With all this talk of fans not going, dwindling numbers etc I’d like to canvass opinion on if not going could be seen as fickle.

My own view is, completely regardless of who runs the club, plays for it or manages it, if I’m financially able and the time is free (ie not at work) then I’ll go to every game home and away….and I have done this. I would also never leave a game early but that’s for another thread.

The downs are what make the ups extra special. Of course I’ve seen utterly fucking soul destroying teams and performances but then I’ve been to games that have kept me happy for weeks that I still talk about now and that’s why I go. One day we will go back up and my only wish is that it’s in my lifetime.

A mate said to me today when I asked him about it, he’s a Gainsborough trinity fan and he said ‘support the team not the regime’. I agree. I don’t know how you can turn your back on your club. They’re your club, get your voice heard. You’re the reason the club exists. If you want to go just to make it known you think Sarll is a tit, then do it but sitting at home sulking helps No one, least of all the club.

Just my opinion

And a very good opinion

Not going reduces Raj's income and makes him read the room, there's no point in attending a game where the manager is so anti football and persists with hoof ball.. I go to pools to be entertained and to support the squad like the rest of the fans, but it isn't entertaining, it's mind numbing at the moment you can clearly see the players don't like this style..

So yes not going does have an affect and it helps remove the current manager

When the lock down happened I realised how much I missed going to pools, even Tuesday night games in January against the likes of Ebbsfleet. I made up my mind then ill go to the games regardless.
Totally agree the football this season has been awful, but I'll be there Saturday. Don't blame anyone for giving it a swerve though. It's not going to be pleasant.

After being incredibly loyal to my club ( something a few on here I am certain would vouch for ) and spending a fortune over many many many years home away & sponsorship I feel its time to stop and assess. I only go to home games now and have done for two seasons. Used to go to all away games for many years aswell. It's finally got to the point of saying NO this cannot continue it's insane. Who is to blame for my loyalty and stupidity It's the football drug that gets hold of you as a kid, and something that keeps a tight grip on your life. The final nail in the coffin for me is seeing us assemble a very good squad " in what I feel is our last chance saloon season " but refuse to sack the manager for being crap. Raj is playing Russian roulette with our future and it scares the heck out of me. So unless Sarll is gone this week I will not be going to any more games until he is gone. I used to always say to people forget the Chairman and the manager it's vital we financially back our club for after they have gone. But it's way beyond a joke now
and its time to stand up and say enough is enough Mr Singh. I love my club and always will even my kids go to most games home and away because of me. It's my own decision to stop going for now and this time I am sticking to it. Let's be honest I have fought tooth n nail against us starting a new but if we had done that before Raj I feel we could now be on the up and up and enjoying the games. I am sure most fans wil have a different opinion but possibly the lads who have been going since the 70s and 80s would better understand. Something needs to happen one way or another it's time for the loyal supporters to get a little respect from Raj and Co and not just be walked over and ignored.

Bobby Robson once made a quote something along the lines that it is not about the directors, the owners, sponsors or players or how well we are playing its all about the town.
UTP

Being a fan is like being married to the club…but, not the owner, manager, or players, they are just passing though, regardless of how good or bad they are at their job.

Football teams come,
and football teams go.
But we’re here for life,
We’re the fans who go.

No one likes a "clever dick" do they Mr Sarll

Spot on the only constants are the town and the fans the rest are all temporary.
I can understand why people are so disollusioned to the point where they'll stop going to games and although I can remember far worse times being near the bottom and struggling to win a game but we went full of hope. I think Sarll has managed in a very short space of time to strangle the hope out of fans. We're going expecting a turgid loss with very lite entertainment and basically we've lost the pre match hope that we always had. He atmosphere in the Vic has gone. He's in a league of his own in turning so many fans off so quickly.

