25-10-2018, 09:45
(This post was last modified: 25-10-2018, 18:12 by SaltergateBorn.)
That`s a fair point about AFC Mansfield; the off-shoot doesn`t seem to be doing the Stags any harm at the moment, does it.
Having said that, I really don`t think that either Mansfield or Chesterfield are big enough towns and have big enough catchment areas to support 2 clubs of any meaningful size; certainly clubs with EFL potential. (Even Bradford can`t - and I personally find that quite sad. I was always fond of the old Park Avenue and hoped that they would find their way back one day - and that`s a far bigger conurbation than Chesterfield.)
The point is - do you really see AFC Mansfield growing to be a much bigger club than they are now? If they do, I can only see it being to the detriment of the Stags. On the same basis, if a `Chesterfield Sunday Afternoon` or whatever was happy to stay at that level, supported by a few hundred of the disillusioned and disenchanted, that`s fine. If any group of people has the enthusiasm, the skills and the resources to establish a new club on that basis, then I genuinely wish them good luck. I don`t think it would ever get very far, though. Football fans on the whole tend to be very traditional in their support, I`ve always thought. I suspect that if - or should I say when - CFC`s fortunes improve a lot of the misdemeanours and incompetence of the last few years will probably be forgotten; just as they have in the past.
I might be wrong, though, and for any neutral with no emotional attachment to CFC I suppose an off-shoot club would be an interesting experiment.
Having said that, I really don`t think that either Mansfield or Chesterfield are big enough towns and have big enough catchment areas to support 2 clubs of any meaningful size; certainly clubs with EFL potential. (Even Bradford can`t - and I personally find that quite sad. I was always fond of the old Park Avenue and hoped that they would find their way back one day - and that`s a far bigger conurbation than Chesterfield.)
The point is - do you really see AFC Mansfield growing to be a much bigger club than they are now? If they do, I can only see it being to the detriment of the Stags. On the same basis, if a `Chesterfield Sunday Afternoon` or whatever was happy to stay at that level, supported by a few hundred of the disillusioned and disenchanted, that`s fine. If any group of people has the enthusiasm, the skills and the resources to establish a new club on that basis, then I genuinely wish them good luck. I don`t think it would ever get very far, though. Football fans on the whole tend to be very traditional in their support, I`ve always thought. I suspect that if - or should I say when - CFC`s fortunes improve a lot of the misdemeanours and incompetence of the last few years will probably be forgotten; just as they have in the past.
I might be wrong, though, and for any neutral with no emotional attachment to CFC I suppose an off-shoot club would be an interesting experiment.