Plymouth winding up order

I was aware a few months ago that Plymouth were in deep financial trouble and have been waiting for the story to come out. For the record I don’t think the club will fold and mainly due to the UK world cup bid. It’s in Plymouth Cities interest I would have thought, to keep the club alive and get the stadium finished off.

It’s no real surprise that some City fans and also some TUFC fans for sure, are getting some sort of pleasure out of seeing a fellow Devon club in trouble. I have never understood the mentality of so called football fans who take pleasure in this way and it’s just another thing I don’t like about football.

I remember so well some of the things written on here when Weymouth were in deep trouble and for me what always get forgotten, are the very people who really do make up any club, yes the fans.

Being in Weymouth two times a week I was able to talk with real Weymouth fans and the thing I learnt was it was not the fans fault their club was in the mess it was and it hurt them so much that it was.

Most football fans support their local club, their home town team, the team their dad may have taken them to watch for their very first live game of football. Yes some will become fans of a club in different ways, but most I would bet do so simply because the team represents the place they were born or grew up in.

If I had been born in Plymouth then I’m sure I that would have been my club and I look at all other fans of other clubs as fans just like myself, only they are supporting their team, the one that plays in their town.

That’s why I struggle to understand why there is at times real hatred toward other fans and even clubs by some football fans, is it not meant to be just a sport and other teams are no more than our rivals? That is rivals only in sport and nothing else as far as I’m concerned.

People ask why so many don’t support teams like Torquay, well one very good reason is most people don’t want to buy into the hatred that does exists in football and why should they? Yes there are many occasions good light hearted banter takes place between rival fans, but that’s not always the case.

Why should I hate City more than another other club in the UK? (not that I hate any club mind you or their fans) they are just a club that has fans like TUFC, should I hate them because they are just up the road? I can understand local pride and all that but what about Devon pride?

If City were the only Devon team left in a big cup competition, them while I would not go and watch them play, I would want them to win. It’s the same for any big club playing in the Champions League, for me they are playing for my country and why would I want a team from another country to beat a team from ours?

Plymouth just like Torquay has never had the support it needs, when you think about the catchment area Plymouth has, then it should be getting the sort of gates a club of its size needs to play at the higher levels.

I don’t think we can afford to lose a football league club in Devon, its hard enough having three clubs to get players to come down here and I fear losing Plymouth would only make it harder. It has nothing to do with Devon or what the people are like; it is and always has been about location. Far easier to have a base in the middle of the country where you can move to a good number of clubs without having to move house or move your children to another new school.

Lets say Plymouth did fold and existed no more, would that be good for Torquay United? There was a time people In Newton Abbot for example, would only support Torquay United, but that has changed and many Newton people these days are Plymouth supporters.

Maybe some of those might start supporting our club over Exeter City, so there could be some gain I suppose, but I don’t think it would be the sort of numbers are club are looking for to take our club forward.

A very long time ago on here, I put up a thread just to see what reaction I would get, asking if all three clubs should combine, if it meant we would have one super sized stadium say at Heathfield and the likes of Man U playing in Devon, instead of say Stevenage.

Well most on here thought I was mad to even make the suggestion and I fully understood why, but I would put money on such a stadium being filled for every game and I’ll tell you why.

Forget for a moment our own feelings and ask yourself how many glory fans are there in the Southwest who watch football on the TV and in the pubs, but never go to lower league football matches on their own doorstep.

I believe if there was a super Devon team playing in the premiership with a stadium in the middle of Devon, then you would see them coming from all over the Southwest of England to watch all the big boys play live. All the kids would make their dads take them to watch their TV football heroes and let’s be honest; most of them would already have the right shirts to wear to the game.

It’s never going to happen, but poorly supported football clubs are always going to struggle and always are at risk of going out of business. When you look how many major companies have gone under over the last few years, it’s a wonder to me, how so many football clubs have somehow managed to keep going.

How many football clubs are in debt? Most I would imagine and they are all at risk of going that £1 over to much that will see them fold and disappear forever.

loyalgull as In most cases its down to just bad owners, or owners only in it to make money and get out. We know what happened to Weymouth and its been sad to see them getting whipped a number of times this season playing in the much lower league they are now playing in.

They still have some faithfully fans who are sticking by the club and a manager who believes he can bring the good times back at the club. Its going to be a long hard road to turn the clubs fortunes around and hopefully one day that will happen.

I wouldn't think that Plymouth fans would ever have been gracious to their local rivals - nice to see them get a bit back! Whether it was the ones who taunted the Exeter fans at the Southend game with "we'll never play you again", the ones that would get the Popside in the Derby matches and would run on the pitch, the scum that ambushed TUFC fans back at Home Park in '95 or the ones that damaged cars and stewards and people at the recent Exeter game.

God forbid they ever get into the Premiership - (Gordan Sparks would be insufferable for a start), there would be even less coverage for us.

I had time for Paul Sturrock and a (now former ) Director I met a couple of times who I know had a bit of a soft spot for us and was instrumental in The Glinch and Craig Taylor here on terms that were good for us. Plymouth won't go to the wall but they might go through some lean times for a while, surely their "premiership potential support" will get behind them in massive numbers as they did on Tuesday and they'll be fine!!

Plymouth Argyle have confirmed that both playing and office staff have not received their salaries for November. Their court case is a week tomorrow - 8th December!