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Post by sikirk on Jun 11, 2024 18:11:34 GMT
Well Im gunna put my tin hat on here but I'm sick at all levels of the baggage carried with womens football. Everybody has a right to play football but at the same time every club has a right to make its own decisions. From what I can gather this was a democratic vote among committee members, end of. The amount of people jumping on the bandwagon over this, at all levels is embarrassing. Yeah its getting ridiculous. Now if womens teams were getting bullied by the comittee then yes but all i can see is a decession taken by a comittee to dispose of them for reasons unknown. This reminds me of a few year when a bands gigs were cancelled at a pub in middlesbrough and everyone was piling on the bandwagon even those with no interest in band or venue, staff were getting threatened. The band were simply not going down with the punters, it happens. Of course the bands singer was female
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Post by cornishpasty on Jun 11, 2024 20:24:31 GMT
Well Im gunna put my tin hat on here but I'm sick at all levels of the baggage carried with womens football. Everybody has a right to play football but at the same time every club has a right to make its own decisions. From what I can gather this was a democratic vote among committee members, end of. The amount of people jumping on the bandwagon over this, at all levels is embarrassing. I've personally no interest in women's football which I appreciate will automatically make me in some eyes a slavering, snorting, knuckle-dragging neanderthal, but what kind of baggage comes with it? Youve sort of answered your own question Jake.
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Post by pooliehopper on Jun 11, 2024 20:31:55 GMT
The thing is, Thornaby really haven't covered themselves in glory during the aftermath of this. You'd imagine this decision to disband the women's teams has been considered for sometime, so why was backlash not accounted for (at least at local level)?
The minute that meeting finished they should have had a statement ready basically saying "We've came to the difficult decision to end our female teams, it was extremely hard for us and we acknowledge people will be upset, but our club need to heavily restructure moving forward". Hardly anyone would have moaned at that. Instead they either tried to be sly or just didn't care about said aftermath, which let the women's team get wind of it, so they had the first shot and full control of the narrative.
Thornaby then proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot with a really hastily worded statement that basically said we won't change our minds and we don't wish to apologize. The second club statement, by Graham Morris, still lacked a frank and concise apology (other than he personally disagreed with the decision). The club finally, the day after, did the worst move they could do and delete Facebook and Twitter, basically insinuating "we know we're wrong, and we can't be bothered with the harassment anymore". This may not be the case, but that's simply how it will appear, especially to someone not involved in football and will casually hear about the story.
The club themselves still haven't put out anything on regards to why this has happened other than that initial poorly worded statement which vaguely claims staffing issues. This has made things worse as people can now theorize any scenario from as unlikely as the board are gigantic misogynists who deeply resent women (once again, unlikely), to others which claim the women's team owed up to 180k (that surely cannot be true?). Sadly, as the club have failed to make a more articulate statement these theories have been allowed to run wild. I personally have refrained from commenting further on this thread as I didn't wish to pass judgement until a thorough statement was made...which seemingly won't be coming.
My theory, which I admit is 100% made-up, is somewhere down the line the women's team must have had some disagreement with someone on the committee, relations soured, and the committee just said "f*** it", kicked them out, and assumed no one would notice.
Because why would they not try to talk to these women, girls and their relatives? Who clearly know an awful lot of people, on ways to run the female teams that would suit both parties? I am not buying the whole misogynist stuff, but it appears the committee held the female team in very little regard. It also begs to question how most clubs have women's sides these days with little issue, heck, a village near me, Fishburn, manage to have a ladies team with no male equivalent to my knowledge. It can't be that difficult running one. It also seems to be the given truth now that the women's setup did indeed pay subs, and did have sponsors.
Even the Teasdale Park pitch cannot be used as excuse, as Thornaby's female sections rarely if ever played there and I believe Thornaby FC don't own Teasdale Park (although not entirely sure of this).
