Max

[Ian g f]

1 hour ago, Stuntman Mark said:

Unless we can put together a squad to compare with the likes of Dorking, Maidstone, Oxford, Dartford or Ebbsfleet I would say they need to come down, wouldn't you? They are all currently top five teams who either currently charge either the same or less than Slough. As we are often told in pre and post match interviews that there is a huge disparity in the playing budgets of those teams and us, so why should a Slough fan be expected to pay the same as those fans?

Having had the 2019-20 season cut short and been asked to fund an unsuccessful playoff campaign, the Slough fan's reward for a season and a half behind closed doors was a couple of price increases. Not a huge deal for me personally, but for a young family it would have been a very significant amount at a time when many people have lost or changed jobs during the pandemic and priorities will have changed for many families. Many won't have been able to justify a set of season tickets with no guarantee they would be able to see every game with Covid still about.

This is only going to get worse over the next few years with the rising cost of living and an ongoing economic war of attrition with Russia to look forward to. Slough is not an affluent area and has a significantly higher percentage low income families than the national or South East average. 

I really hope the club now realises this mistake and rectifies it over the summer in the absence of extra funds to bolster what is looking a very threadbare squad of which our managers continue to do an excellent job of squeezing the most out of. 

Season tickets are good value for money I think our priced are good value compared to other teams in our league 

[Reading Rebel]

1 hour ago, Stuntman Mark said:

Unless we can put together a squad to compare with the likes of Dorking, Maidstone, Oxford, Dartford or Ebbsfleet I would say they need to come down, wouldn't you? They are all currently top five teams who either currently charge either the same or less than Slough. As we are often told in pre and post match interviews that there is a huge disparity in the playing budgets of those teams and us, so why should a Slough fan be expected to pay the same as those fans?

Having had the 2019-20 season cut short and been asked to fund an unsuccessful playoff campaign, the Slough fan's reward for a season and a half behind closed doors was a couple of price increases. Not a huge deal for me personally, but for a young family it would have been a very significant amount at a time when many people have lost or changed jobs during the pandemic and priorities will have changed for many families. Many won't have been able to justify a set of season tickets with no guarantee they would be able to see every game with Covid still about.

This is only going to get worse over the next few years with the rising cost of living and an ongoing economic war of attrition with Russia to look forward to. Slough is not an affluent area and has a significantly higher percentage low income families than the national or South East average. 

I really hope the club now realises this mistake and rectifies it over the summer in the absence of extra funds to bolster what is looking a very threadbare squad of which our managers continue to do an excellent job of squeezing the most out of. 

The likes of those clubs mentioned can put together a top promotion chasing squad either because they get bigger crowds than us or they are funded by people with money.

It's a tough call, if you lower the prices you hope that it will attract more through the gate to compensate hopefully increasing attendances and bringing in more money.

It could also have the opposite effect where attendances don't increase sufficiently to compensate resulting in a lower budget which will weaken the clubs ability to fund a decent squad. 

I can only speak for myself but I think our season ticket deals are really good value but for some people  paying a lump sum up front will be beyond them.

[3spirit]

5 hours ago, Jon Underwood said:

I have to say I can’t see anything “fishy” or “awkward” about the way Max left. Bakes wrote the statement in a very open way which mentioned the excellent financial offer he had been made and the fact that he was not a regular starter for us (I will comment more on that in a moment) and he also came on here to confirm there was no fallout between us and Max.

Sometimes the timing is just right for a move to happen. We were not looking to let Max go, he wasn’t asking to go, but the approach came out of the blue and when we weighed it up he decided to go.

This is not us calling time on the season, far from it, but the reality is that our results have been significantly better when we have played a narrower shape which doesn’t suit Max. We have played 4 different formations this season, two which accommodate Max (4-4-2 and 4-1-4-1) and two which don’t (4-1-3-2 and 4-3-3).

In the narrower formations we have picked up 31 points from 17 games at an average of 1.82 points per game. If we had that average over our 28 games we’d be in 5th place right now, just above Ebbsfleet!

In the “wider” formations we’ve picked up just 5 points in 11 games, average of 0.45 per game, and we did that over our 28 games we’d be 7/8 points adrift at the bottom of the table!

