Football / Fan's View
‘Gasheads are like mushrooms’
It was interesting to see Rovers wheel out non-executive director Colin Sexstone to spend a lot of time saying very little about matters including the UWE Stadium.
This is usually Nick Higgs’ job. Depressingly, the language used was exactly the same as the chairman’s: plenty is happening “behind the scenes” but we can’t actually tell you what it is. It is so tempting to add, “because we don’t know either”.
Sexstone didn’t say much about possibly takeovers either, other than to suggest one could happen, although there was no specific group of investors waiting in the wings. It was a case of watch this empty space.
I suppose at times like these, clubs feel the need to inform the punters that something is still going on. There are endless rumours, fuelled on occasions by loose-talking club officials (“I can’t tell you where I heard this but…”), and rumours, if they are repeated often enough, soon become facts.
I still don’t know what to make of Sexstone’s appointment. I am used to supporting a club that has prided itself on having Gasheads on the board. Love them or hate them, no one could possibly accuse the Dunford family of not being true blues.
The same applies for current chairman and owner Nick Higgs. I suppose it can be argued that although Sexstone is, and remains, a lifelong City fan, he is able to provide a level of expertise that is beyond the level of, say, Ken Masters and Brian Seymour Smith.
This is probably not difficult. He knows about building new stadia, or rather failing to build them, and he has vast experience across a variety of Bristol sport (which makes you wonder why he is not working for Bristol Sport, seeing that two of his previous employers come under their umbrella).
It is tiresome to read about Rovers potential, as Sexstone reminds us. We live in a huge city that can afford to support two successful football clubs (how does he know? Has that ever happened?), the UWE stadium will have lots of students living next door (I had never thought of that one) and it’s in an excellent location unless you need to drive there, as most people will.
I have been reading about the club’s potential all my life, as recently as last season when I was told that we had the potential to get out of the Conference.
Don’t we need a bit more than what’s happening “behind the scenes”, because it might be nothing that was or wasn’t happening before and isn’t it about time some of that potential was fulfilled?
At the moment, Gasheads are like mushrooms, kept in the dark and fed…well, you know.
Picture from Bristol Rovers.
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