Current MyFC membership

[Gravesend_Princess]

Couldn't think of an answer! Cool post lol X

[doheochai]

This discussion has move on a bit - to answer some questions posed -

 

In relation to debt -

Originally Posted By: Gravesend_Princess

But can't these rules be changed by a majority vote of it's members?

Rules can only be changed by a vote of 75% of members. Digitalis is also correct about the implications for the 'Trust'. Anyway it won't happen - members are far to conscious about the need to keep the club out of debt (and don't forget that the 'B' shareholders would have a veto over any decision like this).

 

Originally Posted By: Gravesend_Princess

The point I’m making is that should a really good player become available, but would only sign a multi year contract, would the MyFC membership not be tempted to vote for him, while only being able to guarantee financing his wages for that current year?

In this case, money would be ring-fenced to ensure the contract was covered.

 

Originally Posted By: chris blanc

Aren't they allowed to run up a "managable" debt? How much is that exactly?

No - debt cannot be run-up in any circumstances for the day-to-day running of the club. If MyFC cannot sustain the day-to-day running costs it would not be in a position to maintain ownership. Debt can be incurred for long-term structural measures that have a projected and indicated repayment plan that was sustainable within the existing structures of EUFC amd MyFC. E.g. investing in a new ground if income could be generated from such investment and MyFC funds were large enough to sustain and manage such debt. Again it would require the support of the 'B' shareholders.

 

Originally Posted By: Gravesend_Princess

Doesn’t this will mean we will always be at a disadvantage when trying to sign good players?

We're gonna need a bigger float

No - MyFC currently has funds available for transfer if necessary. A new kit deal is currently under negotiation that could, if ratified by MyFC members vote, contribute to funds. Discussions will also be taking place with potential sponsors and advertisers (over and above those the club already has), plans are being implemented to get more MyFC members to home games with the first coaches running in March, other fund-raising and revenue opportunities are also being explored and these will be included in the remit of the MyFC Board that will be elected in the next few weeks. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that MyFC is paying £400,000 this year for the club and a further £235,000 next year. By the third year MyFC could have between £1million-1.5million extra available to the club on an annual basis if current memebrship levels are sustained.

 

Originally Posted By: David Holden

But that doesn't stop you running up losses, it merely prevents you from borrowing money to cover them.

 

Yes it does.

 

Originally Posted By: David Holden

From the day you take over, the club will still be losing some £20,000 a month until such time as you have increased attendances by a little of 1,000 a match or you bring new income streams online.

 

Where does that money come from?

MyFC currently has close to £800,000 available. £400,000 of this will go to clear current debts this year. The remainder will be available to cover any ongoing losses the club will have. This is before any new revenue streams come online and does not include the sponsorship from EA Sports that has yet to be paid. Some members have already paid next years membership and this (roughly) £50,000 is ring-fenced for next years budget.

 

Originally Posted By: Gravesend_Princess

Is this the reason we were unable to buy a good striker? Did Liam have one in mind? Were MyFC unable to give the required cash? How much cash was made available for transfers?

All questions that should be answered under the new transparent way the Club is now being run!

When MyFC memebrs voted on the takeover they also voted by 95% to facilitate any transfer moves by Liam Daish. If he want to sign a striker the funds would have been provided - just as they were to sign Ronnie Bull. The finances of MyFC will undergo an audit when the takeover is complete and the results published on MyFC at that stage (I would expect them sooner than March).

 

Originally Posted By: David Holden

True enough, but aren't they also required to have a minimum of 15,000 members in each year or they have to jack it in and either sell the shares or give them to the trust.

 

If this is true, then there will be just over 400K available next year.

No - if the membership drops below 15,000 it automatically triggers a vote by the membership on whether MyFC should continue in ownership of the club. It is also a figure at which the 'operator' can withdraw from providing the website. The members could quote conceivably continue and financially could do so with as few as 10,000 members.

 

Originally Posted By: Jeff

There are also salaries and expenses to take into account as well I would imagine.

 

From what I understand, Chairman Will has not been doing his normal job since this started and will still need to pay the bills.

Will Brooks is not the Chairman of anything and his salary and that of the rest of the MyFC staff comes from the £7.50 administration fee. It is in no way connected with the funds available to the club.

 

Originally Posted By: Digitalis

Were the Fleet Leisure losses included in the £26-28k loss per month, I don't know?

These losses are the monthly losses attached to the playing side of the club.

 

Originally Posted By: Digitalis

Also, don't you think the whole MyFC thing has motivated the team a lot? We'll never know but I wonder if we would have otherwise had the recent great run? Bit of a coincidence.

Who knows - either way it's great to see it happening. In my opinion the credit should be spread around and I think it great to see the players playing with a bit of confidence and knocking in goals.

 

And - yes - you will get some people gloating - But there are a couple on here like that as well.

 

Originally Posted By: Gravesend_Princess

As I understand it, many members were disillusioned with the Ebbsfleet takeover and have stated that they will not renew their membership next year! They are not able to leave now, under the MyFC rules, will you give the fig's leaving next year as well as those joining? Assuming you remain a member of course!

