The people of Cork v's Cork City

**a.n.other** · 10/01/2002, 2:53 AM

The one thing that continually amazes me about the ccfc is their apparent lack of any desire or worthwhile effort to develope a sense of idenity with the people of the city. If ccfc could develope a sense that the club was an integral part of the make-up of this sporting mecca, a represenative of it's fair people and not some side show played out in front of a few die hards then maybe they could a develope a solid base from which to build upon. This is the only avenue open to the club for worthwhile progress. prostituting yourself to the leicester's of this world is both degrading and counter productive. The development of a constructive marketing policy aimed at bringing the club into the city's mindset on a more pernament and stable basis is the ony way to progress. i feel at this juncture in the clubs history the club's primary concern should be the producing an attractive and entertaining package, a sense of rapport with the public, a structure which feeds itself and not others. thess are the only avenues which will lead to sustained success both on and off the field. Bring the cross to patrick street and patrick stree will come to the cross!!

**Joker109** · 10/01/2002, 5:26 AM

I do agree that CCFC must put a package together to get the crowds to turners cross. The Lights that are soon to come

will be an improvement but to be quite honest it wont do enough.
But lets have a look at the main vocal area of turnners cross (The Shed).
Before i start this , dont get me wrong as the i allways stand in the shed end for all the games i can make it to.
The shed , daunting to many teams who come to the cross and hugly uplifting to the home side , but and it comes , the vocals coming from the shed issue support for the home team for at least 10 minutes out of the 90 thats played. The other 80 is used to sing and shout how we hate everything else. There are people who go to the games for the fisrt time and hear the rantings that come from the shed and they must realise/think that its f**king crazy and stupid and decide its not worth it.Probably think we are scumbags..........................

Again as i said , im allways there but i feel we need to start showing some more support than is been allready issued.

Support will have to start at home before we can go elsewhere looking for it...................................

COME ON CITY ...... HEADS UP ... THIS IS OUR YEAR!!!!!

**Jim Smith** · 10/01/2002, 8:05 AM

Win a few things and the good people of Cork will turn up in large numbers. Have a bit of a bad run and they'll disappear just as quickly

I doubt that this phenomenon is unique to Cork. Its probably endemic in the areas where Sky Sports hold sway.

**dalo** · 10/01/2002, 8:20 AM

that first post is a excellant piece of writing and I think sums what many members including me think.

i have always argued there should be more of a club-city intregation and to give the sporting people of cork a chance to feel proud about the club. instead most people in cork laugh and snigger at ccfc and it's supporters content to plump their asses on the barstool watching the tele-soap-oprea that is tv football.

yet should a project would be a huge one and I doubt if we have the people in charge or the will in the club or city to make this happen. if gaa clubs can harness the parochial spirit so well why can't Cork city? yet on the other hand like other posts have said it would be a a advatage to win trophies as well though this allone is no solid basis for hoping support and club-city ties would grow stronger. look at sunderland and newcastle they have won nothing in 30 years yet still draw huge crowds at matches precisely because their sporting public identify the club with the city.

ps.

sorry for being so droll I am afraid I lack the arrogant/ rapier "wit" of our more esteemed members

**Peadar** · 10/01/2002, 9:54 AM

Originally posted by a.n.other
If ccfc could develope a sense that the club was an integral part of the make-up of this sporting mecca, a represenative of it's fair people

I really think that the main way to achieve this is not through sport at all but through drink. If there was a meeting place in Turners Cross like a bar or a function room with a bar which could be used during the week for events and the City Lotto draw then Cork City FC wouldn't just be a Sunday thing. For most people if they can't make a game at the weekend then that's it, they've got no association with the club. It's easy to lose interest. Not only would the bar act as a cource of revenue but it would give people a way to meet others in the club and hopefully become more involved. Lets say Johnny brings his wife along for a drink and she gets chatting to some of the supporters while Johnny tells Hartigan how great he is. Anyway as it transpires, Johnnys wife id a dinger on the Singer (sewing machine) so she offers to make up some cool huge flags and banners for the lads.
It's only an example but you get the idea.

Originally posted by a.n.other
The development of a constructive marketing policy aimed at bringing the club into the city's mindset on a more pernament and stable basis is the ony way to progress.

Isn't our excellent left back, Neal Horgan doing an MBA in Marketing? You'd never know maybe he could point the club in the right direction.

