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Post by Rio Doherty on Mar 21, 2019 20:48:34 GMT
I think some people need to remember that the £300,000 fundraising target isn’t just down to people donating via JustGiving, otherwise we would be here forever. Jim Green mentioned last night that various events are being looked at, such as another Former Players Vs Celebrities match and a special pre-season friendly, which would contribute a substantial amount towards our target.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2019 20:50:53 GMT
Makes no difference where it is, the cost is greatly reduced by the fact that the land costs nothing. Build it any where else near the city centre and then you double the cost.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2019 21:41:15 GMT
I think it’s fair to be concerned that not just sponsorship money but mainly fundraising efforts will be diverted away from the club. Just checked on the ‘Just Giving’ page hoping to see that there’d been lots of pledges with the publicity last nights meeting received, from the Chronicle today, various social media platforms today and the grand total is just over £400! It’s clear that the people of Chester don’t give a damn (& remember this only really benefits Blacon, for the rest of the city getting to Blacon either involves a car ride or 2 buses), as I’ve said before I think this is a good idea but genuine football supporters have been asked for money time & time again in difficult financial times and I fear that £300,000 is a huge amount of money to raise in 6-12 months, particularly as we have no marketing people working on this (if we have it begs the question why have they not been raising this money for the football club in previous years?) It doesn't only benefit Blacon. One of the partner clubs in the scheme is Upton JFC. Personally, I would rather that pledged supporters money be spent on this, the future of the club, rather than wasted on another winger.
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Post by sealking on Mar 21, 2019 22:12:42 GMT
There is no negatives to this whole project just hurdles to overcome. The first is raising the funds for the 300k which is achievable but will require a lot of work, time and everyone chipping in. It only needs to be done once and doesn't rely on the fans paying in after its done. There will be positives from this for the first team and the academy but it's a long term thing and time will show this hopefully
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Post by Si on Mar 22, 2019 10:33:53 GMT
I think some people need to remember that the £300,000 fundraising target isn’t just down to people donating via JustGiving, otherwise we would be here forever. Jim Green mentioned last night that various events are being looked at, such as another Former Players Vs Celebrities match and a special pre-season friendly, which would contribute a substantial amount towards our target. Wouldn't a bumper pre season match be key funds towards the playing budget for next season? I'm all for a special fundraising celebrity match, but if it's a proper friendly match against someone like Liverpool then that's vital first team funds. I do think it's important to separate the two things - we can't be giving reduced budgets for Bern and Jonno because we're allocating funds towards the new facility. Granted, the facility is more important in the long term but knowing how fickle the crowds are here if we turn into a struggling Conf North team because we've got no money then crowds will be down to 1200 and that creates a huge problem.
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Post by iandychesterfc on Mar 22, 2019 10:45:48 GMT
Just checked on the ‘Just Giving’ page hoping to see that there’d been lots of pledges with the publicity last nights meeting received, from the Chronicle today, various social media platforms today and the grand total is just over £400! It’s clear that the people of Chester don’t give a damn (& remember this only really benefits Blacon, for the rest of the city getting to Blacon either involves a car ride or 2 buses), as I’ve said before I think this is a good idea but genuine football supporters have been asked for money time & time again in difficult financial times and I fear that £300,000 is a huge amount of money to raise in 6-12 months, particularly as we have no marketing people working on this (if we have it begs the question why have they not been raising this money for the football club in previous years?) It doesn't only benefit Blacon. One of the partner clubs in the scheme is Upton JFC. Personally, I would rather that pledged supporters money be spent on this, the future of the club, rather than wasted on another winger. I hear what you are saying, but i have to agree with Si, diverting funds away from an already low budget is going to cause problems.
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Post by Frank Owen’s Paintbrush on Mar 22, 2019 10:49:44 GMT
Which is the why the Community Trust are taking this on, separate from the club, and looking at a myriad of fundraising and commercial options. I do think it’s fair enough that they also ask Chester supporters though.
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Post by devablue on Mar 22, 2019 10:57:48 GMT
Full video of the meeting Watched bits of that yesterday and I was surprised at the amount of negativity in the room. Some Chester fans are mind-boggling.
