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Post by banksy on Jan 24, 2018 0:44:14 GMT
...what is your suggestion?
8 years ago, the club needed money to get itself off the ground and give us a chance of fighting back. You all stepped up to the plate and delivered. 2800 people at our first home league game was simply unbelievable.
We can see where the club is heading right now, that's there for all to see.
The club needs money. Now we also know there is no white knight out there waiting to come and save the day. There are more likely to be vultures waiting out there to try and benefit from a club suddenly struggling to make ends meet. Do we want those vultures to suddenly rip the club apart once again like last time?
The stark reality is that we as fans need to put some real plans together. It's our club. It's your club. We are the guardians of it, so let's help it rather than hammer it into the ground.
One of my reasons for getting involved 8 years ago is that I couldn't stand back and see our club die (forget what those over the border sing. They haven't got a clue what we went through). We had to come up with a plan, and we did. The owner at the time had one motivation, to drag it down and kill it. He certainly dragged it down but did he kill it? No. It was the start of a new chapter.
Now, we're at a point where we all need to come together again, like it or not, the club needs money and our help. There are various ways in which money can be raised to get this fantastic proud club back off its knees again.
We all love following the Blues. We go through life feeling frustrated, happy, annoyed, delirious, cheesed off, passionate, fed up, nervous .. The list goes on but we all come back for more because we are Chester fans simple as that, we all bleed blue and white.
So it's up to us as fans and guardians, to do what's best for our club. We're all supporters, so let's go the extra mile and support it right now.
It doesn't take a genius to see that attendances are the main reason for lack of income at the club. Players are being offloaded as we don't have the money to keep them on.
Who wants to give in, not bother any more, and just say call it quits? If you fall in that category, then what was the point of doing what we did 8 years ago?
Remember how it felt when the fans rallied together. We changed things for the better, everyone enjoyed the experience so so much.
We can help the club, so the challenge is how can you raise money for your club?
Sorry for the war and peace email, but that's clearly where we are right now. Ask yourself, what's the alternative? For me it doesn't bear thinking about.
Thursday night's CFU meeting at the club is a chance for the board to tell everyone how it is right now, be as transparent as possible and have a clear idea of what we need to do to put things right. We need to leave that meeting with more actions than words..
Jeff
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Post by Cestrian For Life on Jan 24, 2018 6:49:40 GMT
Agree with this Jeff. I just wish it was our Chairman and Board who were stepping up to the plate and we had a proper LEADER at the helm. The silence is deafening from them.
Thursday will show properly if that leader does actually lie within our current Board or whether somebody else needs to step up.
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Post by Cestrian1987 on Jan 24, 2018 7:15:19 GMT
...what is your suggestion? 8 years ago, the club needed money to get itself off the ground and give us a chance of fighting back. You all stepped up to the plate and delivered. 2800 people at our first home league game was simply unbelievable. We can see where the club is heading right now, that's there for all to see. The club needs money. Now we also know there is no white knight out there waiting to come and save the day. There are more likely to be vultures waiting out there to try and benefit from a club suddenly struggling to make ends meet. Do we want those vultures to suddenly rip the club apart once again like last time? The stark reality is that we as fans need to put some real plans together. It's our club. It's your club. We are the guardians of it, so let's help it rather than hammer it into the ground. One of my reasons for getting involved 8 years ago is that I couldn't stand back and see our club die (forget what those over the border sing. They haven't got a clue what we went through). We had to come up with a plan, and we did. The owner at the time had one motivation, to drag it down and kill it. He certainly dragged it down but did he kill it? No. It was the start of a new chapter. Now, we're at a point where we all need to come together again, like it or not, the club needs money and our help. There are various ways in which money can be raised to get this fantastic proud club back off its knees again. We all love following the Blues. We go through life feeling frustrated, happy, annoyed, delirious, cheesed off, passionate, fed up, nervous .. The list goes on but we all come back for more because we are Chester fans simple as that, we all bleed blue and white. So it's up to us as fans and guardians, to do what's best for our club. We're all supporters, so let's go the extra mile and support it right now. It doesn't take a genius to see that attendances are the main reason for lack of income at the club. Players are being offloaded as we don't have the money to keep them on. Who wants to give in, not bother any more, and just say call it quits? If you fall in that category, then what was the point of doing what we did 8 years ago? Remember how it felt when the fans rallied together. We changed things for the better, everyone enjoyed the experience so so much. We can help the club, so the challenge is how can you raise money for your club? Sorry for the war and peace email, but that's clearly where we are right now. Ask yourself, what's the alternative? For me it doesn't bear thinking about. Thursday night's CFU meeting at the club is a chance for the board to tell everyone how it is right now, be as transparent as possible and have a clear idea of what we need to do to put things right. We need to leave that meeting with more actions than words.. Jeff Pin this thread. Really good post. 👏👏 Staying away is making things worse |
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Post by eyeswideopen on Jan 24, 2018 7:18:00 GMT
Great rallying call Jeff and I wholeheartedly agree with you.
