New Trust statement on club finances

[singcobb]

Are you still calling people twàt when you have a little paddy?

And you still don't answer questions, proving my point.

[Coolcat]

And that’s your personal prerogative, it really doesn’t matter because the wheels are in motion as they say.
Watch this space and all that.

Oh no, sorry, sorry, sorry! 

[CJ]

Sorry I didn’t meet your expectations, Shepard isn’t really a career I’ve wished for TBH.
I’d love to share but no one would ever tell me anything ever again and I’d drop some people in a lot of trouble.

[Terryfenwickatemyhamster]

And that’s your personal prerogative, it really doesn’t matter because the wheels are in motion as they say.
Watch this space and all that.

I have for a few years now. I just don't do it with the same amount on glee as some.

[Keith]

i  see dead people in charge over te rainbow

[Travelaway]

Hearts owner gives shares to Hearts foundation.
Today, Heart of Midlothian officially becomes the biggest fan-owned club in British football

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58385733

Around 8,000 supporters make monthly pledges to the group with them officially taking ownership on Monday.

Do we have 8K willing to match the level of the £10 Million they put into the club and ground.

[Shoemender]

Hearts owner gives shares to Hearts foundation.
Today, Heart of Midlothian officially becomes the biggest fan-owned club in British football

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58385733

Around 8,000 supporters make monthly pledges to the group with them officially taking ownership on Monday.

Do we have 8K willing to match the level of the £10 Million they put into the club and ground.

Probably not, but as I said ages ago, I’m willing to pledge £1,000 and I think about 5 or 6 others said they would too. With around 3000 season ticket holders, all of whom are obviously massive fans with the best interest of the club at heart, surely we could raise £3,000,000 easily and some could easily afford a lot more. With the right organisation and motivation we could do a Hearts. Where there’s a will etc etc. Cue the knockers/mediocrity brigade. Let’s just leave things as they are and see what happens.

[tcobb]

Why are you ridiculing people who my not think the same as you Shoemender ? I'm a season ticket holder and I wouldn't give a penny to a fan owned Club, my choice.

[BackOfTheNet]

Why are you ridiculing people who my not think the same as you Shoemender ? I'm a season ticket holder and I wouldn't give a penny to a fan owned Club, my choice.

Ditto.

[Manwork04]

I would but it would be as a last resort, it would be a disaster at the moment, we need investment from a chairman who is interested in the club.
A better idea would be to invest in the ground infrastructure, fund the top tier for the north and south.

[Shoemender]

Why are you ridiculing people who my not think the same as you Shoemender ? I'm a season ticket holder and I wouldn't give a penny to a fan owned Club, my choice.

Sorry if it sounded like that. I'm not ridiculing anyone, merely suggesting that we have some fans that are happy to accept mediocrity. It's obvious something needs to change and a fan owned club certainly divides opinion. What about Mannys idea about the ground, would people be prepared to pledge money towards that?

[west stand oap]

At the moment a top tier for the north and south would remain empty as we only get crowds of about 5000. The question is do you expand now or when you have a successful team that needs the extra capacity?. We rarely had sell out crowds in division 1 but their was a handful of clubs that would have brought bigger away followings if they were allocated more tickets.

[guest3359]

Sorry if it sounded like that. I'm not ridiculing anyone, merely suggesting that we have some fans that are happy to accept mediocrity. It's obvious something needs to change and a fan owned club certainly divides opinion. What about Mannys idea about the ground, would people be prepared to pledge money towards that?

Not wanting to jeopardies the club (in my opinion) through fan ownership isnt accepting mediocrity.
Funding a stand, or safe standing no. I am interesting the fan village concept and would help fund that to attract more people to the stadium

[Manwork04]

At the moment a top tier for the north and south would remain empty as we only get crowds of about 5000. The question is do you expand now or when you have a successful team that needs the extra capacity?. We rarely had sell out crowds in division 1 but their was a handful of clubs that would have brought bigger away followings if they were allocated more tickets.

Build it and they will come…….. now who said that?

