Edusport

[lord bunberry]

What’s everyones thoughts on this? Can’t see it working myself.

https://t.co/iDukkok20h

[anon1875]

Good luck to them

[Michael]

Cool idea. Will need a lot of luck to work though.

[jacomo]

Just what Scottish football needs... another professional club.

:rolleyes:

[ian cruise]

A club with no fans, I though that was Hamilton Accies unique selling point?

[SquashedFrogg]

Just what Scottish football needs... another professional club.

:rolleyes:

Why is having another professional club a bad thing?

Surely creating employment is a good thing?

[green&left]

Hope it fails miserably. Lot of pish

[SChibs]

Hope it goes well

[calumhibee1]

Might pay the £30. Would be interesting to have a (very small) say in the running of a football club.

[Lendo]

Hope it fails miserably. Lot of pish

That’s the spirit!

[LancsHibs]

A total pipe dream, who is likely to pay the £25 or care about the club? They are based in Annan, basically a village that already has a senior club (that play in front of >500 crowds). Pointless.
Though it has been proven that with a bit of modest investment it is possible to rise through the Scottish league system quite easily I.e Gretna & Rangers2012, however for a ‘manufactured club’ to succeed it has to be to the detriment of an established club with a history and fanbase, for this reason alone I’m out!

[Jones28]

Why is having another professional club a bad thing?

Surely creating employment is a good thing?

Football by subscription? Loady pish.

[happiehibbie]

This wont work due to FAN base they dont have one ! we play in the same league as them i think at there home matches I have not saw any supporters TBH

[jacomo]

Why is having another professional club a bad thing?

Surely creating employment is a good thing?


I’d be amazed if this led to a net gain in employment.

Scotland already has a large number of football clubs, one of the highest concentrations in the world. If these guys are successful it will probably be at the expense of others.

[Pretty Boy]

I think there will be an initially decent take up of this because of the novelty factor. Are they going to be playing Premiership football in 7 years? I seriously doubt it.

My guess is that this is about raising money to make them more competitive at their level on the pyramid. They are currently 11th in a 16 team league, 27 points behind leaders East Kilbride.

[Green Man]

The Ebbsfleet model ultimately failed. I don’t see how this will be any different.

[One Day Soon]

What I think is that they have the 5hittiest name of a football club I've ever seen.

[My_Wife_Camille]

A total pipe dream, who is likely to pay the £25 or care about the club? They are based in Annan, basically a village that already has a senior club (that play in front of >500 crowds). Pointless.
Though it has been proven that with a bit of modest investment it is possible to rise through the Scottish league system quite easily I.e Gretna & Rangers2012, however for a ‘manufactured club’ to succeed it has to be to the detriment of an established club with a history and fanbase, for this reason alone I’m out!
They’re only playing at Annan temporarily as necessity but will be announcing a ground closer to their base in Glasgow within a year.

In any case, the model is based on tapping into the younger market and rapidly growing internet community where century old prejudices about how football “should be” are significantly less likely to exist. The rise of online communities have shown that (whether you agree or not) it is no longer deemed necessary live physically near the stadium to be a fan. People can live on the opposite side of the world and in some cases never even go to a game in their lives and still be considered die hards these days. This is an era where over 45 million people tuned in to watch a video game competition with over 45k actually in attendance.

There is huge potential in a project like this but imo will fail mainly due to the fact that Scottish Football is already too well established and as a whole we generally don’t like change. There’s also the barrier of the typical British attitude that we don’t like ‘new success’ if it’s not deemed to be earned in a certain way. Take Gretna for example, everyone loved the fairytale story until they reached the SPL and suddenly they were everything wrong with football etc.

If this project took off in China, where football is starting to make big strides within society and is relatively new in that culture context it would have a real chance of succeeding but there’s absolutely no chance that the people of Scotland will give it a chance.

[My_Wife_Camille]

The Ebbsfleet model ultimately failed. I don’t see how this will be any different.
The Ebbsfleet model was 10 years ago where the power of the internet was significantly weaker than it is now. Also the Ebbsfleet model simply had the end goal of buying a club with no real plan for what to do nexy to it was effectively was a perfect success because all they ever aimed to achieve was to buy a club, which they did.

