Have just sent this to Parramatta. While it was great to watch Hindy and Burt play their last game, I believe the club should do more for it's supporters. I believe my thoughts deserved to be heard by the club and don't think I was the only one that felt this way. The letter was at follows;
Not sure who to address this to;
But as a lifelong Parramatta fan, I was extremely dissapointed with the weekends affair, I drove all the way from Toowoomba with my son and father (who came down from Brisbane),
non-stop through the night after finishing work on the Friday evening to arrive in Sydney and went straight to Parramatta stadium to watch the training day. My son who has become a die hard Parramatta fan was very excited to be going to see all the boys and get to get up close with the team and in the hope that he would be able to get his jersey signed by the team and maybe some football cards. After watching the team train, we thought that the team might come and meet and greet their fans (after all we are the ones that buy the tickets and merchandise and watch the games on the TV that pay their wages and help to keep their business going) but how wrong were we, after waiting outside with other fans my son was lucky enough to score a few signatures (Jarryd, The Mannah Brothers and Mitchell Allgood were all kind enough to spend time with alot of the people their and I thought these men were all outstanding), but the rest of the team either couldn't get out of there quick enough or didn't seem to care. Then after the rest of the team left, everyone waited around for the two who everyone came to see, but sadly, everybody was brushed aside as Hindmarsh and Burt were ushered to their cars with their children by security and brushed off by the security team. Now I understand the need for the children to feel safe and not be scared by a crowd, but in such an event where the whole focus was for the retirement of two Parramatta legends, I would have thought that more would have been done to involve the fans. This training day was a perfect opportunity for this as everyone knew that come game day where there would be close to 50,000 people at the final game and make an opportunity for this farely scarce. Not to mention that I was more impressed with the way that the Dragons boys hung around alot longer and spent more time with their fans. To say I was dissapointed is an understatement. In the two games that Parra played in queensland, not once was their a fan day organised, this I thought would have been a great opportunity for my son to meet the players. Personally I believe the club should be doing more for their fans,
my blood runs blue and gold and always will but in a year where we have not achieved the results on the field we should be striving even harder off it, as a 10 year old my son is very impressionable and I would love for him to support Parramatta for the rest of his life as I have, my father has and lots of other family members, but in truth with events like this I would not blame him if he didn't.
So come on Parra, remember without your fans what have you got.
I know i was not the only disgruntled fan their, and had one lady that had supported the club for 50 years tell me how disgusted she was, as she had brought her grandchildren, and after such an event was considering not renewing her membership and supporting the club. Not only this but as soon as the training had finished on the field many people were not allowed in the gates even though the event was advertised till 11.30am and this would have been at most 10.45 - 11.00am, to see people who had turned up with their children turned away was an absolute shame. What have we come to, How can as a club we ask people to become members and support you and then when it comes time in cases like this not support their membership and fan support.
I hope that this letter has some meaning to the club and doesn't fall on deaf ears, as I would love nothing more than to see the mighty Eels the proudest club in Australia, it doesn't matter to me if we don't win the comp, but as a club we need to do more because without pride in itself how can we be proud.
Regards,
Lifelong Eels Fan,
Nathan Currey,
0487 *** ***
Toowoomba, QLD
Replies
I agree with this. I was there to and just made it inside the gates at 10.00. I was curious as to why they were closing the gates so early considering it was advertised until 11.30. Speaking to security it was Hindy who asked for it to be opened to the fans so it shows the club doesn't care about the fans. Apparently Burt had a Grand Final to attend but I'll say this. I skipped my own Grand Final that I was supposed to be playing in to come and see their final session. It was a tough decision to make but I thought getting a photo and autograph from two legends would be well worth it. Instead I wasted 90 minutes of my time and missed out on my entertaining game.
I just think that the board and club need to take a good hard look at itself. I mean as much as I hate the doggies you've got to give it to them. They seem to give a shit about their fans and really have turned it into family club. Todd Greenberg in my opinion is the best administrator in the game today, our club needs to take a leaf out their book and get their heads out of their asses. I mean you can almost guarantee their was more to our losses in the last few years. Remember Jack Gibson used to say if you cant get it right in the office what chance have you got on the field.
Do you regret your decision? Did your team win the GF?
I think that would be a great idea, and take the rest of the team with them and show them who they are actually playing for, not just themselves and their paycheck.
Definitely. They look after their fans and they look after their grassroot. We have alot to learn as a code, I hope whoever replaces Gallop is ready for the job at hand.
Yes I regret my decision. No we didn't win. It was a KO competition and we were playing a team in the division above us. I regret it because it was supposed to be my final game for the club but I dumped it to see Hindy and Burt's final training session.
Sadly for us fans we are a dysfunctional team on the field and off.
Remember the great jack Gibson's quote "WINNING STARTS AT THE FRONT OFFICE" and the blokes we got now don't have a clue.
Last xmas my kids pitched in and paid up front for a paver on the walk of fame for me and guess what 9 months on and not stone has been turned yet they've kept the money. The clubs gesture is to send out a $20 firehouse voucher and say Council are holding things up.
Just another excuse from a lame management.
Too true
That's a very kind offer but I couldn't take that from you. It's more about the club learning to look after its fans. Thank you for the offer.
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