Mariners Trust Forum - Weds 26th

Tonight’s panel is:

Ian Fleming - Chief Executive

Philip Day - Director

Dave Roberts - Trust Vice Chair/Director

John Fenty - Director

Jon Wood - Trust Board Member/Director

26m

JF to say a few words on the stadium and notes today’s statement.

Impossible situation to speak on behalf of the club on questions to do with the stadium with position on the council.

Will not be involved in day to day running of the club.

In a great place now

24m

JF - Ollie has given us something new. Additionally his involvement in the community and with fans is the icing on the cake.

He brings a lot of expertise to help the football club along.

Trust and club have a good relationship with DR the glue that makes it work.

22m

JF - a lot of unsung hero’s at the club such as stewards at the club. They have a huge responsibility to ensure everything goes well on match day.

Commercial sponsors and fans have stuck by us through thick and thin.

No more Fentyisms and hopefully an upturn in fortune.

18m

JF - will attend some board meetings but will not attend any that concern or concentrate on the stadium.

Budget set for next season, half a dozen in the league bigger but Ollie will no doubt do well.

I’ll hand over to PD who will answer questions on the stadium.

17m

Questions on the stadium

- is the proposed site in Freeman Street big enough and have assurances on land?

16m

PD - yes land is big enough but no guarantees on land.

Meetings ongoing with Lincolnshire Housing Partnership regarding their land and it’s transfer

16m

- most supporters excited about new stadium in Freeman Street but worried about the project. Where is the money coming from?

15m

PD - would have preferred Peaks Parkway, council asked to look at Freeman Street. Leader went public and said one priory was regeneration of the area and relocation of Club was critical.

Probably most positive vibes we’ve ever had from the council

14m

PD - not wanting to be evasive but there are commercial sensitivities on funding. Looking at grants and obviously then investigate any public funding. Cost 20-25m.

Too early to say where we are exactly with that.


12m

- Look to abandon plan if not set by the end of the year?

PD - no way, a stadium has to be a 7 day a week stadium. It will be a community one. Graham Rodger and his staff were involved in over 200,000 of work locally. They are hampered for space and a new stadium will be great.

5m


PD - yes, we submit projected figures and football fortune can change this. Including cup runs as a TV game can attract £150,000

DR - budgeted for 4500 gates on next season. If gets to 5000 average budget will change.


4m


- after humpgate and desire of Ollie to play football. Are there plans to improve the playing surface?


4m


PD - work is done every close season and no drastic work planned. Rain has been really detrimental to the playing surface.


3m


- any details on pre-season tours and when the season starts

2m


PD - Ollie is taking players abroad for a week to run and run and run but no games.

Season starts on 1st August


1m


- JF how do propose to deal with possible profits on public funding in stadium?

JF happy to have 1 share £1. Not looking to profit and will not profit. Happy to hand any profit back if entirely council funding or to charity.

Will not be involved in any stage of the stadium process.


3m


- any luck in finding Kev Drinkells hat trick ball?


2m


IF - in all honesty we have no idea where it is but will continue to look.


2m


- some clubs have OAP rate at 60+ and we are 65+, can we look to change this?

1m


DR - it’s a big cost to the club but has been discussed. We are one of only few clubs to have 75+ tickets.

Unlikely to change this.

- is there any compulsory purchase orders for the ground?

7m

PD - investigations show land big enough for stadium and parking. Any extra work may require this.

5m

- Can disabled tickets be extended to all stands?

14m

Lisa - from this season this has been the case for ambulant disabled fans.


8m

- it would appear that the Freemen of Grimsby have a vision for the area. Is that in conjunction with the club or independent?

7m

PD - the first that we knew of the vision and designs was from the Telegraph.  That said a walk way from the station/dock to stadium is a good idea. This is not just a stadium but the area from Freeman Street to Riby Square.

- fan zones - when is it happening at BP?

16s

DR - we know fans have been asking and it’s tight on space but we have found a solution. We’ve been working with the fans fund & secured nearly 20k.

Fan zone will be in one corner with a big marquee, kids zone but not classed as entry to the ground.

