Now Fenty and Marley have mentioned this a few times publically, and also in the notorious Fenty Tapes, but I’d like to know a bit more about this process where the club paid the best part of £20k for consultants to identify external investment opportunities, and then came back with absolutely nothing.

Marley puts this squarely down to the fans, stating a couple of times how “high net worth individuals” came back to him asking why they’d put themselves through the excrement that the fans give. Is that really the reason why people won’t invest, or is there a bigger gap that needs bridging?

Ignoring debts to directors, there MUST be something that the consultants came back to the club with which would make the club a more attractive investment, otherwise have we just forked out twenty grand for someone to fire off a load of emails and get no replies?

What would make people WANT to invest in the club, what are we doing to get the club into that position and are we building on our current strengths?

The issue of owners and directors of football clubs getting abuse from fans is not unique to gtfc.

There are many examples of where investors have not gone ahead and bought clubs because they do not want to get abuse of themselves and their families.

Seems to me that there are only two reasons why anybody would want to own and run a club:

1. To make money
2. Because of a longtime deep interest in the club.

Don't think#1 applies to gtfc.
#2 not sure that there are enough people around with the money to take it on.

Does that just leave Fenty, or is there anyone else out there?

I think you can add to that list:

3. Vanity ownership for billionaires;

You obviously haven’t worked with any consultants before.

£20,000 won’t get you very far at all. It’s about four days worth of day rate for a junior, middle manager at one of the big accountancy firm’s consulting arms.

They said it got them a lead with an American franchise and brought about Extreme but that’s about it. I’m sure there’s probably a PowerPoint somewhere but not sure why they would share that openly.

They'll have done an initial meeting with Fenty, Marley and co where they'll have asked them what they thought the major block to investment was. Having been told it was the fact the fans were a bunch of ungrateful sharp objects they'll have taken their £20k, pottered around for a few days and done a snazzy presentation that said the biggest problem is indeed the fact the fans are ungrateful sharp objects.

Quoted from ska face

Now Fenty and Marley have mentioned this a few times publically, and also in the notorious Fenty Tapes, but I’d like to know a bit more about this process where the club paid the best part of £20k for consultants to identify external investment opportunities, and then came back with absolutely nothing.

Marley puts this squarely down to the fans, stating a couple of times how “high net worth individuals” came back to him asking why they’d put themselves through the excrement that the fans give. Is that really the reason why people won’t invest, or is there a bigger gap that needs bridging?

Ignoring debts to directors, there MUST be something that the consultants came back to the club with which would make the club a more attractive investment, otherwise have we just forked out twenty grand for someone to fire off a load of emails and get no replies?

What would make people WANT to invest in the club, what are we doing to get the club into that position and are we building on our current strengths?

And we are supposed to believe that?  Shut up!!  ;)

I'm not party to whatever discussions may have taken place but if an unlikely someone were to come along prepared to invest, why would they automatically assume that we, the fans, would be on their backs?

They would be making an investment to try and turn things around which if anything would allow for positivity for the fans and not just to continue with a depressing downward spiral

We are one of 24 clubs in League 2 and there is no divine right for any investor to expect success of course, but I am pretty sure when the investors at Lincoln came along there was probably apathy and mistrust amongst their fans, but with an injection of funds and enthusiasm, their objectives are probably being more than met

It would be a risk for anyone to come and invest in Town but if they are turned off before they know the outcome, citing fan abuse as a reason not to proceed, then imho they are not the right people to come in and try to take us forward

What those American investors need is a football club where the fans don't care if you totally intercourse everything up.

Still good news that they didn't have an issue with the debts, the dilapidated ground, the lack of assets and the lack of infrastructure and professionalism.

Quoted from IlkleyMariner

The issue of owners and directors of football clubs getting abuse from fans is not unique to gtfc.

There are many examples of where investors have not gone ahead and bought clubs because they do not want to get abuse of themselves and their families.

Seems to me that there are only two reasons why anybody would want to own and run a club:

1. To make money
2. Because of a longtime deep interest in the club.

Don't think#1 applies to gtfc.
#2 not sure that there are enough people around with the money to take it on.

Does that just leave Fenty, or is there anyone else out there?

There are HNW out there that are coming to the stage of their lives where they want to get involved in something they enjoy and have a far greater desire to leave a long lasting legacy on this planet, rather than worry about losing an insignificant proportion of a wealth that could see them in luxury for another 100 lifetimes..

