What can we do? : Tue Jul 30, 2013 8:20 am  

Well we could all sit there on Thursday and moan (entirely justified IMO and some would say what I usually do!), or we could get behind the idea of a London side and chant 'London, London' all game and show the world that we believe in the concept. We may agree that the present administration, coaches and most players don't deserve our support but we are London RL fans who love the game and would hate for it it to be destroyed by the present incumbents.

This club has lasted for 33 years and the least we can do it is give it a good send off (if that is what it is). We could also keep quiet and tie ourselves to the mast and let the damn thing slip quietly beneath the waves.

I remember West Ham getting tonked in a FA Cup semi-final and their fans chanted the whole game, the Gateshead Thunder fans support their team despite rarely winning and finishing bottom every year.

Let us rise above this pile of dross! Any ideas welcome!

Re: What can we do? : Tue Jul 30, 2013 8:30 am  

It will only take 1,000 of us with £1,000 each

Re: What can we do? : Tue Jul 30, 2013 9:06 am  

The club exists because of and for its fans, take ownership of the situation, show the world that you give a sheeeit and get behind your club in a positive way. Force change through positivity, if nothing else its more enjoyable for you.
Good luck

Re: What can we do? : Tue Jul 30, 2013 9:32 am  

nkpom wrote:

It will only take 1,000 of us with £1,000 each

My football team and my hometown is Exeter City which is a trust run team, for which I and over 3000 other ECFC fans pay GBP250 per year.

I don't have time nor do I have the knowledge to take this forward, but with my background in helping SME's and big multinationals transform the way they do business and make them run more efficiently, I am able to provide whatever help I can if someone has the drive to do the unthinkable. Buy London Bronco's, and run it as a fan based trust.

I have an amount of cash doing nothing, not mega amounts but a sizable amount. If someone has the drive to look into it and to possible try and secure funds from fans and other sources to buy the club from David Hughes, then I and others can be on hand to provide advice, and guidance in this process.

If necessary, I get us in touch with the Exeter City FC Trust board so they can give us an overview of the history regarding how they started, how they implemented their idea, problems they faced from the start right through to the evolution of where the trust is today 9 years down the track.

I am sure that there are people who post here which collectively have the knowledge, skillsets and experience to make this happen. The question is though, who is putting their hand(s) up and seriously look at this?

Re: What can we do? : Tue Jul 30, 2013 10:42 am  

nkpom wrote:

It will only take 1,000 of us with £1,000 each

What will? Because it is certainly not enough to run the club in it's current state.

Re: What can we do? : Tue Jul 30, 2013 10:46 am  

If you find 1,000 to put a K in that would only fund us for 6 months! At best you could start a Championship side but the 1,000 would still have to pay £250 a year ongoing.

Re: What can we do? : Tue Jul 30, 2013 1:01 pm  

A supporters' trust owned-Broncos would have to start outside Super League, I agree. However, that might not be a bad thing as there would inevitably be a steep learning curve and that might be best undertaken at a lower level. I would contribute £hundreds per year if I thought it was being spent by someone other than Gus.

Trouble is, the Championship and Championship 1 are in a sorry old state, left to drift by the RFL. P+R and a sensible share of the central funding might resolve this.

But count me in as a very small investor of £ but not much by way of time/effort/organisation/know-how I'm afraid.

Re: What can we do? : Tue Jul 30, 2013 3:40 pm  

I'm really heartened by the positive responses on the fan owned idea. I am genuine in my belief in this, and I don't think if this were to happen that the club would have to leave Super League.
Its too early to say what the commitment would be - what decisions are the current administration making that a new administration would have to honour?
The £1,000 or whatever it turned out to be would be an annual commitment of course, but I am convinced we can turn it around.
We only need visit one of an assortment of GF posts to see the financial implications of restoring crowd numbers, but I can't believe that a modern well run football club has to be a drain on a sugar daddy.

Re: What can we do? : Tue Jul 30, 2013 6:59 pm  

You would get 10 at most willing to put a K in.

GF will sell you some Daffs for the roundabout

Ding Ding in the committee-Very northern

We can't get 30 for a bus trip to an away game!!

Re: What can we do? : Tue Jul 30, 2013 7:31 pm  

Given the sums required, and the low support base, the possible way forward would be what Pompey Trust have done. They identified supporters "of high net worth" who put in substantial sums, minimum of £50k I think. Without that assistance I think the sums would be hugely challenging. A recent Trust led attempt to get Aldershot Town FC into community ownership failed with "only" £82k raised. Their active support base is probably bigger than ours at the moment. I actually support the only Trust owned ice hockey team, it's fair to say it is hard work keeping them afloat year on year without a sugar daddy.

Anyone seriously considering this route should contact Supporters Direct for advice. There would be huge challenges but London is a relatively wealthy part of the UK so it might just be possible. I suspect SD would suggest researching potential support, both in membership and money if a fan takeover became possible, early in the process. Whether it would be worth proceeding would emerge rather quickly I suspect.