Do the club deserve our support?

[steveo1]

Quote[/b] ]I'm not one of those saying "King Out"; SUFC is a Limited Company and he is an elected member of the Board appointed by the shareholders.

The Southend United Football Club is not a PLC which means the directors are not appointed by shareholders. The Southend United Football Club Ltd is a private company who rent the ground from Roots Hall PLC, of which Ron Martin is a director of both companies, along with another 12 others. I have been trying to tell you this for ages but people are still riding on the crest of the new stadium euphoria. There have been a lot of posts saying how Ron has the supporters and clubs interests at heart but theses are by people who in my estimation have never run a business and are brainwashed into think SUFC are the greatest club on earth.
Think what you like but before you comment think if you really know all the facts. Apart frpm Wrongun and CSJ I m probably the only person on here who is sucked in by the "SUFC revolution"

 

[Beefy]

Quote[/b] (The Late One @ Dec. 01 2006,23:41)]Lets just go into ticketing...

Queue for five hours, on a work day, for Tottenham tickets after the club announce there are not enough tickets for all season ticket holders is like the captain of the Titanic telling his passengers "we are sinking and there are not enough life boats but don't panic" that was not the most sensible way to do things.

Allow a first time passer by to get a Hull ticket, not go to the match but get a Man U ticket that was not very clever.

At least they sorted the Col Ewe tickets this year in a fair way, but that was with the suggestion coming from the Trust in the first place.

And people wonder why the fans at Barnsley had the hump, at least the chats were not directed at the players performance.

Yes I know that we have got promoted into the Championship but we are heading downwards off the pitch quicker than we are on it.

I'm sorry but I've got no sympathy on the Spurs ticket front. There were plenty of us on here predicting that there'd be lots of tickets left over by the time the phone lines opened. The club said several times on here, on the OS and at the Plymouth game that we had at least 5,000 tickets. There was never any need to go down there on day one.

 

[Mick]

Quote[/b] (steveo1 @ Dec. 01 2006,23:54)]

Quote[/b] ]I'm not one of those saying "King Out"; SUFC is a Limited Company and he is an elected member of the Board appointed by the shareholders.

The Southend United Football Club is not a PLC which means the directors are not appointed by shareholders. The Southend United Football Club Ltd is a private company who rent the ground from Roots Hall PLC, of which Ron Martin is a director of both companies, along with another 12 others. I have been trying to tell you this for ages but people are still riding on the crest of the new stadium euphoria. There have been a lot of posts saying how Ron has the supporters and clubs interests at heart but theses are by people who in my estimation have never run a business and are brainwashed into think SUFC are the greatest club on earth.
Think what you like but before you comment think if you really know all the facts. Apart frpm Wrongun and CSJ I m probably the only person on here who is sucked in by the "SUFC revolution"

FACTS ?

I didn't say it was a PLC, which it clearly isn't.

As a shareholder, I distinctly recall "voting in" directors and re-appointing those who come up for re-election by rotation.

Ron does, I think, have the interests of the club and fans at heart; he also has his own interests at heart. If the club prospers and does well, Ron does well. I'm comfortable with that.

ps ..... you may wish to edit your final statement.

 

[The Late One]

Quote[/b] (Beefy @ Dec. 02 2006,00:00)]

Quote[/b] (The Late One @ Dec. 01 2006,23:41)]Lets just go into ticketing...

Queue for five hours, on a work day, for Tottenham tickets after the club announce there are not enough tickets for all season ticket holders is like the captain of the Titanic telling his passengers "we are sinking and there are not enough life boats but don't panic" that was not the most sensible way to do things.

Allow a first time passer by to get a Hull ticket, not go to the match but get a Man U ticket that was not very clever.

At least they sorted the Col Ewe tickets this year in a fair way, but that was with the suggestion coming from the Trust in the first place.

And people wonder why the fans at Barnsley had the hump, at least the chats were not directed at the players performance.

Yes I know that we have got promoted into the Championship but we are heading downwards off the pitch quicker than we are on it.

I'm sorry but I've got no sympathy on the Spurs ticket front. There were plenty of us on here predicting that there'd be lots of tickets left over by the time the phone lines opened. The club said several times on here, on the OS and at the Plymouth game that we had at least 5,000 tickets. There was never any need to go down there on day one.

How about attend all home games this season (without a ST) but treat that person the same as a first time visitor when it comes to Man U tickets. Which fan will come back today & next week, the answer is - the one who should have been valued in the first place.

