A question for all Slough Town FC supporters

[Rebel_Glen]

Who would be willing to donate a fixed amount per week to subsidise the running of the club? How much would you commit to and what would you want the cash to go towards? (i.e. playing budget, marketing, developing community links etc...)

[Reading Rebel]

I think at this present time any donations by supporters should be specifically used for the playing budget until the january deadline for the new ground.

 

As far as I'm aware If we get the go ahead for the new ground then the new 'consortium' will fund the club.

 

In the meantime I think it is imperative that we continue to pay the players what they have been promised otherwise another exodus could be on the cards and I fear the club could be on the slippery slope to oblivion.

 

 

[Barry Scott]

well if this new consortium can fund a ground, why can't they put a bit towards the playing budget now?

[HorshamRebel]

Another ways to donate fixed amounts per week are :

 

 

If you are a season ticket holder, pay at the gate.

Pay the full amount if you are on a concession entry.

 

Go and see Roger with £5 on home games and join the Barmy Army.

 

Buy more 50/50 tickets

 

As to where it goes. It needs to be used to keep the playing and coaching staff.

 

Other ways to donate money :

 

Sponsor the players - Yes I know the one you sponsor might leave, but it is still money to the club, and you can move players.

 

Sponsor a game or ball

 

Be a mascot

 

Get your company to be a club sponsor

 

 

There are lots of ways already that we fans can help out on the money side for the club. I'm not knocking the fixed amount per week donation, I think it coud be a good idea. I'm just saying that there are ways already.

 

 

 

[brighton_rebel]

Gary's right there is already lots of ways to help.

This is the article i wrote that will be published in the Newport programme.

 

SKINT

 

How much does it cost to run a football club at Slough Town’s level? Now Martyn Deaners has gone, so has his money, so who is paying the bills?

 

While we have a much better deal at Beaconsfield, it still costs £400 a game for hire and hospitality. And while are gates are hovering just over the 200 mark, 84 of those are season ticket holders who have paid up front and then there’s the complimentaries.

 

With a reduced wage bill this has meant younger players coming into the squad and most would agree that’s a very good thing. It’s great to see youth team coach and local lad Tony Thompson at games. They are the future of the club and anyone who says you can’t win anything with just local players should get a history lesson from the Terry Reardon side of the eighties.

 

So how can you help? As Alan Harding points out “On the finance front with the loss of Martyn Deaner and obviously with a groundshare agreement the Club has very limited resources in regards to income, and contrary to some popular belief, securing sponsorship from local companies is NOT an easy task, and never has been - even when we have been top of the Conference league! However the football management committee have put together a highly professional brochure, which in itself deserves a response.

 

“Hopefully if the new stadium gets planning approval, this might be the positive bandwagon that the Club needs for local business to jump onto. In the meantime however we have to rely on grass roots industry. In that respect you cannot underestimate the importance of supporter contributions on and above their admission fees. So far this season every match (bar one) has been sponsored by supporters, either as individuals or collectively (i.e The Barmy Army). Every supporter has his/her own financial restraints that has to be respected, but just small contributions can accumulate into decent revenue. i,e Kit sponsorship, as little as £10 for socks (a total of £2000 can be achieved from all kit items for players being sponsored).

Sponsor a Goal. In the event of a miracle that Slough score 100 goals this season, somebody pledging 10p a goal would only pay £10 over the entire season, but this scheme has brought in over a thousand in previous seasons. Fifty-Fifty Draw on matchdays for £1 per ticket, another way people can contribute with a chance of winning some money.”

 

While I don’t want to mention the C word, now is the time to start selling Christmas raffle tickets. Maybe you could help Alan and the gang to flog some before the game or help them with the 50/50 draw?

 

Then there’s the buy at scheme, where you can shop on line with a percentage going to the club. So far this has raised over £400.

 

Maybe you’ve got some old programmes lying around. Donate them to Sue at the clubshop so she can flog them and raise some cash. And if you get a complimentary ticket, well maybe stick it in the bin and pay at the gate!

