Eastleigh (Away) The Away Fans Still Matter Match Thread

[Bee_Forever]

So..... Tuesday/Wednesday/whenever the clubs feel like apparently sees the Bees travelling down to the south coast to take on the Spitfires of Eastleigh in our latest Bananarama fixture.

After the Yeovil game got called off because of a frozen pitch, and the Woking game got called off because they had an injury crisis (sorry "Frozen Pitch") the Bees have not seen action since Solihull Away. With a pitch inspection due at 2pm on Wednesday there must surely be doubts about this one as well.

I am not planning to attend but I do feel very bad for all those supporters who booked tickets, time off from work and made arrangements to attend on Tuesday and who may not now be able to attend on Wednesday. While I have no doubt the game would be postponed, rearranging it for 24 hours later feels like a throwback to the 70s when Percy last missed a game. It is a scant and poor treatment of our loyal away supporters from a club who still have not rebuilt bridges with their core support after the shameful shennanigans of recent years. Deano's excellent work will only rebuild connections with the team, for the club to rebuild its relationship with supporters will require more effort and understanding than our chairman seems capable of.

Still I take some comfort from the fact that those who don't go to away games will tell those who do that they "understand the clubs position" and that our new scoreboard is floating somewhere in a fishing boat in the china sea.....

In terms of the match I guess it will be our strongest available lineup in what could be difficult conditions so again I would like to see three at the back.

-----------------------------Walker---------------------------------

-------------Revan---------Collinge-------------Okimo-----------

--Wynter---------Pritchard--------Gorman----------Beard------

---------------Kanu----------Kabamba--------De Havilland-------

Subs: Hall, Callan, Woods, Armstrong, Moyo

Good luck to all those going. Hope you get to see another excellent bees performance for all the inconvenience this shambles of a club is putting you to.

COYBs

[Mikel Bee]

Would rather we get the game is played sooner rather than later. I would imagine DB and the team do as well. We've still got 22 league games to fit in to just 13 weeks, FA trophy games and with the weather not looking like it will be improving any time soon we don't have the luxury of continuously postponing in to the long term.

So yes, I do understand the clubs position and yes I had tickets booked for tomorrow.

[Bee_Forever]

I totally get that for the majority of supporters it will not affect them and for the team it is a good idea but from an away supporters perspective it's a shocker.

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[DerekRocholl]

I totally get that for the majority of supporters it will not affect them and for the team it is a good idea but from an away supporters perspective it's a shocker.

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Given that you can get a train from Waterloo at 5.35 pm that gets to Eastleigh before 7pm don’t you think you might be over playing the loyal away supporter’s martyrdom angle on this one ? After all the clubs could just have kept to the Tuesday kick off and then called it off following a pitch inspection on the day.

[Bee_Forever]

The game was always going to be called off with the weather forecast. The issue is not with the postponement but the rearrangement.

Booking leave at 24 hours notice is not possible for everyone and some people may have work commitments which may affect their ability to attend as I do.

Yes it is possible by train. But not exactly ideal.

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[thebeekeeper]

I totally get that for the majority of supporters it will not affect them and for the team it is a good idea but from an away supporters perspective it's a shocker.

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Given that you can get a train from Waterloo at 5.35 pm that gets to Eastleigh before 7pm don’t you think you might be over playing the loyal away supporter’s martyrdom angle on this one ? After all the clubs could just have kept to the Tuesday kick off and then called it off following a pitch inspection on the day.

Unless I'm mistaken, it's also the same price to pay on the day, so this isn't a match that requires advanced train booking. I know Barnet have a bad record of treating their fans poorly, but I don't think this is one of those situations. With the ridiculous number of Tues night fixtures coming up, it seems sensible to try and get this game on - even if it's a day later.

[john dockers shorts]

I was planning to go. But did go to Weymouth once and game was called off. Internet wasn't a thing then but I'd like to formally lodge a whinge here please.

[WillesdenBee]

Much prefer it being moved to Wednesday with the potential it goes ahead than the certain postponement if it was tomorrow. The team need to play asap. If we moved it to next week we would have played Tuesday and then Friday and then Tuesday again. As a supporter that is attending the game, I am happy to do what is best for the short/long term benefit of the team.

[WhetstoneBee]

I’m often critical of the general running of the club but it makes total sense to me to move this game to Wednesday. Surely supporting a club means supporting what is in its best interests - if moving the game back a day means we avoid even more fixture congestion later in the season, and therefore gives us a better chance of promotion, shouldn’t we support that?

[hoofer2]

Give it a rest... it takes two to build a bridge.

The ones that have are already backing Deano... the ones that haven't - fair dues - no era will ever beat the Barry Fry years - but we move on

It was the right decision - and I too have been impacted and cannot go now . Fixture pile up is ridiculous enough already

[barnetjohn]

Given that you can get a train from Waterloo at 5.35 pm that gets to Eastleigh before 7pm don’t you think you might be over playing the loyal away supporter’s martyrdom angle on this one ?

Yes it just about possible to get down there by train if you leave Waterloo at 5:35. But not everyone works near Waterloo- and it might not be possible to knock off work early enough to get the train down there. Re-arranging shifts, rotas, meetings etc at 48 hours notice isn't always possible. Plus, getting back by train from Eastleigh is tricky given time of last train and the distance back to the station. If people have to drive down as a result, that might require further changes to working patterns etc.

I've said earlier on this thread that I think moving the game to Wed was the right decision- but equally I have a lot of sympathy for the situation faced by many fans who are travelling down there. Respect to those fans (of whom I am not one) who are willing to travel down to a difficult to reach midweek game in the freezing cold, having to re-arrange plans at short notice, for a game that could still get called off, perhaps shortly before kick off.

Anyone making the trip is a proper hardcore fan and I take my hat off to them. I'm very grateful that there are Bees fans going down to there to support the team and provide vocal backing. I appreciate you might feel moving to Wednesday is the right decision (as I do) but I don't think it's fair to have a go at the people who are making big efforts to get down there at short notice. They have my admiration and respect.

[letchbee94]

I totally get that for the majority of supporters it will not affect them and for the team it is a good idea but from an away supporters perspective it's a shocker.

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Given that you can get a train from Waterloo at 5.35 pm that gets to Eastleigh before 7pm don’t you think you might be over playing the loyal away supporter’s martyrdom angle on this one ? After all the clubs could just have kept to the Tuesday kick off and then called it off following a pitch inspection on the day.

Remember though you still have to get to waterloo for 5.35, would be no good for someone like me who finishes work at 4.30 and has to travel from Letchworth.
Agree it good for those that work in the city.

[rudebwoyben]

The nearest station to the ground is Southampton Airport, not Eastleigh!

[barnetjohn]

The nearest station to the ground is Southampton Airport, not Eastleigh!

Yes. 31 mins walk from the ground through an unlit park in the pitch black. Train at 2208 so very tight. Miss that and it's an hour til the next train gutting you back to London at 0203 with three changes.

Understandably people are bit wary of training it down there because of difficulty getting back.

[Roy57]

Unless I have read posts wrongly it seems some are suggesting this rearrangement to weds night was Barnet FC decission, after reading and seeing Eastleigh pitch covered and with heat lamps, this decision was suggested by Eastleigh and agreed by us. So don't see how our club can be accused of letting there supporters down.