SUFC: The Future SUFC up for sale

[SUFC2008]

How has all this fan ownership talk come up? I saw the MP was getting a meeting about making roots hall an area of public whatever it is but that doesn’t mean we need to look at fan ownership for that to happen. The biggest issue is people are only looking at basic figures and there is no what whatsoever there are going to be enough fans able to cough up enough money year on year. It would be a disaster.

Very few clubs at any level seem to make a profit especially in the lower leagues and without large investment in either roots hall or a new stadium we would continue to be hamstrung by the lack of non Matchday income we could make to even come close to being sustainable.

I also think the issue is people are hearing something and then everyone’s imaginations are running away with them. I must admit it is hard not to let this happen at times especially as we are getting such small amounts of rumours dropping through here and there at the moment.

Let’s hope some of the posters on here are correct and we are having a huge party under the Friday night lights at roots hall in 2 weeks time.

Doesn't feel like a good idea at all, I agree with you. But who would be stupid enough to buy the club giving the rather substantial amount of debt we're in. It's ghastly to be honest, and Ron's demands are absolutely insane.

 

[Shrimper]

That wage bill is an average of £1600 a week based on 20 first team players

That is nuts for the national league!

You need to add staff to that. So you're looking at £1.75m for around 30 players + staff for the first team

 

[flangejackrabbit]

For 2020-21 more specifically 69 playing and coaching staff which will include academy, 48 establishment and ground maintenance staff which will include anyone from TL to the tea lady, and 5 directors (with nil pay) for a total £3.16m exc NI and pensions. Obviously that will be less by now but gives a picture.

 

[getintoem]

Cheltenham Town would be a good model for us to examine. Their stadium is owned by the Council and they have a 99 year lease on it, of which about 80 years are remaining. They get sponsorship for the whole stadium, it’s now Completely-Suzuki and used to be Jonny-Rocks. I assume that the sponsorship takes care of the cost of completely maintaining the facility. They don’t have a lot of facilities to provide alternative revenue streams, just seven hospitality boxes, spaces they hire out for functions/conferences, that comprise their boardroom and two other rooms, plus a supporters’ bar/social club. Their average home attendance is about 3,500. They don’t have a rich owner that pumps money into the club, they simply run a tight ship financially and they make money predominantly by selling on players. They have made a profit for the last two financial years and ploughed some of that money back into the club by purchasing their training ground. They accept they will probably never have the financial resources to make it into the Championship but are satisfied with trying to maintain their status in League 1 whilst always recognising they may well slip back into League 2.

You could say their outlook is not very ambitious, but I would swap their position for ours right now and they are proving what can be done with modest support and prudent management.

 

[jnl]

Similar in many ways to Norwich City, who don't have the resources to stay in the Premiership, so yo-yo between there and the Championship. The fans just enjoy the ride. It shows what can be done with good management throughout a club.

 

[Westcliff DGS]

I cannot see how fan ownership is sustainable for any club. If your club does lose a money over the season (I can believe a lot of clubs do, even those higher up the leagues), I cant be bothered to read the numbers but lets say what RM has said the 100k a month is correct. Thats 1.2 million over the season, if you have 1000 fans buying the shares the will need to find another 1,200 per year on top of their original investment to keep the club going. Now if those 1000 own the club i guess they do not need to buy tickets to watch the team as they are owners so thats potentially 1000 fans worth of less revenue.

Fan ownership is a poor poor idea, and I am surprised AF came up with it. It seemed to me an ill thought out comment. I know she and the other MP have been trying to help, but most politicians only get nvilved in these things to either further their own needs or to save them from being criticised if it all goes wrong.

Anyway back to the day job, and wait for news. No news is good news they say, I hope that is correct, however y hopes and beliefs in these things dwindles by the day.

 

[fbm]

How has all this fan ownership talk come up? I saw the MP was getting a meeting about making roots hall an area of public whatever it is but that doesn’t mean we need to look at fan ownership for that to happen. The biggest issue is people are only looking at basic figures and there is no what whatsoever there are going to be enough fans able to cough up enough money year on year. It would be a disaster.

Very few clubs at any level seem to make a profit especially in the lower leagues and without large investment in either roots hall or a new stadium we would continue to be hamstrung by the lack of non Matchday income we could make to even come close to being sustainable.

I also think the issue is people are hearing something and then everyone’s imaginations are running away with them. I must admit it is hard not to let this happen at times especially as we are getting such small amounts of rumours dropping through here and there at the moment.

Let’s hope some of the posters on here are correct and we are having a huge party under the Friday night lights at roots hall in 2 weeks time.

Whilst it's good for the local MP to get involved and to try and achieve positive change (I am very grateful for that), I suspect a lot of the words she uses are with a view to winning votes in next years election.

 

[Holy Joe]

Now if those 1000 own the club i guess they do not need to buy tickets to watch the team as they are owners so thats potentially 1000 fans worth of less revenue.

We already have 100's of fans that own a minority interest in the club. We all have to buy a ticket to watch a game.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Whilst it's good for the local MP to get involved and to try and achieve positive change (I am very grateful for that), I suspect a lot of the words she uses are with a view to winning votes in next years election.

In the 14th safest Conservative seat in the country? I doubt it very much. I genuinely believe that she is doing what she's doing because she recognises the significance and importance to the City the Club represents and for which she is the MP.

