General Football Thread

This old chestnut - should Delia + M relinquish control of the club, rears its head once again.
Fill your boots, KIO

https://norwich.vitalfootball.co.uk...-heres-one-fans-opinion/#.XwwfvwrAFlw.twitter

 

I do wonder whether as well as Delia, Michael Foulger's role should be subject to similar scrutiny. He's also sat on a large chunk of shares, and hasn't put in any real funding since we signed Grant Holt (and arguably can't, because football finances have outstripped his personal wealth).

My understanding is that Delia, Michael & Michael are all open to investment as long as it's the right person, and that the three want to ensure Norwich City exists long into the future, without the threats of administration, asset stripping, etc. Their efforts towards this so far seem to consist of getting Tom Smith onto the board, with his main qualifications being a similar outlook to Delia, and the correct surname.

I'm entirely naive to the world of shareholders and executive boards, and control, etc, so perhaps someone might need to correct me, but can we not look at the Bundesliga 50+1 rule, as a way forwards? Making sure the club, or a supporters trust, own a controlling stake in the club, and open up the remaining 49% to investors? If someone hypothetically wants to buy <49% of the club and pump in cash to achieve a higher sale value on their shares, they could, but they'd have to do so knowing the board would only approve spending which didn't leave the club dependent on investor income. Want to buy Messi for £1bn? Great - but he can only be on £20k p/w because the board won't sanction an unsustainable wage bill.

Is that so deeply uninteresting to potential investors that there's no point in it?

 

There's an alternative model closer to home -- Brentford FC

https://www.beesunited.org.uk/us/

I don't know quite how the Bees United's special share works. Matthew Benham owns the club outright, so it doesn't involve supporters holding 51% of the shares. But it's clearly designed to provide the sort of safeguards our current owners want if they are to relinquish control.

It's worth noting that Bees United (i.e. the Supporters Trust) who, with Benham's help, bought out then owner Ron Noades's majority shareholding in 2006, agreed six years later to sell the club to Benham. It would be interesting to know why they decided that was the better option rather than retain ownership themselves,

 

However attractive the idea of a supporter-owned club is, history suggests it's a bit of a pipe-dream as far as football in this country is concerned. The latest illustration is Pompey, rescued from administration by the club's supporters in 2013. Four years later they voted to sell to a US company headed by ex-Disney CEO Eisner. As far as I know, the only example of a supporter-owned FL club is AFC Wimbledon, and even there the exact nature of the ownership is unclear. Ownership is vested in The Don's Trust, described as comprising a group of supporters but distinct from the club's independent supporters association. A comparable set up for us would be if Delia & co sold their shares to a small group of City supporter/trustees, which is rather different from the usual idea of a supporter-owned club.

 

I believe Swansea did similar to Pompey, their supporter's trust selling to a US pair, which hasn't worked out all that well.

I think the highlighted suggestion is probably the way it would have to work. Rather than a supporter club which anyone can buy their way into, a hand-picked selection of supporters with a shared ethos that aligns with Delia's.

 

I'm not 100% sure but I don't think the Swansea Supporters' Trust ever actually owned the club. I believe the long-time chairman Huw Jenkins, who oversaw the club's rise to the PL, fronted a consortium of local business people. So again, locally owned by supporters of the club, but not owned "by the fans". Much like the current ownership of Norwich in fact -- except that, when things started to go wrong, Jenkins backed the club's sale to Levien and Kaplan.

 

Personally I would rather be a supporter of a club permanently at Championship level than see the club I support owned by some sort of oligarch. Were that to happen I would most likely follow the club nearest to me, either Lowestoft or Leiston.

 

King's Lynn

 

For anyone who wasn't keeping an eye out in the lower divisions - Wycombe Wanderers gained promotion to the 2nd tier of the English football pyramid last night - for the very first time.

I don't know about you guys but I am really pleased to see them go up.

As I have had several chats with their fans on Not606 over the years, I would ask if you would consider offering your congratulations on their forum page and build a bridge between the two fan-bases (they are decent guys)

 

Re. earlier posts about supporter-owned clubs, Wycombe, it transpires, are an example, having being owned by their Supporters Trust since 2012. I would think this makes their promotion to the Championship for the very first time that much sweeter. Congratulations Wycombe Wanderers FC!

 

What an absolutely sumptuous goal this is

 

As John McEnroe might have said "You can not be serious, man"

 

That's a premium ST, standard are £380. Not sure on the number of each type of ticket available, but find it hard to blame the club for flogging a premium option for a bit more cash, when they're very dependent on ticket sales. But yeah, neither are cheap. £380 barely gets you below £20/game

 

As a random comparison, here are Brentford's prices - currently third in the second tier and moving to a spanking new stadium. Read it and weep, Linnets.

https://newstadium.brentfordfc.com/season-tickets

 

I think this was corrected to £500, still it is a lot!

 

Wrong. Totally wrong and unjustified.
Although, if it's just once every thirty years......

 

As pointed out in the replies, they tried to furlough their staff a few months ago to save costs, but now this is a justifiable expense whilst scores of lower league clubs are at threat of administration?

A £1m podium celebration in an empty stadium. That sounds like the peak of modern football.

 

my cousin, Charlie Gale, was a long time captain of Wycombe in their non league days.

 

You'd think they would want to make it low key so as not to draw attention to how long it is since they last won the league. Serial winners don't see winning as such a big thing! Pathetic!

 

Former Newcastle and Brighton boss Chris Hughton, 61, is in talks with Championship
side Bristol City over becoming their next manager. (Mail)