Fan ownership - a long-term solution

You can guarantee that if a load of people put money into a pot there is going to be disagreement over how that money is spent - which would inevitably result in funds being withdrawn by some after a while. I think having one rich person in charge is the best business model, it makes the whole process a lot simpler. If we had a decent manager and were pushing up the league there would be a lot less discussion about who is on the board.

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

I think he’s every desire to sell

I'd imagine if there was a serious, plausible offer from somebody where Fenty could recoup all or even most of his loans, he'd be out in a flash. Problem is, barring some good football fortune, there isn't likely to be, and it doesn't seem probable that this is going to happen in the foreseeable future.

Simple fact is that we're a smallish impoverished northern town at the end of the line, geographically speaking, which has been going through very difficult times since 2008 especially so wealthy benefactors are going to be few and far between.

At the end of the day, it all boils down to success on the pitch. If we were 10 points better off and in a play off position, we wouldn't be having this debate. So you have to ask if a fan run board is any more likely to pick the right manager than the current board, because that's the crux of it. JF is right in saying to an extent that PR is done on the pitch because if we are winning games, the focus is where it should be, on the team.

I think the board know business and seem to me to be doing a decent job in that regard, although i'm sure some will disagree. The stumbling block is the playing side of the equation. Is there any more knowledge in that area among fans than there is currently in the board room? Then there are the other gripes about communication and PR. Fair enough, there are possibly people out there who could address these issues but that won't put the ball into the back of the net.

In all the years i've supported Town, i have never really given much thought to what happens behind the scenes, but nowadays it's all anyone seems to talk about. From the outside looking in, the board looks a bit same-y and one dimensional to me. This is not a criticism as such, merely an observation and i also think that all the flak thrown their way has made them entrenched and an 'us and them' situation has arisen. The fans forum was a disaster because both sides went into it with a pugilistic attitude and both sides are now drawing a line in the sand it appears.

So even if all the financial and operational hurdles could be overcome and the fans could take over the running of the club, are they any more likely to know what to do to bring success than the current set up? It would be a massively expensive and time consuming exercise to find out wouldn't it? I'm certain that if we somehow came up with a way of doing it and giving JF what he wants, he'd be off into the sunset in a flash. I don't think it is just about money either, because i don't think the board will relinquish power to just anybody who comes up with the necessary dosh. They would have to feel that the club was in safe hands also. I think only then would people get a grasp of how difficult it must be to run a loss making lower league football team.

The only way i can see fans changing things for the better is to grow the Trust somehow and get a bit more diversity into the club decision making process. Can the fans bring their wide ranging skills to the table and work alongside the current regime? Would the current regime be open to that? I'd be prepared to put some money into a pot as mentioned in the original post if it could help in some way.

Quoted from ginnywings

At the end of the day, it all boils down to success on the pitch. If we were 10 points better off and in a play off position, we wouldn't be having this debate. So you have to ask if a fan run board is any more likely to pick the right manager than the current board, because that's the crux of it. JF is right in saying to an extent that PR is done on the pitch because if we are winning games, the focus is where it should be, on the team.

I think the board know business and seem to me to be doing a decent job in that regard, although i'm sure some will disagree. The stumbling block is the playing side of the equation. Is there any more knowledge in that area among fans than there is currently in the board room? Then there are the other gripes about communication and PR. Fair enough, there are possibly people out there who could address these issues but that won't put the ball into the back of the net.

In all the years i've supported Town, i have never really given much thought to what happens behind the scenes, but nowadays it's all anyone seems to talk about. From the outside looking in, the board looks a bit same-y and one dimensional to me. This is not a criticism as such, merely an observation and i also think that all the flak thrown their way has made them entrenched and an 'us and them' situation has arisen. The fans forum was a disaster because both sides went into it with a pugilistic attitude and both sides are now drawing a line in the sand it appears.

So even if all the financial and operational hurdles could be overcome and the fans could take over the running of the club, are they any more likely to know what to do to bring success than the current set up? It would be a massively expensive and time consuming exercise to find out wouldn't it? I'm certain that if we somehow came up with a way of doing it and giving JF what he wants, he'd be off into the sunset in a flash. I don't think it is just about money either, because i don't think the board will relinquish power to just anybody who comes up with the necessary dosh. They would have to feel that the club was in safe hands also. I think only then would people get a grasp of how difficult it must be to run a loss making lower league football team.

