what's happening

[halfwayprawn]

From 1974, ive followed the shrimps on their climb to the football league and been excited all the way,ive tried to do my bit by driving the mini bus [the indies],being a season ticket holder and also sponsoring a player,also doing the hospitality,but now i don't no know if i am being taken for a fool as there seems to to be no communication between the board and the fans and i am wondering if it is time to to say goodbye to morecambe football club.

[Zippy]

From 1974, ive followed the shrimps on their climb to the football league and been excited all the way,ive tried to do my bit by driving the mini bus [the indies],being a season ticket holder and also sponsoring a player,also doing the hospitality,but now i don't no know if i am being taken for a fool as there seems to to be no communication between the board and the fans and i am wondering if it is time to to say goodbye to morecambe football club.

Yes it's beyond poor communications and seems more like wilful neglect, think the fable of a solomons ring (finger not the othe one )applies. Probably times like this are where the soul of the club is preserved and defended by those such as yourself more than ever!! , "this to will pass"

[black morse]

Would it do any good to broadcast to the whole country that our prospective buyer has fallen through, or that we are very close to a deal which would raise our hopes again, or that no one is interested in buying a club in our situation? In any of those scenarios it is better to keep things under wraps for the time being.
I know it is depressing and the more we speculate the worse it becomes but I for one don't want my hopes raised again to have them dashed again. All we can do is wait.....and hope.

[mrpotatohead]

Apparently Nigel Adams (director and lifelong fan) is working to try and negotiate a sale, the club are talking to players but given the present corcumstances it is difficult, a lot of out of contract players hang on till the middle of july in the hope of getting the best deals for themselves, so theres been nothing to report, I understand totally how fans can lose faith, but MFC are our town team and we have to stick with them, admittedly it's hard going at the moment.

[Shrimpy]

I'm not really sure what people expect the club to say other than words to the effect of "talks are ongoing" as they can't exactly release any more specific details can they?

The biggest mistake they've made is PMG giving out the specific date of end May / early June for the completion of the takeover as now we're all wondering what's going on.

[Gone_Shrimping]

Its pretty certain that things are going on behind the scenes.

PMG is not a fool. He knows that if the club were to drop into the Conference the selling price would tumble. Also he knows that to continue without being able to build the Office block stand , the hotel and dormitory would mean continuing financial losses that the directors would have to fund.

I might be a silly optimist but I just have a feeling that there may be some news at the Gala Evening.

[halfwayprawn]

Let's hope so.

[marky No.1]

Let's hope so.

Never too high, never too low - stick with it, once your friends stop going the spiral gets deeper.

[Keith]

The problem is, all this uncertainty has occurred at a time when many fans still don't consider The Globe as "HOME". There is little emotional attachment there, despite the move being many years ago and in fact, most of our biggest games have been played at the new ground (Newcastle, Wolves, Coventry).

The club could (& should) be acting upon some of the feedback that is being given by supporters (aka "customers"). Make the "Bar & Grill" somewhere that fans want to go. Get some photos up of Christie Park, to celebrate our heritage. Re-name the "Bar & Grill" something that people are connecting with. Even re-name the ground as we've not got a sponsor anyway... "Christie Park" would sound good!

The club messed up by trying (intentionally) or failing (inadvertently) to break with our past when we moved. As a result, they produced the very disconnect that we still see, and which, as a result, has people feeling that they can walk away. Because supporting a small club is mainly about the emotion.

[KenH]

IAlso he knows that to continue without being able to build the Office block stand , the hotel and dormitory would mean continuing financial losses that the directors would have to fund.

I think he's been too hung up on these other revenue streams and not concentrating enough on the core supporters and the football side of things.

With the best will in the world, the office block, hotel and dormitory won't make hundreds of thousands of profit each year - our losses are consisently £500k plus, so even once they come on stream, it's still just a drop in the ocean of the core problems. Just like the W&L function rooms etc - even on a good year with full occupancy, the profit won't top £100k, and in a mediocre year, I'd be surprised if they barely scratch the surface of the club's losses.

