Post by Lee Robson on Sept 13, 2012 0:10:00 GMT 1
Rich Benefactor Needed!
dukespiritdukespirit August 14 Permalink
I've spent this evening watching Monmouth Town losing to Cwmbran Celtic 3-1 and then in a follow up meeting in which members of the board had to reluctantly tell the co-managers there were no extra funds available to bring in the players they want to guarantee our survival in what is a very competitive Welsh League Division 1 - £6000 or thereabouts.
If there is a rich and extraordinarily generous five pound football club member out there who has that sort of money, please get in touch - any additional contributions would also be gratefully received.
We also discussed other fund raising ideas. If anyone has any of these, please let me know.
Steve(Hughes)
incoming president, fpfc
Monmouth
email: dukespirit@aol.com
trevorfrancis August 14 Permalink
Hi all,
what is the plan then? 6,000+ GBP could come too late if months go by. Should members renew membership - as an example - for the next 5 seasons right now? Or should everybody pay 10 GBP asap to save the club? 6.000 GBP : 669 members as per today is "only" 9 GBP each. Is there a evaluation of the actual squad in terms of "being up to 1st Div. competition"?
What could be the benefit for members who spend 25 GBP right now? Could they form the "2012-2017 Fan Heroes" and have this on the away shirts until 2016/17?
Best regards,
Chris
dukespiritdukespirit August 14 Permalink
Hi Chris
The team was fantastic last season and don't become bad players overnight, but the game in Welsh League division 1 is tougher and faster. I'm sure they will adapt to it, but my post was really a response to the co-managers' request for £6000 more towards the player budget and our inability as a board to just give it to them.
The board have been working very hard to find sponsorship for games and the away shirt(see separate post) but it's incredibly difficult in the current economic climate for businesses to commit funds.
There could well be a potential rich benefactor within the ranks of five pound football club members, but should others feel like making some sort of donation(perhaps through the club lottery(again see separate post)), then it will be gratefully received.
I know it's possible to set up paypal accounts to raise sums for certain things but I don't want to lean too hard on the members of fpfc, whose support is fantastic in any case.
One of the most important things we need to do is to increase fpfc membership, particularly that of local people, so that we start to get larger crowds and the club itself becomes more sustainable.
We are hoping to get a new stand at some point in the not too distant future and one suggestion was that we sold seats in it to raise extra money.
Off the top of my head, we could also have the names of people making donations in the Match Programme.
It's very early days in the season at the moment and definitely not the time to panic, but equally important that all members are thinking about ways in which they can make a positive contribution to their club.
Steve(Hughes)
incoming president, fpfc
Monmouth
email: dukespirit@aol.com
smudger August 14 Permalink
2 games in.......really? How about working with what you got. 18 months ago we were all told we weren't good enough to get out of division 3!
dukespiritdukespirit August 14 Permalink
Hi Smudger
Don't shoot the messenger - all I can do is respond to the management. I think what I've said about the team is positive. There is pressure from them to bring in 2 or 3 more players, though, and I have to explore ways of making that possible. There is a suggestion that other clubs in Div 1 have a bigger playing budget. Good luck at West End on Saturday
Steve
smudger August 15 Permalink
Hi Steve. Wasn't having a go at all. To be honest most sides in division two and three have larger budgets than ours. But you have to be careful. I could name more than ten clubs that have tried to spend their way out of trouble or to success and it has ruined the club. Many get relegated right back down to div three or out the league completely.
Once that money dries up, the ones that getting paid move on. We all played for nothing last year and have a talented group of players playing at the highest level they have been at.
With hard work at training and a little more structure and guidance I'm sure we'll be fine. We all know we're in for a tough long season.
