a bad day all round!!!!!!

[Deleted]

On my way back from shopping in Swindon today I dropped off at Undy Athletic which was my first visit to their ground as they took on the Buds
A decent enough set up to be fair but one thing that instantly struck me as I walked to the pitch was openess of the drinking of booze on the touch line. Quite a few fairly vocal fellas who were leaning on the pitch rail were supping ale from pint glasses which of course is against the laws.The officials turned obvious blind eyes to it all but were eagle eyed and somewhat over officious to matters on the park!
The game itself lacked any quality but was at least competetive.
My day got from bad to worse when I picked up a puncture and had to change my wheel on the hard shoulder just after the High Cross turn off

[slugger]

Vogdog, thank you for taking the trouble to visit our club yesterday, as a small club all match day revenue is gratefully received.

It's a shame however that you simply used it as an excuse to put in the public domain comments that are as inaccurate as they are unfair.


Nobody who has been to the causeway will recognise your description of our supporters and i certainly saw no buds fans staggering around. i genuinely didnt know the rules on drinking but dont need to as it's never an issue - people can have a beer before, half time and after and i can probably say without prejudice that on the odd sunny day some people may sit on the patio with a beer watching the game - so that wasnt relevant yesterday! i would also point out that the most profitable part of our set up during the game is the tea hut that doesnt sell alcohol.

i find it really disappointing that somebody from one of the most famous clubs in wales (i think you're a Barry fan by the looks?) feels the need to try and blacken the reputation of a lesser club, made up, like all in our bracket, of hard working indviduals. why you would try to put to put people off visiting or try to somehow get us in trouble with the authorities- which is what your comments could do - is completely beyond me.

both teams were well supported yesterday and to my fairly certain knowledge there was not an ounce of trouble other than the banter you would hope for in a close gwent derby involving a team challenging for promotion and another needing three points if we're to maintain a challenge.

i actually thought it was a reasonable game only kept goaless by some excellent goalkeeping and defending but you've paid your money and your entitled to see it differently. i ofcourse have not been anywhere near the standards you have with your club, so we probably see amateur football differently and i probably would have thought your game on friday was on a different level quality wise (we've played TW twice in last year or so and they're probably the best side i've seen so far).

you probably also get top officials every week if you thought they were poor yesterday - they were as good as anything we've had since coming in to the world of 3 match officials. a further word in defence of the officials you were quick to criticise is that i suspect they would be more than willing to inplement off pitch rules if they saw any need to.

we were honoured to welcome Barry Town to the causeway for a friendly a few years ago and it was a great occasion - i'm pretty sure we lost easily so that cant be the reason you felt the need to put the boot in.

one peice of advice - never, ever go to watch trethomas - you cant get in unless you take cans with you.

for clarity - i was the loud one shouting drivel from the undy dug out - apologies if the lack of technical knowledge further spoiled your day.

do me favour, next time you lose 5 plonk at home and are made to go shopping on a saturday please visit jubille way caldicot!

apologies for length of post- not exactly punchy and witty.

Slugger (Jason - asst manager).

[sullysports]

Slugger! As assistant manager in the Welsh league Im suprised you did not know the drinking rules which covers all standards of leagues. Sully Sports have played many teams from Gwent in the Welsh Trophy. Panteg, Clyach Wasps, Newport Ymca, and Abercarn, which is a established friendly at Sully. No problems at all with those teams mentioned . The one that stands out is our visit to Abertillery Exellsiors which was not a bad game.
We lost pens but the upsetting part was not losing but the behaviour of the home crowd fuelled up by bags of cans adorning the home dug out roof.
I appealled to the referee (local Chepstow) he said it was not a problem to him as long as they did not come over the barrier(Cop out) As it was the penatlies turned out to be a farce as the same supporters ran back and fore behind the goals putting our players off waving cans etc. After the game the same people were banging on the dressing room door while we did an afermatch talk.I wrote to complain to the Gwent League but did not get a reply to my letter. It is the Home team that is responsable for policing the crowd. So maybe unfairly everone suffers. You do expect from the higher standard league that rules will be followed but the lead should be from the referees who should apply the rules. Even abandoning the game if no heed is taken.

[Counting Crows]

I personally have witnessed drinking of alcohol around the pitch perimeter at a few grounds, Welsh League and Gwent League. Though naming them here is not prudent in my opinion.

Unfortunately, I can't see a way of preventing it, as, apart from the WPL, there aren't any stewarding/policing requirements at games.

In my experience, the lower down the pyramid you go the more prevalent this drinking at the sidelines you see.

Perhaps it's only natural because grounds are more like park pitches (i.e. no turnstile, obvious entrance/exit, or perimeter wall) than stadia, and the players are playing for fun rather than for a part-time wage.

Since not every game can have a local FA official present we just have to grin and bear it...

[sullysports]

Prudent or not it happens and should not, I was more annoyed with the ref and the no comment from Gwent League.