The problem I think we may have this time around is apathy.
Last time we were dragged down by the Vaughans, we were angry and we fought back.
This time we have been dragged down and badly let down by our own.
The appointment of Tony Allen, still stinks and still rankles with a lot of us.
The appointment of Mark Maguire is still to be explained as to how this has been a sound business case.
The "warchest" of £100k or so, has apparently gone, without any explanation or reporting back as to how it has been spent.
The Sam Hughes money has gone on contracts for players which even Kris Kamara would find unbelievable.
And its not just the hard finances, the other stuff too, communication from the board, offers of help either not listened to, or have been simply ignored.
People dropping out of the CFU because of an "inner circle" of fans who simply have ostracized themselves from the common man.
Its all very well, digging deep again as a protective measure, but we need preventative measures in place too.
This current board and the CEO have let every Chester fan down massively, there needs to be resignations and sweeping changes before I dig deep again.
To quote yourself
Thursday night's CFU meeting at the club is a chance for the board to tell everyone how it is right now, be as transparent as possible and have a clear idea of what we need to do to put things right. We need to leave that meeting with more actions than words..
For me, Thursday nights meeting is a chance for everyone to tell the board how it is right now and you are quite right with leaving the meeting with more actions than words.
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Post by frankiecavani on Jan 24, 2018 7:38:36 GMT
...what is your suggestion? 8 years ago, the club needed money to get itself off the ground and give us a chance of fighting back. You all stepped up to the plate and delivered. 2800 people at our first home league game was simply unbelievable. We can see where the club is heading right now, that's there for all to see. The club needs money. Now we also know there is no white knight out there waiting to come and save the day. There are more likely to be vultures waiting out there to try and benefit from a club suddenly struggling to make ends meet. Do we want those vultures to suddenly rip the club apart once again like last time? The stark reality is that we as fans need to put some real plans together. It's our club. It's your club. We are the guardians of it, so let's help it rather than hammer it into the ground. One of my reasons for getting involved 8 years ago is that I couldn't stand back and see our club die (forget what those over the border sing. They haven't got a clue what we went through). We had to come up with a plan, and we did. The owner at the time had one motivation, to drag it down and kill it. He certainly dragged it down but did he kill it? No. It was the start of a new chapter. Now, we're at a point where we all need to come together again, like it or not, the club needs money and our help. There are various ways in which money can be raised to get this fantastic proud club back off its knees again. We all love following the Blues. We go through life feeling frustrated, happy, annoyed, delirious, cheesed off, passionate, fed up, nervous .. The list goes on but we all come back for more because we are Chester fans simple as that, we all bleed blue and white. So it's up to us as fans and guardians, to do what's best for our club. We're all supporters, so let's go the extra mile and support it right now. It doesn't take a genius to see that attendances are the main reason for lack of income at the club. Players are being offloaded as we don't have the money to keep them on. Who wants to give in, not bother any more, and just say call it quits? If you fall in that category, then what was the point of doing what we did 8 years ago? Remember how it felt when the fans rallied together. We changed things for the better, everyone enjoyed the experience so so much. We can help the club, so the challenge is how can you raise money for your club? Sorry for the war and peace email, but that's clearly where we are right now. Ask yourself, what's the alternative? For me it doesn't bear thinking about. Thursday night's CFU meeting at the club is a chance for the board to tell everyone how it is right now, be as transparent as possible and have a clear idea of what we need to do to put things right. We need to leave that meeting with more actions than words.. Jeff Why don’t you sell one of your works of art and donate the money to the club? Always thought you were from Bristol, good to have you onboard Banksy! |
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Post by cooperman on Jan 24, 2018 7:44:16 GMT
i emailed mm on the 2nd of jan asking if he needed any help with selling anything for the club, he emailed back and said definitely. we met on the 4th of jan, discussed a few things . i told him i wanted to join the 100 club, as well as selling and bringing some much needed funds in to the club. despite me calling the club a week later because he hadnt contacted me and leaving a message for him, he never got back to me !!! says it all really