The best that each separate "add on" from the grounds could achieve is profits in the tens of thousands, so, add several of them together and once the ground is fully developed and functioning, we may be lucky to earn a couple of hundred thousand of profits - will nowhere near cover even half the losses.

The football and core supporters is where the rot is getting worse - the rot needs reversing and then they need to start building it again - that's the future, another thousand fans per game is the answer. Shouldn't be too difficult as numbers were a lot higher due a few years ago. 1,000 at £20 per person is £20,000 for 25 games is £500,000 - losses covered!!! But not just that, better atmosphere, etc.

If PMG continues to be blinkered towards these elusive revenue streams then we are doomed - it'll end up just a property business with no football.

[marky No.1]

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[Gone_Shrimping]

IAlso he knows that to continue without being able to build the Office block stand , the hotel and dormitory would mean continuing financial losses that the directors would have to fund.

I think he's been too hung up on these other revenue streams and not concentrating enough on the core supporters and the football side of things.

With the best will in the world, the office block, hotel and dormitory won't make hundreds of thousands of profit each year - our losses are consisently £500k plus, so even once they come on stream, it's still just a drop in the ocean of the core problems. Just like the W&L function rooms etc - even on a good year with full occupancy, the profit won't top £100k, and in a mediocre year, I'd be surprised if they barely scratch the surface of the club's losses.

The best that each separate "add on" from the grounds could achieve is profits in the tens of thousands, so, add several of them together and once the ground is fully developed and functioning, we may be lucky to earn a couple of hundred thousand of profits - will nowhere near cover even half the losses.

The football and core supporters is where the rot is getting worse - the rot needs reversing and then they need to start building it again - that's the future, another thousand fans per game is the answer. Shouldn't be too difficult as numbers were a lot higher due a few years ago. 1,000 at £20 per person is £20,000 for 25 games is £500,000 - losses covered!!! But not just that, better atmosphere, etc.

If PMG continues to be blinkered towards these elusive revenue streams then we are doomed - it'll end up just a property business with no football.

How does PMG know that any new owner would want to continue with the office block/hotel plan. He did say that the money from the Football League and TV etc is going up substantially this year. Unless you know by how much it is going up you can't calculate its effect in cutting the losses.

[George Dawes]

Peter Risdale was a hero with Leeds fans he took them to the promised land, but then took a unessesry gambe, borrowing money, based on they would finish in the top 4 and the champions league revenue would pay the loan off ,

PMG is still a hero, he took Morecambe to the promised land, got a cracking price for CP, moved to a new ground, but then took a unessesry gamble with the last minute thought of a 3rd tier and sponsors boxes, at the expense of facilities with regular fans on the terrace with crowds and revenue dropping.

Point im making PMG could go from hero to villain .

He should give the club away, its not like he's short of a few quid.

[bill ding]

Would it do any good to broadcast to the whole country that our prospective buyer has fallen through, or that we are very close to a deal which would raise our hopes again, or that no one is interested in buying a club in our situation? In any of those scenarios it is better to keep things under wraps for the time being.
I know it is depressing and the more we speculate the worse it becomes but I for one don't want my hopes raised again to have them dashed again. All we can do is wait.....and hope.

As I have said before a one line comment on the OWS will go a long way . The number of fellow supporters i have spoken to who are getting fed up with the lack of communication is growing and can only be damaging long term

[marky No.1]

He should give the club away, its not like he's short of a few quid.

Even if he did, the new owner would have a massive void to fill. BHS for a quid was even expensive.

[mrpotatohead]

Plans are underway regarding making the bar more ''fan friendly '' with a new name, as for PMG, all this ''he's got plenty if money'' talk may or may not be correct .

[Keith]

Plans are underway regarding making the bar more ''fan friendly '' with a new name...

