I’m a proud member of the Trust that owns Exeter City. There are over 3,000 of us.
We nearly went the way of Bury in the early 2000s but were saved by the Trust. We do not have the financial resources of clubs with rich owners (the Trust can only put £100K or so a year) but are no longer at risk of their financial shenanigans or whims.
Trust ownership is not perfect, and we are dependent on transfer fees and “sell on” percentages for the young players we develop through our Academy. The Coronavirus is a threat to us as it is to all lower league clubs with no TV cash, but we have money in the bank for some months.
However, unless the virus is tamed and fans are allowed back into the grounds next season, the future of many EFL clubs is bleak as we cannot survive without gate receipts.
Andrew McGee
3 years ago
The names and the histories may ‘belong’ to the town and the people, but the clubs – the registered comanies which own the businesses – belong to their shareholders. It isthe same as with any other business, a fact which football fanatics are prone to forget or ignore. These are in the end businesses, and they have to be run in such a way as to cover their costs, at the very least. If they can’t do that, then they will fail. Speaking as a taxpayer, I am very much against the use of taxpayers’ money to shore up unviable businesses.
Of curse, if someone else now wants to come along and form a new company for the purpose of running a new club in Bury/Wigan, good luck to them, subject of course to the same financial disciplines as already mentioned.
from the article: “The Deloitte’s Annual Review of Football Finance recently showed that, last season, for the fourth time in seven years, clubs in the Championship collectively spent more on wages than they earned in revenue.”.
This may have something to do with the problem, and perhaps explains why only shady folk are prepared to buy ailing clubs.
richard steele
3 years ago
If pandemic-style empty stadiums continue into the 2020/21 season, we may see a massive amount of clubs falling into administration. As an American supporter of English football, I am stunned by the lack of financial stability, especially in the EFL; mysterious owners seem to come and go, nearly as frequently as sacked managers. Solution? Local ownerships, trusts? Perhaps it is time to reconsider the desirability of making huge investments in ‘local’ clubs with the aim of promoting into the Premier League. The Premiership is largely the province of international branded football, and no longer really reflects the local communities it once did. I cherish the EFL as a distinct idea of football; entrusted to local control, and its supporters. But this is only possible if the EFL looks more deeply into its prospective owners, and to foster a different financial structure that best serves the needs of its communities.
Fraser Bailey
3 years ago
The ‘fit and proper person’ test when it comes to club owners always amuses me. By definition, no ‘fit and proper’ business business would become the owner of any club other than the very, very largest clubs, because the economics simply make no sense whatsoever. Thus club owners are always crooks or idiots.
Malcolm Ripley
3 years ago
I suspect ALL football is heading for the exit. The current televised no crowds football is exceedingly boring, there is no passion in the game, it’s like watching a training match. The ONLY way full crowd football is coming back is if masks and social distancing rules are lifted. That is not happening for a VERY long time. Let’s be honest here Boris and his pals are not football fans, or rock concert fans, or pantomime attendees etc. All crowd based events are dead this year given the current rules and unless they return to full patronage THIS year they are dead forever.
Stephen Follows
3 years ago
What an appropriate name Bury has turned out to be.
Matthew Wesson
3 years ago
Pretty sure that Sam Hammam sold Wimbledon long before they ended up in Milton Keynes?
I’m a proud member of the Trust that owns Exeter City. There are over 3,000 of us.
We nearly went the way of Bury in the early 2000s but were saved by the Trust. We do not have the financial resources of clubs with rich owners (the Trust can only put £100K or so a year) but are no longer at risk of their financial shenanigans or whims.
Trust ownership is not perfect, and we are dependent on transfer fees and “sell on” percentages for the young players we develop through our Academy. The Coronavirus is a threat to us as it is to all lower league clubs with no TV cash, but we have money in the bank for some months.
However, unless the virus is tamed and fans are allowed back into the grounds next season, the future of many EFL clubs is bleak as we cannot survive without gate receipts.
The names and the histories may ‘belong’ to the town and the people, but the clubs – the registered comanies which own the businesses – belong to their shareholders. It isthe same as with any other business, a fact which football fanatics are prone to forget or ignore. These are in the end businesses, and they have to be run in such a way as to cover their costs, at the very least. If they can’t do that, then they will fail. Speaking as a taxpayer, I am very much against the use of taxpayers’ money to shore up unviable businesses.
Of curse, if someone else now wants to come along and form a new company for the purpose of running a new club in Bury/Wigan, good luck to them, subject of course to the same financial disciplines as already mentioned.
+1.
from the article: “The Deloitte’s Annual Review of Football Finance recently showed that, last season, for the fourth time in seven years, clubs in the Championship collectively spent more on wages than they earned in revenue.”.
This may have something to do with the problem, and perhaps explains why only shady folk are prepared to buy ailing clubs.
If pandemic-style empty stadiums continue into the 2020/21 season, we may see a massive amount of clubs falling into administration. As an American supporter of English football, I am stunned by the lack of financial stability, especially in the EFL; mysterious owners seem to come and go, nearly as frequently as sacked managers. Solution? Local ownerships, trusts? Perhaps it is time to reconsider the desirability of making huge investments in ‘local’ clubs with the aim of promoting into the Premier League. The Premiership is largely the province of international branded football, and no longer really reflects the local communities it once did. I cherish the EFL as a distinct idea of football; entrusted to local control, and its supporters. But this is only possible if the EFL looks more deeply into its prospective owners, and to foster a different financial structure that best serves the needs of its communities.
The ‘fit and proper person’ test when it comes to club owners always amuses me. By definition, no ‘fit and proper’ business business would become the owner of any club other than the very, very largest clubs, because the economics simply make no sense whatsoever. Thus club owners are always crooks or idiots.
I suspect ALL football is heading for the exit. The current televised no crowds football is exceedingly boring, there is no passion in the game, it’s like watching a training match. The ONLY way full crowd football is coming back is if masks and social distancing rules are lifted. That is not happening for a VERY long time. Let’s be honest here Boris and his pals are not football fans, or rock concert fans, or pantomime attendees etc. All crowd based events are dead this year given the current rules and unless they return to full patronage THIS year they are dead forever.
What an appropriate name Bury has turned out to be.
Pretty sure that Sam Hammam sold Wimbledon long before they ended up in Milton Keynes?