Southend council: Ron Woodley

[Shrimpergonzo]

I e-mailed him to express my disappointment at his quotes - this is the response I got:

Like most reports in the paper they do not include everything that is said, I also quoted the fact that after checking the Spurs Results my second check is Southend’s results. I know there are a large number of West ham supporters in the town and joking said I apologies to those fans for being a Spurs Fan. I think therefore you read too much into some comments in the Echo.

Not even anything approaching an apology - it's obviously my fault for reading what was written!

 

[IronMike]

Not even anything approaching an apology - it's obviously my fault for reading what was written!

Yeah you're bang out of order there mate

 

[dannypav]

I e-mailed him to express my disappointment at his quotes - this is the response I got:



Not even anything approaching an apology - it's obviously my fault for reading what was written!

I think you should apologise to the man.

 

[Nick Prawnby]

The Heaving Gecko are fully aware of what they were doing

 

[amsemp]

Part and parcel of supporting a League 2 side unfortunately. How many times have you been asked who your 'proper team' is when you tell someone you support Southend? Just the way it is I'm afraid!

 

[davewebbsbrain]

I assume that he said this because West Ham are rivals with Spurs and we are not and not that he has forgotten who his local club are.

I assume.

I thought Arsenal were rivals of Spurs. There's nobody that wants to be West Ham's rivals. Well nobody that wants to lower themselves that much anyway

 

[IronMike]

I thought Arsenal were rivals of Spurs. There's nobody that wants to be West Ham's rivals. Well nobody that wants to lower themselves that much anyway

You actually make a valid point as Spurs believe they are a higher entity like no other and do not wish to be held in the same bracket as a 'little' pauper's club from the East End.

Also, I give you.... Millwall - nuff said

 

[Swiss Tony]

You actually make a valid point as Spurs believe they are a higher entity like no other and do not wish to be held in the same bracket as a 'little' pauper's club from the East End.

Also, I give you.... Millwall - nuff said

May I suggest Orient as well.

 

[blue pilot]

Frankly, Amess + West ham are welcome to each other!

 

[AshleyL]

I thought Arsenal were rivals of Spurs. There's nobody that wants to be West Ham's rivals. Well nobody that wants to lower themselves that much anyway

Arsenal are spurs rivals west ham flutter between the prem and championship and still have tickets for saturday

 

[fbm]

Southend is a professional club but in terms of support, ability, league position and finances we are in no way any rival of Spurs, or West Ham for that matter. We all know real football takes place in the lower leagues but at then end of the day the Premier League is where the money is - rightly or wrongly - and the entire focus on football surrounds that brand. Personally I know of many Spurs fans who live down this way who have, over the last few years, stopped attending White Hart Lane and now have SUFC as their main team. Same for West Ham, Arsenal and Chelsea. But if you want to see the worlds best players, you ain't gonna see them at Roots Hall. Spurs are as much a threat to us as we are to Canvey Island.

The guy is a Councillor who happens to be a Spurs supporter. He is hardly saying anything adverse about us. If it was published in the Southend programme it might be different but it was in a newspaper that is read across the District, including Castle Point and Basildon where there are no doubt more West Ham and Tottenham fans than there are in Southend. The Echo isn't restricted to SUFC fans as a readership.

It's really not a big deal people, there's enough for us to moan about without inventing issues that don't exist.

 

[Thorpe Groyney]

I think what he meant to say was "I used to support Spurs but since living here and becoming leader of Southend Council I'm a Shrimper through and through. I think he was just misquoted. The Echo misquoted David Amess saying he was a W*** H** supporter as well.

As a point of little interest, David Amess is indeed a West Ham supporter. I remember how he turned the air blue in Chez Groyne as the scores came in a good few years ago when they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Torquay United.

I like Tony Blair's political agent. He was the one who told him to say he supported Newcastle and spent his childhood sitting in the Gallowgate End, which was then of course an open terrace. His agent, inevitably, is a Sunderland fan.

