I would love to see us get into the EFL but there is something special about non-league football and it's nice being able to walk around the ground during the game rather than being restricted to one seat/stand.

Semi related question but for people who also support a 'bigger team' - what level would Gloucester need to get to for you to no longer show an interest in another team? Or maybe it would be Gloucester you would drop?!

Gloucester could go above Argyle but the greens would still be my team.

Born in Plymouth and they were my first love but have the affinity with Gloucester as grew up here for a few years as a kid and moved back as an adult 15 years ago.

Daughter was born here so she's stuck as a Tiger

[Si Robin]

Semi related question but for people who also support a 'bigger team' - what level would Gloucester need to get to for you to no longer show an interest in another team? Or maybe it would be Gloucester you would drop?!

My first knowledge of football came from my uncle who supported Spurs.  Gazza was absolutely everywhere at the time, so Tottenham became my team as a result.

The same uncle took me to my first Robins game in 1994, and I went sporadically until about 1996 when I started going whenever I was staying at my nan's and they were at home.  I became a season ticket holder in 2002 when I turned 18. By the time we'd won at Wembley, I'd say C********m were my first team and Spurs were a team I hoped would beat Man Utd and Liverpool so I could win some arguments in the school playground - in the late 90s/early 00s time that didn't happen a lot, if at all.  

When C********m played Tottenham in 2012, it's the only time I've wanted Tottenham to lose. C********m are my team, Spurs just a little bit on the side.  If Spurs lose, I'm over it within an hour of the game, when C********m lose I'm moaning about it on the podcast we record later in the week.