Unofficial forum for supporters of Hampton & Richmond Borough FC
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I wonder if that signals the end of the shirt 'partnership' ? Perhaps the £123 raised by the brother for burpees was a disappointment.Tony wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2025 4:50 am James Newman who brought the Movember relationship to the club has resigned as a director.
Ha - it is very much the same mentality. If you say it enough, some people start to believe it's true.Les1949 wrote: Fri Apr 11, 2025 9:57 am ...and I thought that Trump was delusional - these two are on a different planet!
It's undoubtedly great news, but without wishing to be a doom merchant there could still be some tricky times ahead. Pretty much all the stalwart volunteers who used to be around have gone. This is a huge gap, not just because the place hasn't felt the same since, but because those are jobs that need doing. Most of them aren't glamorous roles but are nonetheless extremely necessary. Our loss seems to be Hanworth Villa's gain...personally I don't really understand how you could transfer your allegiance from one club to another, even as a volunteer, but it seems that quite a few have for their own valid reasons. (Admittedly I didn't have any dealings with the brothers, but it was such a huge shame to see Tracey et al go. Perhaps in their case it was understandable as from what I heard their treatment was inexcusable.) Maybe some of these could be tempted back? Perhaps, but I'd be very surprised, so that ship has probably sailed. The club needs to win friends again.Shepperton Supporter wrote: Fri Apr 11, 2025 10:08 am Let’s hope we can draw a line on this episode of the club’s history and move on. However we must not forget this and to be wary of it happening again.
Being a very charitable person, let’s say they had good intentions but the scale, complexity of the task presented was more difficult than they imagined and they made errors that some of us, with a deeper understanding of the nature of football at our level, would not of made.
We all hope that the new owners will not make of these mistakes, take sounder advice and see the club flourish in its current level.
Lord Elpus wrote: Fri Apr 11, 2025 11:29 amRe the treatment of volunteers (and bar/kithen staff), speaking as the ex-Club Historian (they never did replace me, despite advertising for one!)...Shepperton Supporter wrote: Fri Apr 11, 2025 10:08 am Our loss seems to be Hanworth Villa's gain...personally I don't really understand how you could transfer your allegiance from one club to another, even as a volunteer, but it seems that quite a few have for their own valid reasons. (Admittedly I didn't have any dealings with the brothers, but it was such a huge shame to see Tracey et al go. Perhaps in their case it was understandable as from what I heard their treatment was inexcusable.) Maybe some of these could be tempted back? Perhaps, but I'd be very surprised, so that ship has probably sailed. The club needs to win friends again.
Lesley & I have continued to attend home games, whilst also going to Hanworth Villa when Hampton are away (the only away game we attended was Hartlepool). - Access problems, travelling, finding hotels with the right facilities etc since Lesley had her stroke 2 years ago limits following the team.. As volunteers, we were possibly one of the first to 'resign' our positions as were both made to feel that we didn't add value. I can't speak about other individuals who left (not all ended up at Rectory Meadow), but a number of those who left were then made very unwelcome when they attended games, in a few cases virtually banned. The brothers never acknowledged our presence at games, in fact occasionally looked right through us as if we didn't exist. Now, some of the volunteers/staff have found a 'home' with the Hanworth Villa 'project'. The atmosphere at HVFC has improved beyond recognition, a bit like Hampton used to ne years ago. The facilities are being upgraded. They have obtained planning permission for further improvements - an artificial pitch is sceduled to be in place for next season. I doubt very much if they will return. They were welcomed with open arms and made to feel valued.
A lot of very good points made. I think the new ownership needs to set its stall out as to what type of club they want to run, if they want to bring alienated supporters back on board.Lord Elpus wrote: Fri Apr 11, 2025 11:29 am It's undoubtedly great news, but without wishing to be a doom merchant there could still be some tricky times ahead. Pretty much all the stalwart volunteers who used to be around have gone. This is a huge gap, not just because the place hasn't felt the same since, but because those are jobs that need doing. Most of them aren't glamorous roles but are nonetheless extremely necessary. Our loss seems to be Hanworth Villa's gain...personally I don't really understand how you could transfer your allegiance from one club to another, even as a volunteer, but it seems that quite a few have for their own valid reasons. (Admittedly I didn't have any dealings with the brothers, but it was such a huge shame to see Tracey et al go. Perhaps in their case it was understandable as from what I heard their treatment was inexcusable.) Maybe some of these could be tempted back? Perhaps, but I'd be very surprised, so that ship has probably sailed. The club needs to win friends again.
Surely we don't ever want to be in a position again where we are hiring full-time managing directors, employing Heads of Staff, advertising for full-time Club Historians, putting up a Manager at an exclusive local hotel (as well has having a manager who thought that was a good look) and having owners whose grandstanding nonsense made the club look such a laughing stock locally.
I think it's a real opportunity to have a major re-boot, as a true community club, maybe starting with letting the Trust have a representative on the board.
On a final note, how about letting Alec Barry attend once again? Every club needs an Alec...he galvanises the support behind the goal, yes, he might get a bit overexcited at times but if we can't accomodate supporters like him then we ought to take a long look at ourselves. Are we a football club or a Garden Centre Tea Room? It's not like any behaviour at the Bev is exactly akin to Millwall, now is it??