Football will have been banned and we'll have to follow the orders of our alien overlords.

Based on what we know about what the future holds (i.e. nothing), I think the following;

What league will we be playing in?

Southern Premier

Who will be our manager?

David Pipe

Where will we be playing?

Spytty Park

What will be our average attendances?

650

Will this forum still be running?

Yes




Of course, it could well be that there are discussions going on in the background which mean that our future is all in hand, but nobody has bothered to tell the supporters. If that is the case then this prediction will not be correct, but I have no way of knowing that.

neilcork68 wrote:OK guys lets all peer into our crystal balls and lets see what we predict where we will be in 10 years time.....

Over to you to see who is the most optimistic / realistic / pessimistic

What league will we be playing in ?

Who will be our manager ?

Where will we be playing ?

What will be our average attendances ?

Will this forum still be running ?

League 2

Padraig Amond

Away to TNS Dons (who acquired the Milton Keynes franchise in 2025 at which point they were dancing in the streets of Total Network Solutions again)....oh you mean where do we play our games? Dave Parade

4,001 - a modest increase as second generation Bristolians have moved to Newport following abolishment of severn bridge tolls.

The forum will be a virtual reality world where we all put on goggles and sit around a virtual beer table in the corner of a grotty pub and chat to each other from the comfort of our arm chairs.

We will be an established championship team

MF statue outside Message Board stadium

And Normski would have by then been to a match and stuffed and been given pride of place next to urinals so you can dry your japseye in his coat

UPTHEPORT wrote:
MF statue outside Message Board Stadium.

Riverside Stand, Pugsley Street Terrace, Castle End or Petrol Station End?

Caerleon Exile wrote:I completely disagree that rugby is more popular in Newport than football. I know hardly any rugby supporters whereas the vast majority are football fans. Rugby internationals aside I only tend to hear football chat and banter in the workplace. Newport is a football City. The problem stems from years of the County being shite, 25 years in non-league and the "Sky" generations that think supporting a football team is sitting in your local pub with your replica shirt on calling each other "Manc" or "Scouse" despite probably never been to watch a game in real life. Unfortunately the general Newport population has been out of the habit of going to watch live football matches for some time. It will take years possibly decades to repair that along with some luck and footballing success along the way...

I know were going off subject here, but given the very poor standard of rugby being played by the Dragons, if their public attendences are true, they still attract more supporters than the County for a 'average league game'. How many supporters of either club live within Newport compared with the greater Gwent area or beyond is difficult to guestimate. As for knowing more football or rugby supporters will depend of course, on where you live and your social circles; within mine I know only a handful of Football supporters, and the majority see the game as lacking integrity and full of overpayed prima donnas.
Having said this I don't think rugby is the only reason for County's low attendances and accept that the local population has been out of the habit of watching live football and it will take decades to improve, given luck, and some successful results. I would also add more local players coming through the academy and representing the club will increase local interest. It certainly did for me during my teenage years.

OLDCROMWELLIAN wrote:

pembsexile wrote:Good questions. 55 years of being a County fan have taught me that mediocrity is our middle name.

We will probably still be a mediocre 4th tier club as I suspect unfortunately that is our natural position. No idea who our Manager will be but the gates will probably be around what they are now. Yes, I suspect that this mb will still be going. All hypothetical of course.

I think my view will cause annoyance for some. However, I would like to know how many working class cities/towns there are with a bigger population than us that don't have FL status. It is the main reason why I think we will still be around in 10 years time.

Where the County are concerned, you just have to try and be optimistic. I normally am. However, re-reading this post it comes across as realistic.

Mr or Mrs Sugar daddy/mummy, where are you? We need you.

I find myself agreeing with most of this, as a supporter for a similar time frame. The reality is that the Newport area is not one where Football is as popular as most other towns/cities/conurbations with similar populations and will/has never had large attendences on a regular basis. Given this maintaining FL status in 10 years will in itself be a commendable achievement, but am optimistic of it due to the dedication and enthusiasm of its supporters. I think we'll still be playing at RP. Manager Mr Amond.

