Lowest ebbs since you've been follwing your club...

[UTS]

In light of Bury's so far atrocious 2017/18 campaign I thought I'd ask the lowest ebb you can remember since you've been a fan of your club? Has there ever been a time you felt like your club has reached rock bottom?

As a fan of Bury since 2003, I've been fortunate enough to miss our financial collapse that lead to quickfire relegations from the Championship to League Two in the late 90's early 00's, and subsequent bucket shaking Save Our Shakers campaign.

I started supporting in a period where we'd just about survived extinction year or so earlier, but we're living on the footballing poverty line, with some absolute dross players. Between 2004-2007 we recorded our lowest ever league finishes. Ranging from 21st to 17th in League Two... but it was alright... we knew what we were, a skint club trying to survive.. the fans were grateful to have a club, and there were some good times in that period.. such as finding Andy Bishop who was a goal machine, beating Norwich in the FA Cup. Crowds were awful back then even by our standards but, at least the people working for the club were honest people. Although historically a low point I personally don't see that as the lowest ebb since I started watching. There was still a pride in the shirt, and a close knit feel around the club.

2012/13 was a probably the worst period in my Bury supporting time, relegated by local rivals Oldham, 2 days after a warning was put out saying the club was once again facing extinction. The season was horrendous, Kevin Blackwell and his awful brand of football... players having to play for free.. crowds by the end of the season of around 1,500. I don't think there was one shining light in that season.. perhaps beating Doncaster 2-0 at home who were top of the league while we sat bottom.

Who can forget the club record breaking 12 match losing streak of last season? That was pretty depressing, although we did manage to survive relegation.

Many are calling last nights result (0-3 loss at home to Woking) the worst result in the clubs history, and considering we are also bottom of the league and managerless, perhaps November 2017 is the lowest ebb since I've supported Bury? Time will tell but I'd hope to think things can't get worse, but with Blackburn and Shrewsbury coming up I'd wager they will.

The last 12 months as a Bury fan have been pretty horrific all said and done... 53 league games has yielded only 10 wins. It's a toss up between the last 12 months and the 2012/13 season for Burys lowest ebb (numerous similarities between them both).

Anyway, any particular low points stand out as a fan of your club?

 

[roversfan2001]

Hard to look past this season for any Rovers fan below the age of about 35 really.

 

[Meadow]

28th May 2002.

 

[UTS]

Hard to look past this season for any Rovers fan below the age of about 35 really.

League One can be a fun time for many of the bigger clubs, see Leeds, Bolton, Wolves, Southampton etc.. big away followings with games you are expected to win... then you get promoted back into the Champ and all that goes away again. Honestly as a Blackburn fan I'd say embrace being a big fish in a small pond for now.

 

[PuB]

I started watching when we were at our lowest ebb, crappy falling apart, derelict stadium, battling the likes of Halifax and Scarborough to stay in the league. Then administration happened (it was inevitable really) before the days of sky football money, and Maidstone going bust just a couple of years before. I thought we were done and had tears in my eyes when I thought we'd played our last home game against Hereford in '95. I made my dad take me to what I thought was our final game ever at Torquay the week after and saw our fans on the pitch at the end doing the conga, many in fancy dress. We lost 3-0, but it didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, greater things were at risk.

But yes, we were saved, and although I'm no fan of Scally, I'm thankful someone saw potential in us and we've not (quite yet anyway) slipped back to those awful dark days.

 

[roversfan2001]

League One can be a fun time for many of the bigger clubs, see Leeds, Bolton, Wolves, Southampton etc.. big away followings with games you are expected to win... then you get promoted back into the Champ and all that goes away again. Honestly as a Blackburn fan I'd say embrace being a big fish in a small pond for now.

I did think that as soon as I posted, that depending on how this season ends up panning out, last season may have been far worse. I've definitely enjoyed going to the away games this year far more than last year.

 

[CT70]

Lower division this year for us, but I'm enjoying this campaign more than the last. Maybe a sustained stay at this level will changed that but for now last season was the low for me.

 

[Marked Ox]

2007-8 going into 2008-09 until Chris Wilder was appointed our manager. We were lower midtable Conference and absolutely awful. Darren Patterson was manager, nice bloke but poor manager and we had players making significant numbers of performances such as Joel Ledgister, Justin Richards, Alex Jeannin, Eddie Hutchinson, Phil Trainer and Matt Day. Although Arthur Gnohere was the worse of the lot, actually made Lee Jarman look like a competent footballer.

Losing to Lewes and Tonbridge summed up how far we had fallen.

 

[PoshinPretoria]

Mid 80's in the John Wile then Martin Wilkinson era.

