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Posts from the ‘Football Finance’ Category

Mar 11

Prawn sandwich to pie eaters

“A hilarious spoof-video created by one of Britain’s most iconic designers is set to put Wigan Borough on the business world map.

The Film, hailed as the “best business investment film ever made” has been created to launch ‘Wigan Works’ a new campaign to increase investment and jobs in the Borough.

The Film takes a big swipe at the nonsense spoken by the corporate world and celebrates straight talking Wigan folk.

Directed by Wiganer Brian Cannon, who created some of the best known music artwork in the 1990s for the Verve and Oasis, the film will be shown at major national business events.”

Even features Wigan Athletic FC – surely we can rival this and add more humour, time for the Stockport version.  Come on Stockport!

Dec 1

It’s County!

Liking this story when an eBay, Charity auction was instigated with full expectation that one of the Manchester Giants might be highest bidder.  The deal, one that the winner could nominate this little person’s choice of football team to follow.  The actual top amount was from a County fan and we now have another supporter.  See earlier video below.

Some great publicity for the Club and a clear message portrayed that there is life outside the EPL!

Mirror

ITV

BBC

Caught Offside

Parent Dish 

Oct 30

Media Debates

There was the usual anti-SKY TV rhetoric that has surrounded lower league football this Weekend – including the one in which my team now plays.  I recall one along the lines to a chorus of “you can stick your SKY remote up………….”.  Naiive to blame for County’s downfall but good humoured fans’ banter amongst this direction of abuse.

The political football is out again with Labour acting out a vision for supporter engagement and ownership.  Lip service or manifesto we’ll have to wait and see.  When all demise is discussed, ITV Digital is the butt of all ridicule.  Without defending them, the demise of that programming forced many a club into unforseen cashflow crises, but the ownership and management of clubs must share some joint-responsibilities.  The latter remain challenges in many a football enterprise – and don’t get me going on the Fit and Proper Person Test.  There cannot be many a net with more holes in!

Debate on media in Europe has recently been in the limelight and I introduce a debate from our European counterparts so you can all have a view on whether models are more suited elsewhere?

Sportel Monaco 2014 | European Football: Winning Media Strategies

The Guardian has said: “At the height of concern over financial meltdown at Portsmouth, Liverpool and elsewhere in 2010, the coalition talked about empowering fans. Fourteen clubs – including Portsmouth and Swansea – have become wholly or partly fan-owned, but despite the promises Whitehall has done little to encourage the trend. Labour insists this time will be different, vowing to legislate early in a new parliament.”

The overriding messages appear to share the common belief that ‘Football is more than a business, and fans are more than customers’.  If progress is to be made on this stance, which can only be correct – surely media must become more under the microscope.  I never forget the statement that for many, after religion, football and loyalty to a team’s brand is often the second strongest bond in a person’s life, outside the family. New media models should be investigated.

Jul 9

#COC

Starting a post with have you seen #COC could lead to all sorts of innuendo.  I was simply trying to think which hashtag my beloved County might use on its leisure shirts,  if we were to mirror those seen at Turf Moor (home of Burnley FC) today.  They proudly showed off #UTC which I can only surmise is for ‘Up the Clarets?’.  So I thought we’d have to apply #COC, #IOC (not to be confused with International Olympic Committee) or #SMFW.  I’m hoping all County followers who read this blog appreciate these abbreviations?  Or if un-inventive simply #COUNTY.

Anyway this preamble only leads to my addressing the point that, how time changes fortunes? The old rivals return to the EPL whilst we languish in regional football at Tier 6.  Similarly, as recent dealings with our commercial department has been pants – Burnley react in an all much more professional manner.

The Club Shop is well stocked with all sorts of imaginative and quality merchandise.  Not typical tat but something for all pockets.  Today the creative subbuteo players on T-shirts mocking their arch-enemy Blackburn Rovers tickled me.  The staff was friendly – even with a stranger taking photos to share with the Rovers fraternity on Twitter who naturally I have more affinity with having sponsored Tugay all those years before.

My rambling around Turf Moor today was for #ExpoNorthWest but I am proud to have been enlisted as an Associate Lecture to University College of Football Business (UCFB) that is located in the Ground.  This sharing my knowledge on commercial marketing and emerging markets to both undergraduates and visiting delegations. Yes, the Club even has its own University – an entrepreneurial development with venues in Burnley and Wembley.

So a return to the Premier and its associated riches surely means a widening of the gap – yet only the delusional County faithful would say we are on a par with that Club on or off the pitch.  But don’t worry the only claret I’ll ever follow is #COC (Come on county!)

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