Finally!

Bailout includes a minimum of £250,000 up front for us. Plus an additional figure based on lost gate money which will come later.

The money is in grants which means it doesn't need to be paid back.

Have sent letter to JSF telling him we don't want it -we would only spend it on new players - as if we need any. Tell them we have pride

Good news might need to spend a bit of that for a proven striker.

With our wage bill drastically reduced this season and us making our usual yearly profit I’m wondering how much of this we will really need ?
I’d expect the other clubs in the league will benefit a lot more than we will

Great news!

Presumably our frugal approach in the summer will now put us at an advantage over some of our League Two rivals (those who threw caution to the wind) when the window reopens in January?

There must be a fair few clubs for whom these welcome grants will just be a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Hopefully we're not in that bracket.

Further £15m will be distributed using a lost gate revenue share calculation. Again, this will put us at an advantage over most other clubs in League Two.

Quoted from Withnail

Further £15m will be distributed using a lost gate revenue share calculation. Again, this will put us at an advantage over most other clubs in League Two.

That £15m is to be split between the 48 clubs in League One and Two, meaning the average amount a club will receive is £312,500.

Of course, this is all based on gate receipts rather than attendances however doing a quick bit of maths the average attendance across those two divisions last season was 6,633. Town's average gate was 4,599 - 69% of the average. On that basis, you'd expect us to receive a figure loosely in the region of £215,000, taking the total amount to £465,000 which will no doubt be very helpful.

Things like ticket pricing and the number of concessions may skew that slightly, but I would think it will be somewhere in that ballpark.

Quoted from Poojah

That £15m is to be split between the 48 clubs in League One and Two, meaning the average amount a club will receive is £312,500.

Of course, this is all based on gate receipts rather than attendances however doing a quick bit of maths the average attendance across those two divisions last season was 6,633. Town's average gate was 4,599 - 69% of the average. On that basis, you'd expect us to receive a figure loosely in the region of £215,000, taking the total amount to £465,000 which will no doubt be very helpful.

Things like ticket pricing and the number of concessions may skew that slightly, but I would think it will be somewhere in that ballpark.

Just to give this some further context, that £465,000 is roughly the equivalent of 1,800 season tickets (again depending on the split between full paying adults and concessions), meaning that with those actually sold we have something close to the value of just over 3,000 sold.

With Town receiving around £10,000 a game from iFollow viewings and anticipated savings on the wage bill, you'd have to hope that any deficit is now well within a manageable realm for the club.

This is live saving news for clubs like Town. This season was all about survival; existential first, then our league status. Hopefully it means we only have to worry about the latter now, and if we can find a way to move away from the relegation zone and avoid any serious flirting with the trap door this will represent a successful one for me, under the circumstances. Just need to turn that 'if' into reality.

Let's hope we spend it wisely but knowing our owners it'll not be spent at all and we'll still be blaming Covid in 2023

Personally I think to put us on an even playing field with all other teams, the club should instantly dismiss the Covid clause to put everyone on their full contract, and then that will allow Ollie to approach any players without having to try to talk them into an instant 25% pay drop for them to have the 'privelage' of playing for Town.

If the figures quoted above are a ball park figure, then £450k+, plus what we have in the bank, plus the amount the supporters raised, plus Ollies imminent £100k, should put us in the dreamy realms of actually dipping in and BUYING a player or two, rather than relying on the freebies that we seem to rely on.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Let's hope we spend it wisely but knowing our owners it'll not be spent at all and we'll still be blaming Covid in 2023

I desperately want to disagree with you. But I don't.....

Quoted from WayneBurnettsJockstrap

Personally I think to put us on an even playing field with all other teams, the club should instantly dismiss the Covid clause to put everyone on their full contract, and then that will allow Ollie to approach any players without having to try to talk them into an instant 25% pay drop for them to have the 'privelage' of playing for Town.

If the figures quoted above are a ball park figure, then £450k+, plus what we have in the bank, plus the amount the supporters raised, plus Ollies imminent £100k, should put us in the dreamy realms of actually dipping in and BUYING a player or two, rather than relying on the freebies that we seem to rely on.