I agree Leggie, How many fans thought about not going when Askey was in charge, Now there is no one on this planet that can convince me Snarll is better than Askey.
Askey was going through hell trying to get things right, Don,t recall him blowing his own trumpet to the point where it became sickening, Being rude to the interviewer, or calling the fans.
Snarll is an Embaressment to the Game, Club and Town. Maybe after we again lose V Sutton this self proclaimed hardman will climb into the NWC or Town End and declare them "Clever Dicks"

I'll be there on Saturday- the club has already got my season ticket money so I can't hurt Raj in the pocket whether I turn up or not.

Never gone to a game and actively wanted Pools to get beat, but equally I'm aware that a win will only be postponing the inevitable. Sarll should be gone already.

I agree with Mr Snowy saying it's a marriage. That's exactly as I see it and one that there is no option of divorce from and I would never want one either.

Football is memories, I have as many bad ones as good ones like trekking to bloody Portsmouth by car and train only to get there and Pools not turn up. I was fucking livid. Easily the most annoyed I've been at a game and the only one where I didn't applaud the players when they applauded us, in fact I flicked the v's. I'd put in enormous effort and they didn't. But that's what I'm talking about in terms of memories and if I hadn't gone would I have had an equally memorable and emotional day doing something else? I very much doubt it.

Entertainment....I just don't go with that in my mind really. I go with hope. Even if we're 3-0 down with 10 minutes left and no shots on target, I'm thinking 'maybe this is the day we win 4-3?', ok, it pretty much never happens but still.

You can ask any football fan about what they remember and I'm pretty sure it'll be just as mixed, the good and the bad, the last minute penalty miss, the last minute penalty win, the fucking dire ref etc....I grew up in Leeds so they're close to my heart and I know the club very well - Leeds sing 'we are the champions, champions of Europe' after the European Cup Final defeat where it was later proven that the ref was bent....the good and the bad make the whole, if you don't go because you're not being entertained, you're missing out on so much and what else are you filling your head with instead of the ups and downs of following Pools? Queues at checkouts? How clean you can get the car? How well you can cut the grass? Fuck that shit. I'd sooner have 100 tales of football woe than fill my time with fucking shopping and chores.

Through think and thin, Never Say Die, where's all that? Get to the games, come home crying every week, kick the dog and sulk all week but get involved, otherwise who are you? 'Well, I used to go but threw the towel in cos we're shit' Brilliant, you've just lost your voice and for me, deciding not to go because we're shite and getting beat all the time is a fickle fan because as soon as the corner is turned you'll be all over it again.

It must be great to be a long term Man City fan, years of nothingness and being no bigger than any other average Championship side then finally, after decades, your team is the dogs bollocks. To have that elation and pinch yourself wins/trophies can only be realised if you suffer the decades of dog shit, otherwise, winning is the norm and you miss out massively.

The poor treatment of Philips and Sweeney contributed to the season ticket sales falling and many fans were nervous about another manager coming in. They have been proven correct the club is a laughing stock that always felt the fans would back it. Now it's a massive issue as the fans have finally lost the little hope they had. Screwed completely!

Were heading back to those 2500 who would keep going in the 70's

It’s a lose lose game on Saturday. If we get the 3 points then it means we are stuck with the manager for another month. He’s already basically said we will be playing his awful style of football so that has led to fans not wanting to go.

It's all very well saying get to the games stop sulking and keep on accepting what used to be Hartlepool United. I have done that for 55 yrs now and followed my team anywhere and everywhere including friendlies abroad and in Scotland. As for coming back when good times reamerge, that's not what I personally am bothered about. All I want to see is the manager gone now, not next week next month or next fooking year. I will never stop loving Pools and will 100% return in the blink of a eye when Raj gets his finger out. Last season I wanted Raj to go due to lack of financial support but this season he seems focused on the squad, now focus on a quality new manager. As for thick n thin maybe we should just call that thick n thicker because Raj should have sacked D.S. so someone appears to be well thick at Pools. As for neversaydie if something is not sorted out very quickly we will lose the opportunity to get a top 7 place and indeed the club could die. As for what are people going to do with their time, how about spending quality time with your kids and grandkids rather than travelling to away games at great expense only to see a pack of dogshit who don't give a fook about you. Fickle makes me "piss my self laughing " how unfair to label anyone fickle when you know nothing about individuals and how long they have followed this club. I will help you with the " fickle bit " remember the I.O. R. days when hundreds and sometimes thousands of new fans started to go to games / queue for hours for playoff tickets / buy Pools merchandise etc Well those are the fickle supporters not the ones who have spent a lifetime loving and following Pools for very little reward overall. I think it's time for Raj to sack D.S. and we can all move on.....over to you Raj.

