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IIRC geography has really screwed them twice … they made it up to the 2nd level of the national league and ended up in the North section back in 2014ish and lost a load of players because of that .. old Ipswich players too…. I remember that they were struggling before that as I worked somewhere in Ipswich the majority of the squad would meet up before home games and training before travelling up there. They really only have two choices in this modern era .. 1. To really go for it at a higher echelon with backing or drop down to local local local… I think the location doesn’t allow a middle ground sadly. I guess we’ll see over time which way they end up.
Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 20:21 - Sep 24 by Perublue
IIRC geography has really screwed them twice … they made it up to the 2nd level of the national league and ended up in the North section back in 2014ish and lost a load of players because of that .. old Ipswich players too…. I remember that they were struggling before that as I worked somewhere in Ipswich the majority of the squad would meet up before home games and training before travelling up there. They really only have two choices in this modern era .. 1. To really go for it at a higher echelon with backing or drop down to local local local… I think the location doesn’t allow a middle ground sadly. I guess we’ll see over time which way they end up.
They also had some big earners (relatively speaking) when they were in National League North, who they couldn't shift upon relegation. That's a while ago now, but they borrowed more money off an existing creditor and have gradually been paying that back as well I think.
I've not been there for ages but it was a bit of a dive 15 years ago, dread to think what its like now. I hated playing there. Its an expensive hobby at that level to own a club. 350 odd people through the gates gets nowhere near covering the rising running costs, and sponsorship from businesses isn't easy to come by in this climate.
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Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 21:40 - Sep 24 with 1771 views
well buy a home kit for gawds sake, theyre sponsored by Adnams after all !!!
its a really nice home kit too.
even better with this 3 week international break everyone moans about no football, go to one of their games, theyre playing Sudbury next weekend, its a local derby and clash of Suffolk breweries too as Sudbury are sponsored in a number of ways by Mauldons :D
[Post edited 24 Sep 23:32]
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Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 03:36 - Sep 25 with 1411 views
Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 23:25 - Sep 24 by stonojnr
well buy a home kit for gawds sake, theyre sponsored by Adnams after all !!!
its a really nice home kit too.
even better with this 3 week international break everyone moans about no football, go to one of their games, theyre playing Sudbury next weekend, its a local derby and clash of Suffolk breweries too as Sudbury are sponsored in a number of ways by Mauldons :D
[Post edited 24 Sep 23:32]
Crown Meadow is, as its name suggests, at the top of the hill. Come January time it is a bleak place. From Ness Point, half a mile away, there is no land between it and the North Pole. A brisk northerly will cut straight through you.
On the other hand there is a good club house selling Green Jack Trawler Boys. (The brewery and brewery tap is on the opposite side of the road). So, along with Adnams, you get two breweries for the price of one. The current shirt is indeed a good one.
I believe I will go and see them against Sudbury on the 3rd. Fish and chips washed down with a pint in the Tap or Triangle, watch the match with another pint at half time. Stand where you like. Know that if you wish to speculate on the parentage of the ref or lino they can actually hear you.
The singing section is like an overly large garden shed with only one wall behind the north goal. Last time I was there the opposition had a striker with long hair. It was bunched in two places. So the shout was "He's got a pineapple on his head" followed slightly louder by "Dont tell him!"
Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 20:21 - Sep 24 by Perublue
IIRC geography has really screwed them twice … they made it up to the 2nd level of the national league and ended up in the North section back in 2014ish and lost a load of players because of that .. old Ipswich players too…. I remember that they were struggling before that as I worked somewhere in Ipswich the majority of the squad would meet up before home games and training before travelling up there. They really only have two choices in this modern era .. 1. To really go for it at a higher echelon with backing or drop down to local local local… I think the location doesn’t allow a middle ground sadly. I guess we’ll see over time which way they end up.
Would have thought they’d be able to recruit from Norwich area? Maybe a combined fundraiser from the two clubs knowing how divided the support is up there?
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Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 08:55 - Sep 25 with 1223 views
Really interesting video this - shared with a few people I know. I'm originally from Lowestoft so have been to Crown Meadow a few times. Me and a few friends always went to the boxing day game if Lowestoft were at home - our group chat is even called 'The Trawler Boys'.
It's a shame to see it in this state, but no surprise. Non-league clubs historically are starved of investment and as the video indicates, Lowestoft has some unique challenges, such as the geographical location. You're not going to persuade players to move east on the wages they pay.
There has always been a link with Ipswich as well, quite regularly youth team prospects get sent to Lowestoft. Jack Ainsley was there a few years ago. I don't think there's quite the same relationship with Norwich, but it makes sense to try and attract players who are in the local catchment area already.
Hope they turn things around, more problems than solutions at the moment, but videos like this are great for raising awareness.
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Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 08:56 - Sep 25 with 1220 views
Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 08:37 - Sep 25 by Bluespeed225
Would have thought they’d be able to recruit from Norwich area? Maybe a combined fundraiser from the two clubs knowing how divided the support is up there?
You would have thought that would you not. But no. NCFC only think of the City. As do the locals. Everybody outside in the rest of the county are considered as 6 fingered knuckle draggers. I have heard them say things like that many times. Yes partly in jest but only partly.
Dont expect them to do anything but sneer at Yarmouth, Cromer or Lynn let alone a team playing in blue from Suffolk.
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Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 10:22 - Sep 25 with 1122 views
Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 23:25 - Sep 24 by stonojnr
well buy a home kit for gawds sake, theyre sponsored by Adnams after all !!!
its a really nice home kit too.
even better with this 3 week international break everyone moans about no football, go to one of their games, theyre playing Sudbury next weekend, its a local derby and clash of Suffolk breweries too as Sudbury are sponsored in a number of ways by Mauldons :D
[Post edited 24 Sep 23:32]
It is a nice kit. I tried to buy one a couple of weeks ago. They didn't have any!!
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Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 12:05 - Sep 25 with 1034 views
Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 10:22 - Sep 25 by Meadowlark
It is a nice kit. I tried to buy one a couple of weeks ago. They didn't have any!!
Therein lies a bit of an issue for a lot of clubs at that level, with an outdated commercial strategy. I don't mean this impolitely to anyone at Lowestoft specifically but the world is changing, and not enough clubs are changing with it. Marketing budgets are increasingly allocated to online, and selling pitch side advertising to a local plumber only gets you so far.
The handful of clubs who have managed to build a social media presence and attract interest beyond the 300 - 400 fans in their stadium every other week can (and do) capitalise.
Dorking, Hashtag, Real Bedford etc. Not everyone's cup of tea, I'm a bit of a purist at heart, but the reality is a YouTube following and other social media breadth are valuable assets. Most football clubs don't really 'get' online content. Hashtag have 4x as many followers on their YouTube account than Ipswich, they've even got more than Leeds. Their views per month are typically in the top 10 in the country. They've done sponsorship deals with Adidas, Lucozade, Red Bull etc.
Not easy to achieve, but very intentional and a real competitive and financial advantage over dusty clubs like Lowestoft. At that level there's no financial benefit to promotion until you get close to the football league. Revenues don't really increase aside from potentially a few more supporters through the gates, but costs certainly do. These clubs have to think differently.
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Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 15:57 - Sep 25 with 910 views
Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 08:55 - Sep 25 by Devereuxxx
Really interesting video this - shared with a few people I know. I'm originally from Lowestoft so have been to Crown Meadow a few times. Me and a few friends always went to the boxing day game if Lowestoft were at home - our group chat is even called 'The Trawler Boys'.
It's a shame to see it in this state, but no surprise. Non-league clubs historically are starved of investment and as the video indicates, Lowestoft has some unique challenges, such as the geographical location. You're not going to persuade players to move east on the wages they pay.
There has always been a link with Ipswich as well, quite regularly youth team prospects get sent to Lowestoft. Jack Ainsley was there a few years ago. I don't think there's quite the same relationship with Norwich, but it makes sense to try and attract players who are in the local catchment area already.