When we got promoted into division three we had four points at christmas! We ended up 10th of 18
gally2 August 15 Permalink
Hi, I with smudger on this one, the purpose of FPFC is to develop Monmouth Town as a successful, sustainable club. Sustainability is not brought about by increasing player budgets. Sustainability comes from promoting within, local youth players, coaches, staff etc. We have a number of clubs over going or gone to the wall because of player wages. The clubs that gave been turned around are those that have taken good local young players and added them to senior squads. This attracts more local fans and local sponsorship as they are following players they have a relationship with / interest in. Increased player budgets will result in the signing of journeymen that no one wants to go and see play.
As for funds from members, 2 issues
1. No one can tell you where the current funds have gone, who's responsible for it, have they any qualifications / experience and how it is being allocated. Additional funding won't be provided until this is transparent.
2. Members get nothing in return for contributions to date, societies like ours only retain peoples interest on a reward basis, how about something simple like member cards, digital copies of match program's, manager type mugs with members initials on it (drinking from my DFC mug as I type) anything that incorporates members. So far I've received a welcome email from some fella Nick Thompson when I joined and haven't heard another thing since.
Rant over!
dukespiritdukespirit August 15 Permalink
Hi Gally
I completely agree with the successful sustainable club line - that has and will always remain our aim. My post was a response to the co-managers' request for extra funding to spend on specific players they feel would strengthen the squad.
As far as your questions about funds from members:
1.Everything is totally above board - a cheque for £3600 was handed over to the Monmouth Town board earlier in the year and the accounts of the club - which I have seen at the club AGM as the five pound fc representative on the Monmouth Town board - will be published online as soon as I am able to get my head around posting articles on the website - which is why I'm putting most of the information on here at the moment
2.Members will receive membership cards this season if and when they attend matches - on production of which they will get £1 off the entry fee. Digital copies of the programme are available to buy for £1 each in the club store. It would be lovely to produce mugs etc and send them to every member but then we might have to start calling ourselves the ten pound football club in order to fund that and still remain a successful sustainable club.
Hope this answers all your questions
Steve(Hughes)
Monmouth
gally2 August 15 Permalink
Why was the money handed over to the Monmouth board? Then we're no different than a supporters trust. Handing over money to the club to allocate isn't a 50+1 structure. Clubs like schalke that operate this structure properly, their members have a club constitution and have a right to dictate the allocation of funding. We raised money and handed it over with no control as to how it's allocated. It's the same as Monmouth running any other fundraiser, we not members, we donators.
dukespiritdukespirit August 15 Permalink
Hi Gally
What would you have liked fpfc to do with the money, then? Effectively the money is buying shares in the club.As we have only contributed £3600 so far, we only have one fpfc rep on a five person board.With respect this doesn't become a 50+1 situation until we have 3 people on it and have contributed at least £30600 to the club. We are involved in making decisions as I am that fpfc rep. If I feel there is something contentious, I will bring it back to the fpfc members to vote on, but they have now voted me in as president and steve and james as the other 2 members on the fpfc board, so some of that decision making has been delegated to us - often decisions have to be taken quickly and there just isn't time for a vote on the fpfc website.Once the money is handed over to Monmouth Town FC it is for them to do with as they see fit. When we have a majority on the board i.e. 50+1, those decisions will be more fpfc driven.
Incidentally, I posted the information about the Monmouth Town AGM on here and twitter, asking if anyone had anything they wanted me to raise.I got no response.
Steve(Hughes)
Monmouth
gally2 August 15 Permalink
There a number of things wrong with the setup:
1. To be a proper 50+1 structure we need £18,000 which at current take up levels is 5 years away.
2. We are not involved in the decision making process as our 1 can be voted down at all times.
3. These structures are meant to be democratic which it isn't as Nick Thompson (who never appears) recommended who should be voted to the board and the result was as he sought, that's a dictatorial not democratic.
4. The reason you didn't hear anything re the AGM is that there appears to be very few active members, this will be be more evident come renewal time.
This site is effectively a fund raiser that will never hit the £18,000 required to put the structure in place which the FPFC advertises itself on. It should be flagged to would be contributors how far away FPFC is from what it intended to do.