The 70s seen us get less than 1,000 at some games and mostly less than 2,000.

Spot on Porter

That's a fair assessment of Fickle.
Not the ones with 50+ years plus service.
And yes when you have a time out from it you realise.
Hey Family n Health is no. 1.

Made a load of brilliant lifelong mates supporting Pools. And never get bored of reminissing about the good old days.
I call them good old days because win lose or draw we always had a good laugh .

Currently on a time out of 19 months.
But if that makes me Fickle I cudent give a fore end of primate.

Will go back when this current regime either ducks off or shapes up.

UTP.

Well put Kev

Spot on the chairman one way or another needs to be forced to sack this manager, raj has been an utter disaster running this club, at least do something right.

Everyone does what they want of course, this thread was a discussion about it being fickle, or not, to stop going because we're shit.

Whether you've been going 10 games or 1,000 games and your decision to stop going is because we're shit then in my view, that could be considered fickle because the sole reason for not going is because you want success and you're not getting it. If that's not the reason, then it's entirely possible it's not fickle.

Your own example is the perfect example - I completely agree that those bandwagon jumpers from IOR days are very much fickle fans and not really fans at all. They jumped ship when the bubble burst.

If someone has attended for decades and has literally rid themselves of any hope and attending becomes a chore, then absolutely, I wouldn't go either. Once the love has gone, that's it.

As for making memories with family, that should go without saying and when starting this thread I'd have thought it was a given that nothing trumps family time. I couldn't possibly cover every possible option and the point I was making made the assumption that there wasn't a more important reason not to attend the game than just being fed up of watching shit (there are a catalogue of reasons why an individual can't attend that are far greater in importance than football, I don't need to list them and that's not what the thread was about).

For the record, I haven't labelled any individual as fickle, I've started a thread to discuss people's definition of fickle. I've aired mine and am happy to listen/discuss others. I don't have views set in stone. If someone says something that makes more sense than my own view, my view will change, simple as that.

From what you've said, it reads like you've got to the point where you've had enough - I'm basing that entirely on what you've typed, nothing more (you used to go home and away but now just home games and now you're at the point where you're not going because you can't stand the manager, it reads like it's been a steady decline) - and if that's the case I wouldn't say that's fickle, that's more like exhaustion/no hope/no longer having the love to go. Happy to be told otherwise.

Also, in your opening line you say I'm suggesting people should stop sulking, that's not what I said....I was making reference to what I do (and others I would guess) when we lose, ie, '...come home crying every week, kick the dog and sulk all week...' not that those not going are sulking, it's the opposite, I'm referring to those who do go.

Had enough not now not ever. Stopped going to away games in the last two seasons due to ill health. I never mentioned " I couldn’t stand the manager " far from it. I met the bloke and liked him a lot but now realise he has the gift of a " silver tongue " which made me believe he was the right choice, but it's gradually got to the point even I had to accept he is not the man for the job. Regarding my steady decline you really could not be further from the truth.Its important for all to understand this could well be our last realistic opportunity for promotion ( due to no more parachute payments ) because failure this season will be a massive crowd loser and major financial problem for Raj & the club. And it's for that reason plus the piss poor results that I would like Raj to get shot of the current manager and go for experience. I suppose my negativity now is purely based on this vital season. And I strongly feel Raj needs to act now to give this club a real chance to redeem itself. By selling my season ticket I am hoping Raj starts to realise something is desperately wrong when any season ticket holder wants to sell his ticket. If not this week he surely goes next Monday latest. If I need to pay at the gate no problem at all but I want to see proper leadership of our proud little club. One more thing you said nothing trumps family time well I agree totally it shouldn't but when you attend decades of away games with your mates leaving family at home that is not putting your family first and I have been guilty of that for many many years. 90% of away games are on a Saturday ( weekends should be a family time) and take up a large part of the day and sometimes all that day.

