Will Ferry - Disrespectful?

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Si Robin
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https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/foo ... e_vignette

Seems this article - an interview with Will Ferry - has been getting a lot of traction online about how disrespectful he is about Cheltenham. I take his point about FGR not being a derby, and football not meaning too much in Cheltenham, but he does seem to have some sort of superiority complex and talks the club down quite a bit.

Thoughts?
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Ihearye
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Reads fair enough to me. Does seem to contradict a few of the opinions expresses on here about scottish football
Jerry St Clair
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Shurely shome mishtake?

"Why I'll always be grateful to Cheltenham Town" - Former Southampton defender Will Ferry on Robins spell and Dundee United move

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/s ... 349569.amp
Robin
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Si Robin wrote: 20 Jan 2025, 08:26 https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/foo ... e_vignette

Seems this article - an interview with Will Ferry - has been getting a lot of traction online about how disrespectful he is about Cheltenham. I take his point about FGR not being a derby, and football not meaning too much in Cheltenham, but he does seem to have some sort of superiority complex and talks the club down quite a bit.

Thoughts?
He doesn't come across well at all there although he does say Cheltenham is a good club.

Regarding FGR I have long thought having them as a rival is a bit tin pot but it definitely does have a derby feel too it, you can see that in the attendances and the atmosphere at those games, it's hostile home and away. I've never been too a Dundee derby game but I always understood the two clubs actually get on fairly well living in the same city and that it was other clubs were the animosity was saved for so again a weird comparison.

I've also long since stated that Cheltenham is not a rugby town overall, yes we have a lot of people who go to Gloucester but for every rugby fan there are most likely twenty football fans. Just go into town when the national sides are playing football and every pub is packed, rugby and you may not even know it's on apart from a few places. Go around parks and playing fields you will see tons of youth football and rarely much rugby being played. The issue we have deep entrenched is that most people here support premier league clubs and the Robins are poorly perceived. Our attendances are absolutely shocking when you consider we are the football team essentially for Cheltenham and Tewkesbury which is easily 150,000 people, you can throw Gloucester in that mix too really and it's pushing 275,000 people then.

I'd probably say the same for horse racing but can more see his point there, there is a clear bias in the council towards horse racing, but I'd imagine 99% of attendees come from outside of the town. But I'd concede I'm not qualified to say for sure as I don't really know.

Also his point about not being recognised around the town, well as I said above there are roughly 150,000 people, we average 4000 and have very little marketing exposure, I wouldn't expect him to be known. Would say Exeter or Northampton players be known walking around there towns? Probably similar comparison I would say.
Si Robin
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Robin wrote: 20 Jan 2025, 10:57
Si Robin wrote: 20 Jan 2025, 08:26 https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/foo ... e_vignette

Seems this article - an interview with Will Ferry - has been getting a lot of traction online about how disrespectful he is about Cheltenham. I take his point about FGR not being a derby, and football not meaning too much in Cheltenham, but he does seem to have some sort of superiority complex and talks the club down quite a bit.

Thoughts?
He doesn't come across well at all there although he does say Cheltenham is a good club.

Regarding FGR I have long thought having them as a rival is a bit tin pot but it definitely does have a derby feel too it, you can see that in the attendances and the atmosphere at those games, it's hostile home and away. I've never been too a Dundee derby game but I always understood the two clubs actually get on fairly well living in the same city and that it was other clubs were the animosity was saved for so again a weird comparison.

I've also long since stated that Cheltenham is not a rugby town overall, yes we have a lot of people who go to Gloucester but for every rugby fan there are most likely twenty football fans. Just go into town when the national sides are playing football and every pub is packed, rugby and you may not even know it's on apart from a few places. Go around parks and playing fields you will see tons of youth football and rarely much rugby being played. The issue we have deep entrenched is that most people here support premier league clubs and the Robins are poorly perceived. Our attendances are absolutely shocking when you consider we are the football team essentially for Cheltenham and Tewkesbury which is easily 150,000 people, you can throw Gloucester in that mix too really and it's pushing 275,000 people then.