[Deleted]

Slugger, this is a discussion board for teams within the welsh league and as your club fall into that category you must expect to sometimes have a mention. Both positive and negative comments so please don't take things personally. I appreciate I didn't exactly shower my post with superlatives about my experience yesterday but you will also note that other teams sometimes take a bit of a hit on here now and then.
You wrote that it's wrong to blacken the name of a club yet a few sentences later you unbelievably state "one peice of advice - never, ever go to watch trethomas - you cant get in unless you take cans with you." Slugger in stating that you breached your preach.
Your surity that nobody was supping ale is wrong. I was stood a few yards away from them and you were on the far opposite side of the field. If you were the loud bellowing guy then you will definitely recall your frequent berating of the referee decisions yet you state "they were as good as anything we've had since coming in to the world of 3 match officials. a further word in defence of the officials you were quick to criticise is that i suspect they would be more than willing to inplement off pitch rules if they saw any need to". All I can say is god help an official who you feel has a wretched game!
Rules are rules and as somebody has stated earlier you should be jenned up on this taboo subject given the fact you are assistant manager. It's a schoolboy comment to say you don't know the rules. Honestly my 7 year old son is fully clued up on that rule.
I fully agree with someone posting that it's a tough task to police alcohol consumption on the sidelines so it wasn't a criticism of Undy but merely an observation. The linesman did see it though. In fact one light hearted comment to the linesman was something like "lino you need to have a drop of this to calm down the twitching of your flag" the lino laughed and gave a thumb up. There was no trouble and I never insinuated that. Just drinking on the boundary.
Yes we lost 5-0 and I was quick to mention that in my posting. Beaten fair and square which often happens in football. I love football at our level hence me choosing to time my shopping around the kick off of the game. In fact if I'd have known in advance on Friday that we would get beat 5-0 I would have still been at the game.

[nicnacnoo]

Bit new to all this but had to register just to have my say !. While I'm not by any means a Trethomas fan (even though its now my area team my loyalties lie elsewhere) and am well aware of thier reputation think its a bit uncalled for to be badmouthing a team on here especially when that team is not actually in this league and unable to defend themselves. There are many teams who need to clean thier own acts up before casting doubts on others. Welsh league teams should be leading by example towards the lower leagues not trying to hide thier dirty washing by dragging other teams into the mire. ps Being a secretary of a lowly TERV junior club I'm rather amazed too that you arent aware of this rule, its all well and good being on the sidelines beating your gums at an official but I suggest a quick read of the rulebooks first. Apart from that rant seems I'm now on here just want to say absolutely love WL and the passion that surrounds it

[slugger]

yes, an unreserved apology from me about the trethomas comment - it was meant in a light hearted fashion but i did leave myself open to the stick i rightly got. i must have played up there a dozen times and whilst hostile i never got the impression it was any different because people were drinking or otherwise. it was far more hostile on the pitch in my experience, but to be fair i havent seen them play for a few years so may all be diffferent now.

and i'm amazed that everyone is amazed i dont know rules about things like drinking? i've genuinely never had to give it a thought as a player, coach or supporter because it has never been a problem.

it turns out that people within the club are more knowledgable on this than me and now (perhaps sadly some may say) it will no doubt be jumped upon at the causeway.

And being honest if i'm up against people who are so keen on rules they educate their 7 year olds on where & when they'll be able to drink when they're 18 then i'm just going to put my hands up and say i dont agree with you but i'm sure factually you are right.

fair point on the refs Vogdog - i do appeal for everything i can but honestly, either you dont know what berating means or you are incredibly sensitive because i marvel at what some dugouts get away with. still supporting a big club i guess you always get the decisions and dont have much to complain about. i still think the three on saturday were very good though.

so i'll stand by mny right to stick up for my club who i think provide a very good experience for all supporters but i'll make sure i know more rules before defending us in future!

being a glutton for punishment can i just mention though i read a newspaper article today about the plight of Careau because of the rule changes about dressing rooms. i'm afraid it is something else i dont understand because we were there last week and the changing rooms, showers and tiolets were all fine, plenty big enough and within 10 yards of each other. everything was clean and tidy and i know i'm going to get more stick because "rules is rules" but i dont see the problem if facilities are decent but not self contained. The same goes ofcourse for caldicot town who also have excellent facilities.

i look forward to you putting me straight again Vogdog!

cheers.

[Deleted]

slugger, rules are rules as you say and I can tell you that alot of clubs don't agree with them.
Some of the criteria is finicky and we are left to wonder what relevance it has with what occurs during the 90 minutes.
It's also crazy that all these fine lists of criteria are in place yet there is no such mention of the condition of the pitch or the qualifications of the club coaches.
So you can have gold taps in the showers and heated seats in the stand yet have a cow pat of a pitch on a 90 degree slope and basically get away with it.
Alternatively have iffy changing rooms that may contain a broken toilet or not enough urinals BUT have a pitch that betters Wembley but not be able to gain Welsh League status due to lack of off field criteria.
What I will say is that the new criteria rules (regardless of what we may think of them) have been set in stone with a future date for completion for a long time so therefore every club has long been aware of what they need to do to get their houses in order. Clubs will have only themselves to blame if they get expelled from the league.As Undy only came into the league last year you will already have all the required criteria so nothing for you guys to worry about.

[andrewgomer]

Why have trethomas been brought into this. i think undy are bitter because they aint as cool as us

[Deleted]

hey trethomas this is the nearest you will ever get to welsh League!!
seriously though it was meant in jest I'm sure by Slugger.
Let me know when your next home fixture is and if Barry don't have a game that day I will pop over your ground for a can or two