Question Would you delay renewing next season?

[Supershrimper]

I'll buy at the end of the early bird. Don't want to have an increase to watch the same game or run the risk of me losing my season ticket seat

 

[shrimper61]

I too will be renewing at the end of April early May
I wont be playing silly games when it comes to the club i love.

Withholding money wont hurt Ron one little bit but could tip our club over the edge and i wont be part of that.

The club needs season ticket money during the close season when no other income is coming in and i will be doing my very small bit to make sure i still have a club to support next season.

 

[Supershrimper]

Also might play into Rons hands. If you were to withhold your money he'll (hopefully the club) will get a bigger amount if and when people do purchase their season tickets.

If you think Ron get the money, then don't buy a season ticket full top. If you think the club gets it and you want to pay the small increase buy in the early bird window or for the large increase buy in the period post the early bird. I very much doubt that Ron goes up to the club on a daily basis, asks how much we have sold and then says i'll have a slice of that, and walks out with some fresh notes in his back pocket.

Of course I could be mistaken (although I would hope not)

I understand that match day tickets are also increasing (expected with everything else that is increasing at the moment)

 

[Medway Blue]

All that's been suggested at the moment is a delay.

The club has raised ticket prices. In isolation, and if it were say 10% to match current inflation, that's one thing.

To raise them as much as they have in one go against a backdrop of a cost of living crisis for EVERYONE, the club is being run so poorly, fans are treated with utter contempt and not engaged with (there wasn't even an official club statement after the WUP was dismissed) it's seriously poor form.

Each to their own, but I think our support, patience and goodwill are being taken for granted and we're letting the club's hierarchy walk all over us. They've had it easy for so long now in terms of supporter pushback and that's precisely why they feel (know?) that they can get away with this.

I don't know where my money is going. I don't know for sure that it simply aids cashflow during the close season. I don't know whether it will be used by Ron Martin to pay off some Legacy debts and other bits and bobs, and therefore whether that season ticket revenue will even last into the new season. I understand clubs put season tickets on sale early to *aid* with cashflow over the summer but that money should also aid finances into the new season. I just feel like the money is going into a blackhole and there is no accountability or transparency there.

Until we get some clarity and honest engagement, I'm holding off. The early bird period gets extended every season anyway, often into June. If enough people hold off then they'll *have* to extend the early bird period anyway.

 

[Smiffy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1636402738417336320

 

[kentblues]

All that's been suggested at the moment is a delay.

The club has raised ticket prices. In isolation, and if it were say 10% to match current inflation, that's one thing.

To raise them as much as they have in one go against a backdrop of a cost of living crisis for EVERYONE, the club is being run so poorly, fans are treated with utter contempt and not engaged with (there wasn't even an official club statement after the WUP was dismissed) it's seriously poor form.

Each to their own, but I think our support, patience and goodwill are being taken for granted and we're letting the club's hierarchy walk all over us. They've had it easy for so long now in terms of supporter pushback and that's precisely why they feel (know?) that they can get away with this.

I don't know where my money is going. I don't know for sure that it simply aids cashflow during the close season. I don't know whether it will be used by Ron Martin to pay off some Legacy debts and other bits and bobs, and therefore whether that season ticket revenue will even last into the new season. I understand clubs put season tickets on sale early to *aid* with cashflow over the summer but that money should also aid finances into the new season. I just feel like the money is going into a blackhole and there is no accountability or transparency there.

Until we get some clarity and honest engagement, I'm holding off. The early bird period gets extended every season anyway, often into June. If enough people hold off then they'll *have* to extend the early bird period anyway.

Much of what you say is of course true. But the idea that the club is not heavily loss making and therefore Ron is taking money OUT I thought, at least, was for the birds.
Personally I worry that withholding money will not see Ron making it up (does anyone actually believe he will?) so will just make life harder for Tom and the management team. But everyone will make their own decision.
I note unlike last year credit cards are fine- no cash only. What that means I don’t know…

 

[Evening Echo]

THE supporter groups of Southend United are still urging fans to delay renewing their season cards for the 2023/24 campaign.

Read more on this story


Help with Echo links

 

[Realist]

These are the type of threads I like and signed up for. I like reading through the posts and seeing everyone’s different views. We have a huge variety of fans and everyone’s opinions matter. My favourite thread since I’ve joined up actually. Better than that pointless Casper Lurpak thread about him going to chesterfield zzzzzzzzz.

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Much of what you say is of course true. But the idea that the club is not heavily loss making and therefore Ron is taking money OUT I thought, at least, was for the birds.
Personally I worry that withholding money will not see Ron making it up (does anyone actually believe he will?) so will just make life harder for Tom and the management team. But everyone will make their own decision.
I note unlike last year credit cards are fine- no cash only. What that means I don’t know…

How can the club be loss making if it was properly run? You can’t tell me that Boreham Wood, Gateshead, Bromley, Solihull, Dagenham, Woking, Eastleigh and many others in the football league (Colchester, Barrow, Harrogate, Hartlepool, Crawley, Morecambe) have rich benefactors putting in 3 times as much as dear old Ron?

