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Post by Henbury Gas on Mar 29, 2018 9:18:52 GMT
I don’t think some want to believe the worst, it’s just that until recently there have been inconsistent messages and other problems, so say rumours, which if so, were never denied by the board. The time aspect for me, especially for the stadium is concerning. Also the distancing of the board from “commercial interests” when we are a small club which is supported and sponsored by local people. Our local vested interest is higher than the multi national conglomerate premier league teams supported by global industries and brands. ALQs need to recognise, embrace and also respect that. Problem is that they seem to think we are a premier league club, hence why they rent an office in London because other premier league teams do- I mean WTF?! I totally agree though, being invested in the community should be the lifeblood of a club like ours. Foreign owners can't understand that and they also seem to think that such a community asset belongs to them and locals should keep our noses out.They could say the same thing about us always asking how we are going to fund this, do that. Its their business and they will fund it as they want too and nothing to do with us
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Post by Severncider on Mar 29, 2018 9:37:12 GMT
I may be jumping the gun but I'm pretty sure that the FFSC is and will always remain non political. It raises money to sponsor the young kids and fringe players in and around the first team squad. This is done to show the fringe players support boost confidence as much as it is to raise cash. Until such time that the club no longer want players to be sponsored, we get priced out of the market or people stop contributing to the FFSC it will carry on. Indeed and kind of the point im making. These organisations can do whatever with the money. Doesnt directly have to go the football club. Perhaps severncider and other people who are considering pulling oit, should express their opinions to the organisationsI already have and also emailed Steve Hamer and Tom Gorringe.
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Post by peterparker on Mar 29, 2018 9:38:38 GMT
Problem is that they seem to think we are a premier league club, hence why they rent an office in London because other premier league teams do- I mean WTF?! I totally agree though, being invested in the community should be the lifeblood of a club like ours. Foreign owners can't understand that and they also seem to think that such a community asset belongs to them and locals should keep our noses out.They could say the same thing about us always asking how we are going to fund this, do that. Its their business and they will fund it as they want too and nothing to do with us Will be interesting to see what the resolution of allotment of securities is about, and how this will play out in the funding of the club
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Post by dinsdale on Mar 29, 2018 10:12:25 GMT
Hello Gasheads, I thought this idea deserved a thread of its own. That is to support the club and raise finances in order that we can help build and develop a training ground for the 21st century as per the original plans for a Category 2 training facility the club announced on purchasing the land, which was to house pitches and other facilities for The First Team, Development Squad and The Academy Set Up.Please read this link below which Norwich City supporters and investors ( only 700 of them were able to achieve this) have recently managed to do to help their beloved club prosper : www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43555702I am writing to you to ask you to come on board this initial plan, by agreeing to sign a letter (which I have already prepared and wish soon to send to Steve Hamer) in support and later to pledge a large amount of money - 500 pounds (or an agreed similar amount decided with the club that may well differ a little after calculations have been made to raise the desired funds). The latest news, if you remember, was that the club announced that they were going to scale back massively the development of The Colony (and not as described above) and could only guarantee training facilities for the first team (the earliest date being Summer 2019). The current situation is that planning permission proposals would be sent off by the club for acceptance in around 7 to 8 weeks. I'm sure you all agree that progress has been painfully slow on this matter and that the news that the latest application from the club indicates that they are not going to pursue building something which could enable the club to achieve Category 2 status. So we can probably assume that the club is lacking the financial resources to do so. Therefore, WE could possibly help to generate the funds by being part of my/our initiative which would enable our beloved club to have the first rate training facilities this club so badly needs and deserves. If you are interested in backing the initiative and like me feel you could pledge around 500 quid to raise funds if the club wishes to support a similar scheme to Norwich City's please PM me and supply your full name ( First and surname), so I can add it to the end of the letter. I intend to send it off to the club in the next week or two. Thanks Mark Czekalski (a supporter since 1973) p.s. This is a POSITIVE initiative to help our club ! We may be rebuffed ( I don't really know why) with this initiative, but it MAY lead to something exciting and rewarding for the benefit of everyone who supports Bristol Rovers Supporters Club. Nothing lose as they say but potentially a lot to gain. p.p.s. I'm looking for support not loads of different suggestions or criticism at this stage Cheers Gasheads !! If the board agree im game but as long as there are strict conditions so we are not f**ked over like the share scheme
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Post by gashead1981 on Mar 29, 2018 10:16:42 GMT