For home/away fans

1m


DR - work will start on this during close season and be ready for the new season.


32s

- when we are top in September and away clubs don’t bring lots can we open the Osmond?


45s


PD - Yes - for many games next season smaller followings will be allocated in the corner and behind the goal will be open for home supporters.

48s

- how much do agents play a part in negotiations?


36s


IF - Most players have agents now and unless you engage with them you won’t sign a player.


5m

- is there any update on the takeover?

4m

PD - There is no takeover

New stadium likely to be 'four stands with open corners'. Sounds inspiring 😂 Plenty of positives though by the sound of it.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

New stadium likely to be 'four stands with open corner's

Big mistake if it happens, you need to keep the noise of the home crowd in for a better and more intimidating atmosphere surely.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

New stadium likely to be 'four stands with open corners'. Sounds inspiring 😂 Plenty of positives though by the sound of it.

For goodness sake Town, please ask the fans what they’d like before making statements like that! Again, an ‘us and them’ attitude.

At risk of being branded a heretic for speaking out against today’s wave of optimism and gratitude, but can I say I’m really, really concerned about having a retired solicitor overseeing the biggest move in the club’s history.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

New stadium likely to be 'four stands with open corners'. Sounds inspiring 😂 Plenty of positives though by the sound of it.

Gawd. Fancy saying that. Absolutely pathetic. Just like Shrewsbury or other bog standard new stadia, and as cheap as possible (although I appreciate it is a lot of money)

This is why we need new owners with some financial clout and vision before embarking on a project like this.

I also noted we are still in the "meetings to be arranged" stage even with the owners of the land. No firm idea where the money might come from, apart from vague talk of grants.

I hope Ollie does the business on the pitch as we will never move forward off it with this board, who are just not dynamic enough or rich enough to take on a major infrastructure project such as this. Four stands with open corners indeed. May as well use grants to refurbish BP and put us out of our misery.

Quoted from ska face

At risk of being branded a heretic for speaking out against today’s wave of optimism and gratitude, but can I say I’m really, really concerned about having a retired solicitor overseeing the biggest move in the club’s history.

On the basis that the other options were tonight’s two absentee directors, Mr Day will do.

To me it all sounds worryingly positive at the minute.

Good things happening on and off the pitch make me nervous. Give me the comfort blanket or losing 0-1 to some part timers and being told to shut up / signing shite players etc. Nothing to lose when you’re there. I can’t handle GTFC optimism.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

Gawd. Fancy saying that. Absolutely pathetic. Just like Shrewsbury or other bog standard new stadia, and as cheap as possible (although I appreciate it is a lot of money)

This is why we need new owners with some financial clout and vision before embarking on a project like this.

I also noted we are still in the "meetings to be arranged" stage even with the owners of the land. No firm idea where the money might come from, apart from vague talk of grants.

I hope Ollie does the business on the pitch as we will never move forward off it with this board, who are just not dynamic enough or rich enough to take on a major infrastructure project such as this. Four stands with open corners indeed. May as well use grants to refurbish BP and put us out of our misery.

Thank you for bringing me back down.

Dave Roberts apart.. this board of directors have neither the vision, qualifications nor commercial instinct to take a football league club forward let alone project manage the biggest move in the club's history. If any of them are reading this.. please pay for an expert, fresh blood from an outside perspective to maximise the opportunity that lays in front of us. GTFC is not a retirement hobby for you, you're not qualified to do it or have any experience in the sector, it means much more than that to a lot of people. I found most of the answers uninspiring and par for the course from people who haven't a professional background in the customer service, marketing or retail sector. No commercial intuition, no drive, no preparation, still reactive rather than proactive and bare cost coming before investing to accumulate. PD has made me less confident than ever with his answers tonight.. Where's the inspiration? Where's the leadership? Where's the grasp of what's needed? Still on about printing season ticket books for next season.. jesus christ.. are we ever going to get into the 21st century? Set the budget at 4.5k average which we pretty much have always averaged anyway? So no self confidence in commercially driving bums on seats to 5 or 6k then? Because they don't know how to do it, even with IH at their disposal..

Thank god IH is our manager on the pitch..