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Post by Charfield Blue on Mar 22, 2019 11:15:52 GMT
Full video of the meeting Watched bits of that yesterday and I was surprised at the amount of negativity in the room. Some Chester fans are mind-boggling. I thought that myself, but let's face it those people are probably amongst the most loyal the club has and maybe herein lies part of the problem. We have been very blinkered in terms of moving the club forward. We have an ageing fan base, some of who don't really grasp what's needed for CFC to survive and prosper moving forward. I hope that negativity and narrow mindedness towards this project doesn't dampen the enthusiasm of the likes of Jim, Callum and all those doing great work with the community trust and the academy. It's very binary just to think of this as a choice between £500K spent on the ground or £500K spent on this project. It's about so, so much more. An expanding community trust. An expanding academy. 100s of kids and adults per week passing through a sports facility that's reeks of Chester FC. Building that ongoing connection day in day out in a positive way. There's just so much to like about this. And do you know what? Aside from this, due to Stuarts generosity we will ALSO see development of our stadium and improved facilities. There are two areas of this club that have consistently made us all proud since day 1. Two areas that have improved year on year from very humble beginnings and through continued humble funding. If nothing else, the fact that these young people feel passionately that this is a positive thing for our club then that in itself would be good enough for me. Please don't piss on their bonfire! Enthuse them! Support them! And embrace their vision. We're lucky to have them.
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Post by jimgreen on Mar 22, 2019 11:33:57 GMT
We have worked really closely with the CFU board to ensure this project doesn't impact on the club's finances and will continue to do so. We fully understand the situation. The pre-season game will be in addition to those budgeted for.
The £300,000 target is substantial but we have a plan to help us achieve this. Broadly speaking, this includes donations (which we can claim an extra 25% on through Gift Aid), a crowdfunding campaign with rewards, fundraising events (including the pre-season fixture, summer raffle (again not in the club's budget) and legends game) and commercial activities, which we believe is an area of great potential. For example, one major local employer which only supports registered charities has donated £3,000 to the Community Trust - money which otherwise would never benefit the football club. We are confident there are many other businesses in Chester who will see the vast benefits this scheme will bring to the city and we hope to engage them to help us bring it to fruition.
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Post by glosblue on Mar 22, 2019 13:39:44 GMT
Firstly, a bit of context. I have been a supporter for c.50 years, and a season ticket holder for several decades. Secondly, I am responsible for a business that spends over £100m pa, a significant proportion of which is on infrastructure projects. The point of stating this is to reinforce that I have the best interests of the club at heart, and also that I know a bit about developing and delivering capital infrastructure schemes.
Building the community project announced this week is clearly a 'good thing', and I have the utmost respect for those involved in getting the project to this point. This post is therefore not meant to be negative or critical, but there are I think a few key questions all Chester supporters ought to be clear on before being entirely supportive of what's being proposed.
Specifically, it is not clear how the use of these scarce resources will pay back, in terms of hard financial benefits to the club. I get entirely that having a community hub that promotes us with the local population is desirable, in that it promotes our existence, and offers a base for club-related activities to take place. However, how will this deliver a financial return? I would be keen to understand:
- who owns the asset? - who is responsible for the running costs, and what are they expected to be? - what revenues will the asset generate? How is that worked out? - what proportion (if any) of that will go to the club? - if none (as seems to be the position), the financial benefit to us seems to be entirely any savings we'd get from using the facility at a cost less than what we pay elsewhere. How much is that, and how is that worked out?
I am nervous that the benefits in reality boil down to the anticipated effect of improved gates at home matches from users of the new facility who are somehow more minded to come down and pay to watch us play than they otherwise would be (and I'd be very interested to see those assumptions), plus savings on training costs. If that's really the case, I suspect the proposal would not pass any value for money assessments in a business case, and we should be spending those (very scarce) resources on another project that does give a better financial return. I do get, by the way, that the majority of the funding comes from othere sources (which in many cases we wouldn't be able to generate any other way). However, not all does, and certain activities will be diverted to fund raising for this project that in reality could in part create funds for the club to do other things.
To repeat - I am not being critical here. However, clear answers to the hard-nosed financial questions posed here would be very reassuring, and might also increase the developing level of enthusiasm amongst our supporters for the project. I really hope a solid case can be set out.