 

If you’re not feeling financially flushed, why not help out on match days. If you read Alan Harding’s ‘Getting to Know’ piece in the programme you’ll see there’s always plenty of work that needs doing on matchdays (mind you i don’t think you’ll be seeing supporters moving sand onto the pitch at Beaconsfield like we did at Windsor last season).

 

Just how hard it is to get local companies on board can be seen by the fact that of 308 letters sent out, so far only there has been only five responses. Four of which said no while just one said they would consider it. Despite the offer of complimentary tickets for a match if they brought the letter, none have taken up that option either. So maybe you know a local company that you could approach as it’s much more likely to get support with a personal touch.

 

It’s our club and the more of us that get involved the stronger it becomes. With a new ground on the horizon there has never been a more important time to get involved and build a new, improved Slough Town community football club.

 

 

* If you want to get involved in match days speak to Alan Harding, Mike Lightfoot or Chris Sliski

* If you want to donate regularly to the Barmy Army see Roger behind the goal – a fiver for every home game you attend.

* If you want more information on the buy it scheme go to http://www.buy.at/sloughtownfc

 

[HorshamRebel]

Just by walking around town in a Slough shirt could help. The old "Out of Site - Out of Mind" situation.

 

And don't forget the local pubs....Warren and myself have already spoken to the Alpha and Herschel, both showing an interest.

[Rebel_Glen]

We all work for companies don't we? So we should all be getting some sort of sponsorship from our workplaces, even if your boss is a right tight *@&$! surely sponsoring a players shirt for £50 could be done? I've asked my boss and he said he will and I'll chase him up later today. Just think if every regular fan got a minimum £25 sponsorship from their work, multiply that by 200 and you've got £5,000 straight away. One thing we lack in the matchday programme is adverts, Maybe we need to offer companies that our supporters work for a special deal like £25 per quarter page advert? Speak to you bosses today and see what we can do.

[HorshamRebel]

 

Using an average gate of 200 from the Slough support side.

 

If everyone bought 1 50/50 ticket, that is £100 to the club, and £100 to the winner.

 

At the moment I think Alan is collecting around £60-£90 going by the announcements at half time stating what the winnings are.

[Rebel_Glen]

Ok you've sold me I'll buy a 50/50 ticket on Saturday now we need everyone else to do the same! It's a shame we couldn't do some sort of deal with Beaconsfield SYCOB FC regarding bar and catering. Even if we only got a 25% cut it all adds up. Could we get a page in the programme with just pub adverts? It's been done in alot of programme where a pub pays say £50 for an eighth page ad. So 8x£50 = £400. Most of us have a local, can we all ask our landlords about this? Think about it £50 for the whole season (well not quite whole season...) works out at about £3 per game!

[HorshamRebel]

Thought I'd wear you down.

 

The Pub page is a very good idea.

 

In return, we can give them the space in the programme, and a fixture list and/or a calendar for them to put in their bar.

 

That way the pub's locals will know when we have a game on. If they decide to put them up.

 

I have just printed off a few 50/50 posters to stick around the ground on match days, if our hosts are Ok with it.

 

 

[charlie]

I've been sat thinking about this for a while and my problem is that a) i work in London so nobody at my company has heard of Slough Town FC, let alone fancies shelling out for them and i can't afford to give any more money than i already do....

 

however, i may have come up with a plan. Children in Need is coming up (November 16th) and the game before that is away to Uxbridge...

remembering how successful the walks are and knowing that people are more willing to give money to a cause they recognise, what would people think of a 8mile walk to uxbridge with the money being split between the football players wages/club and children in need?

 

This is just an idea at the moment but I'd be interested to know what people think?

[BFR]

I'm guessing that as we're discussing things in these terms that things are really hitting the fan financially at the moment.

 

Glen, no not everybody works for a company. Of the 200 you can probably knock off a third in terms of schoolkids, students and oaps. Add to that people who work in public sector jobs for who sponsorship is not possible and you're probably nearer to 100.