This is no criticism of Max at all, it’s just a fact that certain systems suit us, our style of play and the vast majority of players within the squad. And this is why we can’t guarantee his starts now which helped him make his decision to go.

 

Jon, I wrote the words 'fishy' and 'awkward' because this morning I couldn't think of the words to describe what I was alluding to. Forgive me it's an age thing,that's my excuse anyway!  ?

You've explained the situation and I'm happy about that, I wasn't trying to undermine you or Neil's article on Slough FC website about Max's leaving, it just puzzled me really as I thought [obviously wrongly] that he would be a player you both would wish to keep, regardless of narrow formations.

As I view him as a handy player to have[squad wise], I don't view him as solely a wide man/winger. In fact I believe there are better more skilful wingers out there but he is by no means an untalented player and is proven at our level. It's a fact that he does deliver a great cross into the box, and because he is strong on the ball and can hold a ball up, I felt that he had potential to move inside and could play further forward and be a fit and healthy alternative to Ben Harris[when he is not available] thus not keeping him on the sidelines.   

[3spirit]

4 hours ago, Stuntman Mark said:

Unless we can put together a squad to compare with the likes of Dorking, Maidstone, Oxford, Dartford or Ebbsfleet I would say they need to come down, wouldn't you? They are all currently top five teams who either currently charge either the same or less than Slough. As we are often told in pre and post match interviews that there is a huge disparity in the playing budgets of those teams and us, so why should a Slough fan be expected to pay the same as those fans?

Having had the 2019-20 season cut short and been asked to fund an unsuccessful playoff campaign, the Slough fan's reward for a season and a half behind closed doors was a couple of price increases. Not a huge deal for me personally, but for a young family it would have been a very significant amount at a time when many people have lost or changed jobs during the pandemic and priorities will have changed for many families. Many won't have been able to justify a set of season tickets with no guarantee they would be able to see every game with Covid still about.

This is only going to get worse over the next few years with the rising cost of living and an ongoing economic war of attrition with Russia to look forward to. Slough is not an affluent area and has a significantly higher percentage low income families than the national or South East average. 

I really hope the club now realises this mistake and rectifies it over the summer in the absence of extra funds to bolster what is looking a very threadbare squad of which our managers continue to do an excellent job of squeezing the most out of. 

I agree with everything you've said here Stuntman Mark, although we fans need to be realistic that the club are in a Catch 22 situation,in the fact that if they put the prices up they may dissuade many fans from coming but without appropriate funding, the budget for quality proven players lessens and that can be another detrimental factor to knowledgable fans of non-league football visiting, too, and further ties the hands of our quality joint managers in being able to operate properly at Conference South level.

My opinion is different to most of the Slough fans I come across,as I would NOT be bothered if we dropped down one league, as long as we were constantly challenging for promotion and wanting to get back to playing in the Conference South, [if this helped the football club and it's current board survive] and the prices came down to reflect that. What I don't want to see happen is the club just being about getting smart deals for unproven youngsters and keeping a threadbare mix of a few experienced hands to get by in this division.

Don't get me wrong I'm well pleased with Slough's team so far this season but with Guy Hollis and now Max Worsfold leaving it doesn't leave me very optimistic that our team is serious about doing anything much in the 12 games we have left. 

Edited March 10, 2022 by 3spirit

[Reading Rebel]

54 minutes ago, 3spirit said:

I agree with everything you've said here Stuntman Mark, although we fans need to be realistic that the club are in a Catch 22 situation,in the fact that if they put the prices up they may dissuade many fans from coming but without appropriate funding, the budget for quality proven players lessens and that can be another detrimental factor to knowledgable fans of non-league football visiting, too, and further ties the hands of our quality joint managers in being able to operate properly at Conference South level.

My opinion is different to most of the Slough fans I come across,as I would NOT be bothered if we dropped down one league, as long as we were constantly challenging for promotion and wanting to get back to playing in the Conference South, [if this helped the football club and it's current board survive] and the prices came down to reflect that. What I don't want to see happen is the club just being about getting smart deals for unproven youngsters and keeping a threadbare mix of a few experienced hands to get by in this division.

Don't get me wrong I'm well pleased with Slough's team so far this season but with Guy Hollis and now Max Worsfold leaving it doesn't leave me very optimistic that our team is serious about doing anything much in the 12 games we have left. 

