National League AGM - 8th June 2019

[Neil Baker]

Dulwich are doing plenty of work...

[Reading Rebel]

6 hours ago, 3spirit said:

I would love to see Slough promoted but I believe there will be at least, 5 teams battling it out for the title and Slough won't be one of them.

I think Slough will be pushing for a play off position and might sneak into it but still a tall order for our current team. I hope I'm wrong and we win the title but the way I view things currently, is that the club as a whole isn't quite ready for the National League yet. Our attendances need to rise, sponsorship needs to increase, and our footballers will need to be nearly full-time to get close.

Unlike most fans, I prefer the amateur game than the professional one, and so for me being in the National South is one I'm savouring and I'm in no desperate rush to see Slough promoted. I take heart when semi -pro's beat professional sides. I like when teams don't overspend and still compete with the best. To me we have the right managers at the helm and a good collection of players and as long as we can compete,try our best,play good passing football and put on an entertaining show in most games I'm happy with that. Don't get me wrong I love to see Slough get one over the Woking's and Billericay's of this world. I'm not a fan who tolerates those that don't give it a go on the pitch but I'm a realist, I don't fool for all the hype , and I don't expect the players to be superb every week [every other week would be good, ha ha ha].

Slough as a club are in a great place, the best we've been for years. We're solvent, afloat, debt free, have a ground of their own,our crowds have steadily increased and we are at our highest level for years, so what's the rush?  I want to enjoy the ride not rush to see the club get themselves over-stretched financially, or gain promotion with a team not ready to go up and stay up .

Competing for the title and getting promoted go hand in hand with higher attendances and increased sponsorship.

Not sure what 'nearly full time' is.

Being promoted to the NL doesn't mean you have to go full time. Maidenhead haven't been full time in the two seasons they've been in the NL and Woking won't be going full time next season. 

Any team that gets promoted to the NL will not be ready to go up and stay up.

Every club has to build a squad according to the division they are promoted to and Slough would be no different.

 

 

[3spirit]

8 hours ago, Reading Rebel said:

Competing for the title and getting promoted go hand in hand with higher attendances and increased sponsorship.

Not sure what 'nearly full time' is.

Being promoted to the NL doesn't mean you have to go full time. Maidenhead haven't been full time in the two seasons they've been in the NL and Woking won't be going full time next season. 

Any team that gets promoted to the NL will not be ready to go up and stay up.

Every club has to build a squad according to the division they are promoted to and Slough would be no different.

 

 

I don't think Maidenhead or Woking are great examples. Maidenhead have had one good season in the National League and last season diced with relegation, and Woking got relegated season before last and are going back into the National League with an untested team,so we don't know how they will get on. Woking's attendances offer better financial clout to buy their way out of trouble.

I see similarities between Maidenhead and Slough with two good chairmen at the helm, who have steered their clubs wisely, and made key appointments of their managers at the right time to enhance the chances of climbing the table. They are both not boom and bust chairmen.

Of course,at some point I would like to see Slough in the National League but for me I am not interested in professional football, in the same way as other fans are.  I prefer the non-league game as a whole. Slough will always be 'my team' but if they were to get into League Two, I would only cherry pick certain home games to watch and would start watching one of the other local non-league sides around on a regular basis [probably Beaconsfield]. If I am still functioning well, on this mortal journey, by then !

       

Edited June 10, 2019 by 3spirit

[Reading Rebel]

1 hour ago, 3spirit said:

I don't think Maidenhead or Woking are great examples. Maidenhead have had one good season in the National League and last season diced with relegation, and Woking got relegated season before last and are going back into the National League with an untested team,so we don't know how they will get on. Woking's attendances offer better financial clout to buy their way out of trouble.

I see similarities between Maidenhead and Slough with two good chairmen at the helm, who have steered their clubs wisely, and made key appointments of their managers at the right time to enhance the chances of climbing the table. They are both not boom and bust chairmen.

Of course,at some point I would like to see Slough in the National League but for me I am not interested in professional football, in the same way as other fans are.  I prefer the non-league game as a whole. Slough will always be 'my team' but if they were to get into League Two, I would only cherry pick certain home games to watch and would start watching one of the other local non-league sides around on a regular basis [probably Beaconsfield]. If I am still functioning well, on this mortal journey, by then !

       

Ok Woking are not a great example but certainly I think M'head are.

I think they had attendances of around 700/800 before they got promoted and they now enjoy average attendances around the 1,300 mark.

A great example of how a small club with the right chairman and manager can mix it with the big clubs in the NL without being full time and getting themselves in debt. 

[GlenSTFC]

6 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

Ok Woking are not a great example but certainly I think M'head are.

I think they had attendances of around 700/800 before they got promoted and they now enjoy average attendances around the 1,300 mark.

