Competent business model

[rayw]

Given the problems for the last few seasons, it strikes me the club has never had a really credible business plan. Any small business that wants to succeed needs to have some kind of sensible plan. Especially now. But MFC like other clubs to be fair seems to have no sensible long term plan. The plans with the ground all seem to be so much pie in the sky. Crowds continue to go down.

 

I thought the recent appointment of Ian O Connell interesting. He lives in Southend replacing the previous manager who lived in Aldershot! From a purely business point of view these seem like very strange decisions. Were there really no other credible candidates living closer by?

 

Building a business or in this case a football club up is not easy. But some people do it succesfully. If you look at clubs like Forest Green and Histon etc with much smaller fan bases do people think there are lessons to be learnt there? And closer to home Dover and Ramsgates rise and fall what can be learnt from those examples?

 

I know it may sound like a non football question. But if the club are to reach their potential i think it would be good for the supporters to generate a few ideas.

[BlueGate Alan]

It reads to me as a very negative thread Ray especially in light of Cookies recent one to get behind the club!

[rayw]

It reads to me as a very negative thread Ray especially in light of Cookies recent one to get behind the club!

 

I HOPE NOT.

 

For years Margate have struggled but being POSITIVE i think that does not need to be the case for ever. I think the club has a good fan base. lots of people who care quite passionately about the club. Thanet has a population of 130,000 with no league club within 40 miles.

This really should not be a negative thread.

Go on and say something positive alan. Please.

[BlueGate Alan]

Thats better Ray, thank you. Agreed we are a sleeping giant ready to wake up very soon IMO.

[michael]

Why do you think MFC have no business plan ?

 

Where do you get your 'facts' from-you may be right-but i doubt it.

 

Anyone can do a plan-actioning it and keeping to it are where the difficulties and challenges start to arise.

 

Do you think the club would have got planning permission at any stage for deveopment without a viable business plan ?

 

Do you think Gary Lever wouyld have been party to a business which did not operatew with any form of plan?

 

The examples of Histon and FGR are interesting-i believe upon closer inspection you may fing Histon are in difficulty-and its certainly no bed of roses for FGR down trhis way-off pitch aswell as on pitch-although they are better run than most-and do have a stable board with business acumen

Edited March 1, 2010 by michael

[Coffin Ender]

There is no long-term planning in football, at pretty much any club. The fans just won't stand for it.

[rayw]

Why do you think MFC have no business plan ?

 

Where do you get your 'facts' from-you may be right-but i doubt it.

 

Anyone can do a plan-actioning it and keeping to it are where the difficulties and challenges start to arise.

 

Do you think the club would have got planning permission at any stage for deveopment without a viable

business plan ?

 

Do you think Gary Lever wouyld have been party to a business which did not operatew with any form of plan?

 

 

 

I dont know what MFC have in relation to a business plan Michael. I am sure there wil be something but maybe they need something a bit more robust/realistic/transparent that the clubs fans can get behind and feel positive about. There have obviously been a few problems. But that happens all the time even with businesses that can grow on to be really succesful. I think the thing to do is learn from your mistakes but not be too focused on them and look at what could work? Any positive ideas?

[seasidesteve]

surely the long term plan is to rebuild the ground and return to the conference its not rocket science ray

[margateshot]

Its pretty obvious that there must be a plan in place, or the new stand would not have been approved. First of all there is the 5 a sides. The building of the new stand incorporates changing facilities and a rest area for the facilities. The stand also incorporates the learning centre. That is two facilities that generate money into the club, and will also be used on matchdays to generate money from the bar etc.

 

As for getting a manager and players who are local, haven't we been doing that for the past two years without any success?

[Guernsey Tom]

All good points, we, like many non league clubs have had our successes and of course our failures, if we can judge by attendances alone we would undoubtedly be at least one league higher than we are. Check some of the attendances in the Conference and South and North we know we could average 1000+ with a bit of success in a higher league. I think RayW is being realistic, we have heard for so long about new ground, stand, Medical centre, pitches, bricks etc, etc, just because we support the club and the team it does not mean we should just accept everything we are told or more importantly not told.

 

IOC is a great signing even though I was not happy about the depature of MB, Jay coming back is also a bit of a coup, so here we go again we live in hope, and we dream of initially survival and progression but no rose tinted glasses for me.

[phil d]

It reads to me as a very negative thread Ray especially in light of Cookies recent one to get behind the club!

 

I HOPE NOT.

 

For years Margate have struggled but being POSITIVE i think that does not need to be the case for ever. I think the club has a good fan base. lots of people who care quite passionately about the club. Thanet has a population of 130,000 with no league club within 40 miles.

This really should not be a negative thread.

Go on and say something positive alan. Please.

Ray excuse me for being arrogant here but where do the managers for FGR and the other lot come from as i find this irrelavent as to who manages a club, as Ramsgate have proved local talent doesnt always work.

Ray was you at the meeting on Thursday when i asked Keith what went on with the John Keister incident because if you was i cant believe that you think Mark Butler was treated unfairly.

i for one will be there Tuesday night to welome the team and the new manager and players for what will hopefully be the turning point in the hunt for a higher league position, but remember rome wasnt built in a day

[rayw]

There is no long-term planning in football, at pretty much any club. The fans just won't stand for it.

I do think thats part of the problem CE. Football fans are impatient they want ongoing instant success but its not that easy without shed loads of money.

Very few clubs seem well run and fans are at least partly to blame. Ive watched and taken an interest in MFC for years always believing the club had huge untapped potential.

Part of the problem for me is that not enough was done over the years to bring through young local players in Thanet. This seems to be something that is improving. I hope the fans get behind the local younngsters and are not over critical of local players. I think many have been in the past. I think Ramsgates brief success with local players did show that there was enough talent locally to build upon. They obviously lost it a bit when a few of those local players like Ollie Schulz moved on. But Margate have a bigger fan base and if they had those kind of players they would be more likely to be able to keep them.

[JeremyJacobs]

Its pretty obvious that there must be a plan in place, or the new stand would not have been approved. First of all there is the 5 a sides. The building of the new stand incorporates changing facilities and a rest area for the facilities. The stand also incorporates the learning centre. That is two facilities that generate money into the club, and will also be used on matchdays to generate money from the bar etc.

 

As for getting a manager and players who are local, haven't we been doing that for the past two years without any success?

 

 

How much are the 5-a-sides making? And how much is going into the Club each month?

[BlueGate Alan]

Ask the club, how are we to know that????

[rayw]

There is no long-term planning in football, at pretty much any club. The fans just won't stand for it.

 

Short termism and panic changes are not a recipe for success though. Losing 3-0 to a club like Waltham Abbey underlines just how bad things have got for MFC. Constant changes of personell are nota recipe for success. Over 50 players used in one season is not a recipe for success.

The club needs to plan long term on and off the field and those plans need to be both realistic and ambitious. I cant believe the state the club is in. I dont see any chance of any quick fix either.