Pancake Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 a "Life Time Saints Membership" for £200 in a bid to avoid administration and pay off some debts, would you stump up the cash? Forget who is running the club, thats another discuss. If the club came to you as a fan on the records and said "We are in financial crisis, buy a Saints Life Time Membership bond that will entitle you to [insert some goodies in here, such as free entry to friendlies, a signed book, a scarf, 1 free drink per home game, free season review DVD]", would you consider it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowballs2 Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 And if administration still happened a season later people would loseb their money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DT Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 On the face of it yes, but the goodies concerned would need to be well thought through. To be honest, if they offered life membership for that fee instead of having to pay the £20 or whatever it is now (I forget) every year AND it could save the club, then I'd sign on the dotted line today. But realistically, they'd probably only get max 10,000 doing that, which is still only £200k. Not very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancake Posted 5 February, 2009 Author Share Posted 5 February, 2009 And if administration still happened a season later people would loseb their money Yes you would, but thats the gamble. We are all saying why cant the board members take the gamble, so maybe we should too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saints_is_the_south Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 As long as i was given proof that it was going directly into the clubs coffers & helping to pay off the debt & not lining Lowe & cos. pockets then i would probably say yes. If Lowe/Wilde were to then say whatever the fans raise, we will match or double then yes for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancake Posted 5 February, 2009 Author Share Posted 5 February, 2009 But realistically, they'd probably only get max 10,000 doing that, which is still only £200k. Not very much. 10000 x 200 = ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 As long as i was given proof that it was going directly into the clubs coffers & helping to pay off the debt & not lining Lowe & cos. pockets then yes. seriously when has anything "lined" lowes pockets.. the accounts are there for all to see.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INFLUENCED.COM Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 10000 x 200 = ? That can be the fans match up, we have Leon's(apparently) Wilde ? Lowe ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trousers Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 a "Life Time Saints Membership" for £200 in a bid to avoid administration and pay off some debts, would you stump up the cash? Forget who is running the club Appreciate you don't want to turn this into a regime discussion but I don't think you can divorce the two as my answer to your question is different depending on who is at the helm. If the £200 had the effect of retaining the current regime (and I refer to all 3 of the main players in the boardroom merry-go-round here so no politics on that front) then I would not participate. If, however, the £200 helped pave the way for a clean sweep in the boardroom and a completely new owner then I would be interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancake Posted 5 February, 2009 Author Share Posted 5 February, 2009 That can be the fans match up, we have Leon's(apparently) Wilde ? Lowe ? Fans plus Leon would wipe an awful lot of the Barclays OD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancake Posted 5 February, 2009 Author Share Posted 5 February, 2009 Appreciate you don't want to turn this into a regime discussion but I don't think you can divorce the two as my answer to your question is different depending on who is at the helm. If the £200 had the effect of retaining the current regime (and I refer to all 3 of the main players in the boardroom merry-go-round here so no politics on that front) then I would not participate. If, however, the £200 helped pave the way for a clean sweep in the boardroom and a completely new owner then I would be interested. I can see what you are saying Trousers, but I see it as 2 different items. 1 is getting the Club fluid again and avaoiding a possible 27 points deduction at some point. The close season the best time to get the board room changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilko Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 No ****ing way. Membership means nothing, these days. I've spent enough over the years as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 Not with Lowe in charge. It would all go back out on Director's Box hospitality and dividends, just like the High-Street banks are using tax-payer-funded Government baillouts to pay their yearly bonus schemes. Sorry, I fail to see how you can say who is running the club is irrelevant..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guided Missile Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 I think a corporate bond may be the answer, which is redeemable when/if we return to the Premiership. Payment of a free signed home shirt or item of similar value could be attractive instead of an interest payment and the bonds could be sold or transferred by the owners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancake Posted 5 February, 2009 Author Share Posted 5 February, 2009 I think a corporate bond may be the answer, which is redeemable when/if we return to the Premiership. Payment of a free signed home shirt or item of similar value could be attractive instead of an interest payment and the bonds could be sold or transferred by the owners. I hear that GM. I would buy 1, and 1 for my son. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctoroncall Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 I would consider it... obviously it would depend on the benefits given, but I would consider it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 is there any reason whatsoever for having a membership? It was just another way of ripping off fans when the going was good. I am more interested in possible lifetime season tickets - you at least get something for your money. There is of course a major risk of the club going bust and losing your money, but that's the chance you take and would be reflected in the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arizona Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 Nope. I had membership in the playoff season so that I would be able to get tickets early incase any games were getting towards a sellout. These days I can buy a ticket anywhere in the ground 10 minutes before kickoff, so there scarcely seems any point. Season review DVD? It's been bad enough watching this season once. Signed book? Already got a shirt signed by my favourite players from the current squad and many from days gone by. I don't drink at matches and I've already got a scarf. Here's an idea. Sell all the shirts after matches in an auctions, like they used to with the Poppy shirts, with a reserve of whatever it costs the club to make them. Wouldn't make a lot of money, only maybe £500 per game, but it's the only gimmick I might be interested in. Every now and then shirts might get a bit more, like the Man Utd shirts, BWP's shirt from the Reading match or Saga's shirt from the Swansea match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom28 Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 This post reminds me of an idea I had if we went into Administration, or even if we didn't. This is the idea: Think Ebbsfleet united...10 Ownership bands are established. Band No. of Owners Price 1 2000 £1000 2 2000 £900 3 2000 £800 4 2000 £700 5 2000 £600 6 2000 £500 7 2000 £400 8 2000 £300 9 2000 £200 10 Unlimited £100 Each fan/person/internet geek can buy a part of the club for a year. Each person can only buy one part in one band i.e. you can't buy one Band 10, one band 9, and one band 10. A band 1 ownership of £100 gives you 1 vote in all decisions the club has to make i.e, selling/buying players, kit selection, ticket prices, manager choices etc. A band 10 would give you 10 votes in any such decisions (but note that you only get 10 votes out of a potential 110000 votes assuming all ownership bands were filled and there were 2000 owners in band 10). Band 10 owners would get their season tickets paid for plus other perks, maybe a box for one game a year, or discounted away tickets. band 9 owners would get their season tickets and maybe discounted away travel. I haven't thought all this out yet, but the perks would get smaller and smaller te further down the bands you go. Each band would be capped at 2000 owners. First come first serve basis, with the exception of Band 10 where unlimited owners could purchase these. Assuming full capacity ownership i.e 2000 in each band and 2000 in Band 10, there would be 20000 owners (Ebbsfleet have 31000). This would provide an annual ownership capital of £11,000,000. I think the total share value of the club is in the region of £5,000,000 (can someone verify this?) so we would easily be able to buy the club out using this strategy. I would estimate wages to be in the region of £5-8 million per year so the annual ownership capital would cover that too, and the annual ownership capital wouldn't be our only source of income - we would also have sponsorship (which we the owners would decide upon), TV money and ticket sales on top of those purchased through the ownership plan. A very small skeleton staff would be required manage the affairs of the club and put the major decisions to the vote of the owners. I.e. they would be involved with sponsors to get a selction of say 10 offers for the owners to weigh up and choose from. Very basic description but thought I'd open it up to thoughts and comments. I dont have full membership on here so cant post new threads - maybe someone could do that for me if you wanted to get a proper debate going? Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintDonkey Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 I'd sell a kidney if it would save Southampton FC - sadly I think a kidney in prime condition only goes for about $22,000 http://www.zimbio.com/Singapore+Travel+and+Expats/articles/55/Need+Cash+Fast+Not+Sell+Kidney+Singapore+Black which isn't nearly enough. Unless of course 10,000 other fans would do it as well. Any volunteers? Failing that I'd happily stomp up 200 quid for life membership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OfnPanad Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 I like the idea of the club ownership thing...as long as we all agree to sell the club on when major investment comes along Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Garrett Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 Don't see how you can separate the issue of who is running the club, and paying the money. I wouldn't give Lowe or Wilde the steam off my p*ss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offix Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 Considering that the club's lifetime is almost over? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saints_is_the_south Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 This post reminds me of an idea I had if we went into Administration, or even if we didn't. This is the idea: Think Ebbsfleet united...10 Ownership bands are established. Band No. of Owners Price 1 2000 £1000 2 2000 £900 3 2000 £800 4 2000 £700 5 2000 £600 6 2000 £500 7 2000 £400 8 2000 £300 9 2000 £200 10 Unlimited £100 Each fan/person/internet geek can buy a part of the club for a year. Each person can only buy one part in one band i.e. you can't buy one Band 10, one band 9, and one band 10. A band 1 ownership of £100 gives you 1 vote in all decisions the club has to make i.e, selling/buying players, kit selection, ticket prices, manager choices etc. A band 10 would give you 10 votes in any such decisions (but note that you only get 10 votes out of a potential 110000 votes assuming all ownership bands were filled and there were 2000 owners in band 10). Band 10 owners would get their season tickets paid for plus other perks, maybe a box for one game a year, or discounted away tickets. band 9 owners would get their season tickets and maybe discounted away travel. I haven't thought all this out yet, but the perks would get smaller and smaller te further down the bands you go. Each band would be capped at 2000 owners. First come first serve basis, with the exception of Band 10 where unlimited owners could purchase these. Assuming full capacity ownership i.e 2000 in each band and 2000 in Band 10, there would be 20000 owners (Ebbsfleet have 31000). This would provide an annual ownership capital of £11,000,000. I think the total share value of the club is in the region of £5,000,000 (can someone verify this?) so we would easily be able to buy the club out using this strategy. I would estimate wages to be in the region of £5-8 million per year so the annual ownership capital would cover that too, and the annual ownership capital wouldn't be our only source of income - we would also have sponsorship (which we the owners would decide upon), TV money and ticket sales on top of those purchased through the ownership plan. A very small skeleton staff would be required manage the affairs of the club and put the major decisions to the vote of the owners. I.e. they would be involved with sponsors to get a selction of say 10 offers for the owners to weigh up and choose from. Very basic description but thought I'd open it up to thoughts and comments. I dont have full membership on here so cant post new threads - maybe someone could do that for me if you wanted to get a proper debate going? Cheers! I like this idea. Sure it would be complicated at the start but if a club the size of Ebbsfleet can do it then i see no reason why we couldn't do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom28 Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 I like the idea of the club ownership thing...as long as we all agree to sell the club on when major investment comes along The whole point of this would be that it differs from 'sugar daddy' ownership and shareholder ownership because the owners of the club don't take any money out of the club. It wouldn't be for financial gain. If the club was ever sold, the money any new owner would pay to buy the club could be either a) given to a charity, b) invested in the local community or c) committed entirely to new player spend. Ebbsfleet have over 31000 owners and rising. Given our fanbase, the history of the club and the 'brand', I would expect ownership to at least be double, if not treble that amount. Based on my band prices, 90000 members would generate nearly £18 million per year. If you consider this on top of last years revenue (minus player sales) which was 14.9 - minus 5 million (because ticket revenue would drop due to the inclusion of season tickets in some ownership bands) = approx 10 million. That would be an annual revenue stream of 28 million, against cost of sales of 22.8 million (but that was at last years wage levels anyway so it will be far less this year). An operating profit, BEFORE player trading. Imagine that .... we wouldn't HAVE to sell our players! This is an idea, and far-fetched at that, but if you want Rupert Lowe out, this would be one way to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRobbie Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 seriously when has anything "lined" lowes pockets.. the accounts are there for all to see.. Up until 2 years ago we were paying significant dividends to shareholders. The accounts are there for all to see...just that they are somewhat played down for some strange reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRobbie Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 I wouldnt spend £200 on a membership if Lowe was connected to the idea, and the problem is nor would most people... its about TRUST you see - and in Lowe there is none. So you can't separate Lowe from the £200 membership... if Lowe was gone... maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank's cousin Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 The whole point of this would be that it differs from 'sugar daddy' ownership and shareholder ownership because the owners of the club don't take any money out of the club. It wouldn't be for financial gain. If the club was ever sold, the money any new owner would pay to buy the club could be either a) given to a charity, b) invested in the local community or c) committed entirely to new player spend. Ebbsfleet have over 31000 owners and rising. Given our fanbase, the history of the club and the 'brand', I would expect ownership to at least be double, if not treble that amount. Based on my band prices, 90000 members would generate nearly £18 million per year. If you consider this on top of last years revenue (minus player sales) which was 14.9 - minus 5 million (because ticket revenue would drop due to the inclusion of season tickets in some ownership bands) = approx 10 million. That would be an annual revenue stream of 28 million, against cost of sales of 22.8 million (but that was at last years wage levels anyway so it will be far less this year). An operating profit, BEFORE player trading. Imagine that .... we wouldn't HAVE to sell our players! This is an idea, and far-fetched at that, but if you want Rupert Lowe out, this would be one way to do it. I suspect though you have your sums wrong - For it to make sense and sell out ST would probably be needed to be included into at teh very least the £500 band so even selling out at 20000 members/owners at 11mil revenue, would probably almost wipe out ticket sakles revenue which is currently about the same, I susupect it would not actually generate much more I'm afraid.