MFC Fan's Forum and Trust open meeting

[Knightrider]

O/T I realise but so are other posts here but quite apt in my opinion and directed at the round up gang -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxfSlIS55mk

[Slanester]

A couple of quotes, I have heard in the past, not my own might I add, too smart for me.

“ It is better to remain silent, and appear a fool, than to open your mouth, and prove it beyond doubt.”
“Empty barrels always make most noise.”
Quite like these, especially in relation to an open forum. Probably not followed them as well as I should on occasion.

[Andy D]

The area of the land is substantially greater than the land at Christie Park sold to Sainsbury's which I have read on this forum was purchased for 9 million pounds.

It was purchased for £8 million! Overall building cost estimated £12 million

i stand to be corrected but its never been officially confirmed what Sainsbury's paid for CP.

Thing is we all get told conflicting storys off Staff and Board Members or ex Board Members who say their in the know with the rumoured figure.

Last i got told was 10 million plus, i nearly chocked on my food, and asked are you sure because thought it was 8 million? told different, " AGAIN".


So its all rumours.

[Westgate Wanderer]

The area of the land is substantially greater than the land at Christie Park sold to Sainsbury's which I have read on this forum was purchased for 9 million pounds.

It was purchased for £8 million! Overall building cost estimated £12 million

i stand to be corrected but its never been officially confirmed what Sainsbury's paid for CP.

Thing is we all get told conflicting storys off Staff and Board Members or ex Board Members who say their in the know with the rumoured figure.

Last i got told was 10 million plus, i nearly chocked on my food, and asked are you sure because thought it was 8 million? told different, " AGAIN".


So its all rumours.

said £8 million on the notes at the agm the following year

[Posh]

Looks like Mr Gibson, former Secretary of the local Labour party has joined the round up gang. What Evelyn Archer told me about you Mike was interesting.

Ahem. Former Chair of Lancaster Labour Party I’ll have you know. That was 16 years ago though. Your memory is fading. I guarantee Evelyn Archer had nothing of interest to say about me. Nothing that was true anyway. She lived in 1953 (aka Morecambe Standard Time).

Isn’t there some evidence you need to dig up about the American government being responsible for 9/11; the Earth being flat; or the Bermuda Triangle being responsible for Blobbygate?

[Andy D]

said £8 million on the notes at the agm the following year

Ta!

I'll take note of that.

[BHmfc]

I can't believe I'm joining in, but here goes. Knightrider, you state how the council sold the Westgate site to MFC on the cheap, but in all honesty it was an area of swamp land surrounded by drainage channels to stop the area from flooding every time it rained. Westgate Wanderers did their best to run youth teams on the pitches and they benefited when MFC paid for their relocation to an area which included NEW changing rooms and a hard surface car-park. Since their relocation hundreds of junior footballers,and their parents, have benefited from these much improved facilities. I would also like to state that as a council tax payer, I had no problem when the council sold this land to MFC, it was an eyesore and a real blot on the landscape. Think to what it was 10 years ago to what it is now. I personally believe that the council should support its local football team (as well as sports centres,parks,public spaces etc,etc) The benefit to Morecambe in having a football league team is massive, how can you put a value on all the free publicity that the town gets in the papers and on TV. Also what about the money that away supporters spend, quite a number will make a weekend visit, putting money into the local economy. It's points like this that are quite often overlooked, it's not just about the football club but the town as a whole.

