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GTFC - A Way Forward For Everyone?

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lew chaterleys lover
November 20, 2017, 1:46pm
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Quoted from Bigdog
Well, as a fan for over 45 years, I’ve gone through many different stages of emotion following Town over the past fifteen seasons. Primarily it’s been an overriding feeling of despair but along the way it’s been embarrassment, followed by determination, then relief, then hope, followed by frustration, disappointment, frustration and latterly anger. Without putting dates to that long list of fluctuating feelings you could all probably date them yourselves having been through the same rollercoaster ride.

I’ve sort of got to the position where I can’t carry on feeling as angry as I do. I’ve come to the crossroads where I have to find a way to put the anger aside and follow whatever is presented in front of me or let the anger turn into apathy for my own well-being. It’s a natural instinct of mine to try and come up with solutions rather than letting things slide and quite frankly I’m getting a little tired of being that frustrated and angry about everything  GTFC.

So, I got thinking about what could be a realistic working solution for the future stewardship of the club that all parties could buy into. Let’s forget about the playing side at the minute, I’m talking about a solution to galvanise everybody to pull in the same direction. The reason why I’m writing this on the forum isn’t for anyone to speak for anyone else, so and so would never do this, so and so would never do that. I’m asking all of you frustrated fans if the scenario I’m outlining below is a workable solution that you could fully buy into it. There seems to be two sides that are entrenched in polarised views as to how the club should be run and by whom. This needs to change so everyone can be happy going forward.

First of all I’m going to address JF. He has put £2m of his own money into the club which is a huge commitment whether it was by loans or shares. He has also put a mountain of time and effort into running the club. For that amount of commitment anyone would want to leave a legacy. So analysing what sort of legacy he could feasibly achieve that could make everyone happy, it would have to be a new stadium, a lasting legacy that would be fitting for someone who has dedicated so much time and money into doing what he thought was best for the club.

So my proposal for JF would be the following, for him to find a way to rid GTFC of the loan debt. Also to detach himself from the day to day running of the club, still be a director, but fully focus on delivering the new stadium which, when open, should make all of his efforts over the years feel like it was all worth it and he himself would leave a lasting legacy, not only for the club, but the town of Grimsby, the surrounding area and Mariners fans all around the world. I’m sure there would be a groundswell of gratitude and respect to him if he could finally deliver that holy grail. It would be a massive ask of him to relinquish full control, but it would create for him hopefully a single defined deliverable goal.

So that leaves a massive chasm to fill in the day to day running of the club. It’s only been left by one man but in my opinion should be filled by many. An all-encompassing role that should be divided up as seats on the board so various functions within the club are afforded greater scrutiny, from the playing side and PR, right through to the standard of catering in the ground.  

How are these new unpaid accountable board roles going to be allocated and what functions need to be improved? Well, we’ve got a solicitor and an accountant already present so we are in good hands there and also an extremely able SLO who should be automatically co-opted. Trying to compile a list, I’ve come up with the following; PR and marketing, investment procurement, customer care, fundraising, youth development and first team performance.  

The procurement of the individuals should be a transparent procedure conducted by the club, the Trust or preferably in conjunction. Every post advertised with applicants pitching to put their best case forward for each specific role. Maybe even a role pre ring-fenced as the responsibility of the Trust, ie fundraising. If there is more than one able applicant for each role then the applicants are all co-opted on. A greater pooling of minds should result in a greater pooling of talents which in turn should result in a greater pooling of end results.  What develops over time is a growing working co-operative that creates a much greater quality output than one individual. There would still be the need for the usual voting processes across the boardroom to ensure everyone was moving toward a set common goal and also checks and balances into the standard of performance and commitment of each individual.

Even now, in my mind, it’s an idea in crude work in progress , but maybe it’s some kind of structure that would be more welcoming for able professionals willing to make a difference to GTFC and subsequently the wider community, no longer a closed shop, the creation of a much more welcoming and open environment.  I’d like to think it could attract the likes of Alan Buckley and maybe even John Tondeur on the football side or some of the best local PR companies working side by side. Gone would be the day of whoever had the fattest wallet had the final say, it would be who had the most to offer.

It may need a giant leap of faith by JF. It may need the Trust to push themselves even further than they have already and it will need the fans to buy into it even if it’s only at the very least retweeting the latest fundraising venture. It could even be the springboard for another share issue for fans to invest as little as £10 at a time because they believe in it.

We need something for all sides to take a step forward together and if it’s a legacy JF is after, the delivery of a new stadium and the creation of a new breed of football club may just be how he could turn things around and justify the investment of £2m.

I've written this on here in the spirit of trying to show JF (when he reads it) a model that we could all get behind and maybe show him an amicable and fruitful way forward. Rough around the edges I know, but is this some kind of halfway house that could work? One side’s got to blink first and show some kind of third way because anger, loathing and vitriol is not going to get us anywhere and eventually could just result in a waste of energy.

It may be a model that could deter a large investor or conversely inspire one, but the more people that get involved and the more people buy into the idea, it could result in greater income for the club without moving on to the next large single investor to come along and call all the shots..

