onlyonedavidhirst

Given how long youve taken to reply, Id say it all academical

I think its fair to call him a club legend and I cant think of a more model professional. Works hard, seems to be liked by his teammates and has had a very good career. It would be good to see him break the record. Successive managers have kept him, I would suggest because hes dependable, good for the dressing room, can cover across the backline (occasionally in midfield), never grumbles when dropped or benched and far from the highest earner. Similarly though, successive managers have not included him in their first 11, including times in league 1. His RB position has been filled by Buxton, Hunt and Valery, all chosen regularly in favour of Palmer so this could happen again once signings start. That could be the clincher as to whether he takes the record. Lets hope he does it and at the same time we are pushing on and hes part of another promotion - maybe even the first time we win a league in most peoples lifetime.

We were having this type of chat on our way to West Brom recently. How many league grounds have you been on all 4 sides of and watched a match from that side. I may have missed a few but I think mine was 1. Hillsborough 2. Millmoor 3. Oakwell 4. Vicarage Road 5. Villa Park I have plenty at 3 sides such as Highbury, Elland Road, but I bet there are fans with lots more than me.

Im picturing the scene 5 years from now. Waltons are our owner and we are playing Barcelona in the Champions League group stage at Hillsborough. My Spanish mate has made the trip. "Let me show you our footballing statue next" "That should be good, we have one of Cruyff and the Messi statue is almost finished. Is yours of Waddle" "No, not Waddle" "Well maybe your highest ever scorer" "Not exactly, he went 10 years without scoring" "Perhaps someone who played lots of times for England" "Well actually, he was English but managed to play 8 times for Scotland" "Ok, let me guess then, what was his best position?" "Hard to say, he didn't really have one. He was mainly a defender" "I need more, how many times did he play for you in the premiership" "Never" "This is tricky, did he break your appearance record?" "No, he got close as he managed to play regularly when the only choice was him or a 17 year old who has never even played for our U21s" "I still dont know, what was his best season for you?" "His best season for the club was arguably when he ran a 10k every day in pre-season" "Why didnt you tell me that at the start, obviously its Liam Palmer"

Theres onlyonedavidhirst

I'm not sure that's the crucial point. Isn't more about what is seen as a fair price. If we are valued at £20m but someone has to pay £45m because of the large debt to DC, that person may decide against it even if they are a billionaire.

Just donated to Trust, will happily join in with something like this next time - I didnt expect Owlstalk to start a fundraiser and it be closed so quickly. Well done everyone and what a great idea Neil

If the adminstrators dont sell season tickets then its a good thing as the new owners can hopefully set fair prices but also sell them after the season has ended. If they go on sale soon it probably means the administrators are still short of cash flow. I'd like to think that the Norwich and United game together with the 4 game package releases enough revenue.

Agree with this. The new owners coming in need revenue streams. However for games up to that point, lets do what is needed to get fans into the ground.

Its interesting as well that many have said Wednesday fans dont have the guts for a fight, but it seems weve done something thats not really been done before and we've done it quickly. I dont think it can be understated how much of a role the Trust played in this and whilst the boycott seems like it carried by far the greatest weight, I think the upping of protests and the attacks from many sides (Clive Betts, major news broadcasts, Leicester etc) will have all added to his feeling of helplessness and for anyone associated with him it will have convinced them that he wasnt going to win.

The administrator said they would look to do deals after the United game. The issue with the Norwich game is that tickets have already been on sale at a set price. Pethaps for now they have more pressing matters than trying to change all that, then apply refunds to all those that have already bought etc.

I strongly suspect this is either a post by a non Wednesday fan (joined the site at the end of covid and has never posted before, plus isnt debating his point), a relation to someone going, or someone wanting more traffic on Owlstalk. Theres zero reason for this to be someones first ever post and furthermore to start a thread with it, rather than mention it on the other threads already covering this topic.

Thanks for a measured reply. Lots to answer and I'll try. I agree its multiple strategies that has helped, but the main owners who have left due to fan pressure have not faced large fan boycotts of attendance, its been much more media impact etc. Blackpool, for instance, are quoted as a fan group who boycotted yet when you look at their average attendances there wasnt much change in the owners final years and whats more the owner actually left due to a court case, not fan pressure. I agree the way he has treated fans and staff alike is deplorable, but I am not yet convinced a total boycott will work because firstly I still think the away protests are important to the cause. Secondly, I foresee that what might actually happen is a core of 500-1000 would go away regardless of all boycotts and they would be far less noisy and do less protesting, just like at home next season where we could end up with a core 4-5000 fans that keep going to home matches. Moreover, my point about the Trust is key. If the Trust say stop going to away matches I will, if they feel there us a reason to keep going for now then I will keep going. I believe their collective knowkedge is greater than mine or any single fan. I also agree that defunding should have started before now, I'd argue we could have started around 2019, the writing has been on the wall for a long time. But we are where we are and cant change that. The day he issued the survey asking season ticket holders whether we wanted to fund better players was the day I had zero faith in him and wanted him gone. I guess we are all at different points in the journey and have different views on what might work, but there is no perfect answer and I 100% believe we are far stronger supporting the Trust and followong their lead. As far away fans using that money thetly spent on away matches, the same could be said for season ticket holders who havent renewed in the past. There isnt a fan who didnt renew, put the saved money to a good cause, joined the Trust, went on all the marches, went to Leicester and stayed outside, went to the Thai Embassy and missed the cup games because thats impossible and we all do what we can and what feels right, in the main. I'd hope at the end of this nobody gloats, that we all accept that we had different views and that we can generally feel happy with our own choices and that they weren't done purely for our own personal interest. Whats more, whatever is the determining reason for his leaving, i hope isnt used as a I told you so badge of honour. Im currently in Croatia having had a fair few drinks so apologies if Ive gone off topic a little.

Hi mate, I go to away games still, but will miss Middlesboro and dont spend at home matches. I didnt go to Grimsby or Leeds and Ive posted several times why I still go to away games. First and foremost, our best way of getting rid of DC is coordinated action. Im a paid member of the Trust and they believe that the amount of traction we get from protesting at away games outweighs the income generated for the club. There are other reasons that I've posted, if you want them explaining feel free to ask. They range from the fact that no club has ever got rid of an owner by full boycott, but clubs have got rid of an owner by protests (which you cant do if nobody is there), there is no proof that full defunding will work (although I believe it probably will, but the point is there is no proof), to there is some tangible evidence that we are gaining support from other clubs by our away support. Theres more if you want it, feel free to tell me how you factually know that the extra he gains from away match income will mean he will leave the club quicker than if we didn't attend.

I agree mostly with this, but its not entirely true and its a shifting situation. I go with/know around 10 Wednesday fans whe are all in or around the highest category for matches and we are the type that would go midweek to Plymouth etc. 6 have 3 year season tickets that go beyond this year, but 2 of them have stopped going to most away matches, however there is often other members in the group that use their points so they still sit in the highest category. Of the 10, 2 are not renewing if DC stays and 1 more wouldnt if he didnt have a 3 year ticket. They will all then drop completely out of the top categories. Ive recently dropped from the top tier to the 2nd or 3rd as I am not buying cup tickets and couldnt get a ticket for Wrexham (10 points off at the time) and I dont sell mine on. I'll also not renew. I think theres a chance another 1 or 2 of them might stop going in due course (don't think everyone will) and we've all done 100+ grounds watching Wednesday. There is definitely a core that probably would never stop, no matter what, but even the most die-hards are constantly considering the situation.