At forty foot plus and sixty pounds the undisputed king of the stand George the gert St George returned. V Loud Mouth Warnocks dreary Palace. Costing £540 for a repair by those nice chaps Cameron balloons plus a dry clean George[Drink up thy cider George…] the Gert St George reappeared. Cleaning the St George was not quite straight forward as the flag is so large and heavy even most specialised cleaners would not take on the job for fear of damaging their machines. Up stepped Chatams of Sandy Park of Briz to the task. George is not exactly pristine now just like the stand but seemingly the smell of cleaning fluid went down well and a few fans even requested that several hundred feet of rip stop nylon should drift over the Cow Shed more regularly. George then indeed did appear more often to make a mockery of those chants of "small town in Wales" chants all with the blessing of the clubs safety officer. George now floats over the East End three times a match at kick off followed by the start of the second half and towards full time, good work BCFC!
Thanks to all who bought badges and contributed to the cost of Georges repair particularly the Bristol City Supporters trust and Mark 2 Joinery of Bristol of Bristol who donated sizeable sums which were very much appreciated. There are badges still available chaps!!!
Any who might wonder why the flag is called George sing the anthem of North Somerset and Bristol City "drink up thy Zider GEORGE……..!
Gobbys Whoosh FC lot also saw the East End recruit a drum not drummer which was named Mabel. More of a communal job for Wurzel this as anybody who does not mind being laughed at seemingly gets to smash away wildly on the thing. But it does beat bruising hands by banging on big red pillars. You do not have to be that hairy American Chap David Grohl to beat out a half passable tune for Boom Boom Jamie McCombe anyway. Mabel has added to the intention of providing a carnival like atmosphere to back the team. Its all is fine and so far has not taken over like that Blackpool Chappie dementedly beating the living daylights out of his membranophone like it needed punishing for being bad.
Mabel the drum? "Dear old Mabel when she's able…………..
Palace also saw the stand being open as an overspill area and coincided with at that point the worst atmosphere within the East End this season. The influx of people wanting to support the team by remaining bolt upright in their seats and using sign language only to roar on the boys hopefully will not catch on but seemed to be contagious.
True to form the relentless Cow Shed noise returned v Hull without Mr & Mrs overspill. The old bastards along with Mr East End Craposs took centre stage and showed all these young rooster haired boot cut jeaned young uns how to really hold a tune stopping all this one hundred miles an hour nonsense. The last fifteen minutes of support really should be remembered as the East End put in a vocal effort to back the team rarely matched for decades. Quite surreal watching the Atyeo, Dolman and Williams obviously getting behind the lads but being totally unable to hear anything but the East End. Even celebrating a unseen goal from Bullet Heading Man Mountain McCombe due to the St George surfing across the East End did not stifle the party.
Then the invasion of the atmos snatchers really began v Watford and Plymouth as the atmosphere in the East End collapsed. The extra thousand utterly diluted the support in the stand and the regulars simply spread out across the Cow shed. New behaviours were witnessed where fans simply did not join in with songs, moaning was heard, fans stared at others in disdain because they attempted to start chants, fans left early and some even complained about giant Surfing George. In a matter of three games excluding Hull the East Ends happy go lucky get behind the team at all times ambience was wrecked. This was not what our East End Wurzel Nation aspired to!
Every time the stand has been opened as an overspill facility the atmosphere within the East End has seriously suffered and v Plymouth regular Eastenders attempted to remedy this by moving to the rear of the stand. Moving simply did not work as what should be the focal point of the Eastend, its noisy support was in the worst seats on the periphery of the stand putting in a great deal of effort but affecting little.
A simple panacea would have been to allow the purchase of tickets in line with the other three stands so fans who actually wanted to be in the East End would be present. Moving the East End season ticket holders as they were v Colchester into their own block would have been a even more effective step to GUARANTEE [100% certainty this] that the atmosphere level did not drop. As it was BCFC did nothing and v Norwich and Wolves Mr and Mrs Overspill and the shop dummies dragged the stand down to a subdued level not seen all season.
The Wolves game even though City did not lose really has to be the East Ends nadir this season and it surely won't be anything like that next season. The 242, 246 or whatever it was are to be joined by hundreds of others next season who hopefully unlike the mute Overspill family have come to take part. Unless you are a bit of tight c#nt who has decided to take advantage of those ultra [!!!!!] season ticket prices the only reason to be in the East End is get behind the team and have a laugh doing it. Support the team, Mini me, Hes an ORRRR at all times and if that is a struggle wave that prosthetic limb because it's the East End and there is no reason to be in this stand other than backing the team.
In a short time BCFC had amongst the constantly noisiest support in the division in the East End but by the Hull game it was finished for the season due to the clubs inabilty to manage the stand. Next season its starts again and it will probably take a few games to sort out "Whats what" and "wheres too? But the standard has to be getting back to having a stand that was noted for its incessant noise and originality [think local act yokel!] then pushing it further because anything else means our Cow Shed is in decline.
Lets have no slack jawed drooling imitations of other clubs fans Wurzel bretherten because that chant on sky for Roonaldo sounded good. Do it our own way Wurzel. Think what makes Bristol and the West Country different. We do have a slightly different culture and even Bristol's music has its own unique vibe although hearing hundreds Woo hooing a Portishead ditty would be quite disturbing. The East Ends flags parody ourselves proclaiming "Wurzel City, When the moon shines, Wurzel Loyal ……. Lets really set ourselves apart from everybody else by blasting out "I am a cider drinker" and the verse and chorus of "drink up thy zider" because it beats the living Granny out of "Delilah" or "When the Saints coming marching in" as a club anthem.
St George's, Ensigns ….. Lets cover the stand with our National flag along with all these Forza East End flags because as any England fan knows the Wurzels support the national team abroad in numbers exceeding any other club of our size. Lets be proud of it. Use the East End to advertise what is a peculiar trait of our Wurzel support. The stand could look spectacular draped in flags not only being an away match at home like it felt for most of the 2007/8 fixtures but an England match away at home. This Forza East End may be too continental for some so marry it to our own quintessentially cider inspired English Wurzelness. Those who frown upon all this to them alien Foreign flag waving drum banging megaphone twirling gig are more likely to get involved in something they can relate to. George the forty foot St George is not a St George for nothing chaps. Lets glory in our Wurzelness, Think local act Yokel, Imitate no bugger as we are the Wurzel nation of Bristol City and England my cider loving friends.
Tis time to throw the kitchen sink at the East End lets see BCFC filling every available seat in our stand by sticking the bloody fence back up, restoring pay on the day to the clubs traditional end and letting the fans finally put on the fun team inspiring party the manager clearly wants.
THINK LOCAL ACT YOKEL - UP THE CITY
tune of delilah
'why don't you drink cider''
'why don't you drink cider''
''so before i fall down drunk on the floor
forgive me oh landlord i just could not drink any more''
