Have we gone about as far as we can go ?

[Lister]

This is a two-way challenge - one where, as I see it, fans have a major role simply by supporting and encouraging friends to start attending matches in large numbers, to show to the Club that we are up for the ride.

Can't argue with any of that Chris, and this two way challenge isn't one that will happen instantly like the playstation generation want it to.

We're not doomed because two players from the Conference days are off!

 

[Burvs]

This is a very interesting question and the extent of ambition is funamental to the answer.

It would appear that Tisdale and the Board are ambitious and would like to progress further up the league ladder. The think that their stated ambition is to taste Championship football and subsequently become established at that level.

As always, finance will be a critical factor and essentially the generation of income.

As a Trust owned Club, income has to be generated from commercial income and gate revenues. It's the second aspect that is important in the forthcoming years and the question is whether there is sufficient support to significantly increase gate revenue

I know that people dismiss the similarities with Norwich, but Exeter has almost the same demographic structure to that City. If we want to look at a possible support model, Norwich may be a good starting point, to see how they increased their support levels. How far we can go will almost wholly be determined by the level of actual support provided to the Club, by people paying through the gate. Tisdale, the coaches, players and back room staff have given us every incentive to support the Club in numbers and generate real income - the opportunity now is for the support to grow signficantly in the very near future and show that we have the ambition to match the Club.

This is a two-way challenge - one where, as I see it, fans have a major role simply by supporting and encouraging friends to start attending matches in large numbers, to show to the Club that we are up for the ride.

Good post and I can see the similarites with Norwich with 2 exceptions, they have got a decent ground that is supporter friendly to both home and away and they have big names on their board that injects cash. Its a big shame that the one person in Exeter that seems willing to pump money into a sport favours the oval ball.

 

[Red the Paper]

Of course we havent gone as far as we can go.

Like most on here I hate rugby and wouldn't be seen dead watching the Chiefs, however a few years ago they played in a sh*t ground in front of hundreds. Years later somebody with vision saw them play in the Premiership and in Europe. The stadium was moved, sponsorship flowed, the crowds came in (not back because their crowds were always low) now they are looking at a 20000 stadium.

We have to follow the same example. Maybe the Trust has taken us as far as we can go in its current guise, but if WE CONTINUE WITH LIMITED BELIEFS WE WILL ALWAYS ACHIEVE LIMITED SUCCESS. We can go as far as we want to go. If we see ourselves play in the Premiership what is to stop us achieving that, apart from ourselves

 

[[email protected]]

There is little to suggeset that Exeter is like Norwich as a City in terms of Support.Norwich for the last 50 years years have flirted with the top divisons reached cup finals played in Europe and as recent as 20 years finished 3 rd in the premiership had international footballers and made millions pound transfers. The City of Norwich may well be similer to Exeter but the surrounding area has large towns like Wisbeach,Kings Lynn.Yarmouth.There are no big rugby sides only Ipswich to compete with football for the whole area.During this time Norwich have have built up a great fan base not just local,With Man utd , liverpool and recently Arsenal, Norwich city shirts are always to be seen in Cambridge.We could say the same as small towns like Burnley small Cities and towns will now struggle to build up massive fan base due to the premiership ,I would put us more in the bracket of Carlisle in terms of fan base and area.
If there was only one club in Devon(God forbid ) as Norwich is the only club in Norlfolk I would expect there to be a the same amount of support.

 

[happygrecian]

Playing in the Prem? Isn't that the pot at the end of the rainbow that the Gargoyles foolishly chased? Where did that land them?

 

[Ecfc man]

Answer to the question is yes and no. We are where we are because of one man. He is going to be very difficult to replace, far more so than finding talented cheap players. Statistically he is irreplaceable and over 50% through his time at the club. We are self limiting as a trust run club and our income/outgoings rank us as League 2. That's our financial and spiritual habitat. The likelihood of funding a higher team in the next division with the current arrangements is extremely unlikely without big changes both on and off the field. The biggest plus for us is that we are not funding massive ground redevelopment retrospectively- the undoing of so many other clubs., but there is always Scunthorpe.

 

[EX4 6PX]

Yes we have. ABOUT as far as we can go. The difficult thing at City is keeping a good team together for long enough to have a real go at reaching the Championship. Bosman and the resulting shorter contracts make it more difficult to build a team, whether you are developing your own players or taking on Premiership cast-offs. That is not to say that we can't go higher, just that I honestly think we would struggle to survive more than a season one division up.

I am amazed that Brighton haven't had their best players poached this month, given they are in the shop window, but maybe they are in a stronger financial position than us.

I have followed City for a long time and its best not to forget that these are the good times.

 

[Alistair20000]

There is little to suggeset that Exeter is like Norwich as a City in terms of Support.Norwich for the last 50 years years have flirted with the top divisons reached cup finals played in Europe and as recent as 20 years finished 3 rd in the premiership had international footballers and made millions pound transfers. The City of Norwich may well be similer to Exeter but the surrounding area has large towns like Wisbeach,Kings Lynn.Yarmouth.There are no big rugby sides only Ipswich to compete with football for the whole area.During this time Norwich have have built up a great fan base not just local,With Man utd , liverpool and recently Arsenal, Norwich city shirts are always to be seen in Cambridge.We could say the same as small towns like Burnley small Cities and towns will now struggle to build up massive fan base due to the premiership ,I would put us more in the bracket of Carlisle in terms of fan base and area.
If there was only one club in Devon(God forbid ) as Norwich is the only club in Norlfolk I would expect there to be a the same amount of support.

Norwich have 20,550 season ticket holders and a waiting list ! We cannot aspire to that, or anything close to it.

 

[Chris Phillips]

I used Norwich as an example.

Obviously, some Clubs have a football "history" that we cannot match but that is our (Club and Supporters) challenge.

I'm unclear what the supporter ambition is. Do we accept mid table League 1 as our natural position or aspire to a solid Championship position say in 10 years time.

As I alluded to previously, I think that supporter mindset and ambition, under the current ownership model, will determine a large part of our future position.

If we attracted say an average crowd of 6,500 a season, and built on this season by season, the management and playing staff (existing and potential) would see a huge, exciting future, encouraging them to stay or join a progressive Club.

 

[elginCity]

If we attracted say an average crowd of 6,500 a season, and built on this season by season

Big 'if' Chris.

The last two seasons we've played some of the best football I've seen from any City team, it really is good to watch and sporting locals are well aware of that by now. Throw in 2 Wembley visits and promotion to the mix too.

With the likes of Leeds, Norwich, Southampton, Huddersfield and Charlton playing us in the league at the Park, we're still averaging a crowd that's over three thousand shy of capacity in our existing little ground.

Supporters can only do so much, like encouraging a friend, but if this team doesn't capture the imagination of East Devon football fans enough to want to watch regularly, I can't imagine what will.