All of those clubs and many others have turnover significantly less than ours. My local club Yeovil, get 3,000 if they are lucky and tickets are £15

If our attendance is 6,000 and tickets are £18 then our income just from ticket sales is (3,000 x 18 x 23) for the extra attendance and (6000 x 3 x 23) for the extra ticket cost. That’s an additional £1.6m revenue alone. Yes very rough maths I know, but there are plenty of clubs with lower attendances.

Ron reckons he makes up a shortfall of about £1m a year. So the only major difference in running costs should be salaries of playing staff. Do you really believe that our squad is paid £2.5m a year more than most other clubs in this division?

It’s utter bull****, the only reason we are in this mess is the fines, interest payments, poor cash flow management and the club being used as a way of siphoning cash to his other businesses to cover his complete incompetence as a business man.

Wake up people!

 

[Rayleigh boy]

How can the club be loss making if it was properly run? You can’t tell me that Boreham Wood, Gateshead, Bromley, Solihull, Dagenham, Woking, Eastleigh and many others in the football league (Colchester, Barrow, Harrogate, Hartlepool, Crawley, Morecambe) have rich benefactors putting in 3 times as much as dear old Ron?

All of those clubs and many others have turnover significantly less than ours. My local club Yeovil, get 3,000 if they are lucky and tickets are £15

If our attendance is 6,000 and tickets are £18 then our income just from ticket sales is (3,000 x 18 x 23) for the extra attendance and (6000 x 3 x 23) for the extra ticket cost. That’s an additional £1.6m revenue alone. Yes very rough maths I know, but there are plenty of clubs with lower attendances.

Ron reckons he makes up a shortfall of about £1m a year. So the only major difference in running costs should be salaries of playing staff. Do you really believe that our squad is paid £2.5m a year more than most other clubs in this division?

It’s utter bull****, the only reason we are in this mess is the fines, interest payments, poor cash flow management and the club being used as a way of siphoning cash to his other businesses to cover his complete incompetence as a business man.

Wake up people!

great post ..

the core facts are indisputable ..........

 

[Whispering Bob]

I've got to come down on the C2C line tomorrow. Is there another protest planned before the game? (if so I'll jump off at Southend Central, rather than Westcliff).

 

[SHRIMPERPETER]

I've got to come down on the C2C line tomorrow. Is there another protest planned before the game? (if so I'll jump off at Southend Central, rather than Westcliff).

2oclock by the Odeon/WhSmith apparently

 

[Whispering Bob]

2oclock by the Odeon/WhSmith apparently

Cheers

 

[Napster]

How can the club be loss making if it was properly run? You can’t tell me that Boreham Wood, Gateshead, Bromley, Solihull, Dagenham, Woking, Eastleigh and many others in the football league (Colchester, Barrow, Harrogate, Hartlepool, Crawley, Morecambe) have rich benefactors putting in 3 times as much as dear old Ron?

All of those clubs and many others have turnover significantly less than ours. My local club Yeovil, get 3,000 if they are lucky and tickets are £15

If our attendance is 6,000 and tickets are £18 then our income just from ticket sales is (3,000 x 18 x 23) for the extra attendance and (6000 x 3 x 23) for the extra ticket cost. That’s an additional £1.6m revenue alone. Yes very rough maths I know, but there are plenty of clubs with lower attendances.

Ron reckons he makes up a shortfall of about £1m a year. So the only major difference in running costs should be salaries of playing staff. Do you really believe that our squad is paid £2.5m a year more than most other clubs in this division?

It’s utter bull****, the only reason we are in this mess is the fines, interest payments, poor cash flow management and the club being used as a way of siphoning cash to his other businesses to cover his complete incompetence as a business man.

Wake up people!

Hey there,

I understand your frustration and skepticism about the club's financial situation. It is true that some other clubs with lower attendances are able to operate profitably, but there are many factors that can affect a club's financial viability beyond just ticket sales and attendance.

For example, there are many other expenses involved in running a football club, such as player salaries, staff wages, travel costs, maintenance of facilities, insurance, and taxes. These costs can add up quickly and make it difficult for even a well-attended club to turn a profit.

Additionally, the club may have other debts or financial obligations that are not immediately apparent. For example, if the club has taken out loans or has outstanding debts to suppliers, this can create significant financial pressure.

I think it's important to acknowledge that running a football club is a complex business, and it's not always easy to pinpoint the exact reasons for a club's financial struggles. However, I do agree that it's important for the club to be transparent and accountable about its finances, and for supporters to hold the club's leadership accountable as well.

Let's hope that the club can find a way to get back on track and operate sustainably in the long run. Up the Blues!

