Financials

[Guest]

The recent post suggesting that Joe Baker might be earning something in the region of £350 to £450 a week playing for Billericay got me thinking.

 

I'd always assumed that players at this level were pretty much playing for expenses and maybe a few quid for their troubles. I had no idea there was that sort of money it (I woudn't have thought some 3rd division clubs pay their players much more than that). Am I right in thinking that all of the players are also holding down day jobs? What about Calder and Borg - are they full-time?

 

I'm not suggesting this figure is wrong. I asked someone who knows a few non-league players, and they reckoned that a couple of C*nv*y players were pulling down £300 a week a couple of years ago.

 

If we assume that Billericay earn £5K from each home game (assuming each one of the approx. 500 fans buys a burger and a programme), how can they afford to be dishing out that sort of money? Is the Chairman some Jack Walker type, or are there sizeable contributions from sponsors etc?

 

I'm obviously not expecting someone who knows all about the clubs accounts to spill the whole beans here, but I'd be interested to get a feel for how the club is financed, and what the major incomings versus outgoings are.

 

Cheers.

[Simon BTFC]

Sad to say but it is rapidly approaching the point where £3-400 quid is becoming average in our league - Stafford Browne was rumoured to be on £650pw at Grays. Not all the players have day jobs although I reckon most players that have played at this level for a while do. One of the reasons suggested for Joe's downturn in form last season was that he got a job for the first time since joining the club.

 

Other than the gate which you mentioned major incomings (these would be true for any club at this level) would include (in no particular order):

 

Bar takings

Sponsorship ie Faurecia

BTSA contributions

FA Cup prize money

Hire of the facilities for Partys etc

 

Outgoings:

Wage Bill

Tax

Rent and associated monies to the council

Plus all the usual running costs - electricity etc

 

In addition at Billericay there are incomings and outgoings associated with the Chelmsford groundshare. They pay us rent, the council take a cut.

 

I think it is fair to say that the Directors are not Jack Walker types in disguise - certainly not compared to many clubs - which makes the contribution made by BTSA doubly important.

 

 

[Ryan.c]

unfortunatly the greed that exists from Premiership players has filtered down to our level. Canveys wage bill is rumoured to be greater than that of Southends. Hornchurch have been dishing the dosh also with some players alledgedly earning near the £1,000 mark. And I'll think you'll find the average 3rd division player earns well in excess of £1,500, which is why some clubs shat themselves when the ITV Digital money when tits up

[Simon BTFC]

After Kingstonian and StAlbans had spells in Administration last year I think it's fair to say that there are more than a few clubs who will be heading that way soon. Those clubs in our division who failed to get through their FA cup ties last weekend will be very worried indeed I would imagine.......

[c'mon ricay]

ahh rod morre jack walker type dont think so

[pc27]

Apart from how much the players earn, i would like to know how much we pay for our new players. The club programme should be the clubs voice to the fans but i get 90% of my info from this forum. I feel sorry for those supporters who dont have access to a pc, it takes them a game or two to figure out who is who and they dont get the chance to enjoy the anticipation of seeing a new signing in action.

So how much to we pay in transfer fees? i know we pick up a lot of players out of contract. Im sure martin carthy was not a free, so how much did we pay for him? and also how comes we are never told this by the club? if gate receipts are the bulk of the income then apart from giving us the opportunity to watch the team we are also contributing to funding the club, surely the club should therefore be providing us with more information as to the movements of players and at what price they are costing us.

I heard a rumor that Carthy cost us 5grand, anyone else know if this accurate?

[Simon BTFC]

Two good points raised by PC27

1) Informing fans of new signings. If you take the signing of Adedeji as a typical example, I received an email from Gary Calder wednesday morning informing me that he had completed the signing of Adedeji the previous night. (I believe somebody from the club had travelled to the C*nv*y match that evening to get his signature). I expect the Echo, Gazette and Programme editor were also informed at the same time. The echo ran the story during the week, not sure on the Gazette as I believe their publishing deadline may have changed recently. I imagine there will be something in the Braintree programme on saturday week but by then it is old news. Gary doesn't anounce signings until they're confirmed because it's easy to get burned by players - look at what happened with Colin Simpson a little while back. It's not uncommon for signings to only be confirmed on the evening before they make their debut - the programme has already been long since produced by then.

 

2) Transfer fees. It is very rare for clubs at this level to announce transfer fees and we are no different in this respect. Given that it is very much a "club's market" at the moment with a few hundred players out of work I would be VERY surprised if many (if any) of the current squad commanded transfer fees.