I must have been away for a while as I had to re-register for the forum!! As one of the founders back in 2009 it's interesting coming back on and reading the comments having been away for so long. I can count the games on one hand that I have been to in the last 5 years, my job to begin with meant it was impossible to attend, but the more games I missed the more I realised I didn't actually miss it. Having only missed 7 games home and away in the 7 years before it was actually a welcome break to take a step away from it, and have something to make that decision for me. I can understand why the group has decided to call it a day, it's no easy job, and a pretty thankless one at that. Certainly a lot more to it than just having enough of hanging banners up on the back wall - although things like this certainly don't help, all they do is just make the match day a lot less enjoyable than it can be. It's when a match day becomes a chore, often the match itself can be painful enough, let alone having several hours either side of the match and evenings for weeks leading up to a big display being taken up by preparation. For me one of the most demoralising things is the fact the group never grew, it never really took off. Looking back at the early days, it was just a few of us, 16 years old most of us, so I can understand why people wouldn't want to get involved to begin with, but as things progressed and we all grew older, the interest never really grew either. There was the second wave of people who have been flying the flag for the last few years, but apart from that it never took off and got fresh blood involved in the group to share out the work. There has probably only been 5 people in the 10 years that it's been active that have done the majority of behind the scenes work and that will eventually take it's tool. It's heartwarming to read all the comments on here, but also frustrating at the same time. This is no way a dig at the fan base or anything like that, but reading the comments, there was obviously a lot of respect for the group and people appreciated what it achieved and it's a shame they never got involved more hands on. Ultimately the group was what the fans made it to be, it could have been as big as it wanted if people got involved, just unfortunately it never got enough people interested enough for it to snowball. The people involved are some what responsible as well, perhaps the group was never seen as approachable enough and people were put off about coming over for the first time. There is lots of reasons why I'm sure, but for me, that's a big factor, when you picture it being something and after 10 years it still isn't then calling it a day is the right thing to do. If the group is noticeably missed then perhaps it will inspire a new set of people to start something, who knows. The age of the majority of members never helps either, as it's the time where people get proper jobs, uni etc, and decisions have to be made. For me I don't really miss it, there is a couple of aspects but they are mainly social, and you can do that on a saturday without having to go and stand in a 3 sided stadium and enjoy yourself a lot more. Unfortunately it's just one of those things that has run it's course, I don't believe there is any big reason for it to happen now, just a combination of lots of little things that make sense for it to finish on a high rather than be dragged on.
There was some good times for sure, the early days in non league were some of the best i've ever had and the memories will last a life time. Fair play to the lads who continued to fly the flag. I can't believe that something we started 10 years ago actually achieved as much as it did.
OU09 x