Imagine if the club just made a simple statement saying "Look, we had an arson attack, it's a cost of living crisis, we have staffing issues, we greatly apologize but we have had to come to the decision to close the female teams. We wish all our female players the best, and once again apologize" and released it before the women did. Absolutely simple and so much unnecessary arguing quashed.
I just feel bad for the little girls who've lost out. I personally do not watch or particularly care for women's football, but if this was anyone's daughters or nieces or sisters they'd be fuming. Equally, Thornaby FC really don't deserve to be getting the abuse they're getting, as poorly as they have handled the situation. I do hope the club can turn this around and sponsors will reconsider.
tl;dr - Thornaby should have made better statements, should have tried more ways to resolve whatever issue they were having, and hopefully both the male and female sections survive and get the sponsors back.
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Post by parsjake on Jun 11, 2024 22:14:25 GMT
I've personally no interest in women's football which I appreciate will automatically make me in some eyes a slavering, snorting, knuckle-dragging neanderthal, but what kind of baggage comes with it? Youve sort of answered your own question Jake. Oh, really? I thought I was exaggerating for comic effect, dearie me...
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Post by cornishpasty on Jun 12, 2024 13:57:22 GMT
Youve sort of answered your own question Jake. Oh, really? I thought I was exaggerating for comic effect, dearie me... No.... You will now be hung, drawn and quartered as well as being crossed off everyones xmas card list.
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Post by cornishpasty on Jun 13, 2024 17:47:17 GMT
Thornaby FC confirm that they plan to reinstate their female teams: bbc.in/3KJ4Yhs
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Post by brutus on Jun 13, 2024 18:00:55 GMT
So all's well, the women will return, the sponsors will come flooding back and this will all be forgotten by the start of the new season.
I don't think so, I hope the women and girls move forward in their new organisations where they know they're wanted. This sad episode will not be forgotten any time soon no matter what platitudes the new committee spout.
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Post by cornishpasty on Jun 13, 2024 18:05:23 GMT
So all's well, the women will return, the sponsors will come flooding back and this will all be forgotten by the start of the new season. I don't think so, I hope the women and girls move forward in their new organisations where they know they're wanted. This sad episode will not be forgotten any time soon no matter what platitudes the new committee spout. Strong words, it has been an absolute disaster, I agree in the current climate, not good for the club.
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Post by pooliehopper on Jun 13, 2024 23:24:23 GMT
Question remains if the womens team were not playing at Teasdale Park, and were paying entirely for their running fees, why were they removed in the first place?
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Post by Neil on Jun 14, 2024 5:33:18 GMT
Question remains if the womens team were not playing at Teasdale Park, and were paying entirely for their running fees, why were they removed in the first place? I might be wrong but I believe the women's team were using the ground and the youth section were playing elsewhere.
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kosh
Junior Member
Posts: 13
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Post by kosh on Jun 14, 2024 6:19:08 GMT
Another aspect that I don't think has been considered is time. The committee, at Thornaby, will have given up much of their free time to ensure that the ground is ready for match day, training and then of course match day itself.
The addition of a ladies team adds another day into the mix. Another day for a possibly under appreciated committee to commit.
Some committee members possibly work full time, spend a couple of evenings a week at the ground then also most of Saturday and Sunday.
Whilst Trevor Wing and the rest of the committee have gone about things the wrong way, I applaud them for all their hardwork over the years.
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Post by england on Jun 14, 2024 8:24:06 GMT
Another aspect that I don't think has been considered is time. The committee, at Thornaby, will have given up much of their free time to ensure that the ground is ready for match day, training and then of course match day itself. The addition of a ladies team adds another day into the mix. Another day for a possibly under appreciated committee to commit. Some committee members possibly work full time, spend a couple of evenings a week at the ground then also most of Saturday and Sunday. Whilst Trevor Wing and the rest of the committee have gone about things the wrong way, I applaud them for all their hardwork over the years. It’s been handled terribly, but this is a good point about time. More teams, means more admin, more pressure etc Volunteers as always are just taken for granted.
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