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Post by Charfield Blue on Mar 22, 2019 13:55:14 GMT
Not sure if you've watched the presentation glosblue? But that should answer some of your questions.
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Post by iandychesterfc on Mar 22, 2019 14:08:07 GMT
Firstly, a bit of context. I have been a supporter for c.50 years, and a season ticket holder for several decades. Secondly, I am responsible for a business that spends over £100m pa, a significant proportion of which is on infrastructure projects. The point of stating this is to reinforce that I have the best interests of the club at heart, and also that I know a bit about developing and delivering capital infrastructure schemes.
Building the community project announced this week is clearly a 'good thing', and I have the utmost respect for those involved in getting the project to this point. This post is therefore not meant to be negative or critical, but there are I think a few key questions all Chester supporters ought to be clear on before being entirely supportive of what's being proposed.
Specifically, it is not clear how the use of these scarce resources will pay back, in terms of hard financial benefits to the club. I get entirely that having a community hub that promotes us with the local population is desirable, in that it promotes our existence, and offers a base for club-related activities to take place. However, how will this deliver a financial return? I would be keen to understand:
- who owns the asset? - who is responsible for the running costs, and what are they expected to be? - what revenues will the asset generate? How is that worked out? - what proportion (if any) of that will go to the club? - if none (as seems to be the position), the financial benefit to us seems to be entirely any savings we'd get from using the facility at a cost less than what we pay elsewhere. How much is that, and how is that worked out?
I am nervous that the benefits in reality boil down to the anticipated effect of improved gates at home matches from users of the new facility who are somehow more minded to come down and pay to watch us play than they otherwise would be (and I'd be very interested to see those assumptions), plus savings on training costs. If that's really the case, I suspect the proposal would not pass any value for money assessments in a business case, and we should be spending those (very scarce) resources on another project that does give a better financial return. I do get, by the way, that the majority of the funding comes from othere sources (which in many cases we wouldn't be able to generate any other way). However, not all does, and certain activities will be diverted to fund raising for this project that in reality could in part create funds for the club to do other things.
To repeat - I am not being critical here. However, clear answers to the hard-nosed financial questions posed here would be very reassuring, and might also increase the developing level of enthusiasm amongst our supporters for the project. I really hope a solid case can be set out.
Just to be clear, this is completely separate from the club, so no club resources are funding it (SM £200k is supplementary to what promised CFC 2010 ltd) It follows from that - the cost of running and any profits remain with the CFC CT You are correct the only benefit to the club will be in savings costs and to the youth section regards having a permanent base As it is separate there is no need for it to pass the assessment you talk of. The issue identified is regards fundraising the £300k and how this will divert funds away from Chester FC 2010 ltd for obvious reasons. This is excellent for Blacon and the City and great for our image and potentially may have long term benefits.
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Post by superman on Mar 22, 2019 15:24:54 GMT
This success of this initiative is probably vital to ensure that the football club in the medium term moves forward on all fronts. However what is blindingly obvious is that many of our membership and wider fan base have limited resources to financially support both short and medium term aspirations. We already have dug deep to save the club. We are continuously encouraged to support fund raising for the 1st team. We have just this week been asked to provide short term support for the academy via the match v Stockport. Now we have this latest appeal. It is right that the members/fan base are encouraged to support the development but perhaps a more realistic fan contribution target (£50K ?) should have been indicated rather than the catch-all £300k. I suspect that despite reassurances to the contrary, corporate fund raising for this project will have a negative impact on corporate fund raising to support CFC. I hope I am wrong and that the new General Manager is a wizard at generating income for CFC and doesn’t get side tracked.
My other concern is what would happen if this initiative is unable to sustain itself financially longer term once up and running? What safeguards are being put in place? Not all community based initiatives are successful, indeed Blacon itself has in the past seen financial failure of a community initiative.
I wish the initiative every success and hope to be able to support it in some small financial way.
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Post by jimgreen on Mar 22, 2019 16:01:32 GMT
We have put together an FAQ on the website and will continue to add to this at www.kgvsportshub.co.uk/faq/. We understand there will be lots of questions and not all can be fully answered in a public forum at this point, however you are welcome to contact me at jim.green@chesterfc.com and I will be happy to discuss the project.
