My first post in absolute years but it made me chuckle:

At the Gateshead match on Wednesday the MoM was announced as John Oster.
Someone from the back of our stand shouted:
"he used to play for a BIG club" to much mirth from those around him, clearly in reference to us....

Yeah but (in my descending order of 'BIGness', but pick your own):
Sunderland
Everton
Leeds (loan)
Crystal Palace
Burnley
Reading
Barnsley (loan)
Doncaster
GRIMSBY
Barnett
Gateshead

Would say Everton are bigger than Sunderland

Have you not seen Leeds support on facebook? They get everywhere they're MASSIVE

Quoted from Paris Mariner

Would say Everton are bigger than Sunderland

If we're talking historically I'd put both Everton and Leeds ahead of Sunderland

On the same basis I'd say that we should be above Doncaster.

Quoted from Les Brechin

If we're talking historically I'd put both Everton and Leeds ahead of Sunderland

On the same basis I'd say that we should be above Doncaster.

Historically and actually I'd say Everton are bigger than Sunderland. Sunderland's most famous win, in the FA Cup, was won as divisional underdogs.

I would say that it all depends upon how you define 'big' - is it crowds/support or success?
If it was success, Wimbledon (now MK Dons) would be considered a 'bigger' club than many others but would typically be called a 'small' club, even by us.
I went with my perception of crowd sizes (not least because if you go by success GTFC are the smallest of that list - Barnet being top of our particular pile of poo and Gateshead going further in the play-offs than us last season) and Sunderland usually average bigger crowds than Everton. Leeds being next on the list and so on. The only one I looked up was Doncaster and, sorry to say, on my assessment based purely on crowds when in the championship and nothing more scientific than that, they are 'bigger' than us (I look forward to testing the theory when we are back in the championship!)

I think, on reflection, I will have a cry rather than a chuckle :-(

John Oster should have finished his career with us. Quality footballer.

To be fair he ran the show on Wednesday - looked like a games teacher against 5 year olds - always had loads of time on the ball and making space for himself.... ended the game with a whiter shirt than he started with while everyone else was covered in mud

Town was always a bigger club than Reading and Donny and was about the same size as Barnsley , Its just a shame we was never run as well :/

Quoted from nomorefourfiveone

I would say that it all depends upon how you define 'big' - is it crowds/support or success?
If it was success, Wimbledon (now MK Dons) would be considered a 'bigger' club than many others but would typically be called a 'small' club, even by us.
I went with my perception of crowd sizes (not least because if you go by success GTFC are the smallest of that list - Barnet being top of our particular pile of poo and Gateshead going further in the play-offs than us last season) and Sunderland usually average bigger crowds than Everton. Leeds being next on the list and so on. The only one I looked up was Doncaster and, sorry to say, on my assessment based purely on crowds when in the championship and nothing more scientific than that, they are 'bigger' than us (I look forward to testing the theory when we are back in the championship!)

I think, on reflection, I will have a cry rather than a chuckle :-(

What constitutes a 'big club' is always open to debate; but I agree with Les's assessment.
Also, don't forget Donny nearly went out of business not that long ago, and were a nonleague club too.

IF were still non league next year, surely we have to try and sign him. Couple of seasons in him yet

Didn't one of Donny's former chairmen get sent down for trying to torch Belle Vue in an insurance job? The bloke who took over did a very good job, spending lots of money (which he made from selling plastic knockers!  ;D) and getting the new stadium built.

Madejski spent masses on Reading, funding their stadium almost single-handedly.

Unfortunately, Fenty wasn't as wealthy as these two and we've taken a downward route...

As for Oster, he undoubtedly has a great amount of skill but I remember we bullied him out of the game at BP pretty easily in last season's play-off match. If we gave him a load of room the other night to allow him time on the ball, that was a tactical error.

Quoted from Maringer

Didn't one of Donny's former chairmen get sent down for trying to torch Belle Vue in an insurance job? The bloke who took over did a very good job, spending lots of money (which he made from selling plastic knockers!  ;D) and getting the new stadium built.

.

I can see Fenty doing this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_conf/2959215.stm

;D

Someone said that when Oster went to Everton they saw him in a hotel. He looked so young and naive, more like a schoolboy.  Well he is still doing a good job as a seasoned pro on the pitch many years later.

Thought he lived in the NE and that is why he went to heed and not us to finish his career.

When he was on loan to us he was rubbish

Quoted from Garth

When he was on loan to us he was rubbish

;D

(I assume that was 'bantz')

Quoted from Garth

When he was on loan to us he was rubbish

I remember him playing for us away at forest, they had Huckerby. It might have been when we had Todd and briefly Pringle? He was top drawer that day.

Quoted from ginnywings

Thought he lived in the NE and that is why he went to heed and not us to finish his career.

He does live in Newcastle but he was out of contract for quite a while after Barnet and he would have come to grimsby if he had been approached.

Quoted from LongEatonMariner

I remember him playing for us away at forest, they had Huckerby. It might have been when we had Todd and briefly Pringle? He was top drawer that day.

Season after Todd and Pringle.


He was awesome that day.  We had Mansaram up front on his own chasing shadows whilst Oster sat off and gave their defence and midfield the run around.  
Was too much to expect of Mansaram at his age to do that job on his own.  Oster ended up passing to himself for most of the game.  Had we kept Oster for the rest of the season I'm certain we would have stayed up.

His best performance for us, in my opinion, though was during the first part of his loan that season.  Against Norwich at home (I think he got recalled after that to sit on the bench against Man Utd).  Never before or since have I seen one player take the game to a superior opposition single handedly and be so bloody good at it.  

When you consider how good Oster was here, it's baffling he only had a good career.   He should have achieved so much more.

The Forest game was the one when Groves scored after a 20-something pass move wasn't it?

Everytime I watched him on motd he never quite had it. Didn't look comfortable in the prem  

As for Mansaram, can't be many players who are playing at championship level only to basically fall out of the pro game within a year

I vividly remember the free-kick he scored on Boxing Day at Pride Park when we beat Derby 3-1. I think everyone in the ground knew what he was going to do, apart from their keeper. Also memorable for David Soames scoring, what I think, was his only first team goal for Town.

Quoted from nomorefourfiveone

I would say that it all depends upon how you define 'big' - is it crowds/support or success?
If it was success, Wimbledon (now AFC Wimbledon) would be considered a 'bigger' club than many others but would typically be called a 'small' club, even by us.
I went with my perception of crowd sizes (not least because if you go by success GTFC are the smallest of that list - Barnet being top of our particular pile of poo and Gateshead going further in the play-offs than us last season) and Sunderland usually average bigger crowds than Everton. Leeds being next on the list and so on. The only one I looked up was Doncaster and, sorry to say, on my assessment based purely on crowds when in the championship and nothing more scientific than that, they are 'bigger' than us (I look forward to testing the theory when we are back in the championship!)

I think, on reflection, I will have a cry rather than a chuckle :-(

Corrected it for you. Even the Dongs acknowledge AFCW as the 'owners' of Wimbledon FC's history.

Quoted from Les Brechin

I vividly remember the free-kick he scored on Boxing Day at Pride Park when we beat Derby 3-1. I think everyone in the ground knew what he was going to do, apart from their keeper. Also memorable for David Soames scoring, what I think, was his only first team goal for Town.

He was fookin great that day, he ran the game from start to finish. Crowd went mad when Digger scored.
Great day out 😊