The only way i can see fans changing things for the better is to grow the Trust somehow and get a bit more diversity into the club decision making process. Can the fans bring their wide ranging skills to the table and work alongside the current regime? Would the current regime be open to that? I'd be prepared to put some money into a pot as mentioned in the original post if it could help in some way.

This sums it up perfectly for me.

The only reason all the crap that is coming out at the moment is because of the crap being served up on the pitch. A change in management and an improvement in the playing side of things and it will all be forgotten.  

The only stumbling block is getting the RIGHT management team in place given who and where we are.

Quoted from ginnywings

At the end of the day, it all boils down to success on the pitch. If we were 10 points better off and in a play off position, we wouldn't be having this debate. So you have to ask if a fan run board is any more likely to pick the right manager than the current board, because that's the crux of it. JF is right in saying to an extent that PR is done on the pitch because if we are winning games, the focus is where it should be, on the team.

I think the board know business and seem to me to be doing a decent job in that regard, although i'm sure some will disagree. The stumbling block is the playing side of the equation. Is there any more knowledge in that area among fans than there is currently in the board room? Then there are the other gripes about communication and PR. Fair enough, there are possibly people out there who could address these issues but that won't put the ball into the back of the net.

In all the years i've supported Town, i have never really given much thought to what happens behind the scenes, but nowadays it's all anyone seems to talk about. From the outside looking in, the board looks a bit same-y and one dimensional to me. This is not a criticism as such, merely an observation and i also think that all the flak thrown their way has made them entrenched and an 'us and them' situation has arisen. The fans forum was a disaster because both sides went into it with a pugilistic attitude and both sides are now drawing a line in the sand it appears.

So even if all the financial and operational hurdles could be overcome and the fans could take over the running of the club, are they any more likely to know what to do to bring success than the current set up? It would be a massively expensive and time consuming exercise to find out wouldn't it? I'm certain that if we somehow came up with a way of doing it and giving JF what he wants, he'd be off into the sunset in a flash. I don't think it is just about money either, because i don't think the board will relinquish power to just anybody who comes up with the necessary dosh. They would have to feel that the club was in safe hands also. I think only then would people get a grasp of how difficult it must be to run a loss making lower league football team.

The only way i can see fans changing things for the better is to grow the Trust somehow and get a bit more diversity into the club decision making process. Can the fans bring their wide ranging skills to the table and work alongside the current regime? Would the current regime be open to that? I'd be prepared to put some money into a pot as mentioned in the original post if it could help in some way.

Best post on this thread by a country mile...

Can anyone name a fan owned club that has or is successful ? I may be wrong but can’t think of one. Pie in the sky dreams me thinks. A non starter for me. Unless a dozen or so millionaires suddenly turn up !

Quoted from barrattstandman

Can anyone name a fan owned club that has or is successful ? I may be wrong but can’t think of one. Pie in the sky dreams me thinks. A non starter for me. Unless a dozen or so millionaires suddenly turn up !

Newport and Exeter appear to be doing ok, for now anyway. Don't know what baseline they started from though, so it could have been an easier task for them, or could have just been a case of having to do that because there was no alternative.

I think it's time to put the whole fan ownership thing to bed for now and either go support the team or stop going altogether. We've been through worse times on the pitch.

I think Exeter got back on track after their Cup ties against Man United some years back. Footballing fortune that cleared their debts and helped them redevelop the club. Obviously, they've been well-run since then and have been lucky (or clever) enough to sell a couple of players on for good money.

Newport were bankrolled by lottery winners when they won promotion out of the Conference, I seem to think?

Problem is that there will always be one or two exceptions to the rule, but they will only ever be exceptions. Not everybody can get have success and develop players for profit because you've always got to have losers somewhere in the chain and there aren't enough good players around these days, especially since the big clubs started to hoover up all the most promising youngsters.

I agree that it's not much fun at the moment, but I've got my season ticket so I'll continue to go in the hope rather than expectation that things will improve.

My Dad wasn't going to bother going at the weekend but relented in the end. Wouldn't surprise me if the same thing happened next weekend!

Quoted from Maringer

I'd imagine if there was a serious, plausible offer from somebody where Fenty could recoup all or even most of his loans, he'd be out in a flash..

If Marley is to be believed (which I find difficult and don't generally advise) there was, from the USA but Fenty didn't bite their hand off.

I'd take that claim with a huge pinch of salt. Why would anybody in the US with no links to the area want to buy a small football club on the East Coast of England? No money to be made, little chance of great success. Seems a bit too bizarre to be true.