I won't be contributing any further as the whole setup is farcical and should be wound up before any more money is taken from people with nothing in return.
dukespiritdukespirit August 15 Permalink
Hi Gally
I would say ask not what your club can do for you but what you can do for your club, but I suspect whatever I do or say it won't be good enough for you.
I for one am working very hard for both the five pound football club and Monmouth Town FC and will continue to help make them both successful and sustainable.
The fpfc structure does work - we are trying to get more local members so that the attendance at matches increases - and as I said already fpfc members will have discounted entry to matches - and we reach our £30600 earlier than you have predicted.
You can't seriously be suggesting that we should hold sway over the Monmouth Town board with the level of contribution made so far? However, certain votes will be put to fpfc members - such as the recent vote for this year's kit.
I can see you're giving Nostradamus a good run for his money with your predictions but instead of being so negative, why not get more involved. Dictatorial would have been one candidate but everyone had a free choice in the election process - if you want to stand next time, please do.
I haven't even taken over as President of the Five Pound Football Club properly yet, but I am trying to address issues as they arise and liaise with Monmouth Town FC. Your comments are duly noted.
Steve(Hughes)
trevorfrancis August 15 Permalink
Hi Steve,
all right I see more clearly now. We want to reach the majority by paying 18,000 overall. But ownership with a majority of shares means more responsibility than just having 1 vote of 5. What budget is needed to stay in 1st Div.? To advance to WPL can only be done with marketing/sponsor partner. Which amount is needed to get the licence? Has anybody accounted for all the measures needed from security standard/stadium to number of youth teams?
Best regards from hot Cologne
Chris
dukespiritdukespirit August 15 Permalink
Hi Chris
As I posted earlier, the co-managers think another £6000 player budget would go a long way to staying in League 1,and to be fair to them, that is what they asked for to start with, but the Board felt (and still feel) they couldn't afford it.
As far as advancing to the Welsh Premier League, should we be in a position to be promoted, we will basically need a stand alone ground of our own and floodlights - we have been and are still investigating possible sites, but would still need money(possibly some of it grant money) to proceed. We have some sponsorship, but need much more this season for the home match days and the away shirts, which is proving difficult.When we get to the WPL, businesses may be more inclined to sponsor us, equally the playing budget is likely to need to be greater.
This season we've been invited to take part in the Welsh Academy - so our youngsters at u-12,u-14 and u-16 get to play against the academies of the Welsh Premier League sides, which is a fantastic opportunity.
Does this cover what you were asking?
Cheers
Steve
Kingfisher1 August 15 Permalink Edit
Gally has some good points but based on a flawed understandiung of what is actually happeneing here. Understandable maybe given the lack of engagament on this and others issues over the past few months. It's the £5 football club. so called beacuse it is low level and building from the bottom up and very cheap adn affordable. I dare say shalke and lot of German clubs statrted very slowly building the differnet style of democracy which incidentally is probably based on Schalke fans who attend games meetings etc. This is a very different from of 'ownership' when it gets there. The club as it stands is a Communiuty Investmern componay o so so is not wned outright by individuals. The Chairman (me) and Board members are elceted/ratified at Club meetings at the moment and over time by the wider 'online' mememerbship, The FPFC stake will grow over time as will the areas for decision/consultation/debate/etc. but it's a maturing relationship. Meanwhile we still have a football club to run on a day to day, hour by hour basis. We have a strategic plan, whcih included the agreement with FPFC, we have a annual plan, which includes building a thriving FPFC, we have an annual budget, whcih includes a cointribution from FPFC and a growing FPFC memebrship. Is it perfect - no. Will it ever be - no. What's the point? To ensure we have a thriving and successful Monmouth Town FC . Fan/supporter ownership is a means to that sustainable end and one that guarantees the long term ethioc of the club as a community club.