I don’t think some want to believe the worst, it’s just that until recently there have been inconsistent messages and other problems, so say rumours, which if so, were never denied by the board. The time aspect for me, especially for the stadium is concerning. Also the distancing of the board from “commercial interests” when we are a small club which is supported and sponsored by local people. Our local vested interest is higher than the multi national conglomerate premier league teams supported by global industries and brands. ALQs need to recognise, embrace and also respect that. But if we ever truly want to push on as a club as sad as it is to lose local sponsorship, I don't see how that could be anywhere near as lucrative as what I hope the Al Qadis could attract as a sponsor. Just because you are a Jordanian with a few quid and part of the Jordananian FA won’t mean you will attract commercial opportunities that will generate anymore income than you will from local business at present. Bristol Rovers won’t have big multinational companies and brands knocking at the door simply because we can’t offer any exposure on a mass scale that they would be after. We can only advertise to a maximum of 12k people around a stadium, so there is minimum exposure there and we aren’t in bed financially or commercially with any organisation, like Burton are with Pirelli for example, that’s mainly because their ground is built within the grounds of factory land etc. So there is little return or no on investment and no real opportunity to promote with corporate hiring etc. That means the club relies on local businesses to sponsor the club to gain a form of income and I can tell you, because I do sponsor the club on a small scale, that II have no idea if I actually get any work from what I do there, because there is no way to measure it, I have a limited captive audience for a couple of hours every other Saturday and an occasional evening and the only reason I do it is because I am a fan. The only way to create better commercial opportunities for the club with brand and blue chip companies is with a new stadium and minimum championship football. Even then you will have a 50/50 split of both local and national companies.
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Post by Henbury Gas on Mar 29, 2018 10:22:02 GMT
But if we ever truly want to push on as a club as sad as it is to lose local sponsorship, I don't see how that could be anywhere near as lucrative as what I hope the Al Qadis could attract as a sponsor. Just because you are a Jordanian with a few quid and part of the Jordananian FA won’t mean you will attract commercial opportunities that will generate anymore income than you will from local business at present. Bristol Rovers won’t have big multinational companies and brands knocking at the door simply because we can’t offer any exposure on a mass scale that they would be after. We can only advertise to a maximum of 12k people around a stadium, so there is minimum exposure there and we aren’t in bed financially or commercially with any organisation, like Burton are with Pirelli for example, that’s mainly because their ground is built within the grounds of factory land etc. So there is little return or no on investment and no real opportunity to promote with corporate hiring etc. That means the club relies on local businesses to sponsor the club to gain a form of income and I can tell you, because I do sponsor the club on a small scale, that II have no idea if I actually get any work from what I do there, because there is no way to measure it, I have a limited captive audience for a couple of hours every other Saturday and an occasional evening and the only reason I do it is because I am a fan. The only way to create better commercial opportunities for the club with brand and blue chip companies is with a new stadium and minimum championship football. Even then you will have a 50/50 split of both local and national companies. But we can dream.......... One day our dream will come true and yet more greatness will fall upon our great club
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Post by Topper Gas on Mar 29, 2018 10:33:59 GMT
But if we ever truly want to push on as a club as sad as it is to lose local sponsorship, I don't see how that could be anywhere near as lucrative as what I hope the Al Qadis could attract as a sponsor. Just because you are a Jordanian with a few quid and part of the Jordananian FA won’t mean you will attract commercial opportunities that will generate anymore income than you will from local business at present. Bristol Rovers won’t have big multinational companies and brands knocking at the door simply because we can’t offer any exposure on a mass scale that they would be after. We can only advertise to a maximum of 12k people around a stadium, so there is minimum exposure there and we aren’t in bed financially or commercially with any organisation, like Burton are with Pirelli for example, that’s mainly because their ground is built within the grounds of factory land etc. So there is little return or no on investment and no real opportunity to promote with corporate hiring etc. That means the club relies on local businesses to sponsor the club to gain a form of income and I can tell you, because I do sponsor the club on a small scale, that II have no idea if I actually get any work from what I do there, because there is no way to measure it, I have a limited captive audience for a couple of hours every other Saturday and an occasional evening and the only reason I do it is because I am a fan. The only way to create better commercial opportunities for the club with brand and blue chip companies is with a new stadium and minimum championship football. Even then you will have a 50/50 split of both local and national companies. We also get wider exposure if we appear in the local and national media, although the fact that to date most of the club sponsors are local based firms seems to support what you are saying. Although I'm not really sure we can't raise our profile w/o a new stadium/Championship football but I'm not an advertising guru, so over to TG to see who he can bring on board this summer. Given our turnover jumped to in excess of £6m last year additional money from somewhere must becoming into the club's coffers, it could well reached £7/8m this year if that rate of increase continues/we receive more for Bodin than Taylor.
