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Post by bluboy79 on Apr 26, 2017 22:49:32 GMT
Last night Darlington had a fans forum at which the board said they had offers of external investment, these offers are being looked at with a view to presenting to the fanbase.
A board spokesperson states that they will make an £85000 loss this season and are struggling to compete in the Conference North despite a crowd average of 1,739 this season ! He goes on to say they can only afford a lower third playing budget and are punching above their weight currently, many fans are considering whether fans ownership is a realistic long term option.
Recently Telford sold the majority shareholding of the club to outside investors as they hit the same problems as Darlington have - these are the same problems we have as well !
I love the romantic idea of the fans running the club but also can see us hitting the buffers financially in the future. Crowds and income will naturally drop unless club can somehow find the money to compete at the top end of table.
My conclusions are whichever model we have , in the end we will find ourselves struggling financially !
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Post by Dmp83 on Apr 27, 2017 9:37:25 GMT
There is a solution to our cash flow problems . We need to sell the brand Chester fc more .. not just about getting fans through the turnstiles , we need to maximise on anything that will make the club profit or a % of profit ..its ok saying there's ideas in the pipeline it is actually putting them into practice . Learn from past mistakes as there has been loss of revenue on the merchandise..just need to look at afc Wimbledon or Portsmouth models as they are both fan owned .
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Post by Superman on Apr 27, 2017 9:56:12 GMT
In comparison despite a constant churn in board membership we seem over the years since reformation, taken as a whole, to have managed our affairs pretty well. To be financially stable and remain in the Conference National, albeit not without a struggle most years, is a real achievement for a club of our resources. It is clear that the real challenge is how we continue to be sustainable in an ever more competitive league. Any additional income that the CEO can generate might just give the football management team, whoever that might be, a fighting chance to put together a squad capable of mid table consistency, sustainable throughout the whole season. Beyond that, unless we get a major cup run which generates a one off bonus, I find it difficult to imagine how the current model will ever result in a return of league status. On balance I continue to be a strong supporter of fan ownership, even if that is for the purely selfish reason of feeling like I own the club, or a little bit of it anyway!!
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Post by Hannibal on Apr 27, 2017 10:01:52 GMT
Darlington have used a significant amount of their income bringing Blackwell Meadows up to standard for Conference North. Having said that, unless we can increase our playing budget by at least 50% and then some we area destined to struggle.
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Post by bluboy79 on Apr 27, 2017 10:09:19 GMT
Realistically can we increase our income much beyond what it already is ? Our crowds have hovered around the 2000 mark now for about 20 years and never seem to increase a lot even in promotion seasons !
To challenge for promotion back to the Football League we will need a playing budget of at least 750k maybe more, just where is this going to come from ? Also our stadium is going to need work in time - again where will money come from ?
If we ever did by some miracle get back into Football League we would struggle again as some clubs have playing budgets of over 2 million, even Newport County have a budget of 800k and they have been bottom most of the season !
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Post by TheTheremin on Apr 27, 2017 15:04:24 GMT
Last night Darlington had a fans forum at which the board said they had offers of external investment, these offers are being looked at with a view to presenting to the fanbase. A board spokesperson states that they will make an £85000 loss this season and are struggling to compete in the Conference North despite a crowd average of 1,739 this season ! He goes on to say they can only afford a lower third playing budget and are punching above their weight currently, many fans are considering whether fans ownership is a realistic long term option. Recently Telford sold the majority shareholding of the club to outside investors as they hit the same problems as Darlington have - these are the same problems we have as well ! I love the romantic idea of the fans running the club but also can see us hitting the buffers financially in the future. Crowds and income will naturally drop unless club can somehow find the money to compete at the top end of table. My conclusions are whichever model we have , in the end we will find ourselves struggling financially ! Always remember that whatever you think our struggles are now it is nothing compared to the past. This is going to have to be a long game. We need to produce more players like Sam Hughes, really establish as a development and selling club. Blowing money on journeyman lower league players and neglecting the community and development side of things isn't going to work. To really compete eventually we're going to have to invent our own model I think, not copy others. |
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