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Post by eltonblues on Jan 24, 2018 7:57:39 GMT
i emailed mm on the 2nd of jan asking if he needed any help with selling anything for the club, he emailed back and said definitely. we met on the 4th of jan, discussed a few things . i told him i wanted to join the 100 club, as well as selling and bringing some much needed funds in to the club. despite me calling the club a week later because he hadnt contacted me and leaving a message for him, he never got back to me !!! says it all really And I think this sums up the running of the club at this moment in time, not even a holding message to say that he is busy and will be in touch. |
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Post by Frank Owen’s Paintbrush on Jan 24, 2018 8:07:30 GMT
Quite simply, a board that are actually fit to run the club.
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Post by iandychesterfc on Jan 24, 2018 8:54:23 GMT
Would Cheshire Police let us give Tranmere 1800 tickets?
They are more likely to sell them that we are. Swallow pride and take the money. Desperate times
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Post by banksy on Jan 24, 2018 9:09:07 GMT
Quite simply, a board that are actually fit to run the club. Whoever is on the board is a different debate. Same faces or new faces, the message is going to be the same, hence my original question. |
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Post by shango on Jan 24, 2018 9:14:29 GMT
Didnt the club have the biggest budget since reforming for this season?
It's spending what we have wisely on and off the field that concern's a lot of people it seem's.
Our biggest budget peed down the drain.I guess that blame has to lie with the board,mm and jm.And who i their right mind would keep throwing money at them??
I know that doesnt answer you question Banksy but faith in any board and trusting them to use our money wisely is a big issue.
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Post by Al on Jan 24, 2018 9:19:01 GMT
Quite simply, a board that are actually fit to run the club. Whoever is on the board is a different debate. Same faces or new faces, the message is going to be the same, hence my original question. The question should still be the same yes. But then again, the current board don't have a great record do they. What with initiatives failing to materialise etc. It needs 100% transparency tomorrow night, if they can't or won't provide cold hard facts and figures then they may as well step down. People can waffle on and hide poor performance behind big buzzwords (I work in a very large blue chip organisation and come across examples of this on a daily basis). You can't hide behind the numbers |
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Post by banksy on Jan 24, 2018 9:30:24 GMT
Whoever is on the board is a different debate. Same faces or new faces, the message is going to be the same, hence my original question. The question should still be the same yes. But then again, the current board don't have a great record do they. What with initiatives failing to materialise etc. It needs 100% transparency tomorrow night, if they can't or won't provide cold hard facts and figures then they may as well step down. People can waffle on and hide poor performance behind big buzzwords (I work in a very large blue chip organisation and come across examples of this on a daily basis). You can't hide behind the numbers Yes it does require that level of transparency. It also requires level heads in there tomorrow night too to find a way forward. |
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Post by Al on Jan 24, 2018 9:34:54 GMT
The question should still be the same yes. But then again, the current board don't have a great record do they. What with initiatives failing to materialise etc. It needs 100% transparency tomorrow night, if they can't or won't provide cold hard facts and figures then they may as well step down. People can waffle on and hide poor performance behind big buzzwords (I work in a very large blue chip organisation and come across examples of this on a daily basis). You can't hide behind the numbers Yes it does require that level of transparency. It also requires level heads in there tomorrow night too to find a way forward. Firm but fair I think is the correct terminology. |
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Post by Captain Duff on Jan 24, 2018 9:43:42 GMT
A re-established fundraising committee allowed to fundraise is absolutely key. That committee could also be allowed to communicate via all media channels in their own name (as like it or not the current board are discredited in the eyes of many), and regular updates of the amount raised (and progress towards a target) put out (a few decent graphics for this would be easy and have wide appeal too), I would imagine the Chronicle could then even be persuaded to have a weekly appeal target and news of initiatives in their CFC columns, and this in turn could link with increased local business support where those businesses will get the publicity they deserve.
