Wembley - Just a day out?

[Smiffy]

The question you have to ask yourself (And I can see both sides here) is do you want a bit more excitement on a weekly basis, playing bigger clubs, a couple of derbies, some big crowds, big stadiums etc. Or do you want a once in a lifetime trip to Wembley.

For me personally I would like more excitement every week. That is our bread and butter. I have had it with the same old **** teams in League 2. I need a change and something to look forward to next season, that will get my passion going again.

That said, of course I would love a trip to Wembley. It will be a great day whatever. But, not over more excitement on a weekly basis.

 

[southend4ever]

But in 107 years we have always been a lower league club. The chances are therefore that we will be for many years to come. Only 44 clubs can be in the top 2 divisions and there are probably 50-60 with stronger claims to stay in them than us.

That's the reality of supporting Southend United. We aren't big or very good. We go in the bad times and exist for the rare, great moments. If people argued promotion is better because the day we get promoted is an equally great day amongst the ****, I'd be more inclined to agree.

I am all for supporting Southend beyond my years though. As I said previously I want the club to be in a good place for many hundreds of years to come. Once we die, providing there is no after life, we won't care, but presuming life continues then to have Southend continue would be brilliant for other fans to get involved in these outrageously epic debates.

Why accept normality? Lets aim high!

**** it promotion and silverware. I'll take that.

 

[dannypav]

This has turned into a decent debate , with some good points from both sides of the argument.
SUFC at Wembley would be fantastic , I think we all agree on that....................... don't we ?
But to get promoted and hopefully establish ourselves at a higher level on a regular basis must bring more long term benefits - higher attendances and increased match day revenue , better standard of opposition , attracting better players etc

 

[southend4ever]

The question you have to ask yourself (And I can see both sides here) is do you want a bit more excitement on a weekly basis, playing bigger clubs, a couple of derbies, some big crowds, big stadiums etc. Or do you want a once in a lifetime trip to Wembley.

For me personally I would like more excitement every week. That is our bread and butter. I have had it with the same old **** teams in League 2. I need a change and something to look forward to next season, that will get my passion going again.

That said, of course I would love a trip to Wembley. It will be a great day whatever. But, not over more excitement on a weekly basis.

Or in our case perhaps twice in a season :winking:

 

[Jam_Man]

But in 107 years we have always been a lower league club. The chances are therefore that we will be for many years to come. Only 44 clubs can be in the top 2 divisions and there are probably 50-60 with stronger claims to stay in them than us.

That's the reality of supporting Southend United. We aren't big or very good. We go in the bad times and exist for the rare, great moments. If people argued promotion is better because the day we get promoted is an equally great day amongst the ****, I'd be more inclined to agree.

Thing is that outlook is the same as someone saying Wembley is just a day out.

Being a football fan and not caring about being at Wembley is the same for me as not wanting to get promoted. Football without the will to win and get promoted and win cups is pointless.

Saying promotion isnt important because we will always be a lower league side makes turning up to games redundant. Its the hope and dream of progressing that makes it all worthwhile, however unrealistic those hopes and dreams may be.

 

[Kent Shrimper]

Ive wanted out of this god forsaken league as much as the next man, but watching Southend United at the home of football and being so close. Give me the mickey mouse cup every day

 

[dannypav]

I am all for supporting Southend beyond my years though. As I said previously I want the club to be in a good place for many hundreds of years to come. Once we die, providing there is no after life, we won't care, but presuming life continues then to have Southend continue would be brilliant for other fans to get involved in these outrageously epic debates.

Why accept normality? Lets aim high!

**** it promotion and silverware. I'll take that.

Have you forgotten about our Chairman ?

 

[Smiffy]

This has turned into a decent debate , with some good points from both sides of the argument.
SUFC at Wembley would be fantastic , I think we all agree on that....................... don't we ?
But to get promoted and hopefully establish ourselves at a higher level on a regular basis must bring more long term benefits - higher attendances and increased match day revenue , better standard of opposition , attracting better players etc

Yep and for the longevity of our club, it is without doubt the only option. We have to go up this season. I dread to think of the consequences of not doing so. No Wembley trip will change that.

Cashflow, cashflow, cashflow....

 

[Grayson]

Thing is that outlook is the same as someone saying Wembley is just a day out.

Being a football fan and not caring about being at Wembley is the same for me as not wanting to get promoted. Football without the will to win and get promoted and win cups is pointless.