On the broader point - a rich benefactor would be nice
Kingfisher1 August 15 Permalink Edit
Ps my typing is rubbish but you get the drift.
trevorfrancis August 16 Permalink
Superdrifting Kingfisher 1,
absolutely clear. I had to stand up as I read your lines: "50+1", democracy of Schalke (S04) ;-) ... these things are not easy to swallow and maybe too romantic; but anyhow I get your point.
I started a facebook-page to inform German-speaking members and supporters of FCPC. www.facebook.com/pages/Five-Pound-Football-Club-deutschsprachig/258920020894009 (just a starter, I'll get to FPFC board over the weekend to receive support).
Best regards
Chris
Kingfisher1 August 16 Permalink Edit
That's superb Chris...be good if we could develop a deeper understanding of the 50+1 in practice (and the German language at the same time)
weenie August 18 Permalink
Thanks for the comments and clarifications, dukespirit/Steve. I have to say that I very rarely come in here because there are never any updates, eg Elections were announced in June but it's only when I ask about the results is there a reply in August (from you) that you've been voted in, among others!
Regular updates and news on the website is vital if you want people to stay interested, continue renewing their memberships or chip in the extra £s if needed. You never know, some people may be able to help with any issues that you highlight, eg they may have a required expertise (or know someone who can help).
My question re the £18,000 requirement - now that FPFC has paid £3600, does that mean only £14,400 is needed?
dukespiritdukespirit August 18 Permalink
hi weenie
thanks for that. the more we invest, the greater number of seats we will have on the board. yes, the £3600 forms part of that total sum -£30,600 - i've updated the investment fund on the fpfc site this morning and it should now read £5002, so we're getting there!
cheers
steve
dukespiritdukespirit August 18 Permalink
the main thing, though is sustainability - that fpfc members renew their membership every year and Monmouth Town FC can plan ahead for a successful future. i would be delighted if any members with specific expertise or experience get in touch with me.
at the moment our biggest priority is sponsorship - for matches, advertising in programmes, on boards around the pitch and on the front of the away shirt. the board have and are still actively seeking this out, but it would be fantastic if fpfc members also had a go.
steve
nickthompsonnickthompson August 18 Permalink
Evening all,
Just to clarify, we have an agreement with Monmouth Town to buy shares at £600 a share over five seasons. There are 100 shares in total. The aim is to buy 51 shares over the five years. We have six so far, after our first season. We have enough for two more at the moment.
Our community is beginning to build credibility with the club. We have representation on the club board and the board are involving us in key decisions on the club's future. We have to earn their trust, and provide more investment, before we're allowed a bigger say. That's more than fair. We've come a long, long way in one season.
We're helping Monmouth Town develop but to be able to progress, our community has to continue to grow and develop as well. We will make some mistakes along the way, I'm sure, but we're all in it for the right reasons. To develop a successful, sustainable club.
Lee, Mr Chairman, is a credit to the club. Enthusiastic, energetic and loves the game. It's exciting that our democratically elected board will be working with Lee and Tim to help the club, and our community, progress. It'll be an exciting new season - and I'd like to thank you all for being a part of it.
PS gally2 - I don't hide. I answer every email and every tweet. I try to attend a couple of games a season. I'm proud of the Five Pound Football Club - and I'm proud of Monmouth Town. Kingfishers all the way.
dukespiritdukespirit August 18 Permalink
apologies for misleading the forum slightly - as nick says we effectively need to contribute £30,600 to have a controlling interest(i don't know why i had the figure of £18,000 in my head!) - i've adjusted my previous posts to reflect this, but the principle is still the same.
i'd like to thank nick for all the hard work he's done and hope he'll stick around to see it continue to develop successfully over the next few years
steve
Kingfisher1 August 19 Permalink Edit
Thank you for your kind comments and hard work Nick. And everyone's support. It's important that we also remember that this is supposed to fun! So let's have some. solid start to the season, new academy, largest junior section around, developing facilities and fans/owners/all over the world!
dukespiritdukespirit August 14 Permalink
I've spent this evening watching Monmouth Town losing to Cwmbran Celtic 3-1 and then in a follow up meeting in which members of the board had to reluctantly tell the co-managers there were no extra funds available to bring in the players they want to guarantee our survival in what is a very competitive Welsh League Division 1 - £6000 or thereabouts.