I'd probably say the same for horse racing but can more see his point there, there is a clear bias in the council towards horse racing, but I'd imagine 99% of attendees come from outside of the town. But I'd concede I'm not qualified to say for sure as I don't really know.

Also his point about not being recognised around the town, well as I said above there are roughly 150,000 people, we average 4000 and have very little marketing exposure, I wouldn't expect him to be known. Would say Exeter or Northampton players be known walking around there towns? Probably similar comparison I would say.
They have never sold out our away end - they brought about 700 in League One.

I know you don't consider Gloucester City a derby anymore because of the how the clubs have gone since 1997, but even Southern League Gloucester City would sell out the away end, and possibly try having the couple of blocks of the Colin Farmer.

I simply can't accept FGR as a derby - the hostility is so forced it's embarrassing.

I 100% agree with you on the Cheltenham being a rugby town call though. It's balls.
asl
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I'm not sure I see the problem with this interview - it looks fair enough, to me.
Robin
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Don't disagree on that and my view on Gloucester is that they are not rivals in the sense we are unlikely to play them. FGR I believe are in the sense that they are spending millions with a view to overtaking us so are in that regard. In terms of attendances I think our last game against them we had 5800 in total attendance one of our biggest home turn outs, the games at their place they average about 4000 which is well above their norm too.
Jerry St Clair
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Agreed Si. We sold out our game at FGR in 2017 so I went in the home end. We were quickly outed as Cheltenham fans early on and a few more emerged around us as well. We had great conversations with the FGR fans around us and it was no problem at all

Don’t get me wrong, this is no bad thing. But it literally wouldn’t happen at any other Derby, bar the Merseyside one.
paperboy
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asl wrote: 20 Jan 2025, 11:42 I'm not sure I see the problem with this interview - it looks fair enough, to me.
Agreed.

He might have chosen his words better in a couple of places,but this was a verbal interview given to a local reporter so it's naturally going to be slanted to their readership.
CTFC.Harry
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Cheltenham might not be a rugby town but it certainly isn't a football town either. The people might be interested in England and watching the Top 6/Villa but they have little interest in watching Cheltenham as we all know. Stand on the Prom on a Saturday and you see loads going on the 94/10/98 whatever to Kingsholm. I'd argue it's certainly more of a rugby town than football.

The Derby is obviously tinpot it's always good fun. Our fixture list isn't the same without them lets be honest. Swindon and Newport are nothing games in comparison.

Poor from Ferry regardless of whether you agree with the particulars. Be grateful for the opportunities here, move on to your next club, and keep your thoughts to yourself! He's no Chris Hussey.
Artemis
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Ihearye wrote: 20 Jan 2025, 08:35 Reads fair enough to me. Does seem to contradict a few of the opinions expresses on here about scottish football
Yeah, I don't see that he says anything unfair or inaccurate. The Dundee derby is a cracking atmosphere, his team are winning more often that not and are well in the mix for European football next season (neither of which was true last season), Dundee is a football city, Cheltenham is not a football town and finally, he's enjoying his football. Good luck to him.
Robin
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CTFC.Harry wrote: 20 Jan 2025, 13:26 Cheltenham might not be a rugby town but it certainly isn't a football town either. The people might be interested in England and watching the Top 6/Villa but they have little interest in watching Cheltenham as we all know. Stand on the Prom on a Saturday and you see loads going on the 94/10/98 whatever to Kingsholm. I'd argue it's certainly more of a rugby town than football.

The Derby is obviously tinpot it's always good fun. Our fixture list isn't the same without them lets be honest. Swindon and Newport are nothing games in comparison.

Poor from Ferry regardless of whether you agree with the particulars. Be grateful for the opportunities here, move on to your next club, and keep your thoughts to yourself! He's no Chris Hussey.
I just don't get this a few hundred people or what ever it maybe does not make it a rugby town. For years Gloucester was the only top sports team in the county but clearly fewer people go to Kingsholm from Cheltenham than attend Whaddon Road. But I would acknowledge a decent chunk of our support comes from outside the town, particularly from Tewkesbury and to a lesser extent Evesham and Gloucester.