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Post by Churton Blue on Mar 22, 2019 20:22:00 GMT
Firstly, a bit of context. I have been a supporter for c.50 years, and a season ticket holder for several decades. Secondly, I am responsible for a business that spends over £100m pa, a significant proportion of which is on infrastructure projects. The point of stating this is to reinforce that I have the best interests of the club at heart, and also that I know a bit about developing and delivering capital infrastructure schemes.
Building the community project announced this week is clearly a 'good thing', and I have the utmost respect for those involved in getting the project to this point. This post is therefore not meant to be negative or critical, but there are I think a few key questions all Chester supporters ought to be clear on before being entirely supportive of what's being proposed.
Specifically, it is not clear how the use of these scarce resources will pay back, in terms of hard financial benefits to the club. I get entirely that having a community hub that promotes us with the local population is desirable, in that it promotes our existence, and offers a base for club-related activities to take place. However, how will this deliver a financial return? I would be keen to understand:
- who owns the asset? - who is responsible for the running costs, and what are they expected to be? - what revenues will the asset generate? How is that worked out? - what proportion (if any) of that will go to the club? - if none (as seems to be the position), the financial benefit to us seems to be entirely any savings we'd get from using the facility at a cost less than what we pay elsewhere. How much is that, and how is that worked out?
I am nervous that the benefits in reality boil down to the anticipated effect of improved gates at home matches from users of the new facility who are somehow more minded to come down and pay to watch us play than they otherwise would be (and I'd be very interested to see those assumptions), plus savings on training costs. If that's really the case, I suspect the proposal would not pass any value for money assessments in a business case, and we should be spending those (very scarce) resources on another project that does give a better financial return. I do get, by the way, that the majority of the funding comes from othere sources (which in many cases we wouldn't be able to generate any other way). However, not all does, and certain activities will be diverted to fund raising for this project that in reality could in part create funds for the club to do other things.
To repeat - I am not being critical here. However, clear answers to the hard-nosed financial questions posed here would be very reassuring, and might also increase the developing level of enthusiasm amongst our supporters for the project. I really hope a solid case can be set out.
Just to be clear, this is completely separate from the club, so no club resources are funding it (SM £200k is supplementary to what promised CFC 2010 ltd) It follows from that - the cost of running and any profits remain with the CFC CT You are correct the only benefit to the club will be in savings costs and to the youth section regards having a permanent baseAs it is separate there is no need for it to pass the assessment you talk of. The issue identified is regards fundraising the £300k and how this will divert funds away from Chester FC 2010 ltd for obvious reasons. This is excellent for Blacon and the City and great for our image and potentially may have long term benefits. It is estimated that between the club, academy and trust that £50k is being spent on hiring pitches etc. The academy is self funded through fund raising, the BTEC scheme and the generous support of Swetenhams. The sale of academy players Sam Hughes and Tom Crawford was worth £150k to the football club and when the club beat AFC Liverpool in the FA Cup the entire bench was made up of academy players plus Ewan Murray who started and scored as did Cain Noble a sub after 30 mins. The win was worth £9k to the club. Numerous first team appearances have been made by academy players this season. Anyone who was at the meeting will know how crucial the scheme is to the development of the academy for a myriad of reasons which have already been mentioned on this thread. The financial benefits to the football club as demonstrated above are significant. From 2020 the first team would have a daytime training facility available to them so are you sure saying this scheme would be of no benefit to the club is correct ? The fan base will only grow with greater engagement with the community and this will be done and is being done by the Chester FC Community Trust at no cost to the club. The clue is in the title. Many companies will only provide financial support to community projects and have no interest at all in being involved with football clubs per se or those that do not have a thriving community section. The project is a win win win for the Trust, community and club. I do understand some of the negative comments but there is a grave danger that the scheme is undermined before it gets off the ground. That would be devastating to many currently involved in running the club, academy and Trust all of whom are passionate about Chester FC and put a huge amount of time and effort in trying to make it succeed.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2019 20:37:06 GMT
