Lets be honest old mate. Excuses. The ground issues could have been avoided if they were smart. They weren't. Some of the decisions in and around players, coaching and Juniors were just poor and Northern sat and watched this famous club spiral. The minute they couldn't field Youth teams there was no coming back. The Wallsend/western corridor to Cameron Park is the fastest growing demographic in Newcastle. Clubs like Fletcher popped up, Westy battled on, Edgeworth are smart. How do inner city teams like Cookers and NL attract players and have their success? They are surrounded by NPL teams before they got their ticket up. Not great facilities. Smart management. Wallsend leaders over the last 10 years should look in the mirror and apportion blame, Northern should put up their hand and admit they ignored the obvious and let this happen. Sad situation.
Northern should hang their head in shame, no support for clubs in this situation,more will go just wait.
Northern were really only concerned about their NPL clubs for years and now there NPLW clubs that womens football has hit the headlines.
The 2nd division has as you all know, is something that had to have but didn't really want it, hopefully with the restructure of the grades, things could be better.
fatso here FR, why remove the post, it was kinda cute.
mark this down as the only time you have ever been right.
the club WAS in great condition, untill???? someone was involved and then removed
the club is in fantastic condition now, as someone isn't there. well done to Rob P and all committee.
p.s- its certain people like.. (this is where u take a guess) that are the contributing factor of clubs becoming extinct. maybe that is a hint, find another a hobby and stop putting shit on every club, committee, ground, development, youth structure, coaching, player movements, player payments and anything else you whinge about or have an opinion on. you were not relevant then and your not relevant now.
fatso checking out- this forum is becoming too toxic
I would like to add, I?m disappointed in NNSW not stepping in and helping this great club out. Seriously this is not a blow in club, but one of the biggest ( in the past ) clubs in NNSW. Toronto has had almost closure in the last 15 years, but with communication with northern, because of our history and people caring for the club and layed out plans, NNSW listened and gave us a chance, yes FR we Havnt fulfilled youth, but we did win MP with , at a guess 80-90% Toronto juniors, ??? BUT, this is about Wallsend, was there communication with NNSW with plans for the future. TBH ??. The gardens was worst decision in their history, surely something could be done at federal park, look at ( no offence ) but grounds like Olympics, new lambton and southy all bearing football ovals these days from far from football looking facilities years ago. At Toronto, sometimes, someone always waited for someone to do the work. Can?t help but feel Wallsend have gone through similar. Im upset this club is going through this, but unlike FR, I won?t bag the club, but I?d rather help in anyway to get Wallsend back where they should be, even if I?m a stag through and through. Wallsend needs to be a ongoing club in newcastle football and to the ones who love putting the boot in to clubs that are down, you should be ashamed.
Good post GO AWAY.
I have definitely been critical of Toronto’s inability to field some youth teams over the years. But I guess it goes to show perception and reality are two very different things in most cases. I’m glad Northern were able to help, and as a club Toronto were willing to ask for help. I think the wider community would have been a bit more sympathetic and understanding to the situation had they known the trouble and how close the club was to folding. Nobody wants a club to fold.
Football is a competitive sport. Clubs compete with eachother for players, awards, titles, coaches, grants, table position, leagues and sponsorship. It’s somewhat of a natural response to compare your club to other clubs and easy to discredit them by pointing out their shortcomings and downfalls. People like fairness and equality and when clubs appear to be getting an upper hand or exemptions, this can rub people the wrong way.
I get it, it’s nobody’s business really how a club operates, and some things stay private. Out of curiosity, was Toronto’s extenuating circumstances and involvement of NNSWF to help TAFC weather the storm, communicated to other club?
Transparency can solve a lot of issues.
I remember watching a friend play a trial at Gardens a good 13 or so years ago, and thinking what a terrible facility for football(especially considering the venues history). To hear that funds required to use the facility have contributed to their current situation is saddening. To that, surely NNSWFor CoN if approached, could come to some agreement in the short term to allow them to play out of a different ground and plan for some upgrades to another facility.
As an outsider, it’s not clear what has been done by the current committee and supporters of Wallsend to try to address the issues. But im sure, a call to arms for ex Wallsend associated people would be a good start to help rebuild the club, if not for 2024, for 2025.
At the end of the day, most are volunteers trying to juggle their own careers, families and commitments all while operating a football club. Not all have business backgrounds or the knowledge to secure grants, or sponsorship connections that others do. I don’t want NNSWF to run clubs, but I think there should be scope for clubs to reach out and say, we are not sure how to go about, say, securing a grant or sponsorship and NNSW could give them some information.
If everyone is doing their best, that’s all you can ask for. If, as you allude to with your experience, people are stagnant and waiting for others to do things, with the result of nothing getting done. That’s a cause for concern and criticism.
All the best to Wallsend.
It appears Wallsend are having a meeting tonight?
I'm presuming all their First grade team would have been targeted heavily in the last few days.
So it's probably hard to see if they will have any footprint next year considering their reserve grade came last.
Are they thinking of dropping into the Zone leagues? If so what with they will have left it's hard to see them being competitive in the top 2 levels of the Zone leagues.
I think we are all missing the most clear and obvious solution here, Wallsend are dead and buried there is no way for the to come back next year let them reset and rebuild in ZL2/3. Why don't we get around the people's club and continue the fairy tale of Newcastle Croatia they can skip ZPL and join NL1 and dominant the comp with a squad of unpaid players who do it for the love of the game and their club, this would be a universally loved move by Northern!!!