[bookert]

They’re only playing at Annan temporarily as necessity but will be announcing a ground closer to their base in Glasgow within a year.

In any case, the model is based on tapping into the younger market and rapidly growing internet community where century old prejudices about how football “should be” are significantly less likely to exist. The rise of online communities have shown that (whether you agree or not) it is no longer deemed necessary live physically near the stadium to be a fan. People can live on the opposite side of the world and in some cases never even go to a game in their lives and still be considered die hards these days. This is an era where over 45 million people tuned in to watch a video game competition with over 45k actually in attendance.

There is huge potential in a project like this but imo will fail mainly due to the fact that Scottish Football is already too well established and as a whole we generally don’t like change. There’s also the barrier of the typical British attitude that we don’t like ‘new success’ if it’s not deemed to be earned in a certain way. Take Gretna for example, everyone loved the fairytale story until they reached the SPL and suddenly they were everything wrong with football etc.

If this project took off in China, where football is starting to make big strides within society and is relatively new in that culture context it would have a real chance of succeeding but there’s absolutely no chance that the people of Scotland will give it a chance.
Thanks for the background, interesting stuff. Good luck to them.

[Sammy7nil]

A total pipe dream, who is likely to pay the £25 or care about the club? They are based in Annan, basically a village that already has a senior club (that play in front of >500 crowds). Pointless.
Though it has been proven that with a bit of modest investment it is possible to rise through the Scottish league system quite easily I.e Gretna & Rangers2012, however for a ‘manufactured club’ to succeed it has to be to the detriment of an established club with a history and fanbase, for this reason alone I’m out!

That is the problem lots of clubs have a history but no fan base crowds of less than 300 can turn up.
You can get more than that at a good quality national school final :greengrin

[vuefrom1875]

Hope it fails miserably. Lot of pish

Seconded.

[matty_f]

Fair play to them for trying something differet, would feel better if there was more of a social reason behind it - i.e. it was committed to developing local talent (within x miles of the stadium), training and developing coaches, grass roots football and so on.

I could see people buying into that to a degree, less likely to see people buying into just another club though. Why would they?

[lord bunberry]

Fair play to them for trying something differet, would feel better if there was more of a social reason behind it - i.e. it was committed to developing local talent (within x miles of the stadium), training and developing coaches, grass roots football and so on.

I could see people buying into that to a degree, less likely to see people buying into just another club though. Why would they?
The problem in only developing talent from a local area would be that you might only get people from that area joining up. Personally I think they should’ve approached a more established team, someone like Livingston would’ve been a better idea.

[My_Wife_Camille]

Fair play to them for trying something differet, would feel better if there was more of a social reason behind it - i.e. it was committed to developing local talent (within x miles of the stadium), training and developing coaches, grass roots football and so on.

I could see people buying into that to a degree, less likely to see people buying into just another club though. Why would they?
Money from memberships is donated back into grassroots schemes and also back into the Edusport academy

[LancsHibs]

They’re only playing at Annan temporarily as necessity but will be announcing a ground closer to their base in Glasgow within a year.

In any case, the model is based on tapping into the younger market and rapidly growing internet community where century old prejudices about how football “should be” are significantly less likely to exist. The rise of online communities have shown that (whether you agree or not) it is no longer deemed necessary live physically near the stadium to be a fan. People can live on the opposite side of the world and in some cases never even go to a game in their lives and still be considered die hards these days. This is an era where over 45 million people tuned in to watch a video game competition with over 45k actually in attendance.

There is huge potential in a project like this but imo will fail mainly due to the fact that Scottish Football is already too well established and as a whole we generally don’t like change. There’s also the barrier of the typical British attitude that we don’t like ‘new success’ if it’s not deemed to be earned in a certain way. Take Gretna for example, everyone loved the fairytale story until they reached the SPL and suddenly they were everything wrong with football etc.

If this project took off in China, where football is starting to make big strides within society and is relatively new in that culture context it would have a real chance of succeeding but there’s absolutely no chance that the people of Scotland will give it a chance.

