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Jul 5

Charitable football club

Charity begins at home

……and goes to Brighton, Old Trafford and further afield.  I know many embark on charitable feats and link to local communities, as indeed they should.  One Club I am currently associated with embodies all that is good with such an approach.  Huddersfield Town.

I choose to highlight last season’s bike ride by supporters to an away game in Brighton and their trip to the play off final in Manchester. 

In the former, 170 cyclists rode 270 miles, raising more than £250,000 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance and the Club’s Academy.  Even David Cameron applauded the result. This on the back of a similar previous year’s adventure to Southend (A). 

More recently I was one of several businesses that made a donation so that 800 under-privileged children received free tickets and transport to watch Huddersfield in the npower League One play-off final at Old Trafford. 

Both the successes have led to the Club establishing a Foundation with my input.

Jul 5

Stockport County Jigsaw
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Jigsaw pieces

So Tony Evans is the new Owner at “County”.  The article suggests his first step will be to bring in Bell Pottinger.  Well it doesn’t take a genius to know on a commercial basis that their fees wouldn’t be viable in a non-league (or even lower league) environment.  However, if yesterday’s ‘scoop’ is anything to go by they may be in need of even more PR help if the rumours are found to be true.

@nonleagueshow has suggested that Evans may be a front man for Stephen Vaughan.  Known for the wrong reasons in football especially more recently at Chester City FC (R.I.P).

Rob Dawson at Manchester Evening News said about the imminent takeover “They’ve gone about things in a very professional way, which can only be a good thing.” 

If the belief is founded then I really worry.  You only need to read the award winning football blog “Football Management” to witness facts about some of the characters behind the scenes.

Just had it confirmed by a Stockport County employee that one of Vaughan’s right hand men is now running the Club’s Training Ground.  Are the pieces in this nightmare starting to fall in to place or may a clearer less alarming picture come out?

Jul 1

Premiership match

Top returns

If you add the turnover of every club in the EPL (English Premier) it has now reached the massive figure of £2.03 Bn.  Next year it is estimated to be over £2.2 Bn.  This market intelligence comes from Deloitte (who else?).  Is it any surprise that these teams search for ways to make token gestures to football further down the pyramid by means of grants!

The 20th Annual Review of Football Finance further announced that the whole European football market grew to a record £13.3 Bn. Constituent ‘slices of the pie’ were: Germany (£1.4 Bn), Spain and Italy (£1.3 Bn) and France (£0.9 Bn). All noticeably less than EPL.  Warning signs continue with EPL wage costs rising by £64M but sales revenues just £49M.  Now there is a record wages to revenue ratio of 68%. 

Returns are on a high yet fundamental flaws in sustainability and financial viability mean a ‘slight wind change’ can sink the ship aka ‘Pompey’ (though with additional excruciating factors).

Jun 27

Dream Team at Bury FC

What do fans want?

The “Social and Community Value Report” published by Supporters Direct (SD) outlines some snippets of fans-feedback to dispel the myth – that it’s only results ‘on the field of play’ that matter. These included in response to the question: ”What do you think is the most valuable thing about your club?”

“The involvement the club has with the community”
“The opportunity to meet socially with friends to enjoy a beer and the game”
“It is a family club, approachable right up to director level”
“With us being a small club I like how close you can get with the players especially at away games… It makes you feel part of club and part of you feels you have helped them win”
“It represents the town and puts it on the map to an extent”
“My fellow supporters (who I know) are like a second family to me”
“You can identify easily with your local club because it becomes YOUR club. There is always a sense of passion and loyalty about everything the club does”
“Something for my son to follow, which helps him understand ups and downs of life, at a distance”
“It gives me a sense of belonging”
“It is easy to get to, and usually I don’t have to pre-book tickets: I can just turn up and watch a game if I feel like it”
“The fan base. Even when things not going well on the pitch, the fans still come, and stick together, to support the team”
“The fans and the community based projects”
“The belief that I, as an individual, am a real part of the club and that we, the club, are not reliant on a sugar-daddy to fund us”
“That their activities extend into the community beyond football”
“Supporters are allowed to take part in the running of the Club. We are able to communicate with anyone at any level and express an opinion. There is no ‘them and us’”.

I suppose some of the feedback is to be expected given SD’s reason for being.  So I need to look further into research methodology, questioning formats and samples.  Yet in this so-called ‘brand football’ many of the issues highlighted warrant attention in best practice, marketing strategy and relationship-building.  I’ve decided to go to SD’s “Fans’ Weekend” to learn more.

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