Let me also ask how many people do you know who go to rugby? I'd struggle to name more than one or two, talk to people at work and it's overwhelmingly football. The issue plain and simple is that the team has suffered from no marketing, which has meant limited pride from within the town or country (I think part of this is marketing and also the lack of cup success we had historically because we've had great league success these past twenty five years with a few poor seasons as would be expected). If we ever reach the Championship and have that main stand in place there is little doubt in my mind that our attendances will be larger than Gloucester's.
Artemis
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CTFC.Harry wrote: 20 Jan 2025, 13:26 Cheltenham might not be a rugby town but it certainly isn't a football town either. The people might be interested in England and watching the Top 6/Villa but they have little interest in watching Cheltenham as we all know. Stand on the Prom on a Saturday and you see loads going on the 94/10/98 whatever to Kingsholm. I'd argue it's certainly more of a rugby town than football.

The Derby is obviously tinpot it's always good fun. Our fixture list isn't the same without them lets be honest. Swindon and Newport are nothing games in comparison.

Poor from Ferry regardless of whether you agree with the particulars. Be grateful for the opportunities here, move on to your next club, and keep your thoughts to yourself! He's no Chris Hussey.
The article is in the Daily Record, Scotland's version of the Daily Mirror, ahead of a 3J City derby, and he's having a good season. He was hardly going to say he'd made the wrong move, or Cheltenham was better, now was he, he's saying how he felt, and he is quoted as saying "Cheltenham are a good club".
paperboy
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Robin wrote: 20 Jan 2025, 15:59
CTFC.Harry wrote: 20 Jan 2025, 13:26 Cheltenham might not be a rugby town but it certainly isn't a football town either. The people might be interested in England and watching the Top 6/Villa but they have little interest in watching Cheltenham as we all know. Stand on the Prom on a Saturday and you see loads going on the 94/10/98 whatever to Kingsholm. I'd argue it's certainly more of a rugby town than football.

The Derby is obviously tinpot it's always good fun. Our fixture list isn't the same without them lets be honest. Swindon and Newport are nothing games in comparison.

Poor from Ferry regardless of whether you agree with the particulars. Be grateful for the opportunities here, move on to your next club, and keep your thoughts to yourself! He's no Chris Hussey.
I just don't get this a few hundred people or what ever it maybe does not make it a rugby town. For years Gloucester was the only top sports team in the county but clearly fewer people go to Kingsholm from Cheltenham than attend Whaddon Road. But I would acknowledge a decent chunk of our support comes from outside the town, particularly from Tewkesbury and to a lesser extent Evesham and Gloucester.

Let me also ask how many people do you know who go to rugby? I'd struggle to name more than one or two, talk to people at work and it's overwhelmingly football. The issue plain and simple is that the team has suffered from no marketing, which has meant limited pride from within the town or country (I think part of this is marketing and also the lack of cup success we had historically because we've had great league success these past twenty five years with a few poor seasons as would be expected). If we ever reach the Championship and have that main stand in place there is little doubt in my mind that our attendances will be larger than Gloucester's.
Robin, if you're saying that our attendances would be bigger than Glos at Kingsholm ( average crowd 14k, capacity 16k) and our capacity is 7k wouldn't that mean our dreamt about new stand would need to hold 10k + which is around the size of the Kop at Anfield.
I admire your optimism though.
plymrob
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"If we ever reach the Championship and have that main stand in place there is little doubt in my mind that our attendances will be larger than Gloucester's."

For me, being steady in League One - or now and again - in League Two would be just great. It's maybe naive to think better marketing and a new stand is the panacea. For many years of living outside the region - Forest Green is undoubtedly, albeit a more recent local derby. Gloucester trumps that... Swindon and Oxford next. It's geography driven.

But with FGR, surely most teams would want to get one over them, and more so, the arsehole funding them...