If we did get relegated and dropped down a level there is no guarantee that we would be 'constantly challenging for promotion', in fact the opposite could happen resulting in a spiral down to div 1.

There's no real chance of a money man coming in so I'm not sure what would change if we were to drop down a division and then managed to get promoted back to the NLS.

[3spirit]

26 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

If we did get relegated and dropped down a level there is no guarantee that we would be 'constantly challenging for promotion', in fact the opposite could happen resulting in a spiral down to div 1.

There's no real chance of a money man coming in so I'm not sure what would change if we were to drop down a division and then managed to get promoted back to the NLS.

RR, there's no guarantees whatever level Slough is at.

I just thought a lower division would be a cheaper way for the club to stay afloat but I don't know if that is true.

What I was getting at, is when teams are battling it out near the top of the division [regardless of level] increases in attendances usually follow. If Slough are struggling to get in/or keep proven players at this current level, then just maybe they could save themselves a few bob and drop lower but be able to match most of the other teams outlays on the calibre of player they can afford.

I don't want Slough to go down but I don't want them 'out of their depth', so to speak, in the National League South.  

[GlenSTFC]

1 hour ago, Reading Rebel said:

If we did get relegated and dropped down a level there is no guarantee that we would be 'constantly challenging for promotion', in fact the opposite could happen resulting in a spiral down to div 1.

There's no real chance of a money man coming in so I'm not sure what would change if we were to drop down a division and then managed to get promoted back to the NLS.

I feel if we got relegated it’ll be very difficult to get promotion back to this level and we certainly wouldn’t have a top 5 budget as there are some very well backed teams at step 3 (including Bracknell who are odds on to get promoted to step 3). Yes it’s likely we’re not going to challenge for promotion unless something drastically changes at the club but I’d rather stay at this level and the odd cup run than get relegated and compete more.

[GlenSTFC]

6 hours ago, Stuntman Mark said:

Unless we can put together a squad to compare with the likes of Dorking, Maidstone, Oxford, Dartford or Ebbsfleet I would say they need to come down, wouldn't you? They are all currently top five teams who either currently charge either the same or less than Slough. As we are often told in pre and post match interviews that there is a huge disparity in the playing budgets of those teams and us, so why should a Slough fan be expected to pay the same as those fans?

Having had the 2019-20 season cut short and been asked to fund an unsuccessful playoff campaign, the Slough fan's reward for a season and a half behind closed doors was a couple of price increases. Not a huge deal for me personally, but for a young family it would have been a very significant amount at a time when many people have lost or changed jobs during the pandemic and priorities will have changed for many families. Many won't have been able to justify a set of season tickets with no guarantee they would be able to see every game with Covid still about.

This is only going to get worse over the next few years with the rising cost of living and an ongoing economic war of attrition with Russia to look forward to. Slough is not an affluent area and has a significantly higher percentage low income families than the national or South East average. 

I really hope the club now realises this mistake and rectifies it over the summer in the absence of extra funds to bolster what is looking a very threadbare squad of which our managers continue to do an excellent job of squeezing the most out of. 

For argument’s sake say we get 600 fans at £15 each (£9,000). If we reduced the price to £12 we’d need 750 fans just to get the same money in and I don’t think that would happen currently. So for me it’s no financial sense for the club to reduce the ticket price. Plus as others have stated the season ticket price is very good.

[Reading Rebel]

SM's point is that our admission prices are the same or higher than the top 5 clubs in our division but our budget is far less so why should we as Slough fans be expected to pay the same admission prices as fans of those clubs.

Most of those clubs either get far higher attendances than us or are bankrolled by people at the club which enables them to keep their prices down and still have vastly superior budgets.

We are not in that fortunate position but even so the club are still doing their bit by introducing special offers like the couple of quid off if you buy a ticket in advance or the kids go free initiative.

 

Edited March 10, 2022 by Reading Rebel

[Curtis]

14 hours ago, GlenSTFC said:

as others have stated the season ticket price is very good.

I paid £195 for my season ticket, that’s about £9.50 a match, which I think is a very good price for this level (concessions were £145, and students £80).

I am sure Shredding will come up with a much better estimate than me, but I would think if you mix season tickets and full match day prices the average ticket price for league matches is about £10 per person. If attendances average 700 for 20 matches that is £140,000, which isn’t much of a wage budget for a squad of 18 players.