But doesn't the covid clause only apply if the season is curtailed?

Not sure how and when it kicks in.

A big thankyou to the Premier for once.

so can we spend that on what we like?  any caveats to this?

could we buy Messi's left foot for example, or buy Hanson a new groin?

Quoted from golfer

A big thankyou to the Premier for once.

I know what you're saying but before we all touch our caps and kiss the hem of the EPL's frock for their 250m 'bailout', Chelsea paid 120m for Kai Havertz and Timo Werner this transfer window.

Quoted from BobbyCummingsTackle

I know what you're saying but before we all touch our caps and kiss the hem of the EPL's frock for their 250m 'bailout', Chelsea paid 120m for Kai Havertz and Timo Werner this transfer window.

It’s a big thank you for all those Sky/BT Sports subscribers. Ultimately that’s where the money comes from. Much of it will have come from people in NEL. So the money has just been recycled back into Grimsby.

Quoted from BobbyCummingsTackle

I know what you're saying but before we all touch our caps and kiss the hem of the EPL's frock for their 250m 'bailout', Chelsea paid 120m for Kai Havertz and Timo Werner this transfer window.

Yes but they have got a 70million pound keeper available for a loan or a knock down price.

Any bets they will get less than half their money back if they do manage to sell him.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Yes but they have got a 70million pound keeper available for a loan or a knock down price.

Any bets they will get less than half their money back if they do manage to sell him.

I think you're backing up my point!!

So according to our friend “lincs Ironman” scunny should be in line for millions for the thousands that haven’t been able to pack glummy park this season. Also is this money just be given away or what strings are attached?

My understanding is the bulk is interest free loans to be paid back by 2024.

Might be controversial, but I don't see Currys bailing out the small local electrical retailer.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Let's hope we spend it wisely but knowing our owners it'll not be spent at all and we'll still be blaming Covid in 2023

The money will be already allocated to paying current playing contracts until the end of the season. No spare cash left over.

My first impression was one of League One and League Two clubs being undervalued in their importance to the football pyramid and general countrywide social well-being, and a little underwhelmed by the deal too. Expected probably double what we'll end up receiving, which would have been around a seasonsworth of gate receipt shortfall rather than around 50% of it.. Better than nothing I guess but still way short of what the extra funds we should receive from an equitable TV money share out anyway.. We have to be on completely on our arsse to get an extra 400k while Premier League clubs spend over a billion in one transfer window?

Phillip day extremely unhappy with it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p090fgw2

Quoted from BobbyCummingsTackle

I think you're backing up my point!!

Correct (thumbup)

Quoted from Hagrid

Phillip day extremely unhappy with it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p090fgw2

I don't blame him EFL member  it up again.

Stevenage Scunts and the like to get most of the cash.

Quoted from Hagrid

Phillip day extremely unhappy with it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p090fgw2

Day says at the end that the EFL haven’t told them how they’ve come up with the figure so I’m not sure how he can straight up come out and say it’s a bad deal straight away?

Clubs will have to apply for the extra money, we’ll be able to as well. I’m sure if we demonstrate further loss of earnings we’ll be fine.

Seems a bit perverse if we were to lose out specifically if we are judged to not be in need I.e  because we turned a profit last season and took mitigating factors like covid clauses this season while others did not.

So I do get what he is saying. Guess its just another example of the gamble we've taken with these classes not coming off.

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

Seems a bit perverse if we were to lose out specifically if we are judged to not be in need I.e  because we turned a profit last season and took mitigating factors like covid clauses this season while others did not.

So I do get what he is saying. Guess its just another example of the gamble we've taken with these classes not coming off.

Perhaps we shouldn’t brag about paying off loans? We might be financially well run but football is played on grass not in the boardroom.

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

Seems a bit perverse if we were to lose out specifically if we are judged to not be in need I.e  because we turned a profit last season and took mitigating factors like covid clauses this season while others did not.

So I do get what he is saying. Guess its just another example of the gamble we've taken with these classes not coming off.

