Should Exeter City remain a fan-owned club?

[Dannyred]

The truth is that our model will be the way forward for many clubs after the post corona meltdown. We were ahead of our time and hopefully our sustainability will see us through, can't see too many businessmen throwing money at lost causes when the money gets tight.

Would the trust model of worked had we not had a good run of player sales ?

 

[Alistair20000]

[

Ok. Excuse my poor knowledge of economics. I guess that was an operating loss because we invested in players and facilities, right?

I will happily excuse your loose language with accountancy principles. Economics is a different thing.

It was a loss because that is what the accounts show. The money spent has gone so the word “invested” is inappropriate in terms of the accounts.

I am not criticising the decision to run the loss. You will find posts I made in support of the decision. We had spare cash and our function is to run a successful football team.

 

[Alistair20000]

Does that include transfer fees ins and outs?

Yes

 

[Alistair20000]

Would the trust model of worked had we not had a good run of player sales ?

That is a good question. The appalling financial mismanagement of the period leading up to the PFA loan nearly brought us down and player sales did help to save us. However, that situation was attributable to certain individuals in key places at the time who have been removed or left rather than down to the trust model.

 

[Phillip]

Would the trust model of worked had we not had a good run of player sales ?

It would have worked on the basis that we would have continued to operate as a football club but with a reduced playing and facilities budget so perhaps no 3G pitch at the Cliff Hill, no away end re-development and a smaller budget for players which generally means competing at the lower end of the table rather than the top. Depends what you define as worked ?

 

[DB9]

It would have worked on the basis that we would have continued to operate as a football club but with a reduced playing and facilities budget so perhaps no 3G pitch at the Cliff Hill, no away end re-development and a smaller budget for players which generally means competing at the lower end of the table rather than the top. Depends what you define as worked ?

Put in also possibly lower gate receipts because if that happened people other than the 3.5k die hards would want to watch a team struggling. That in itself would have it's own consequences and probably in the end going cap in hand to the PFA for a loan. But we sold them and we didn't. It's a fine line we travel on.

 

[Rosencrantz]

Would the trust model of worked had we not had a good run of player sales ?

It's a bit of a circular question as the player sales might not have been possible without the Trust in the first place. The club were on the point of scrapping the youth scheme when the Trust took over. Eamo, as head of youth at that point, had a large dossier to present an argument to keep it open. The Trust took the decision to continue with the youth scheme (there have been arguments on here periodically against having a youth scheme) and appointed Eamo manager.

Taggy was at that time one of the leading figures for the Trust and was a driving force I believe in that decision. The Trust as far as I am aware have always backed the Academy and it's expansion and improvements.

The fact that it came to our rescue at that point, and has given us profit to reinvest at others show isn't a complete fluke that the Trust have stumbled on. It's also not right to have all the eggs in that basket and having overwhelming reliance without attempting to boost revenue elsewhere. That is another argument.

 

[ramone]

My views have evolved as I have learnt more about what goes on behind the scenes. Bear in mind that I only started going to Trust meetings in April last year and it was only ever the open sessions I was allowed to go to for an hour at a time, once a month. It took me about six months to know everybody's names and what they actually did at the Trust. Then the elections came along. It was only afterwards that people began to open up to me. From within the Trust, but also the Club. Perhaps they too felt the Trust was a closed shop, so wanted to share their views with me as I had experienced that personally. Who knows. Anyway, of course the Trust does some things right. And of course they are good human beings. I don't have a problem with people having Marxist views in itself. What I do have a problem with is those people forcing those personal views on the fans of Exeter City. As for the model of fan-owned clubs, it IS a great one. I love the Bundesliga model. But that is in Germany where all the clubs do it. Here I feel more and more that it might put us at a disadvantage because the nature of a volunteer-run club is never going to set the world alight.

I have had time to read this properly today and just trying to work a couple of things out here.

You started going to Trust meetings for an hour each time = 6 hrs April to Sept leaving Oct and Nov before the Trust elections were taking place at the Club in which you failed to gain a seat in.
After Nov possibly Dec people just randomly started telling you all the backroom talk at ECFC before you then came on here and started hinting at all these secrets etc ?
The person or persons from the Club were telling you that Trust wasn't open being more open minded (closed shop).

Can I ask why would these unknown people actually offer all these secrets and scolding comments about the Trust to someone who is little more than a fan who's been to at best 6-12 meetings ? After all these are the people you said had a "

Lack of knowledge and lack of skillset." Something I'm pretty sure you haven't said to them personally ?

I can only think anyone within the Club / Trust reading all these little snippets you keep implying about them are reading through and thinking why did we ever tell him anything IF they actually did tell you anything at all.
I'll put money down you wont be getting told anything else in the future though !!​

 

[Edward]

Would the trust model of worked had we not had a good run of player sales ?

In my view, the model isn't the issue. The issue was the competence of some of the folk that were working within the model.

 

[Dannyred]

In my view, the model isn't the issue. The issue was the competence of some of the folk that were working within the model.

Yet they were allowed to carry on for longer than they should of at a cost to the club.