 

As for the other suggestions, you're still probably only looking at 100 with disposable income, many of whom will be buying the 50/50 tickets, chipping in with the barmy army, buying merchandise, attending Trust events, drinks, food etc. Your average Slough Town fan does not have bottomless pockets and while I appreciate that we seem to be at the point now where we have no income other than through the supporters, there is only so much the supporters can give.

 

Cutting all ties with Deaner may have been a good idea from the point of view of the Arbor Vale site proposal, but you don't chop off the hand that feeds you, albeit intermittently, until you have another source for feeding. The club appears to be in a limbo state where it is living on a prayer, hopeful that this Jayne Bradbury backed bid will be accepted, but there are certainly no guarantees of that and it could be months or even years before any deal is done.

 

How long before Roy is knocking at the door of the Trust, asking them to support the playing side? Taking the figure from the accounts at the AGM, the Trust may be able to support the side for maybe two or three months, but then what use is the Trust when their reserves run out?

 

I'd be very interested to know how much cash (if any) Thames Valley Sports Ltd has put into the club this season

[Amber Rebel]

i agree that many people cant afford to contribute more

but i have to say that i would feel more confident about contributing if the ownership was transfered to the trust and that the club was owned and run by the trust maybe along similar lines of Enfield town, i really worry about relying on wealthy individuals who can pull the plug at any time or if they are loyal then their sibblings might not as we found to our cost.

Being run by the trust would be hard and success may take a long time but at least it is sustainable,what do people think ?

surely if it is to happen then now is the right time or does it make it difficult in regards to the ground development.

 

[Barry Scott]

Originally Posted By: charliethomas

I've been sat thinking about this for a while and my problem is that a) i work in London so nobody at my company has heard of Slough Town FC, let alone fancies shelling out for them and i can't afford to give any more money than i already do....

however, i may have come up with a plan. Children in Need is coming up (November 16th) and the game before that is away to Uxbridge...
remembering how successful the walks are and knowing that people are more willing to give money to a cause they recognise, what would people think of a 8mile walk to uxbridge with the money being split between the football players wages/club and children in need?

This is just an idea at the moment but I'd be interested to know what people think?

you had me up until you mentioned player wages as no-one in their right mind is going to give up any money for footballers wages.

[Amber Rebel]

i think even though non-league wages are nothing like league salaries, i think people would be turned off,it could give bad publicity to the game,the idea is good but maybe the money given to some other area within the club maybe a club sponsered charity like a hospice or something

[charlie]

fair enough - this goes back to glen's point of where in the club supporters would be happy to see the money going. If the money doesn't go towards the paying of staff and players, where should it go?

paying for our rent to beaconsfield is certainly one option i could think of as I don't think anyone begrudges them?

[Tom]

Don't forget www.buy.at/sloughtownfc over £300 has been raised for the club using this scheme.

[brighton_rebel]

I don't anyone expects supporters to have to fork out if they haven't got the money. Graham the club needs your big booming voice just as much as your pennies! In the article Alan Harding says that not everyone can contribute financially, but there are other ways to help out, such as selling the Christmas Raffle tickets on match days at the moment. And while not everyone will be in a position to approach employers or even have one, we all use local shops and pubs and they could be given a brochure if you know them well. I don't want to keep banging on about match posters but it would be great to have these to give out to various places as well.

As for the sponsored walk idea Charlie, i personally think its a lot of work for a one off event and if we do too many of them people get bored. I think the Trust should look at getting small grants to put on events, such as the Lottery Awards for All. They funded an event Dulwich supporters put on.

I think if we could somehow between us raise the extra money to cover all the rent expenses each week that would really help out.

I've already asked someone about helping towards the Barmy Army and they said they will, they just didn't know about it beforehand.

 

 

[Sue]

We knew about the barmy army but didnt know how it worked (if that makes sense. Anyway I think Aidan is up for that.

[charlie]

Warren - if you've any idea how to start with the Lottery Awards thing could you tell me about it on Saturday? I know you've mentioned it before but i wasn't really in a position to help back then...

will have a quick google on the matter now...