1,000+ tickets sold.

It's a fixture that has been relegated to a reserve game against a Chelsea B team. I personally have no interest in it. If you want to go, that's your choice, but when the Premier League start saying to the Football League "hey, so the Checkatrade Trophy was a success, here's a few more quid if we can have our B teams within your structure", don't start crying when one of those teams puts the very existence of our own in danger. Have no doubt, they will put this back on the agenda if they think attitudes towards them are perceived to be softening.
 
We get a thousand fans at home for this competition so it’s not really a stunning number of away fans, it’s virtually free to get in, if it was an FA cup game we could take 30,000 at £5.

The people I know going it’s their second game of the season, it’s a day out in London and a chance to go Stamford bridge for next to nothing.

Also it’s been a dead season for attractive fixtures, so even a midweek game in the ex paint pot against whatever team Chelsea assemble from the 627 players who are not in the first team squad but also not out on loan has a bit more appeal.
Haven't their first team got a cup game tomorrow? Yep we have too v ardley, whereas they play Arsenal in a semi final....it .may actually be mainly u21s in tonights squad , though as @holdsteady says they can still field quite a few non English overage full internationals, after all they 'only have 40 players out on loan currently....up the manor;)
 
I'm totally embarrassed as well to be honest.

But if you want to see the future - watching us play against reserve teams in empty stadiums, then crack on.

You’re embarrassed that people want to go and support the Oxford Utd first team?

Strange.

The opposition was irrelevant to me, i went because I wanted to support my team.

What you should be more embarrassed about is the way some our “supporters” cheered one of our players getting taken off.....
 
You’re embarrassed that people want to go and support the Oxford Utd first team?

Strange.

The opposition was irrelevant to me, i went because I wanted to support my team.

What you should be more embarrassed about is the way some our “supporters” cheered one of our players getting taken off.....

I'm embarrassed that people accept this competition - which is a precursor for B teams in the football league.
 
Bit of a dilemma for you. Fans who went tonight are 'proper fans', but if they cheer a substitution they are not.

Not really a dilemma as I’ve not said anyone went tonight is a proper fan....unless you can show me where this was written?

What I said was that I find it strange that someone would want to go and support their team, fair enough I think?

Just because I went doesn’t make a better fan than anyone else.

I’m also pretty sure I never said those who cheer a substitution aren’t real fans did I?

Just that it’s embarressing behaviour.

No problem with being called out about anything but at least call me out on something I have actually said. :)
 
I'm embarrassed that people accept this competition - which is a precursor for B teams in the football league.

It won’t make a difference whether people go or not.

But this is an old argument so not really any point going over it again if for no other reason than mine and your opinions on it are irrelevant when it comes to decision time.

The only thing that will make a difference is whether the money offered to clubs to vote it in is considered enough by those who cast the vote.
 
It won’t make a difference whether people go or not.

But this is an old argument so not really any point going over it again if for no other reason than mine and your opinions on it are irrelevant when it comes to decision time.

The only thing that will make a difference is whether the money offered to clubs to vote it in is considered enough by those who cast the vote.
Guess what? OUFC voted to return to the old format.

Going against what the club voted for? Bizarre.
 
Guess what? OUFC voted to return to the old format.

Going against what the club voted for? Bizarre.

It’s not bizarre though, while the club treat it as first team fixture (which the team selections over the last two seasons suggests they do) I will go and support them if I am able to.

If the club didn’t want any part there’s no reason why they couldn’t ensure they were out of it as early as possible by selecting youth team players and swallowing any fine given for this (just as Luton did last season despite the fact they continued to get through)

But as I said, my opinion and indeed yours are irrelevant.

What matters is the money the clubs are offered, if they believe it to be enough to buy their votes it will go ahead, if they don’t then it won’t.
 
So if Chelsea U21s play Shrewsbury in the final........... that won`t need many seats allocated!! lol
 
I do find it odd that some fans see this competition as the death of lower league football, based on the assumption that Premier B teams will soon be playing in our divisions via this tournament. I cannot see that happening. The reasons behind the tournament are good, allowing teams the opportunity to win something and play at Wembley, though that no longer has the appeal it once had.
If football dies there will be other reasons such as the real abomination trophy The Champions League,or should that read European League 1, the millions or is that billions being ploughed into the Premier League and nowhere else, the influx of second rate foreigners into the game restricting the opportunities for British players, the ludicrous loan system which allows the top clubs to hoover up every player they can, allowing T.V. to dictate how our game should be just to please the rest of the world. Bribing clubs with loose change and not seeing any wrong in doing so.
Never mind some countries national debt being paid to players and clubs ignoring their fans and our heritige by insulting the greatest cup competition in the world in the hope that they finish 17th and see that as success.
I am dead set against the so called Under 23/21/ B teams being allowed in, not because it is a precurser to changing the League structure but because the morons in control of our game see it as a chance to give our younger British players match experience and that worries me. Absolutely Harvey, those that play the 2 or 3 games each season will benefit enormously. Pretty certain the reintroduction of The Combination and Central League would be better though, but then my opinion and ideas do not count as I am a football fan and have loved the game for the last 50 years. Football started to die for me one Sunday when Arsenal played Chelsea and not one aspect apart from the location and referee were British. Owners, managers, players including both benches were non british. I am not against other nationalities playing here but long for the return of limiting numbers.
I will never knock anybody for wanting to support the team in whatever competition and I fail to see why anybody should. More than ever we should be showing our support however hard that is.
 
Even less if they play Fleetwood. 3,000 attendance.

And actually, in retrospect, that is the best thing that could possibly happen for people who hate the idea of Premier League B teams.

If the final was Oxford vs. Luton, or Portsmouth vs. Bradford, they'd get another 60-70,000 crowd in the final and everyone would think it was a fun day out at Wembley, and noone would take much notice.

If the final does turn out to be Chelsea U21s vs. Fleetwood, and they get a low four figure crowd - that's going to turn some more heads
 
Unless the FL can convince the FA that this competition is in the interest of the national team and young players and come up with dirt cheap tickets/loads of freebies for schools, like they did when a woman said football game was held there. They don’t need a 60,000 crowd to claim it as a success, half that will do.

I am beginning to wonder if the success of the big prem clubs in it could be the best thing for the likes of us anyway. They might pay good money to enter the FL but there is no way any league one or two clubs can compete with even the reserves of those clubs, Chelsea’s wage bill dwarfed ours last night, and that’s without 40 players on loan. It’s short term money to lose at least six spots in the championship/league one (probably more) some clubs will be voting to be out of the football league altogether.
 
And actually, in retrospect, that is the best thing that could possibly happen for people who hate the idea of Premier League B teams.

If the final was Oxford vs. Luton, or Portsmouth vs. Bradford, they'd get another 60-70,000 crowd in the final and everyone would think it was a fun day out at Wembley, and noone would take much notice.

If the final does turn out to be Chelsea U21s vs. Fleetwood, and they get a low four figure crowd - that's going to turn some more heads
100% correct. I really do hope the attendance at the final this time round is absolutely pitiful and the competition is thrown in the bin where it belongs.
 
Shaun Harvey used the attendance last year to prove it was a goer, so interested to see what he does this year if it's under 10k. Probably come up with an excuse rather than admit it was an issue
 
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