No evidence of 'disillusionment' from any posted comments really (only a handful of people) and over 95% voted in favour. Yes 10,000 paid up memebrs didn't voted, but there are a variety of reasons for this. It is distinctly possible that some are disillusioned but it would be a mistake to paint every one of the 10,000 in this fashion. It is interesting that only 50% of the notification emails were opened and it is possible that there are problems with the email addresses of some members. This is being investigated.

 

And yes - a members counter is being built and will probably be on the site next week. So the current figure will be displayed on an on-going basis.

 

Sorry for the long post - hope it answers some questions.

[Special K]

Well I had some worries about the whole thing myself doheochai. But your post has put some of them to rest so thanx for posting it. The other worries are just a matter of waiting and seeing.

[Slartibartfast]

Originally Posted By: StuThompson

Originally Posted By: PatMan

Originally Posted By: StuThompson

One more to the membership now. I now own this club and you shall do as I say

Stu - why? What swung it for you?

Basically just to be a part of the club I love. I planned to do it as soon as it was confirmed, but waited till pay day before doing it. Also to get more of an insight with access to the website. I don't really want to get involved with the descisions, but I would like to think that if I decide to join in with the picking of the team I would have a pretty good idea of who to choose, as would any other regular Fleet supporter that attends regularly.

Stu, you should go on to their forum and point out what idiots they are.
They aren't all idiots obviously but those that are, and they aren't hard to spot, need their inadequacies highlighted regularly and by as many people as possible.

[Claudius]

Unlike before,you won´t get surprised by the financial status of your club.

Read Doheos post.

There has been funds available to Liam Daish since MyFC had the vote,and there will be funds available to Liam Daish preseason 08/09..this is a priority.

Providing of course that the clubs overall economy can sustain it.That is the proper way of handling a clubs economy.

Running up "managable" debts is all well and good,but just like Dave here is asking..what is a managable debt?

The current..soon to be former..debt this club has runned up was in fact not managable any more.Ebbsfleet was facing going back to part time and taking a considerable step back if another owner of the club hasn´t come in.

Do not make the mistake and knock sensible dealing with economics.

A club like EUFC might very well live or die by it!

[Harry J Allstars]

Claudius thanks very much for your post and contribution and helping us understand a little more about the whole thing.

 

However while I say this, and I'm sure it is not your intention, but you do sound as if your saying "with out us, you'd be stuffed". That may well be the case and even I have eluded to that on this forum but life with out MyFC, any existance at all of this football club with out MyFC would not be such a bad thing. Taking a step back and a few relegations would be far better than what MyFC has to offer for some.

 

I have signed up to it and had done so about 48 hours after hearing about it.

 

Don't take this as a dig, I appreciate what you're saying.

 

The way to look at it from some of our fans point of view is if you had huge but just about managable debts would you let 27,000 people sleep with your wife for £35 a pop?

[Slartibartfast]

Originally Posted By: Claudius

Ebbsfleet was facing going back to part time and taking a considerable step back if another owner of the club hasn´t come in.

This may come as surprise to you Claudius but we've been here before, it wasn't that bad.

That would mean going back to playing sides like Darford, Margate, Ramsgate, Canvey or if the worse comes to the worst Hornchurch, I always enjoyed those fixtures.

[Claudius]

Harry// You do not have to worry about me.I have thick skin after spending years on different Wolves messageboards,often enough supporting a minority view of different things.I´ve heard it all,and I don´t get overly excited about things written in cyberspace..allthough I am always passionate about things I support in real life...and that sometimes shines through on internet as well I guess.

You can see that I didn´t say without MyFC you´d be stuffed.However,I did say that your club would have been forced to take at least a step or three back if another owner hadn´t come in at this point in time..regardless if that owner would have been MyFC,Keith Haslam or anyone else.That certain aspect isn´t about MyFC or not,that is just the basic economical facts.

The debts had stopped being managable..hence the change of owner.

Slarti,I have lived through Wolves being relegated from division One to find the club in division four three seasons later,losing to Chorley 0-3 in the FA Cup,losing to Aldershot in the playoffs missing promotion to division three..being two minutes from going out of exsistance in 1986 after the Bhattis neglect..I know what you´re saying.

It wasn´t a great experience,those steps back though I can tell you,and it is basically a question if the alternative(in this case MyFC)seems like a better option.

On that,to each his own.

I can fully understand the view that taking steps back would feel better for some fans.

I sincerly do not think that was the best alternative the club had though.

However,each individual will have to make his own mind up on that.