**Jim Smith** · 10/01/2002, 12:11 PM

If you want to build a broad-based fanatical support - like Newcastle for example - you have to start much younger than "pub age". My brother-in-law is from there and they are Toon mad by the time they can walk!
The club needs to get out to the schools in the city and county doing a wee bit of coaching (but making it clear to Junior clubs that this isn't some sort of recruitment/scouting programme) and having a laugh with the kids. Follow this up with a free tickects for the school - perhaps cordoning off parts of the ground for them so they can go on their own without their parents worrying (kids of 8+ would love that) and make a day of it for them, perhaps meeting the players after the game?
Just get them thinking the words "Cork City" in a sentence that doesn't contain the word "crap" and your half way there to getting a supporter in the making.

**dalo** · 10/01/2002, 12:59 PM

i am glad that the ideas are there. it's shame the people aren't there with the time/money/motivation to implement them.

it is true cork people automatically say cork city are crap if you mention you supportthem. yet you find out upon closer examination a) they never go to a game or have been to one game a year and b) become pleasantly surprised when you tell them we have never been out of the top 3/4 in nearly 5 seasons.

it's a tough battle being a prophet without honour in your own land :-)

**Mutteo** · 10/01/2002, 1:18 PM

As long as people in the shed curse continuously, scream abuse at players and are racist then City willl never be a club that can hold their support. Obviously this doesn't apply to all shedites but how one moron can get away with shouting racist remarks is beyond me. Surely the people around him can isolate this person and make him feel like the **** that he is.
Why, oh why would a father want to bring his son to the shed (where the 'true' City supporters go) to watch a game? And if he did bring his son would he feel happy about letting him go there by himself?
I agree with jim Smith - what City need to do is market to families and especially to young kids in schools. If the kid goes, the father goes -market to one and you get two admission fees. The athmosphere at the ground will have a lot to do with the enjoyment these 'blow-ins' get from the game. If its a nasty one, with monkey sounds and continuous abuse then why the hell would people want to come back?

**Peadar** · 10/01/2002, 1:28 PM

Being a West Cork lad many people may ask why Cork City FC?
But to be fair, when ever I get as chance to go home I find people asking me how City are getting on, they may have heard about a great win against Pat's and bring that up in conversation. To me it seems that the interest is there but they never think of going to a game. Perhaps it's because they may feel stupid if they don't recognise the players, I don't know, but I just think that if they were brought along to games and got comfortable with buying their tickets and finding their way around the ground then maybe they wouldn't need someone to hold their hands in future. With Colin P O'Brien flying the flag for West Cork there will always be culchies checking up on Cork City FC. It would be great if they could feel that it was there club too.

**Peadar** · 10/01/2002, 1:38 PM

Originally posted by Mutteo
Why, oh why would a father want to bring his son to the shed (where the 'true' City supporters go) to watch a game?

The Shed is the Peter Pan of the Cork City support.
The part which never grew up.
I was ashamed to be a City supporter at the Derry game.
I left the shed after the Inter-Toto Cup game against FC Koln and only went back for the League Cup final against Rovers. I now enjoy the games a lot more. While you get a lot of crap being shouted from the stand it's usually not racist. and is clearly from an individual.

**�anna** · 10/01/2002, 2:05 PM

Originally posted by Peadar

The Shed is the Peter Pan of the Cork City support.
The part which never grew up.
I was ashamed to be a City supporter at the Derry game.

why?! the shed was singing and dancing for most of the second half and made a great athmosphere. there were a small number of individuals who made stupid comments or monkey noises, but thats up to the stewards to sort out, not the rest of us. i'm fed up of the sh!t that us sheddies are taking. along with the corner boys we're the only ones in that ground you'd even notice.

**�anna** · 10/01/2002, 2:07 PM

Originally posted by Jim Smith

The club needs to get out to the schools in the city and county doing a wee bit of coaching (but making it clear to Junior clubs that this isn't some sort of recruitment/scouting programme) and having a laugh with the kids. Follow this up with a free tickects for the school - perhaps cordoning off parts of the ground for them so they can go on their own without their parents worrying (kids of 8+ would love that) and make a day of it for them, perhaps meeting the players after the game?

apparently the club tried giving out free tickets last year in a primary school and no-one would take them there was just one kid who was already a city fan and he took about 20 of them. a sad state of affairs indeed.

**�anna** · 10/01/2002, 2:23 PM

Originally posted by Mutteo
As long as people in the shed curse continuously, scream abuse at players and are racist then City willl never be a club that can hold their support. Obviously this doesn't apply to all shedites but how one moron can get away with shouting racist remarks is beyond me. Surely the people around him can isolate this person and make him feel like the **** that he is.
Why, oh why would a father want to bring his son to the shed (where the 'true' City supporters go) to watch a game? And if he did bring his son would he feel happy about letting him go there by himself?

the majority of sheddies are true city fans. racists are a tiny minority, it's just unfortunate that they tend to be quite vocal. as for the cursing and all that- it's in every ground all over the world. we had a discussion about this before, can't remember if it was on this mboard or another one, but the point is the Shed is still regarded by the players as the centre of the city support.
fair enough there are comments coming out of there that are
disgraceful, but wherever there are the most vocal fans- you'll get the best and the worst. i for one know that there are a hell of a lot of people on the derrynane and stand sides whose sole reason for going to matches seems to be to abuse players.

it is up to the club to clean out the shed, not the sheddies.