If there is a rich and extraordinarily generous five pound football club member out there who has that sort of money, please get in touch - any additional contributions would also be gratefully received.
We also discussed other fund raising ideas. If anyone has any of these, please let me know.
Steve(Hughes)
incoming president, fpfc
Monmouth
email: dukespirit@aol.com
trevorfrancis August 14 Permalink
Hi all,
what is the plan then? 6,000+ GBP could come too late if months go by. Should members renew membership - as an example - for the next 5 seasons right now? Or should everybody pay 10 GBP asap to save the club? 6.000 GBP : 669 members as per today is "only" 9 GBP each. Is there a evaluation of the actual squad in terms of "being up to 1st Div. competition"?
What could be the benefit for members who spend 25 GBP right now? Could they form the "2012-2017 Fan Heroes" and have this on the away shirts until 2016/17?
Best regards,
Chris
dukespiritdukespirit August 14 Permalink
Hi Chris
The team was fantastic last season and don't become bad players overnight, but the game in Welsh League division 1 is tougher and faster. I'm sure they will adapt to it, but my post was really a response to the co-managers' request for £6000 more towards the player budget and our inability as a board to just give it to them.
The board have been working very hard to find sponsorship for games and the away shirt(see separate post) but it's incredibly difficult in the current economic climate for businesses to commit funds.
There could well be a potential rich benefactor within the ranks of five pound football club members, but should others feel like making some sort of donation(perhaps through the club lottery(again see separate post)), then it will be gratefully received.
I know it's possible to set up paypal accounts to raise sums for certain things but I don't want to lean too hard on the members of fpfc, whose support is fantastic in any case.
One of the most important things we need to do is to increase fpfc membership, particularly that of local people, so that we start to get larger crowds and the club itself becomes more sustainable.
We are hoping to get a new stand at some point in the not too distant future and one suggestion was that we sold seats in it to raise extra money.
Off the top of my head, we could also have the names of people making donations in the Match Programme.
It's very early days in the season at the moment and definitely not the time to panic, but equally important that all members are thinking about ways in which they can make a positive contribution to their club.
Steve(Hughes)
incoming president, fpfc
Monmouth
email: dukespirit@aol.com
smudger August 14 Permalink
2 games in.......really? How about working with what you got. 18 months ago we were all told we weren't good enough to get out of division 3!
dukespiritdukespirit August 14 Permalink
Hi Smudger
Don't shoot the messenger - all I can do is respond to the management. I think what I've said about the team is positive. There is pressure from them to bring in 2 or 3 more players, though, and I have to explore ways of making that possible. There is a suggestion that other clubs in Div 1 have a bigger playing budget. Good luck at West End on Saturday
Steve
smudger August 15 Permalink
Hi Steve. Wasn't having a go at all. To be honest most sides in division two and three have larger budgets than ours. But you have to be careful. I could name more than ten clubs that have tried to spend their way out of trouble or to success and it has ruined the club. Many get relegated right back down to div three or out the league completely.
Once that money dries up, the ones that getting paid move on. We all played for nothing last year and have a talented group of players playing at the highest level they have been at.
With hard work at training and a little more structure and guidance I'm sure we'll be fine. We all know we're in for a tough long season.
