This season, so far, we have witnessed a vast improvement on recent years in respect of our League standing and points gained, with ten games left and 30 points to play for its not over yet by a long shot.  Up to now it's been a season of mixed performances but the players and staff have hung in there and fought for every point, apart from the home game against Yeovil which was a performance that could not be defended by anyone.

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So, a fairly solid season, sitting in 8th place still within sight of a play-off place  (mathematically at least anyway!). 

Why then, I ask, do I not feel motivated to look forward to the next game, why have I resigned myself to not forking out for a Season Ticket next season, why have I stopped going to away games.  The simple fact is it's not enjoyable anymore. 

A few weeks ago the manager highlighted a growing problem within the ranks of Chesterfield FC supporters, Roy's famous "moan at the moaners" on local radio really shook the club but was he right to do it?  In my opinion, he was bang on!

The atmosphere on the terraces has dropped to such an extent that for me, and I suspect many others, it has now become a bind, I no longer get enjoyment from standing on the Kop on a Saturday afternoon.

All football fans see the game differently, on a personal level I like to go to cheer on the team, I like to leave with a positive thought win, lose or draw. Some like to cheer, some like to shout at the ref, discuss tactics and some like to moan.  We all pay our money to get in, we are all entitled to an opinion but how far should we go?

If we are not openly critical at the style of football or even how the club is run then we leave the door open for the club to fail.  If the team plays poorly then people should be able to vent frustrations, if a player misses a sitter from 2 yards out he should expect a roasting from the crowd, it comes with the territory, but how far should criticism go?

Criticism is important if it's constructive, people can learn from it but for most of this season the criticism from the fans has reached an all time high, to the extent that I now feel people go to moan.  One incident that has stuck in my mind all season was being stood on the Kop, 3-1 up against Hartlepool after a storming performance by the team, clock ticking in injury time, and someone behind me starts shouting abuse at the manager and players because they were not running fast enough.  He was screaming that the players should be pulled off the pitch and the manager sacked!!  I could not believe it, I was so taken aback by it I changed where I stood for the next game, but it didn't change a thing, you hear the same thing week in, week out all around the ground.

After a poor performance, it's understandable, but during games where we are well on top is very baffling.  These people argue they pay their money so they can support the team however they want, well I also pay money, hard earned cash just like anyone else and for that I expect to go an enjoy myself. 

We have a minority of supporters who spoil it for many, its easy to say ignore it but its hard when you are surrounded by it every week.  Booing players before they actually run on to the pitch, is that anyway to support your team?  Not in my book.

Last season we had record attendances, the best we have had for many years, this season we are more successful on the pitch yet we have not achieved anywhere near the attendances we should have, why is that? 

Are our own supporters responsible for falling attendances?  We still have many local Derby's yet we still fail to attract more fans.

I would love to be motivated to go to away games but football is an expensive hobby and like any other hobby if its not enjoyable, then it's the wrong hobby.  Driving away to Tranmere has always been a good day out but this weekend I will not be going.  I will not pay all that money in petrol and tickets to be surrounded by people who seemingly go just to shout abuse.  It just isn't the right thing to do anymore.

We need this club to move forward, if the supporters really want the club to progress then we need to be united, the divide we have is growing and I personally don't like what I'm seeing or hearing therefore I will probably choose to stay away.

by Mark Jones

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Your feedback

Cheer up, Mark!

I've supported Chesterfield ever since I perched on my Dad's shoulders on the Kop just after the War (WW2, not Gulf!). I saw some cracking games at Saltergate in the fifties and sixties and then quite a few away games when I moved to the south coast some thirty years ago (Exeter, Plymouth, Torquay, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, etc.) I also travelled up for that amazing 'life or death' meeting at The Winding Wheel in 2001.

Now I've recently moved back north I've invested in a centre stand season ticket. It's a 110 mile round trip for me from Sleaford - no problem after a game like Southend but an eternity after the Yeovil one! I confess I don't go to many away games because of the extra cost and the traffic congestion.

From where I sit in the centre stand I hear the odd, predictable moaner but on the whole I would say the atmosphere around me ranges from reasonably enthusiastic support to stunned silence. But I have noticed the Kop does seem quieter than recently and is often overwhelmed by the volume of away support to my right.

I agree though that you can't really blame the team for the moans. We've been in the top seven for most of the season. The defence has been generally superb, particularly the young reserves who have deputised so admirably. The midfield has usually performed well and the attack has scored some good goals. Perhaps though, we do seem over-dependent on the long ball to the Chief and, at times, vulnerable to those teams who can run at us with the ball.

So why do I think people moan at Saltergate? Having lived in the south most of my life, I regret to say I detect an occasional 'chip on shoulder' psyche in my native North East Derbyshire. I've seen loads of away games over the years and you don't seem to get the same degree of negativity from their home fans. I went to the recent game in Bournemouth - they lost to us but I couldn't detect any wavering in the home support.

So what can we do? The least we can do is stick by Roy and Rico and the promising team they have built with very little resource. If we have faith the team can only gain experience and get better. Surely this will attract some more support and the moaners will be marginalised.

So come on Mark. Don't let the moaners get to you! If we supporters descend into self-pity, the team will surely follow us!

Up the Spireites!

Jack Burkitt

Jack, you are the kind of fan that all of us at Saltergate need and want.

 

I am 18, and have been regularly attending in both the Kop and Compton stands for the last six years. Like most people, it is easy to vent your frustration at the players and staff. But recently it has been the atmosphere at Saltergate which has contributed to a lack of passion on the pitch.

 

Let me cast everyone's mind back to the home and away games of Sheffield Wednesday in 2004. With 45 minutes till kick-off at Saltergate, we had already sung more songs than that of the entire match last Saturday against Yeovil. That game was not 3-1 to the Spireites because the boys at the time played like gods, it was because every single attendee in the Kop, Compton, and Family stand made Saltergate a very daunting, almost terrifying place to be. After all the songs, chants, shouting and clapping, my throat and hands felt like they had just been tackled by Blathers! Think of last Saturday and you can only remember two songs from the entire match. The Yeovil fans must have felt like they had made home 200 miles away in Chesterfield after they had not witnessed a single reply from their ensemble of harmonic melodies.

 

My point is that the lads will only play well if the fans get behind 'em from the minute they walk out the tunnel to warm up. It worked for us against Wednesday all those years back, and it will happen again if we inject some passion into the game using our voices rather than our curses and fists.

 

I, and I'm sure many others will say lets FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FOR THE SPIREITES!!!

 

Let's turn around our home form by believing and encouraging our lads to Victory, and hopefully a place in the play-offs!

COME ON TOWN!!!

 

Andrew Abbott