The Albion NEED £2 million to survive. The board needs YOU to help

[London Irish]

I would expect this years accounts when they are published to show a much reduced debt. So why the urgent need of money if as stated by 'insider' everything is under control and the debt is being reduced.

I am glad that I am a publican and dont understand profit and loss accounts. The high finance of starting with no debt and rising to £10m in 7 years would be too much for me as indeed it probably would be for most laymen.

It's not just profit and loss you don't understand, it seems to me you have a simpleton's level of understanding of the fairly simple financial realities involved in playing professional football at Withdean.

It beggars belief that you are saying Archer's sell-off sorted out the debt problems of the Albion when a huge proportion of that £10 debt (actually £9.4m) has been incurred since then directly because we had no ground to play in.

Your NSC reputation for posting mischeivous nonsense about the finances of the Albion has been increased further by another load of befuddled postings from you today.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

earlier poster has point a fans meet up may be in order, and no not a nerds fest something to decided on how to raise money

 

[London Irish]

Personally, I support what Dick and Martin are trying to achieve and fully recognise the fact that we are in not a great financial shape. Without wishing to sound blase, the fact I can afford to chuck in a few quid is an extremely fortunate happenstance on my part. However, I fully understand if people are reluctant to part with any [more] money for whatever reason. There is, after all, no obligation to cough up.

However, Mr P, at the last count, you have put up four messages on this thread stating your reluctance, nay your disgust, at putting any more money in. That's fine, but I think we've got the message now. Although I do suspect there will be, with all sense of depressing predictability, a fifth message on this thread absolutely clarifying in no uncertain terms, your non participation at this time - and your reasons why.

Big round of applause for The Large One for a superb series of postings in reply to all the whingeing, panicking ones among us.



I haven't the faintest idea what all the fuss is about.

The handful of fans who are board members and who've chucked in more than £7m are asking the 30,000 who went to Cardiff to put some money into the club to get the £2m shortfall.

Fair enough, surely? Why should they have to take care of all the club's costs?

We as fans are not "customers" of the club, WE ARE THE CLUB. Without us, there would be no club. I can understand those who are not in a financial position to donate might be feeling a little bit frustrated and helpless, but for heaven's sake don't piss on those who are in a position to spare some cash for the Albion by posting negative tripe.

I think it's a fair point to ask about a share issue, but it's a much more inefficient, time-consuming and costly way to collect the money. I've been involved in two share issues at the London Irish club and each time they've been triggered by a big investor buying into the club, not the needs of the £250-donating fan. While I'm happy that I now own about a millionth of the London Irish clubhouse, I realise that this doesn't really amount to a hill of beans.

I'm looking forward though to the Falmer stadium share issue that Insider speculates about so I can take my opportunity of owning a millionth of that too

 

[Stumpy Tim]

I love this football club & (though I hate to admit it) life wouldn't be the same without it. I live on the opposite side of the world & look forward to waking up on a Sunday morning to find out how the Albion did.

I've thrown in 500 quid & am proud to have done so

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Good man Stumpy.

 

[Caveman]

We all have our own personal senarios. I'm getting married next year and just can't afford to pay out this sort of money. I might have to see if I can get the "name on a seat" as some kind of wedding present..?

This really doesn't look good!

 

[m20gull]

I haven't the faintest idea what all the fuss is about.

The handful of fans who are board members and who've chucked in more than £7m are asking the 30,000 who went to Cardiff to put some money into the club to get the £2m shortfall.

Fair enough, surely? Why should they have to take care of all the club's costs?

We as fans are not "customers" of the club, WE ARE THE CLUB. Without us, there would be no club. I can understand those who are not in a financial position to donate might be feeling a little bit frustrated and helpless, but for heaven's sake don't piss on those who are in a position to spare some cash for the Albion by posting negative tripe.

The fuss is caused by the way in which it has been left to be interpreted.

The directors don't 'take care of all the club's costs'. Why do you think season tickets for the Withdean are so expensive?

Supporters' responses to the request seem to fall in to three camps:

Can't afford to make a donation because of other commitments.
Can afford to and are willing to do so.
Can afford to but won't donate. These are the group you need to question.

I suspect that these fans feel they already spend a large proportion of their hard-earned money supporting the club and that the directors appoint managers to sort out the finances of the club.

When Bens Grandad posted on here asking for help in interpreting the £9m deficit he was belittled for his ignorance on accounts and scare-mongering. Again you mock his financial acumen on this thread. Turns out he had a point. The club is in a cash crisis (OK that's over-stating things but that's how the letter reads). Re-read the accounts and look at the balance sheet for the end of July 2003 with the benefit of the hindsight of the request.

So, is there a crisis or not? Will they club go 'bust' if they don't raise £2.5m? Suppose they only raise £1m? Who knows? Not us on the basis of the board's letter.

So - what to do? Recognise the club has a problem, think about what Saturdays would be like without the Albion. Swallow your pride and dig as deep as you can afford or are willing to. And don't belittle other people's concerns, respect their opinions and try to encourage a spirit of understanding.

Personally I fall in to the 'can't afford to' camp at the moment (prolonged financial problems from a divorce and a period of illness) and feel frustrated and helpless. The request has caused me to re-evaluate my priorities and in time I'm sure I can find some money to contribute. In the meantime I'm not pissing on those who can afford to contribute, but I wouldn't mind a clear explanation of the implications of not raising the money.

Will the club survive if we don't contribute? Will I feel guilty for evermore if I don't splash the cash and the club folds?

I prefer to inteprpet this a polite request for a bit of charity, rather than a desperate cry for help. Otherwise I would be really worried.

 

[perseus]

The club Director's are shareholders. If they want the fans to contribute in the same way, we want voting rights and share certificates and a fans representative on the Board.

And a free car parking spot for big shareholders.

 

[Brovion]

m20gull - The point about BensGrandad is that he implied that the club were under investigation for financial irregularities as opposed to just trading at a loss.

 

[London Irish]

m20gull, well, Knight's letter sets out the issues comprehesively enough for me.

It does not talk of an immediate cash flow crisis or bailliffs at the door. His letter is all about preventing us reaching that stage. For heaven's sake, we gave Dean Hammond a new contract this week, we are not in financial meltdown - the board are juggling all the financial balls in the air at the moment but they've asked us now for a bit of help.

It is basic common sense when you make a financial appeal to try and sell your case as hard as you can. If Dick Knight said "we need £2m from you lads, but hey, don't worry if we don't raise anywhere near that, because I'll just then do a whip-round of all the people who've already put in £7m and everything will be fine" - how many Albion fans would go the extra mile to raise money with that kind of sell?

The fact is, no one knows what would happen if we don't get to the £2m.

The directors will probably have to make a decision about whether they could meet the shortfall when the time comes to it. If we are a lot short of the total, then some of the directors might be asking how much do Albion fans really want the club to survive? And could make a decision accordingly (worst case scenario).

I think the current board are perfectly entitled to ask for some sacrifices from the fans.

Let's just try and do the best we can and get as close to the £2m as possible - already today this messageboard is full of positive ideas and suggestions, so I'm optimistic.