Messages

916

The B-Ark / Re: Whitby Town v Scarborough

« on: December 17, 2009, 11:20:47 AM »

It has just started snowing heavily in Leicester.

It irritates me that the Footballing Authorities persist in drawing up fixture lists that send Boston United to places like Whitby and Kendal in the midst of Winter. Aside from the increased likelihood of postponements, there's also the factor of making fans travel longer distances when road conditions may not be at their best.

Surely the fixture list could be restructured so that we play the longer distance matches in August-October and/or March-May? This would leave the winter time free for the shorter trips like Hucknall, Worksop, Retford, Matlock, etc.

Matches would still get postponed and would still need to be rearranged for midweek later in the season. But the fact that the two sets of clubs are closer geographically would make it a lot easier for away supporters to reach these games in midweek.

917

The B-Ark / Re: a couple of extraordinary things from "the football league show"

« on: December 13, 2009, 09:45:43 PM »

There was actually a third extraordinary thing in the Football League Show - Rotherham's goalscorers included Drewe Broughton!

It was surprising enough that he found another League Club after being relegated with Boston, but the fact that he's still there and still scoring .....

918

The B-Ark / Re: Today's game

« on: December 13, 2009, 10:16:14 AM »

Bradford were the best side we have played this season, and I genuinely that any side who finishes above them in the League Table will be crowned champions. They have improved considerably since our away game in Bradford.

No complaints regarding the penalty, though if either of Danny Sleath's efforts early on had found the target then the game could have been a different story. I also thought the Boston side that finished the game looked stronger than the one that had started it, and as someone else has said we might have pulled something back if the changes had been made earlier.

I did notice that a lot of Bradford's attacking play came down their right wing / our left side. The winger Simon Baldry had the beating of Chris Wood for most of the game. Baldry has lots of experience, having played a lot of League games for Huddersfield Town and Notts County, and I'd imagine he's on a lot more money at Bradford Park Avenue than our budget at York Street would run to. If Bradford don't go up this season, you start to question how long they can retain that type of player without running the risk of becoming the next King's Lynn.

919

The B-Ark / Re: OFF TOPIC: Population of Boston

« on: December 10, 2009, 06:40:49 AM »

 

Furthermore there are many other factors ..maybe U could enlighten us at some point  LP  ??
   E.G We have IPSWICH pop around 175 ,000 getting crowds of over 20,000 in the Championship ..
                         SOUTHPORT pop around 100,000 getting 750 .. in the BSN  !

Not sure I've much to add really in terms of enlightening people around other factors. The calculations are based on a complex set of formulas taking into account how many people are registered at local GP practices, how many national insurance numbers are being issued to foreign nationals in the local area, how many students are registered at local colleges, etc. They are official figures produced by the Office for National Statistics and available to government and public alike via the ONS website (in case anyone else is interested)! The fact that Boston is expanding vaster than virtually anywhere else should be gold dust for local councillors in securing monies for local services as clearly the infrastructure needs to expand to meet local demands. The very fact that we seem no closer to getting a bypass makes me wonder if local leaders are making the right arguments loudly enough to the right people.

As someone else has said, Southport have a number of bigger clubs on their doorstep. I think it is probably a "higher income" area (I understand for example Steven Gerrard lives there - he certainly drinks there), and a lot of the local football supporters probably have season tickets at Anfield or Goodison Park.

Boston's gates when in a higher league were significantly higher than they are now, even though the team results are better now than in the higher division.

I understand where Les is coming from, though I think there's another issue here. Boston's overall gates have dropped, but I'm not sure there has been any significant change in levels of home support. During the Football League Years the Town End was packed with away supporters on many occasions. You only have to contrast that with the last home game against Burscough (seven visiting fans) to really understand why the gates have dropped.

920

The B-Ark / OFF TOPIC: Population of Boston

« on: December 09, 2009, 06:59:09 PM »

As part of my job I've been to a presentation today where population changes since the 2001 census were discussed. Between 2001 and the present day, official statistics show that, of 400+ local authorities, Boston has the second fastest growing population across the whole of England and Wales. Only Hounslow is expanding at a faster rate.

Boston's population on 30th June 2008 (the most recent data available) was extimated at 61,000, an increase of 4.7% from the 2001 census.

Views?

The top five expanding areas in the country are listed as:

1. Hounslow
2. Boston
3. Southwark
4. Peterborough
5. Crawley

Strangely I happened to notice that a certain person has managed two of these, lived in one of the others and appeared at court in another. But has he ever been to Hounslow?

921

The B-Ark / Re: Thanks for your support

« on: December 09, 2009, 06:47:29 PM »

Such a shame.

I really hope you're in a position to reform quickly, and it would be great for a Boston United side to play at King's Lynn in a pre-season friendly next season.

922

The B-Ark / Re: Dreadful

« on: December 07, 2009, 06:26:50 PM »

It disappointed me that a number of our bookings were for dissent.

The trouble with dissent is that you can't generally hear what words players are exchanging with the referee, and therefore its difficult for fans to call on whether or not the bookings are justified. But Cullingworth's poor behaviour at Lowestoft aside, I can't remember too many other bookings for dissent over the course of this season - so you have to assume that the squad don't normally give refs too much earache. Two fair play awards already this season would also lead me to believe that the card count on Saturday was probably more down to the referee.