Feel free to call me a lunatic or agree if it's the sort of idea you would back..


I always find myself nodding in agreement at most of your postings, and your views on the Fenty regime are about the same as mine.

However, despite the excellent ideas outlined in your post, I think you have underestimated Fenty's desire to retain complete and full control.

His initial investment has ensured he can remain as long as he wants; everything at BP revolves around him - he has peoples livelihoods in his hands, and he is a person who loves being hands on with the practical day to day activities at BP. He may feel that having invested more than anybody else he has a right to act as he wishes.

The only thing that might sway him is hard cash, but that would include paying off his loans. You would think by now a consortium would have tried to oust him, assuming he is reasonable about coming to an arrangement about the loans.  
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1mickylyons
November 20, 2017, 1:57pm
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I always find myself nodding in agreement at most of your postings, and your views on the Fenty regime are about the same as mine.

However, despite the excellent ideas outlined in your post, I think you have underestimated Fenty's desire to retain complete and full control.

His initial investment has ensured he can remain as long as he wants; everything at BP revolves around him - he has peoples livelihoods in his hands, and he is a person who loves being hands on with the practical day to day activities at BP. He may feel that having invested more than anybody else he has a right to act as he wishes.

The only thing that might sway him is hard cash, but that would include paying off his loans. You would think by now a consortium would have tried to oust him, assuming he is reasonable about coming to an arrangement about the loans.  


Be nice if Fenty came out with a put up or shut up price on the Club and said I will walk away but it will cost whoever wants it x amount.
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crusty ole pie
November 20, 2017, 3:18pm

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How do you  propose he deals with debt problem he can't convert them to shares as this would mean he would have to buy all the shares off everyone. He can't take his money back cos it's not there, he could say stuff the money and wipe the debt off but why should he would you ?
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KingstonMariner
November 20, 2017, 3:42pm
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Quoted from crusty ole pie
How do you  propose he deals with debt problem he can't convert them to shares as this would mean he would have to buy all the shares off everyone. He can't take his money back cos it's not there, he could say stuff the money and wipe the debt off but why should he would you ?


A fair point. What is the % that triggers an obligatory buyout? 51% 75%?

One obvious way round this, if we can find someone willing t buy enough shares to make sure JF does't go over that threshold, or at least buy enough to raise it significantly. Maybe then a 3-way split (not necessarily equal amounts): convert some to shares, sell some to the Trust, write-off the rest.


Through the door there came familiar laughter,
I saw your face and heard you call my name.
Oh my friend we're older but no wiser,
For in our hearts the dreams are still the same.
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EY Mariner
November 20, 2017, 10:10pm
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As much as I know John Fenty is a fan like any of us and I believe he has tried to do his best for our club, I also believe the time has come for change. The fact that other parties have come forward in the past at boardroom level only to step away again soon afterwards leaves me with little confidence that Mr Fenty can work constructively with other parties for the common good of the club. Therefore, given its announcement last week about seeking to renegotiate the terms of its seat on the board, I wonder whether the Mariners Trust could, or should, begin a process of seeking to work with other parties to buy him out if those talks fail to produce a satisfactory outcome. One thing I'm sure of is that the current situation cannot continue.
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MuddyWaters
November 20, 2017, 10:17pm
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I've a feeling that something is brewing. One or two bits of information that I've heard are encouraging but no more than that.
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HackneyHaddock
November 20, 2017, 10:20pm
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If Fenty stays then the club will never prosper and he'll never get his money back.

If he leaves and writes off his "benign" loans, then he won't get his money back either, but he might just give the club a shot at prospering and bequeath some sort of lasting legacy for which we'd all thank him.

It's that simple, and we're at the stage now where the only reason he's staying is to try to get some money out of it.  That will not happen because he is the roadblock to new ideas and money.  His "investment" or "loans" are a sunk cost: gone, disappeared, gobbled up.  He should walk away and write them off so someone else can come in.
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1mickylyons
November 21, 2017, 11:27am
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Unlike most I don`t see why JS shouldn`t get his loan money back at some point but he clearly needs to spell out what a benign loan is for thicko`s like me if nothing else it shuts us up on that point.The ground will come despite all the negativity surrounding it just look at the £ signs no council will pass that up and that`s his legacy and his way to new investment for the Club in my opinion? Now it`s possible he is sat frustrated that he can`t come out and tell us what he would like in regards to what he has lined up and that if we have some patience we will be sat in the Fentydome 2021 with a decent player budget hence Slade and this supposed salary? The problem if this is true and he remains silent is by the time he gets to the Fentydome he will have less than 2500 home fans left.
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grimsby pete
November 21, 2017, 12:36pm

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Bigdog that was about the most sensible post I have ever read on the Fishy.


                             Over 36 years living in Suffolk but always a mariner.
                             68 Years following the Town

                              Life member of Trust

                               First game   April 1955
                               
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psgmariner
November 21, 2017, 12:56pm

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Quoted from MuddyWaters
I've a feeling that something is brewing.


Me too.

http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/whats-on/grimsby-town-fans-rejoice-special-779990

Sorry, couldn't resist  


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