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gingeletiss Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 10000 x 200 = ? ;);) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom28 Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 I suspect though you have your sums wrong - For it to make sense and sell out ST would probably be needed to be included into at teh very least the £500 band so even selling out at 20000 members/owners at 11mil revenue' date=' would probably almost wipe out ticket sakles revenue which is currently about the same, I susupect it would not actually generate much more I'm afraid....[/quote'] Well, I took £5million off ticket revenue of £7.9 million in 2008 which leaves £2.9 million ticket revenue as part of the £10million total revenue. £2.9 million is effectively 5300 people paying £24 a ticket at 23 home games (minus cup games). So you could maybe adjust the bandings and do some modelling to work out the best scenario - maybe it could look like something below where the top 3 bands or 6000 people get ST's, bands 4 and 5 get some sort of ST discount. And bands 6 and 7 get match day ticket discounts. Band Volume Prices Value 1 2000 1000 2000000 2 2000 900 1800000 3 2000 800 1600000 4 4000 400 1600000 5 4000 300 1200000 6 4000 200 800000 7 4000 100 400000 Total 22000 9400000 The details can be worked out, but in my opinion, this a) makes the club more financially stable and b) gives ownership of the club to the fans and away from Rupert Lowe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docker-p Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 Yes. But not if Lowe was in charge. That worm has never put a penny into the club, why should hard working supporters bale out his ever dropping share price. I know you said put the who's in charge question on one side but it's the bottom line to the situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weston Super Saint Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 seriously when has anything "lined" lowes pockets.. the accounts are there for all to see.. Unless he is working for free - he isn't!! - then he is 'lining' his pockets.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976_Child Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 a "Life Time Saints Membership" for £200 in a bid to avoid administration and pay off some debts, would you stump up the cash? Forget who is running the club, thats another discuss. If the club came to you as a fan on the records and said "We are in financial crisis, buy a Saints Life Time Membership bond that will entitle you to [insert some goodies in here, such as free entry to friendlies, a signed book, a scarf, 1 free drink per home game, free season review DVD]", would you consider it? No way. At least, not whilst the club is owned by a share-holder-driven PLC. If we were an Industrial and Provident Soc then yes. But the idea of giving my hard-earned cash (above and beyond my ST) to a PLC does not sit well. ..however if the PLC asked for a share placement and only fans could apply, and the resultant shares offered significantly diluted the egiots holdings then maybe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 Whatever happened to the last scam like this ? What was it called ? Club2001 or something ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_Porter Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 Whatever happened to the last scam like this ? What was it called ? Club2001 or something ? What was that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LVSaint Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 On the face of it yes, but the goodies concerned would need to be well thought through. To be honest, if they offered life membership for that fee instead of having to pay the £20 or whatever it is now (I forget) every year AND it could save the club, then I'd sign on the dotted line today. But realistically, they'd probably only get max 10,000 doing that, which is still only £200k. Not very much. With Lowe, that sum is entirely possible f'sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozzmeister Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 is there any reason whatsoever for having a membership? It was just another way of ripping off fans when the going was good. I am more interested in possible lifetime season tickets - you at least get something for your money. There is of course a major risk of the club going bust and losing your money, but that's the chance you take and would be reflected in the price. Didnt Pompy offer some kind of life long season ticket when they were completly in the mire and going out of business? My step dad knows a few people who took it up and are laughing now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saints_is_the_south Posted 5 February, 2009 Share Posted 5 February, 2009 What was that? An idea of Wilde/Crouch's to reward those who had been ST holders since St Marys opened in 2001 (hence club 2001). Never happened though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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