Saying promotion isnt important because we will always be a lower league side makes turning up to games redundant. Its the hope and dream of progressing that makes it all worthwhile, however unrealistic those hopes and dreams may be.

We are 9th and more likely to not get promoted this season.

We are 1-0 up and are 90 minutes away from Wembley if we avoid defeat. That's more likely than not.

Promotion absolutely is important, and those days have been amongst the best as a Shrimper, certainly preferred to drawing at Chelsea.

For me, this season, Wembley is more important, because it is much more attainable than it ever has been, well, since before my time in the Anglo-Italian cup. League 1 isn't. Doesn't mean every season is that way.

 

[CC51DAS]

Give me regular league games against Orient, Col Ewe, Coventry, Sheff Utd, Wolves, Ipswich, Bolton, Birmingham, Charlton etc (all possibles of course) and a bit more of a general buzz on a weekly basis. Over a one off, one day glamour trip to Wembley.

I think on balance I am with you Smiffy on this one. In other circumstances I might be inclined to go for Wemberley and the memories but if I have to choose one or the other I believe that promotion this year is absolutely vital to the continued survival of this club, as I fear that support will drop off quite significantly if another year of League 2 is on offer.

I say this because League 2 next season is going to be absolutely dire. When you look at the teams likely to go out of this league and who will replace them, then we are going to face a huge number of long-distance run-arounds* and be virtually bereft of local rivalry. Contrast that with League 1 next season, which as Smiffy says will be full of great fixtures for a club of our ilk.

And in saying this I am not thinking so much of 'fairweather' supporters like myself, as I now pick my matches instead of toughing out the whole season; rather I am thinking of the likes of ESB who, as he says, travel the country through thick and thin - I salute you all.

* word usage for the benefit of the over-50ies on here :)

That just about sums it up for me.

Let's be honest with eachother here, supporting Southend United is not much better than a swift kick to the testes. When we're not trembling with fear because that last letter hitting the doormat might be a tax bill, we're bemoaning the fact that Drewe Broughton still exists. We're forced to travel to each and every northern outpost this country has every other week of the year to be charged £20 to watch desperately poor officials mediate between two desperately poor teams in a dilapidated stadium that could cave in at any moment, whilst contracting third degree frostbite and any one of a number of diseases that have been eradicated south of Watford. If you're here for the glory, then you're either lost or severely ****ing mistaken.

A trip to Wembley, however, validates all of that. It makes those jaunts worthwhile. I'd be delighted to see Drewe don the blue if he was walking out of the tunnel at Wembley whilst doing so. In the last decade I've seen us topple Manchester United, win the league and, without the hugely unlikely help of a Sheikh with deep pockets, play at the highest level possible for ourselves. The only thing left that we could possibly do is win at Wembley, and that's the chance being presented by this.

If you're dismissing that as a mere day out, then I strongly suspected you're here for the wrong reasons.

 

[Cricko]

I Suppose I am kind of selfish in my response of wanting to reach Wembley this year, but why not, I have followed this team since 1967 so I doubt we will get so close again in my lifetime.For sure that is not guaranteed but in the year my mate Canvey Shrimper passed on I want it as much in his memory as mine.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

I Suppose I am kind of selfish in my response of wanting to reach Wembley this year, but why not, I have followed this team since 1967 so I doubt we will get so close again in my lifetime.For sure that is not guaranteed but in the year my mate Canvey Shrimper passed on I want it as much in his memory as mine.

I thought you was at Wembley in 1930? :whistling:

 

[Uncle Leo]

1. What if, as is likely we will be playing another L1 side, we lose? That glory still good enough ? (Personally just playing there will be great).

2. If we do go and even win, if we then finish 9th how many people will say "oh thats ok we won the JPT Im happy to be in League Two" ?

The JPT final will be a great memory to have, but fans will be more peeved come the end of season if we dont go up and win the cup than the other way around.

1) Defeat would be disappointing as I've seen us lose two of these finals and am bored of that now

2) Likewise, I don't want us to be in L2 and I'm also aware that continuing to be so could be financially ruinous for the club. But if, come the end of May, 'all' I have to take from my 28th season as a Southend fan is a win in a Wembley final then I'll be cool with that.

 

[Jam_Man]

We are 9th and more likely to not get promoted this season.

We are 1-0 up and are 90 minutes away from Wembley if we avoid defeat. That's more likely than not.