Literally no other club planned for no football apart from us and we’ve lost out massively because of it.

We lost Vernam, we came back late to keep our players on furlough for a bit longer, we lost out on players and we built a shite squad on the cheap.

Yet another poor judgement from Day, they’re stacking up.

Haha, Philip Day unhappy about not being consulted........irony .......you know how it feels to be a supporter now.......didnt see the board too unhappy with the EFL back when they were on an EFL jolly in Portugal voting in the tinpot league without consulting the supporters trust board member and just agreeing a deal.

Alright just complaining about other not so well run clubs (obviously thats the entire 91 other teams as we are the best run club ever) benefitting by being able to demonstrate a need but whose fault is that ??  YOURS, .. as chairman you have steered us down the austerity route, ran us on the bare bones....YOUR decision.
Dont start whining because other clubs gambled/ had the vision/ realised that the situation would become untenable for most clubs and a rescue package would be inevitable as the country wouldnt allow half of the football pyramid to just disappear overnight.

Quoted from Hagrid

Phillip day extremely unhappy with it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p090fgw2

Mr Day...."the other £20M will be based on a clubs need"

Well we need some decent players to stay up so get your claim in now Phil.

Quoted from moosey_club

Haha, Philip Day unhappy about not being consulted........irony .......you know how it feels to be a supporter now.......didnt see the board too unhappy with the EFL back when they were on an EFL jolly in Portugal voting in the tinpot league without consulting the supporters trust board member and just agreeing a deal.

Alright just complaining about other not so well run clubs (obviously thats the entire 91 other teams as we are the best run club ever) benefitting by being able to demonstrate a need but whose fault is that ??  YOURS, .. as chairman you have steered us down the austerity route, ran us on the bare bones....YOUR decision.
Dont start whining because other clubs gambled/ had the vision/ realised that the situation would become untenable for most clubs and a rescue package would be inevitable as the country wouldnt allow half of the football pyramid to just disappear overnight.

Our chairman should change his name to Groundhog in homage to other recent chairmen who always blamed someone or something else.

Put it another way ....
If you owned a business doing something else like a taxi company and you ran yours sensibly buying Vauxhalls , paying wages to your drivers in the hope of having a long lasting business ....
... Then someone from down the road started up a company with a fleet of Mercs and drivers paid ridiculous wages ...  
... Covid comes along and times are hard and the Charlie from down the road got bailed out more ££££ than you as he said he was going skint ,  you’d be pretty pi.ssed off like Day !!

“You’ve got to speculate to accumulate” has never been so true.

The fans have already put some money in, the Premier League now too. Who’s going to make up the rest of it?

Quoted from Hagrid

Phillip day extremely unhappy with it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p090fgw2

After listening to that who can blame him.

Quoted from moosey_club

Haha, Philip Day unhappy about not being consulted........irony .......you know how it feels to be a supporter now.......didnt see the board too unhappy with the EFL back when they were on an EFL jolly in Portugal voting in the tinpot league without consulting the supporters trust board member and just agreeing a deal.

Alright just complaining about other not so well run clubs (obviously thats the entire 91 other teams as we are the best run club ever) benefitting by being able to demonstrate a need but whose fault is that ??  YOURS, .. as chairman you have steered us down the austerity route, ran us on the bare bones....YOUR decision.
Dont start whining because other clubs gambled/ had the vision/ realised that the situation would become untenable for most clubs and a rescue package would be inevitable as the country wouldnt allow half of the football pyramid to just disappear overnight.

Couldn't agree more. Didn't want to back the club in the hour of need ironically given their bleating about how Schutes couldn't possibly have the finances to run the club if things went mammaries up. Happy to take the fans money again! They've gambled and lost. They don't have the money to run the club, they don't have any ideas to improve the club and again we're back at the trap door of league football because of this boards incompetence. For goodness sakes they just need to go!

Colchester chairman singing the same tune as Day on Sky Sports so they’ll have a nice moan come Saturday in the boardroom. Whilst I do understand the thinking behind the clubs stance it does seem ridiculous to preclude a sale to Shutes on the basis he couldn’t financially support a downturn in our performance, not that our on pitch performances can get much worse!

