Futcher and Taylor

Just got home after an evening wedding do after the  match this afternoon.

The match itself was bad enough, but I have a couple of gripes about the minutes applause / silence in recent home games.

Firstly, the memory of one of our greatest ever players, Paul Futcher,  had to be spoiled because we also had to remember the fatalities of a South American team that none of us had ever heard of due to a tragic plane crash that week. Yes it is was terrible, but why did we have to give that equal prominence to one of our greats? I have great empathy and consideration for anybody killed in any situation but I think Futchers remembrance was unjustly diluted on the day.

To cap if off, the notice of a minutes applause for Graham Taylor was read out with the passion of a dead fish and didn't even mention Grimsby Town at all. No mention of him being our player, no mention of the fact we were instrumental in his life and work, and the notice was read out the same as at say Wycombe  v Yeovil and at every other ground in the country. Graham Taylor was one of my first heroes and Futcher one of the all time greats and it annoys me more consideration wasn't given to two giants of the game.

As for the today's game...it has put me in a bad mood but i stand by my comments above.          

Must admit the no mention of him playing for Town surprised me.

I'm not a big fan of the minutes applause, I think a minutes silence is more appropriate in virtually all cases, particularly with someone like Graham Taylor who had a direct link with the Mariners

Because it was a statement sent to all clubs by either the FL or the FA. Town could have used initiave but didn't. Chapecoense thing was tragic and just happened to occur the same week a Town legend died, unfortunate but that's the way it is.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

Just got home after an evening wedding do after the  match this afternoon.

The match itself was bad enough, but I have a couple of gripes about the minutes applause / silence in recent home games.

Firstly, the memory of one of our greatest ever players, Paul Futcher,  had to be spoiled because we also had to remember the fatalities of a South American team that none of us had ever heard of due to a tragic plane crash that week. Yes it is was terrible, but why did we have to give that equal prominence to one of our greats? I have great empathy and consideration for anybody killed in any situation but I think Futchers remembrance was unjustly diluted on the day.

To cap if off, the notice of a minutes applause for Graham Taylor was read out with the passion of a dead fish and didn't even mention Grimsby Town at all. No mention of him being our player, no mention of the fact we were instrumental in his life and work, and the notice was read out the same as at say Wycombe  v Yeovil and at every other ground in the country. Graham Taylor was one of my first heroes and Futcher one of the all time greats and it annoys me more consideration wasn't given to two giants of the game.

As for the today's game...it has put me in a bad mood but i stand by my comments above.          

We did have a minutes silence for "absent friends" recently?????

"Why must we have a minutes silence for victims of a plane crash carrying a football team, its not like we knew them or anything".

What should we have done, not mentioned the Chapecoense plane crash, which probably most football teams around the world did, because an ex-footballer died?

It was deeply saddening about Paul Futcher's death but don't try and rubbish the lives of 71 people about it.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

we also had to remember the fatalities of a South American team that none of us had ever heard of due to a tragic plane crash that week.      

Speak for yourself! As a follower of South American football I was more than aware of who the players were before the disaster.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

We did have a minutes silence for "absent friends" recently?????

Yeah not sure what that was all about to be honest ??

There was a minutes applause on the 4th minute for Futch, which I thought was utterly superb, it really choked me up. In general I much prefer a minutes silence to applause, I think it's much more personal and meaningful, I think the applause came in because of idiots ruining the silence.

I was a little surprised at the speech about Graham Taylor and maybe the club were told what to say, but thought the PA bloke could have personalised it slightly.

Just while I'm talking about the PA bloke, there's one tiny little detail that really bugs me every home game and I know it's really pedantic but I wish when he reads the team out before the game he'd say the players name just as they appear on the big screen. We've spent a lot of money on it so use it properly, it would look so much more professional.