923

The B-Ark / Re: Matlock Fans

« on: December 06, 2009, 02:55:25 PM »

Another thing that annoyed me yesterday was one or two Boston supporters shouting "break his fcuking legs" when one or two meaty challenges went in during the second half. We're not the only club with supporters guilty of shouting this, but quite honestly it should be about as welcome on the terraces as some of the racist filth that was blurted out in the late seventies and early eighties. Adam Millson has only just returned from that very injury, and others have seen their careers ended in similar circumstances (David Busst, Alf Inge Haaland, etc). What must players and ex-players think when supporters start shouting this type of thing? It should have no place in football.

924

The B-Ark / Re: Matlock Fans

« on: December 06, 2009, 09:48:09 AM »

Sounds like some of our lot didn't exactly cover themselves in glory either.......

Take it on the chin and don't rise to it, they got the reaction they wanted from no doubt the usual suspects.

Interesting to note the reaction of the FCUM fans there last season, some of you lot could do with a lesson in manners and sportsmanship.

Sounds like you weren't there 

Maybe Shodfried wasn't there, but I most definitely was. On the final whistle I saw a Boston supporter throw a beer glass onto the pitch - not missing the Matlock goalkeeper by very much. Yes, it was a plastic glass. And yes, you have to question why Matlock Town FC allow fans to take alcoholic drinks into the main part of the ground when at York Street we're not even trusted with plastic bottle tops. I didn't see which particular fan threw the glass, but can say with 99% certainty that it was a Boston fan due to where he was standing. On the off chance that you're reading this, what sort of a moron are you? I had enough of being embarassed by my club through the brown envelope and court room years, it's great that David Newton and Neil Kempster have now given us a club back that we can be proud of. On the whole we have magnificent supporters home and away. But I don't want to start feeling ashamed again because of an idiot few. To the idiot concerned, please learn your lesson and learn it quickly.

925

The B-Ark / Re: World Cup Draw Today.

« on: December 04, 2009, 08:15:16 PM »

I hope that bloke knows what he's on about because the blond bimbo seems totally confused.com. 

She's talking? I didn't notice, In fact who did we draw, even that passed me by

USA
Slovenia
Algeria

926

The B-Ark / Re: kings lynn

« on: December 03, 2009, 07:03:52 PM »

Perhaps John Blackwell could give a pole dancing demonstration in the bar, or is it on the bar.

With the greatest of respect to JB I'd rather see us play at home to Stocksbridge!  (Though hopefully Kings Lynn will get sorted)

If King's Lynn don't pull through and if we do end up playing Stocksbridge on Boxing Day, it'll mean we'll have three weeks in March without a competitive fixture. This is because the Stocksbridge home game is already abutted to what would have been a Newcastle Blue Star match. For a team challenging for promotion and/or play-offs, a three week break wouldn't be good for maintaining momentum?

So all things considered, would we be better off not having a game on Boxing Day?

927

The B-Ark / Re: Lynn wound up...

« on: November 27, 2009, 06:38:47 AM »

As a result of a busy period at work I haven't been able to follow the King's Lynn story as closely as I'd like to, and am not too well "read up" on the subject. I think the sentiments of other supporters are about right, when they say that we need to look after our own club first and foremost.

But two hypothetical questions are springing to my mind:

(1) Would King's Lynn be any better off financially if they didn't have to fund the upkeep of their Walks Stadium?

and

(2) Would there ever be a case for King's Lynn becoming a tenant at York Street, playing their matches on either alternate Saturdays to Boston or Sundays and making a contribution towards Boston's own spiralling rent? This would presumably allow for Boston's own playing budget to be increased.

Controversial, I know, but a Lynn move to Boston wouldn't really take them any further from home than (say) Worksop playing at Hucknall and Ilkeston. Some pitches do stand up to having two home sides play there - look at Gigg Lane. And if any Unibond pitch can stand up to the rigours of an extra set of games then I'm confident it would be York Street.

Views?

928

The B-Ark / Re: Kings Lynn results

« on: November 25, 2009, 06:52:38 PM »

The main difference I see is our games in hand have gone

And Durham's goal difference has improved quite considerably.

Seriously, let's hope King's Lynn pull through. I don't like to see any club in that situation as I know how bad things felt when it looked like Boston were doomed. King's Lynn's circumstances are not dissimilar to our own. What is happening now is the result of an over-ambitious board breaking the bank to bring in players who quite simply they couldn't afford. A lot of positive things were said when it emerged Julian Joachim had joined them from Darlington. It doesn't quite look as good a signing now, does it?

929

The B-Ark / Re: Boston v Hucknall

« on: November 24, 2009, 06:13:50 AM »

It doesn't seem logical to send milson out on loan

With the way we have been playing of late I'm not sure the managers will want to make too many changes to their side as far as league matches are concerned. So I'd have thought sending Milly out on loan would be the best way for him to build up his match fitness?

930

The B-Ark / Re: Small World

« on: November 20, 2009, 07:55:36 PM »

Ricky Southwell? Broke his leg I think?

That's probably right. Southwell, Seager, both begin with S, easily confused!