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Post by amberaleman on Jan 5, 2012 22:35:50 GMT
Are they in a mess or what?
In administration for the third time in nine years, players asked to take pay cuts, and a white elephant of a stadium that costs the club more to service than it generates in income.
Would the Darlo fans be best served by the liquidation of the existing club? They might then start their own AFC in the mould of Halifax and Chester. Or are we now a bit sick of these phoenix clubs re-forming down the pyramid then shouldering aside established non-League clubs in their haste to get back to the Football League? (NB: I'm not having a dig at AFC Wimbledon here, as they were formed in rather different circumstances.)
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Post by ambersalamander on Jan 6, 2012 13:06:45 GMT
Yes. I am a bit sick of these phoenix clubs etc.
Or rather, I am more than a bit sick of this financial mismanagement that has been rife in English football for so long. It is far, far too big a problem to ignore any more. What is being done about it?
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Post by Meadow on Jan 8, 2012 12:14:51 GMT
In general, the phoenix clubs do pretty well. Good luck to them.
As for shouldering them aside, I would say that as the vast majority of them are well supported, they'll naturally have more funds to progress. Also as most of them are trust run, they're likely to be more cautious about their spending. Telford, Chester and Halifax are three such examples.
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Post by ambersalamander on Jan 8, 2012 20:12:59 GMT
Also as most of them are trust run, they're likely to be more cautious about their spending. Telford, Chester and Halifax are three such examples. When you put it like that, I suppose it isn't such a bad thing after all. I'd still rather not see it happen in the first place, though.
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Post by loy PRA on Jan 9, 2012 0:26:32 GMT
Yes. I am a bit sick of these phoenix clubs etc. Or rather, I am more than a bit sick of this financial mismanagement that has been rife in English football for so long. It is far, far too big a problem to ignore any more. What is being done about it? As soon as I saw this posted I knew you'd stick your oar in and have to backtrack. Football is a branch of the entertainment industry and at any level if your club fails and falls by the wayside then fair play to the fans who have taken it upon their responsibility to reform and continue the heritage in a new club. Especially given these AFC clubs, 'Phoenix clubs' if you will, are formed on a co-operative principle and have been perhaps the single, most positive shining light to come out of football for some time. Long may they continue. However, if clubs go bust like they do, or merge with others I find a massive hypocrisy of so-called 'proper supporters' who have a dig about the financial affairs others. When Wimbledon moved to MK Dons everyone was crying blue murder, however the purists weren't pointing the same finger at Arsenal given they'd somehow ended up in Islington despite starting life in Woolwich, nor were they harking back to the glory days of Newcastle West End or Sunderland Albion etc etc. George Reynolds, the man responsible for Darlo's demise, is crackers and convicted criminal. A total maverick of a man who is now being crucified as the Pall-Bearer for Darlington's liquidation. However I don't seem to remember people being disgruntled when he was pumping money into the club, wining and dining Tino Asprilla in an ill fated attempt to capture the ex Newcastle star. The man was a maverick from start to finish and there's not a lot you can do if he has the money and buys a controlling stake in the football club, but those who were weary of Reynolds from the start didn't even nearly shout loud enough or perhaps didn't even exist, too caught up in the fairytale. Football in the North East is as important as life and death to many people, so why allow a Maverick to do what he likes to your club without organising against him? You wouldn't have a maverick look after your kids, or your house. Do I begrudge those fans who allow an individual or a wealthy few pump cash into a football club to try and kindle some sort of success? Not at all. My own club does it, every premier league club does it. Managing your business on the fortunes of the human capital consisting of a 11 men over 90 minutes a week is a pretty big risk, and if a man is prepared to put ample funds behind minimizing that risk I can only applaud them. You could have the best accountants at the world at the most frugal of football clubs but if they got tanked over and over again no one would come and watch them, and they'd go out of business. Football isn't the game of Clough and Revie anymore, there's none of this 'pound a week' retainers and hoping to be spotted in a game after work by the local scout. Non league athletes have mortgages to pay, cars to maintain and mouths to feed, so I expect them to be given a wage which is worth their while. A wage that will collectively probably take huge chunks of the clubs income, and if things dont go to plan your revenue streams can be quickly cut off with wages still to pay. I always find anyone who then points the finger of financial mismanagement in light of this difficult situation someone who uses it as a badge of convenience accompanied by a long stare down the nose towards people who face the loss of their football club.
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Post by ambersalamander on Jan 9, 2012 12:31:17 GMT
I mostly agree with that (why is contributing to a thread on a public forum on a topic that affects me personally "sticking my oar in" though? I don't understand that bit). To repeat both of my last post, I don't disagree with or dislike phoenix clubs; I'm just sick of seeing clubs being destroyed because of financial mismanagement (that's what "or rather" meant in my first post). I can see exactly why it happens when it happens; I can see why clubs accept large amounts of funding in an attempt to run a successful business, whether it works out or not. But it doesn't matter how much or how little money you have - it's how it's managed that counts. Sometimes, as you hint in your post, it IS well-managed but due to unfortunate circumstances, things go wrong.