Sorry didn’t understand most of that. Think the problem is with me rather than your reply:greengrin

[davhibby]

Fair play to them for trying something differet, would feel better if there was more of a social reason behind it - i.e. it was committed to developing local talent (within x miles of the stadium), training and developing coaches, grass roots football and so on.

I could see people buying into that to a degree, less likely to see people buying into just another club though. Why would they?

Their team is made up of French speaking students that come over and they teach them English as well as being in the team. Quite a nice idea I think but they'll never be a premiership club

[My_Wife_Camille]

Their team is made up of French speaking students that come over and they teach them English as well as being in the team. Quite a nice idea I think but they'll never be a premiership club
This isn’t right Dav. The academy itself will continue to run in that model but the football club will be separate and will make signings of any nationality and background, the same as any other club.

I agree they’ll probably never make the Premiership though

[matty_f]

Money from memberships is donated back into grassroots schemes and also back into the Edusport academy

Thanks, I had only skimmed over the article so hadn't picked that up. Also, I agree with your point about local talent - I was more using it as an example to explain my post but you're right.

[Diclonius]

First home fixture of the 2025-26 season: Hibernian v Edusport.

Eh, naw.

[Waxy]

First home fixture of the 2025-26 season: Hibernian v Edusport.

Eh, naw.

Apparently they will change the edusport name to something different for next season with members votiing the new name. Might chuck in £25 just for that and go Crappy Mccrapclub.

[jacomo]

They’re only playing at Annan temporarily as necessity but will be announcing a ground closer to their base in Glasgow within a year.

In any case, the model is based on tapping into the younger market and rapidly growing internet community where century old prejudices about how football “should be” are significantly less likely to exist. The rise of online communities have shown that (whether you agree or not) it is no longer deemed necessary live physically near the stadium to be a fan. People can live on the opposite side of the world and in some cases never even go to a game in their lives and still be considered die hards these days. This is an era where over 45 million people tuned in to watch a video game competition with over 45k actually in attendance.

There is huge potential in a project like this but imo will fail mainly due to the fact that Scottish Football is already too well established and as a whole we generally don’t like change. There’s also the barrier of the typical British attitude that we don’t like ‘new success’ if it’s not deemed to be earned in a certain way. Take Gretna for example, everyone loved the fairytale story until they reached the SPL and suddenly they were everything wrong with football etc.

If this project took off in China, where football is starting to make big strides within society and is relatively new in that culture context it would have a real chance of succeeding but there’s absolutely no chance that the people of Scotland will give it a chance.


Your post makes no sense.

You talk about tapping into a global community but then say it will fail because the people of Scotland won’t give it a chance. Which is it?

It will fail because it doesn’t meet any tangible need.

Or perhaps we should renounce our allegiance to Hibs and back this new entity instead, lest we be accused of being stuck in our ways?

[My_Wife_Camille]

Your post makes no sense.

You talk about tapping into a global community but then say it will fail because the people of Scotland won’t give it a chance. Which is it?

It will fail because it doesn’t meet any tangible need.

Or perhaps we should renounce our allegiance to Hibs and back this new entity instead, lest we be accused of being stuck in our ways?
One is their vision and one is my opinion.

It’s an interesting, exciting and innovative idea. Scotland is the wrong place for though

[NAE NOOKIE]

They’re only playing at Annan temporarily as necessity but will be announcing a ground closer to their base in Glasgow within a year.

In any case, the model is based on tapping into the younger market and rapidly growing internet community where century old prejudices about how football “should be” are significantly less likely to exist. The rise of online communities have shown that (whether you agree or not) it is no longer deemed necessary live physically near the stadium to be a fan. People can live on the opposite side of the world and in some cases never even go to a game in their lives and still be considered die hards these days. This is an era where over 45 million people tuned in to watch a video game competition with over 45k actually in attendance.

There is huge potential in a project like this but imo will fail mainly due to the fact that Scottish Football is already too well established and as a whole we generally don’t like change. There’s also the barrier of the typical British attitude that we don’t like ‘new success’ if it’s not deemed to be earned in a certain way. Take Gretna for example, everyone loved the fairytale story until they reached the SPL and suddenly they were everything wrong with football etc.

