Is it time for serious changes at the club

[ex_user1234]

Also, there are many egotistical shysters about who imagine themselves to have ambition and business acumen. Meet similar characters in betting shops. If you think Exeter City is a stable chamionship club but for the want of ambition, but you could provide it, you're in that category.

When did I say I could provide it?

 

[ex_user1234]

In response to the original post by @Dannyred I'd have thought that if the current situation continues as it is expected to that, assuming ECFC can survive the shorter-term effects, that your relative position in the EFL pecking order will improve. A high proportion of the clubs in the Championship, and Leagues 1&2 were borderline insolvent before this - and I'm not just talking about the obvious cases like Macclesfield and Oldham. I'd rather be being run like ECFC than many of your/our peers right now.

But not like Portsmouth, right? Funny how 80% of the Trust members there voted for Eisner.

 

[ex_user1234]

This is the reality. Yeovil’s brief visit to the Championship had disastrous consequences

No, that's not THE reality. It's one reality.

 

[ex_user1234]

Stable championship clubs have gates of 15-30,000. 10-15,000 you can dip in during purple patches. Lower than 10 and its a story for you to be there.

And you think the future of football is gate receipts. Ok....

 

[geoffwp]

Some people are obsessed with using that phrase. As a club we've got into the habit of trying to do things the right way financially so even with heavier weights of finance I see no reason why that should couldn't continue. It strikes me as a throw away line to deflect the fear of actually trying to go for it instead of living in the cozy bubble we currently reside.

I enjoy cosy bubbles. I obviously enjoy my matchday in a VASTLY different way than either of you, though maybe city are the wrong team for you chaps?

 

[grecIAN Harris]

I enjoy cosy bubbles. I obviously enjoy my matchday in a VASTLY different way than either of you, though maybe city are the wrong team for you chaps?

I doubt it Geoff. I remember the really $4!t days just like you do. I enjoy the far better days we have now and things have improved vastly since we got our place back in The League but I see no reason why the club should live by an old rhyme that used to be used to encourage kids at school, 'Good, better, best. Never let it rest, until my good is better and my better is my best'. I think our good can be bettered.

 

[ex_user1234]

Problem is though that business people with the right entrepreneurial spirit tend to be used to taking rather more autocratic decisions and not to like rule by committee which is something you can't really get around in a trust owned club. We have had a few on here who are disinclined to engage in the process because of it or unable to commit the time as they have a business to run.

It would be nice if a happy medium could be found, maybe a work party of business people who can advise the club on where they can optimise income streams within a sustainable budget.

Ps. Some people on here can remember when we did have a board full of businessmen. It had almost of century of underachievement and then almost cost us the clubs very existence. Some are still understandably a bit touchy about this .

It's true that management by committee generally gets you nowhere. Clearly the Trust would have to adapt to attract the right kinds of entrepreneurs.

There's good businessmen and bad businessmen in life. Just like there's good people and bad people in life. I'm a strong believer that each person should be judged on their own merits.

 

[ex_user1234]

I enjoy cosy bubbles. I obviously enjoy my matchday in a VASTLY different way than either of you, though maybe city are the wrong team for you chaps?

So you go to games not wanting to win?

 

[ex_user1234]

I disagree. Actually getting +/- 18-25s to come to games is more a Club than a Trust matter, though both have an interest in fostering more engagement of that age group. It's a problem other clubs face just as much, and if it was easy we'd all be happy copy anything they could deliver.

The Club (through the Gates Committee and elsewhere) have tried to attract and keep fans in the late teens and 20s but it's just flaming difficult. Many of that cohort are working, discovering other attractions and interests (sex, drugs and rock'n'roll to name a few) or are playing sport themselves on Saturdays.

Of course, ticket prices go up when you reach 18 (or realistically when you look older and you can't get away with it at the BB turnstiles...) and a lot of thought has gone into devising some intermediate pricing point for the "just 18"s similar to students, though when you do the work and crunch the numbers this is more complicated than it appears.

I can say without fear of contradiction that the Gates Committee would be VERY interested to hear any practical ideas that might be out there. More than just "you need to do more... err... but I don't know how". PM me if you have suggestions and I'll take them forward when we can meet again.

I agree it's a Club matter, but the Club don't speak that age demographic's language. Tik Tok, Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram - all of them require specific marketing strategies. Membership schemes need to be relevant to the age group in question. We're just awful as a club at targeting. Mainly because we don't have a membership program or a proper IT system or our own website. I brought all of these up in person with the Trust and the Club and said I would offer my expertise and help, but was politely rebuffed. Problem is if you don't change and innovate then you lose relevancy with your target audience.

 

[Legohead]

So you go to games not wanting to win?

I don't think that is the case. I think Geoff may mean that there is a whole lot more to the experience of being an Exeter supporter than simply winning football matches. Hopefully. Apologies if I am wrong Geoff. I feel similar. There is a lot more to being a fan of a club than simply winning and having success. It's an unpredictable journey. That's the beauty and that's why supporting Man City would be so mindnumbingly dull.