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Post by axegas on Mar 29, 2018 10:52:42 GMT
But if we ever truly want to push on as a club as sad as it is to lose local sponsorship, I don't see how that could be anywhere near as lucrative as what I hope the Al Qadis could attract as a sponsor. Just because you are a Jordanian with a few quid and part of the Jordananian FA won’t mean you will attract commercial opportunities that will generate anymore income than you will from local business at present. Bristol Rovers won’t have big multinational companies and brands knocking at the door simply because we can’t offer any exposure on a mass scale that they would be after. We can only advertise to a maximum of 12k people around a stadium, so there is minimum exposure there and we aren’t in bed financially or commercially with any organisation, like Burton are with Pirelli for example, that’s mainly because their ground is built within the grounds of factory land etc. So there is little return or no on investment and no real opportunity to promote with corporate hiring etc. That means the club relies on local businesses to sponsor the club to gain a form of income and I can tell you, because I do sponsor the club on a small scale, that II have no idea if I actually get any work from what I do there, because there is no way to measure it, I have a limited captive audience for a couple of hours every other Saturday and an occasional evening and the only reason I do it is because I am a fan. The only way to create better commercial opportunities for the club with brand and blue chip companies is with a new stadium and minimum championship football. Even then you will have a 50/50 split of both local and national companies. They did acquire HSBC's Jordanian branch and regularly attend networking conferences and also benefit from having a commercial director. You're right in the fact that a third division club will never attract multimillion sponsorship contracts but I reckon we can aim our sights a little higher than we have done previously as the owners will have more contacts in the Business world than a local builder, you only have to look at some of the names that attended the Coliseum summit recently.
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Post by knowall on Mar 29, 2018 11:05:52 GMT
Won't be enough for some posters who wish to believe the worse. I don’t think some want to believe the worst, it’s just that until recently there have been inconsistent messages and other problems, so say rumours, which if so, were never denied by the board. The time aspect for me, especially for the stadium is concerning. Also the distancing of the board from “commercial interests” when we are a small club which is supported and sponsored by local people. Our local vested interest is higher than the multi national conglomerate premier league teams supported by global industries and brands. ALQs need to recognise, embrace and also respect that. The history of 'our' Club is one of being run by amateurs with the support of local business and others. We are now in a different era where the main people are professionals at what they do and being paid accordingly. That is not a case of shutting people out but plain fact. As someone who has apparently embraced the policy of supporting through your business, perhaps this will give you a different opportunity and any spend you make towards the Football Club could give you and your business a reward rather than an expense. Looking across to the other side of Bristol they have not relied on local business for quite some time and the business who do support do so to enhance their own business, staff, and customers. My advice to everyone is to sit back and enjoy the ride and let the professionals do their job. If they fail, as many who post on this forum seem to want, then business like yours will be needed as never before but if they succeed, as I hope they do, then we will all gain.
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Post by Slide away on Mar 29, 2018 11:08:40 GMT
I don’t think some want to believe the worst, it’s just that until recently there have been inconsistent messages and other problems, so say rumours, which if so, were never denied by the board. The time aspect for me, especially for the stadium is concerning. Also the distancing of the board from “commercial interests” when we are a small club which is supported and sponsored by local people. Our local vested interest is higher than the multi national conglomerate premier league teams supported by global industries and brands. ALQs need to recognise, embrace and also respect that. The history of 'our' Club is one of being run by amateurs with the support of local business and others. We are now in a different era where the main people are professionals at what they do and being paid accordingly. That is not a case of shutting people out but plain fact. As someone who has apparently embraced the policy of supporting through your business, perhaps this will give you a different opportunity and any spend you make towards the Football Club could give you and your business a reward rather than an expense. Looking across to the other side of Bristol they have not relied on local business for quite some time and the business who do support do so to enhance their own business, staff, and customers. My advice to everyone is to sit back and enjoy the ride and let the professionals do their job. If they fail, as many who post on this forum seem to want, then business like yours will be needed as never before but if they succeed, as I hope they do, then we will all gain. Absolutely spot on sir!