If this project took off in China, where football is starting to make big strides within society and is relatively new in that culture context it would have a real chance of succeeding but there’s absolutely no chance that the people of Scotland will give it a chance.

This is exactly the slippery slope football is on, the end result of which will be football played in front of 'virtual' crowds with the human fans crowded around tellies in the pub or their living rooms ... how loud each set of fans shouts at the telly dictates how loud their virtual supporters in the virtual stadium sound.

Gretna wasn't a fairy story, it was a ridiculous pipe dream backed by a very nice, but ultimately deluded, man. They had absolutely no chance of growing their fan base, with the only town of any size they might have drawn support from already having a far bigger club with ambitions of playing in the EPL. Gretna was doomed to fail from the word go because it was absolutely unsustainable ... it had nothing to do with a failure of fans to accept how they had come to the fore.

As for the on line 'die hards' they can GTF. Unless you get off yer arse and physically support your team from inside the stadium you are nothing of the sort ... the only on line folk who are entitled to make that claim are fans who have moved away and are forced to support their team from a distance through the telly or their computer. The only place folk from India or Thailand or Kenya or Scotland or anywhere else claiming to support Real Madrid or Man Utd are die hards is in their own minds.

Scottish football already has enough clubs playing in front of tiny crowds and bringing nothing to the match going experience for those of us who think football only reaches its full potential as a spectacle when played in front of a decent sized crowd .... the thought of a manufactured club making a virtue of doing without a physical support inside its ground, or not having that as an ambition, making itself a success and getting into the premier league is about as bad an outcome for the game in this country as I could possibly imagine.

That's not because I am backward thinking or not open to new ideas ... Its because I firmly believe in the saying ( cant remember who it was ) "Football without fans is nothing" and the guy who said that meant fans in the stadium creating an atmosphere .... not 'virtual' fans sitting hundreds or thousands of miles away calling themselves 'supporters' because they ante up £25 every year.

Please football gods .. do not let this succeed.

[ancient hibee]

Colin Cameron can’t have much further down the coaching ladder to go.

[Bishop Hibee]

Only in Scotland could a team with no fans target the top league.

[jacomo]

One is their vision and one is my opinion.

It’s an interesting, exciting and innovative idea. Scotland is the wrong place for though


Fair enough, I still don’t see the point.

When thinking about how to improve Scottish football, ‘create a new football club’ is way down the list.

[Northernhibee]

I actually hope that they succeed. Look at the EPL when you can pay £70-80 for some seats at the very top flight games. The running of football in some ways has gotten away from the fans and it'd be great to see a club do well that is run by fans, for fans.

I don't see a massive difference between this and fan ownership systems that we've been implementing other than it's a totally new club.

[Billy Whizz]

They’re only playing at Annan temporarily as necessity but will be announcing a ground closer to their base in Glasgow within a year.

In any case, the model is based on tapping into the younger market and rapidly growing internet community where century old prejudices about how football “should be” are significantly less likely to exist. The rise of online communities have shown that (whether you agree or not) it is no longer deemed necessary live physically near the stadium to be a fan. People can live on the opposite side of the world and in some cases never even go to a game in their lives and still be considered die hards these days. This is an era where over 45 million people tuned in to watch a video game competition with over 45k actually in attendance.

There is huge potential in a project like this but imo will fail mainly due to the fact that Scottish Football is already too well established and as a whole we generally don’t like change. There’s also the barrier of the typical British attitude that we don’t like ‘new success’ if it’s not deemed to be earned in a certain way. Take Gretna for example, everyone loved the fairytale story until they reached the SPL and suddenly they were everything wrong with football etc.

If this project took off in China, where football is starting to make big strides within society and is relatively new in that culture context it would have a real chance of succeeding but there’s absolutely no chance that the people of Scotland will give it a chance.

Maybe should look at playing at Third Lanark’s Ground, although I’m not too sure who owns the land?

[andybev1]

sterile atmosphere at home surely - would all games be online then.?

