A stark but honest letter

[Hempstead Gaz]

Appeared in this week's distorter.

Clearly the author is a lifelong fan, with his heart firmly on Fleet's side.

Like some (or many) of us, he has been through the crisis of the early 1980's and can see the warning signs of it happening again.

Let us hope the board respond with the openness requested.

For those who haven't seen the letter, here it is:

 

"It has become apparent over the last few months that all is not well at Gravesend and Northfleet FC.

 

This has been confirmed with the mass exodus of players from Stonebridge Road.

 

At the time of writing this letter the club has no chairman, no club sponsor, no tenants to ground share, the reserve team has been scrapped and the manager's wage budget has been slashed which is going to result in a team of poorly paid kids taking to the field next season.

 

You do not have to be a genius to work out we are a club in crisis.

 

During the club's first three years at the pinnacle of non-league football (1979-1982) a combination of ego, vanity, bad decisions at board and managerial level, and what is now termed 'living the dream' left the club on the verge of extinction.

 

It took the club's relegation and the departure of the main players in that sorry saga to expose just how close to the brink the club was.

 

It took 20 years travelling the many and varied back waters of the non-league world before we returned to the Conference. The club's supporters do not want to go there again.

 

If the club's plight is as bad as most supporters fear, now is the time for you the board to come clean and tell the supporters exactly what is going on. It will be too late when we are relegated at the end of next season. Talk of new stadiums, name changes, the Football League, play-offs and the LDV Trophy can wait for another time.

 

Now is the time to act so the supporters, both through the trust and as individuals can get behind the club and help raise the funds which are desperately needed to preserve our hard won Conference status.

 

The supporters do not want this club to be the next Canvey Island. Please do not repeat the mistakes of the past, there may not be a Lionel Ball to come to the rescue this time. "

 

Obviously, Jason has been appointed Chairman, but the remaining points are salient.

[Stu M]

I'd expect points two and three to be cleared up before August as well.

[Slartibartfast]

What a load of ill-informed [****!!****] sniping at the club some of us love. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

It is slanted to make people believe that Brian, Victor Gladwish, the tennants and the players have all left due to a crisis at Stonebridge road.

Brian has not gone anywhere, he is still the major shareholder, he is still on the board, he is still working for the club.

Victor Gladwish made it very clear that his pulling out of non-league football was not due to anything we had done.

Dartford were always going to leave when their new ground was ready ( <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/applaus.gif" alt="" /> Dartford council) but as far as I am aware Charlton ladies are still around.

There has not been a mass exodus of players, the club has not offered new contracts to the players they did not want to keep, You and I may not agree with their choice but it is the clubs choice. As I understand it Bobby Bowry was the only player that has left of his own volition and that was to take up a coaching position, understandable at his age.

If there is any validity at all in the letter it is the reference to reduced budgets, that is due to poor support and is easily resolved...go out and buy a season ticket.

As for the Canvey Island remark it is typical of some of the ridiculous comments posted on this forum by idiots who would rather moan about the club than get behind them. Canvey got into trouble because they were entirely dependant on the largesse of one (large) man who walked away from them. Perhaps you could explain exactly who that one man is at Gravesend and Northfleet.

[FleetFanatic]

How has the reserve team been scrapped?

 

For years, the reserve matches have been a mixture of 1st teamers, triallists and youth.

[Drummer Scott]

I heard towards the end of last season that they were thinking of scrapping our reserves. Could be financialy or just because of too many games in a season!

 

Hopefully they will not scrap our PASE set up as this has some young and upcoming talent in it.

[Fleet4Ever]

I don't feel we should scrap anything. If I've said it once I've said it a million times, our only two downfalls are the management and the supporters. A sponser will come along, as will ground tennants. As Slarti said above..BUY A SEASON TICKET!!

[jc]

Quote:

Slartibartfast said:
What a load of ill-informed [****!!****] sniping at the club some of us love.

A slightly harsh response perhaps, Slarti, but generally your reply to this letter makes some very good points.

There are some legitimate concerns in the letter, and it is certainly true that public reassurance from the Board regarding the Club's finances would be welcome, but I'm sure that fans of Exeter and Cambridge United (and City for that matter), amongst many others, would find it a bit rich for the Fleet to be described as 'a club in crisis'. The Canvey comparison is indeed invalid too.

[Fleet4Ever]

Hopefully they will not scrap our PASE set up as this has some young and upcoming talent in it.

 

This is true. Within 2/3 years time we should hopefully have 6/7 home grown players in the first team.

Only 1 of the few positives still running at the club.

[Drummer Scott]

So are our reserves officialy scrapped then?