I rest my case.
Robin
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paperboy wrote: 20 Jan 2025, 16:35
Robin wrote: 20 Jan 2025, 15:59
CTFC.Harry wrote: 20 Jan 2025, 13:26 Cheltenham might not be a rugby town but it certainly isn't a football town either. The people might be interested in England and watching the Top 6/Villa but they have little interest in watching Cheltenham as we all know. Stand on the Prom on a Saturday and you see loads going on the 94/10/98 whatever to Kingsholm. I'd argue it's certainly more of a rugby town than football.

The Derby is obviously tinpot it's always good fun. Our fixture list isn't the same without them lets be honest. Swindon and Newport are nothing games in comparison.

Poor from Ferry regardless of whether you agree with the particulars. Be grateful for the opportunities here, move on to your next club, and keep your thoughts to yourself! He's no Chris Hussey.
I just don't get this a few hundred people or what ever it maybe does not make it a rugby town. For years Gloucester was the only top sports team in the county but clearly fewer people go to Kingsholm from Cheltenham than attend Whaddon Road. But I would acknowledge a decent chunk of our support comes from outside the town, particularly from Tewkesbury and to a lesser extent Evesham and Gloucester.

Let me also ask how many people do you know who go to rugby? I'd struggle to name more than one or two, talk to people at work and it's overwhelmingly football. The issue plain and simple is that the team has suffered from no marketing, which has meant limited pride from within the town or country (I think part of this is marketing and also the lack of cup success we had historically because we've had great league success these past twenty five years with a few poor seasons as would be expected). If we ever reach the Championship and have that main stand in place there is little doubt in my mind that our attendances will be larger than Gloucester's.
Robin, if you're saying that our attendances would be bigger than Glos at Kingsholm ( average crowd 14k, capacity 16k) and our capacity is 7k wouldn't that mean our dreamt about new stand would need to hold 10k + which is around the size of the Kop at Anfield.
I admire your optimism though.
Fair enough I thought Kingsholm held 9000 and they were averaging around 8000 but I don't like the sport so do not pay that much attention. I expect our new stand and improved home end to take our capacity to around 9-10,000 which is fine for lower leagues and I feel would be at or close to capacity in the Championship ( should we ever get there).

More realistically I feel our target should be to become a competitive league one side with average attendances over 6000 like Wycombe and Exeter.
asl
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If you have no interest in rugby, that may be the reason you don't know anyone who goes to watch, hence your positive reinforcement of your belief that hardly anyone in Cheltenham is interested.

In my little road in Cricklade, Wilts, out of 10 near neighbours, I'd say 3 of them are semi-regular at Kingsholme. That means, even here, Glos rugby is three times as popular as Cheltenham Town!

Actually, I've just had a recollection that you once said you genuinely had no idea the Six Nations was on. How it's possible to avoid all media relating to that is beyond me!
Robin
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All of that is absolutely true ASL, I have zero interest in it if it were not for the adverts I see on a bus I would not know Glos had a rugby team by and large during my normal life. I use to have a boss who was a season ticket holder at Kingsholm about fifteen years ago, I know a couple of people who go occasionally. I see people in the shirt - sometimes I mistake it for Morecambe - at our games and in town but that's about it really. I do recall going to London years ago for one of our games and a lot of rugby fans got on at GLoucester (with a few of our fans) and a lot more boarded at Stroud but coming from Cheltenham I don't recall any of note.

In short my personal lack of interest may play a part but you'd think through school, college, work and friendships over the years I would know a lot more rugby fans.

To me it demonstrates Glos have established themselves as a proper county club whilst we have not, or even established ourselves as a point of pride in Cheltenham.
Henry The Dog
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I don’t have a problem with what he’s saying he’s hardly going to say it’s better at Cheltenham and let’s see how long he stays there before he moves South again. Ultimately he was part of a team that got relegated and probably weren’t many offers to continue at the same level so he’s got the best deal for himself.
With regard to the Gloucester discussion, they’ve been at the top level of rugby for a long time so impossible to compare and multiple generations go. I live in Chelt, work in Glos, and there’s a few fans who go to rugby but it’s not like half the office. Virtually all the football followers support Premiership teams, which they can access via multiple TV outlets, there’s only a few that support any EFL teams and only a couple that watch FGR. There’s a few that come and watch us occasionally but may only be a couple of games a year.
Wellwisher
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This (interested) outsider didn't think his comments particularly disrespectful or exceptional.