[My_Wife_Camille]

This is exactly the slippery slope football is on, the end result of which will be football played in front of 'virtual' crowds with the human fans crowded around tellies in the pub or their living rooms ... how loud each set of fans shouts at the telly dictates how loud their virtual supporters in the virtual stadium sound.

Gretna wasn't a fairy story, it was a ridiculous pipe dream backed by a very nice, but ultimately deluded, man. They had absolutely no chance of growing their fan base, with the only town of any size they might have drawn support from already having a far bigger club with ambitions of playing in the EPL. Gretna was doomed to fail from the word go because it was absolutely unsustainable ... it had nothing to do with a failure of fans to accept how they had come to the fore.

As for the on line 'die hards' they can GTF. Unless you get off yer arse and physically support your team from inside the stadium you are nothing of the sort ... the only on line folk who are entitled to make that claim are fans who have moved away and are forced to support their team from a distance through the telly or their computer. The only place folk from India or Thailand or Kenya or Scotland or anywhere else claiming to support Real Madrid or Man Utd are die hards is in their own minds.

Scottish football already has enough clubs playing in front of tiny crowds and bringing nothing to the match going experience for those of us who think football only reaches its full potential as a spectacle when played in front of a decent sized crowd .... the thought of a manufactured club making a virtue of doing without a physical support inside its ground, or not having that as an ambition, making itself a success and getting into the premier league is about as bad an outcome for the game in this country as I could possibly imagine.

That's not because I am backward thinking or not open to new ideas ... Its because I firmly believe in the saying ( cant remember who it was ) "Football without fans is nothing" and the guy who said that meant fans in the stadium creating an atmosphere .... not 'virtual' fans sitting hundreds or thousands of miles away calling themselves 'supporters' because they ante up £25 every year.

Please football gods .. do not let this succeed.
Don’t disagree with much of your opinion but the fact are that social communities are changing at a faster rate all the time and a football support falls into this category of social community.

Im in pure agreement that people in India supporting Manchester United for example are just ‘plastics’ but as the internet grows and the role of online communities become more mainstream then physical barriers such as location won’t matter and people like you and me will soon be a minority.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Don’t disagree with much of your opinion but the fact are that social communities are changing at a faster rate all the time and a football support falls into this category of social community.

Im in pure agreement that people in India supporting Manchester United for example are just ‘plastics’ but as the internet grows and the role of online communities become more mainstream then physical barriers such as location won’t matter and people like you and me will soon be a minority.

While that's probably true, what a sad day it will be ..... if it does lead to the death of spectator sport as we know it, it will be to the detriment of the human race in general and lessen even more peoples motivation to become involved in playing sport themselves. A generation of fat lazy couch potatoes ... the first step on the path to humans reaching a stage where we don't need bodies and just become balls of energy hooked into the world wide web :greengrin

I can see it now .... Did you go to the game last night mate? Aye, nearly missed the kick off though coz I lost ma password. See Bob ower there, he's a right uber fan .. hasn't failed to log on for years, even logs on to all the away games. Wow, did he take part in the cup final pitch invasion? Aye he pressed the 'invade pitch' option as soon as the final whistle emoji popped up.

[SirDavidsNapper]

Why is having another professional club a bad thing?

Surely creating employment is a good thing?

I get what the poster is saying. There are too many clubs for the size of country

[Waxy]

I get what the poster is saying. There are too many clubs for the size of country
Glasgow could have had around ten teams all with 10’000 crowds if the old firm didnt do their thing.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Glasgow could have had around ten teams all with 10’000 crowds if the old firm didnt do their thing.

Don't know about 10, but at least 5

Partick Thistle

Celtic .... lovers of all the republicanism / jumping on any cause that makes us look good fans ..... 30,000 stadium

Celtic .... Don't care about Irish politics or being a vehicle for stuff that has sod all to do with fitba fans .... 30,000 stadium

Rangers ... Billy Boys, wish we played in orange .. doon the lodge on Saturday night fans .... 40,000 stadium

Rangers ... Cant be arsed with all the sectarian ***** .. I just like the fitba fans ..... 10,000 stadium

[jgl07]

Only in Scotland could a team with no fans target the top league.

