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Has the love of your club gone?

I like many here have supported Southend for many years. I have been to over 600 games have been a season ticket holder and have followed the blues all over the Country. There are far more dedicated fabs than me i still however loved my club and going to Roots Hall was a highlight of the week.

It shames me to say that the love I had for my club has gone.i listened to the first half against Torquay and can honestly say that I didn't care how we performed or the result. When I realised we had lost to a last minute goal I didn't care. It was as though it was yet another expected betrayal. It feels similar to breaking up with a wife or girlfriend where you constantly fight and argue and then eventually give up.

Who do I blame - I'm not sure and to be honest I no longer care. Is it the Manager? Not sure Brown, Powell, Bond, Campbell and Molesely are not all bad managers. Is it the players, yes they have underperformed but we're they good enough in the first place. Is it RM - he obviously should take responsibility but he probably has the clubs best interest to heart.

I will still go to the odd game even if it feels like I am seeing a dieing relative in hospital taking their last breath.

I hope my love of my club returns - I do feel ashamed as to how I feel. I just believe we are on a downhill spiral that will lead to inevitable administration and then collapse.
Sums it up for me too. Blues have been my only team since 1970 but I am now 'out of love' with them. I can only hope that one day my love will return.
 
I like many here have supported Southend for many years. I have been to over 600 games have been a season ticket holder and have followed the blues all over the Country. There are far more dedicated fabs than me i still however loved my club and going to Roots Hall was a highlight of the week.

It shames me to say that the love I had for my club has gone.i listened to the first half against Torquay and can honestly say that I didn't care how we performed or the result. When I realised we had lost to a last minute goal I didn't care. It was as though it was yet another expected betrayal. It feels similar to breaking up with a wife or girlfriend where you constantly fight and argue and then eventually give up.

Who do I blame - I'm not sure and to be honest I no longer care. Is it the Manager? Not sure Brown, Powell, Bond, Campbell and Molesely are not all bad managers. Is it the players, yes they have underperformed but we're they good enough in the first place. Is it RM - he obviously should take responsibility but he probably has the clubs best interest to heart.

I will still go to the odd game even if it feels like I am seeing a dieing relative in hospital taking their last breath.

I hope my love of my club returns - I do feel ashamed as to how I feel. I just believe we are on a downhill spiral that will lead to inevitable administration and then collapse.
My love for the blues will never falter. But my question is whether I want to spend money on the lack of entertainment
 
Yes I love the club as a symbol but not the club as it is now.

I think when you're no longer hurt by losing games that is a tell tale sign of how far we have fallen in such a short space of time. I actually laughed on Saturday when we conceded to another, "low cross", as the tweet suggested.

We are 7 games into the season and I'm glad we have a weekend off. I'm already looking at the list of games I wanted to go to this season and crossing some off as it's not worth the travel. I'm even thinking about not going to Daggers as we will get absolutely pumped by them despite being 45 mins up the road!

Ron's not going anywhere fast which unfortunately mirrors our hopes for promotion back to the EFL.
 
I feel for all the fans that keep going to the games especially the away games this will turn toxic all that money spent on watching them concede every week
 
Thinking of the last 3 chairman, I think that could be leveled at Anton Jonson and uncle Vic too. I was never s Uncle Vic hater; he simply wasn't a people person. He defo left the club in a better state than he found it. Not a difficult task though after Anton. Ron has reigned over some of our best moments and most of the worst
Except he had to sell the ground and B&L to pay off the debts before the Banks wound us up , basically we were skint when he took us on and we were skint when he left
 
Fans will always try and score brownie points saying 'I'll always be there no matter what' as if they're trying to act like a better fan that you. These fans are also the same fans who also say 'Protesting isn't the right way to go about it' and 'Ron won't sell lets all give him a belly rub and sing him to sleep'. **** them guys, they are the exact reason why Ron has walked all over us and ruined anything good about the club. I literally pity you if you think this way.

In my eyes I've been a supporter since being a kid, a season ticket holder for 17 years (this is my first without one because of Ron), been to countless away games, spend god knows how much on merchandise, travel etc etc yet now I'm getting to the point where I feel like I need to stay away for a while. I go expecting to lose and to be utterly embarrassed yet again but even when that exact thing happens it still hurts so bad and doesn't get any easier. Ron has knocked nearly every bit of love out of me for the club and I hate that but I can't give putting myself in the situation where I'm going to get so angry about something and be in a bad mood Saturday afternoon until the following Wednesday, and repeat for a whole season.