Just to be clear, this is completely separate from the club, so no club resources are funding it (SM £200k is supplementary to what promised CFC 2010 ltd) It follows from that - the cost of running and any profits remain with the CFC CT You are correct the only benefit to the club will be in savings costs and to the youth section regards having a permanent baseAs it is separate there is no need for it to pass the assessment you talk of. The issue identified is regards fundraising the £300k and how this will divert funds away from Chester FC 2010 ltd for obvious reasons. This is excellent for Blacon and the City and great for our image and potentially may have long term benefits. It is estimated that between the club, academy and trust that £50k is being spent on hiring pitches etc. The academy is self funded through fund raising, the BTEC scheme and the generous support of Swetenhams. The sale of academy players Sam Hughes and Tom Crawford was worth £150k to the football club and when the club beat AFC Liverpool in the FA Cup the entire bench was made up of academy players plus Ewan Murray who started and scored as did Cain Noble a sub after 30 mins. The win was worth £9k to the club. Numerous first team appearances have been made by academy players this season. Anyone who was at the meeting will know how crucial the scheme is to the development of the academy for a myriad of reasons which have already been mentioned on this thread. The financial benefits to the football club as demonstrated above are significant. From 2020 the first team would have a daytime training facility available to them so are you sure saying this scheme would be of no benefit to the club is correct ? The fan base will only grow with greater engagement with the community and this will be done and is being done by the Chester FC Community Trust at no cost to the club. The clue is in the title. Many companies will only provide financial support to community projects and have no interest at all in being involved with football clubs per se or those that do not have a thriving community section. The project is a win win win for the Trust, community and club. I do understand some of the negative comments but there is a grave danger that the scheme is undermined before it gets off the ground. That would be devastating to many currently involved in running the club, academy and Trust all of whom are passionate about Chester FC and put a huge amount of time and effort in trying to make it succeed. Fantastic post.
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Post by Si on Mar 22, 2019 21:07:12 GMT
Just to be clear, this is completely separate from the club, so no club resources are funding it (SM £200k is supplementary to what promised CFC 2010 ltd) It follows from that - the cost of running and any profits remain with the CFC CT You are correct the only benefit to the club will be in savings costs and to the youth section regards having a permanent baseAs it is separate there is no need for it to pass the assessment you talk of. The issue identified is regards fundraising the £300k and how this will divert funds away from Chester FC 2010 ltd for obvious reasons. This is excellent for Blacon and the City and great for our image and potentially may have long term benefits. It is estimated that between the club, academy and trust that £50k is being spent on hiring pitches etc. The academy is self funded through fund raising, the BTEC scheme and the generous support of Swetenhams. The sale of academy players Sam Hughes and Tom Crawford was worth £150k to the football club and when the club beat AFC Liverpool in the FA Cup the entire bench was made up of academy players plus Ewan Murray who started and scored as did Cain Noble a sub after 30 mins. The win was worth £9k to the club. Numerous first team appearances have been made by academy players this season. Anyone who was at the meeting will know how crucial the scheme is to the development of the academy for a myriad of reasons which have already been mentioned on this thread. The financial benefits to the football club as demonstrated above are significant. From 2020 the first team would have a daytime training facility available to them so are you sure saying this scheme would be of no benefit to the club is correct ? The fan base will only grow with greater engagement with the community and this will be done and is being done by the Chester FC Community Trust at no cost to the club. The clue is in the title. Many companies will only provide financial support to community projects and have no interest at all in being involved with football clubs per se or those that do not have a thriving community section. The project is a win win win for the Trust, community and club. I do understand some of the negative comments but there is a grave danger that the scheme is undermined before it gets off the ground. That would be devastating to many currently involved in running the club, academy and Trust all of whom are passionate about Chester FC and put a huge amount of time and effort in trying to make it succeed. I don't see many negative comments, more like people have questions which is normal in the formative stages of sizable project. I don't think anyone is saying it shouldn't be done, more that people are trying to weigh up the financial benefits to the club as I think those who maybe don't live and breath Chester fc struggle to separate the football club and the community trust.
