League One - clubs in crisis

[longmover]

not clicking the link to that dog5hit paper, but I get the vibe and I'm really not surprised, how Fleetwood are still able to play league football is beyond me.

[Jerry St Clair]

not clicking the link to that dog5hit paper, but I get the vibe and I'm really not surprised, how Fleetwood are still able to play league football is beyond me.

Yeah, sorry about that. I felt dirty falling for the clickbait.

[Ihearye]

not clicking the link to that dog5hit paper, but I get the vibe and I'm really not surprised, how Fleetwood are still able to play league football is beyond me.

Jaysus get over yourself, it's only a report on a court case and a jury saying they were bribed. What does it matter if it comes from the Morning Star or the New Statesman?

[Robin]

not clicking the link to that dog5hit paper, but I get the vibe and I'm really not surprised, how Fleetwood are still able to play league football is beyond me.

I can see them dropping like a stone over the next few years, it's going to be a question of how far they fall I suspect.

[plymrob]

It that the dog shi# paper along with all the other dog shi# papers? Maybe there is one that is gospel? Excusing the religious twist... do please put as all on the straight and narrow moving forward.

Read, learn, ignore....? Just made that up, but some people can digest and make reasoned choices.

[Ihearye]

It that the dog shi# paper along with all the other dog shi# papers? Maybe there is one that is gospel? Excusing the religious twist... do please put as all on the straight and narrow moving forward.

Read, learn, ignore....? Just made that up, but some people can digest and make reasoned choices.

Steady on!!!! I find myself agreeing with you. I have learned to live with RCS, is that not enough lol

[Jerry St Clair]

OK, not L1, but Accrington Stanley seem to have combusted.

Manager and assistant manager openly criticising the Chair, Andy Holt, on Lancs radio in a row over extending their contracts. Andy Holt has gone on a Twitter rampage and has put the club up for sale saying he's "spent" and "wants out".

Yet another club who were a model of stability a year or two ago who are rapidly unravelling. A sobering lesson for clubs like ours.

[longmover]

OK, not L1, but Accrington Stanley seem to have combusted.

Manager and assistant manager openly criticising the Chair, Andy Holt, on Lancs radio in a row over extending their contracts. Andy Holt has gone on a Twitter rampage and has put the club up for sale saying he's "spent" and "wants out".

Yet another club who were a model of stability a year or two ago who are rapidly unravelling. A sobering lesson for clubs like ours.

pretty sure this is a lesson in having one man pumping large amounts of his own money into a very small football club that has very little in the way of support, average attendance 2k (ish) this season.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

OK, not L1, but Accrington Stanley seem to have combusted.

Manager and assistant manager openly criticising the Chair, Andy Holt, on Lancs radio in a row over extending their contracts. Andy Holt has gone on a Twitter rampage and has put the club up for sale saying he's "spent" and "wants out".

Yet another club who were a model of stability a year or two ago who are rapidly unravelling. A sobering lesson for clubs like ours.

pretty sure this is a lesson in having one man pumping large amounts of his own money into a very small football club that has very little in the way of support, average attendance 2k (ish) this season.

Yes. One benefit of the current economic situation is that clubs who over leveraged or relying on characters like Holt are being found out.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Sheff Wed now. Not L1 this season, but they were last and will be next.

Transfer embargo for not paying tax.

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/f ... rc-4389028

[longmover]

Sheff Wed now. Not L1 this season, but they were last and will be next.

Transfer embargo for not paying tax.

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/f ... rc-4389028

same old same old, wish these clubs would just 8uck off and go under.

[Jerry St Clair]

Sheff Wed now. Not L1 this season, but they were last and will be next.

Transfer embargo for not paying tax.

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/f ... rc-4389028

The Wednesday fanbase seem completely split. Half are trying to organise demos, half are not interested and want to give the new coaching team time.

Which is staggering. Is an embargo not enough to stir action? A really sorry state of affairs. A disunited fanbase won't help their situation.

[Jerry St Clair]

same old same old, wish these clubs would just 8uck off and go under.

Why? You're a football fan, you know what football clubs mean to people. Why would you wish that upon them?

[ctfc-fan]

same old same old, wish these clubs would just 8uck off and go under.

Why? You're a football fan, you know what football clubs mean to people. Why would you wish that upon them?