I also feel extremely frustrated at so many of our fans who like I've touched on in my first paragraph, are just ok with sitting there doing nothing. Protest, maybe it won't do a thing BUT MAYBE IT WILL. We've seen Blackpool, Orient, Charlton and most recently Swindon do it and they've come out looking a hell of a lot better than before. To those people I say, grow a backbone and sort yourselves out, do something to help your club.

Final point from me, close The Shrimpers Trust. They've failed in every way!
 
I think I've caught the malaise from the "players" we put out every week, I just cant be bothered now. It was looking like rain on Tuesday evening so I couldnt be bothered to go.

Was hoping for so much better this season

Its the hope and expectation that kills you.
 
I can honestly say that I feel like sometimes I am past caring . Whether I have 'love' left for the club? I would say yes, but Southend United are a complete and utter laughing stock and things only ever seem like they can get worse. The perpetual stream of bad news doesn't even affect me in the way it has done over the last few years anymore, as there is never anything positive associated with the club these days and it has sadly become very much the norm. Even my Col Ewe supporting colleague doesn't wind me up when we lose anymore, as we both came to the conclusion we won't ever play each other again with the way we're heading. It has been said a billion times on this forum, but with Martin at the helm, which realistically he will be until we sink that far into the non-league abyss and ultimately into non-existence, nothing will ever change. I get more enjoyment going to watch Tilbury matches which shows how predictably awful we are. Not going to Roots Hall for a few seasons due to lockdown and then back for the Stockport fixture did give me a bit of a lift and some degree of (almost) hope for perhaps better times ahead, but inevitably, I got served the usual **** sandwich I'm used to when leaving the ground at 5 o'clock and that usual sinking feeling just came back with a vengeance. There are many of us who are loyal Southend supporters but basically have a West Ham/Tottenham/Chelsea to 'fall back on' if things go really tits up for Southend, but there are many of us who don't have the luxury, myself included, and that hurts. I used to pride myself of supporting a football league side and a non-league side, and I can't help but think Tilbury and Southend will be on par in five years time, that is if we still exist as a football club. In conclusion, Southend United aren't good for my mental health these days......
 
Fans will always try and score brownie points saying 'I'll always be there no matter what' as if they're trying to act like a better fan that you. These fans are also the same fans who also say 'Protesting isn't the right way to go about it' and 'Ron won't sell lets all give him a belly rub and sing him to sleep'. **** them guys, they are the exact reason why Ron has walked all over us and ruined anything good about the club. I literally pity you if you think this way.

In my eyes I've been a supporter since being a kid, a season ticket holder for 17 years (this is my first without one because of Ron), been to countless away games, spend god knows how much on merchandise, travel etc etc yet now I'm getting to the point where I feel like I need to stay away for a while. I go expecting to lose and to be utterly embarrassed yet again but even when that exact thing happens it still hurts so bad and doesn't get any easier. Ron has knocked nearly every bit of love out of me for the club and I hate that but I can't give putting myself in the situation where I'm going to get so angry about something and be in a bad mood Saturday afternoon until the following Wednesday, and repeat for a whole season.

I also feel extremely frustrated at so many of our fans who like I've touched on in my first paragraph, are just ok with sitting there doing nothing. Protest, maybe it won't do a thing BUT MAYBE IT WILL. We've seen Blackpool, Orient, Charlton and most recently Swindon do it and they've come out looking a hell of a lot better than before. To those people I say, grow a backbone and sort yourselves out, do something to help your club.

Final point from me, close The Shrimpers Trust. They've failed in every way!
Very well said. I was beginning to think that half the contributors to the zone were Martin’s family , business partners and close friends.

…..that man is the toxic cancer that has destroyed our club.
 
Actually, we've been at a low ebb for a mere three years. Three momentous years, it has to be said.
But it was only three years ago we finished 10th in League One.
Seems a life time, eh?
But how can I ditch the team that's given me so much pleasure for 58 years?
Sure, they've never been that good, but that's half the fun. When the good times come along, they really do feel the business.
I despise the Man Utd Exeter branch coach that chugs up the M6, and every other bandwaggoner supporting the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea because they win a lot.
I can't let go, nor will I.
I refuse to believe we can't rise again, because at the moment, hope is all we've got.
 