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Post by Churton Blue on Mar 22, 2019 23:48:57 GMT
It is estimated that between the club, academy and trust that £50k is being spent on hiring pitches etc. The academy is self funded through fund raising, the BTEC scheme and the generous support of Swetenhams. The sale of academy players Sam Hughes and Tom Crawford was worth £150k to the football club and when the club beat AFC Liverpool in the FA Cup the entire bench was made up of academy players plus Ewan Murray who started and scored as did Cain Noble a sub after 30 mins. The win was worth £9k to the club. Numerous first team appearances have been made by academy players this season. Anyone who was at the meeting will know how crucial the scheme is to the development of the academy for a myriad of reasons which have already been mentioned on this thread. The financial benefits to the football club as demonstrated above are significant. From 2020 the first team would have a daytime training facility available to them so are you sure saying this scheme would be of no benefit to the club is correct ? The fan base will only grow with greater engagement with the community and this will be done and is being done by the Chester FC Community Trust at no cost to the club. The clue is in the title. Many companies will only provide financial support to community projects and have no interest at all in being involved with football clubs per se or those that do not have a thriving community section. The project is a win win win for the Trust, community and club. I do understand some of the negative comments but there is a grave danger that the scheme is undermined before it gets off the ground. That would be devastating to many currently involved in running the club, academy and Trust all of whom are passionate about Chester FC and put a huge amount of time and effort in trying to make it succeed. I don't see many negative comments, more like people have questions which is normal in the formative stages of sizable project. I don't think anyone is saying it shouldn't be done, more that people are trying to weigh up the financial benefits to the club as I think those who maybe don't live and breath Chester fc struggle to separate the football club and the community trust. Firstly I have no desire to fall out with posters like yourself or iandy who I respect as very good contributors to this forum. I agree with your point about questions. But there are two very negative themes which have emerged on this thread. Namely that the scheme will divert funds from the club and secondly there will be no real benefit to the club from the project. Statements and assertions are being made that if not challenged will become facts which I respectfully suggest could undermine those who have totally the opposite point of view.
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Post by rcb on Mar 23, 2019 9:50:04 GMT
I can fully understand the scepticism of some, particularly those longer standing supporters. Unfortunately many announcements have been like electronic motorway signs which end up to be nothing. This particular proposal is seemingly for the exclusive benefit of the local community and, as a non resident, it is of little interest to me as long as it doesn’t impinge on the development of the football on offer at first team level. It seems to me that some posters are expressing fears that this may happen, which is surely a healthy situation, given the history of the club, and is not negative. Businesses don’t pay for security measures in the hope of catching thieves, rather they hope to prevent them. Good luck to the scheme, and let’s hope the people of Chester get behind it.
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Post by Churton Blue on Mar 23, 2019 10:37:43 GMT
I can fully understand the scepticism of some, particularly those longer standing supporters. Unfortunately many announcements have been like electronic motorway signs which end up to be nothing. This particular proposal is seemingly for the exclusive benefit of the local community and, as a non resident, it is of little interest to me as long as it doesn’t impinge on the development of the football on offer at first team level. It seems to me that some posters are expressing fears that this may happen, which is surely a healthy situation, given the history of the club, and is not negative. Businesses don’t pay for security measures in the hope of catching thieves, rather they hope to prevent them. Good luck to the scheme, and let’s hope the people of Chester get behind it. The two biggest sponsors the club has are MBNA and Swetenhams. Ask yourself the question why do they continue to support the club in the way they do ? Is it because they want to be associated with Mark Maguire or the managerial skills of John Macarthy and Marcus Bignot, or are they very impressed with the work of Jim Green and the Community Trust and the success of Calum McIntyre and the academy which has generated huge net income to the club over the last couple of years. Both MNBA and Swetenhams are enthusiastic supporters of this project. They fully understand the benefits this will bring to the club. Stuart Murphy is of the same view and has pledged £200k to the scheme. It would be nice if people had faith in their judgement rather than reaching swift conclusions to the contrary.