Then let's hear that being talked about!!!

Anything is better than a vacuum, because people will always fear the worst and fill a vacuum with crap.

[mrpotatohead]

I think CC mentioned it, after a SADARSE meeting ,asking for name suggestions , Iknow outsider will have relayed it to his FCOM comrades, you are right though in the fact it should have had a mention off the club, I suggested a bit of a competition for the name , maybe in the local press , but it didn't happen, I think JB's bar should win hands down personally ?

[Christies Child]

I think CC mentioned it, after a SADARSE meeting ,asking for name suggestions , Iknow outsider will have relayed it to his FCOM comrades, you are right though in the fact it should have had a mention off the club, I suggested a bit of a competition for the name , maybe in the local press , but it didn't happen, I think JB's bar should win hands down personally ?

Spot on Mr P and what's even more disappointing is the fact that I asked a number of times for fellow SVers to come up with names for its re-branding but very few if any bothered to respond.

Is moral at an all time low that fans just simply can't be bothered...

If it is as I suspect then the club have a massive confidence rebuilding exercise to do....maybe starting with an improvement in communication between the powers that be and the fans would be a start.

[Gone_Shrimping]

I think CC mentioned it, after a SADARSE meeting ,asking for name suggestions , Iknow outsider will have relayed it to his FCOM comrades, you are right though in the fact it should have had a mention off the club, I suggested a bit of a competition for the name , maybe in the local press , but it didn't happen, I think JB's bar should win hands down personally ?

Spot on Mr P and what's even more disappointing is the fact that I asked a number of times for fellow SVers to come up with names for its re-branding but very few if any bothered to respond.

Is moral at an all time low that fans just simply can't be bothered...

If it is as I suspect then the club have a massive confidence rebuilding exercise to do....maybe starting with an improvement in communication between the powers that be and the fans would be a start.

Any communication from the board would be appreciated

[outsider]

Correct me if I'm wrong but what has been said is SADARSE will put forward a small list of names. Then the board will pick one. Which if I'm not mistaken is how "The Bar and Grill" name was picked. Also 30-40 people on here is not a good cross section of supporters IMO. Yet we still have not seen it advertised elsewhere. But that was what was agreed.

[jon MFC fan]

I think CC mentioned it, after a SADARSE meeting ,asking for name suggestions , Iknow outsider will have relayed it to his FCOM comrades, you are right though in the fact it should have had a mention off the club, I suggested a bit of a competition for the name , maybe in the local press , but it didn't happen, I think JB's bar should win hands down personally ?

Spot on Mr P and what's even more disappointing is the fact that I asked a number of times for fellow SVers to come up with names for its re-branding but very few if any bothered to respond.

Is moral at an all time low that fans just simply can't be bothered...

If it is as I suspect then the club have a massive confidence rebuilding exercise to do....maybe starting with an improvement in communication between the powers that be and the fans would be a start.

Really CC Three Pages of this

http://giraffe.arvixe.com/~iomkeith/shrimpsvoices/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=21227

[Keith]

Really CC Three Pages of this

http://giraffe.arvixe.com/~iomkeith/shrimpsvoices/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=21227

That was the thread I was looking for when I found this six year old one.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9826

What we need is to know what's actually happening or 'when'?

[Seasider9601]

My season tickets ordered and paid for, but, I'll be honest.

This is the only time in my 33 seasons of watching Morecambe that I'm not excited by the forthcoming season or even looking forward to it.

Pains me to say that.

We need some positive news (or, SOME news) fairly quickly because this summer of closed season period isn't exciting or bothering me one jot.

[bill ding]

My season tickets ordered and paid for, but, I'll be honest.

This is the only time in my 33 seasons of watching Morecambe that I'm not excited by the forthcoming season or even looking forward to it.

Pains me to say that.

We need some positive news (or, SOME news) fairly quickly because this summer of closed season period isn't exciting or bothering me one jot.

+1 Seasider