After more than 60 years a shrimper, yes, my love for the club has faded immeasurably over the past three years. You see, I am now of an age where I know the club I have loved nearly all of my life will never recover to what it once was within whatever time I have left on this planet. That hurts, so why should I continue to let its constant miserable failure cast a shadow on my life.

I try not to be judgmental of players or other staff at the football club because I prefer to think that everyone tries their best in whatever role they play. However, one has to question what has brought about this catastrophic decline. Some will blame the players, some the manager but along with many others I firmly believe the root of the problem is Ron Martin.

So, why do I lay the blame at Martin’s door? Well, to begin with, RM is not a football man and although he probably considers himself to have become one since his involvement with SUFC, he has not felt the same love for the club as most of us have over the course of our lives. He therefore does not feel the same pain as us when we look at our once proud club hovering above the relegation zone of the fifth tier of English football. During the course of our history, although we have never hit the pinnacle of footballing prowess, we have always been a proud club and as supporters we have been able to hold our heads high. Back in the late 1960s my father knew one of the directors of Scunthorpe United who told us they always enjoyed their visits to Roots Hall because we were a ‘proper football club’ with genuine history and always entertained our visitors with the utmost respect. I wonder what opinions the directors of other clubs hold for us now.

Many describe Ron as a property developer but in my opinion he is not. He is a property investor, a speculator if you like. The difference is a developer will buy property/land, develop it and make profit by selling or letting the completed development. Property investors are commonly quite happy to sit on the land/property they have acquired for many years because historically in this country, unless very unlucky, over time the investment appreciates in value.

I am not sure Ron fully understood what he was getting involved with by becoming the owner of a football club, he merely saw the opportunity to buy a potentially valuable site at a knock down price because of the football club’s debt at the time. Why else would a property man with no passion for football get involved with a football club? The value of the assets were greater than his investment so that appeared to be good business but I do not think he realised then that the finance required to run a football club would severely erode his apparent gains. Once he became aware he had to hatch a plan to rid himself of the burden of SUFC without sacrificing the object that had attracted him in the first place and so chasing the dream began. Setting SUFC up in a new stadium would make the club attractive to potential new owners and RM would have spin off gains from the associated development and, of course, Roots Hall. So, twenty years down the line, why has this not happened?

The problem, and this is pure conjecture on my part, is that RM is not a developer, does not have sufficient capital assets and has not had the right connections/influence to bring the significant development proposed to fruition. Maybe his demands have also been greedy when negotiating with parties who would have been interested in becoming involved with the project. I accept that over time he has been unlucky in respect of some issues outside of his control but the fact remains he has not delivered on his promises in a time frame that has seen many other football clubs obtain new stadia.

Ron does not have the financial clout to run a professional football club properly, at least not in liquid assets, this has been clear for a number of years now. He is though stubborn, perhaps avaricious and ego driven to a point where he would never be able to work in partnership with others who could share the financial burden. The consequences are that the reputation of the club has been severely damaged by his inability to settle his financial commitments on time such that we now hear rumours of agents advising players not to come to us.

Those that blame the players we have for our plight are failing to see, but for a few exceptions, this is the level of player ability Ron is able/willing to afford and if some players are being warned off from playing for us our options are hugely restricted. As for the manager, I am beginning to think that PB may have passed his shelf life and I do not like the vendettas he has with some players. The current squad is pretty much his but if the player recruitment choices are restricted by the reputation of the club perhaps he has only been able to bring in the best of the bad bunch available.

I am sorry, but Martin’s failure to bring his master plan to fruition, coupled with what appears to be incompetence in running a football club are what has led us to sink to the depth we now find ourselves. I see him as an ill-equipped person chasing a dream to suit his own agenda while trying to sell it to supporters of the football club as a benevolent gesture. Statistics show that only 2% of dream chasers fulfil their ambitions.
Excellent summary. Thanks.
 
Have been a Shrimper since a boy watching Billy Best and co and like many others when young did have a second Television club as I call them. Since the early 2000's I have stopped watching match of day so Southend was all I had to look forward too.
Cannot say that I will ever stop following the Blues unless they end up in the same league as Southend Manor, then I'll have to say it is over as I played for them lol
 
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