MarkSFC

arrr!! the good 'ol days!!

It would be great to see some good incentives from the new owners, to encourage high attendances this season and reward those with gaurentees for season 10/11, when we could (be positive!!) be back in CCC. E.G. £15 per game, advance purchase, (£20 on the day) for all except Under 16's which could be £10 (or £15) Season Tickets could then be say £253 for all (saving at least £4/game) or £138 for U16's (saving at least £3 per game). The gauranteed prices for ST's could then be "the same" if still in L1 or "plus £69" (£3 increase per game) if in CCC. Not even going to contemplete the worst possibility!!. Anyone who buys tickets on a game by game basis next season could be gauranteed MD prices at "the same" in L1 or "£5 off" in CCC, for as many games as you went to in season 09/10.

Maybe that was Lowes' dream...what with Woodward....but it was probably him who ****** that up as well!!

Thanks FF

I couldn't agree more with all the "no fans-owned club at any cost" brigade. I have hoped for a takeover by a wealthy investor for 3 or 4 years but the truth of the matter is, they have not managed to do so. Thats probably due to a mixture of the complexity of share-ownership, Lowe and his cronies, and the seemingly continuous change of board. I still have the belief that a new owner will appear and I think it will now happen quite quickly. Originally, and Im sure some of you will put this down, the idea of the SOSFour was to raise funds to purchase enough shares to initiate "change" on the board. I.E. get Lowe and Cowan out. Administration changed this. As we already had the basis of a plan, we took the decision to amend our plan and be a possible solution, IF no buyer emerged. Our plan would not and never did include having "the lunatics running the asylum" to quote someone on here. It would be democratic but with very strict conditions of appointment and suitability to carry out the job. Believe it or not, some "fans" are very capable of serving on the board of a football club. Its probably not a great comparison, and apart from Hone and Hoos (no comment there) who else, who has ever served on the board had run a football club prior to their appointment. Excluding Leon who I believe was involved with Lymington, I suspect theres one or two Ive not realised, but you get my drift! IF, and this is a MASSIVE IF, the real only option is "some sort of fans owned club" I am not totally oppossed to it. BUT, as someone who may be in a position to initiate such an initiative, I would NEVER work with or back ANY of the SISA group. In my humble opinion, and in spite of their voice, they only have one reason for wanting a fans based club...their own egos. They would in my opinion, effectively be the ones who put the final nail in the coffin if it ever got to that point. They wont though. As for Saints Trust, I think they are somewhere in betweeen a rock and a hard place. Whatever they do NOW, will split opinion. What they do seem to have in their favour is a legal identity, bank account already functioning, and association with FansDirect, that should such an initiative occur, would add much weight and advice. This is not to say that FansDirect would not support any one else though, I dont know. My overall opinion on the situation is simple. Everyone who cares about Southampton Football Club should do all they can, financially and personally, NOW. And then when the dust settles after what will hopefully be an exciting takeover, the state of Supporters groups should be reviewed. At the risk of ridicule and abuse, I would like to see Saints Trust publically disown SISA. I would then like the Saints Trust to disband. As the original Trust was (or at least was advertised as) just for SLH shareholders, it effectively has no real purpose now. This does not mean that certain individuals who have been involved have nothing to add in the future, I just think that a completely fresh start is required. I would like to see the new owners adopt a new structure for fans. This could involve a standard constitution for all groups (with "local rules" so to speak, for groups like London Saints, Northern Saints etc, who by geography, will probably have other aspects to discuss) which were then each represented on a Saints Fans Board. This board would then facilitate ideas and discussions and subject to the new owners acceptance feed their concerns and thoughts upwardly. The connection between the new owner(s) and the fans should be created quickly. All groups would need to have a minimum membership to exist. Well these are ideas, that clearly can be debated!! I hope this clearly states mine, and SOS's position in regard to Fans Takeover bids. My comments regarding SISA and the trust are wholly mine. So, I hope all damnation of FansOwnership can be put to bed, and eveyone can focus on the next few days which could either be spectacular or disastrous. I believe in the spectacular......

Brilliant original point...love it!! Totally agree Saint Fan CaM

The only egos on display from my point of view were SISA. Derry's summary is preety much as it was. An opening statement which lasted for ages...it osunded like a sermon...which as Derry said, could easily been summed up in just a few minutes. This opening statement from Richard Chorley was listened to in complete silence, literally no questions during it. As the meeting moved on, there were more interuptions while people were talking and mainly but not all the time it was a member of SISA who did so. Having never really spoken to any os SISA I went there willing to give them a chance to prove my pre-judged opinion of them (formed by listening to their retarich over the last 13 years - but the let me down. I think they had a great chance to "come in from the cold" but failed to wind in their methods. Its ashame that they havnt realised that their way of doing things isnt suitable in this situation and this day and age. In the BRanfoot years, it was more suited and for me that was the only good they did. You cannot deny though that they love Southampton Football Club. To answer Q1 if I may...the original thread by Derry was "How much would you donate to OWN your club"? and not donate, so although a great figure I think it would/will change in this scenario. SFC (NOT SLH) NEED £250K+ NOW!!! We are now in a seriously desperate situation where the facts are as far as we were told last night is that if the Football Club goes to Administration...IT FOLDS, then its Wessex league or whatever!! In relation to Q2, I agree and it would be great if they did defer. My concern is that by letting the frustration of putting money in the pockets of players (something I totally agree with however) we are missing the point. Players will get other jobs (well most of them) BUT the "normal" employees jobs are at risk. For these people sake we MUST keep the club afloat. We were assured that the money will go directly into SFC.

"normal"..me too!! learnt my lesson on here to be carful!

without knowing who you are, I prefer not to comment on here!!