Backed the wrong horse in the summer. We are all paying the price for it. Interesting that we need wealthy backers pulling the strings in case of a rainy day, well it drunk it down in the summer and they sat on their hands.

It certainly makes the demand on Shutes’ team to have a Rainy Day Fund look like a way to deter the takeover.

Even if we had hit the salary cap with the squad that Olly assembled, Mr Fenty’s Rainy Day Fund could have done away with the need for a Covid clause.

So I’m calling BS on this. He doesn’t want to lose control of the club.

Whatever your take on things, we always seem to get it wrong.

We are in a perpetual state of inertia. 10 years after losing our league status, we are 6 places higher in the pyramid than we were then.

Quoted from Poojah

Just to give this some further context, that £465,000 is roughly the equivalent of 1,800 season tickets (again depending on the split between full paying adults and concessions), meaning that with those actually sold we have something close to the value of just over 3,000 sold.

With Town receiving around £10,000 a game from iFollow viewings and anticipated savings on the wage bill, you'd have to hope that any deficit is now well within a manageable realm for the club.

This is live saving news for clubs like Town. This season was all about survival; existential first, then our league status. Hopefully it means we only have to worry about the latter now, and if we can find a way to move away from the relegation zone and avoid any serious flirting with the trap door this will represent a successful one for me, under the circumstances. Just need to turn that 'if' into reality.

Dont forget the £200,000 plus they made in refunds, shares and crowdfunding

Whilst it’ll be tight, I’d imagine we won’t be far off having the same amount of cash come in to the club as normal, especially with the 200k fans threw in.

Survival financially is always important, for any business. As you say though, staying up has to be a priority. At present we look set for a relegation battle and long term that would be detrimental in many ways.

We have to learn from our mistakes, we have to avoid it and ensure we stay up, that’s the best way to gain a platform to push on...which is what Holloway wants to do, even if the leadership of the club lack any ambition.

Can we not apply for extra funding based on our extensive un-benign debt?

Some really good posts on here what resonates with me is that if we hadn't have paired back in the summer and a bailout (which wasn't guaranteed) had not come along then we would have potentially been in trouble. Though it hasn't taken Phil Day long to revert back to type and I get bored with the "well we give up our time" argument I'm not sure I'd have taken the risk to keep costs high whilst forecasted income was going to be so low.

It's just the crass hypocrisy of professional football in this country that those who didn't take measures in the hope that someone will ultimately step in have benefited, they say that "football is a business" well in any business if you behaved like many club boards you wouldn't last too long.  

I would like to think that this money would be awarded on a case to case basis to keep clubs above the breakeven level but I doubt it.

I highly doubt PL clubs are going to give away money without stringently assessing the ‘need’ part. I’m sure they’ll also have a good look at the accounts pre-Covid to ensure they’re not paying for pre-existing debts.

With our money back plus the fans money plus the money we’ve saved from the playing budget (by spending absolute peanuts) you’d imagine we’re in an incredibly healthy financial position now. However it’s taken less than 24hrs to plead poverty which is concerning yet not at all surprising.


I wonder if a non chairman’s benign loans is a ‘need’?

Quoted from pontoonlew

I highly doubt PL clubs are going to give away money without stringently assessing the ‘need’ part. I’m sure they’ll also have a good look at the accounts pre-Covid to ensure they’re not paying for pre-existing debts.

With our money back plus the fans money plus the money we’ve saved from the playing budget (by spending absolute peanuts) you’d imagine we’re in an incredibly healthy financial position now. However it’s taken less than 24hrs to plead poverty which is concerning yet not at all surprising.


I wonder if a non chairman’s benign loans is a ‘need’?

Not sure that reducing the playing budget in order to pay off loans (debt) built up by bad decisions off the pitch makes them ‘benign’?

On one hand I can understand Day's frustration.  It's simply unfair that we have really cut our cloth and adjusted our budget to match our income, whilst other clubs have done sod all to to adapt and yet any bailout/grant will reflect the losses incurred.  On face value that's crappy.  The Taxi analogy above sums it up perfectly.

