Watershed Day
I believe today may be finally the day when football has eaten itself.
Two of the oldest football clubs in the country have all but gone due to both of them 'chasing the dream'
Bolton under Sam Allardyce were bascially a well run club, yes they spent on players but certainly performed better on pitch than they should have done.
Once Sam went and it started going downhill then they 'chased the dream' in an attempt to firstly stay up, then get back up
Once that failed in the first couple of years then it was the start of where they are today
Bury - I think this has been on the cards for years. Not a great location to draw the crowds in with all of the other teams local to them.
How they ended up paying the rumoured wages is beyond me. Players signing those contracts must have realised that a club of that size couldn't really afford them.
Sky Sports - words fail me regarding their 'coverage' of today. A countdown timer!!! Jim bloody White dressed for a funeral. F@ck me can't they see people's livelihoods and homes are a stake here.
Why don't Sky put their hands in their deep pockets and give some money to the non-playing staff of both clubs
Comments
Bury average gate last season was 4044 which considering location is pretty good
It really does affect all of us. I put it to someone like this: If there was a great party going on, with everyone invited, but then two party-goers collapsed and were carried off in ambulances, would everyone still see it as a great party?
it is but not when they were paying the wages they are rumoured to have been
With these owners its more like the bookies or the stock exchange, how many people go under, everyone else rolls on because they're alright, or they are telling themselves they are.
I think the might if the collapses were unconnected to the party. If, on the other hand, they collapsed because they had eaten the food everyone else was eating, that might well change the perspective a bit.
I was wondering just how good is this party. I could be tempted to stay.
Rob Couhig has just arrived and he’s bringing jambalaya and sazeracs.
Sold.
You obviously don’t go to the parties I (used to) go to and my kids (currently) do!
This is such a sad day, as a fan for over 50 years when away at Dulwich Hamlet Champion Hill was a game to look forward to. I used to listen to Sports Report for the results of the "professional games, looking forward to the FA Cup when we might get to play against the "big Boys". Yes we saw Bournemouth twice, Newport County, Peterborough and the very big Middlesboro. I would have seen a game v Bury or Bolton as a dream day out. Now we want to be big boys, we have a benefactor but I am very insecure regarding the clarity of the debt. Be careful what you wish for Chairpersons. (ps Mr Couhig has impressed me so far, I just cannot understand the financial model where a league 1 team can be sustainable.)
(ps Mr Couhig has impressed me so far, I just cannot understand the financial model where a league 1 team can be sustainable.)
I'm not sure that 99% of all football league clubs are sustainable without a benefactor.
The Couhig's have so far impressed me with the way they are going about things. Yes there are some concerns regarding debt etc however where we were 8 weeks ago was no bed of roses and it was looking like a long 8 months.
The way the season has started we have a chance to grow the crowds and this will help offset the spend.
Without the investment in players and the struggles these would have likely led to (the worse case being GA leaving) then attendances I'm certain would have dropped creating a bigger debt mountain, and a downward spiral.
As mentioned above not sure it is sustainable but you can have a well run club under decent owners. To give our colonial cousins some credit they seem to be doing all the things Marlow and carrots complained the trust weren't doing. Debt or having no money seemed to be the choices that were available not sure which is preferable. We will have to see the meat of the deal before we vote but I suspect feel good factors at the moment would favour the bidders with some.
@Fit2drop I think the argument for sustainability would be something like:
We have been over-spending by around £500-600K pa for the past few years.
Some of that would be paying back debt so say a round half million a year, but even at this level we only have a very small squad.
So with no debt and a slightly enlarged squad, say our over-spend becomes around £750K.
Add 2,000 to our home support, which appears to be the plan, and we’re covered!
Putting on my optimistic head (and blowing the cobwebs off) I think that there is some growth that could come out of a better “game day experience” and marketing but I’d say a max of 500 to 1000.
Which leaves the quality and success of the football team to fill the gap. Assuming that the retirement age doesn’t change if my calculations are correct we can tie GA down until 2040 and we’ll be fine.
The only way we can realistically survive is to regularly sell players and/or have good cup runs. We do at least now have some younger players with potential resale value.
It is not all doom and gloom yet.