Crowd Funder: Grimsby Town - The New Start

Hi all town fans,

Once the takeover has been completed i am thinking of starting a crowd funder for the club to help the new owners rebuild from the bottom up.

I know Pettit and Stockwood will be putting a certain amount of money in but if the clubs in the disarray that it has been publicised, then that can only stretch so far. I think town fans would like to think that we need to be given every chance possible to return to the football league at the first opportunity and this would also ensure a closer relationship with fans and the club.

If our money could only help towards improving the training ground, increased transfer budget, paying up some of the unwanted players, funding the youth setup or even paying the travel costs this season or a pre season camp then this surely has to benefit the club in one shape or another.

This club is the centre of our community and with new ownership will hopefully look to a brighter future than the mess left behind by the previous and out of touch dinosaurs. We are too big for non- league and we have, i believe, the best fans. Think its time we collectively showed the club how much this means to us.


A little background about myself:
I am 45 and been a season ticket holder since 5 years old stood in the osmond end when it was open to town fans. Once i left uni i worked at the ground as a town steward for 20 years and now attend every game in the pontoon. I will be donating £200 towards the fund wgich doesnt sound alot but thats all i would be able to afford.  I just wanted to gauge everyones thoughts and see if this would be widely welcomed before opening the account.

Please respond with your thoughts and i look forward to all responses.

As always, UTM

Count me in.

Can we PLEASE stop asking fans to dip into their pockets again and again on top of what we normally buy?

It’s almost never ending. Don’t take it personally, it just seems like a perpetual charity cause when this isn’t the relationship we should have.

I like the idea, but be prepared for Fenty to take the credit for it.

Quoted from ska face

Can we PLEASE stop asking fans to dip into their pockets again and again on top of what we normally buy?

It’s almost never ending.

100% this. Operation Promotion in 2015 was a brilliant initiative because it was a spontaneous reaction to what felt like a massive injustice in that play-off final against Bristol Rovers, and yet another huge frustration in our attempts to climb out of that infernal National League.

We're about to end a season in which fans have shelled out in the form of donated refunds, unusable season tickets and many other ways, only to find ourselves relegated back into the division fans already donated a huge sum of money to help us get out of in the first place.

I wouldn't necessarily say 'never again', but right now is not the right time for another crowd funder initiative. Let's see what tricks the new owners have up their sleeves before we think about this again.

Not knocking your sentiment by the way, Stew. Now is just not the time.

Quoted from ska face

Can we PLEASE stop asking fans to dip into their pockets again and again on top of what we normally buy?

It’s almost never ending. Don’t take it personally, it just seems like a perpetual charity cause when this isn’t the relationship we should have.

I tend to agree, nice thought, but should we really be just throwing money in to a "general" pot?  I've given to all previous ones, but getting a bit of "fatigue" about such ideas (unless for a very specific goal perhaps?)

As an exile I only get to a few games a season, but this year I have spent circa £500 on iFollow, of which the club will have had over £400, so I think that's pretty good support (I appreciate that is for the old regime though)

I applaud your sentiment, your passion and wanting to be involved but...

We've had 20 years of mismanagement and I need to see the new owners delivering on what they are talking about (and I believe they will) before I start putting my hand in my pocket.

One of Fenty's legacies will be that many fans feel bruised and let down by the club and we need to see the walk being walked.

Think the idea is good but noting that we have donated funds in a number of ways (a couple of season tickets this season), bought shares, forsaken refunds of partly used season tickets etc. it may be a step too much for a direct donation fundraiser.

However, there are more ways to get money into the club. Merchandise for instance, a concerted marketing campaign would encourage us to spend more in buying club shirts etc., hold meet the players nights which would mean purchasing food/drinks and opening the club shop as well, arranging coaches away and putting a small addition to the cost which would go to the club, restructuring the food and bars to get more revenue (not necessarily increasing prices but more variety), opening the restaurant for business meetings during the day or for meals on non-match days etc.

I am sure that the consortium will also be looking at how they could bring in additional investment etc. as well. So would a crowdfunding option be useful at this point ?

Quoted from BobbyCummingsTackle

I applaud your sentiment, your passion and wanting to be involved but...

We've had 20 years of mismanagement and I need to see the new owners delivering on what they are talking about (and I believe they will) before I start putting my hand in my pocket.

One of Fenty's legacies will be that many fans feel bruised and let down by the club and we need to see the walk being walked.

Exactly what I would’ve written. Full of admiration for the sentiment The new owners are the catalyst for this and we need to see what they have got to say. A lot of us have become ultra sceptical and optimistically hope to hear great things as opposed to Bignotisms and Hollowwords. It will not take much to light the fires here and we all look forward to the new regime
Utm

Quoted from ska face

Can we PLEASE stop asking fans to dip into their pockets again and again on top of what we normally buy?

It’s almost never ending. Don’t take it personally, it just seems like a perpetual charity cause when this isn’t the relationship we should have.

Spoilsport! I was going to say that.



Crowd funding should be kept for a specific purpose so we can see what happens to our cash. That was the beauty of OP, we could see the result of our efforts every time Bogle scored.