Hope they turn things around, more problems than solutions at the moment, but videos like this are great for raising awareness.
It would be a nice gesture by Town to cough up a few shekels every season as we seem awash with money currently. Anything in the rules stopping us from going that ?
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Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 08:10 - Sep 26 with 597 views
This is really sad for me personally as I was born in Pakefield and used to really enjoy going to the games when I was a kid. This was in the days of Tooley, Cassidy, Butcher, Kennon, Saunders, etc. Saw them play both Leyton Orient and Watford in the FA Cup.
I was there the night that Rex Butcher had his leg broken by our own goalie (Mutton if I remember correctly) who came rushing out to smash the ball away but made contact with Rex's leg. The crack was audible throughout the ground. A terrible break, Mutton was distraught.
Ended up signing for Lowestoft, albeit briefly and played a few games for the reserves. I remember one game I played in against Birds Eye at Walmer Road in a near hurricane wind. We had the wind with us first half, Kevin Maguire scored the first, I scored the 2nd. Obviously Birds Eye had the wind 2nd half, they scored 3 and won 3-2 . . . yuk.
Graham Saunders (Ringo) played for us that day, he was getting into the twilight of his career at that stage and always remember playing with him in a game at Crown Meadow. Great memories.
I really hope a local company or an individual steps up and funds them going forward. So much history shouldn't be lost.
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Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 23:01 - Sep 26 with 355 views
Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 20:55 - Sep 24 by _CliveBaker_
They also had some big earners (relatively speaking) when they were in National League North, who they couldn't shift upon relegation. That's a while ago now, but they borrowed more money off an existing creditor and have gradually been paying that back as well I think.
I've not been there for ages but it was a bit of a dive 15 years ago, dread to think what its like now. I hated playing there. Its an expensive hobby at that level to own a club. 350 odd people through the gates gets nowhere near covering the rising running costs, and sponsorship from businesses isn't easy to come by in this climate.
they did have big ideas thanks to a local firm who was generous with money, which helped get them up to the National League North and they dared to dream of going higher. But it was unsustainable growth and the firm pulled out when the dream started going stale. They also had their entire academy stolen by a new rival academy set up by a couple of ex-Norwich players that promised the world like a fast-track to EFL clubs so that was disruptive to them.
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Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 02:22 - Sep 27 with 279 views
Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 08:56 - Sep 25 by flykickingbybgunn
You would have thought that would you not. But no. NCFC only think of the City. As do the locals. Everybody outside in the rest of the county are considered as 6 fingered knuckle draggers. I have heard them say things like that many times. Yes partly in jest but only partly.
Dont expect them to do anything but sneer at Yarmouth, Cromer or Lynn let alone a team playing in blue from Suffolk.
Norwich probably consider those teams as potential rivals, the way they're going.
Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 23:01 - Sep 26 by mellowblue
they did have big ideas thanks to a local firm who was generous with money, which helped get them up to the National League North and they dared to dream of going higher. But it was unsustainable growth and the firm pulled out when the dream started going stale. They also had their entire academy stolen by a new rival academy set up by a couple of ex-Norwich players that promised the world like a fast-track to EFL clubs so that was disruptive to them.
Who set up that academy, and which one is it? I’m a bit out of touch with the nitty gritty of youth football now, so I hadn’t realised that had happened.
I have alot of mates who played for Lowestoft during the good years.. It’s a real shame to see what’s happened there. From what I can see, a lot of the football people have left, including some proper Lowestoft Town lads in the last couple of seasons and it was always going to be a struggle to replace those as I know how much time and effort they put into the club/ playing side..
They had some great years, going up through the leagues and reaching the Vase final, but I never got the impression it was run particularly well as a business, or with much thought for the future of the club. Many moons ago, when I was still playing, there was talk of Lowestoft joining up with Kirkley & Pakefield (was probably just Kirkley at the time, as it was that long ago). I think both sides were probably too proud for it to get much further than a conversation, but looking at things now, perhaps it would have been a good idea. Kirkley & Pakefield now have a thriving youth section, but their senior sides aren’t where they used to be and there only seem to be so many senior players in the town capable of playing at those levels, especially when other clubs are throwing money around, so it seems developing the youngsters feels like the way forward for both clubs, but that’s going to take time.