Because football is so corrupt and these clubs need to be forced to work like normally businesses. Don’t pay your creditors, face the consequences. But no, they are allowed to keep spending money they don’t have on chasing the dream.

[Jerry St Clair]

same old same old, wish these clubs would just 8uck off and go under.

Why? You're a football fan, you know what football clubs mean to people. Why would you wish that upon them?

Because football is so corrupt and these clubs need to be forced to work like normally businesses. Don’t pay your creditors, face the consequences. But no, they are allowed to keep spending money they don’t have on chasing the dream.

Agreed. But there are two better things that could deal with that:

- A fit and proper persons test that actually works
- Punishments levied on owners. Point deductions, embargoes, relegations, hurt the team and the fans. Not the owner.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Why? You're a football fan, you know what football clubs mean to people. Why would you wish that upon them?

Because football is so corrupt and these clubs need to be forced to work like normally businesses. Don’t pay your creditors, face the consequences. But no, they are allowed to keep spending money they don’t have on chasing the dream.

Agreed. But there are two better things that could deal with that:

- A fit and proper persons test that actually works
- Punishments levied on owners. Point deductions, embargoes, relegations, hurt the team and the fans. Not the owner.

It’s hard to separate punishing the owners and fans. Even if the owner has the team taken off them or whatever, that just removes the financial backing and still hurts the club.

I agree that the owner and directors test needs to be better, and regulation better.

One thing which might help is all clubs being made to submit their next season’s budget plan to the authorities six months in advance. The authorities should then be able to say that they need to reduce costs or increase revenue to make the budget balance before being allowed to start the season.

The trouble is a lot of fans have too high expectations and want owners to sign players clubs can’t afford or play in loss-making stadiums. Therefore owners don’t want to disappoint the fans. However, IF it is the authorities instructing a club to reduce the wage bill or sell players then the owners can save face by saying it wasn’t their choice.

Is it really a surprise that a team who was paying Bannan £20k in L1 couldn’t pay it’s tax bill? Yet how many Wednesday fans were calling for Bannan to be sold or questioning how it was being afforded? Very few I imagine…..coming to roost now.

[asl]

- Punishments levied on owners. Point deductions, embargoes, relegations, hurt the team and the fans. Not the owner.

I presume most clubs operate under limited liability so there's limits on how the owners can be punished.

[Broadway Brian]

Because football is so corrupt and these clubs need to be forced to work like normally businesses. Don’t pay your creditors, face the consequences. But no, they are allowed to keep spending money they don’t have on chasing the dream.

Agreed. But there are two better things that could deal with that:

- A fit and proper persons test that actually works
- Punishments levied on owners. Point deductions, embargoes, relegations, hurt the team and the fans. Not the owner.

It’s hard to separate punishing the owners and fans. Even if the owner has the team taken off them or whatever, that just removes the financial backing and still hurts the club.

I agree that the owner and directors test needs to be better, and regulation better.

One thing which might help is all clubs being made to submit their next season’s budget plan to the authorities six months in advance. The authorities should then be able to say that they need to reduce costs or increase revenue to make the budget balance before being allowed to start the season.

The trouble is a lot of fans have too high expectations and want owners to sign players clubs can’t afford or play in loss-making stadiums. Therefore owners don’t want to disappoint the fans. However, IF it is the authorities instructing a club to reduce the wage bill or sell players then the owners can save face by saying it wasn’t their choice.

Is it really a surprise that a team who was paying Bannan £20k in L1 couldn’t pay it’s tax bill? Yet how many Wednesday fans were calling for Bannan to be sold or questioning how it was being afforded? Very few I imagine…..coming to roost now.

100%.

Proper club Wednesday but the entitlement that their fans have exuded in their past visits to Whaddon Road, means that I’m struggling for sympathy.

I guess I’m as tribal as the next fan.

[longmover]

zero sympathy with their fans, they’re enablers during the good times then whine ‘it’s not fair’ when their house built on sand (that they damn well knew was on dodgy ground) falls apart.

7uck ‘em.

[art vandalay]

Fans are quick to seek sympathy when a club’s spending beyond its means eventually comes home to roost. But very few fans question the excessive spending when it’s actually taking place, during which time the club is gaining an unfair advantage over clubs that live within their means.