[Slanester]

I can't believe I'm joining in, but here goes. Knightrider, you state how the council sold the Westgate site to MFC on the cheap, but in all honesty it was an area of swamp land surrounded by drainage channels to stop the area from flooding every time it rained. Westgate Wanderers did their best to run youth teams on the pitches and they benefited when MFC paid for their relocation to an area which included NEW changing rooms and a hard surface car-park. Since their relocation hundreds of junior footballers,and their parents, have benefited from these much improved facilities. I would also like to state that as a council tax payer, I had no problem when the council sold this land to MFC, it was an eyesore and a real blot on the landscape. Think to what it was 10 years ago to what it is now. I personally believe that the council should support its local football team (as well as sports centres,parks,public spaces etc,etc) The benefit to Morecambe in having a football league team is massive, how can you put a value on all the free publicity that the town gets in the papers and on TV. Also what about the money that away supporters spend, quite a number will make a weekend visit, putting money into the local economy. It's points like this that are quite often overlooked, it's not just about the football club but the town as a whole.

Some excellent points, very well made. Particularly like your reference to Westgate Wanderers, and how so many young footballers have benefited.

[mrpotatohead]

This forum is actually the only attention Steven gets ..hes barred from every other forum locally ...a well known nut job ..disliked and very bitter ...its pathetic and yet funny...I have had one of his weird calls BTW

[Keith]

Westgate Wanderers did their best to run youth teams on the pitches and they benefited when MFC paid for their relocation to an area which included NEW changing rooms and a hard surface car-park. Since their relocation hundreds of junior footballers, and their parents, have benefited from these much improved facilities.

Just wondering, is there a reason why the club can't train at the new Westgate Wanderers facilities? Surely better than Turners Field? Having a closer tie with the club may be mutually beneficial?

[mrpotatohead]

That's a very good point Keith , Rod did say on the Q&A session that they had discussions on going with a few possibilities.

[mrpotatohead]

Just remembered another ridiculous question from the knight....."Have the club considered paying the players performance related wages?"

[Knightrider]

Just remembered another ridiculous question from the knight....."Have the club considered paying the players performance related wages?"

Another misquote and misinforming readers who were not present PAL of a question asked by Mr Williams. I did not ask the question. His question was directed at Jimbo not the club.

He asked Jim if he thought a fair objective assessment of performance of individual players at matches relative to their monthly pay would improve performance and results, resulting in a higher league position and improved attendance by home fans at home games.

[mrpotatohead]

Why are you persisting in lying about the fact that you aren't S Carey Williams, everybody can see through it, just come clean, your multiple personalities are actually identical anyway.

[Knightrider]

I can't believe I'm joining in, but here goes. Knightrider, you state how the council sold the Westgate site to MFC on the cheap, but in all honesty it was an area of swamp land surrounded by drainage channels to stop the area from flooding every time it rained. Westgate Wanderers did their best to run youth teams on the pitches and they benefited when MFC paid for their relocation to an area which included NEW changing rooms and a hard surface car-park. Since their relocation hundreds of junior footballers,and their parents, have benefited from these much improved facilities. I would also like to state that as a council tax payer, I had no problem when the council sold this land to MFC, it was an eyesore and a real blot on the landscape. Think to what it was 10 years ago to what it is now. I personally believe that the council should support its local football team (as well as sports centres,parks,public spaces etc,etc) The benefit to Morecambe in having a football league team is massive, how can you put a value on all the free publicity that the town gets in the papers and on TV. Also what about the money that away supporters spend, quite a number will make a weekend visit, putting money into the local economy. It's points like this that are quite often overlooked, it's not just about the football club but the town as a whole.

King Georges playing fields, Lordsome Road, Morecambe where Westgate Wanderers moved to is one of the worst football pitches in the area. Any footballer who plays in the Service of Youth and North Lancs league will tell you that. Its a quagmire, full of dog sh*te and has no shelter from bitter cold wind in winter so not surprised Jimbo and the team do not train there. Turners field is much better - sheltered and a much better playing surface.

The playing fields at Westgate were not only used by Westgate Wanderers but by the densely populated Westgate ward for recreational purposes and was the only public open space in the ward. The pitch at Lordsome Road is in another ward and far worse than their facility at Westgate. You are correct about the Westgate area being drained by a network of dykes stopping flooding which worked effectively when they were maintained and kept free of blockages by the council. WW had also built a large two storey changing/community facility there. The club is not as active or successful as it used to be when it was based at Westgate. Cant understand why the club agreed to the move other than the fact that a MFC Ltd Director was very influential at the club and having a problem with vandalism which the Police were ineffective in dealing with.