Yet....how many times do we get it wrong?  Why is that we seem to be the only club that gets it wrong too?

The more and more this farce goes on the question still remains answered, what have the board put in to help the club this year?  As fans we've gone above and beyond to make sure the club has had money to keep running.  Personally I gave up my refund on last years season ticket, I put into the Crowd Funder, I made sure I spent a bit in the club shop and then I bought a season ticket with the high risk factor that I wouldn't get to see most (if any of the games) other than via a one camera feed.  I'm far from alone in doing this.   The club then had the absolute nerve to say the iFollow passes were 'free'.  They're not flipping free, I've paid for my season ticket and I'm getting an inferior product as a substitute for it.  I accept that but don't patronise me by suggesting I'm getting a freebie.  The same letter also said "Your loyal support will not be forgotten and we are currently looking at ways to rewarding that loyalty at this difficult time".  That letter came some time in October, the only reward I've had is the offer of a free calendar (subject to availability).  I don't want thanks, I don't want rewards.  I gave up my money because I love my football club.  But I want to know what have the board given up?

The staff of the club have taken paycuts to make sure there's still a club.  That's huge.  I'm irked that I've given up money for nothing.  It pales in comparison to giving up some of your wage.  What have the board done?

Tom Schutes and his gang were rebuffed because they couldn't provide assurances that they would have money to support us in the event of any downturn.  Well, I'm asking this board right now, where are the assurances that they can support the club during any downturn.  Because since the start of this pandemic the budget has been slashed, fans have given up money to dig deep and staff have dug even deeper.  

Answers are needed.  

Might be worth the fans writing a letter to the PL on the basis of our need to get rid of the Fenty. £1.55m should do it nicely, thank you very much.

I have to say, I find Philip Day's comments on the matter somewhat naive. The club is set to receive somewhere between £400k - £500k in non-repayable grants from a source which had no obligation whatsoever to provide anything, without (as far as I am aware) any potentially harmful strings attached. It's quite literally free money, and the fact that it's going to take another couple of weeks to ratify the exact amount payable to each club is neither here nor there.

Is the deal fair? Perhaps not, but little about Covid-19 is fair. It's not fair that millions of people are dying before their time and that jobs and in fact entire industries are being decimated. It's not fair that the old, infirm, poor and ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected.

This is a rescue package; the clue is in the name. The funds should absolutely not be used to fill cracks that would have appeared without the pandemic, but I can accept that some clubs will have taken financial risks which would have been manageable without the effects of Covid-19, but are less so in the cold harsh reality of these difficult times.

The EFL's objective isn't about fairness and equality at this time, it's about the survival of its members. Enforcing a one-size fits all policy which would see a handful of clubs go to the wall would be akin to attempting to save a group of drowning people, but refusing to rescue those who had drifted further out because they hadn't had the foresight to learn to swim properly.

Quoted from Poojah

I have to say, I find Philip Day's comments on the matter somewhat naive. The club is set to receive somewhere between £400k - £500k in non-repayable grants from a source which had no obligation whatsoever to provide anything, without (as far as I am aware) any potentially harmful strings attached. It's quite literally free money, and the fact that it's going to take another couple of weeks to ratify the exact amount payable to each club is neither here nor there.

Is the deal fair? Perhaps not, but little about Covid-19 is fair. It's not fair that millions of people are dying before their time and that jobs and in fact entire industries are being decimated. It's not fair that the old, infirm, poor and ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected.

This is a rescue package; the clue is in the name. The funds should absolutely not be used to fill cracks that would have appeared without the pandemic, but I can accept that some clubs will have taken financial risks which would have been manageable without the effects of Covid-19, but are less so in the cold harsh reality of these difficult times.

The EFL's objective isn't about fairness and equality at this time, it's about the survival of its members. Enforcing a one-size fits all policy which would see a handful of clubs go to the wall would be akin to attempting to save a group of drowning people, but refusing to rescue those who had drifted further out because they hadn't had the foresight to learn to swim properly.