When we got promoted into division three we had four points at christmas! We ended up 10th of 18
gally2 August 15 Permalink
Hi, I with smudger on this one, the purpose of FPFC is to develop Monmouth Town as a successful, sustainable club. Sustainability is not brought about by increasing player budgets. Sustainability comes from promoting within, local youth players, coaches, staff etc. We have a number of clubs over going or gone to the wall because of player wages. The clubs that gave been turned around are those that have taken good local young players and added them to senior squads. This attracts more local fans and local sponsorship as they are following players they have a relationship with / interest in. Increased player budgets will result in the signing of journeymen that no one wants to go and see play.
As for funds from members, 2 issues
1. No one can tell you where the current funds have gone, who's responsible for it, have they any qualifications / experience and how it is being allocated. Additional funding won't be provided until this is transparent.
2. Members get nothing in return for contributions to date, societies like ours only retain peoples interest on a reward basis, how about something simple like member cards, digital copies of match program's, manager type mugs with members initials on it (drinking from my DFC mug as I type) anything that incorporates members. So far I've received a welcome email from some fella Nick Thompson when I joined and haven't heard another thing since.
Rant over!
dukespiritdukespirit August 15 Permalink
Hi Gally
I completely agree with the successful sustainable club line - that has and will always remain our aim. My post was a response to the co-managers' request for extra funding to spend on specific players they feel would strengthen the squad.
As far as your questions about funds from members:
1.Everything is totally above board - a cheque for £3600 was handed over to the Monmouth Town board earlier in the year and the accounts of the club - which I have seen at the club AGM as the five pound fc representative on the Monmouth Town board - will be published online as soon as I am able to get my head around posting articles on the website - which is why I'm putting most of the information on here at the moment
2.Members will receive membership cards this season if and when they attend matches - on production of which they will get £1 off the entry fee. Digital copies of the programme are available to buy for £1 each in the club store. It would be lovely to produce mugs etc and send them to every member but then we might have to start calling ourselves the ten pound football club in order to fund that and still remain a successful sustainable club.
Hope this answers all your questions
Steve(Hughes)
Monmouth
gally2 August 15 Permalink
Why was the money handed over to the Monmouth board? Then we're no different than a supporters trust. Handing over money to the club to allocate isn't a 50+1 structure. Clubs like schalke that operate this structure properly, their members have a club constitution and have a right to dictate the allocation of funding. We raised money and handed it over with no control as to how it's allocated. It's the same as Monmouth running any other fundraiser, we not members, we donators.
dukespiritdukespirit August 15 Permalink
Hi Gally
What would you have liked fpfc to do with the money, then? Effectively the money is buying shares in the club.As we have only contributed £3600 so far, we only have one fpfc rep on a five person board.With respect this doesn't become a 50+1 situation until we have 3 people on it and have contributed at least £30600 to the club. We are involved in making decisions as I am that fpfc rep. If I feel there is something contentious, I will bring it back to the fpfc members to vote on, but they have now voted me in as president and steve and james as the other 2 members on the fpfc board, so some of that decision making has been delegated to us - often decisions have to be taken quickly and there just isn't time for a vote on the fpfc website.Once the money is handed over to Monmouth Town FC it is for them to do with as they see fit. When we have a majority on the board i.e. 50+1, those decisions will be more fpfc driven.
Incidentally, I posted the information about the Monmouth Town AGM on here and twitter, asking if anyone had anything they wanted me to raise.I got no response.
Steve(Hughes)
Monmouth
gally2 August 15 Permalink
There a number of things wrong with the setup:
1. To be a proper 50+1 structure we need £18,000 which at current take up levels is 5 years away.
2. We are not involved in the decision making process as our 1 can be voted down at all times.
3. These structures are meant to be democratic which it isn't as Nick Thompson (who never appears) recommended who should be voted to the board and the result was as he sought, that's a dictatorial not democratic.
4. The reason you didn't hear anything re the AGM is that there appears to be very few active members, this will be be more evident come renewal time.
This site is effectively a fund raiser that will never hit the £18,000 required to put the structure in place which the FPFC advertises itself on. It should be flagged to would be contributors how far away FPFC is from what it intended to do.