Well it (almost) worked for Gretna and continues to work for Accies.

[AltheHibby]

It's made national radio. I heard the guy discussing it on the Simon Mayo show on Radio 2.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Well it (almost) worked for Gretna and continues to work for Accies.

Gretna were an interesting footnote in the history of Scottish football, nothing more. Hamilton deserve their relative success, they have made it to the top league with an impressive youth and signing policy ..... I feel sorry for them, they deserve far better backing from the town and surrounding area, but they are cursed by being in the wrong place, its glory hunter central out there.

I was at Stenhousemuir FC yesterday and heard one of the local club guys reel off a list of the towns around about who send buses to Ibrox and Parkhead to the detriment of them and Falkirk.

Both clubs were and are a million miles away from the concept of a club with no support and no real intention of trying to build one in the physical sense making it to the premier league ..... Its not something I want to see happen for that reason. Football is about togetherness and community and a gathering together in the pubs and supporters clubs around the ground before the game and inside the stadium during it .... a bunch of folk chatting on line and watching their club play on computers isn't a football community .... it can be part of and beneficial to a football community as places like Hibs.Net prove, but a football community in its own right ............ laughable !!! ..... You might as well give Joe Bloggs the Hibs managers job coz he's good at FIFA or Football manager.

[Waxy]

Don't know about 10, but at least 5

Partick Thistle

Celtic .... lovers of all the republicanism / jumping on any cause that makes us look good fans ..... 30,000 stadium

Celtic .... Don't care about Irish politics or being a vehicle for stuff that has sod all to do with fitba fans .... 30,000 stadium

Rangers ... Billy Boys, wish we played in orange .. doon the lodge on Saturday night fans .... 40,000 stadium

Rangers ... Cant be arsed with all the sectarian ***** .. I just like the fitba fans ..... 10,000 stadium
Yep i suppose your not far off.

[CB_NO3]

Hope it fails miserably. Lot of pish

Thirded

[WestStandWillie]

A club wae nae fans wanting fans of other clubs to put money in.

Never in a million years

[My_Wife_Camille]

A club wae nae fans wanting fans of other clubs to put money in.

Never in a million years
A friend of mine is a Hibs fans but regularly puts money into other clubs such as Nice, Scarborough, Helsingborgs and a Bulgarian club

Plenty people have second or even third teams, especially in different countries

[lord bunberry]

A friend of mine is a Hibs fans but regularly puts money into other clubs such as Nice, Scarborough, Helsingborgs and a Bulgarian club

Plenty people have second or even third teams, especially in different countries
And I think that the people putting the money in will come from mainly outside Scotland. The fact that they’ve got a link with French players will help them raise money over there.
Im in two minds about this, on one hand I don’t like the thought of a manufactured club with no history being successful, but on the other hand I think we could do with a shake up in the way we look at the game in Scotland. As I said earlier in the thread, I’d have preferred them to try this with an established league club.

[Fuzzywuzzy]

Maybe should look at playing at Third Lanark’s Ground, although I’m not too sure who owns the land?

I was thinking the same thing. Sure last year at some point there was some business man wanting to resurrect Third Lanark and have them playing at Cathkin Park

[bob12345]

Anyone who has followed the Edusport journey closely will know that they’ve achieved a lot already. They’ve went from a group of boys coming over for some glamour friendlies to a south of Scotland team and then into the Lowland league, holding their own. The business model of the Academy clearly works, so it’s not surprising that they’re looking to continue growing. And with no fan base, they don’t have much option but to think outside the box.

[lord bunberry]

I was thinking the same thing. Sure last year at some point there was some business man wanting to resurrect Third Lanark and have them playing at Cathkin Park
It wouldn’t be allowed due to safety issues. It would cost a few quid to get it anywhere near allowing paying punters in.

[Pete]

It wouldn’t be allowed due to safety issues. It would cost a few quid to get it anywhere near allowing paying punters in.

Just get the boys in who gave Tynecastles main stand the ok.