Lighthouse Posted 1 October, 2011 Share Posted 1 October, 2011 Living up here in Brizzle and keeping half an eye on the local teams got me thinking. With Rovers relegated to League 2 last season and City now bottom of the Championship, there really doesn't seem to be any joy for either fans. This in the 7th largest city in England. If they renamed City to something neutral, like "Utd" or "Athletic" and built a new SMS style stadium in the middle of the city somewhere, then just 'got rid' of Rovers some how, they'd have a decent Premier League sized club. My question is, if you were a Rovers or a City fan, would you support that team? On the one hand, you would be sharing with your nearest rivals, on the other hand they are all from the same city and it would give both sets of fans a shot at some long term success. I think I would support them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMikey Posted 1 October, 2011 Share Posted 1 October, 2011 Living up here in Brizzle and keeping half an eye on the local teams got me thinking. With Rovers relegated to League 2 last season and City now bottom of the Championship, there really doesn't seem to be any joy for either fans. This in the 7th largest city in England. If they renamed City to something neutral, like "Utd" or "Athletic" and built a new SMS style stadium in the middle of the city somewhere, then just 'got rid' of Rovers some how, they'd have a decent Premier League sized club. My question is, if you were a Rovers or a City fan, would you support that team? On the one hand, you would be sharing with your nearest rivals, on the other hand they are all from the same city and it would give both sets of fans a shot at some long term success. I think I would support them. Would Citeh and Manure fans support Manchester Athletic? Would Liverpool and Everton fans support Scousers United? Would Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, QPR, Brentford, Leyton Orient, West Ham, Millwall, Charlton, Watford and Fulham support London FC? Probably not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisPY Posted 2 October, 2011 Share Posted 2 October, 2011 Solent fc.. No thanks.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 2 October, 2011 Share Posted 2 October, 2011 No. It's far too simplistic a notion and ignores the history which, although inconvenient to the ambitions the city may have towards getting top flight football, helps define the identity of the clubs it contains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntingdon Posted 2 October, 2011 Share Posted 2 October, 2011 I've seen it suggested before that Bury, Rochdale and Stockport should merge to provide a team from Greater Manchester As individual clubs they are small, but combined they'd be reasonably sized Championship club Needless to say, fans from all 3 clubs overwhelmingly rejected the idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai_phil Posted 2 October, 2011 Share Posted 2 October, 2011 Yeah great idea, follows the example of the Thames Valley Royals, Solent City, AFC Dublin. Football is about the history and the tribal nature of "belonging". It is what the money men continously fail to understand. They see Demoagraphics, catchment Areas and say wow we need PL football in the SouthWest, Wales & Central SouthCoast. There are too many people more than one hour from a PL ground that means we cannot take THEIR money, let's have franchises! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Fry Posted 2 October, 2011 Share Posted 2 October, 2011 Living up here in Brizzle and keeping half an eye on the local teams got me thinking. With Rovers relegated to League 2 last season and City now bottom of the Championship, there really doesn't seem to be any joy for either fans. This in the 7th largest city in England. If they renamed City to something neutral, like "Utd" or "Athletic" and built a new SMS style stadium in the middle of the city somewhere, then just 'got rid' of Rovers some how, they'd have a decent Premier League sized club. My question is, if you were a Rovers or a City fan, would you support that team? On the one hand, you would be sharing with your nearest rivals, on the other hand they are all from the same city and it would give both sets of fans a shot at some long term success. I think I would support them. Pointless. If someone came in to Bristol City and seriously invested, then the club would probably build up a decent sized fan base. Fannying about merging with Rovers and upsetting everyone would be a needless distraction. The potential for plastics in Bristol must be huge. The city could handle a big ish club, but its name would be Bristol City. It's not Rovers stopping them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
View From The Top Posted 2 October, 2011 Share Posted 2 October, 2011 Pointless. If someone came in to Bristol City and seriously invested, then the club would probably build up a decent sized fan base. Fannying about merging with Rovers and upsetting everyone would be a needless distraction. The potential for plastics in Bristol must be huge. The city could handle a big ish club, but its name would be Bristol City. It's not Rovers stopping them. The fella who owns BC is seriously wealthy and is funding the new ground out of his own pocket. Corky Morris knows him well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krissyboy31 Posted 2 October, 2011 Share Posted 2 October, 2011 Bristol is easily large enough to support two decent sized football clubs. They've just had years of mismanagement and under investment (Rovers more than city). A bit of success and both could easily sustain fan bases of 20k plus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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