I had no problem with the council selling off a public asset until like Mr & Mrs Williams I discovered they had undersold or more accurately gifted it.

Ask yourself this question if you were the owner of the land would you have sold it to the highest bidder or done what Lancaster City Council did?

The publicity a successful football club can get is indeed huge but since their Wembley victory when the club were at Christie Park its been downhill. The publicity the club has received for the town over the last two years such as staff not getting paid etc has been negative and not good for the town.

What the club have now is a facility they cannot afford to run and unless it can be made sustainable it inevitably will become a white elephant like the repossessed training facility.

The town were told by the club that the move would provide improved affordable community sports facilities which have not been delivered.

All the points you make about away fans etc were present at Christie Park. No added value has been made by the move other than a better standard of ground than Christie but to date there has been no financial benefit.

The club is in a far worse financial position than it was before it left Christie Park and has only been able to continue by selling off parts of the asset it was gifted until there were none left and through the generosity of new owners keeping the club afloat until they gave up, cut their continuing losses and sold off.

If you research the number of Directors who have jumped shipped since the club moved to the Globe you can see there is a major problem which to date the management have not found a solution for.

[Knightrider]

Why are you persisting in lying about the fact that you aren't S Carey Williams, everybody can see through it, just come clean, your multiple personalities are actually identical anyway.

Possibly because I'm not the person you and your PALS allege I am but having met Mr Williams and seen him raise what I thought were the best at the forum I am quite happy to be associated with him.

Now please tell EVERYONE who are "everyone" - you and your PALS the round up gang

[Knightrider]

By the way when the club was at Christie Park, at grassroots level in the local service of youth league Morecambe Youth played on the pitch adjacent the ground and teams got changed in a steel storage container located in the ground.

This pitch got sold with the ground to Sainsburys another public open space used as a recreational area by the local residential area and Council estate at Branksome lost.

Morecambe Youth ceased to exist after the move and the club has had no youth teams (U12s, 14s, 16s) competing in the local service of youth league since - so much for improved community sports facilities for the towns kids aspiring to be professional footballers.

[Freez]

Please do some basic research, As a catagory 4 Academy, the club runs various youth sides against other football league clubs right through the 18/19 season, from ages 10 to 18.
This is a step up, not a step down.

[Knightrider]

Looks like Mr Gibson, former Secretary of the local Labour party has joined the round up gang. What Evelyn Archer told me about you Mike was interesting.

Ahem. Former Chair of Lancaster Labour Party I’ll have you know. That was 16 years ago though. Your memory is fading. I guarantee Evelyn Archer had nothing of interest to say about me. Nothing that was true anyway. She lived in 1953 (aka Morecambe Standard Time).

Isn’t there some evidence you need to dig up about the American government being responsible for 9/11; the Earth being flat; or the Bermuda Triangle being responsible for Blobbygate?

Evelyn Archer informed me that you were Secretary when she was in the party so presumably you progressed to Chair. She certainly told me some interesting things about you and the local Labour party and local politics.

Mr Williams has sent me details of your allegation on this forum about him. I believe he is telling the truth and you are not. Your account is not the same as you wrote on this forum over 10 years ago.

As for the Bermuda Triangle being responsible for Blobbygate Mr W has forwarded me the District Auditors Clive Portmans 135 page summary of his findings which I'm wading through. His final summary is the most damning report I have ever read of a public authority administration which as you know was Labour led. Were you in the party then. Mr W has told me you certainly will have been Chair when the final report which took five years to produce and cost City Council tax payers 500k was published.

[Knightrider]

Please do some basic research, As a catagory 4 Academy, the club runs various youth sides against other football league clubs right through the 18/19 season, from ages 10 to 18.
This is a step up, not a step down.