I won't be contributing any further as the whole setup is farcical and should be wound up before any more money is taken from people with nothing in return.
dukespiritdukespirit August 15 Permalink
Hi Gally
I would say ask not what your club can do for you but what you can do for your club, but I suspect whatever I do or say it won't be good enough for you.
I for one am working very hard for both the five pound football club and Monmouth Town FC and will continue to help make them both successful and sustainable.
The fpfc structure does work - we are trying to get more local members so that the attendance at matches increases - and as I said already fpfc members will have discounted entry to matches - and we reach our £30600 earlier than you have predicted.
You can't seriously be suggesting that we should hold sway over the Monmouth Town board with the level of contribution made so far? However, certain votes will be put to fpfc members - such as the recent vote for this year's kit.
I can see you're giving Nostradamus a good run for his money with your predictions but instead of being so negative, why not get more involved. Dictatorial would have been one candidate but everyone had a free choice in the election process - if you want to stand next time, please do.
I haven't even taken over as President of the Five Pound Football Club properly yet, but I am trying to address issues as they arise and liaise with Monmouth Town FC. Your comments are duly noted.
Steve(Hughes)
trevorfrancis August 15 Permalink
Hi Steve,
all right I see more clearly now. We want to reach the majority by paying 18,000 overall. But ownership with a majority of shares means more responsibility than just having 1 vote of 5. What budget is needed to stay in 1st Div.? To advance to WPL can only be done with marketing/sponsor partner. Which amount is needed to get the licence? Has anybody accounted for all the measures needed from security standard/stadium to number of youth teams?
Best regards from hot Cologne
Chris
dukespiritdukespirit August 15 Permalink
Hi Chris
As I posted earlier, the co-managers think another £6000 player budget would go a long way to staying in League 1,and to be fair to them, that is what they asked for to start with, but the Board felt (and still feel) they couldn't afford it.
As far as advancing to the Welsh Premier League, should we be in a position to be promoted, we will basically need a stand alone ground of our own and floodlights - we have been and are still investigating possible sites, but would still need money(possibly some of it grant money) to proceed. We have some sponsorship, but need much more this season for the home match days and the away shirts, which is proving difficult.When we get to the WPL, businesses may be more inclined to sponsor us, equally the playing budget is likely to need to be greater.
This season we've been invited to take part in the Welsh Academy - so our youngsters at u-12,u-14 and u-16 get to play against the academies of the Welsh Premier League sides, which is a fantastic opportunity.
Does this cover what you were asking?
Cheers
Steve
Kingfisher1 August 15 Permalink Edit
Gally has some good points but based on a flawed understandiung of what is actually happeneing here. Understandable maybe given the lack of engagament on this and others issues over the past few months. It's the £5 football club. so called beacuse it is low level and building from the bottom up and very cheap adn affordable. I dare say shalke and lot of German clubs statrted very slowly building the differnet style of democracy which incidentally is probably based on Schalke fans who attend games meetings etc. This is a very different from of 'ownership' when it gets there. The club as it stands is a Communiuty Investmern componay o so so is not wned outright by individuals. The Chairman (me) and Board members are elceted/ratified at Club meetings at the moment and over time by the wider 'online' mememerbship, The FPFC stake will grow over time as will the areas for decision/consultation/debate/etc. but it's a maturing relationship. Meanwhile we still have a football club to run on a day to day, hour by hour basis. We have a strategic plan, whcih included the agreement with FPFC, we have a annual plan, which includes building a thriving FPFC, we have an annual budget, whcih includes a cointribution from FPFC and a growing FPFC memebrship. Is it perfect - no. Will it ever be - no. What's the point? To ensure we have a thriving and successful Monmouth Town FC . Fan/supporter ownership is a means to that sustainable end and one that guarantees the long term ethioc of the club as a community club.
