Salford City

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Is he? I thought most - including him - wanted him to reduce his loans.

That's the ridiculous thing about all the anti-Fenty whingers

They want him out and for him not to have any loans (benign or otherwise) but they female dog about Jolley having a good transfer budget

Sadly we can't have it both ways, we need his money or there just isn't enough. Working within your means is one thing but if 'your means' means signing absolute duffers because they're free then we can't moan if we finish 18th (or worse)

Quoted from rancido

The formation of the Premiersh*t was the most cynical move in the English game. Almost unbelievable wealth for the " chosen few " and scraps fed to the rest of the football pyramid. I don't know exactly how much teams get in the Premiersh*t from tv rights but it must be about £80 million per club/per season. Just imagine if that was reduced to £60 million per club and the remaining £20 million was given to the FA to develop grass roots football. That would amount to £400 million a year to help develop football. That is an incredible amount of money  and the Premiersh*t clubs would still get £60 million each per season.

Exactly. There'd be no need to sell Wembley, which I understand Mr Neville is against.

Mind you, the Premier League is a Frankenstein monster that the FA helped bring to life (probably taking an opportunity to get one over the Football League).

Historically, the only money a club had to spend was what it got on the turnstile.

More fans equalled more money. Hence the scrap to get more fans through the turnstiles, and more money to spend on better players, managers, etc.

Then TV changed everything. Most clubs' income at the top end is now through TV and sponsorship, and the fans' money is much less significant.

We're now at a point where you could play all Premier League games behind closed doors and nearly all 20 clubs would barely feel a hit financially.

I'm not saying this is right, but if (when) GTFC wins something, I like to think that our money contributed to it; that we, as fans, played our part in funding it, i.e. Operation Promotion. It brings the fans and town together.

Promotion without OP would still have been great, but it's that extra special knowing (or thinking) that the £110k paid for Omar (even if Fenty has since suggested it was absorbed to pay debts).

It means less, in my opinion, when Salford win a division and you know Neville et al pretty much bought it. The genuine long-standing Salford fans will get little joy from it because their money wasn't really needed. And they don't feel needed in turn.

I don't wish Grimsby to be owned and run by a millionaire that splashes the cash because it's unsustainable (just look at what happened to Rushden & Diamonds when that millionaire gets bored).

Give me a team like Accrington that enjoys a genuine relationship with its fans and the wider community. It may sound airy-fairy and me taking some kind of moral high ground, but that's how I feel.

It makes me really sad to read some of these posts and I mean it in a genuine way. We've fallen so far as a club that a huge chunk of our fan base cling to romantic notions of history, genuine relationships with fans and community etc etc. We've got to start living in the real world not cling onto glories past. History is not going to get us three points on a Saturday, history is not going to attract players to us and history is becoming less powerful in attracting new young fans to the GTFC family. Football has changed and GTFC has got to change with it or die. Anyway, isn't length of history all relative when looking from far into the future? Would anyone say in 2218 that Salford City would have any less right to be in the Football League than Grimsby Town? What's the other option? Going back to the dark old days of re-election when clubs voted to decide who stayed in the Football League?

Our club does need to build strong community ties, it does need to build a genuine relationship with its fans (and seriously, after last season, I can't think of too many clubs worse than us.) The bit that's missing is the big helping hand up to a level where our full potential and sustainability can be reached. Community ties on their own will not get us and keep us there. If we don't get that helping hand, the Billericays, the Salfords etc will eventually take our place in the Football League and take it forever. We will not exist long term on romantic notions of history or honourable claims of being a proper club.

And this fluffed up notion that somehow Arnold's goal at Wembley meant more to us than it did Man City fans celebrating Aguero's last gasp goal to win the Premiership is just sentimental self-centred rubbish. Anyone make the calculation of average joy per fan per club?

Any football club in this country has the right to find their own funding, and operate in the way they see fit to work their way up the ladder. Whether FFP works or not is another debate. The loyalty payments from the Premier League clubs are also a national disgrace. We can moan about the business of football, but it's definitely happening. We need to get with the programme start looking to the future and forget the past.

In 2018, sadly, clinging onto a club's history is for eventual losers..

I agree with a lot of what you write Bigdog, but if the only way is to find some big investor then to me football's pointless as a sport you can feel involved in (unless you're playing or officiating). You end up being nothing more than a consumer and unpaid extra (actually, I wouldn't be surprised if at some point people do get paid to attend games to create 'atmosphere').

Quoted from KingstonMariner

I agree with a lot of what you write Bigdog, but if the only way is to find some big investor then to me football's pointless as a sport you can feel involved in. You end up being nothing more than a consumer and unpaid extra (actually, I wouldn't be surprised if at some point people do get paid to attend games to create 'atmosphere').

Unfortunately, in this day and age, we're nearing the point of live by the sword or die by the sword Kingston. It's not like GTFC fans have never felt like they've been taken for granted at times anyway. I don't think we're that much different to most clubs, large or small in that respect..

Quoted from Bigdog

And this fluffed up notion that somehow Arnold's goal at Wembley meant more to us than it did Man City fans celebrating Aguero's last gasp goal to win the Premiership is just sentimental self-centred rubbish. Anyone make the calculation of average joy per fan per club?



..

Guessing this is directed at me. I’ll say two things; first I didn’t mention Man City, you did. Second, of course it’s self centred l’m a Town fan for crying out loud.

Quoted from Bigdog

Unfortunately, in this day and age, we're nearing the point of live by the sword or die by the sword Kingston. It's not like GTFC fans have never felt like they've been taken for granted at times anyway. I don't think we're that much different to most clubs, large or small in that respect..

I disagree. It's not time yet. The bubble will burst sooner or later. If it doesn't burst and what you say comes to pass well it's time to say goodbye.

At the moment GTFC still means something to me. If it comes down to how successful they are, you'd make another choice. Why support Town if what you want is success? Or entertainment? On those terms its a waste of flipping money.

Quoted from marinerdazza

Guessing this is directed at me. I’ll say two things; first I didn’t mention Man City, you did. Second, of course it’s self centred l’m a Town fan for crying out loud.

You underline my whole point. Town fans have been downtrodden for so long and are so introspective that they don’t realise that the whole football world is passing them by and waving to them in the rear view mirror..

Quoted from Bigdog

You underline my whole point. Town fans have been downtrodden for so long and are so introspective that they don’t realise that the whole football world is passing them by and waving to them in the rear view mirror..

I think that's a real sweeping generalisation. I know a lot of Town fans who realised a long time ago that the club's ownership structure means that there's Sweet FA they can do about it and we, like the board, are waiting for the big ship 'Football Fortune' to make its' way to the port of Grimsby.