Completely agreed, also the fine details have not been ironed out yet to determine the relative difference in pay out. Once the figures are on the table then it may be time to discuss. If the proposed model clearly shows that bad budgeting is rewarded then the EFL need to be taken into account but we need to see some clear evidence of this first. They are pretty incompetent and so it would not surprise me but let’s look at the relative difference in pay out before we get too excited, utm

The bailout benefits all Div 2 clubs and reduces the chance of a club going bust this season.  At present, it looks like Southend in the bottom 2 plus one other club...............given our league position arguably the bailout slightly increases our risk of finishing in the bottom 2.

The new capital has to be used to strengthen the team wisely and effectively. We cannot simply survive and look at next season. The risks are too great.

I don't think the grant can be used to buy players

But

If Ollie's puts in his 100,000 and Fenty  matches it we could get 2 or 3 decent players in.

What am I saying If Fenty matches it ?????





Of course he will he loves our club right ?

Feels like society in general this bailout. The extremely wealthy 1 per cent deciding who among the poorest is the most deserving of the crumbs from the table.

As for the rainy day fund that JF has in place; I'm sure they would say that due to their financial prudence, we are not in imminent danger of going under, so it is not yet needed. Think they will also argue that we have spent our allotted budget on players, as per the new rules and any further signings will be on a one in one out basis. It remains for the fans to consider whether their strategy is the correct one. Most probably think they got it wrong again.

Quoted from ginnywings

Feels like society in general this bailout. The extremely wealthy 1 per cent deciding who among the poorest is the most deserving of the crumbs from the table.

As for the rainy day fund that JF has in place; I'm sure they would say that due to their financial prudence, we are not in imminent danger of going under, so it is not yet needed. Think they will also argue that we have spent our allotted budget on players, as per the new rules and any further signings will be on a one in one out basis. It remains for the fans to consider whether their strategy is the correct one. Most probably think they got it wrong again.

We are going to buy a striker who is a proven goal scored Ginny or end up with another crock or is unproven at this level.

I doubt that we will though when was the last time we paid money for a player ?

I would start with a more mobile experienced centre half
I would then move the captaincy away from the goalkeeper. I know we are very very poor at scoring we also conceding plenty at the moment. My priority would be to shore this up and make us very very difficult to beat. At the moment we are easy pickings for the better teams. If we have to play a defensive game against teams like Exeter then so be it
I think this is why we are better suited to playing away from home with the expectations on attacking are much lower. When the onus is to push forward at home this shows our inadequacies and we are picked off very easily. Utm

I get the impression that the grant money cannot be used to buy new players, certainly not expensive ones.

Quoted from rancido

I get the impression that the grant money cannot be used to buy new players, certainly not expensive ones.

One of the Premier League's grant conditions is that L1 and L2 only make free transfer signings in the January window.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

One of the Premier League's grant conditions is that L1 and L2 only make free transfer signings in the January window.

I think thsts a totally fair condition, this money is supposed to pay the everyday bills not line player and agent pockets through signing on fees

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

I think thsts a totally fair condition, this money is supposed to pay the everyday bills not line player and agent pockets through signing on fees

Oh the irony that the PL don’t want that to happen.

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

Oh the irony that the PL don’t want that to happen.

I think it's even more ironic that they want to limit us to free transfers - tell that to Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Everton etc etc

We may have to explain what a free transfer is to some of them...

Mixed response. We get a mention.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55186670

Lots of sticks to beat the club with but don’t think this is one of them.

We did the right thing.

Quoted from psgmariner

Lots of sticks to beat the club with but don’t think this is one of them.

We did the right thing.

Agree on this issue.

The second part of the grant should be awarded on the basis of lost gate receipts not the gap between budget and expenditure.

Agree with Philip ‘Rainy’ Day that the League should have consulted on it.

Divide it equally amongst all recipients - if you have spent above your means get yourselves out of it. If you are paying your players too much - tough.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

One of the Premier League's grant conditions is that L1 and L2 only make free transfer signings in the January window.

Workaround will surely be clubs signing players on loan, with an agreement to make the deal permanent in the summer?