As for who saves Lowestoft or where the money comes from, I’m honestly not sure. The town centre is a hole these days so I doubt businesses have money to invest, and even if somebody does come in with money, who’s to say it gets spent wisely? As I said, they’ve been bailed out a number of times before.
I’m at a loss as to where it goes from here really. As others have said, the geography is terrible, although that doesn’t matter quite so much when there’s enough money to make the problem go away. But that isn’t sustainable, is it? I just hope the club is still around long enough to find another way.
[Post edited 27 Sep 5:47]
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Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 10:50 - Sep 27 with 68 views
Lowestoft Town in financial trouble on 03:00 - Sep 27 by TownieRob
Who set up that academy, and which one is it? I’m a bit out of touch with the nitty gritty of youth football now, so I hadn’t realised that had happened.
I have alot of mates who played for Lowestoft during the good years.. It’s a real shame to see what’s happened there. From what I can see, a lot of the football people have left, including some proper Lowestoft Town lads in the last couple of seasons and it was always going to be a struggle to replace those as I know how much time and effort they put into the club/ playing side..
They had some great years, going up through the leagues and reaching the Vase final, but I never got the impression it was run particularly well as a business, or with much thought for the future of the club. Many moons ago, when I was still playing, there was talk of Lowestoft joining up with Kirkley & Pakefield (was probably just Kirkley at the time, as it was that long ago). I think both sides were probably too proud for it to get much further than a conversation, but looking at things now, perhaps it would have been a good idea. Kirkley & Pakefield now have a thriving youth section, but their senior sides aren’t where they used to be and there only seem to be so many senior players in the town capable of playing at those levels, especially when other clubs are throwing money around, so it seems developing the youngsters feels like the way forward for both clubs, but that’s going to take time.
As for who saves Lowestoft or where the money comes from, I’m honestly not sure. The town centre is a hole these days so I doubt businesses have money to invest, and even if somebody does come in with money, who’s to say it gets spent wisely? As I said, they’ve been bailed out a number of times before.
I’m at a loss as to where it goes from here really. As others have said, the geography is terrible, although that doesn’t matter quite so much when there’s enough money to make the problem go away. But that isn’t sustainable, is it? I just hope the club is still around long enough to find another way.
[Post edited 27 Sep 5:47]
I had forgotten the detail, it being 10 years ago, but I had one clue, one of the ex Norwich player's name was a type of bird. After research (thanks AI) I landed on a Norwich players site, which explains it pretty well.
"Crow left Lowestoft in November 2016 when the club terminated his contract with immediate effect for a serious breach of contract involving recruiting players from Lowestoft's academy and reserve team to join his company Road2Pro. Upon learning of Crow’s involvement Lowestoft suspended the player before sacking him shortly after. Crow, who was also a coach with Blues’ academy, appealed to the Ryman League, and to the FA, but both failed. Chairman, Gary Keyzor, said: “Crow’s contract has been terminated due to a serious breach of contract. These appeals have been a massive cloud hanging over the club and it’s been an absolute nightmare.” "
The other ex-Norwich guy was Mickey Spillane. Needless to say, Road2Pro did not last long. further to this, quite a long read on the subject from Lowestoft's chairman at the time.
Despite the shennigans, it has not hindered their careers at local level, Crow is assistant manager at Wroxham and Spillane is manager at Cambridge City.
Jamie Godbold did set up a football academy to bridge the gap for a few years, but that closed as Lowestoft wanted to take it in house and Godbold had moved to a role at Ipswich.
On a personal level Godbold taught football to my son and his best mate at my old primary school where I then became a governor with responsibilty for p.e, so I got to know him well. My son's best mate at that time is now Scholarship Programme manager and in charge of the u18-u19s football side at Lowestoft Town. Ipswich Town supporter as well which is good for future Ipswich-Lowestoft relations.
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