Not necessarily numbers as a standalone disappointment. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I'd always hoped that at some point it would snowball and the mentality would become infectious and spread throughout the stand and club. Maybe it was illusions of grandeur but I'd always invisioned us eventually working something out with the club leading to us having a dedicated section near the front where we could lead the stand all game every game. We'd be more visible, more approachable and have more influence over the atmosphere... More people would get more tightly involved, and the whole scene would catch fire. I don't feel this was ever really close to being a reality, ten years on we are still crammed in at the back of block 19. And without sounding like I'm having a dig out at our fans, I don't think the mentality ever really spread out of block 19 and across the stand quite like some other groups in the country have managed to influence happening at their clubs. Numbers have remained similar but it's more a case of a continuing cycle of lads wanting to get involved, realising that actually the hassle of the whole thing actually outweighs the enjoyment of it and they slowly drift away over time (case in point - me; I've been to three games in the past two years, there's a hell of a lot more to life than designing, making, painting, hanging flags etc, no matter how much you ultimately love your club)
We will never work something out being allowed near the front, a combination of not wanting to relocate existing ST holders and the fact the club can't really be seen encouraging standing. We tried moves to the sides where it was sparser in regards to existing ST holders and by doing so just alienated ourselves from the small block of other singers in the middle. And now the lads can't even just hang up some flags on the back wall without it becoming a tirade of meetings and beurocracy. Align this with the age of the current lads who've been running things, early 20s, and I imagine they're probably feeling similar to what I felt like towards the end of Appleton's time at the club; ie 'if this idea we've been trying to imbed hasn't taken off yet, with all the amazing things that have happened in the years since 2009, then it probably never is, and I've given more than I probably should have to try and get it to flourish, however now I wanna put that effort into other experiences in my life'. And that's how I felt after a promotion season and a fantastic year in league 1 with Appleton! So for everyone involved to be feeling similar with the current state of affairs at the club then I dont blame them at all for calling it a day.
Reading everyone's messages makes me proud that myself and the other founder members of Giallo Esercito 09 (remember them? Some dodgy Italian and a fearsome skull for a badge) built the group into what it became, with the second wave of inspiration coming from the 'new gen' TBFUTH, coallescing with what we already had into the OU09 of the past few years. It is sad it never quite become what we'd dreamed, but enjoy the memories, don't be sad it's over, be pleased that it happened.