If those numbers are anywhere near correct it highlights just how important revenue from the FA Cup is, with not only prize money but also the 50% of all paying gate revenues. The Club has done remarkably well in several seasons, and the ones where it has reached the 1st or 2nd round have possibly contributed as much as an additional £50,000 those seasons.

This season unfortunately we exited at the first hurdle, and when that happens (and it only takes a difficult draw or an off day for it to happen) it will become a very financially challenging season that will be more about mid to lower table than play off places.

Apologies if that sounds boring but I think that is the reality of a club our size that has chosen to be a community & fan based club as opposed to being owned by a wealthy individual or group.

[3spirit]

20 minutes ago, Curtis said:

I paid £195 for my season ticket, that’s about £9.50 a match, which I think is a very good price for this level (concessions were £145, and students £80).

I am sure Shredding will come up with a much better estimate than me, but I would think if you mix season tickets and full match day prices the average ticket price for league matches is about £10 per person. If attendances average 700 for 20 matches that is £140,000, which isn’t much of a wage budget for a squad of 18 players.

If those numbers are anywhere near correct it highlights just how important revenue from the FA Cup is, with not only prize money but also the 50% of all paying gate revenues. The Club has done remarkably well in several seasons, and the ones where it has reached the 1st or 2nd round have possibly contributed as much as an additional £50,000 those seasons.

This season unfortunately we exited at the first hurdle, and when that happens (and it only takes a difficult draw or an off day for it to happen) it will become a very financially challenging season that will be more about mid to lower table than play off places.

Apologies if that sounds boring but I think that is the reality of a club our size that has chosen to be a community & fan based club as opposed to being owned by a wealthy individual or group.

The trouble is Curtis not everyone can afford the outlay of £195 quid in one hit. Everyone's situation is different but it's a fact, there are a lot of people experiencing financial woes right now,what with Covid,fuel increases,food prices, everything seemingly going up ! 

I think anyone who has followed Slough Town FC for a number of years want what's best for the club, and because the Slough fans have been spoilt with such a good chairman and owner as Steve Easterbrook, it is often hard to decipher where our club is in terms of stability,budgets,finances keeping the club going,sponsorship etc. When we lose players like Max Worsfold, and see players like Guy Hollis and Dan Roberts sign for big teams in our division,it comes as no surprise that fans will question, what the current club set up and our managers, are doing.

Personally, I couldn't careless whether the club is a community fan based club, or a club owned by a wealthy individual or group, as long as the club functions in any honest,transparent way and keeps fans in the loop with what the set up is, and 'can ride the waves to stay afloat' and function as a proper football club.

Being back in the town of Slough has been a long time coming, and having the council own the ground has made our club a totally different concept to what it has been over the years,so of course,questions are always going to be forthcoming around what the club is about now.

[GlenSTFC]

Problem is the club has no assets so what’s really in it for any investor unless they’re already a fan like Steve was. So the only way to increase revenue are cup runs, larger attendances and commercial income. I doubt any club includes a cup run in their budgets (well it’ll be very unwise if they did!). So unfortunately we’re stuck in a rut in a way as we don’t have the finances to sustain a real promotion push but our managers put together a good enough squad not to get relegated. 

Edited March 11, 2022 by GlenSTFC

[3spirit]

2 minutes ago, GlenSTFC said:

Problem is the club has no assets so what’s really in it for any investor unless they’re already a fan like Steve was. So the only way to increase revenue are cup runs, larger attendances and commercial income. I doubt any club includes a cup run in their budgets (well it’ll be very unwise if they did!). So unfortunately we’re stuck in a rut in a way as we don’t have the finances to sustain a real promotion push but our managers put together a good enough squad not to get relegated. 

In some ways Bakes and Unders are too good in knowing their onions about players and keeping a team in the division. I think the club's problems will escalate if they leave. It's not unsurmountable but get the wrong appointment and Slough could tumble back down the divisions.

[Reading Rebel]

Not sure I'd put it as 'stuck in a rut' Glen.

We're still playing at a high level of non league football and in most instances competing well and in some cases beating the sides who have the bigger budgets.

It's obvious that covid has knocked our progress as far as our finances/aspirations go.

We were progressing nicely with attendance increasing to around the 800+ mark and now after 2+ years of covid they are around the 600 mark.