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Post by markczgas on Mar 29, 2018 11:52:25 GMT
I don’t think some want to believe the worst, it’s just that until recently there have been inconsistent messages and other problems, so say rumours, which if so, were never denied by the board. The time aspect for me, especially for the stadium is concerning. Also the distancing of the board from “commercial interests” when we are a small club which is supported and sponsored by local people. Our local vested interest is higher than the multi national conglomerate premier league teams supported by global industries and brands. ALQs need to recognise, embrace and also respect that. The history of 'our' Club is one of being run by amateurs with the support of local business and others. We are now in a different era where the main people are professionals at what they do and being paid accordingly. That is not a case of shutting people out but plain fact. As someone who has apparently embraced the policy of supporting through your business, perhaps this will give you a different opportunity and any spend you make towards the Football Club could give you and your business a reward rather than an expense. Looking across to the other side of Bristol they have not relied on local business for quite some time and the business who do support do so to enhance their own business, staff, and customers. My advice to everyone is to sit back and enjoy the ride and let the professionals do their job. If they fail, as many who post on this forum seem to want, then business like yours will be needed as never before but if they succeed, as I hope they do, then we will all gain. Hi Knowall, Are you aware of the change in plans to the training ground development (scaling back) as I mentioned in my post ? Why can Norwich City (ex-Premier League) a bigger club than us still welcome ordinary supporters and sponsors to help the club build the training ground they feel they need ? It doesn't seem our professionals have the money to build what they originally said they were going to do SO perhaps, just like Norwich City supporters US Bristol Rovers supporters can generate the funding to build something the club desperately needs - a training ground for all levels of football at BRFC ? Of course, I don't know what the club will say. I don't don't if they are aware of the Norwich initiative ? But I'm going to attempt to engage with them otherwise ................. the training ground will be .....unfinished. The Development squad, Youth Team and Academy will lose players to other clubs. It may also persuade DC and other staff to move to other clubs like Norwich City and Bristol City who are moving forward MUCH more quickly than us. Everyone was very excited when we bought The Colony but the latest developments are depressing with regards to what they are going to do and the speed of activity, does not everyone think this ? Why not do a Rich and dream a bit for something groundbreaking !!?
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Post by markczgas on Mar 29, 2018 11:57:48 GMT
p.s. I have three names so far
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Post by Topper Gas on Mar 29, 2018 12:22:54 GMT
The history of 'our' Club is one of being run by amateurs with the support of local business and others. We are now in a different era where the main people are professionals at what they do and being paid accordingly. That is not a case of shutting people out but plain fact. As someone who has apparently embraced the policy of supporting through your business, perhaps this will give you a different opportunity and any spend you make towards the Football Club could give you and your business a reward rather than an expense. Looking across to the other side of Bristol they have not relied on local business for quite some time and the business who do support do so to enhance their own business, staff, and customers. My advice to everyone is to sit back and enjoy the ride and let the professionals do their job. If they fail, as many who post on this forum seem to want, then business like yours will be needed as never before but if they succeed, as I hope they do, then we will all gain. Hi Knowall, Are you aware of the change in plans to the training ground development (scaling back) as I mentioned in my post ? Why can Norwich City (ex-Premier League) a bigger club than us still welcome ordinary supporters and sponsors to help the club build the training ground they feel they need ? It doesn't seem our professionals have the money to build what they originally said they were going to do SO perhaps, just like Norwich City supporters US Bristol Rovers supporters can generate the funding to build something the club desperately needs - a training ground for all levels of football at BRFC ? Of course, I don't know what the club will say. I don't don't if they are aware of the Norwich initiative ? But I'm going to attempt to engage with them otherwise ................. the training ground will be .....unfinished. The Development squad, Youth Team and Academy will lose players to other clubs. It may also persuade DC and other staff to move to other clubs like Norwich City and Bristol City who are moving forward MUCH more quickly than us. Everyone was very excited when we bought The Colony but the latest developments are depressing with regards to what they are going to do and the speed of activity, does not everyone think this ? Why not do a Rich and dream a bit for something groundbreaking !!? I assume being a Knowall he's fully aware of the exact plans for the plot of land? As far as contributing towards the development costs if the ALQ's can, for arguments sake, only fund a £1m development why would they turn down the chance to make it a £2m development? Although at the present time it's a £1,002,000 development!