Sadly, all a majority of fans care about is how much money an owner is prepared to “invest”. They don’t look any deeper into the owner’s credibility, whether the money needs to be paid back, how it can be paid back or what consequences this might have for the club’s assets.

[Jerry St Clair]

Sam Smith with a Ronnie Rosenthal-esque miss, blazing over the bar with an open goal in front of him, which would have put Reading 3-1 up at home to Portsmouth.

Meanwhile, Reading Academy graduate, Sean Long, sends the Royals bottom with his two goals.

[ctfc-fan]

- Punishments levied on owners. Point deductions, embargoes, relegations, hurt the team and the fans. Not the owner.

I presume most clubs operate under limited liability so there's limits on how the owners can be punished.

However we all know football clubs are exempt from normal business rules as they can make themselves preferred creditors before HMRC which is bull.

[Jerry St Clair]

Sadly, all a majority of fans care about is how much money an owner is prepared to “invest”. They don’t look any deeper into the owner’s credibility, whether the money needs to be paid back, how it can be paid back or what consequences this might have for the club’s assets.

I don’t disagree. Fans, as a collective, do tend to turn a blind eye when things are going well and the team are winning.

You can bet your bottom dollar that complaints about catering, toilets, the paint at Seasons, the lack of a CEO, will dissolve away if DC takes us up the division.

It doesn’t mean these problems have gone. And an attentive fan base with a strong supporters Trust will always keep a keen eye on the overall health of a club during the good times.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Sadly, all a majority of fans care about is how much money an owner is prepared to “invest”. They don’t look any deeper into the owner’s credibility, whether the money needs to be paid back, how it can be paid back or what consequences this might have for the club’s assets.

I don’t disagree. Fans, as a collective, do tend to turn a blind eye when things are going well and the team are winning.

You can bet your bottom dollar that complaints about catering, toilets, the paint at Seasons, the lack of a CEO, will dissolve away if DC takes us up the division.

It doesn’t mean these problems have gone. And an attentive fan base with a strong supporters Trust will always keep a keen eye on the overall health of a club during the good times.

The Trust will always be calling for a CEO.

The main thing will be how the club adapts and adopts to the Fan Led Review changes.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Sheff Wed owner now asking fans for a bailout. £100 per fan is what he wants.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/67268518.amp

[Warwickshire Robin]

Reading's troubles continue:-

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67272618

[longmover]

Reading's troubles continue:-

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67272618

It is the fifth time Reading have been issued with a winding-up petition, with the club avoiding total collapse on four previous occasions.

just pull the curtain round and pull the trigger for crying out loud.

[longmover]

Sheff Wed owner now asking fans for a bailout. £100 per fan is what he wants.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/67268518.amp

said cashflow is currently a problem "all over the world" and that he is also owed money as a result, adding that any funds given by supporters would be paid back "with interest".

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Reading's troubles continue:-

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67272618

It is the fifth time Reading have been issued with a winding-up petition, with the club avoiding total collapse on four previous occasions.

just pull the curtain round and pull the trigger for crying out loud.

Yes, it’s beyond a joke now. Close them down and void the results of all their games this season.

[Warwickshire Robin]

Reading's troubles continue:-

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67272618

It is the fifth time Reading have been issued with a winding-up petition, with the club avoiding total collapse on four previous occasions.

just pull the curtain round and pull the trigger for crying out loud.

Yes, it’s beyond a joke now. Close them down and void the results of all their games this season.

I'm sure a lot of Reading fans would prefer this over the other option I saw yesterday which was Mike Ashley buying them

[Shade]

They could merge with Oxford United. No other dodgy businessman has ever tried to do that in the past.

[Fuller]

They could merge with Oxford United. No other dodgy businessman has ever tried to do that in the past.

Thames Valley Royals

[ctfc-fan]

He wants fans to help clear the debt but then they’ll continue to run up more debts and will be straight back in the same situation very soon.

[Shade]

They could merge with Oxford United. No other dodgy businessman has ever tried to do that in the past.

Thames Valley Royals

What an A40 derby that would be, though. Cheltenham Town, centre of the Cotswolds, vs Thames Valley Royals

[paperboy]

Reading latest here.

https://twitter.com/EFL_Comms/status/17 ... dfFMw&s=19