Where’s The Money Gone?

Back in 2015, prior to the creation of Along Come Norwich, we both wrote some scathing words about the Norwich City fanbase for our friends over at MyFootballWriter.

The essence of the piece was around the fact Norwich fans needed to be electro-shocked back into life. The support was stagnant, entitled and way too expectant. Noise levels were way below even the mid to late 1990s, when usually only around 15,000 City fans felt it was worthwhile attending games at the Carra.

It was apparent things needed to drastically change. While, back in 2015 it was accepted that the Yellow and Green Army was undoubtedly loyal and turned up in their droves, that was about it.

We paid our money, sat back and waited to be entertained, while repeating ad nauseum the old Neil Doncaster (?) line about us being “the best fans in the world” without any sense of irony. Really we’d only ever been awarded some arbitrary gong stating we were the ‘best behaved’. A good thing undoubtedly, no-one likes mindless thuggery, but at the same time not exactly suggestive of an intimidating or vocal fortress that could help the players over the line.

One of us (Jon) might even as gone as far to suggest it was all a bit embarrassing. Opposition fans rocked up, regularly out-sung the Barclay/Snake Pit, and revelled in the fact that our ground was akin to a library. While the other (Andy) repeatedly bemoaned the fact that the loudest noise we made was to boo our own players or abuse the opposition fans.

Basically, we both thought we were all a bit deluded if we thought that was what ‘good’ or the ‘best’ looked like and we were willing to be called “song police” or accused of “telling people how to be a fan” in order to make our points.

We weren’t good enough and, added to declining on-field performances, apathy was spreading faster than rust across an abandoned pushbike on Cromer pier. Neither of us wanted to see that happen (Andy even threatened/promised to stop going altogether). Things had to change.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view) our articles have since been relegated to the archives now. We believe because the fine people at MFW moved to a different hosting platform, rather than anything personal. Gary?

As such, we can’t go back and properly reflect on what exactly we said was wrong or how much things have changed. But they have changed, of COURSE they have.

Maybe we’ve mellowed in our old age, but having started this website, engaged with various fan groups and just being involved in the regular social media based discussions about all things Nodge, it’s clear to us the NCFC family is as brilliant as any other. We just show it in different ways.

We also thought that everybody, whether you want to sing or not, would prefer Carrow Road to be a more vibrant, colourful and fun place to be.

Regular readers of ACN will know that at the start of this season in a bid to do what we could to help realise that dream and alongside the Barclay End Norwich supporters’ group, we set ourselves what we thought was a fairly ambitious crowdfunding target of lb3,000. This was primarily to fund flags, banners and colourful displays of support. We may not be Dortmund and boast a 10,000 capacity terrace, but we wanted our own Yellow Wall. We have the most vibrant colours in English football, why not make the most of them?

Of course, there were the usual group of naysayers who scoffed at what we were trying to achieve, but the online shouts from the perennial doom merchants were drowned out by a collective show of almost unanimous support from swathes of Canaries, hundreds of whom have donated, bought a t-shirt, purchased a badge or did all three.

Much to our surprise, the original target amount was exceeded within a few days. We kept the crowdfunder open from thereon in as it was clear that we were not alone in wanting Carrow Road to be more fun. Hundreds of people came forward willing to continue to pledge their hard-earned cash or lend their help through non-financial means.

From an optimistic goal of lb3,000, the total pot so far stands at in excess of lb8,000.

As most people know, our initial forays into creating in-stadium displays were small, and intentionally so; our first one was just the letters CITY back in ‘that game’ vs Leeds. We started small, because we needed to work out what was possible. Logistically it’s extremely difficult to arrange for hundreds of flags and banners to be approved by the club, to comply with fire regulations, to place them in sections of the stands where supporters want to get involved, then collect them all back in again (and make sure none are taken home). To give you some context, ahead of the Birmingham game, we had 6 or 7 people working for almost an hour prior to kick-off putting out the flags. Then at half-time our numbers were swelled to around 20, all working feverishly to gather them all back in again. We had to take baby steps initially, yet now we’re at a stage where we can embark upon more exponential growth.

The derby is now looming large and we’ve been thinking for some time about what we could realistically achieve before the game. Firm plans are now in place, all agreed with the club, and we hope you like the results.

None of it would have been possible without each and every one of you who donated. So from us and the gents at Barclay End Norwich – and we can’t say this enough – THANK YOU.

A few people have asked where the money has been gone so far, and we’ve ensured we try to spend it in what we think is the best and most responsible way to achieve our goals. For those interested, here’s the breakdown so far:

Raised – lb8,000, minus 3% GoFundme processing fees, leaving roughly lb7760.00

Purchased:

August 2018

• 100 x yellow and green flags and 100 flag poles inc delivery – lb128.52
• 30 x telescopic flagpoles including delivery – lb147.78
• 100 x chequered / striped flags and poles inc delivery – lb185.16
• 6 x Egg and Cress flags – lb180
• 1 x Gossy banner – lb60

September 2018

• 2 x BEN group flags, 2 x ASICS flags 1 x Founders Banner – lb200
• Justin Banner, Hummel and Adidas 83 flags – lb294.00

October 2018

• 200 x small chequered and striped flags inc delivery – lb900
• Green and yellow cards purchased for future display – lb317.49

December 2018

• 200 x small chequered and striped flags and 4 x larger waving flags inc delivery – lb900

January 2019

• Ipswich display – lb2,301.50
• 4 x bins to collect/keep flags – lb32.00

So far we have spent – lb5,646.45

For those of you paying attention, you’ll notice a price differential between the initial batches of 100 small flags/poles purchased and the later ones. This was due to a change of supplier, and wanting to make sure the items we purchased were fit to last, not only for the rest of this campaign but beyond that too. We’re in this for the long run.

So all in all, that leaves us just over lb2,000 for the remainder of the season. Given there are important matches on the horizon we’ll do everything we can to ensure this cash is used to bring even more colour and vibrancy to the Barclay End. Never Mind the Danger.