Bromsgrove's ground

[Zippy]

Hmm, we must be devoid of suitable grounds if we have to play home games there.

1/ I had a lovely welcome this afternoon. I paid my £5 and then was asked if I wanted to sign some petition for Bromsgrove to be able to stay at the ground. Not knowing anything about it, I declined saying I was a Stourbridge fan. Some old battleaxe then said as I walked away 'we'll do the same for you one day'. Charming. Is my £5 not enough to help them out of their financial woes? Administration it is then.

2/ The pitch looked like it hadn't been watered all summer, it had half dead pieces of grass growing 4 inches long in places, a tractor or some heavy machinery looked to have run riot over areas of the pitch....

3/ No hot food. I was really looking forward to buying a burger and then having to pay more for onions as per last time. But the whole kitchen was shut.

4/ The terraces were closed. Apparently the steward said the council had ordered them to be closed off.

Summarising, I hope we have a backup plan, getting past the iron lady at the gate is one thing, but is anyone willing to pay £8 for that ground?

Oh yes, forgot, crap 1st half and entertaining 2nd half.

[dave w]

It must be strange to know you could be kicked out of your ground in three weeks time. Their supporters didn't seem to have a clue, not even knowing whether or not Bromsgrove Sporting are a new club or an AFC-style breakaway. You can't see them lasting the season. We won 4-1.

[Dave the Glassboy]

Hmm, we must be devoid of suitable grounds if we have to play home games there.

I'd rather play at Netherton Park than the Grove!

1/ I had a lovely welcome this afternoon. I paid my £5 and then was asked if I wanted to sign some petition for Bromsgrove to be able to stay at the ground. Not knowing anything about it, I declined saying I was a Stourbridge fan. Some old battleaxe then said as I walked away 'we'll do the same for you one day'. Charming. Is my £5 not enough to help them out of their financial woes? Administration it is then.

Would it have hurt to sign it? I certainly did. I've always enjoyed trips to Bromsgrove Rovers and it would be a shame if they disappeared.

3/ No hot food. I was really looking forward to buying a burger and then having to pay more for onions as per last time. But the whole kitchen was shut.

Bromsgrove have never charged extra for onions. You're thinking of Nuneaton.

Although, I'll agree - if I'd known the tea bar was closed I'd have nipped into the chip shop just down the road!

[Dave the Glassboy]

4/ The terraces were closed. Apparently the steward said the council had ordered them to be closed off.

According to the guy on the gate, they don't have a safety certificate for the stands. As they haven't got a lease they are disinclined to pay for a safety check and I can't say I blame them.

But just to state not all the terraces were closed, only the ones behind the far goal - the open terrace behind the near goal and alongside the pitch were all open.

Summarising, I hope we have a backup plan, getting past the iron lady at the gate is one thing, but is anyone willing to pay £8 for that ground?

We don't need a back-up plan. Bromsgrove Sporting have the primary lease on the ground and have said they'll honour the contract for our three games there. In fact, someone informed me that for August we actually have priority over Rovers so if they do play there, they are the ones who'll be looking to move to Friday or Sunday on the days of the clashes.

[ram89]

hopefully will only need a ground for 1 game...was told that moving the halesowen game has been ok'd by the league but paperwork needs to be completed by halesowen (could be a problem) and they are hopeful that the Didcot (Tuesday night) game will be at Amblecote as the Cricket team are being cooperative, also was told that Stourport is an option instead of Bromsgrove....

[Zippy]

Well without doing loads of re-quotes, playing at that ground would be like buying something as new and then finding it's second hand.
If we have a really good deal on the rental, (economically) then fine, but it would need to be a blummin good deal! And as much as people hate Halesowen, it was a very easy ground to get to and far better quality than the ground I visited yesterday.

Regards the iron lady/petition, it caught me on the hop a bit as I didn't know what they were going on about. But after the iritating retort, I'm glad I didn't sign it! Judging by the amount of Bromsgrove fans, you'd have thought they would appreciate visiting fans seeing as we probably outnumbered them.

Agree with previous comment, can't see the Rovers playing there much longer. Please take the gate lady with you.

[Dave the Glassboy]

hopefully will only need a ground for 1 game...was told that moving the halesowen game has been ok'd by the league

First time I read that I thought it said "ko'd" instead of "ok'd" and was about to post "bloody typical" but instead it seems that wonders will never cease!

but paperwork needs to be completed by halesowen (could be a problem) and they are hopeful that the Didcot (Tuesday night) game will be at Amblecote as the Cricket team are being cooperative,

Bloody hell, two miracles on the same day!

also was told that Stourport is an option instead of Bromsgrove....

No problem with that as far as I'm concerned.

[The Reasonable Man]

Petitions are usually campaigning for some cause and, call me peculiar, but I only tend to sign them if I agree with that cause. So, what was this petition asking for?

If it was for the Lease of the ground to be handed to Rovers and not Sporting then I wouldn't sign it. As far as I can tell, the Council has made a democratic decision, which is entirely up to them.

If it was for Rovers to be allowed to play at the ground as subtenants of Sporting then I again wouldn't sign it. Sporting have made it clear they are happy to sublet to Rovers, and have proposed a deal. Rovers are refusing or are unwilling or unable to negotiate. it seems to me that's Rovers problem, and nobody else's.

I agree that the death of Bromsgrove Rovers FC would be a very sad day. I have never had any gripe with them - in fact, given the short distance between us there isn't really any rivalry. Apart from the one season in the Alliance we seem to have spent very few seasons in the same Division and even fewer battling for honours. The only other causes for rivalry have been the odd Worcestershire Senior Cup tie (the 95/96 final springs to mind straight away) and the fact that Gary Hackett and Jon Ford have done so well here after being sacked by Tom Herbert at Rovers.

In fact you could easily turn the clock back to that decision as the start of the downhill slope for them. It's been a long and easily predictable decline (demise?) since then. Don't ask me, ask their supporters. I feel great sympathy for them, but none for the people in charge these past few years - they only have themselves to blame.

[Zippy]

Well, now having taken a look at a couple of posts on the Bromsgrove forum, it seems they are unhappy to say the least with the current owners.
So is it a case of flogging a dead horse by trying to keep the (Rovers) club afloat?
Once again, the owners cause a long and once prosperous club to die and the fans suffer - the few that remain that is....

[dave w]

Petitions are usually campaigning for some cause and, call me peculiar, but I only tend to sign them if I agree with that cause. So, what was this petition asking for?

If it was for the Lease of the ground to be handed to Rovers and not Sporting then I wouldn't sign it. As far as I can tell, the Council has made a democratic decision, which is entirely up to them.

If it was for Rovers to be allowed to play at the ground as subtenants of Sporting then I again wouldn't sign it. Sporting have made it clear they are happy to sublet to Rovers, and have proposed a deal. Rovers are refusing or are unwilling or unable to negotiate. it seems to me that's Rovers problem, and nobody else's.

I was asked to sign "to keep Rovers playing here." Who the petition was aimed at wasn't said.

Their whole club seems to be dying of apathy, though. Looking at the Bromsgrove forum, there's hardly any posts and very little mention of yesterday's game. No calls for a boycott, nothing much at all. I know they did have a Supporters Trust but they don't appear to be active. This time last year, that lot up the road were fighting tooth & nail to keep their club going.