I'm sure supporters of all clubs feel sorry for the Truro fans. The difference for us is that we can hold our heads high, as our club is providing some real, actual, practical help to ease their predicament. It's disappointing, though not wholly surprising, that such praise has either been grudgingly or not given at all. Fear of being seen to step out of line with Militant orthodoxy still holding sway I suspect.
Quite near to where I live, a diversion has been put in place (no, not to enable people to avoid Alpine Towers
). A perfectly adequate diversion route could be possible causing very little inconvenience. However, the official regulations state that the diversion route has to involve a road of the same category//classification as the original section of road closed off (think I've got that right). So at the moment the official diversion will send you on a round trip, approaching 50 miles, almost up to Exeter and back. Truro are a poorly supported football club.There are a number of grounds in Cornwall that are quite adequate for any sharing requirements they have, and which Truro and their supporters would far prefer to 'slum it' at, rather than have to travel deep into Devon to play their home games. But just as the bureaucrats apply daft rules to motorists that fly in the face of common sense, so the 'Blazers' compile rigid rules that appear to treat loyal fans as an after thought.
Just say if we'd said 'No room at the Inn' to Truro ?....how far would they have had to continue their trek up country in their attempt to find somewhere to play that meets the stadium ground grading demands that satisfy the 'Blazers'?. Will you find a single Truro fan who wouldn't have accepted lesser accommodation rather than be faced with a round trip of a few hundred miles for each and every home game ? Yet incredulously it's the two clubs, Truro and Torquay working to find the best solution to this barmy rule that get moaned at.....and the self important 'Blazers' brandishing their rulebook, and who are the very people who come up with these fan unfriendly dictats, who don't seem to get a word of criticism aimed in their direction.
Working together to find the best solution for ordinary fans who are on the wrong end of the Authoritarian stupidity of the Blazers, would, I should have thought, have been exactly in line with the original ethos of Supporters Direct. Whether it be a noon kick off scheduled for Newcastle fans to get to, when their club are away to Southampton, or forcing Truro fans on ridiculously long journeys for home matches (as if their away travel isn't already more punishing than anyone else's) by coming up with and applying an inflexible rule, unsuited to the actual situation on the ground, that makes life unnecessarily difficult. But why not make fans life a misery rather than admit that your rule is a monstrous sledgehammer that will decimate the already small and weak nut that is the Truro supporter base?
So it's abundantly clear that Truro Trust and Torquay Trust won't be joining forces in joint representation to tear the F.A bigwigs and rule makers off a strip,for not only coming up with this over the top rule and pigheadedly standing by it, despite the fiasco it's resulted in for supporters......because, based on responses, that's not what their members think. Ok so it will almost certainly wreck the whole season for a club's supporters, but the Blazers and their insistence that one size fits all...even if it evicts you from your own county....well let's not question that, let's start by blaming the club owner. And then ask yourself if you'd be so quick as to immediately pinpoint the culprit if it had been Bath City being instructed to travel a couple of counties down to play all home games, if they'd had similar ground sale issues and because the rulebook said so.
Why not haul these people over the coals for being unable to devise a rule that displays an iota of common sense, and that could then be applied to the Truro situation ? Not for the first time, nor for the last, who TUST members identify as the bad guys in a situation, and those they decide should get away scot-free, is at variance from my own conclusions. But it does spare us a Forum of nodding TUST dogs all agreeing with the post above theirs.
As the saying goes, 'If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail'. I'd venture that if your unceasing objective from year to year has been bashing Osborne, then all problems, be they Radio Devon ceasing commentary, or Truro being victims of ridiculously stringent grading requirements that send them hundreds of miles away, will look like situations you'll firstly, above all else, and by now out of habit, try to lay at Osborne's door.
I've not mentioned TUST enough, at least by my usual standards. I'm looking forward to seeing the brochure showing what they do. As self proclaimed
'Supporters Representatives', I do hope they include a photo of their members picketing BBC Regional Headquarters in protest at the withdrawal of match commentary. I should think that everyone who chose to tune into Radio Devon's commentary of our matches would be a Torquay Supporter, so rather that the current disorganised scattergun approach with individuals not sure of the best approach to getting this rectified. TUST's leadership or coordination of a campaign, has either been poorly publicised so far, or is desperately slow getting started. It needs to capture and reflect the initial anger, frustration and bemusement at Radio Devon's high handed decision. But will miss that all important first wave unless it gets it's act together soon.Then perhaps a poll,showing whether TUST members extend a fraternal hand as we become the first port of call for Truro City and their fans in their very obvious hour of need, or whether TUST members views would be better expressed by a giant V sign being erected on the roof of the Pop Side, indicating that Truro can carry on into Somerset, Dorset or Wiltshire looking for someone to take them in. The extent to which the plight of another clubs fans actually registers in comparison to other issues, would make interesting reading I'm sure. So that's something else that we won't be seeing. And as their lowly membership numbers already reflect, it will, for many, be a brochure that more importantly reveals what TUST
doesn't do,certainly in comparison to it's overflowing quantities of political correctness, that will keep it as a niche organisation unsuited, unwilling, and consequently unable to represent a significant section of the Plainmoor faithful.
Let's see TUST lead the way in welcoming Truro supporters to Plainmoor, even if they are all 'hideously white'. Let's hear TUSTs proposals for representing the fans currently in conflict with the BBC radio's local decision maker. Put aside political affinity with the BBC. Fans want their commentary back, not a flashy brochure. It's how hard you're fighting to get that commentary restored and not the glossiness of your full colour brochure that will resonate with ordinary supporters ten times more.
Lets welcome Truro and their supporters. It's the least we can do for a club destined to have a far worse season than ourselves.
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). A perfectly adequate diversion route could be possible causing very little inconvenience. However, the official regulations state that the diversion route has to involve a road of the same category//classification as the original section of road closed off (think I've got that right). So at the moment the official diversion will send you on a round trip, approaching 50 miles, almost up to Exeter and back. Truro are a poorly supported football club.There are a number of grounds in Cornwall that are quite adequate for any sharing requirements they have, and which Truro and their supporters would far prefer to 'slum it' at, rather than have to travel deep into Devon to play their home games. But just as the bureaucrats apply daft rules to motorists that fly in the face of common sense, so the 'Blazers' compile rigid rules that appear to treat loyal fans as an after thought.