And in my observation, Cheltenham is as much a rugby town as a football one, with most of the town's football fraternity following other teams, esp the Premier League.
Benny Profane
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Not really.

Quick reply to the original question.
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longmover
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Robin wrote: 20 Jan 2025, 18:00 All of that is absolutely true ASL, I have zero interest in it if it were not for the adverts I see on a bus I would not know Glos had a rugby team by and large during my normal life. I use to have a boss who was a season ticket holder at Kingsholm about fifteen years ago, I know a couple of people who go occasionally. I see people in the shirt - sometimes I mistake it for Morecambe - at our games and in town but that's about it really. I do recall going to London years ago for one of our games and a lot of rugby fans got on at GLoucester (with a few of our fans) and a lot more boarded at Stroud but coming from Cheltenham I don't recall any of note.

In short my personal lack of interest may play a part but you'd think through school, college, work and friendships over the years I would know a lot more rugby fans.

To me it demonstrates Glos have established themselves as a proper county club whilst we have not, or even established ourselves as a point of pride in Cheltenham.
Are you trolling us or is this a joke? I'm calling it BS :lol:
paperboy
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Well the good news is that only a couple of Nesters appear to be numpties according to Will.

https://x.com/Willferry10/status/188166 ... rLFCw&s=19
Si Robin
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Thought his explanation - whilst probably unnecessary - cleared things up.

He doesn't help himself (and I'm sure he really doesn't give two shites either) with the numpties and muppets comments though does he?
asl
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Yea, what's he doing calling our numpties and muppets, "numpties and muppets"???
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Ihearye
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Si Robin wrote: 21 Jan 2025, 14:35 Thought his explanation - whilst probably unnecessary - cleared things up.

He doesn't help himself (and I'm sure he really doesn't give two shites either) with the numpties and muppets comments though does he?
Again, can see no harm in what he says, but then I never could :)
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Horteng
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Dug himself into a deeper hole with his reply if you ask me.
horlickfanclub
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Well said Will Ferry. Nothing he said was disrespectful. It will not sink in with some of the keyboard warriors though.
Robin
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longmover wrote: 21 Jan 2025, 09:47
Robin wrote: 20 Jan 2025, 18:00 All of that is absolutely true ASL, I have zero interest in it if it were not for the adverts I see on a bus I would not know Glos had a rugby team by and large during my normal life. I use to have a boss who was a season ticket holder at Kingsholm about fifteen years ago, I know a couple of people who go occasionally. I see people in the shirt - sometimes I mistake it for Morecambe - at our games and in town but that's about it really. I do recall going to London years ago for one of our games and a lot of rugby fans got on at GLoucester (with a few of our fans) and a lot more boarded at Stroud but coming from Cheltenham I don't recall any of note.

In short my personal lack of interest may play a part but you'd think through school, college, work and friendships over the years I would know a lot more rugby fans.

To me it demonstrates Glos have established themselves as a proper county club whilst we have not, or even established ourselves as a point of pride in Cheltenham.
Are you trolling us or is this a joke? I'm calling it BS :lol:

100% true and honest. I have no interest at all, don't know the rules and don't know anyone interested in the sport. The only reason I know it exists as I go about my life at the pictures on the sides of buses - it makes me think why can't we do that and the odd person I see wearing the kit at our games or walking around.
art vandalay
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When Will says he lost his love for the game a bit, I suspect this is specifically referring to our start to last season. Hardly surprising as his performances were poor, the team was awful, we were short of coaching staff, the squad was too big, team selection felt like it was names drawn out of a bag, tactics were all over the place and I recall Will was being played out of position. This couldn’t have been more different to how we ended 22/3 when Will and the team were both excellent.

At Dundee Utd he’s in Scotland’s fourth biggest city and at one of the leading teams in the country, they have a national media profile, they can qualify for Europe, Tannadice is a great old-school ground, they get gates of about 10,000, and four of their eleven opponents (Dundee, Aberdeen and the big two) will produce particularly intense games. What’s not to like? Personally, I’d regard that as a step forward for him even if he’d been playing for one of L1’s bigger teams like Bolton or Charlton.