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Post by rcb on Mar 23, 2019 17:09:40 GMT
I can fully understand the scepticism of some, particularly those longer standing supporters. Unfortunately many announcements have been like electronic motorway signs which end up to be nothing. This particular proposal is seemingly for the exclusive benefit of the local community and, as a non resident, it is of little interest to me as long as it doesn’t impinge on the development of the football on offer at first team level. It seems to me that some posters are expressing fears that this may happen, which is surely a healthy situation, given the history of the club, and is not negative. Businesses don’t pay for security measures in the hope of catching thieves, rather they hope to prevent them. Good luck to the scheme, and let’s hope the people of Chester get behind it. The two biggest sponsors the club has are MBNA and Swetenhams. Ask yourself the question why do they continue to support the club in the way they do ? Is it because they want to be associated with Mark Maguire or the managerial skills of John Macarthy and Marcus Bignot, or are they very impressed with the work of Jim Green and the Community Trust and the success of Calum McIntyre and the academy which has generated huge net income to the club over the last couple of years. Both MNBA and Swetenhams are enthusiastic supporters of this project. They fully understand the benefits this will bring to the club. Stuart Murphy is of the same view and has pledged £200k to the scheme. It would be nice if people had faith in their judgement rather than reaching swift conclusions to the contrary. You express some points of interest, but I don’t understand why you wrote this as if it was a response to what I wrote. I see no association. You ask why the two excellent club sponsors continue to support the club (i.e. present tense) and then refer to Maguire, McCarthy, and Bignot. Don’t get the logic. By the way, who has reached any “swift conclusions to the contrary?”
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Post by MPW on Mar 23, 2019 18:02:16 GMT
I know we aren’t expected to raise the £300k via JustGiving, but I thought we’d raise more than £500 in the first few days.
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Post by Charfield Blue on Mar 24, 2019 10:33:25 GMT
The two biggest sponsors the club has are MBNA and Swetenhams. Ask yourself the question why do they continue to support the club in the way they do ? Is it because they want to be associated with Mark Maguire or the managerial skills of John Macarthy and Marcus Bignot, or are they very impressed with the work of Jim Green and the Community Trust and the success of Calum McIntyre and the academy which has generated huge net income to the club over the last couple of years. Both MNBA and Swetenhams are enthusiastic supporters of this project. They fully understand the benefits this will bring to the club. Stuart Murphy is of the same view and has pledged £200k to the scheme. It would be nice if people had faith in their judgement rather than reaching swift conclusions to the contrary. You express some points of interest, but I don’t understand why you wrote this as if it was a response to what I wrote. I see no association. You ask why the two excellent club sponsors continue to support the club (i.e. present tense) and then refer to Maguire, McCarthy, and Bignot. Don’t get the logic. By the way, who has reached any “swift conclusions to the contrary?” To me the logic is quite clear. It's the fan owned community focused club aspect that appeals to these sponsors. We are a club looking to promote our work in the community and the development of youth. This is what makes us attractive. This project looks to further develop both of these aspects, allowing us to expand the academy and have a presence at the very heart of the community that will reach far greater a number of people on a weekly basis. I can't say I'm surprised that some people haven't truly grasped how this concept will have clear long term benefits to the club itself, however I am surprised and frustrated by the number of people. I hope that they will slowly get their head around the long term potential here and not just think the answer to all our problems is a new bar and the occasional gazebo in the city centre. We are so lucky to be in a position, due to Stuart's money, that we can develop, to a certain degree, facilities at the ground. But the other key is to develop our profile, visibility and our net worth to the community to be able to attract new people and new sponsors, on a regular basis, down to the bottom of an industrial estate. This project helps immensely with that.....and do you know what 85% of the money needed is there on a plate for us.
