HEART OF THE COMMUNITY
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brighton rebel
Nov 23, 2009, 4:27:10 AM11/23/09
to slough town soapbox
Printed in the Southern League Midlands Division game v Bromsgrove
Rovers Tuesday 17th November 2009. We won 3-2 in front of 209 people.
Me and Gary Big Lens were coming back from footie half-listening to
Radio 5 football phone when a Rochdale fan rang the programme. He
asked why his team weren’t being given a bit of a mention after they
had gone to league leaders Bournemouth and won 4-0. Surely that
deserved some recognition? The presenter couldn’t have been ruder and
basically put the phone down. Didn’t that Rochdale fan know that there
were hundreds of Man United ‘supporters’ waiting on the lines to tell
the nation that they had seen Fergie picking his nose and complaining
about referees? Or that Arsene Wenger was French and annoyed about
something. That phone call summed up the massive hurdles all smaller
clubs must face trying to get in the lime-light, win over new fans and
get them through the turnstiles. There have been endless debates on
how to do this, and complaints on every non league footie forum I have
ever read about people not being interested. But I reckon you need a
bit of imagination and a lot of dedication (and winning the odd game
helps as well) to drag those Sky-eyed Premiership punters through the
turnstiles.
One club got recognition for their efforts by winning the Football
Foundation Community Club of the Year at the National Game Awards.
UniBond Premier League side Marine, based in Crosby, Liverpool polled
over 20 times the number of votes of its nearest rival by the readers
of the Non League Paper. With last season’s average attendance of 268
they still managed to beat the likes of Wrexham and Oxford United, so
they must be doing something right. But what? Well they promote the
club in over 20 schools, let under 11s in for free with an adult and
dish out free season tickets for primary school children. They stage
community days at league matches and collected the most pairs of boots
in the "Boots for Africa" appeal for which the Mariners received a
separate award from Henkel Consumer Adhesives, the catchy named
company that sponsors the Unibond League. Marine Community Development
Officer Barry Lenton said, "It was an honour to be presented with the
trophy on behalf of Marine and it vindicated all the work that we have
done over the past six years in ensuring that Marine is at the heart
of the community in Crosby."
Marine Chairman Paul Leary added, "This really is a fitting tribute to
the work in the community carried out by Barry Lenton over a number of
years. Since his appointment he has worked tirelessly with local
schools and the media to promote Marine Football Club. His promotions
and ideas have provided a lot of enjoyment and fun for many children
and their parents visiting Marine some of whom have become regular
supporters. This award inspires us to do more and Barry and I are to
enter discussions with some special needs groups in the area to invite
them to attend a number of games next season." All this promotion has
also got themselves a young band supporters who also knock out the
tunes - even managing to come up with songs about their leagues
sponsors Henkel (which considering they produce adhesives and sealants
is pretty impressive). Next stop is working with the local nuns to
hold bucket collections at the ground. As one supporter put it “It’s
important to have God on our side as we start the new season.”
God might help those that believe in him, but it’s obvious that
Marine’s relentless hard work is the best way to achieve miracles and
get the local population supporting their team.
Rovers Tuesday 17th November 2009. We won 3-2 in front of 209 people.
Me and Gary Big Lens were coming back from footie half-listening to
Radio 5 football phone when a Rochdale fan rang the programme. He
asked why his team weren’t being given a bit of a mention after they
had gone to league leaders Bournemouth and won 4-0. Surely that
deserved some recognition? The presenter couldn’t have been ruder and
basically put the phone down. Didn’t that Rochdale fan know that there
were hundreds of Man United ‘supporters’ waiting on the lines to tell
the nation that they had seen Fergie picking his nose and complaining
about referees? Or that Arsene Wenger was French and annoyed about
something. That phone call summed up the massive hurdles all smaller
clubs must face trying to get in the lime-light, win over new fans and
get them through the turnstiles. There have been endless debates on
how to do this, and complaints on every non league footie forum I have
ever read about people not being interested. But I reckon you need a
bit of imagination and a lot of dedication (and winning the odd game
helps as well) to drag those Sky-eyed Premiership punters through the
turnstiles.
One club got recognition for their efforts by winning the Football
Foundation Community Club of the Year at the National Game Awards.
UniBond Premier League side Marine, based in Crosby, Liverpool polled
over 20 times the number of votes of its nearest rival by the readers
of the Non League Paper. With last season’s average attendance of 268
they still managed to beat the likes of Wrexham and Oxford United, so
they must be doing something right. But what? Well they promote the
club in over 20 schools, let under 11s in for free with an adult and
dish out free season tickets for primary school children. They stage
community days at league matches and collected the most pairs of boots
in the "Boots for Africa" appeal for which the Mariners received a
separate award from Henkel Consumer Adhesives, the catchy named
company that sponsors the Unibond League. Marine Community Development
Officer Barry Lenton said, "It was an honour to be presented with the
trophy on behalf of Marine and it vindicated all the work that we have
done over the past six years in ensuring that Marine is at the heart
of the community in Crosby."
Marine Chairman Paul Leary added, "This really is a fitting tribute to
the work in the community carried out by Barry Lenton over a number of
years. Since his appointment he has worked tirelessly with local
schools and the media to promote Marine Football Club. His promotions
and ideas have provided a lot of enjoyment and fun for many children
and their parents visiting Marine some of whom have become regular
supporters. This award inspires us to do more and Barry and I are to
enter discussions with some special needs groups in the area to invite
them to attend a number of games next season." All this promotion has
also got themselves a young band supporters who also knock out the
tunes - even managing to come up with songs about their leagues
sponsors Henkel (which considering they produce adhesives and sealants
is pretty impressive). Next stop is working with the local nuns to
hold bucket collections at the ground. As one supporter put it “It’s
important to have God on our side as we start the new season.”
God might help those that believe in him, but it’s obvious that
Marine’s relentless hard work is the best way to achieve miracles and
get the local population supporting their team.
brighton rebel
Nov 23, 2009, 4:28:11 AM11/23/09
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