For the uninitiated….
‘William Heath Robinson was an English cartoonist and illustrator best known for drawings of ridiculously complicated machines for achieving simple objectives.’
At Lewes FC Community Club, when we changed from being a privately owned club to a community entity we were promised by the new Board we would be financially self sustained within 3 years. Then 5 years. But as of today we are still nowhere near. There is, as of now, no definitive commitment to our core aim of being self sustained.
Oh the irony. Because actually the club is maybe edging that way via the back door in a truly Heath Robinson manner. Anyone who follows the goings on at Lewes FC will know the Board have taken on an enormous financial commitment to pledge significant funds to promote our ladies team in the new Women’s Championship where we will be playing the likes of Manchester United. It is presumably being bank rolled by the club benefactors. Very generous of course, but not the general idea as again the annual accounts will show we are still being sustained by ‘donations.’
Last year the person in charge of finances, Issi Doyle, stated the club were losing £80,000 per annum. With a turnover of £400,000 that is a lot. This is before the new approximate £150,000 to £200,000 costs required for our ladies team to compete in the Women’s Championship are factored in.
It is fair to say the finances are spiralling out of control.
However I don’t go for that embarrassing pseudo fashionable #oneclub branding bullshit. I regard our running costs, realistically, as two tier. Tier 1, the normal day to day traditional costs represented annually in the club accounts up to 2017. What would have been the normal yearly costs prior to the budget parity initiative. Tier 2, the costs of running the ladies experiment. I believe tier one is maybe near self sustainable, so what a shame we have taken on tier 2 and taken a backward step in achieving the club’s core aim
Because interestingly, the club appear to have been slashing some of the previous gob smacking costs with reference to the general running of the club (Tier 1). The Academy, the Chief Executive, I understand other non playing staff and the programme appear to have all been given the boot to cut costs. That is welcome. Also it has been announced by the club they will now be taking over the previous role of the Chief Executive of raising sponsorship and feel they can do a better job, which I agree with, as well as the cuts more general sponsorship should come in.
Maybe these changes are enough to clear the £80,000 loss? Not forgetting our promotion will add to the club costs mind you. Quite possibly. Is it maybe the case then that had we not have committed to the ladies vanity project the club would have actually of reached the aim of self sustainability ? We always highlighted in the fanzine what we felt were the ridiculous running costs the club felt necessary and are delighted they now agree with us and have taken action.
So although the ladies changes will see us, unless the Board can raise the £150-200 k necessary through sponsorship to finance the ladies, run at a huge loss maybe the outward signs are not too bad. The ladies experiment is a gimmick and as such the terms of the FA licences and the Board commitment for only a further 2 years ‘budget parity’ will possibly see the end to all this nonsense. The farcical requirements of Lewes ladies getting 800 paying supporters through the gate in two years to me is true fantasy football and will put paid to any involvement longer than 2 years.
But my belief is in a back handed way the ladies experiment has propelled the club to get real with the finances and cut costs that will see us a leaner club in 2 years time and maybe actually self sustained. Taking on new huge financial commitments, maybe the Board felt they needed to be seen to get to grips with the finances. It is the true Heath Robinson route to self sustainability.
It is certainly one hell of a weird and difficult path to take and in reality an almost de facto default strategy. Rather than just running the club in a sustainable way, as it now seems possible to do, it has taken a Hurculean politically correct project to kick a sense of financial responsibility and perspective into the club.
Wisdom would suggest becoming self sustained first before embarking on ludicrous projects would be the customary way for a community club to adhere to it’s constitution. It would certainly be a lot more palatable to the fans. But there again the board have trodden a well worn path of ignoring the views of the 1300 or so members who own the club.
With the promotion of the ladies, the crazy FA stipulations the club need to adhere to and the sheer vastness of the project for such a tiny club, we are moving further away from self sustainability. Hopefully temporarily. But it seems to have been the kick up the backside the Board needed to get realistic with running the club properly financially. But what a strange exasperating and long winded way to start to exercise some financial prudence at the heart of the club and how ridiculous and inept the Board are to agree to the ruinous costs, albeit short term, hopefully.
I hope once the novelty of the ladies experiment has ended there will not be yet another unwanted Board indulgence to trash our core aims and commitments.
The Rights of Fans. 