None of this is hard, but it means the current board letting go and delegating to those who are willing to do what should have been getting done long ago. There is still massive goodwill that can be tapped I believe if there is honesty about our financial plight and that we have a plan to deal with it.
Marcus is in an impossible position, any manager would be given the apparent desperate financial situation, but this season is not over yet, we can survive and we can rebuild, as Jeff says we need to rekindle the enthusiasm and unity, and we can do so but only if the board do the right thing.
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Post by Al on Jan 24, 2018 9:55:09 GMT
A re-established fundraising committee allowed to fundraise is absolutely key. That committee could also be allowed to communicate via all media channels in their own name (as like it or not the current board are discredited in the eyes of many), and regular updates of the amount raised (and progress towards a target) put out (a few decent graphics for this would be easy and have wide appeal too), I would imagine the Chronicle could then even be persuaded to have a weekly appeal target and news of initiatives in their CFC columns, and this in turn could link with increased local business support where those businesses will get the publicity they deserve. None of this is hard, but it means the current board letting go and delegating to those who are willing to do what should have been getting done long ago. There is still massive goodwill that can be tapped I believe if there is honesty about our financial plight and that we have a plan to deal with it. Marcus is in an impossible position, any manager would be given the apparent desperate financial situation, but this season is not over yet, we can survive and we can rebuild, as Jeff says we need to rekindle the enthusiasm and unity, and we can do so but only if the board do the right thing. Well said. Enthusiasm is waning badly out there, even amongst the hardcore. Acknowledgement from the board to all our supporters and fans be them the guys who stopped going over the past 3-4 years needs to be done and the best way to do that is to make a public apology. Board statement, make it clear what the problem is, why it happened, and apologise for being responsible for it. Its an unprecedented and bold move doing that, but in my opinion it is what is needed at this moment in time. No more politics, just be open and honest |
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Post by gezzer on Jan 24, 2018 9:59:07 GMT
As usual, a perfectly reasonable request from OP for ideas on raising money, 11 replies all going over the same old, same old not one single suggestion!!
There may be suggestions which are more medium term which, if rumours turn out to be true, may be too late. I am sure that we can start now with "quick wins" to start the money coming in.
A quick win would be to go over posts over the last couple of days where it is claimed posters have approached the club with offers of help, contact them and get the ball rolling eg Blacon Blues re sponsorship of Gary Roberts.
