Picking the brains of Exeter City

[Ron Manager]

Has the trust made contact with the people in charge at Exeter City ahead of Saturday's game? My understanding is that the equivalent of the supporters trust down there took the club over when they went bust and out of the league.

They may be in the relegation zone at the moment but overall have done a brilliant job to get them up trhough the divisions and financially stable. Surely they are exactly the sort of people we should be learning from, their experiences would be invaluable and there's every chance they'd be willing to share that with us as we face the possibility of doing the same.

 

[Ron Manager]

Their website -

http://www.ecfcst.org.uk/

 

[Shrimperstrust]

Has the trust made contact with the people in charge at Exeter City ahead of Saturday's game? My understanding is that the equivalent of the supporters trust down there took the club over when they went bust and out of the league.

They may be in the relegation zone at the moment but overall have done a brilliant job to get them up trhough the divisions and financially stable. Surely they are exactly the sort of people we should be learning from, their experiences would be invaluable and there's every chance they'd be willing to share that with us as we face the possibility of doing the same.

We were in touch with them and several other organisations when we were threatened with the winding up order last year, and no doubt will be again very shortly.

 

[Rob1920]

Whilst I would agree they've done well to bounce back, If you recall they were skint & in the conference going nowhere when they played Man U at Old Trafford in the cup in front of a 70k sell out, got a draw, then had another sell out reply at home with about 12k present, both games televised. All in all I seem to recall they made close to £1m out of it, which they used wisely to launch themselves upwards.

They didn't do it just on the back of fans all pulling together, much as its a nice romantic notion..

 

[Ron Manager]

Whilst I would agree they've done well to bounce back, If you recall they were skint & in the conference going nowhere when they played Man U at Old Trafford in the cup in front of a 70k sell out, got a draw, then had another sell out reply at home with about 12k present, both games televised. All in all I seem to recall they made close to £1m out of it, which they used wisely to launch themselves upwards.

They didn't do it just on the back of fans all pulling together, much as its a nice romantic notion..

But the fact they existed to draw Man Utd in the first place was down to the fans.

 

[Rob1920]

But the fact they existed to draw Man Utd in the first place was down to the fans.

That is true, but they'd probably still be skint & in the BSP without the cup money.

Don't get me wrong I'd sooner have a club to support in the BSP than none at all, I'm just saying you still need money to move the club upwards.

 

[devonexile]

That is true, but they'd probably still be skint & in the BSP without the cup money.

Don't get me wrong I'd sooner have a club to support in the BSP than none at all, I'm just saying you still need money to move the club upwards.

Their Supporters Trust got 1000 fans to pledge £500 each (though not sure if they all paid in the end) to meet the initial CVA. No doubt at all that the money from the cup games against Man Utd helped speed things along but they are a well run club and I think they would have got there in the end.

The set up is that the Trust is the majority shareholder and continues to pay the wages of 1/2 players. They have 2 directors on the Board but no other day to day involvement in the running of the club (though they could, if needs be, use their shareholding to vote directors out).

Last year they spent three hundred grand on an evaluation report to determine whether they should build a new ground on the outskirts of the City or re-develop what they have. They have plumped for re-development, which is due to start at the end of this season, a stand at a time over 3 years to bring their capacity up to around 16,000.

They try to live within their means on an average gate of 5,000 and considerable commercial activities. They made a trading profit last year but have an overal deficit of about £250K, which they expect to clear by the end of this financial year. They also have a sizeable but unused overdraft facility at their bank, based on credit worthiness and their asset base. They have, and I know this for a fact, a good relationship with local companies, whom they pay on time as indeed the do with their tax payments to HMRC.

If it goes belly up with Ron, then I don't think their business model should be lightly disregarded.

 

[devonexile]

Whilst I would agree they've done well to bounce back, If you recall they were skint & in the conference going nowhere when they played Man U at Old Trafford in the cup in front of a 70k sell out, got a draw, then had another sell out reply at home with about 12k present, both games televised. All in all I seem to recall they made close to £1m out of it, which they used wisely to launch themselves upwards.

They didn't do it just on the back of fans all pulling together, much as its a nice romantic notion..

It's not that romantic a concept, as AFC Wimbledon have shown. The problems start though when you reach league1, that's when you my need a few very wealthy trust members to take things foward.