I think it is a little bit pedantic, got to remember there is a lot of things to say before the match kicks off like the away team, sponsors etc etc

Quoted from lee65

I'm not a big fan of the minutes applause, I think a minutes silence is more appropriate in virtually all cases, particularly with someone like Graham Taylor who had a direct link with the Mariners

Spot on mate applause for some one unconnected to your club but a minute of reflectful silence for one of our own is what should happen

I have found in the past a minute silence can be ruined by a couple of idiots, minute applause sorts that out

Quoted from robborhino

I think it is a little bit pedantic, got to remember there is a lot of things to say before the match kicks off like the away team, sponsors etc etc

Yeah it is a bit, other clubs manage it. Not really important though.

Amateurish both on and off the field
I couldn't believe that Graham Taylor's connection with GTFC was not mentioned in speech - did no one at the club think it would be a good idea to mention years he played for us, appearances etc and the fact he made regular visits to the club etc
I prefer minute's silence - seems more in keeping with British psyche...but I take the point about the odd idiot spoiling it

Shoddy day all round

I was disappointed Graham Taylor's direct connections with the Mariners were not mentioned and would totally concur with the OP and others about that. Graham started his career here and made the majority of his league appearances in  the black and white stripes. The 'tribute' was just a standard statement that could have been read out anywhere. He was one of our own and i know he retained a great affection for GTFC. The club could have done more to make it a more personal tribute and Graham deserved better imo.

As for minutes applause v minutes silence i think it is a sad reflection of the world we live in. I was brought up with showing respect by a minutes silence. That is the traditional way in this country. I know it is different in different countries/cultures . Spain i think applaud. To me we started bringing in the applause to drown out the morons and fuckwits (dont get me started) who are prevelant in society who seem incapable of keeping their gob shut for a minute to show respect. I am sure Graham Taylor was held in high enough esteem throughout football that a minutes silence would have been observed well and in particular here at BP.

However i cant agree with the OP stance on the Chapacoense disaster. It was maybe unfortunate with the timing that the OP felt it 'spoiled' the Futcher tribute. You may not have heard of them but it does not diminish the tragedy and the sadness felt around the world of football. A whole football club was wiped out in one moment. Thankfully air disasters are rare events....i can only think of 3 or 4 events like that involving football teams. The magnitude of it should have been respected around the world.

Quoted from BottesfordMariner

I was disappointed Graham Taylor's direct connections with the Mariners were not mentioned and would totally concur with the OP and others about that. Graham started his career here and made the majority of his league appearances in  the black and white stripes. The 'tribute' was just a standard statement that could have been read out anywhere. He was one of our own and i know he retained a great affection for GTFC. The club could have done more to make it a more personal tribute and Graham deserved better imo.

As for minutes applause v minutes silence i think it is a sad reflection of the world we live in. I was brought up with showing respect by a minutes silence. That is the traditional way in this country. I know it is different in different countries/cultures . Spain i think applaud. To me we started bringing in the applause to drown out the morons and fuckwits (dont get me started) who are prevelant in society who seem incapable of keeping their gob shut for a minute to show respect. I am sure Graham Taylor was held in high enough esteem throughout football that a minutes silence would have been observed well and in particular here at BP.

However i cant agree with the OP stance on the Chapacoense disaster. It was maybe unfortunate with the timing that the OP felt it 'spoiled' the Futcher tribute. You may not have heard of them but it does not diminish the tragedy and the sadness felt around the world of football. A whole football club was wiped out in one moment. Thankfully air disasters are rare events....i can only think of 3 or 4 events like that involving football teams. The magnitude of it should have been respected around the world.

Totally agree with this post. The Chapacoense disaster should resonate with all football people and it was a misfortune that it coincided with Futch's passing. Yesterday just showed how continually poor GTFC are at public relations and I spent most of the minutes' applause reflecting on why it hadn't been said rather than thinking of Graham Taylor. You only had to watch the scenes at Watford to see how it should have been done.

Quoted from BottesfordMariner

I was disappointed Graham Taylor's direct connections with the Mariners were not mentioned and would totally concur with the OP and others about that. Graham started his career here and made the majority of his league appearances in  the black and white stripes. The 'tribute' was just a standard statement that could have been read out anywhere. He was one of our own and i know he retained a great affection for GTFC. The club could have done more to make it a more personal tribute and Graham deserved better imo.