Bin Bignots fund as he splits the fan base which will deter some and start a "Staying Alive" fund
Use Senior Blues expertise to see if they can help
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2018 10:07:09 GMT
A re-established fundraising committee allowed to fundraise is absolutely key. That committee could also be allowed to communicate via all media channels in their own name (as like it or not the current board are discredited in the eyes of many), and regular updates of the amount raised (and progress towards a target) put out (a few decent graphics for this would be easy and have wide appeal too), I would imagine the Chronicle could then even be persuaded to have a weekly appeal target and news of initiatives in their CFC columns, and this in turn could link with increased local business support where those businesses will get the publicity they deserve. None of this is hard, but it means the current board letting go and delegating to those who are willing to do what should have been getting done long ago. There is still massive goodwill that can be tapped I believe if there is honesty about our financial plight and that we have a plan to deal with it. Marcus is in an impossible position, any manager would be given the apparent desperate financial situation, but this season is not over yet, we can survive and we can rebuild, as Jeff says we need to rekindle the enthusiasm and unity, and we can do so but only if the board do the right thing. Well said. Enthusiasm is waning badly out there, even amongst the hardcore. Acknowledgement from the board to all our supporters and fans be them the guys who stopped going over the past 3-4 years needs to be done and the best way to do that is to make a public apology. Board statement, make it clear what the problem is, why it happened, and apologise for being responsible for it. Its an unprecedented and bold move doing that, but in my opinion it is what is needed at this moment in time. No more politics, just be open and honest Dead right Al There's no shame in standing up and saying "Sorry folks we've got it wrong" PROVIDING a plan is put in place to fix the problems. |
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Post by Al on Jan 24, 2018 10:07:38 GMT
As usual, a perfectly reasonable request from OP for ideas on raising money, 11 replies all going over the same old, same old not one single suggestion!! There may be suggestions which are more medium term which, if rumours turn out to be true, may be too late. I am sure that we can start now with "quick wins" to start the money coming in. A quick win would be to go over posts over the last couple of days where it is claimed posters have approached the club with offers of help, contact them and get the ball rolling eg Blacon Blues re sponsorship of Gary Roberts. Bin Bignots fund as he splits the fan base which will deter some and start a "Staying Alive" fund Use Senior Blues expertise to see if they can help Not one single suggestion? Can you not read??? |
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Post by gezzer on Jan 24, 2018 10:14:15 GMT
As usual, a perfectly reasonable request from OP for ideas on raising money, 11 replies all going over the same old, same old not one single suggestion!! There may be suggestions which are more medium term which, if rumours turn out to be true, may be too late. I am sure that we can start now with "quick wins" to start the money coming in. A quick win would be to go over posts over the last couple of days where it is claimed posters have approached the club with offers of help, contact them and get the ball rolling eg Blacon Blues re sponsorship of Gary Roberts. Bin Bignots fund as he splits the fan base which will deter some and start a "Staying Alive" fund Use Senior Blues expertise to see if they can help Not one single suggestion? Can you not read??? Once again you try your condescending bully boy tactics. So the board gives us transparency or resign? the money will come in? Setting up a fundraising committee? you have advocated this for ages and done nothing about it - do you need the boards approval for this? I read perfectly well - please direct me to any idea that will bring money in from tomorrow!!!!!! (Yes I can also use exclamation marks) |
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Post by superman on Jan 24, 2018 10:16:18 GMT
Jeff has again shown his passion, I salute you. As he alluded to there is only one way in which our immediate finances can be improved and that is to get 2800 paying customers into the Deva for every home game between now and the end of the season. We have about 1000 season ticket holders who have already coughed up. Giving free tickets to kids out is laudable and should be done at every game. The issue then is how do you attract an additional 1300 over and above those currently attending. In the short term it is unlikely to be from performances on the pitch. Therefore you are left with trying ticketing initiatives e.g. £10 to sit stand anywhere. £50 to attend all remaining home games. This would need very aggressive marketing and could be coupled with downloadable vouchers from the website. Down load your voucher and turn up with a tenner. Back this up with a rallying cry from a leader or two, and get everyone jumping. In my opinion that needs a figure head Chairman whos only role is to bang the drum and a figure head manager who the fans can identify with.
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Post by chesterken on Jan 24, 2018 10:39:23 GMT
I have just read an article in the Hartlepool mail about the game and one paragraph read, it must not be forgotten that while Pools have massive financial concerns the blues are hanging over the edge of a cash-crisis cliff, put simply they don’t have the money to see the season out. We could be saying exactly the same about the Pools in the next few days should nothing on the takeover materialise. I take it the blues reference is referring to us.
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Post by Imperial on Jan 24, 2018 10:44:28 GMT
Do we even need to bother with a voucher? Just make it a tenner anywhere in the ground for the rest of the season & advertise it everywhere.
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Post by superman on Jan 24, 2018 11:15:19 GMT
Agree voucher not a necessity, but people love vouchers and offers and it gives an additional vehicle to advertise our need, get it printed in the press, get it on the web site, email it out. Back it up with Your Club Needs You Now themed campaign headed up by a figurehead personality, any ideas who this should be?