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Post by Hugo the Elder on Mar 29, 2018 12:28:43 GMT
£500 is an alienatingly high amount.
£50 or £100 and you may have more people interested.
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Post by gashead1981 on Mar 29, 2018 12:58:15 GMT
I don’t think some want to believe the worst, it’s just that until recently there have been inconsistent messages and other problems, so say rumours, which if so, were never denied by the board. The time aspect for me, especially for the stadium is concerning. Also the distancing of the board from “commercial interests” when we are a small club which is supported and sponsored by local people. Our local vested interest is higher than the multi national conglomerate premier league teams supported by global industries and brands. ALQs need to recognise, embrace and also respect that. The history of 'our' Club is one of being run by amateurs with the support of local business and others. We are now in a different era where the main people are professionals at what they do and being paid accordingly. That is not a case of shutting people out but plain fact. As someone who has apparently embraced the policy of supporting through your business, perhaps this will give you a different opportunity and any spend you make towards the Football Club could give you and your business a reward rather than an expense. Looking across to the other side of Bristol they have not relied on local business for quite some time and the business who do support do so to enhance their own business, staff, and customers. My advice to everyone is to sit back and enjoy the ride and let the professionals do their job. If they fail, as many who post on this forum seem to want, then business like yours will be needed as never before but if they succeed, as I hope they do, then we will all gain. You keep throwing this up Knowall about our history and owners etc etc and how they were amateurs etc but that is kind of insulting to all with previous at BRFC. Our previous directors were businessman and good ones at that, multi millionaires with more financial clout than this forum put together, regardless of your opinion of the personalities behind the fortunes, they were proper businessman who earned the money honestly, that doesnt make them daft or amateurish in the slightest, the Dunfords were millionaires a good few times over from multiple businesses, Geoff especially was an incredibly shrewed businessman. Higgs sold Cowlin for £52m to Balfour Beatty no less and was a millionaire a good few times over before that happened. That doesnt happen by chance, but good business practice, so it is insulting to their achievements to call them amateur. Ah, but they never had experience of running a football club some crow! Well that is true, but neither have the Al'qadi's. They just have a higher net worth, meaning that they can do more with their wealth than the previous board, should they choose to. But like I said earlier, that high net worth status won't guarantee a greater commercial opportunity from a commercial or retail brand than before. Look at the club and the stadium around it and then compare it to other teams in L1. Its a limited commercial opportunity which would garner little interest for a big national company. A established local company like Dribuild or Poplar Insulations is the kind of companies that would be interested. Why do you think football clubs sell naming rights to stadiums? Because grounds become known as the Emirates, the Amex etc etc. You say the brand name to identify. But to maximise you would have to be in a position where that gets weekly TV coverage or internet exposure. Your perception is we are more professional but on what basis are you saying it is, because we have more staff doing more than ever before, paid for by someone who can afford it? That doesnt make us extra professional. Why couldn't we lay a proper pitch and get enough kit for the open day? Would I class Steve Hamer as a very experienced football professional? Not really, he left Swansea 16 years previously and had little to do with running a club since. Tom Gorringe had 2 years previous at Brighton, and is Hamer's sons best mate..all the previous directors the ALQ's bought in left or resigned inside a year. Martin Starnes is the first experienced football board level appointment they have made. So it isn't as if we have poached people from the Championship or Premier League to drive us up. Having said all of that I do think we are in better shape than we have ever been, providing the ALQ's will continue to support it. The reason I sponsor the club, and not to sound too "look at me" about it is because I can afford it and its another way of supporting the club on top of my season tickets and other hospitality packages I have, to date, there is no other reward/spend available at BRFC. Its nothing to do with embracing a business decision at all, in fact, in terms of spend verses return, it would be a poor decision and I am sure Bob at AB Power would say the same. Bristol City have always been supported by local business. They always have had and continue to be! DAS insurance, Lancer Scott, Dribuild, Poplar, Hirerite, Sanderson, Arthur J Gallagher, Thatchers, Wessex Garages - just to name a few, and all of these are locally based businesses. I have had 3 cold calls from Bristol Sport in the last year asking for meetings with me regards sponsorship, so its something they definitely target. Their rate card is massive too, but they can charge that because of the facility, league status, rugby games and corporate gigs they can offer. It pains me to say it but it is a much better venue. No one wants the ALQ's to fail, but BRFC is still a community club and the board need to do more to engage with fans.