Not sure how you measure what constitutes a working class town/city or otherwise nowadays? Without checking actual populations, Cities like Gloucester and Worcester are without FL teams come to mind, but arguably Rugby is the more popular sport in those places also.

I think me and you are probably cut from the same cloth I think we will survive and that is the important thing.

The bit I was getting at about working class towns/cities is that (whilst I accept things are changing) football is primarily a working class game. It certainly is historically. With regards to Worcester and Gloucester the former is a good 44,000 people smaller than us and the latter is similar but our conurbation is bigger. However, I don't think you can class either city as working class. I am leaving myself open to be proved wrong but I just cannot think of a larger working class city or town than us that does not have a football team in the EFL.

One other thing about this messageboard. It will probably be in a much smaller version than what we have now. It will be overtaken by a social media system whereby fans can access the club website to ask live questions on match day and get instant answers. It will be driven by automation (bots) but it will feel like that you are talking to a real person but it won't be. This is the way forward.

How about Dudley?

Amberexile wrote:How about Dudley?

Population 80k (wiki). Only 6 miles from Molyneux (or whatever it is called these days) so they probably count that as a home game anyway.

pembsexile wrote:

Amberexile wrote:How about Dudley?

Population 80k (wiki). Only 6 miles from Molyneux (or whatever it is called these days) so they probably count that as a home game anyway.

Molyneux lies outside the Dudley metropolitan borough which had a population of 316,464 in 2015, how does that compare to Newport?

pembsexile wrote:

Amberexile wrote:How about Dudley?

Population 80k (wiki). Only 6 miles from Molyneux (or whatever it is called these days) so they probably count that as a home game anyway.

Hadn't really thought about bigger towns/cities than us not having a EFL team previously. If I was being pedantic I would say Salford? Unique situation admittedly. There are of course far smaller towns with EFL status.

Even with Newports well documented many disadvantages, I am confident that the dedication and passion of it's supporters will find a way of maintaining our status and not allow the disaster of the late eighties to repeat itself.

Having said that I never thought I would see the day when when the top level of rugby wouldn't be played in Newport. That would appear to be the more likely scenario, presently?

pembsexile wrote:

Amberexile wrote:How about Dudley?

Population 80k (wiki). Only 6 miles from Molyneux (or whatever it is called these days) so they probably count that as a home game anyway.

How about pembroke?

Amberexile wrote:

pembsexile wrote:

Amberexile wrote:How about Dudley?

Population 80k (wiki). Only 6 miles from Molyneux (or whatever it is called these days) so they probably count that as a home game anyway.

Molyneux lies outside the Dudley metropolitan borough which had a population of 316,464 in 2015, how does that compare to Newport?

They all support West From.

Amberexile wrote:

pembsexile wrote:

Amberexile wrote:How about Dudley?

Population 80k (wiki). Only 6 miles from Molyneux (or whatever it is called these days) so they probably count that as a home game anyway.

Molyneux lies outside the Dudley metropolitan borough which had a population of 316,464 in 2015, how does that compare to Newport?

Well, the metropolitan area of Newport that includes the place to the west of us has a population of over a million. Dudley itself is 80k, whereas Newport is now 151,000 apparently. It's probably unfair to consider Newport west but if you count Caerleon, Cwmbran, Rogerstone, Risca, Machen and the ancillary towns bordering Newport itis probably bigger than Dudley met. Guesstimate though.

pembsexile wrote:

Amberexile wrote:

pembsexile wrote:
Well, the metropolitan area of Newport that includes the place to the west of us has a population of over a million. Dudley itself is 80k, whereas Newport is now 151,000 apparently. It's probably unfair to consider Newport west but if you count Caerleon, Cwmbran, Rogerstone, Risca, Machen and the ancillary towns bordering Newport itis probably bigger than Dudley met. Guesstimate though.

Evening Mike, Newport's conurbation is about the 27th largest in the UK. It is directly between Preston and Swansea.