 

[lombard]

There are other various forms of income, dripping into the club.FL,TV,Pools,Sponsorship,bar/food monies.Dont let the idiot, Martin, hoodwink
you.What about the monies he and his family have taken out.Also,the amount he paid for
Roots Hall and the training ground were below the valuation !! He ring fenced his outlay easily from the off. As for the way the club is run,it is very poor.The staff not knowing if and when they will be paid, is beyond belief.Disgraceful.The sooner this sneak is deposed, the better.To then give an above average rise in season ticket prices, followed by an even earlier cut off point is beyond belief.Ill be surprised if Roots Hall obtains a safety certificate
for next season ! The facilities are very poor.We are being taken for a ride by SUFC.

 

[lombard]

Oh ! by the way, for those renewing their season ticket, pay by credit card.It ring fenced
your money if SUFC goes pop.

 

[kentblues]

How can the club be loss making if it was properly run? You can’t tell me that Boreham Wood, Gateshead, Bromley, Solihull, Dagenham, Woking, Eastleigh and many others in the football league (Colchester, Barrow, Harrogate, Hartlepool, Crawley, Morecambe) have rich benefactors putting in 3 times as much as dear old Ron?

All of those clubs and many others have turnover significantly less than ours. My local club Yeovil, get 3,000 if they are lucky and tickets are £15

If our attendance is 6,000 and tickets are £18 then our income just from ticket sales is (3,000 x 18 x 23) for the extra attendance and (6000 x 3 x 23) for the extra ticket cost. That’s an additional £1.6m revenue alone. Yes very rough maths I know, but there are plenty of clubs with lower attendances.

Ron reckons he makes up a shortfall of about £1m a year. So the only major difference in running costs should be salaries of playing staff. Do you really believe that our squad is paid £2.5m a year more than most other clubs in this division?

It’s utter bull****, the only reason we are in this mess is the fines, interest payments, poor cash flow management and the club being used as a way of siphoning cash to his other businesses to cover his complete incompetence as a business man.

Wake up people!

OK the club is in fact a cash cow, a magic money tree that enables Ron to syphon off cash into his other businesses. So obvious really...

The NL clubs you mention have owners putting money in - the average is about £1m for clubs in our league. Our shortfall is £2m a year.

Our average ticket price isn't £18. Under 6s pay £3, 6-17 year olds pay £8, over 60s £13, 17-22 year olds £13, other concessions (emergency services etc. £13). We may get in reality more like £1m more a year but the stadium costs £300k to keep open, our squad is too large and we are over budget, our overheads are still to high a typical legacy of having been in the EFL and still wanting to be an EFL club.

Unfortunately our last accounts were for the 2019 season. More generally its difficult to get accounts showing operating profit and loss for many lower division clubs. Net profit and loss is distorted by all sorts of things like player sales, stadium/asset sales. And owners putting in cash not as loans but as shareholder funds or other "sponsorship".

But lets take 2019.

In L1 most clubs lost money and interestingly there is little correlation between the clubs attendances and the size of the loss. Indeed if anything clubs with bigger attendances had bigger losses. We were 8th in the loss table.

https://i0.wp.com/priceoffootball.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/word-image-1.png?w=867&ssl=1

Now there were 4 clubs who made meaningful profits. Of course to what extent asset sales or player sales contributed or other "below the line" impacts is difficult to see.

But if we look at the Championship where more detailed accounts are available. We see 6 clubs made a profit

https://i0.wp.com/priceoffootball.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/word-image.png?w=992&ssl=1

But if we strip out the below the line stuff we see that only one club out of the entire division made a tiny profit- Rotherham (who probably also had amongst the smallest gates).

So nearly all football clubs lose money. And at NL level the typical club owner puts in £1m a year. Unfortunately at smaller club level the accounts are just not available/granular enough to work out why we are losing X or Y more than another club.

But we are losing money just like virtually every club in this wonderful industry. So the idea that somehow the club is so well run, a relative paragon of efficiency, that it is bucking all that and making loads of money for Ron to syphon off just does not fly.

But in SM whether something is true or not has no currency, all that maters is wanting to believe that its true. And if you want to believe its true there are always alternative facts that make it so...which means this argument will never end and like Groundhog Day it will go on..I doubt even up to date accounts will make the theory go away. Because the accounts wont be believed.

 

[Shrimper Brownie]

The sun could be shinning this afternoon

What does this mean Mr Cryptic

 

[kentblues]

The sun could be shinning this afternoon

Well it can't be the embargo being lifted because we have been told by much trusted posters on here that it wont be happening...so if not that what I wonder...

 

[Shrimper Brownie]

Well it can't be the embargo being lifted because we have been told by much trusted posters on here that it wont be happening...so if not that what I wonder...

Post now deleted... sick of this cryptic bs if theres nothing definite to say dont say it