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Post by gashead1981 on Mar 29, 2018 13:04:41 GMT
Just because you are a Jordanian with a few quid and part of the Jordananian FA won’t mean you will attract commercial opportunities that will generate anymore income than you will from local business at present. Bristol Rovers won’t have big multinational companies and brands knocking at the door simply because we can’t offer any exposure on a mass scale that they would be after. We can only advertise to a maximum of 12k people around a stadium, so there is minimum exposure there and we aren’t in bed financially or commercially with any organisation, like Burton are with Pirelli for example, that’s mainly because their ground is built within the grounds of factory land etc. So there is little return or no on investment and no real opportunity to promote with corporate hiring etc. That means the club relies on local businesses to sponsor the club to gain a form of income and I can tell you, because I do sponsor the club on a small scale, that II have no idea if I actually get any work from what I do there, because there is no way to measure it, I have a limited captive audience for a couple of hours every other Saturday and an occasional evening and the only reason I do it is because I am a fan. The only way to create better commercial opportunities for the club with brand and blue chip companies is with a new stadium and minimum championship football. Even then you will have a 50/50 split of both local and national companies. They did acquire HSBC's Jordanian branch and regularly attend networking conferences and also benefit from having a commercial director. You're right in the fact that a third division club will never attract multimillion sponsorship contracts but I reckon we can aim our sights a little higher than we have done previously as the owners will have more contacts in the Business world than a local builder, you only have to look at some of the names that attended the Coliseum summit recently. Whatever connections you have, any business will look at investment vs exposure and potential return. Not because they will do Wael a favour over a prawn sarnie and a glass of prosecco. Why don't Nike sponsor Bournemouth? Because Arsenal is a much better investment and return. A company will look at the club as a whole and also the commercial opportunity and make a decision on that. The better the club and facility you have, combined with league position depends on the amount of sponsorship you will draw and who you will draw it from. Even if you look to the championship most clubs are supported my local businesses from all walks of industry.
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Post by gregsy on Mar 29, 2018 13:34:22 GMT
I love the idea of this in principle, and fair play for taking the care to attempt something for our club....
But in all honesty I believe that a well run business should be able to fun projects independently through their general income streams (I was never a share scheme member).....
I don't mind spending an extra 50p on a ticket if it goes to funding projects where there is a funding shortfall, I'd rather see the club run sustainably from inside using using my hard earned cash as well spent money....
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Post by countygroundhotel on Mar 29, 2018 13:58:32 GMT
The history of 'our' Club is one of being run by amateurs with the support of local business and others. We are now in a different era where the main people are professionals at what they do and being paid accordingly. That is not a case of shutting people out but plain fact. As someone who has apparently embraced the policy of supporting through your business, perhaps this will give you a different opportunity and any spend you make towards the Football Club could give you and your business a reward rather than an expense. Looking across to the other side of Bristol they have not relied on local business for quite some time and the business who do support do so to enhance their own business, staff, and customers. My advice to everyone is to sit back and enjoy the ride and let the professionals do their job. If they fail, as many who post on this forum seem to want, then business like yours will be needed as never before but if they succeed, as I hope they do, then we will all gain. You keep throwing this up Knowall about our history and owners etc etc and how they were amateurs etc but that is kind of insulting to all with previous at BRFC. Our previous directors were businessman and good ones at that, multi millionaires with more financial clout than this forum put together, regardless of your opinion of the personalities behind the fortunes, they were proper businessman who earned the money honestly, that doesnt make them daft or amateurish in the slightest, the Dunfords were millionaires a good few times over from multiple businesses, Geoff especially was an incredibly shrewed businessman. Higgs sold Cowlin for £52m to Balfour Beatty no less and was a millionaire a good few times over before that happened. That doesnt happen by chance, but good business practice, so it is insulting to their achievements to call them amateur. Ah, but they never had experience of running a football club some crow! Well that is true, but neither have the Al'qadi's. They just have a higher net worth, meaning that they can do more with their wealth than the previous board, should they choose to. But like I said earlier, that high net worth status won't guarantee a greater commercial opportunity from a commercial or retail brand than before. Look at the club and the stadium around it and then compare it to other teams in L1. Its a limited commercial opportunity which would garner little interest for a big national company. A established local company like Dribuild or Poplar Insulations is the kind of companies that