Wrong thread title.
Then should of been
Super fans go to every game.
Part timers are killing the club.

Fair enough. Personally I wouldn’t stop going because of the reasons you state but that’s personal preference so obviously you do what you think is best.

I don’t think Raj will know/care re season tickets sold between fans because he’ll have no idea why it’s happening. For all Raj knows it could be because they’ve moved house and can’t get to the vic anymore. I also doubt he has that keen an interest in following the odd season ticket sale/transfer here and there.

One thing he wouldn’t be able to avoid though is chants of Sarll out ringing in his ears for any home games he attends

Wrong poster.

Doesn’t understand thread title or its content

2500 in the 70’s …2,000 on a god day if you’re lucky in the 70’s

That would've been when we weren't a "big club".
I can certainly remember being there with sub 1500 crowds regularly.

I seem to remember there was a period around 1982-1984 where 1500 was considered a half decent turn out.

Where in the fickleness standings am I if I'm a ST holder but decide to give games a miss when it's missing down, freezing, n Sarll is manager?
Still supporting the club by paying for ST.
Never felt this way before and never missed a game under such inepts as Moncur, Docherty, Jones, Harrison, or even Hartley. Just think there's very little hope of a win and even less that we'll play well.

a lot depends on what you class a fickle fan anyway. one that stops going if we are on a bad run but will return as quickly as they left. its different for me as i do not live local but what league we are in or who we are playing has never bothered me in whether i go or not. the annoying thing now is unlike in the past we have good players badly managed unlike a manager doing the best they could with the cards they have been dealt. we are poolies and have only reasonable expectations thats not even getting close to whats required this season. those who miss saturday on purpose have my greatest respect especially if they return after co co is gone.

Remember vividly going to play Colchester on a sunny afternoon plagued by brief showers when we got well hammered, the crowd was approx 800ish..first time I’d took my eldest to a match proper aged four….never put him off, must be genetic

one thing fans could do if they pay match to match is send the club a cheque for their gate money and explain why they will not be present for the game. then the club does not lose out but raj will get the message. pity something like this was not organised earlier as the odd fan doing it would not work. we need a get sarll out campaign well organised without any violence either physical or verbal. oldham did it with their owner and we need to follow with our manager.

kids never bothered in those days getting wet or watching a hammering. thats why when they grew older they were not taken in by todays so called progressive society and the bullshit of modern football.

even hartley was not as obnoxious as the present guy, just inept.

I had the same problem back then and used to believe it was genetic related. But not in a football way more along the lines of mental illness.

Very good original post and can see both sides of this. I've recently consciously not attended games and stopped buying seasons tickets two seasons ago. I just can't face paying to watch the shite football or indeed giving Raj any more money.

I do want much better for my and our club though and am conscious that the club needs money to survive. Like many others here, over the years Pools have had 1000s of pounds off me and I've given as generously as I can to help make sure the club is there in the future. Right now though, I just can't give Raj, his board or our current manager anymore.

I wouldn't judge anyone for attending or staying away though, people should just do what they think is right. I went to Blackpool a few seasons ago when we played them, when their fans were boycotting games to get shot of their chairman. Most stayed away that season but some were worried that the club would go into administration without funds, so it's understandable why they kept attending. Without knowing the full ins and outs there, the chairman (who sounded horrific btw) left and Blackpool are at the right end of League One, rather than near the bottom of League Two as they were then. Boycotting seems to have worked for them but what we are doing is kind of a silent protest - nothing organised but a kind of unofficial drift away.

I started going to Pools mid-80s, so like others remember crowds of 1,500 or less, which seemed perfectly normal for a 10 year old. Still, it's sad to see the empty spaces around the ground this season, which is getting worse game by game. Silence from Raj and his board doesn't help either.