A great example of how a small club with the right chairman and manager can mix it with the big clubs in the NL without being full time and getting themselves in debt. 

I agree Maidenhead grew their crowds from what were similar to ours at present. They’ve done it over a 4-5 year period which included very attractive tickets offers, much work in the community and obviously winning promotion. We’re very much doing something similar and I would hope we can get to those attendance levels too in a similar time period and success obviously assists greatly!

[3spirit]

5 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

Ok Woking are not a great example but certainly I think M'head are.

I think they had attendances of around 700/800 before they got promoted and they now enjoy average attendances around the 1,300 mark.

A great example of how a small club with the right chairman and manager can mix it with the big clubs in the NL without being full time and getting themselves in debt. 

 I accept Maidenhead are the template for Slough to emulate, and the task of promotion from the National South isn't an impossible one but I still feel we have some way to go before we are ready for the National League. Think we will have to agree to disagree on this matter.

[Neil Baker]

However Maidenhead are no longer part time.

[Reading Rebel]

3 hours ago, Neil Baker said:

However Maidenhead are no longer part time.

Not sure on that one Bakes.

They will be training 3 mornings a week and I'm pretty sure a good % of the players have other jobs to go to. 

So I suppose it depends on what you call full time.

Edited June 10, 2019 by Reading Rebel

[epicrebel]

1 hour ago, Reading Rebel said:

Not sure on that one Bakes.

They will be training 3 mornings a week and I'm pretty sure a good % of the players have other jobs to go to. 

So I suppose it depends on what you call full time.

Can I have one of these jobs Please ????

Don't have to work 3 mornings, get away early on a Tuesday for away games and no Saturday work. 

PLEASE As 3spirit would say Ha Ha

[GlenSTFC]

I’d constitute full time as being your only source of income. Training you’d expect to fall in line with what other professional clubs operate which is 4-5 training session a week. It seems Maidenhead are one of a few who are adopting the ‘hybrid’ model or the transition from part to full time. There can’t be many fully part time clubs left in the National this season?

[Reading Rebel]

32 minutes ago, GlenSTFC said:

I’d constitute full time as being your only source of income. Training you’d expect to fall in line with what other professional clubs operate which is 4-5 training session a week. It seems Maidenhead are one of a few who are adopting the ‘hybrid’ model or the transition from part to full time. There can’t be many fully part time clubs left in the National this season?

There might be some more but the only one I know for certain will be Woking.

I think you're right.

It might have been the Dulwich chairman who talked about going full time with this 'hybrid' model of full time training i.e. 3 mornings a week but also having players who are classed as part time because they are still employed elsewhere. 

  

Edited June 10, 2019 by Reading Rebel

[Curtis]

On 08/06/2019 at 10:51, Curtis said:

I am surprised Ebbsfleet United don’t appear to have come under any pressure when there have been numerous reports of late payments to players, outstanding payments for their training ground, winding up orders from HMRC, and their annual accounts being significantly overdue at Companies House...... all despite having a multi-million pound owner.

Ebbsfleet United have eventually filed their accounts for the season ending May 2018..... more than three months late, signed on 4th June, filed with Companies House on 7th June, and publicly available 13th June.

These accounts show they made a loss of £2.6 million in their first season in the Conference Premier, and the auditors have expressed:-

‘The audit evidence available to us to confirm the appropriateness of preparing the financial statements on a going concern basis was limited because the directors have been unable to provide sufficient evidence that the company is able to continue to trade as a going concern.’

Was this not raised or mentioned at all at the Conference AGM?

Has no requirement been placed on Ebbsfleet to provide a bond to ensure there are funds available if their owner stops financially supporting them or paying the debts (which was placed on Gateshead last season)?

And was there no mention at all of setting any financial fair play regulations in the Conference? Please note : in the season Ebbsfleet were promoted from the Conference South (via the play-offs) they made a loss of £1,959,930!! 

[Reading Rebel]

Unbelievably I read somewhere that Ebbsfleet had outgoings in 2018 of 2.1 million with an income of 900k.

 

 

[Big J R]

1 minute ago, Reading Rebel said:

Unbelievably I read somewhere that Ebbsfleet had outgoings in 2018 of 2.1 million with an income of 900k.

 

 

 

I believe that is known as 'Creative Accounting', RR !!

[Irishadrian]

2 hours ago, Big J R said:

 

I believe that is known as 'Creative Accounting', RR !!

BigJR

Bankers call it Deficit Spending ( or did it just rhyme with bankers)

[Curtis]

4 hours ago, Reading Rebel said:

Unbelievably I read somewhere that Ebbsfleet had outgoings in 2018 of 2.1 million with an income of 900k.

 

 

Actually £900k of income, £2.7 million, of player & management costs, and an additional £800k of admin expenses.