As 3spirit say's on top of covid we now have a cost of living crisis with peoples finances stretched to the limit and forecast to get even worse with no end in sight.

Looking at things in the cold light of day and considering all the circumstances I think we should all be thankful that we are still competing at this level of football.

  

[GlenSTFC]

22 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

Not sure I'd put it as 'stuck in a rut' Glen.

We're still playing at a high level of non league football and in most instances competing well and in some cases beating the sides who have the bigger budgets.

It's obvious that covid has knocked our progress as far as our finances/aspirations go.

We were progressing nicely with attendance increasing to around the 800+ mark and now after 2+ years of covid they are around the 600 mark.

As 3spirit say's on top of covid we now have a cost of living crisis with peoples finances stretched to the limit and forecast to get even worse with no end in sight.

Looking at things in the cold light of day and considering all the circumstances I think we should all be thankful that we are still competing at this level of football.

  

Not questioning the level, just our finances will dictate we’re a mid table club for a while until something drastic changes which doesn’t appear likely anytime soon.

[Irishadrian]

I notice that Dorking Wanderers have announced that season ticket prices for 2022/2023 will be frozen at current prices if booked before 31 March.

[Reading Rebel]

1 hour ago, Irishadrian said:

I notice that Dorking Wanderers have announced that season ticket prices for 2022/2023 will be frozen at current prices if booked before 31 March.

I suppose they call that making hay while the sun shines.

[Shredding Green]

On 10/03/2022 at 15:46, 3spirit said:

I agree with everything you've said here Stuntman Mark, although we fans need to be realistic that the club are in a Catch 22 situation,in the fact that if they put the prices up they may dissuade many fans from coming but without appropriate funding, the budget for quality proven players lessens and that can be another detrimental factor to knowledgable fans of non-league football visiting, too, and further ties the hands of our quality joint managers in being able to operate properly at Conference South level.

My opinion is different to most of the Slough fans I come across,as I would NOT be bothered if we dropped down one league, as long as we were constantly challenging for promotion and wanting to get back to playing in the Conference South, [if this helped the football club and it's current board survive] and the prices came down to reflect that. What I don't want to see happen is the club just being about getting smart deals for unproven youngsters and keeping a threadbare mix of a few experienced hands to get by in this division.

Don't get me wrong I'm well pleased with Slough's team so far this season but with Guy Hollis and now Max Worsfold leaving it doesn't leave me very optimistic that our team is serious about doing anything much in the 12 games we have left. 

Obviously you wrote this before the Maidstone United match.

Bath City and Dulwich Hamlet away ... a very critical two matches. Four points would keep the season open ... and then there is Eastbourne Borough at home on 
Saturday 9th April. A study of the National League South table that evening might be interesting.  

[Shredding Green]

On 11/03/2022 at 09:05, Curtis said:

I paid £195 for my season ticket, that’s about £9.50 a match, which I think is a very good price for this level (concessions were £145, and students £80).

I am sure Shredding will come up with a much better estimate than me, but I would think if you mix season tickets and full match day prices the average ticket price for league matches is about £10 per person. If attendances average 700 for 20 matches that is £140,000, which isn’t much of a wage budget for a squad of 18 players.

If those numbers are anywhere near correct it highlights just how important revenue from the FA Cup is, with not only prize money but also the 50% of all paying gate revenues. The Club has done remarkably well in several seasons, and the ones where it has reached the 1st or 2nd round have possibly contributed as much as an additional £50,000 those seasons.

This season unfortunately we exited at the first hurdle, and when that happens (and it only takes a difficult draw or an off day for it to happen) it will become a very financially challenging season that will be more about mid to lower table than play off places.

Apologies if that sounds boring but I think that is the reality of a club our size that has chosen to be a community & fan based club as opposed to being owned by a wealthy individual or group.

The calculations in your estimate seem about right to me.

It is also good for you to point out in your final paragraph "that is the reality of a club of our size that has chosen to be a community & fan based club as opposed to being owned by a wealthy individual or group". That shows that you understand the situation. 

Edited March 13, 2022 by Shredding Green

[Reading Rebel]

The only question I have is did we 'choose' to be a community and fan based club as opposed to being owned by a wealthy individual group or was it a fait accompli?