Regularly finishing bottom third of Div 3 (or 4 as it was then) playing in front of average gates of around 2500, Cambridge flying high under that cock womble John Beck and beating us 5-1 at London Rd (even Cobblers who can generally and historically be relied upon to be our complete and utter bitches had a better team than us) and signing a whole host of ageing old pro's such David Swindlehurst and Trevor Whymark who turned out to be absolute shite and relying on blokes we signed from local football who were cheap and shit...very shit (The Ippolitos / Goldsmiths / Osbornes of the world).

Then Chris Turner pitched up in 89/90 and we got back to back promotions into the Championship and finished top half in the Champ...It's amazing how things turned so quickly based on one fantastic manager.

 

[K-Win]

There are a few that spring to mind.

I'm just about old enough to remember the SOS Pompey appeal in the mid 70s to stave off bankruptcy. That didn't stop us plummetting to the old Div 4 for a couple of seasons.

The Martin Gregory/Terry Venables years were pretty dire in the mid 90s, ending in our first bout of administration before being saved by Milan Mandaric.

The period from 2008 to 2013 was the worst of the lot though. The club being used as a debt-collecting vehicle for a never-ending queue of crooks, all owed money by Gaydamak Senior. We seemed to have a different squad of players every game, all on week-to-week contracts as we fell through the league. A couple of quick-fire administrations and we were at death's door until the fans' buyout.

In between all this we have also had some pretty good times admittedly so some other clubs have definitely had a worse time.

 

[SF_]

Westley

 

[GFCSludge]

I started watching when we were at our lowest ebb, crappy falling apart, derelict stadium, battling the likes of Halifax and Scarborough to stay in the league. Then administration happened (it was inevitable really) before the days of sky football money, and Maidstone going bust just a couple of years before. I thought we were done and had tears in my eyes when I thought we'd played our last home game against Hereford in '95. I made my dad take me to what I thought was our final game ever at Torquay the week after and saw our fans on the pitch at the end doing the conga, many in fancy dress. We lost 3-0, but it didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, greater things were at risk.

But yes, we were saved, and although I'm no fan of Scally, I'm thankful someone saw potential in us and we've not (quite yet anyway) slipped back to those awful dark days.

You and me must be of a similar vintage. I started going aged 7 in March 1990 and the first four or five years, as you say, we were bumping around the bottom of the league, but as I was only a young'un I really enjoyed it. Loved the Halifax game because the significance of it was partially lost on me at that age. Got to see us play (and lose) to The Squatters in front of a full house which made an impression on me.

My nadir as a Gills fan was definitely 2005/06 under the stewardship of Neale Cooper having been relegated out of the Championship the season before. A relatively decent squad was replaced with a load of old crap and we suffered the ignominy of blowing a 2-1 lead in added time at Burscough in the FA Cup to lose 3-2. That was the lowest I've ever been as a Gills fan. Watching a handful of Gills "fans" going toe-to-toe with Burscough "fans" on the pitch at the end of the game, after Tony Bollock had put in one of the most appalling keeping displays to blow our totally undeserved lead. Absolutely shameful.

That season was the beginning of a miserable spiral of rubbish signings, dwindling attendances, dire away records and general apathy that only really abated when we won League Two under Mad Dog in 2012/13.

 

[joethegill]

My nadir as a Gills fan was definitely 2005/06 under the stewardship of Neale Cooper having been relegated out of the Championship the season before. A relatively decent squad was replaced with a load of old crap and we suffered the ignominy of blowing a 2-1 lead in added time at Burscough in the FA Cup to lose 3-2. That was the lowest I've ever been as a Gills fan. Watching a handful of Gills "fans" going toe-to-toe with Burscough "fans" on the pitch at the end of the game, after Tony Bollock had put in one of the most appalling keeping displays to blow our totally undeserved lead. Absolutely shameful.

That was an appalling day for the club. Probably not quite the lowest ebb for me though, despite being disgraceful. Mine actually comes from the FA Cup as well, but it was a few years later against Dover. We were in League Two in our lowest position for 20 years (22nd) and got bent over at home by an 'up for it' non-league away side. I was a little too young to be at the Halifax game as I only started in 95, but no doubt that'd be up there too.

 

[ThisTinpotLeague]

28th May 2002.

What happened then?

 

[ThisTinpotLeague]

Losing to Lewes and Tonbridge summed up how far we had fallen.

Letting a village score five past us in the league was a highlight.

My personal low was the 3-1 defeat to Blackpool this year, or our complete inability to get knocked out of that shit trophy at a respectably early stage.