**Mutteo** · 10/01/2002, 2:29 PM

I'm guessing nobody here is still in school ( and if you are - get back to class), so therefore we are all adults. Now as adults do we really expect the stewards to come and tell us when we've been naughty or should we have enough cop on to know ourselves?
Eanna, I don't buy the line about stewards stopping us from making monkey noises etc. We're a small club and even one person making monkey noises can fill the ground. Surely its the job of decent supporters to let these idiots know that they are doing the opposite of 'supporting' Cork city. They're making other fans feel sick about their club and driving away prospective fans also. This does nothing for anybody.

**Peadar** · 10/01/2002, 2:48 PM

Originally posted by Mutteo
I'm guessing nobody here is still in school

Eanna was in school but dropped out before Christmas.
The whole thing really hit home to me after the Derry game when the wife of an ex-player and not the ex-wife of a player asked me who was making the monkey noises. For the first time I thought, 'Wow people associate supporters with these things'. People don't make distinctions between young people who support Cork City FC and the yobs in the shed. I had to just say that I was disgusted as well but didn't know who it was.

**Jim Smith** · 10/01/2002, 3:51 PM

Originally posted by �anna
apparently the club tried giving out free tickets last year in a primary school and no-one would take them there was just one kid who was already a city fan and he took about 20 of them. a sad state of affairs indeed.

True enough. However a couple of season ago supporting City was seen as "an O.K. thing" at the school my son goes to (CNSP). Its all about timing. I'll bet if a few of the players had just been doing a bit of coaching with the kids more than one of them would have taken tickets. You have to prime your audience first.

As for racisim, the club and the stewards also have to take a strong line. What are the stewards paid for, exactly? Its not to stop pitch invasions as the results of the last invasion of biblical proportions demonstated.

**pete** · 10/01/2002, 4:05 PM

Personally i'm not too pushed going to the shed anymore & i don't think its just cos i'm older now. I think i'd probably only go there for the big games now.

I didn't hear (was in the stand) any monkey chants/remarks from the shed but then again I wouldn't trust my hearing. However only a few years ago you could be guaranteed an actually racist chant as opposed to possibly a few comments by individuals this year.

I've always cringe when I hear the "IRA" part of "..the fields.." & interestingly don't think I can ever say i've heard at any away game.

As part of their contract any fulltime players should be used for promotional work in schools. I'm sure kids would have a lot more interest when they hear football is the players job. By all accounts the summer coaching scheme at the tennis village sounded like a very worthwhile enterprise so hopefully we'll see more of that kind of activity in the future...

I'm sure the lack of fulltime paid admin staff makes organising any promotional activities hard enough..

**Mutteo** · 10/01/2002, 4:05 PM

No question the club and stewards should take a strong line. Catch them and kick them out for good (actually, I'll do the kicking bit). At the same time, nobody wants to see the name of the club being dragged through the mud so its important for supporters to stand up for the club when they see people chucking stuff onto the pitch or hear racist chants etc.
I know people who won't go near the Cross coz they're convinced most of the people there are scumbags. They'll base this on a couple of stories they've heard about stuff happening in the crowd. I know its illogical, but that's how it is. How many new supporters did English football win during the heydays of hooligans in the late 80s. None - and because of the minority of a few idiots.
Now, don't get me wrong I'm not trying to blow this out of all proportion but lets nip this in the bud before it goes anywhere.

**A face** · 10/01/2002, 4:29 PM

Some of this thread should make it to the fanzine and have anyone on reading that hear what has to be said. There is some great content here for one. They willl NEVER know unless you tell them.

**S�C** · 10/01/2002, 4:42 PM

I would hold my breath waiting for the esteemed security at the Cross to act.

There was one person in particular who was making these Monkey noises, he was standing quite close me. I let him know what I thought of his sad sad existence, in fairness a few of the Sheddies around me told him much the same. The fella was no more than 15/16 and I'd say he got a bit a of a scare when 4/5 ...ummm.....stronger(fater) people let him know what they thought.

4-5-1 had a note encouraging us to tell the bottle throwers to kop on, perhaps something of the same needed for the small small few who had a laugh at one of the best players in the Eircom League just becuase the man has different colour skin.

.....sorry I really got a bee in my bonnett about racists.