Don't worry, I don't look down my nose at anyone! I am always sympathetic to those who lose their football clubs and have supported phoenix clubs extensively in the past, so your "always" isn't quite true there.
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Post by amberaleman on Jan 10, 2012 13:51:31 GMT
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Post by thevicar on Jan 10, 2012 21:31:10 GMT
In general, the phoenix clubs do pretty well. Good luck to them. As for shouldering them aside, I would say that as the vast majority of them are well supported, they'll naturally have more funds to progress. Also as most of them are trust run, they're likely to be more cautious about their spending. Telford, Chester and Halifax are three such examples. Cautious enough to break their record transfer fee on an ex Robin are they Meadow
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Post by Meadow on Jan 10, 2012 21:40:51 GMT
Cautious enough to break their record transfer fee on an ex Robin are they Meadow Things were getting desperate, and we hadn't spent the transfer fees we got for Danny Kedwell and Steven Gregory.
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Post by Sultan of Cannock- SRFC on Jan 13, 2012 21:52:10 GMT
nor were they harking back to the glory days of Newcastle West End or Sunderland Albion etc etc. I liked the older names, they seem to stir images for me of a pioneering spirit when pro football was starting out. I was sorry that Leicester City didn't after all revert to Leicester Fosse. Surely Walsall Town Swifts 8-) sounds more intersting than plain old Walsall. My favourite older name was Middlesbrough Ironopolis. What was that all about? ??? I am more than a bit sick of this financial mismanagement that has been rife in English football for so long. It is far, far too big a problem to ignore any more. What is being done about it? The constitution at Stafford Rangers prevents one single person from taking control. With a few scares we've kept our heads above water. Telford United's didn't and when their owner went bump he took TUFC with him. On the face of it, the SRFC way looks like the "right" way. However, while he was still solvent the TUFC owner built them a brand new ground. They were a top conference club with fine players, thrilling FA Cup runs and visits to Wembley. Their supporters have some great memories to look back on. This all built up a big enough fanbase for them to be able to bounce back as a phoenix club. Telford were never going to be allowed to die and are now back in the Conference playing at that new ground. SRFC, meanwhile, have been on a steady path of decline. We are now two league below Conference National with dwindling support and a poor ground. If we were to eventually fold there would be no phoenix club. It's doubtful that anyone in Stafford who doesn't read The Newsletter would even notice we'd gone.
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Post by Col ISIHAC. on Jan 18, 2012 13:14:58 GMT
Hmmmmm... I don't know about Darlo, but there's a Titanic just up the road from me. Actually, I am convinced that Nene Park has some kind of Gypsy curse? diamonds (regardless of how they were viewed) and now Kettering have gone nipply-parts up while using the Park. Spoooooooky or, probably something else really; but hey ho! For how much longer will we be able to ponder the myriad forms of the sacred art of Ketter?? Kettering is seriously endangered. Mark Cooper has effectively decided to stay at home on Saturday rather than manage the side. He says that as nobody knows when, how much or whether anyone will be paid; the players have lost interest. Even his mate, mates, best friends colleagues who turn out for a laugh these days, so why should he bother managing a side which no longer cares. Rocky Road is now locked and bolted; having been reclaimed by its ownere - who relied on gates and turnover at teh social club for some of his income apparently (the stiffs, babies and ladies gates didn't generate more than a groat here and there - for some reason, the club coninued to spend money on stewarding and lights etc at the old ground for a while this season to enable these teams to play there). It has long been ramshackle and a right mess - it's only a season or so since the side accepted that, despite being in the playoff places, promotion was not going to happen unless they moved..... Nene Park was a right bloody mess already; and simply changing the labelling & flags was never going to help, but - and being a touch prophetic here; can anyone name an English county without a professional footy team? And I mean down to L2! Northampton Town are flirting with the BS Prem trapdoor, which would leave Nhants without a side which starts the FA Cup at the 1st round proper. Nothing untoward with that of course; but the place is bloody desolate enough as it is, without all this!
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Post by ambersalamander on Jan 19, 2012 12:42:47 GMT
The answer to these questions is usually Cornwall, but let's not go there...
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Post by loy PRA on Jan 19, 2012 17:32:57 GMT
Northumberland has no professional football team.
Wow, that was easy.
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Post by Col ISIHAC. on Jan 19, 2012 23:16:05 GMT
Northumberland has no professional football team. Wow, that was easy. Yeah, but a generally windswept beauty spot claiming Hadrian's Wall as its major contribution to modern society doesn't count does it!
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Post by Sultan of Cannock- SRFC on Jan 20, 2012 5:12:52 GMT
Are we talking full-time or semi-pro? Otherwise wouldn't Berwick Rangers count as a pro team?
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