would be interested. Why do you think football clubs sell naming rights to stadiums? Because grounds become known as the Emirates, the Amex etc etc. You say the brand name to identify. But to maximise you would have to be in a position where that gets weekly TV coverage or internet exposure. Your perception is we are more professional but on what basis are you saying it is, because we have more staff doing more than ever before, paid for by someone who can afford it? That doesnt make us extra professional. Why couldn't we lay a proper pitch and get enough kit for the open day? Would I class Steve Hamer as a very experienced football professional? Not really, he left Swansea 16 years previously and had little to do with running a club since. Tom Gorringe had 2 years previous at Brighton, and is Hamer's sons best mate..all the previous directors the ALQ's bought in left or resigned inside a year. Martin Starnes is the first experienced football board level appointment they have made. So it isn't as if we have poached people from the Championship or Premier League to drive us up. Having said all of that I do think we are in better shape than we have ever been, providing the ALQ's will continue to support it. The reason I sponsor the club, and not to sound too "look at me" about it is because I can afford it and its another way of supporting the club on top of my season tickets and other hospitality packages I have, to date, there is no other reward/spend available at BRFC. Its nothing to do with embracing a business decision at all, in fact, in terms of spend verses return, it would be a poor decision and I am sure Bob at AB Power would say the same. Bristol City have always been supported by local business. They always have had and continue to be! DAS insurance, Lancer Scott, Dribuild, Poplar, Hirerite, Sanderson, Arthur J Gallagher, Thatchers, Wessex Garages - just to name a few, and all of these are locally based businesses. I have had 3 cold calls from Bristol Sport in the last year asking for meetings with me regards sponsorship, so its something they definitely target. Their rate card is massive too, but they can charge that because of the facility, league status, rugby games and corporate gigs they can offer. It pains me to say it but it is a much better venue. No one wants the ALQ's to fail, but BRFC is still a community club and the board need to do more to engage with fans. Excellenty put. I expect F'all will ignore it
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Post by markczgas on Mar 29, 2018 14:43:24 GMT
£500 is an alienatingly high amount. £50 or £100 and you may have more people interested. Hi Hugo, I used 500 quid as a guide because that's how much Norwich supporters paid as a minimum. In principle, it would all depend on what amount of money would need to be raised of course and how many individuals got involved. Perhaps you would back my proposal in principle - after all you know me too
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2018 14:48:47 GMT
The history of 'our' Club is one of being run by amateurs with the support of local business and others. We are now in a different era where the main people are professionals at what they do and being paid accordingly. That is not a case of shutting people out but plain fact. As someone who has apparently embraced the policy of supporting through your business, perhaps this will give you a different opportunity and any spend you make towards the Football Club could give you and your business a reward rather than an expense. Looking across to the other side of Bristol they have not relied on local business for quite some time and the business who do support do so to enhance their own business, staff, and customers. My advice to everyone is to sit back and enjoy the ride and let the professionals do their job. If they fail, as many who post on this forum seem to want, then business like yours will be needed as never before but if they succeed, as I hope they do, then we will all gain. Hi Knowall, Are you aware of the change in plans to the training ground development (scaling back) as I mentioned in my post ? Why can Norwich City (ex-Premier League) a bigger club than us still welcome ordinary supporters and sponsors to help the club build the training ground they feel they need ? It doesn't seem our professionals have the money to build what they originally said they were going to do SO perhaps, just like Norwich City supporters US Bristol Rovers supporters can generate the funding to build something the club desperately needs - a training ground for all levels of football at BRFC ? Of course, I don't know what the club will say. I don't don't if they are aware of the Norwich initiative ? But I'm going to attempt to engage with them otherwise ................. the training ground will be .....unfinished. The Development squad, Youth Team and Academy will lose players to other clubs. It may also persuade DC and other staff to move to other clubs like Norwich City and Bristol City who are moving forward MUCH more quickly than us. Everyone was very excited when we bought The Colony but the latest developments are depressing with regards to what they are going to do and the speed of activity, does not everyone think this ? Why not do a Rich and dream a bit for something groundbreaking !!? Have the owners actually said they could not afford to build the full training/academy camp ?
Or have they decided that they want to start work on the Colony as soon as possible. That as there is no new stadium at present with the income streams that will bring it the funds it needs to run everyday. That it might put the club in peril should a stadium not get the go ahead for some years but the need to finance the mega Colony be there. That the costs in the short term were not a wise investment at this time for the short term returns.
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