I think if an investor or investment firm were indeed considering a football club, they would look at potential and not current status. Our potential way outweighs our status presently, we have the fanbase to achieve much better attendances than presently attending. Mainly due to the current board and their non-ability to run a football club and engage with their biggest investor (us the fans ) in a positive and sincere way. Any potential investor worth their salt would know what can be achieved if managed in the correct way.

And I didn't need £20,000 to tell Mr Marley that.

Quoted from IlkleyMariner

The issue of owners and directors of football clubs getting abuse from fans is not unique to gtfc.

There are many examples of where investors have not gone ahead and bought clubs because they do not want to get abuse of themselves and their families.

Seems to me that there are only two reasons why anybody would want to own and run a club:

1. To make money
2. Because of a longtime deep interest in the club.

Don't think#1 applies to gtfc.
#2 not sure that there are enough people around with the money to take it on.

Does that just leave Fenty, or is there anyone else out there?

It does just leave Fenty and the sooner everyone realises that, builds a few bridges with him (and he with the fans - it has to be two way) so that he stays, on the better.

No one can doubt his joy, enthusiasm and delight when we were promoted back into the FL. Anyone witnessing him sprinting across the pitch at Braintree like a schoolboy will realise what the club means to him

I don't like the man, he's stubborn, rude, blames everyone else, supercilious and patronising but we have to work with him - he's all we've got and he's all we will get.

No mad millionaire is going to pop up, no one else will come forward with Fenty's love for the club and the trust taking over is the biggest joke ever and those who will argue its possible are misguided and kidding themselves.

The sooner he is persuaded to re-ignite his enthusiasm for GTFC the better He can start by sacking the manager and go from there

Quoted from IlkleyMariner

The issue of owners and directors of football clubs getting abuse from fans is not unique to gtfc.

There are many examples of where investors have not gone ahead and bought clubs because they do not want to get abuse of themselves and their families.

Seems to me that there are only two reasons why anybody would want to own and run a club:

1. To make money
2. Because of a longtime deep interest in the club.

Don't think#1 applies to gtfc.
#2 not sure that there are enough people around with the money to take it on.

Does that just leave Fenty, or is there anyone else out there?

Maybe not but Grimsby is a small town with many places where Board members/investors are " cheek by jowl " with supporters. I did hear of one lifelong town supporter with a considerable personal wealth who said he would never want to put himself in the position of personal abuse in public when things go wrong.

Quoted from IlkleyMariner

The issue of owners and directors of football clubs getting abuse from fans is not unique to gtfc.

There are many examples of where investors have not gone ahead and bought clubs because they do not want to get abuse of themselves and their families.

Seems to me that there are only two reasons why anybody would want to own and run a club:

1. To make money
2. Because of a longtime deep interest in the club.

Don't think#1 applies to gtfc.
#2 not sure that there are enough people around with the money to take it on.

Does that just leave Fenty, or is there anyone else out there?

Of course there are other people out there. How do you think we were run in the 155 years before Fenty came along?!

Quoted from rancido

Maybe not but Grimsby is a small town with many places where Board members/investors are " cheek by jowl " with supporters. I did hear of one lifelong town supporter with a considerable personal wealth who said he would never want to put himself in the position of personal abuse in public when things go wrong.

It is NOT a small town. It is a medium sized town with small ambitions.

If you love something you spend money on it, if it's a hobby you spend money on it. Both of these; love and hobby take up considerable amount of time and probably a large portion of your income. M91 posts

Quoted from mariner91

The accounts show that he hasn't put in any money for about five years. The fans pay the bills as they would continue to do so. It is a myth that Fenty props the club up financially.

Yet people claim he loves the club, where we are in the league and the lack of investment states otherwise.

Quoted from Alfie

You obviously haven’t worked with any consultants before.

£20,000 won’t get you very far at all. It’s about four days worth of day rate for a junior, middle manager at one of the big accountancy firm’s consulting arms.

They said it got them a lead with an American franchise and brought about Extreme but that’s about it. I’m sure there’s probably a PowerPoint somewhere but not sure why they would share that openly.

Not true I work in this world but I get the sentiment

Rodley's post absolutely nutshells it.
Post of the weekend.

