Re: What can we do? : Tue Jul 30, 2013 7:44 pm  

Go to the game, chant louder than you've ever done face the wrong way like the Poznan, to show your displeasure at the offerings.







































or burn your shirts

Re: What can we do? : Tue Jul 30, 2013 8:37 pm  

Halfdan of t'wide embrace wrote:

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.

i imagine they'll advise that to form a supporter's trust, you first need supporters

Re: What can we do? : Tue Jul 30, 2013 8:44 pm  

To be honest if you are forming a Trust with a view to running the club you need money, more accurately access to money, plus some key skill sets. Mass support is very useful but not essential if you can drum up the money. Money would be the issue to my eyes.

Re: What can we do? : Tue Jul 30, 2013 9:15 pm  

I will point out again; investors look for a return. You are in fairyland if you think business investors don't consider this. If anyone can specify what return London Broncos supply I will be most obliged. What some of you are looking for is more in the way of charity, and there are many more worthy charities than a broken down rugby club.

Re: What can we do? : Tue Jul 30, 2013 10:14 pm  

Time to bring the pants out and put them on your head (clean ones mind)

Re: What can we do? : Tue Jul 30, 2013 11:03 pm  

Halfdan of t'wide embrace wrote: To be honest if you are forming a Trust with a view to running the club you need money, more accurately access to money, plus some key skill sets. Mass support is very useful but not essential if you can drum up the money. Money would be the issue to my eyes. This is a very good point. Back in 2003 when Exeter City were hours away from being no more, our directors and owners did'nt really give a toss (and were subsequently jailed for fraud a few months after this episode), a few weeks beforehand two diehard fans went on to the ExeWeb forums and put the idea out there of buying and running ECFC as a trust based community club. It is very important to point out that many people on ExeWeb forum scoffed at the idea, just denounced it as fantasy, and the feedback was much the same as what is being written here. But the fact of the matter was that the whole aim of the trust is to ensure ECFC is run by the fans, for the fans. But it is not just that. When the club became trust owned we were 1.5 million in debt, relegated to the conference, and it just seemed all was lost. It took two people with persistence to make this happen with the help of a lot of other fan giving up their free time to provide assistance in their given fields (including me). Yes the fact that we drew Man Utd in the 3rd round of the FA cup at Old Trafford in 2004 helped clear most of the debt. But as with any business the trust had to have a tangible vision which could be achieved within the budgetary limits of the Club. This vision was called 'V10', the aim of getting form Conference to L1 in 8 seasons. Business plans, and processes were implemented to how we can achieve this ( I actually had 4 pages of input into this document). This included detailed near term goals, medium term goals and ultimately the L1 goal. We achieved promotion to L2 in 2007, and L1 the next season. This is the most important point this post. It is just not a point of buying the club, if we are going to do this we need to outline a visions for the club (realistic visions). In addition to people on here saying that there still will not be enough money with just us, the vision we adopt as the basis of the trust must include how we increase revenue streams, or find efficiencies in how we do business (which I can help with, it's my bread and butter), You may have already done your homework and may have done a google on our Exeter City trust, you may have read that our manager Paul Tisdale has had his budget cut recently. I must stress that ECFC are not in financial trouble, we are actually one of the few clubs in L2 who actually post a profit (a small one). The ECFC trust will not go down that road of reckless spending without the vision, and without comprehensive reasoning for doing anything we do. We are the flag bearers when it comes to trust owned clubs, and the fans feel more empowered in the running of their club. If anyone is driven enough to make this happen, then please PM me, I will be in touch and we can start this moving. Please note I am based in Aussie at the moment but I am in London (Twickenham) next week if you wish to meet over a pint. Here is the link to our website should you want a squizz http://www.ecfcst.org.uk/home/trust-history/ Andrew