The only comment I don’t agree with is how the article dresses his success as some kind of turnaround, but I put this down to lazy journalism looking for an easy angle. I thought Will generally played very well for us and a move to a higher level was pretty inevitable and not really much of a risk for either Will or the club he was going to.
shevates
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Been reading these posts with interest, as being a supporter since the 60s to me Gloucester City was always the big Derby game it attracted close on the same attendance as the more modern day Derby game against the vegans. If Gloucester reached the football league it would be a sell out for sure.
As for Cheltenham it has and always be a rugby town in my eyes. You can try all you like it's difficult to attract Cheltonians to Whaddon Road. It's all about opinions but here's a stat which I can come up with, which even shocked me. As you're all aware I run the 500 club, well in January's draw we had 510 entrants, of which 169 came from 7miles or more outside of Cheltenham. I believe it's something to go on
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longmover
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shevates wrote: 27 Jan 2025, 17:04 Been reading these posts with interest, as being a supporter since the 60s to me Gloucester City was always the big Derby game it attracted close on the same attendance as the more modern day Derby game against the vegans. If Gloucester reached the football league it would be a sell out for sure.
As for Cheltenham it has and always be a rugby town in my eyes. You can try all you like it's difficult to attract Cheltonians to Whaddon Road. It's all about opinions but here's a stat which I can come up with, which even shocked me. As you're all aware I run the 500 club, well in January's draw we had 510 entrants, of which 169 came from 7miles or more outside of Cheltenham. I believe it's something to go on
Interesting stat about the draw, I always remember a chat I had with a die hard Gloucester boy and he had the opinion that Gloucester was a rugby town and Cheltenham football.

I don't think there has been a rugby club from Cheltenham that has played any higher than one of the premier regional leagues (Old Pats, Chelt North or Cheltenham RFC??) and that would have been late 90's mid 00's. Where as Gloucester have always played rugby at the highest national level.

I would say its a pretty damming that in 2025 Cheltenham (after all the recent success of its football club) is still perceived as a rugby town :roll:
Artemis
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longmover wrote: 28 Jan 2025, 10:27
shevates wrote: 27 Jan 2025, 17:04 Been reading these posts with interest, as being a supporter since the 60s to me Gloucester City was always the big Derby game it attracted close on the same attendance as the more modern day Derby game against the vegans. If Gloucester reached the football league it would be a sell out for sure.
As for Cheltenham it has and always be a rugby town in my eyes. You can try all you like it's difficult to attract Cheltonians to Whaddon Road. It's all about opinions but here's a stat which I can come up with, which even shocked me. As you're all aware I run the 500 club, well in January's draw we had 510 entrants, of which 169 came from 7miles or more outside of Cheltenham. I believe it's something to go on
Interesting stat about the draw, I always remember a chat I had with a die hard Gloucester boy and he had the opinion that Gloucester was a rugby town and Cheltenham football.

I don't think there has been a rugby club from Cheltenham that has played any higher than one of the premier regional leagues (Old Pats, Chelt North or Cheltenham RFC??) and that would have been late 90's mid 00's. Where as Gloucester have always played rugby at the highest national level.

I would say its a pretty damming that in 2025 Cheltenham (after all the recent success of its football club) is still perceived as a rugby town :roll:
It takes a generation for increased numbers to get embedded; folks who got involved during our conference winning and early league years now bring their kids and their mates a generation later. I see signs that that growth is happening now - witness the large group of teens at the back of the PRE.
The search of new investment is well-timed as was our latest foray into League 1
Last edited by Artemis on 28 Jan 2025, 10:37, edited 1 time in total.
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longmover
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One thing that I would be keen to know is any new signing to CTFC given a brief as to the history of the club? I mean what this club has achieved since 1997 onwards is nothing short of phenomenal (for a 'rugby' town). It would be interesting to see how the club is perceived from new signings as well, don't know if the club take any of this information on?
Si Robin
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Joel Colwill called us a big club in his first interview.
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