On the broader point - a rich benefactor would be nice
Kingfisher1 August 15 Permalink Edit
Ps my typing is rubbish but you get the drift.
trevorfrancis August 16 Permalink
Superdrifting Kingfisher 1,
absolutely clear. I had to stand up as I read your lines: "50+1", democracy of Schalke (S04) ;-) ... these things are not easy to swallow and maybe too romantic; but anyhow I get your point.
I started a facebook-page to inform German-speaking members and supporters of FCPC. www.facebook.com/pages/Five-Pound-Football-Club-deutschsprachig/258920020894009 (just a starter, I'll get to FPFC board over the weekend to receive support).
Best regards
Chris
Kingfisher1 August 16 Permalink Edit
That's superb Chris...be good if we could develop a deeper understanding of the 50+1 in practice (and the German language at the same time)
weenie August 18 Permalink
Thanks for the comments and clarifications, dukespirit/Steve. I have to say that I very rarely come in here because there are never any updates, eg Elections were announced in June but it's only when I ask about the results is there a reply in August (from you) that you've been voted in, among others!
Regular updates and news on the website is vital if you want people to stay interested, continue renewing their memberships or chip in the extra £s if needed. You never know, some people may be able to help with any issues that you highlight, eg they may have a required expertise (or know someone who can help).
My question re the £18,000 requirement - now that FPFC has paid £3600, does that mean only £14,400 is needed?
dukespiritdukespirit August 18 Permalink
hi weenie
thanks for that. the more we invest, the greater number of seats we will have on the board. yes, the £3600 forms part of that total sum -£30,600 - i've updated the investment fund on the fpfc site this morning and it should now read £5002, so we're getting there!
cheers
steve
dukespiritdukespirit August 18 Permalink
the main thing, though is sustainability - that fpfc members renew their membership every year and Monmouth Town FC can plan ahead for a successful future. i would be delighted if any members with specific expertise or experience get in touch with me.
at the moment our biggest priority is sponsorship - for matches, advertising in programmes, on boards around the pitch and on the front of the away shirt. the board have and are still actively seeking this out, but it would be fantastic if fpfc members also had a go.
steve
nickthompsonnickthompson August 18 Permalink
Evening all,
Just to clarify, we have an agreement with Monmouth Town to buy shares at £600 a share over five seasons. There are 100 shares in total. The aim is to buy 51 shares over the five years. We have six so far, after our first season. We have enough for two more at the moment.
Our community is beginning to build credibility with the club. We have representation on the club board and the board are involving us in key decisions on the club's future. We have to earn their trust, and provide more investment, before we're allowed a bigger say. That's more than fair. We've come a long, long way in one season.
We're helping Monmouth Town develop but to be able to progress, our community has to continue to grow and develop as well. We will make some mistakes along the way, I'm sure, but we're all in it for the right reasons. To develop a successful, sustainable club.
Lee, Mr Chairman, is a credit to the club. Enthusiastic, energetic and loves the game. It's exciting that our democratically elected board will be working with Lee and Tim to help the club, and our community, progress. It'll be an exciting new season - and I'd like to thank you all for being a part of it.
PS gally2 - I don't hide. I answer every email and every tweet. I try to attend a couple of games a season. I'm proud of the Five Pound Football Club - and I'm proud of Monmouth Town. Kingfishers all the way.
dukespiritdukespirit August 18 Permalink
apologies for misleading the forum slightly - as nick says we effectively need to contribute £30,600 to have a controlling interest(i don't know why i had the figure of £18,000 in my head!) - i've adjusted my previous posts to reflect this, but the principle is still the same.
i'd like to thank nick for all the hard work he's done and hope he'll stick around to see it continue to develop successfully over the next few years
steve
Kingfisher1 August 19 Permalink Edit
Thank you for your kind comments and hard work Nick. And everyone's support. It's important that we also remember that this is supposed to fun! So let's have some. solid start to the season, new academy, largest junior section around, developing facilities and fans/owners/all over the world!