These things do happen.
Some may move on due to end of contract. Some may choose to spend their budget elsewhere. Some may be an acrimonious split where they are unhappy or were badly treated. Some may not be pursued by the club. Some may be lost due to personnel changes on either side, sponsor and club.
Perhaps the microscope that the Devils live under these days magnifies such changes? Thomson Holidays, bmibaby, Coca-Cola, BT and others have left the Devils in the past, however the greater stability in some of those eras meant that perhaps it was not so big a question mark.
A new title sponsor is a big deal in the Elite League - ask any of the commercial people at the other clubs.
Perhaps the club may never again enjoy the kind of blanket support that our great, naive days of the Heineken era afforded us and perhaps that is correct, but for once - and here I join the Stub in doing some wall / banging / head practice - I would love to see a thread about having Specsavers back, having the new title sponsor, a whole raft of new player sponsors, about eLINIA backing the Devils, about the continued excellent work of Doverco, about the fantastic design work of Lime Green Tangerine etc...
The club has been roundly - and often justly - criticised for not showing existing sponsors enough love in the past. This new feature is one small way that the Devils can pay back a little of what has been given to them via the website. It's a great idea - from the offices of the club - and not the only thing being worked on to better the club. However instead of somebody picking up on a new positive, the context is used to highlight a negative. However correct, it just makes me a little sad.
They know people care. they know people research and monitor, and debate here and elsewhere (over a meal at the pilot if they have sense, from what I hear about their food!). Perhaps we could examine both sides of the club's coin equally? The inferno will only retain the status it enjoys as the online meeting place for Devils fans (which it deserves) if balance is present in equal parts to independence, imho.
but after our most succesfull season for a number of years i beg the question, why have such long standing sponsers such as spar, spire, crystal it (see all there cameras are gone ) and maybe others ( not gone through programmes ) seem to not have come on board this season, yes we have a new shirt sponsor and thats good, just seems an odd time to lose such high profile names, or am i reading too much in to it :?:
