Good Or Bad Idea?

[GarySTFC]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/g/gravesend_and_northfleet/7089473.stm

[Chris]

Well it would have worked on Saturday to bring Landy or Miller on!

[Rebel_Glen]

Bad idea in that 20,000 people will be disagreeing over decisions but good idea in alot of finance coming into the club.

[Matt]

http://www.conferenceforum.co.uk/cboard.mpl?id=852024

 

They're getting a lot of amusing banter for it already.

 

Personally I think there's something inherently dodgy about the whole thing. It might bring a vast amount of money in one burst, but what if interest wanes season after season? And having that many people make decisions about the club and the team, when hardly any of them will attend Ebbsfleet's games or be Ebbsfleet supporters, cannot be right.

[Tom]

But what happens if alot of fans "running" the club are rivials of the opposing team. Surely that causes some problems.

 

There is a team in Isreal that is kind of similar in that games are broadcast live over the internet and fans of the team can vote on events during the game i.e. subs to bring on etc.

[Staines-upon-Thames Rebel]

300 Slough fans sign up, 3000 Wycombe scum also sign up - good bye Slough Town FC.

 

Is this not what the Trust was set up for?

 

However it is a good way of getting a lot of money quick but the risks are also high as anyone who puts in money wants control.

 

If Slough fans want control of the club, Slough fans have to come up with the money.

 

Start saving hard boys and girls.

[Tom]

I don't think Gary was insinuating we do the same thing.

[Staines-upon-Thames Rebel]

Gary was asking if it was a good or bad idea.

 

Yes it is a good idea to bring money into the club - go on tell Roy he can have £700,000 tommorow and watch him bite your hand off!

 

No it is a bad idea as you risk losing control of the club.

 

Therefore I belive we would need to do something different, as Slough fans want Slough fans to be the ones supporting the club and having a say in how the club functions - not faceless fans (possilby takeover merchants) on a forum who only cough up £35 and expect to be the manager! Or 50% of fans want to play 4,4,2 and the other 50% want 3,5,1,1 - got to be the quickest way of pi$$ing people off and causing divisions which lead to a massive fall off of support - but at least we would have had their money!

[Amber Rebel]

that was one of the main concerns of the supporters trust assoc which said what happens to the club and their genuine fans when the novelty wears off and they dont want to continue to pay their 35 pounds.

 

$700,000 for a name slough town fc is that what you would be buying surely cheaper to buy slough fc or another

[Tom]

Thing is, surely everyone who has paid £35 doesn't get a holding in the club. Only the guys who run www.myfootballclub.co.uk are the people who have the holding?

[Martin]

The set up is that myfootballclub.co.uk own 51% of Ebbsefleet. They have been set up on the trust model so each of the 20,000 members has one share and one vote. So decisions taken by myfootballclub.co.uk are done on a one member one vote basis. The report seems to suggest that they will be able to influence signings and selections. As people say above the concern is what happens when the interest dwindles there are fewer members and a 51% share holding does not lead to a significant financial contribution. I think bad idea.

[Reading Rebel]

My initial thought is that it is an absolutely ludicrous idea.

 

Who are these 20,000 members? who do they support?

 

Only a small proportion can be Ebbsfleet supporters, the rest can be anything from rival supporters to people who just see it as a novelty and have no affection or loyalty for the club.

 

When the novelty wears off can they sell their 1% share to any Tom, Dick or Harry?

 

As for selecting who plays, how many of the 20,000 will actually see them play each week?

 

 

 

 

[Martin]

Well exactly and it is an annual subscription so if they don't spend £35 to renew next year they will cease to be members and the amount in the clubs coffers diminishes. I did see this a while ago when it started up and apparently they were going to have a vote on who to buy. One thing wiht Ebbsfleet is that they don't have many natural rivals and there is a decent fanbase to tap into - I'm surprised they've accepted it given the recent name change and sponsorship with Euro Tunnel I thought they were going to have a real go at building a successful and sustainable club.