Halfdan of t'wide embrace wrote: To be honest if you are forming a Trust with a view to running the club you need money, more accurately access to money, plus some key skill sets. Mass support is very useful but not essential if you can drum up the money. Money would be the issue to my eyes. This is a very good point. Back in 2003 when Exeter City were hours away from being no more, our directors and owners did'nt really give a toss (and were subsequently jailed for fraud a few months after this episode), a few weeks beforehand two diehard fans went on to the ExeWeb forums and put the idea out there of buying and running ECFC as a trust based community club. It is very important to point out that many people on ExeWeb forum scoffed at the idea, just denounced it as fantasy, and the feedback was much the same as what is being written here. But the fact of the matter was that the whole aim of the trust is to ensure ECFC is run by the fans, for the fans. But it is not just that. When the club became trust owned we were 1.5 million in debt, relegated to the conference, and it just seemed all was lost. It took two people with persistence to make this happen with the help of a lot of other fan giving up their free time to provide assistance in their given fields (including me). Yes the fact that we drew Man Utd in the 3rd round of the FA cup at Old Trafford in 2004 helped clear most of the debt. But as with any business the trust had to have a tangible vision which could be achieved within the budgetary limits of the Club. This vision was called 'V10', the aim of getting form Conference to L1 in 8 seasons. Business plans, and processes were implemented to how we can achieve this ( I actually had 4 pages of input into this document). This included detailed near term goals, medium term goals and ultimately the L1 goal. We achieved promotion to L2 in 2007, and L1 the next season. This is the most important point this post. It is just not a point of buying the club, if we are going to do this we need to outline a visions for the club (realistic visions). In addition to people on here saying that there still will not be enough money with just us, the vision we adopt as the basis of the trust must include how we increase revenue streams, or find efficiencies in how we do business (which I can help with, it's my bread and butter), You may have already done your homework and may have done a google on our Exeter City trust, you may have read that our manager Paul Tisdale has had his budget cut recently. I must stress that ECFC are not in financial trouble, we are actually one of the few clubs in L2 who actually post a profit (a small one). The ECFC trust will not go down that road of reckless spending without the vision, and without comprehensive reasoning for doing anything we do. We are the flag bearers when it comes to trust owned clubs, and the fans feel more empowered in the running of their club. If anyone is driven enough to make this happen, then please PM me, I will be in touch and we can start this moving. Please note I am based in Aussie at the moment but I am in London (Twickenham) next week if you wish to meet over a pint. Here is the link to our website should you want a squizz http://www.ecfcst.org.uk/home/trust-history/ Andrew

Re: What can we do? : Wed Jul 31, 2013 1:58 am  

wire quin wrote:

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

Agreed....

wire quin wrote:

GF will sell you some Daffs for the roundabout

Urban myth but they are nice flowers all the same

wire quin wrote:

Ding Ding in the committee-Very northern

I can see the gaslight lit room already

wire quin wrote:

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

speak for yourself....cracked 45+ both times I ran them.

If you want to replace Hughes then you need £1.25 million a year to waste over 5 years, with a clear and concise business plan submitted and regularly audited by the RFL....or, 4,000 fans per game worth £25 each!

Kind of puts my decade of marketing and attendance rants into perspective now doesn't it!


BTW....in my humble opinion, Fan buy-outs are for lower division soccer teams with their own grounds, 3 generation histories and aspirations of climbing the football league and not failing RL clubs with a 1 generation history, no ground to call home and who already at the top table.

Re: What can we do? : Wed Jul 31, 2013 8:08 am  

gutterfax wrote:

If you want to replace Hughes then you need £1.25 million a year to waste over 5 years, with a clear and concise business plan submitted and regularly audited by the RFL....or, 4,000 fans per game worth £25 each!

Yes, but the point is that this is a very badly managed club that is leaking £1m a year. A well managed club, on the other hand ...

Re: What can we do? : Wed Jul 31, 2013 8:22 am  

I first broached this subject back in 2011, and quite a few on here were interested enough to PM and e-mail me with broad support. I did contact Supporters Direct and had an initial exchange with Gus - I agree its a massive task but I did feel at that time that the current administration was not one to do business with! I even kicked off a web presence http://rllist.wordpress.com/. I've continued to agonise about this and have taken advice from people I trust who also love the game, but we're heading towards oblivion and my mantra to myself that "all I can do is turn up every week" doesn't cut it with me anymore! The comment about the Pompey Trust recruiting members willing to invest way in excess of others is a good one - I think this is the case with the Rochdale Hornets Trust. We would only find out if we kicked the process off - a process I'm happy to be heavily involved with. Feel free to PM me with your input on this. GF has a good point about where Trusts have been successful so far, and the history point is well made. But a Super League club runs on a much lower budget that most if not all Football League clubs - and its Super League or nothing for this club as far as I can see.

I first broached this subject back in 2011, and quite a few on here were interested enough to PM and e-mail me with broad support. I did contact Supporters Direct and had an initial exchange with Gus - I agree its a massive task but I did feel at that time that the current administration was not one to do business with! I even kicked off a web presence http://rllist.wordpress.com/. I've continued to agonise about this and have taken advice from people I trust who also love the game, but we're heading towards oblivion and my mantra to myself that "all I can do is turn up every week" doesn't cut it with me anymore! The comment about the Pompey Trust recruiting members willing to invest way in excess of others is a good one - I think this is the case with the Rochdale Hornets Trust. We would only find out if we kicked the process off - a process I'm happy to be heavily involved with. Feel free to PM me with your input on this. GF has a good point about where Trusts have been successful so far, and the history point is well made. But a Super League club runs on a much lower budget that most if not all Football League clubs - and its Super League or nothing for this club as far as I can see.

Re: What can we do? : Wed Jul 31, 2013 8:24 am  

Good to read some positive thoughts!