 

[IronMike]

Arsenal are spurs rivals west ham flutter between the prem and championship and still have tickets for saturday

I go to to Spurs every year and can assure you that the reception we receive is one you would only get from a rival. Same at Chelsea. With your logic, as Colchester United and Leyton Orient are a division above, then Southend are not their rivals, but rather only Dagenham & Redbridge would be Southend's instead. Sheffield United are big rivals of ours and they're in the THIRD division. Any Spurs fan who says otherwise, is deluded, just as a Col U would be... and us with Millwall.

 

[Brian Meyers]

Maybe he should go represent Tottenham don't think he would get many votes

 

[Jai]

Politicians always hide behind the "I was misquoted" line. I very much doubt the reporter would be so cynical as to cut the quote in such a contentious way.

It's tough enough to promote the club in the town as it is without this type of thing.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

for goodness sake what an over reaction - it's a shop, get over it.

I used to spit on that W.Ham shop every time I went passed it.:angry:

 

[Ozzer]

Southend is a professional club but in terms of support, ability, league position and finances we are in no way any rival of Spurs, or West Ham for that matter. We all know real football takes place in the lower leagues but at then end of the day the Premier League is where the money is - rightly or wrongly - and the entire focus on football surrounds that brand. Personally I know of many Spurs fans who live down this way who have, over the last few years, stopped attending White Hart Lane and now have SUFC as their main team. Same for West Ham, Arsenal and Chelsea. But if you want to see the worlds best players, you ain't gonna see them at Roots Hall. Spurs are as much a threat to us as we are to Canvey Island.

The guy is a Councillor who happens to be a Spurs supporter. He is hardly saying anything adverse about us. If it was published in the Southend programme it might be different but it was in a newspaper that is read across the District, including Castle Point and Basildon where there are no doubt more West Ham and Tottenham fans than there are in Southend. The Echo isn't restricted to SUFC fans as a readership.

It's really not a big deal people, there's enough for us to moan about without inventing issues that don't exist.

It's irrelevant whether there are Spurs or West Ham fans in this area. As an elected Southend Councillor he should have acknowledged his local club when recognising that fans could be upset with this 'London club' shop opening. Again, the fact that Spurs or the other lot up the road are in the Premier, is irrelevant. If reported correctly, it's a crass remark.

 

[Eddy Melito]

Politicians always hide behind the "I was misquoted" line. I very much doubt the reporter would be so cynical as to cut the quote in such a contentious way.

It's tough enough to promote the club in the town as it is without this type of thing.

you do realise the local newspaper industry is dying on its arse dont you? they will do absolutely anything to sell a few papers.

often the journalists arent the sharpest tools in the box either, meaning when they compress a story to a few lines, they pick anything that might grab peoples attention deliberately or otherwise.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

Storm in a tea cup.
But it was a stupid comment by an elected representative to make with no regard to his local professional team AND business/ rate payer and employer of local people.
An excuse of trying to be funny is pathetic, he isn't employed or quoted as a comedian.
An excuse of being quoted in a restricted and misleading way is naive and shows a huge lack of thought that leads onto the suitability for him to be both in his job and allowed to speak unfettered to anyone.
The surprise is that he isn't a Tory:unsure:

 

[A Century United]

Southend is a professional club but in terms of support, ability, league position and finances we are in no way any rival of Spurs, or West Ham for that matter.

Depends on what we are rivals for. We cannot compete with Spurs or West Ham for silverware, for league position, or size of pot into which to ****. But we are rivals for the affection of the people of Southend.

Every football mad kid in Southend has a choice - to follow his local home town club, or to glory hunt with the big boys up the road. Spurs opening a shop in the town is not merely a convenience for those Spurs fans who happen to live in the area, it is also a way of raising the profile of Spurs in the area, of making people more aware of their brand and their product, and ultimately will cost Southend bums on seats. And anything which costs bums on seats, whether that is because of the allure of a "Bigger Club" or the misguided boycott of Roots Hall because of who the Chairman is, is a threat to the continued existence of the club we all love.

Spurs and West Ham may not be "Footballing" rivals, but rivals they definitely are.