 

[Westcliff DGS]

We already have 100's of fans that own a minority interest in the club. We all have to buy a ticket to watch a game

But they are not equal or majority share holders, and are they putting money into the club as it stands (aside form tickets, as in to clear debts and run the club?)

i don’t know wha the deal is with them, but if I were to invest in a club on an equal standing and be pumping in to buy the club and then to keep a the club afloat i wouldnt expect to buy a ticket.

Let’s say 10 million to buy the club, so 10grand each for the 1000, then 1200 a year on top i would have thought thats enough to get free entry

 

[Westcliff DGS]

In the 14th safest seat in the country? I doubt it very much. I genuinely believe that she is doing what she's doing because she recognises the significance and importance to the City the Club represents and for which she is the MP.

I hope you’re right, I suspect differently as politicians generally only do things for self gain publically. I do not know Anna Firth at all, do we know if she has in the past even to games regularly so is a fan shall we say? I have never before seen her make a comment about the club when we have had WUP in the past

 

[fbm]

I cannot see how fan ownership is sustainable for any club. If your club does lose a money over the season (I can believe a lot of clubs do, even those higher up the leagues), I cant be bothered to read the numbers but lets say what RM has said the 100k a month is correct. Thats 1.2 million over the season, if you have 1000 fans buying the shares the will need to find another 1,200 per year on top of their original investment to keep the club going. Now if those 1000 own the club i guess they do not need to buy tickets to watch the team as they are owners so thats potentially 1000 fans worth of less revenue.

Fan ownership is a poor poor idea, and I am surprised AF came up with it. It seemed to me an ill thought out comment. I know she and the other MP have been trying to help, but most politicians only get nvilved in these things to either further their own needs or to save them from being criticised if it all goes wrong.

Anyway back to the day job, and wait for news. No news is good news they say, I hope that is correct, however y hopes and beliefs in these things dwindles by the day.

Agreed.

Fan ownership would be an absolute minefield. We can't even agree on here what colour blue the shirts should be!

Also, what would happen if money was needed but only some could afford to raise it? Does that mean the others stop being owners? Going forward, it would be clear that the financial burden fell on fewer people, which increases their "share", meaning more and more being less able to afford it in the future.

Soon there would be an unsustainable financial drain on fewer numbers of fans and eventually you'd be in the same position as now, i.e. the owners can't put enough in.

At what point would the protests start for that one, and whose house would we start at first?

 

[Westcliff DGS]

Agreed.

Fan ownership would be an absolute minefield. We can't even agree on here what colour blue the shirts should be!

Also, what would happen if money was needed but only some could afford to raise it? Does that mean the others stop being owners? Going forward, it would be clear that the financial burden fell on fewer people, which increases their "share", meaning more and more being less able to afford it in the future.

Soon there would be an unsustainable financial drain on fewer numbers of fans and eventually you'd be in the same position as now, i.e. the owners can't put enough in.

At what point would the protests start for that one, and whose house would we start at first?

Agree re fan ownership

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Let’s not get political please. That might seem difficult when talking about a politician, but it’s not impossible - just refrain from making statements that sound like you don’t like the colour of their rosette and stick to football.

 

[SeldomSeenShrimper]

Which horse? The one that fell at the first, the estate agent from colchester, the unknown horse, the hedge fund with winstone, the Aussies or the 100% **** clown ?

For a second, I thought you were introducing someone like a boxing ring master

 

[Ozzer]

Whilst it's good for the local MP to get involved and to try and achieve positive change (I am very grateful for that), I suspect a lot of the words she uses are with a view to winning votes in next years election.

It's very easy to take a cynical view of all politicians and I'm no great fan of them either. However, AF has stepped up to provide tangible help, not only raising our plight in Parliament but rolling her sleeves up to help cleaning Roots Hall with the rest of us. There are many politicians who just want to appear in publicity photos, AF doesn't seem to be one of them and for that, I'm very grateful.

 

[Westcliff DGS]

Let’s not get political please. That might seem difficult when talking about a politician, but it’s not impossible - just refrain from making statements that sound like you don’t like the colour of their rosette and stick to football.

Apologies and it isn't anything to do with the colour of their side, it was a general statement about politicians as in thats what they all do in my opinion, just so happens our MP is Anna Firth

 

[fbm]

In the 14th safest seat in the country? I doubt it very much. I genuinely believe that she is doing what she's doing because she recognises the significance and importance to the City the Club represents and for which she is the MP.

I think in the last GE, it was the 235th safest seat in the country. The late Sir Davis Amess had a majority of 31.1%. Don't forget, her by-election was uncontested by the major parties.

In other by-elections since, the Tories have lost both Shropshire North and Tiverton & Honiton, who both had majorities of over 40% so if I were Anna Firth I wouldn't be taking this seat for granted.

 

[fbm]

I think in the last GE, it was the 235th safest seat in the country. The late Sir Davis Amess had a majority of 31.1%. Don't forget, her by-election was uncontested by the major parties.

In other by-elections since, the Tories have lost both Shropshire North and Tiverton & Honiton, who both had majorities of over 40% so if I were Anna Firth I wouldn't be taking this seat for granted.

@Spaceman Spiff

Sorry - saw your last message after I'd posted .

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

So in the last 7 pages of gumph about fan ownership and AF motives, is there actually any noise or rumours about the sale?

It seems a big opening day win and things have been put on the back burner. Absolutely zero news in the past 10 days.