From what LM,LC, and MC said tonight, if THE FOOTBALL CLUB went into Administration, it would effectively fold immediately. Its not actually in a financial position to go into Admin

I asked this question tonight....Apparently, the club cant sell STs because they cannot gaurantee that they can be fullfilled, either because there is literally no club, and also because new owners dont (strangely) neccessarily have to honour them

Thanks FC...all good points noted...

You need to read the proposal http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/saveoursaints

Definitely not MW!!!! If you really need to know, look in the Echo (Good Friday issue)..Save our saints article...Im the bald bloke in the middle of the picture!!

I agree...no lunatics please.... What people seem to forget is that many Saints Fans are in fact "professional people" in their own right in their careers. These sort of people should be given the opportunity in a Fans owned Club...at least in this democratic set-up, people could be fully vetted before taking situ....unlike the recent past!!!

Who's Saintmarc?

You make a very good point, and may I just say that its not Derry's plan, its mostly mine!! Derry has made a very helpful contribution to our campaign and should be applauded but the plan was around before he came on board!! The voting system would not allow for "BIG" contributors to have the power.

The Save Our Saints "group" (yes, just 5 people) have only one main aim driving us.....the secure and stable future of Southampton Football Club. None of us think that a fans ownded SFC is the ideal solution. Its a good one and a workable one in theory, but in a perfect world a very wealthy benefactor will buy the company and plough millions and millions into guiding us back to the Premiership and to future glories in a short time period. In reality this MAY NOT happen. The purpose of my group is to have in place a plan, in case all else fails. We have this. From a completly neutral standpoint, "other" saints fans groups, are tainted in one way or another...rightly or wrongly, but all of them split the opinion of fans. At this moment in time, all I care about is "my football club" and I use the word "my" in the sense that I would use it to say "my girlfriend". I do not wish to own or run the life of my girlfriend, merely that I love her. The same applies to Southampton Football Club. Anything I have done so far and will do in the coming weeks or months is entirely about making sure that; 1) We have a Football team to support (albeit in L1!) 2) The furture is as secure as it possibly can be 3) It promotes "my team" proudly and positively, as opposed to those that are eternally negative and diversive. Negative comments without reason are not what we need at the moment. The meeting tomorrow night should be viewed as positive yet no expectation should be set on the outcome. As people have said on here, politics has ruled, but now politics should and MUST be put aside and if at all possible a united group, with a new name, should be formed to initiate two things; 1)A fundraising project team for SFC, with money raised put aside until it is absolutely neccessary to handover. The reason why I am against people just handing over donations is that if say £250K IS donated, the club may still go under. So people will have wasted their cash. Also, by donating, you are possibly just saving the "new owner" money. If they are that serious about the club and effectively that is us, the fans, then why would you start by ripping fans off? 2) An IF ABSOLUTELY NECCESSARY plan to create a fans consortium and takeover. Any "united group" should do this with no ego and with no desire to be part of the New Board. ALL people involved in running any Fans owned CLub should be entirely fit to do the job/sit on the board. The "reward" for me would be the self satisfaction that I was able to do my bit to help save "my club". I hope that even if a benefactor comes along and therefore no Fans Consortium is needed that the "unified fans body" can work and become a body that represents the majority of fans and works entirely for the benefit of the majority of fans in the future. It is time for unity not diversity. Action not words. Open minds not prejudice. Stability not insecurity. Positivity not negativity. Hope not despair. The future not the past.

Paul Tisdale...he will stay forever if we match his ambition. A player who never got the breaks so has lots to prove in the game. The drive for success in him is clear to see...4 promotions already in ashort time with no money.

Ha, fair enough! Please explain.... Thanks!!

What I find so amazingly agonising and incredibly poor is the "Clubs" complete and utter lack of action. If the club is so definitely not part of SLH, other than being owned by them, then why are they not telling the world that they need £xxx,xxx??? If everyone knew, then real fundraising could happen. Everyone who is doing something should be applauded, but if you have not got a target or a timeframe you are very likely to fail. The bucket collection and the evening last thursday raised what..£20 max. All good but a drop in the ocean if the amount we need is anywhere near the £500K muted. AS for Crouch...what is his real motive? If he was a real contender would he not want to ensure the club survived and finance it, either by ensuring a takeover quiclky or by issuing a loan directly to SFC?? My guess is that its something to do with SMS. Please correct me if Im wrong here, but if The Council (e.g.) purchase SMS for what Aviva is owed (say £24mill) and SMS are listed on SLH accounts/assets at say £16million then in theory SLH have an accounting surplus of £8million, thus re-financing SLH and then shares become live again. In turn, and in theory, dividends could be paid as the company may have made money. There is of course the little matter of the overdraft as well but I dont know the exact figures. The Reports are not accessible on Saintsfc website now!! This was explained to me by someone,so I may not have it totally accurate but you get my drift?!! I am convinced that Crouch's motive is mainly personal and financial despite his passion for the club. Time will tell eh?!!!!

No!! Just so fed up with the negativity!!!

IF, we get to the position where the fans option is the ONLY option, and "the fans" ONLY raise £150K then the idiots would be "the fans"! As Derry keeps re-iterating, we are puting the wheels in motion NOW, just in case. Time wil no doubt be of the essence, if no buyer comes along. Our scheme is not unrealistic if fans want a club, and if that ever happens I for one am eternally optimistice that Saints fans will come to the party. To the collective doubters, fair enough, but if push came to shove what would you really do? a few hundred quid....or no club?? There are (apparently) around 200,000 people on the SFC database. If all those people contributed just £100 on average then we would raise £20 million. I bet every single one of them has spen at least that amount "on Saints" (tickets, merchandise) over the years. Lets hope that 199,000 of them arent "doubters"!! Dare I say, that decision is easy for true fans.

ok:cool: