Taunton v Barrow FA Cup game

[HenneysKnee]

My advice from that ridiculously long post would be to anyone travelling make sure you look after your valuables, thieves are rife in the area

[McMark]

Latest from the Taunton site;
http://www.tauntontown.com/TTFC/Default.asp

[boyliegladbach]

It is nice to hear a few people above me defending the team I support: Taunton Town FC. Had I managed to log in before tonight then I fear that I would have written something more akin to a rant. It saddens me to read all of the disparaging comments and pressure being put on the Taunton Town officials both on here and on social media. I am just a fan and have little ‘insider’ knowledge but I want to give you an introduction to the club, hopefully set right some of the more hurtful things that have been said, and begin a more positive discussion for the next ten days until game day.

It is really late and I am personally having a shit time of it right now (since July I’ve had my motorbike, bicycle and – yesterday – mobile phone stolen) so I apologise if this comes over as a rant!

“Pull yer fingers out!”

Many people appear to feel that the club has acted rather slowly and incompetently. My view is that they have actually done a lot. No doubt I will miss out some stuff but, more or less, it looks like this:

18/10/16 – replay Hemel Hempstead, returned to Taunton around 2 am.
19/10/16 – the club handles live morning and evening news broadcasts from BBC and ITV.
21/10/16 – TV negotiations concluded and date, time and price of the game announced. Taunton says there will be no tickets.
22/10/16 – home game v Winchester City, Taunton now say there may be tickets but further talks are required with police.
23/10/16 – update on when the police are available.
25/10/16 – away to Yate Town, results of discussion with police announced.
26/10/16 – we sign a lad from Hereford, details of when tickets can be purchased released on Taunton website and sent to Barrow who will release them tomorrow.

To recap – in eight days the Taunton staff have staged three games, negotiated with Barrow and the BBC, consulted with the police and arranged for ticket sales. The club has never hosted a 1st Round game before, and has had to learn about and comply with the rules for Step 1 of the Pyramid. During that time there was a period of 1 day where it appeared, wrongly, to be pay at the gate.

The other delays (of 3 days each) were while the TV decision took place and while Taunton waited for the police to be available. Neither of those things is down to the people running Taunton Town FC.

The people in charge

So, about those people. There are, more or less, two of them. Two guys. One named Kevin and the other named Andy. Kevin is the CEO, Chairman and Groundsman. Andy is the Club Secretary. There are other people who perform valuable jobs at the club (see below) but in terms of substantive decisions being made it is just Kevin and Andy. This pair – like everyone else at the club – are volunteers. It has been posted on this thread that until recently Barrow AFC was run by volunteers. Given the size of your crowds, I presume it was more than 2?

The rest of the people

The people maketh the football club. There is the chap who does the turnstile and has done for as long as I can remember. The chap who sells the half-time draw and his wife who runs the club shop (with the help of their 2 little girls). The stewards who also put up and take down the goals and look after the changing rooms. The old couple who run the hospitality suite. The wife of the First Team Coach who is in charge of the bar. The Finance Director who applies a lifetime of training, for free, to balance the books. The Match Secretary who hasn't missed a game home or away in 39 years. The 90 year old Club President. There are many others too. I would mention the social media team who have been reading endless criticism this week, but until yesterday that was Kevin and Andy as well!

Taunton Town’s standards

There is an eagerness on this thread to call Taunton “farcical” and belittle us. So let me tell you about the standards set at this club. The new regime took over 3-4 years ago when Taunton was facing bankruptcy. Shortly afterwards our clubhouse burned down. Nevertheless, Taunton have achieved improved finishes in each of the past three seasons. We won the Somerset Premier Cup in 2013/14 and 2014/15. In 2014/15 we won the award for Best Pitch in the Southern League AND Best Pitch at Step 4 Nationally. In 2015/16 we again won the Southern League award and came runners up Nationally …and don’t forget that the Chairman is also the Groundsman and he works on the pitch every day. In 2014, we introduced an Under-18 side in association with a Sixth Form College in the area. We also now have youth teams acting as mascots at every home game.

Taunton Town have 10 players who have been first team regulars at National League level or above (Batley, L Irish, Kelly, Mitchell, Palmer, Staley, Trowbridge, Villis, White and Wright). Since 2013, Taunton Town have won or drawn against:

• Hampton and Richmond Borough
  Hemel Hempstead
  Truro City
  Walsall (friendly)
  Yeovil
  Hereford
  Bristol C (twice in friendlies)
  Torquay United (twice in friendlies)

This is a club run by a small band of people with high standards, and the criticism from some Barrow supporters is completely wide of the mark.

Example inaccuracies

Some of the inaccurate commentary on here shows how easy it is for human beings to make errors.

The post above me refers to “massive queues”. I am not criticising that poster, I just want to illustrate that people are talking without knowing facts. If you knew facts then you would know there was one queue not multiple queues. It also wasn’t massive. Earlier in the thread, someone pointed out that the match report said “at one point nearly down to the Fire Station”. So at its longest it was briefly almost the space from the white van to the black estate car in this (http://bit.ly/2ecxUNL) photo. I appreciate someone said they measured the distance on Google Maps and it was 150m, however Google Maps here shows it as around about 40m (http://bit.ly/2eHL9qB).

Someone posted about six turnstiles. Now you are all talking about six turnstiles. I can tell you the block we normally open is 2. There may be another 2 further down that touchline which have never been open (not sure about this) and the people in charge may have plans to use other entrances but I can assure you 6 is not the number. Yet that is the number lots of people have been citing.

There have been a few other inaccuracies, too.

Summing up

Put simply, it appears that it has been fun in this thread to gang up on Taunton Town. People post conjecture which is then taken up by others as fact, while yet other people post insults like “farcical” without even saying what exactly is the farce. This is supposed to have the magic of The FA Cup but that magic has seemed elusive in this thread and on social media. This is a shame and I am not sure why those individuals are doing it. Barrow is a non-league club. You are non-league fans. A bit of courtesy, humbleness and patience would not go amiss …and as game day approaches and we discuss the tie I will try to offer the same!

Any news on tickets? Taunton taking time over this.

[saltcellar]

According to the link above - Barrow FC will have their own ticket allocation so Barrow supporters should contact their club for further details on purchase arrangements
Let's see how quick we respond now and get the tickets available to be bought.

[Nigel Bamford]

Example inaccuracies

Some of the inaccurate commentary on here shows how easy it is for human beings to make errors.

The post above me refers to “massive queues”. I am not criticising that poster, I just want to illustrate that people are talking without knowing facts.

Someone posted about six turnstiles. Now you are all talking about six turnstiles. I can tell you the block we normally open is 2. There may be another 2 further down that touchline which have never been open (not sure about this) and the people in charge may have plans to use other entrances but I can assure you 6 is not the number. Yet that is the number lots of people have been citing.

I think it was me that said you had 5/6 turnstiles. I was at your game against Hemel (thoroughly enjoyable, by the way) and, I confess, I didn't count them so, if anything, I'm guilty of bigging you up! If it really is 2 turnstiles, though, that could cause difficulties. There isn't any other access to the ground, is there?

What you say about the queues is right - I rolled up at 2:15 and got in straight away, no problem at all. We all know what local press are like for taking one aspect of an event and making it sound like that's all that happened. Heaven knows, we've had plenty experience of that with our local rag.

[Wordsworth]

My advice from that ridiculously long post would be to anyone travelling make sure you look after your valuables, thieves are rife in the area

Hillarious, but I live in London.

To the 1 or 2 people saying it's a stupidly long post: it is - but given 14 pages of slating Taunton Town it is reasonable. It is only what you would expect from a 2-sided conversation over 14 pages, just condensed!

[Bingo]

It's not 14 pages of slating Taunton tho is it.

[The Tomahawk Kid]

26/10/16 – we sign a lad from Hereford...

I'm sure he'll receive a fine welcome from us all next Sunday...

Thanks for your in-put. I was wondering when a Taunton fan would eventually surface.
Taunton Tommy made a brief appearance but we think he was Morecambe in disquise

[Bingo]

I am guessing the club now have details of these tickets yet no announcement yet.

[barrowaberdeen]

We don't understand the 'Non League Family' now on Twitter

Nipps you desecrator of the real people's game!

There will be an announcement soon I think Bingo, worry not.

[Tauntontommy]

Wow. Your an arrogant bunch.
Our club is run by volunteers doing their best.

Some of the comments directed at our club via Twitter today have been shocking.

[Bennyfromormsgill]

more details on official website now

[saltcellar]

On the Barrow website.

Taunton Town FC V Barrow AFC Ticket Information
We are now taking applications for tickets for the Barrow AFC v Taunton Town FC Emirates FA Cup 1st round match on Sunday 6th November. Applications will be taken by phone, email or in the office and will close at 5pm on Saturday 29th October. Applicants will need to supply a name for each ticket applied for. Priority for tickets will be given to Season Ticket holders.
As tickets have not been delivered, tickets will be available to collect from 10am on Monday morning in the ticket office. Payment for the ticket must be made at the point of collection. Season ticket holders must bring their tickets as confirmation. Applying will not guarantee a ticket as numbers are limited to 300.

[Bingo]

How many season ticket holders do we have?
What about people that don't live in Barrow?
How many tickets can individuals reserve?
How do we even know the club have received the email as they don't bother to reply to them.

[Steelworks End]

Makes it difficult for exiles to get a ticket. Ordering by phone or email shouldn't (emphasise shouldn't) be a problem but collecting from the office on Monday???

After season ticket holders, is there any priority for Trust members, NSC, etc. or is it a general sale?