Sadly there is not much reported about this but yes I am aware of it -

https://www.morecambefc.com/teams/academy/fixtures/

Its another corporate revenue collecting operation in the local community just like the soccer schools in my opinion. Tell us how much it costs per week for a parent to fund that as opposed to taking your kids to a voluntarily run local Service of Youth side.

What would be interesting is fixtures with the local SOY teams but looking at the fixture list they appear to avoid that.

As regards a step up that depends on the state of the kids parents finances. If a naturally talented young footballer who has parents that cant afford the academy there is no step up.

[mrpotatohead]

Head in the chemtrails

[Andy D]

Just remembered another ridiculous question from the knight....."Have the club considered paying the players performance related wages?"

Another misquote and misinforming readers who were not present PAL of a question asked by Mr Williams. I did not ask the question. His question was directed at Jimbo not the club.

He asked Jim if he thought a fair objective assessment of performance of individual players at matches relative to their monthly pay would improve performance and results, resulting in a higher league position and improved attendance by home fans at home games.

To be fair and i know its sounds mercenary but its working for Accrington Stanly a bonus scheme.

I use to get a basic wage, and also get a commision if finished a job before its completion date, like a lot do, nothing wrong with it.

[Slanester]

Are there 2 King George’s field in the area??? I attend matches there every 2nd week, and have never seen an issue with “dog sh!te,” or felt that it has a problem with being too exposed. This is football we are referring to?? It does get waterlogged at times, just the same as any grassed areas locally, including Turners. There must be good reason that MFC do not choose to train there, but the three things mentioned can’t be them.
Can only comment on what I know. Westgate Wanderers, and Westgate Rangers U11, are the top two sides in the area for their age group. Pretty successful in my eyes.

[mrpotatohead]

You are of course correct slanester , more lies from Steve , and you're innocent act of pointing out the obvious will result in him accusing you of being a member of the "round up gang", an ancient Masonic style organisation that form small fansites for minor sports teams.

He literally has no platform left to perform on except here, I suppose he isn't a danger to anyone and the admin on here let all sorts of folk exercise free speech , which is good, but the man should be on a soap box in Hyde park corner , or join the Jehovah's witnesses

[Knightrider]

Just remembered another ridiculous question from the knight....."Have the club considered paying the players performance related wages?"

Another misquote and misinforming readers who were not present PAL of a question asked by Mr Williams. I did not ask the question. His question was directed at Jimbo not the club.

He asked Jim if he thought a fair objective assessment of performance of individual players at matches relative to their monthly pay would improve performance and results, resulting in a higher league position and improved attendance by home fans at home games.

To be fair and i know its sounds mercenary but its working for Accrington Stanly a bonus scheme.

I use to get a basic wage, and also get a commision if finished a job before its completion date, like a lot do, nothing wrong with it.

Thanks Andy for being constructive and respectful. I was shocked when I discovered the wage bill and the rates of pay for a Division 4 club, its unsustainable for the town of Morecambe in my opinion.

The club have to find a solution to the mess and hole they are in to be able to survive.

Your comment about Stanley is interesting. When Mr Williams directed his question at Jimbo he had difficulty answering it. I felt he was holding back waiting for the new owners and board of Directors to address the question. He did not really answer the question other than say that there was some sort of bonus scheme in place.

One of the Directors interjected I think it was Rod but I may be wrong and said the rates of pay had to adhere to the PFA regulations suggesting there was some sort of salary scales in place and that the club had to pay the going rate in order to get good players. Mr Williams commented that a fair bonus scheme which rewarded consistently high performing players would give those players the opportunity of earning above the flat rate of pay which gives no incentive to go beyond doing the minimum.

In order to survive the club have to do two things - increase revenue and cut costs. Rod advised in response to another question that costs were being cut and there were no more freebies.

I dont recollect the new owners making any comment in response to Mr Williams's question.