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Post by The Angry Agenda on Jan 24, 2018 11:27:28 GMT
We've gone over all this, more than once and there's plenty of suggestions on the old Deva Chat of what the club can do to generate money, but all those ideas, suggestions have never
been acted on or simply ignored. Golf days, Yearly auctions of items, Guest speaker nights in the Blues bar etc... all good ideas that can generate income but not really acted upon, or
if they are it's for a small amount of time and then it dies out.
The problems with fans owning a club are that they are not a bottomless pit, and the majority of fans are people who work all week and most of their money goes on things like paying the bills and looking after the family etc... Stick on top of that what we all actually pay to watch the club, join the CFU, and you can't keep expecting fans to donate to this and donate to that, without seeing anything back in return - you've got more chance of getting £20 off someone for a night in the blues bar listening to Graham Barrow, Eddie Bishop etc, than you have of someone sticking £10 into the squadbuilder box, the minute he walks into the stadium.
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mike
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Post by mike on Jan 24, 2018 11:31:59 GMT
As usual, a perfectly reasonable request from OP for ideas on raising money, 11 replies all going over the same old, same old not one single suggestion!! There may be suggestions which are more medium term which, if rumours turn out to be true, may be too late. I am sure that we can start now with "quick wins" to start the money coming in. A quick win would be to go over posts over the last couple of days where it is claimed posters have approached the club with offers of help, contact them and get the ball rolling eg Blacon Blues re sponsorship of Gary Roberts. Bin Bignots fund as he splits the fan base which will deter some and start a "Staying Alive" fund Use Senior Blues expertise to see if they can help Gary Roberts sponsorship has already been sorted, I understand. |
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Post by dmcnally on Jan 24, 2018 11:39:00 GMT
...then get rid of your assets, it seems.
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Post by alancfc on Jan 24, 2018 11:45:10 GMT
...then get rid of your assets, it seems. MM was not an asset. He was a liability from everything I've heard, never getting back to peoples enquires, email's, some sponsors are apparently unhappy. 100 club thats never launched, James Alabi, its been 6 months at least since he moved, yet nothing?! He's been fired, surely no-one truly believes the 'redundancy' bollocks. |
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Post by gezzer on Jan 24, 2018 12:01:30 GMT
...then get rid of your assets, it seems. MM was not an asset. He was a liability from everything I've heard, never getting back to peoples enquires, email's, some sponsors are apparently unhappy. 100 club thats never launched, James Alabi, its been 6 months at least since he moved, yet nothing?! He's been fired, surely no-one truly believes the 'redundancy' bollocks. That's the problem. Everything is hearsay with this club, never any proper communication. Now MM has gone, no communication at all. Never mind we now (or some time in the future) have Working parties of volunteers who will respond to every query and negotiate NL busting deals so I've heard |
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Post by agl on Jan 24, 2018 13:23:30 GMT
Trying to get the thread back on track, it's about time we organised a proper auction of experiences. It's a no brainer as it doesn't cost much to arrange and there are some potentially good returns. Here's a few suggestions...Adult mascot for the day, a place on the team coach, named in the squad (non playing) and get to sit on the bench for a day, travel with the team.
Also think we should be writing to every ex player who has gone on to better things - Hughes, Jon Walters, Sarc, Heneghan - to see if they will help in any way.
I've also suggested in the past a will writing service = some sort of link up with solicitors who will do a will for a reduced rate, with the hope/proviso that a bequest is made to Chester FC. It's one of those ones that if handled sensitively might just reap a biggie some day.
I'd also suggest raising the cost of CFU membership - Lewes near where I live is fans owned and charge £30. Or at least levy a one off payment to get us out of this mess (make it optional by all means but get someone on the phones to every CFU member)
Agree that we need a proper fund raising committee and we need to look beyond just relying on the fans.
I do think it's time for a board shake up - heard nothing from the chairman or vice chairman. Hopefully some of the old guard may be up for a return but there needs to be a look at sharing the load better - you csan't expect people to give up half their lives, much as they care for the club.
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