Lowland League General Discussion

[Shannon]

On 16/04/2023 at 13:14, morrison said:

Chris Ewing of Caledonian Braves got interviewed on The Price of Football podcast,  released on Friday. Figured that'd be of interest to a few on here.

Long story short is there's about 800 folk stumping up to be part of the project, but he's mostly funding it himself.

He dumbed down the geography for his English interviewers, and some of what he said struck me as wishful thinking at best. Could be an interesting insight.

https://spotify.link/qRkE0FNR5yb

 

For anyone who wants a listen. 

He mentioned SPFL not opening up promotion / relegation but no mention of him voting against relegation consistently and never putting that relegation his vote on his app even although can vote for almost everything else to do with the club.

He said his app has 4000 downloads but that doesn't exactly convert to supporters.

He has done well to create a club from nothing, rebrand and it is one of the better Lowland League teams that did beat my tier 6 team in a friendly this season too so I know they are no mugs and well drilled but not a fan of the model used and if he gets fed up then the team will likely disband or eventually go down the league.

[welshbairn]

1 hour ago, Shannon said:

if he gets fed up then the team will likely disband

Sooner rather than later imo. Says he's funding 80% of the costs out of his own pocket and he's not a millionaire, and doesn't sound like he has a route to a self sustaining model.

[FairWeatherFan]

With the only outstanding fixture involving Rangers B, the complete table with the B team results scrubbed.

[GNU_Linux]

 

[Gordon EF]

On 16/04/2023 at 13:14, morrison said:

Chris Ewing of Caledonian Braves got interviewed on The Price of Football podcast,  released on Friday. Figured that'd be of interest to a few on here.

Long story short is there's about 800 folk stumping up to be part of the project, but he's mostly funding it himself.

He dumbed down the geography for his English interviewers, and some of what he said struck me as wishful thinking at best. Could be an interesting insight.

I'll try not to be overly negative about Ewing or the Braves but I listened to this and he constantly talks about "the business model" of the club and having an ambition to move up the leagues. Any business model that includes an owner funding 80% of a business that is still nowhere near achieving the next step in a 4 step plan should really be getting asked serious questions.

Fair enough he's doing what he wants and can afford it and giving it a go but he really comes across as deluded on these things.

[Pyramid Watcher]

23 minutes ago, Gordon EF said:

I'll try not to be overly negative about Ewing or the Braves but I listened to this and he constantly talks about "the business model" of the club and having an ambition to move up the leagues. Any business model that includes an owner funding 80% of a business that is still nowhere near achieving the next step in a 4 step plan should really be getting asked serious questions.

Fair enough he's doing what he wants and can afford it and giving it a go but he really comes across as deluded on these things.

I have the fan app, and to be honest I’m not sure what I get out of it. Chris Ewing wants  the club to be successful, which is admirable, but the reality is we are being overtaken by clubs with bigger resources and bigger fan bases. Braves will not get out the LL anytime soon imo.

Edit - at one point when this was launched he promised to be in the Premiership by 2025.

 

Edited April 23, 2023 by Pyramid Watcher

[craigkillie]

47 minutes ago, Pyramid Watcher said:

I have the fan app, and to be honest I’m not sure what I get out of it. Chris Ewing wants  the club to be successful, which is admirable, but the reality is we are being overtaken by clubs with bigger resources and bigger fan bases. Braves will not get out the LL anytime soon imo.

Edit - at one point when this was launched he promised to be in the Premiership by 2025.

 

I think they might get out of it soon enough, just not in the direction they want.

[Spyro]

9 hours ago, craigkillie said:

I think they might get out of it soon enough, just not in the direction they want.

Not necessarily a bad thing tbh. Finding a level more suited to the income and not throwing silly money at trying to stay relevant in tier 5. They've got the under 20's, a reserve team and a decent enough ground for such a new club, it just need to be allowed to grow more organically. People go on about the ground and it's location but it's really not that bad if there was a bus and a pub! 

[PossilYM]

10 hours ago, craigkillie said:

I think they might get out of it soon enough, just not in the direction they want.

Going down the way is the Wosfl Premier were they'd be definitely found out pretty quickly.

I'd imagine his online fan base would bolt once they started hearing all those ex mining villages down in Ayrshire.

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Pyramid Watcher said:

I have the fan app, and to be honest I’m not sure what I get out of it. Chris Ewing wants  the club to be successful, which is admirable, but the reality is we are being overtaken by clubs with bigger resources and bigger fan bases. Braves will not get out the LL anytime soon imo.

