Interesting thread on Bentley's

[dandannieldanok]

As I stated in an earlier post though, attendances are down. People are walking away.

26,000 for the first game of last season, 21,000 for Middlesbrough. We haven't hit 23,000 yet. Where have the fans gone? This is with the seat exchange scheme which will always add a few extra bodies. The 20,000 or so that turn up now won't be coming to any games a new club would play but the 2-3,000 who came regularly last season but aren't this may fancy it on occasion. Not all together of course but if a third of the 3,000 who no longer feel able or willing to go to LCFC may fancy a game at a modest level for a fiver on occasion, especially if that club are heavily based on the club they support.

I admire you're optimism, but I think it would be a complete miracle if you could get anywhere near 1,000 part-time supporters, that is a hell of a lot of people.

[h1210]

As I stated in an earlier post though, attendances are down. People are walking away.

26,000 for the first game of last season, 21,000 for Middlesbrough. We haven't hit 23,000 yet. Where have the fans gone? This is with the seat exchange scheme which will always add a few extra bodies. The 20,000 or so that turn up now won't be coming to any games a new club would play but the 2-3,000 who came regularly last season but aren't this may fancy it on occasion. Not all together of course but if a third of the 3,000 who no longer feel able or willing to go to LCFC may fancy a game at a modest level for a fiver on occasion, especially if that club are heavily based on the club they support.

Think you've got this completely wrong here, the 2-3,000 who have disappeared are the 'wrong' 2-3,000. The people starting the other splinter groups tend to be part of the 'hardcore' who were long-term ST holders and gave up rather than more casual supporters who pick and choose which games to attend.

No matter what these Thai idiots do, another 10k will appear overnight if we get back to the prem.

[adam1]

What happened to Leicester United? I vaguely remember a club of that name who played in Blaby and I think I went to a friendly match United v City as well (and I got to have a kick around with Jamie Lawrence).

[Guest Bilo]

What happened to Leicester United? I vaguely remember a club of that name who played in Blaby and I think I went to a friendly match United v City as well (and I got to have a kick around with Jamie Lawrence).

Went bust in 1996. Played in Enderby I think.

[davieG]

Went bust in 1996. Played in Enderby I think.

Formally Enderby Town got as high as the Southern League a couple of Leagues below the top 4 I think.

I seem to recall they were set up by an ex Sunderland fan hence they played in red & white stripes - that could be bollocks though.

[CosbehFox]

Really though if you got three sponsors on board....you'd be looking at needing no more than 250 attendees at the bottom level of non-league. I believe Friar Lane's recent attendance for a home game was 16!

It would only work here in a phoenix club fashion as I mentioned plus with the FA's assistance, you wouldn't be that far down the pyramid.

[bluefox9er]

Good post,

I, like many people are torn because we all love our club but cannot/only just afford to pay the prices for a match.

+

I might be coming on a bit strong here but it bugs me to think that these new investors are only here to promote their business etc and don't really give a toss about our football club.

your'e not, they are and they don't.

[Sly]

I like the idea, in principle the idea works. I'm not sure if you'd get the backing required from within our current fan base to make the team a significant impact upon league football. What would set that team apart from any other other than the way it's funded?

I think the state of football in general is driving people away from watching it.

I ditched my season ticket a few years ago, mainly due to time restraints but I got sick of watching us play tosh football week in week out an an over inflated price. In all honesty we are still paying the price of footballs boom or bust attempt of teams trying to stay in the Premier League. We failed and have paid the price for it, such as teams like Southampton, Leeds, Forest, Luton, Wimbledon etc.

The Premier League is ruining football as teams try to stay in touch with the bigger clubs. Unless your a club with a Billionaire sugar daddy who's going to pump millions of wonga in, your never, ever realstically going to win the league. The Merseyside clubs have got to be careful, otherwise they could go the same way.

.... and yes, I've lost interets in football and Leicester City in general.

[Guest Bilo]

Thanks all for the replies, nice to see no-one's just dismissing the idea out of hand.