[JollyCobbler]

Why are you ridiculing people who my not think the same as you Shoemender ? I'm a season ticket holder and I wouldn't give a penny to a fan owned Club, my choice.

Whilst I don't believe fan ownership to be the best viable option for ourselves, it can work. Although I'm not sure that Hearts 'fan ownership, but not fan management, will thus become a reality' model is the way to go. I may be reading things wrong, but it looks as though a small group of people will look to retain control at Hearts.

If the scheme ever was implemented at NTFC, then I'd prefer a 'one, fan, one share, one vote' model. Let's say that you had the option of investing £60 pounds a year (as a minimum) into being an 'owner' of NTFC. People could invest £60 or £600 or £6000, it wouldn't matter, because only £1 of any one payment would go towards purchasing a share in NTFC - the rest of the money would go towards the club's running costs.

Fans that choose to invest more could do so, but they wouldn't have anymore claim to owning the club than someone who only invested the minimum pledge. Each fan registered as an owner would have/receive exactly the same benefits as the person next to them; ie, one fan, one vote when it comes to electing board members etc during a (let's say) bi-yearly election. There could be other benefits, such as discount cards etc, but still equally applicable to all who have bought into the 'shared ownership' model.

Don't get me wrong, no fan ownership scheme is completely ideal, and in certain instances a club will always need some financial big hitters - take this last eighteen months as an example of how things can suddenly turn pear shaped. But, given the implementation of any new ownership model, I believe something like this would be the best option for bringing Northamptonians on board.
There are a lot of people who would be willing to invest on a yearly basis if they could genuinily claim to be a 'joint owner' of NTFC. Would you ever consider investing in something like this, tcobb?

[guest3359]

Build it and they will come…….. now who said that?

No one 
Its one of the most common examples of the Mandela effect

[cobblertone]

Build it and they will come…….. now who said that?

Isn't it a misquote from Field of Dreams? I'd rather be watching baseball a lot of the time. 

[Shoemender]

Whilst I don't believe fan ownership to be the best viable option for ourselves, it can work. Although I'm not sure that Hearts 'fan ownership, but not fan management, will thus become a reality' model is the way to go. I may be reading things wrong, but it looks as though a small group of people will look to retain control at Hearts.

If the scheme ever was implemented at NTFC, then I'd prefer a 'one, fan, one share, one vote' model. Let's say that you had the option of investing £60 pounds a year (as a minimum) into being an 'owner' of NTFC. People could invest £60 or £600 or £6000, it wouldn't matter, because only £1 of any one payment would go towards purchasing a share in NTFC - the rest of the money would go towards the club's running costs.

Fans that choose to invest more could do so, but they wouldn't have anymore claim to owning the club than someone who only invested the minimum pledge. Each fan registered as an owner would have/receive exactly the same benefits as the person next to them; ie, one fan, one vote when it comes to electing board members etc during a (let's say) bi-yearly election. There could be other benefits, such as discount cards etc, but still equally applicable to all who have bought into the 'shared ownership' model.

Don't get me wrong, no fan ownership scheme is completely ideal, and in certain instances a club will always need some financial big hitters - take this last eighteen months as an example of how things can suddenly turn pear shaped. But, given the implementation of any new ownership model, I believe something like this would be the best option for bringing Northamptonians on board.
There are a lot of people who would be willing to invest on a yearly basis if they could genuinily claim to be a 'joint owner' of NTFC. Would you ever consider investing in something like this, tcobb?

Good post Jolly. this is much more along the lines of what I would like to see, only a lot better put. With the correct management and implementation it could be a way forward, just not sure we'd get enough people on board unfortunately, but we'll never know unless we try.

[Wanderingteyn]

You're off your heads if you think we could raise millions as fans.

When the club was going out of business we barely raised anything as fans.

[Shoemender]

You're off your heads if you think we could raise millions as fans.

When the club was going out of business we barely raised anything as fans.

And that is why, without a rich benefactor, we'll always be where we've been for over 50 years or worse.