Promotion absolutely is important, and those days have been amongst the best as a Shrimper, certainly preferred to drawing at Chelsea.

For me, this season, Wembley is more important, because it is much more attainable than it ever has been, well, since before my time in the Anglo-Italian cup. League 1 isn't. Doesn't mean every season is that way.

We are 9th but if we had won on Tuesday we would be 3rd. We are still very much in the mix.

We are just as likely to get to Wembley and lose.

 

[southend4ever]

We are 9th and more likely to not get promoted this season.

We are 1-0 up and are 90 minutes away from Wembley if we avoid defeat. That's more likely than not.

Promotion absolutely is important, and those days have been amongst the best as a Shrimper, certainly preferred to drawing at Chelsea.

For me, this season, Wembley is more important, because it is much more attainable than it ever has been, well, since before my time in the Anglo-Italian cup. League 1 isn't. Doesn't mean every season is that way.

We are 2 points off the promotion places!!!

I'd be interested to know what your view was before a ball was kicked at the start of the season!? At which point you could have had perhaps a fair assesment and made an unbiased decision that wasn't based on how things stand at this very moment.

 

[Prawn]

Well as others have previously stated, when things are looking bad for Southend these boards light up like a Christmas tree, when we're going well it's a lot quieter. I suppose that is our fears coming out.

The majority of the posters here are lucky that you get more of a chance to see Southend play, myself exiled in Australia I rarely get to see them play, apart from a few times on satellite telly here recently.

Yes, promotion would help finances, to a lesser extent so would a trip to Wembley. Before we think of Wembley and promotion we have a game we need to win tomorrow, this will have a big bearing on what is going to happen next Tuesday and for the rest of the season.

We just need to keep on trying to win each and every game that we are presented with. If we're lucky that might include a trip to Wembley, if not we'll just have to keep on for promotion.

It's a glass half full no matter how dark things look! If that includes a trip to Wembley that's memorable, if not we'll just have to keep on dreaming.

 

[Grayson]

We are 2 points off the promotion places!!!

I'd be interested to know what your view was before a ball was kicked at the start of the season!? At which point you could have had perhaps a fair assesment and made an unbiased decision that wasn't based on how things stand at this very moment.

It would be a tougher decision.

If we were 1 point from promotion with one game to play, which is the equivalent of this JPT situation in terms of chance, absolutely it would be a tougher decision.

 

[Beefy]

In my opinion this is essential short term vision versus long term vision.

I am long term and that is why I want promotion so much more and will always care much more for promotion than JPT.

I agree it's short-term vs long term but I think your position is the short term one. I'm thinking long term. As ESB said, this is a chance at validation and payback for all the crap football and disappointment of years or decades of supporting this club. Concentrating on what division we're in next year seems extremely short-term thinking.

This for me too.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see my side play at Wembley. But the most important thing is league football and I'm not sure I can bare a 4th season in League 2!!!

But you will bare it. As you will bare the other 40-odd seasons that we'll spend in this division in your lifetime.

 

[shrimperjon]

My thread initially was asking about how people saw the whole Wembley day out, its importance largely. To me it remains a dream, BUT, i would also love the promotion. A chance to take on Col U, Orients, Brentford etc is very appealing. However, im thinking more about the immediate future and the question of players fitness.

If we risk Phillips and Barker tomorrow, do we get promoted? - Answer No, but we may get three points that help get us promoted, however, depending on what happens for the rest of the season the three points could be irrelevant. Also they may aggrevate the injuries further.

If we rest Phillips and Barker, are they lightly to be fit for Wednesday? - Answer Yes, and the chance to help the club get to Wembley and one of the biggest games in the clubs history. Therefore i suggest that PS may not play them tomorrow.

Lets face it we would all love to get promoted and play at Wembley, if we were betting men then the likelehood is that neither will happen...but we can still for a short while dream!!

 

[Smiffy]

I agree it's short-term vs long term but I think your position is the short term one. I'm thinking long term. As ESB said, this is a chance at validation and payback for all the crap football and disappointment of years or decades of supporting this club. Concentrating on what division we're in next year seems extremely short-term thinking.



But you will bare it. As you will bare the other 40-odd seasons that we'll spend in this division in your lifetime.

Of course, most of us will bare it. There will be quite a drop-off though I fear next season, should we fail to go up.

But, will the club bare it. That is the worrying aspect.