 

[Aber gas]

For most of the time I’ve been going we’ve been differing shades of terrible. There was the Graydon years of mind numbing, soul destroying decline. There was Stuart Campbell and his 18 free agents and a whimper of a relegation fight. The banter years of Buckle and McGhee when we became the retirement home of crocked Scottish has beens and non- league never ever weres. Then we watched as dear old Wardy took us out of the league culminating in that famous afternoon against bloody Mansfield.
We got absolutely pumped 4-1 by Alty too.
What a club.

 

[SoutheySWFC]

Getting dicked 5-1 at Stevenage or Exeter and slumming it down here for two separate two year spells with notable defeats under Irvine and Turner.

 

[Lance Stoe]

I stared supporting Scunthorpe 95 96. We were average that season but did beat Torquay 8-1 away from home. It's difficult to say. We nearly got relegated to the Conference in 04 without ever being in a relegation battle but stayed up as Laws came back 3 weeks after we sacked him. I'll say the time under Knill. That ginger fucker ruined us

 

[SELatic]

Being a Latics fan in my early 20s, it’s fair to say I’ve seen my fair share of tripe.

The obvious moment is ex-owner Chris Moore leaving us in the shit after promises of a return to the Premier League, selling off a very good squad for relative peanuts and essentially leaving a question mark over our existence.

However I only have vague recollections of this and arguably the day John Sheridan left for Notts County is the worst I’ve felt as a fan. After a woeful season and the divisive Ched Evans debacle, he’d kept us up and reunited the fan base at a time when all seemed lost. His departure was a huge kick in the bollocks.

Whilst I’d argue we’ve probably not had as low an ebb in the more recent past as some others, we have been consistently very poor both on and off the pitch with very little respite.

 

[Meadow]

What happened then?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/wimbledon/2012312.stm

 

[SoutheySWFC]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/wimbledon/2012312.stm

I think most of us that are real football fans will call this a low ebb for the game as well as your club.

 

[ThisTinpotLeague]

I think most of us that are real football fans will call this a low ebb for the game as well as your club.

Love the way we can use this to show what proper fans we are. Count me in!

 

[SkyBluesRose]

Hard to look past this season for any Rovers fan

Same here, except that we're a division below you.

 

[PoshinPretoria]

For most of the time I’ve been going we’ve been differing shades of terrible.

You are indeed a very poor team...I have seen most of the teams in the division now and you were definitely the worst I have seen when we beat you 4-1 at your own ground.

 

[JJH]

13/14 under O'Driscoll down here, absolutely turgid football and a 23 game winless run.

 

[bantamigo]

Guess most City fans will say when we got relegated at Chesterfield to L2. Players and fans were at each other’s throats at the game.

For me it’s probably a few years ago in L2 when we were about 18th after Peter Taylor had just been binned off and Torquay turned up and played us off the park at VP, I left the ground wondering what the future held for us as I couldn’t see it getting better.

Fast forward a season and Parkinson had taken over,

 

[wafcharvey]

As a Wigan fan born in 1998 I think I have definitely been spoilt!

The low for me was the 2014/2015 season, having just been relegated from the Premier League and reaching FA Cup semi final then losing in the playoffs in 2013/2014, we had a disastrous season which saw us lose twice in the same season against Bolton. We were relegated to League One which was the lowest level I had seen them play at personally.

All the players were there for the pay cheques and not one of them wanted to play for the club.

 

[nelsonpfc]

Getting beaten 4-1 at home by Orient in 2002. We were mid table, old Div1 (championshp) side, they were down the bottom of the old third divison. Looking like we would complete our fall by going out of the league entirely under Richie Barker was pretty rubbish. Although nearly not having a club was so hard to try and get to terms with. Seeing people close to me losing their jobs or not getting paid ,having their wages descreased during the many administrations was hard whilst players were still picking up their huge pay packets was a really tough one.

 

[DearneValleyRover]

Ours is the 90’s in the firestarters reign, selling off good players for next to nothing then putting a fucking builder in charge as manager who signed players that wouldn’t get in a pub team. Finally ending with us being dumped into the Conference and our wonderful owner being jailed for fraud. Since then we’ve had some great times except when Dickov arrived.

 

[07.05.16]

For most of the time I’ve been going we’ve been differing shades of terrible. There was the Graydon years of mind numbing, soul destroying decline. There was Stuart Campbell and his 18 free agents and a whimper of a relegation fight. The banter years of Buckle and McGhee when we became the retirement home of crocked Scottish has beens and non- league never ever weres. Then we watched as dear old Wardy took us out of the league culminating in that famous afternoon against bloody Mansfield.
We got absolutely pumped 4-1 by Alty too.
What a club.

Only 2-1 wasn't it? Still, a fookin embarrassment.
Lowest we got was that torrid day at Braintree... thank feck for Darrell Clarke.