I understand where you're coming from about supporting the team regardless of management or performance. It's true that the lows make the highs feel even more rewarding. However, many fans feel that real change needs to happen for the club to succeed, and that means addressing issues with Singh and Sarll. They believe that simply showing up while these problems persist isn't enough.

As for Ryan Reynolds, he represented a glimmer of hope for many fans—a chance to reinvigorate the club with new energy and ambition. Without addressing these leadership issues, it’s hard to envision a path back to success. It’s about wanting the best for the club, and sometimes that means making a stand.

I understand where you're coming from about supporting the team regardless of management or performance. It's true that the lows make the highs feel even more rewarding. However, many fans feel that real change needs to happen for the club to succeed, and that means addressing issues with Singh and Sarll. They believe that simply showing up while these problems persist isn't enough.

As for Ryan Reynolds, he represented a glimmer of hope for many fans—a chance to reinvigorate the club with new energy and ambition. Without addressing these leadership issues, it’s hard to envision a path back to success. It’s about wanting the best for the club, and sometimes that means making a stand.

I agree BUT "Uncle Darren" has promised us the "Next 12 will be better".

How can anybody with half a brain say that. Its Incompprehensible!
Anybody with half a brain would see that as a red flag, But not at pools.

Not sure how Pools survived in the early to mid-80s, average crowds were about a third of what they are today - and in case people with rose-coloured spectacles have forgotten, part of the reason people stayed away was that the football Pools were playing was crap. In the 3 seasons from 1982 to 1985 Pools finished 22nd, 23rd and 19th in the 4th Division.

More to the point today, how much longer can Pools AFFORD to keep Sarll on? I doubt that the official attendance on Saturday will reach 3,000 and that'll be counting all the ST holders as present, whether they're at the game or not. The Town End has looked to be about a quarter to a third full for the last two home games.

Nostalgia is a seductive liar, said someone once. It's great looking back when everything was better but it wasn't really. That said, the club somehow felt more like it belongs to fans going 20 years and more back, people running the club were often fans, seen around the town, popping into pubs. Players were perhaps more accessible and mixed in with fans. It feels like fans are kept more at arms length now.
It took me a while to get round to our supporters' trust as I signed up this year when a consortium was being assembled. I think they're onto something regarding having some kind of ownership in the club to redress the balance. Their updates and stuff on BBC Tees talks about community links, constant communication rather than box ticking, having long-term aims etc is common sense stuff that the club now just seem to be scared of. Fans seem to be an inconvenience now, with the season ticket announcement being a prime example. We were fobbed off with some lame excuses for raising prices without any kind of vision for the club. Just cough up lads and lasses and be grateful - that was the vibe I took from it anyway!

Very fair assessment Regarding Blackpool they got into the Premier League a few years after the twat had left so massive progress was made at that time but unfortunately not able to sustain it.

Good post Accy

Another good post I like the link to the S.S.

Go points. As regarding those days my dad would sometimes take us to Seaton or Crimdon to watch the players train. Something that would never happen these days. It seems all clubs now train elsewhere, good example is Barrow who train in Manchester 100 miles away. And yes I understand why Barrow do that to get decent players to sign up. But it appears all teams are at it these days.

once players were expected when they signed to live a certain distance from the town unlike now there even featherstone still lives in hull. no wonder you get teams having an off day with no energy after spending hours travelling just for training never mind a match.

Without nostalgia you wouldn’t have a life worth living because they are your memories of your good times.
Any fool so dumb to see it for something else is a grinch.

All depends what you choose to be nostalgic about. We've all got fond memories about being much younger than we are now but the comments before yours are about Pools at a time when the club was a laughing stock.

When Mike Dochery was manager in 1983 Pools had 1 win in 23 games before Boxing Day. And 14 losses! There was no social media for the likes of Loyal to to vent his fury on, fans just voted with their feet and stayed away in droves.

Then Billy and his Datsun came back, Dobbo scored twice in the derby match, local bragging rights were secured for a few months, and all was well with the world Or a bit less dire, at any rate.