They could have given second priority to fans with a Hull, Brighton & any other home stub, third priority to Hull & any other stub, fourth to Hull only stubs so at least then they would have looked after their loyal home fans.

Surely this would have been a fairer way to do things but what do I know - I am just a fan !

 

[Beefy]

Quote[/b] (Mick @ Dec. 02 2006,00:04)]Ron does, I think, have the interests of the club and fans at heart; he also has his own interests at heart. If the club prospers and does well, Ron does well. I'm comfortable with that.

Same here. He's a businessman, of course he's in it for the money. But if all he saw Southend United as being in an opportunity to make the proverbial quick buck then I think he's gone a very perculiar way around realising it.

I know steveo1 has his legitimate concerns about this side of things because he's gone out of his way to let me know and I appreciate that. At the end of the day, none of us really know anyone's true motives for doing anything. But I think we owe as much to Ron Martin for us being in this division as we owe Steve Tilson and Freddy Eastwood and I'm happy to give Ron the benefit of any doubt right now.

 

[Beefy]

Quote[/b] (The Late One @ Dec. 02 2006,00:13)]

Quote[/b] (Beefy @ Dec. 02 2006,00:00)]

Quote[/b] (The Late One @ Dec. 01 2006,23:41)]Lets just go into ticketing...

Queue for five hours, on a work day, for Tottenham tickets after the club announce there are not enough tickets for all season ticket holders is like the captain of the Titanic telling his passengers "we are sinking and there are not enough life boats but don't panic" that was not the most sensible way to do things.

Allow a first time passer by to get a Hull ticket, not go to the match but get a Man U ticket that was not very clever.

At least they sorted the Col Ewe tickets this year in a fair way, but that was with the suggestion coming from the Trust in the first place.

And people wonder why the fans at Barnsley had the hump, at least the chats were not directed at the players performance.

Yes I know that we have got promoted into the Championship but we are heading downwards off the pitch quicker than we are on it.

I'm sorry but I've got no sympathy on the Spurs ticket front. There were plenty of us on here predicting that there'd be lots of tickets left over by the time the phone lines opened. The club said several times on here, on the OS and at the Plymouth game that we had at least 5,000 tickets. There was never any need to go down there on day one.

How about attend all home games this season (without a ST) but treat that person the same as a first time visitor when it comes to Man U tickets. Which fan will come back today & next week, the answer is - the one who should have been valued in the first place.

They could have given second priority to fans with a Hull, Brighton & any other home stub, third priority to Hull & any other stub, fourth to Hull only stubs so at least then they would have looked after their loyal home fans.

Surely this would have been a fairer way to do things but what do I know - I am just a fan !

I'm not disagreeing on that. I'm talking about Spurs tickets.

For what its worth, the club should have had a plan in place and announced at the start of the season for any massive cup matches like the Man United one. That was the mistake that they made. But seeing as they didn't have such a system I think the way that they organised it was probably as well as they could have done. No way would have made everyone happy. Plenty of people bin their ticket stubs straight after the game, for example, so I don't see how the system that you suggest could be fair on them.

 

[The Late One]

Quote[/b] (Beefy @ Dec. 02 2006,00:21)]

Quote[/b] (The Late One @ Dec. 02 2006,00:13)]

Quote[/b] (Beefy @ Dec. 02 2006,00:00)]

Quote[/b] (The Late One @ Dec. 01 2006,23:41)]Lets just go into ticketing...

Queue for five hours, on a work day, for Tottenham tickets after the club announce there are not enough tickets for all season ticket holders is like the captain of the Titanic telling his passengers "we are sinking and there are not enough life boats but don't panic" that was not the most sensible way to do things.

Allow a first time passer by to get a Hull ticket, not go to the match but get a Man U ticket that was not very clever.

At least they sorted the Col Ewe tickets this year in a fair way, but that was with the suggestion coming from the Trust in the first place.

And people wonder why the fans at Barnsley had the hump, at least the chats were not directed at the players performance.

Yes I know that we have got promoted into the Championship but we are heading downwards off the pitch quicker than we are on it.

I'm sorry but I've got no sympathy on the Spurs ticket front. There were plenty of us on here predicting that there'd be lots of tickets left over by the time the phone lines opened. The club said several times on here, on the OS and at the Plymouth game that we had at least 5,000 tickets. There was never any need to go down there on day one.