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Post by rcb on Mar 24, 2019 13:02:08 GMT
You express some points of interest, but I don’t understand why you wrote this as if it was a response to what I wrote. I see no association. You ask why the two excellent club sponsors continue to support the club (i.e. present tense) and then refer to Maguire, McCarthy, and Bignot. Don’t get the logic. By the way, who has reached any “swift conclusions to the contrary?” To me the logic is quite clear. It's the fan owned community focused club aspect that appeals to these sponsors. We are a club looking to promote our work in the community and the development of youth. This is what makes us attractive. This project looks to further develop both of these aspects, allowing us to expand the academy and have a presence at the very heart of the community that will reach far greater a number of people on a weekly basis. I can't say I'm surprised that some people haven't truly grasped how this concept will have clear long term benefits to the club itself, however I am surprised and frustrated by the number of people. I hope that they will slowly get their head around the long term potential here and not just think the answer to all our problems is a new bar and the occasional gazebo in the city centre. We are so lucky to be in a position, due to Stuart's money, that we can develop, to a certain degree, facilities at the ground. But the other key is to develop our profile, visibility and our net worth to the community to be able to attract new people and new sponsors, on a regular basis, down to the bottom of an industrial estate. This project helps immensely with that.....and do you know what 85% of the money needed is there on a plate for us. I fully appreciate what you say, and commend your enthusiasm for what you say. However, the logic of why you chose to attach your issues as a response to my initial comment remains as clear as mud to me, as does your reference to past employees. I’ll leave the reasons for continued sponsorship up to the two sponsors themselves rather than trust on your speculation if you don’t mind. Regardless, let’s hope that this project brings in a new generation of local fans.
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Post by Charfield Blue on Mar 24, 2019 16:22:00 GMT
Hi RCB.
The reason Churton Blue and then myself (Charfield Blue) chose to reference your post was due to the fact that you stated your belief is that the project will only benefit the local community. By this I assume you do not believe it will benefit CFC? Hence we've tried to explain how we believe it would benefit CFC.
I can't speak for Churton Blue, but to me it is clear that his reference to past employees was to demonstrate that these sponsors are not supporting us purely due to a hope that these various first team managers will bring first team success, indeed not at all primarily related to first team success, but because they want to be associated with a club that has the development of youth and the community at it's heart. It's these, very positive, values that they want their brand associated with.
Does this help?
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Post by rcb on Mar 24, 2019 17:25:26 GMT
Hi RCB. The reason Churton Blue and then myself (Charfield Blue) chose to reference your post was due to the fact that you stated your belief is that the project will only benefit the local community. By this I assume you do not believe it will benefit CFC? Hence we've tried to explain how we believe it would benefit CFC. I can't speak for Churton Blue, but to me it is clear that his reference to past employees was to demonstrate that these sponsors are not supporting us purely due to a hope that these various first team managers will bring first team success, indeed not at all primarily related to first team success, but because they want to be associated with a club that has the development of youth and the community at it's heart. It's these, very positive, values that they want their brand associated with. Does this help? Regardless of whether I think there is association or not between our posts, at least it has resulted in exposure for this initiative, and demonstrates your positive views on the proposals. I do indeed think this is an initiative exclusively for the local community, and in such regard the association with CFC should encourage more local interest, so your assumption that I do not believe it will be of benefit to CFC is unfounded. i have long held the view that there is insufficient support and appreciation from the local community towards the club, so this should help. Where are the missing 3,500 from that day against Northwich? Thank you for your interesting input. The club only has a future if there is young local support, and reliance on either non-locals, elderly fans, or both is not the way forward.
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Post by Charfield Blue on Mar 24, 2019 18:11:48 GMT
Nice one RCB. Really refreshing to have a good debate with someone on a forum. Debate is good. None of us have the answers, but we ALL have the best interests. Up The Seals.
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Post by iandychesterfc on Mar 25, 2019 13:26:32 GMT
Of course we can see the potential for a facility like this and how having the CT branding may assist in encouraging people through the gate but in terms of funding it, theres only a limited pot from the same fans and the same businesses and so this £300k must divert funds from Chester FC 2010 Ltd. It seems clear and obvious this will happen.
The fact this MAY be beneficial in the long term doesnt change that.
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Post by Churton Blue on Mar 25, 2019 14:17:15 GMT
Hi RCB. The reason Churton Blue and then myself (Charfield Blue) chose to reference your post was due to the fact that you stated your belief is that the project will only benefit the local community. By this I assume you do not believe it will benefit CFC? Hence we've tried to explain how we believe it would benefit CFC. I can't speak for Churton Blue, but to me it is clear that his reference to past employees was to demonstrate that these sponsors are not supporting us purely due to a hope that these various first team managers will bring first team success, indeed not at all primarily related to first team success, but because they want to be associated with a club that has the development of youth and the community at it's heart. It's these, very positive, values that they want their brand associated with. Does this help? Thank you Charfield Blue. You are 100% correct in what I was trying to demonstrate.
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