As for minutes applause v minutes silence i think it is a sad reflection of the world we live in. I was brought up with showing respect by a minutes silence. That is the traditional way in this country. I know it is different in different countries/cultures . Spain i think applaud. To me we started bringing in the applause to drown out the morons and fuckwits (dont get me started) who are prevelant in society who seem incapable of keeping their gob shut for a minute to show respect. I am sure Graham Taylor was held in high enough esteem throughout football that a minutes silence would have been observed well and in particular here at BP.

However i cant agree with the OP stance on the Chapacoense disaster. It was maybe unfortunate with the timing that the OP felt it 'spoiled' the Futcher tribute. You may not have heard of them but it does not diminish the tragedy and the sadness felt around the world of football. A whole football club was wiped out in one moment. Thankfully air disasters are rare events....i can only think of 3 or 4 events like that involving football teams. The magnitude of it should have been respected around the world.

I think you have slightly misunderstood my original post. I went out of my way to say about how tragic the events were re the plane crash. There are many many ways to show respect and I take the point that unfortunately it coincided with the death of Paul Futcher. If it had been my decision though, I would have taken the view that we should have soley concentrated on paying respects to Paul Futcher before the game.

I am sure with a bit of forethought the club could have paid tribute to the plane crash victims without it coinciding with the minute for Paul Futcher. We knew Paul Futcher. He was one of our own. When you go to a funeral you remember other lost ones, but you concentrate on the person you know.

I may be in a minority, but your own  should come first and foremost and for me at least it spoiled the Futcher tribute.

Not mentioning the Mariners in connection with Graham Taylor reminded me that a bit more thought should go into these tributes.    

I dont think i have misunderstood. I can see where you are coming from if you feel the events on the day didnt fully pay sufficient respect to a truly great ex Town player. I can also accept your perspective that for you the passing of Paul Futcher was of more significance than that of strangers although that was extremely sad disaster..

But the Brazilian tragedy was one of such magnitude that the whole of the football world united in their loss. Tributes were carried out across the globe not just in Brazil.   I dont think Town could just have ignored Chapacoense. It was not just the passing of some unknown guy form the other side of the world (people die every day including famous people i know)..71 people lost their lives...a whole football club wiped out. If Town had chosen to not conduct a tribute because they had one of their greatest players to remember and that was more important to them i dont think that would have reflected well on the club.

Unfortunately the 2 events coincided.

It is interesting i have just watched Everton do a minute's applause for Graham Taylor (who of course had no direct connection with Everton FC or Manchester City FC) but combined that with a tribute for the loss of one of 'their own' a former important figure at their club. I am sure there will be some Evertonians who will feel' their' loss has not a suitable tribute.

At least the football show on C5 recognised Graham Taylor's time at GTFC and footage of our minutes applause was the first to be shown. Well done channel 5 and Thankyou.

Agree TinyMariner, I thought the Channel 5 tribute was excellent and Rocket man playing in the background was perfect

Quoted from LH

Because it was a statement sent to all clubs by either the FL or the FA. Town could have used initiave but didn't. Chapecoense thing was tragic and just happened to occur the same week a Town legend died, unfortunate but that's the way it is.

I think that statement was a re hash of McNulty's piece on BBC Sport which also remarkably didn't mention 215 games for Town - "he played for Lincoln who he also managed" was the closest we got! Very poor from the BBC too!

Quoted from LH

Because it was a statement sent to all clubs by either the FL or the FA. Town could have used initiave but didn't. Chapecoense thing was tragic and just happened to occur the same week a Town legend died, unfortunate but that's the way it is.

I think that statement was a re hash of McNulty's piece on BBC Sport which also remarkably didn't mention 215 games for Town - "he played for Lincoln who he also managed" was the closest we got! Very poor from the BBC too!