If the new stadium is built or looks likely to be built surely,from what we have heard from the powers that be,this would secure the long term outlook for G.T.F.C.    J.S.F. and all the directors would be able to recoup their loans,the value of shares in G.T.F.C. would dramatically increase and a lot of people people would be happy.  Who owns the land for the development ,not just where the stadium is to be built,but where these 1500 new houses are to be built. I read somewhere that this housing development need not necessarily be built on the land adjacent to the stadium and sports complex but on a different site altogether. Who owns this land .If I were to make a guess I would use a capital C but what do I know-I am only a Golfer.

Quoted from Zmariner

Not true I work in this world but I get the sentiment

Likewise - four days probably not right (more like six or seven) but point remains, £20,000 is peanuts for this sort of thing. I wonder who the club used and how they came to attention.

Quoted from golfer

If the new stadium is built or looks likely to be built surely,from what we have heard from the powers that be,this would secure the long term outlook for G.T.F.C.    J.S.F. and all the directors would be able to recoup their loans,the value of shares in G.T.F.C. would dramatically increase and a lot of people people would be happy.  Who owns the land for the development ,not just where the stadium is to be built,but where these 1500 new houses are to be built. I read somewhere that this housing development need not necessarily be built on the land adjacent to the stadium and sports complex but on a different site altogether. Who owns this land .If I were to make a guess I would use a capital C but what do I know-I am only a Golfer.

The land the new ground and houses to be built on is allegedly owned by the family that Fenty's daughter married into.

Most consultants are a waste of money and £20,000 will get you nothing which is what happened,

Just an example  a good few years ago the new fast ferry from Harwich to Holland made big waves and a young lad got drowned off the beach at Felixstowe.

£36,000 was spent on solving the problem that amount would be double in todays money,

After a study of the ferry going in and out the port the solution was for the ferry to go slower when entering and exiting the port so the waves would be smaller.

Ipswin and I could have told them that at half the cost . 8)

Quoted from Marinerz93

The land the new ground and houses to be built on is allegedly owned by the family that Fenty's daughter married into.

I know-I didn't want to say - but I tried to give a clue with the capital C and Golfer-didn.t want to be accused of insinuating any thing.  If I owned something that I thought could get me a nice profit but then the profit didn't look like materialising I think I would try to sell for the best price possible before anybody found out.I might even set up another Ltd. Company

Quoted from golfer

I know-I didn't want to say - but I tried to give a clue with the capital C and Golfer-didn.t want to be accused of insinuating any thing.  If I owned something that I thought could get me a nice profit but then the profit didn't look like materialising I think I would try to sell for the best price possible before anybody found out.I might even set up another Ltd. Company

You can't be accused of insinuating anything if you aren't insinuating anything.

Quoted from Marinerz93

You can't be accused of insinuating anything if you aren't insinuating anything.

Ok I am, we all know what's going on.

Quoted from golfer

Ok I am, we all know what's going on.

What's going on, what have I missed.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/xgBkiss.gif[/img]

There is no potential for any money to be made from so I still don't agree with the use of the term 'investor' when it comes to putting money into the club.

It therefore only going to be the case that any new buyer/benefactor will be in it either for the love of the club or as a vanity project.

As has been noted on many occasions, Grimsby isn't exactly an area replete with cash so it's not surprising they haven't been queueing up to stick some money into the club. Fenty has made poor decisions in his appointments on a number of occasions but, again, talented managers aren't exactly queueing up to take over smallish clubs such as our own.

What's the solution? I can't really see one, truth be told. If Fenty isn't going to pull out and leave us in the lurch then that's stability of sorts but any improvement in the future depends on the sort of footballing fortune which Slade doesn't look like he can bring.

If we somehow managed to get on the up, it wouldn't surprise me if there was renewed interest from somebody looking for a vanity project, but it's a chicken and egg situation for now.

Fenty is relatively wealthy for our area but doesn't have the money that many sugar daddies of clubs do. I suppose a Euro millions winner willing to chuck in several million might make a difference but that's not very likely and could just as easily end in disaster!

Maybe it's time the club tried to tap up the offshore wind companies we seem to be pioneers in this field even the yanks are envious of this apparently.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Most consultants are a waste of money and £20,000 will get you nothing which is what happened,

Just an example  a good few years ago the new fast ferry from Harwich to Holland made big waves and a young lad got drowned off the beach at Felixstowe.

£36,000 was spent on solving the problem that amount would be double in todays money,

After a study of the ferry going in and out the port the solution was for the ferry to go slower when entering and exiting the port so the waves would be smaller.

Ipswin and I could have told them that at half the cost . 8)

Yes, but you both would've gone on and on about it for weeks and weeks  ;)