[Gravesend_Princess]

Originally Posted By: doheochai

This discussion has move on a bit - to answer

Originally Posted By: Gravesend_Princess

Doesn’t this will mean we will always be at a disadvantage when trying to sign good players?
We're gonna need a bigger float

No - MyFC currently has funds available for transfer if necessary. A new kit deal is currently under negotiation that could, if ratified by MyFC members vote, contribute to funds. Discussions will also be taking place with potential sponsors and advertisers (over and above those the club already has), plans are being implemented to get more MyFC members to home games with the first coaches running in March, other fund-raising and revenue opportunities are also being explored and these will be included in the remit of the MyFC Board that will be elected in the next few weeks. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that MyFC is paying £400,000 this year for the club and a further £235,000 next year. By the third year MyFC could have between £1million-1.5million extra available to the club on an annual basis if current memebrship levels are sustained.



Where does that money come from?

MyFC currently has close to £800,000 available. £400,000 of this will go to clear current debts this year. The remainder will be available to cover any ongoing losses the club will have. This is before any new revenue streams come online and does not include the sponsorship from EA Sports that has yet to be paid. Some members have already paid next years membership and this (roughly) £50,000 is ring-fenced for next years budget.

Originally Posted By: Gravesend_Princess

Is this the reason we were unable to buy a good striker? Did Liam have one in mind? Were MyFC unable to give the required cash? How much cash was made available for transfers?
All questions that should be answered under the new transparent way the Club is now being run!

When MyFC memebrs voted on the takeover they also voted by 95% to facilitate any transfer moves by Liam Daish. If he want to sign a striker the funds would have been provided - just as they were to sign Ronnie Bull. The finances of MyFC will undergo an audit when the takeover is complete and the results published on MyFC at that stage (I would expect them sooner than March).

Originally Posted By: Gravesend_Princess

As I understand it, many members were disillusioned with the Ebbsfleet takeover and have stated that they will not renew their membership next year! They are not able to leave now, under the MyFC rules, will you give the fig's leaving next year as well as those joining? Assuming you remain a member of course!

No evidence of 'disillusionment' from any posted comments really (only a handful of people) and over 95% voted in favour. Yes 10,000 paid up memebrs didn't voted, but there are a variety of reasons for this. It is distinctly possible that some are disillusioned but it would be a mistake to paint every one of the 10,000 in this fashion. It is interesting that only 50% of the notification emails were opened and it is possible that there are problems with the email addresses of some members. This is being investigated.

And yes - a members counter is being built and will probably be on the site next week. So the current figure will be displayed on an on-going basis.

Sorry for the long post - hope it answers some questions.



Thanks for your answers do he do or do he don't cha cha (sorry ) Hope you are right, but still a bit worried about 'ring fencing' money you don't have or are not sure of getting!

[doheochai]

Originally Posted By: Gravesend_Princess

Thanks for your answers do he do or do he don't cha cha (sorry ) Hope you are right, but still a bit worried about 'ring fencing' money you don't have or are not sure of getting!

No problem

The only money currently ring-fenced is the (roughly) £50,000 that has been paid by members for their 2nd year membership. This money will not be touched until next year. If a player is signed to a multi-year contract then some money would be set aside from the current years funds to ensure that the club wouldn't be caught having to cover the contract in future if anything unfortunate happened.

[Slartibartfast]

Originally Posted By: doheochai

[ If a player is signed to a multi-year contract then some money would be set aside from the current years funds to ensure that the club wouldn't be caught having to cover the contract in future if anything unfortunate happened.

Sign 'em up.

I want another year on big Johns contract and two year deals for Lance,Mark,Smudger.Chris,Michael,Neil,Stacy and Luke.

[Claudius]

I agree personally,and I am sure that Liam Daish et all have been working and is working on those things.

It does look like there are many things clicking teamwise allready,and certainly the spine of a succesful team is allready playing at Stonebridge Road.

[Yorkshire Fan]

Looking at Sasha's prozone stats against Burton he needs another year too.

[Gravesend_Princess]

Originally Posted By: Slartibartfast

Sign 'em up.

I want another year on big John and two year for Lance!

Yummy! X

[kaizen]

Originally Posted By: Yorkshire Fan

Looking at Sasha's prozone stats against Burton he needs another year too.

Even without those stats Sasha deserves a contract extension - he's a player who always stands out.

[doheochai]

Update on current memebrship as of midnight last night -

 

27,872

 

Number of new members yesterday - 34

 

(thanks to 'haretewson' for keeping count)

[Jeff]

Virtual fans.

[John Pearce]

Whether its 26,000, 27,000 or 50,000, whether that means £400k this season or £500k next season, I'd like to know what has happened to the £80+k from Satanta, £30k from the sell-on arrangement with Hatch going from Barnet to Peterborough and god knows how much received from Eurostar.

 

Now that thew club is about to become awash with cash, perhaps someone just might like to explain which big black hole the above has disappeared into and whether the money received from MyFc will go the same way?

[Yorkshire Fan]

It's currently stashed under my mattress.

[Claudius]

John Pearce//Yes,I do would like a decent look on the clubs accounts myself at this time.

However,where those money has gone?

The clubs monthly average operational loss is cirka 27K.

Those money your talking about is looooong gone.

Going from part time to full time with average gates around 1K isn´t exactly free you know.

That is just the reality of things.