How about attend all home games this season (without a ST) but treat that person the same as a first time visitor when it comes to Man U tickets. Which fan will come back today & next week, the answer is - the one who should have been valued in the first place.

They could have given second priority to fans with a Hull, Brighton & any other home stub, third priority to Hull & any other stub, fourth to Hull only stubs so at least then they would have looked after their loyal home fans.

Surely this would have been a fairer way to do things but what do I know - I am just a fan !

I'm not disagreeing on that. I'm talking about Spurs tickets.

For what its worth, the club should have had a plan in place and announced at the start of the season for any massive cup matches like the Man United one. That was the mistake that they made. But seeing as they didn't have such a system I think the way that they organised it was probably as well as they could have done. No way would have made everyone happy. Plenty of people bin their ticket stubs straight after the game, for example, so I don't see how the system that you suggest could be fair on them.

Even if you bin your stubs you would then have the same chance as the one off supporter but how many people have not got at least one stub at home, the other thing is the idea I suggested would have meant SUFC would have still had a full house v Hull.

As for the putting a plan in place - the Trust suggested at the beginning of the season that the club started a away travel club, that would have helped for the Spurs match

 

[Shrimp in a Kilt]

Quote[/b] (The Late One @ Dec. 02 2006,00:28)]As for the putting a plan in place - the Trust suggested at the beginning of the season that the club started a away travel club, that would have helped for the Spurs match

The club should have a subscription based Membership scheme. Have been banging on about this for ages, even Colcheatster and Plymouth run them. Extra income for the club and makes it pointless for jonny-come-latelys to snap up tickets like they did for the Hull game.

 

[Kenny]

I'm sorry, I stilll don't get why people are suddenly calling for Geoff King's head. There seems to be some major reason yet no-one seems to have expanded on the "he's making the Trust relationship difficult....."

It's like we're struggling for a scapegoat for the current situation so rather then call for Tilly/Brush, Ron's head we're putting GK in the firing line.

 

[fbm]

To get back to the original point...

Does the club deserve our support?

Why would it not?

Lower league football is not a profitable business. In fact, few Prem teams make regular profits. The business of football has it's sums very, very wrong inasmuch as that about 80% of the games turnover gets spent on wages. But that's a completely different issue.

We have had a blinding 3 years financially, what with cup runs, TV appearances, an increased fan base, rising attendances and successive promotions.

But we cannot sustain this type of success and the chances are that next year we will be in league 1, with a greatly reduced number of season ticket sales, lower TV income and no cup runs.

So, how are the club meant to survive?

In short, they have to make hay while the sun shines. Whilst the fans are here and interested, they have to come up with ways of extracting every last penny they can in order to build up the reserves sufficiently so that the clubs long term survival can be assured.

So if there is anyone that objects to shelling out a few extra quid here and there for the clubs benefit then you have to ask yourself the question, "Do I want to support a football club?"

They don't run themselves and there is no reason why club directors should continue to personally prop up the finances.

Until the game sorts itself out financially, we are in this position I'm afraid. But if anyone doesn't like it, they don't have to support the club. It's in everyone's ability to vote with their feet.

 

[Bielzibubz]

I, like many many others, will always support the management team and players of Southend United in their endeavours to secure the long term financial security of the club, both on the pitch and behind the scenes, but there are certain aspects of the way in which the club goes about dealing with the it's supporters and indeed marketing itself that really do make it very difficult to give it that same kind of support.

 

[fbm]

Quote[/b] (D62SUBOY @ Dec. 02 2006,08:11)]I, like many many others, will always support the management team and players of Southend United in their endeavours to secure the long term financial security of the club, both on the pitch and behind the scenes, but there are certain aspects of the way in which the club goes about dealing with the it's supporters and indeed marketing itself that really do make it very difficult to give it that same kind of support.

I know exactly what you mean but believe me, we are so unbelievably professional in comparison to how we were in the 90's when last in this division.

One of the key problems is that, as a club, we are out of our depth off the field as well as on it. We can't afford to have the same sorts of resources as bigger teams.

It is however true that no matter what the club does they will not be able to please everyone so there will always be someone to moan about something.

 

[Kenny]

Quote[/b] (fbm @ Dec. 02 2006,06:18)]So, how are the club meant to survive?

a nice big shiny 22000 seater stadium with facilities that generate other incomes for the club.