Edit - at one point when this was launched he promised to be in the Premiership by 2025.

 

PW does yer man engage with the fan base, to try and make you feel its your club, that's important at our level.

Just for info, was at the Threave game in the SCC, was told there were 2 paying fans from CB. I seen them, they had scarves and everything.

P.S. decent side, played with composure and had a game plan. And there seems enough sides beneath you before any concerns about time travelling down to Ayrshire.

Edited April 24, 2023 by HorseyGhirl

[Pyramid Watcher]

1 hour ago, HorseyGhirl said:

PW does yer man engage with the fan base, to try and make you feel its your club, that's important at our level.

Just for info, was at the Threave game in the SCC, was told there were 2 paying fans from CB. I seen them, they had scarves and everything.

P.S. decent side, played with composure and had a game plan. And there seems enough sides beneath you before any concerns about time travelling down to Ayrshire.

They definitely try to engage with the local communities, school visits, pay what you want entry etc, so I suppose there is an engagement there. I will say that the engagement through the app feels very “sterile”, which I suppose is the nature of these things.

 

[Burnieman]

I'm not a huge fan of Braves or their model, but there are other examples in the WoS and EoS of clubs who don't really represent a local community, have next to no fans, and don't even have a ground of their own (at least Braves have that I guess).

Those clubs are normally from Glasgow/Edinburgh.  Some are literally run by the coaching staff, turn up to away games with one committee person and maybe a handful of parents through the gate.

So whilst Braves get criticised for what they are (and the likes of OG Broomhill) and rightly so in most cases, there are others a little lower down who are not that much different but have been kicking around for longer.

[newcastle broon]

They did have this a few year ago when I last saw them. Quite impressive considering not all players in the league travelled together on a match day. Have they got a new one wi the Braves on it ? 

 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, newcastle broon said:

They did have this a few year ago when I last saw them. Quite impressive considering not all players in the league travelled together on a match day. Have they got a new one wi the Braves on it ? 

 

It was at St Mary's when the Edusport buts were down. It is alive and well.

[Guest]

52 minutes ago, Pyramid Watcher said:

They definitely try to engage with the local communities, school visits, pay what you want entry etc, so I suppose there is an engagement there. I will say that the engagement through the app feels very “sterile”, which I suppose is the nature of these things.

 

That's fantastic; it's a lot more than some traditional clubs have ever done. Can you no get him to change the name, that would win a lot of people over. You are located in a place with lots of historical names and meaning.

Why in the name of all that's holy did he choose a Hollywood Name?

Does he like the negativity it brings?

[welshbairn]

I can understand it when a few mates in a pub team want to take it more seriously, like the Gellions team in Inverness becoming Loch Ness. What I don't get is starting a brand new club from scratch when you could just buy one with an existing fan base and history. 

[Pyramid Watcher]

3 minutes ago, HorseyGhirl said:

That's fantastic; it's a lot more than some traditional clubs have ever done. Can you no get him to change the name, that would win a lot of people over. You are located in a place with lots of historical names and meaning.

Why in the name of all that's holy did he choose a Hollywood Name?

Does he like the negativity it brings?

I agree re the name, it makes us sound like some baseball team. I think he went overly Scottish with it, trying to fit in.

[welshbairn]

3 minutes ago, HorseyGhirl said:

That's fantastic; it's a lot more than some traditional clubs have ever done. Can you no get him to change the name, that would win a lot of people over. You are located in a place with lots of historical names and meaning.

Why in the name of all that's holy did he choose a Hollywood Name?

Does he like the negativity it brings?

They voted for it on the app, probably from Shitsville, Indiana. 

[FairWeatherFan]

Remember what could have been.

1. Alliance FC
2. Black Falcons
3. Caledonian Braves
4. Copa FC
5. Edusport Eagles
6. Edusport Pheonix
7. FC Tribe
8. FC Spero
9. Pheonix FC
10. Lanarkshire Lynx
11. Mondial FC
12. Sporting Union FC
13. FC Venom

 

[cowdenbeath]

44 minutes ago, FairWeatherFan said:

Remember what could have been.

1. Alliance FC
2. Black Falcons
3. Caledonian Braves
4. Copa FC
5. Edusport Eagles
6. Edusport Pheonix
7. FC Tribe
8. FC Spero
9. Pheonix FC
10. Lanarkshire Lynx
11. Mondial FC
12. Sporting Union FC
13. FC Venom

 

Their all pretty pish. As someone mentioned they should have went with something based on the local area.