I'd like to point out I don't have plans or any idea how to set up such a club if I did, just interested to see how people would respond to such a venture. I understand the misgivings but honestly believe it could be done. Such a club would almost certainly never make the Football League or anything like that, which is probably a good thing as I wouldn't want to inadvertently set up a rival to LCFC, but could do reasonably well at or around Midland Alliance level or a division or two higher.

I genuinely admire the way that clubs have been set up by the fans for the fans, and would most definitely welcome one based in the city for City fans.

[Finnegan]

I think we should all become Aths fans. Shaun Wilkes barmy army!

[Sooper Steve's shin]

Man Utd get bought out by a family that puts them in massive debt.

Wimbledon get uprooted from their home borough to a new town 60 miles away.

Leicester City lose 6-1 in a league game in September.

I'm as annoyed as anyone by the last one, but is it really enough to think "sod it, let's form a breakaway club"?!

OK, we've had a couple of owners who are not the usual local business sorts that we've had for the previous 120 years, but we also have a stadium much more suited to our status and needs than 10 years ago and a new manager who is trying to make us play better football. We've got some of the best players outside the Premiership last season (Weale, Hobbs, Waghorn, King, even Fryatt in the early part of the season) and a midfielder who played four games in this summer's World Cup. And, against Cardiff (and, by all accounts, Coventry) we played some of the most attacking football we've played for years.

We've just played a team that's been through about five changes of ownership in the last year, could only name four substitutes against us, is stuck in a dilapidated old ground and is widely seen as a laughing stock. Remind me what there is to be disillusioned about, please.

[Guest Bilo]

Thought it was pretty obvious that the 6-1 defeat was not the reason for this but hey ho.

Reasons to be disillusioned are many. The way the club takes the fans for granted and expects us to pay whatever price hikes they feel like imposing and expect to sit quietly for the privilege, the forcing out of Pearson on the whim of a spoiled rich kid using our club as a play thing because he wanted a manager who was a Champions League winner as a player rather than a mediocre centre-back, the amount of debt the club is still saddled with, the general malaise in a sport dominated by the rich few, kick-offs moved to whatever time Sky feels will give them the highest TV audience share, overpaid footballers who care more about the pay cheque than the club, not exactly a great time to be a fan. Granted not all of these are the fault of Leicester City but there is no doubt that these issues exist at the club.

Football is nowhere near as fun as it used to be when you could stand on the Kop at Filbert Street for a couple of quid and sing your heart out for 90 minutes without someone jabbing you in the back telling you to sit down. I can honestly say that with everything going on at the club that I as a lifelong fan have no control over whatsoever that I've never felt more detached from the club than I do right now. The takeover has been shoddy and murky, the debt is growing every season and the fan is expected to pay for the financial incompetence of Mandaric and the current owners, but can have absolutely no say in the way the club is actually run. Doesn't it strike you as wrong that this is the case? The 6-1 defeat isn't the reason for my disillusionment, but is symptomatic of the reasons. A club run wholly for profit, exposure and financial gain without a thought for what actually works on the pitch or for the fans.

I know I'm not alone in this.

[lcfc_jme]

If I were allowed to play, I'd be involved.

Seriously though, good idea and all and could see it working if we were to be relegated again or the owners pulled out and left us in the shit, but as it stands I reckon it's just easier for people to turn up and moan about how bad instead of dropping it altogether.

[Alexikokopops]

Thanks all for the replies, nice to see no-one's just dismissing the idea out of hand.

I am. Absolutely no chance.

[darko2k7]

Didn't there used to be a Leicester united or at least there was when I was growing up in Leicester, wot ever happened to them ?

Edit just found this on them LEICESTER UNITED HISTORY

[davieG]

Didn't there used to be a Leicester united or at least there was when I was growing up in Leicester, wot ever happened to them ?

Have you not read the topic or at least the last page

[darko2k7]

im sorry read first page but got tired by the most of the second and just flicked through it

[Fosse Boy]

Get a few beers down Fosse Boy and this is all he talks about, Leicester Fosse 1884

Just because you're not a visionary.

Echo the sentiments of a few on here. Realistically the mentality of our fanbase (as with many fanbases in England) is not one which would be open to such a drastic form of protest. This idea would realistically only ever work as a phoenix club. Who knows, if football continues to eat itself then maybe such clubs will be the norm in a few years time though?