Now the dust has settled on this thread I just want to clear a few things up by way of reply as some people have either not read this post properly or misinterpreted it. I also want to respond to other comments made:
“Sad story undermined by pompous slander towards people with different ideas and views. Shame, you were doing well & I feel your pain.”
There’s no slander anywhere in the article and I challenge you to find an example in my post. I’m not quite sure you think it’s pompous unless you’re referring to my writing style. It’s what I’ve been brought up with and I’m not going to change to text speak now, no matter how fun it may be. Different ideas or different values?
“morals,perspective,self respect ,?>in with the wolves against cov ,but supporting cov away at a couple of games ,now ive heard it all ,.now im at absolute loggertheads with myself with wats right n wrong and wat we do or don't do ,but reading your load of story telling tosh makes me feel like giving it all in .I feel for your lad under the circumstances ,but if he and his mates were travelling to the ricoh then by all means boycott sixfields but they like many others they could travel away ,no excuse or reason to change teams ,but they already done that once .im sorry folks but this is going to far”
After deciphering the gobbledegook, I’ve realised why you may have misinterpreted my post – I omitted some information. My son hasn’t changed teams and nowhere in my post does it state that he has. Because of the absurd move to Northampton, my son can neither get nor want to go there. His friends that went with him to the Ricoh were showing a growing interest in supporting Coventry as their number 1 team but because of the ludicrous circumstances they now go and watch Wolves. Because my son wants to be with his mates on a Saturday, he goes with them because he doesn’t want to feel left out.
He could, and should, have been with me in the Steve Bull stand at Wolves and at first I was annoyed until he revealed something. Since he’s been going to Molineux this season, a few Wolves supporting bully boys at his school have latched onto this fact. My son told me that if they found out that he was in with “Cov”, then they would have made his life hell at school. As a father, I can empathise with, and understand that.
As an aside, he’s asked if we can go to the Bradford away game. Like I said in my post, he still supports Coventry in his heart. Will I be saying that in 3-5 years time though?
“My only issue with many of these stories from fans, is that no one is physically preventing fans from going to sixfields. Everyone is busy blaming SISU for taking coventry away from coventry and taking a NOPM stance. At the same time they are being blamed for losing a generation of fans.
Why can't fans take it upon themselves to keep the next generation of fans interested in coventry? Why must it always be someone else's fault? Why is attending sixfields seen as a way of supporting the move to Northampton. I can guarantee that no one who attends games in sixfields wants to be there and supports the move.
As a comparison, when Brighton were homeless, albeit under different circumstances, they were forced to travel to Gillingham to games. And look where Brighton are now.
I, like many others who attend the home games, have no issue with people wanting to stay away from sixfields, but please don't use it as an excuse for blaming SISU for losing a generation of fans. If you can't go then fair enough, but if you won't go, please understand that you should take some, not ALL, of the responsibility for our next generation.”
To my mind, this is another example of someone trying to ease their own conscience and sense of guilt and of deflecting the issue. I take you point about fans (customers) taking a certain degree of responsibility for our next generation of fans but the primary responsibility lies with those running the club. As a fan, you can only do so much; no-one can force anyone to support Coventry. It’s up to the owners of any business to make it appealing and accessible to its present and future customers, in this case young fans.
For example, if a business was giving poor service and as a consequence that business was losing its customer base, would you say it was the responsibility of the remaining customers to rally round trying to win back those lost customers? Of course not, it’s an absurd notion. It’s not an excuse blaming SISU for losing a lost generation of fans, it’s a fact.
On a general note, I’ve not stated anywhere that I feel I’m ashamed of other people going into Sixfields. What I’ve said is that I personally can’t understand it and I would personally feel ashamed of myself for going. I recall some other poster saying he went for the first time and felt dirty afterwards.
