New beginnings - 25% Truth, 80% Bollocks

[Stef Troll]

The next owner to come into this club is probably the most important in our history, if we carry on this seemingly constant chain of chancers and charlatans it’s non league here we come. It has to change for all of our sakes.

Unfortunately I do not think much will change. The new owner will have a good track record in business in whatever field they operate in. They will believe they can transfer the skills they have learnt in their business field into running a football club.  They will pump money into Swindon and then there will come a point when they cut their losses as they will realise running a football club is a money pit.

The only way things will change is if some multi millionaire (I mean someone with £200 million plus net worth) wants to take a punt on Swindon.  Then we may end up like Reading or Bristol City or at best Bournemouth or Luton.

It’s a shame football is like this now. Sounds daft but I enjoy supporting Swindon knowing that any given game, they can win, lose or draw regardless of whether they are heavy favourites or big under dogs.  Today was a great example.  

Man City fans for example must expect to win all 19 home games and probably 14-15 away games.  The only buzz they get are champions league quarter/semi finals when they play Real Madrid/Bayern away from home.

Granted the football Man City play is amazing but personally i don’t think you can beat that feeling at 3pm on a Saturday knowing any result in a Swindon game is possible.

[Batch]

So, with the ‘revelation’ that we are up for sale it’s now up to the club to deny the ‘accusation’.
[/quote
Would you believe Clem if he did deny it? I wouldn't

[Legends-Lounge]

So, with the ‘revelation’ that we are up for sale it’s now up to the club to deny the ‘accusation’.
[/quote
Would you believe Clem if he did deny it? I wouldn't

Nope.

[Briggany]

So I have my own Theory on this.It may be controversial and divide opinion. It also may be borderline common sense and based in logic but....

Lets wait and see where the chips lay. The whole player not paid rumor was started on this very forum with the originator saying themselves it was "just a guess"... then a few hours later it makes its way into an news article where the author could potentially make up some bullshit about "knowing" about it before hand just to cover their backs and not look like a dick.

It could be true but it could also be sensationalism to get clicks/likes on some Facebook post.  

If we go on the basis that an AVERAGE that we get 9k attendance a game and then apply the average of £20 a ticket, then we would be earning £180k a game. That's over £4.3m a season on ticket sales alone ((20 x 9,000) x 26)! That's not including drinks/food sales, sponsorships and merch sales. So We could safely say that we there is comfortably $5.5m in sales every season... My question is where is that money going?

[DV]

As a fanbase we are that desperate for bad news we’re taking something a journalist said on twitter as the absolute gospel truth FFS. His profession is to make up shit for clicks & likes.

Plus, when is our club not ‘up for sale’? Every owner in my lifetime would have sold the club if the right (…or even wrong) offer came in. Like player sales, every club has its price always has done - the issue is having someone bid.

[DV]

So I have my own Theory on this.It may be controversial and divide opinion. It also may be borderline common sense and based in logic but....

Lets wait and see where the chips lay. The whole player not paid rumor was started on this very forum with the originator saying themselves it was "just a guess"... then a few hours later it makes its way into an news article where the author could potentially make up some bullshit about "knowing" about it before hand just to cover their backs and not look like a dick.

It could be true but it could also be sensationalism to get clicks/likes on some Facebook post. 

If we go on the basis that an AVERAGE that we get 9k attendance a game and then apply the average of £20 a ticket, then we would be earning £180k a game. That's over £4.3m a season on ticket sales alone ((20 x 9,000) x 26)! That's not including drinks/food sales, sponsorships and merch sales. So We could safely say that we there is comfortably $5.5m in sales every season... My question is where is that money going?

Average ticket price will be no where near 20.
Try 10 instead.

[DV]

Even if was 20 and we were bringing in 180k a game.
…let’s say we 18 professionals on our books earning an average of 2k a week. That’s 36k just on player wages. Home games our only half our games - we’ll earn very little from away games so that 180k would have to cover 2 weeks worth of wages so that’s 72k of it gone - during the season. We still have players to play in June & July when there are no games.

That doesn’t even include the rent for the Ground. Wages of the day to day non playing staff, the match day only staff of stewards & kiosk workers. How ever much we have to pay for Policing presence. St John’s ambulance. Rent we pay for using Beaversbook as our training facility. Like all of us the club will still need to pay for gas, electric, water, broadband. I dread to think how much we spend on electricity just for a game in the winter with the flood lights on. Pitch maintenance (usually done in the summer) any loans we are paying back.

The money would also need to be used to buy in merchandise, food & away tickets (which you’d hope to make back + profit)

So, that’s going to be a chunk of that money.

I still think with season tickets, children, OAPs, Nationwide cheap tickets & Comps you’re looking at closer to £10 a ticket. Drop your maths down to 90k and just player wages will eat into most of that.


So yeah, don’t think getting higher attendances count for much these days. Wrexham certainly aren’t generating their spending power based on their crowds for home games.

[UTR]

Whilst now isn’t the time for point scoring, there are plenty of people who have raised valid concerns about the current ownership and been ridiculed/laughed at, I think they’ll feel somewhat vindicated now.

Likewise when the coin turned with the previous ownership. Let’s not act like this has all come out of the blue and shocked us, people have been raising concerns and sharing snippets of worrying news for a while now.

[Frigby Daser]

You never know - this might be exactly how it’s meant to be in Morfuni/Kiely/Z Austin’s eyes. Get the ground, up revenue, pocket some, sell. The non-payment of players speaks volumes about their integrity - I doubt Z Austin has extended the same principle to his own family - but did we really expect anything else from this lot?

[JoeMezz]

Please for the love of god can we move away from this current batch of crooks. A completely fresh new start, nobody been in the background before. Anybody but this current batch

[Quagmire]

For anyone that didn’t know or hasn’t seen…

Supposedly FBT went up to a few people in the Nationwide Stand after the game and said, quite emotionally, something along the lines of:

‘We are as frustrated if not more frustrated than the fans, what the fans see is a smoke screen, we’ve had enough too, we can’t go on like this. It goes far beyond the players and manager. There is no money, no wages and not enough players’

Apparently he wasn’t there to make excuses, he looked genuinely gutted by all accounts.

[Trashbat?]

The amount of players that have backed out of moves to the club over the last few years does start to make you wonder.

[Audrey]

Average ticket price will be no where near 20.
Try 10 instead.

Nah, it’s way more. My ST works out at just over £13 per game, Mrs Audrey’s £17.60 per game. I can’t see the 5000 ST holders being evenly split between concessions and full price but even if it was that’s £15 per game. 4000 POTD fans - £27 full price, £22 concessions. Knock off a bit for kids I’d say the average price for those 4000 would be £20.

Don’t know about cheap tickets in the Nationwide.

I reckon you’re looking at around £150,000 per home game.

[Audrey]

The amount of players that have backed out of moves to the club over the last few years does start to make you wonder.

And those staff who have left for pastures new.

[Audrey]

For anyone that didn’t know or hasn’t seen…

Supposedly FBT went up to a few people in the Nationwide Stand after the game and said, quite emotionally, something along the lines of:

‘We are as frustrated if not more frustrated than the fans, what the fans see is a smoke screen, we’ve had enough too, we can’t go on like this. It goes far beyond the players and manager. There is no money, no wages and not enough players’

Apparently he wasn’t there to make excuses, he looked genuinely gutted by all accounts.

May be true but that doesn’t excuse such a feeble performance. Reading have had it much worse yet their players don’t down tools - may not win many but they try.