Lewes FC have been in negotiations with an investment consortium, Mercury13, who wish to take control of 51% of the Lewes FC Women. Although I have said for years, to the denial by people at the top of the club to the contrary, that we are in a financial mess, this proves we are.
The board have been negotiating this deal seemingly for a year and yet the owners are given 6 days to fire in some questions in a ‘consultation.’ It is almost as if the actual owners are an afterthought. Importantly, as of now, no vote has been sanctioned for the members to decide whether to accept effectively busting the club up. At the moment nobody is clear on the ramifications of the investment or what the club get in return. Not only a disgraceful presentational disaster but a contemptuous way to treat owners and fans.
There are so few tangible positives. The only definitive outcome will be the customary endgame of any alien organisation puncturing the nucleus of an organic entity, at any level. The ties are broken and that’s all folks. This is the beginning of the end. Ignore the sugar-coated garbage from the hierarchy.
A club spokesperson has said ‘You suggested it was a done deal. I’ve responded and said it’s not. In terms of the vote I’ve said in reply to a number of threads that we will consider the next steps as part of the feedback from the consultation process.’
As a former board member has stated, to not hold a vote on such a fundamental change to the club is ‘outrageous.’
But the Board have a big problem. We are a fan owned club and to water down fan ownership for the convenience of a large investor is essentially a massive change to the whole ethos of the club. The club brag about the 2500 members we have, but appears does not want to give those members/owners a democratic vote on those changes. Usual cryptical messaging from the club who have not emphatically said we are to have a vote or not. This smacks of weak management.
Apparently, the club have been in discussion with Mercury 13 for a year and it has not yet occurred to them whether or not it is fit to carry out the democracy aspect enshrined in our constitution on the outcome of those discussions. Really? Long protracted discussions and the board have not decided whether they should let the club owners vote on the club structure. Dictionary definition of incompetency or hedging bets?
The spokesperson added ‘if only a small minority are calling for a vote, should there be one? What should the threshold be to make it a meaningful vote? Or, what is the vote actually for (straight yes/no, % owned etc). I’d encourage every owner to provide their views via the consultation form’
This amazes me, the board of one of the top women’s teams in Britain saying a small minority are calling for a vote, yet reality is pretty much everyone who has voiced an opinion think we should, whether for or against. It is so amateur and unprofessional. The board are supposed to represent us but are potentially sticking their two fingers up at the membership, the ambivalence is astounding. You should not need to ask. You should recognise the gravity of the issue and the democracy of the club, and it should be a matter of course a vote should be held.
My thoughts are that the Board are waiting to see how the proposals go down with the fans and owners. Like a ton of bricks so far. I have been impressed by the volatile anti-Mercury 13 initiative by practically all of the owners in the debate. I ignore the usual sycophants, they are more henchmen than credible. I am one of the few people still waiting for more information before deciding. Although my views here on the democracy on the proposal very much decided!
I think this has backfired on the board and they will not have a vote. The problem they have is through all the spin and marketing over the years they have built the image in the owner’s head of what a magnificent club we are and how we should protect our amazing selves. This is a view I have vehemently, for the last 13 years, had no truck with. I have researched so many things about the club, accounts, constitution, women’s licence agreements etc and have reached a conclusion contrary to the public image of the club. In my view in reality, we are a mere pastiche of a fan owned community club and the board have been very much hoisted by their own petard by creating an unrealistic public image of community ownership, perfection that of course owners and fans want to protect. Then drop in at their convenience. They assumed many of the owners, who just follow the women for instance, would go crazy over a huge cash injection into the squad. But many are saying they would sooner drop a division or two and maintain the ethics of the club rather than sell out to investors. I do not think the Board were expecting that. Treating people like they are stupid is never a sensible thing.
The reality is that they have shown themselves to be clueless. They would almost certainly win a vote. There are huge feelings against this proposed investment by people ‘active’ on the socials and forum. Ultimately though a lot of members do not really have a clue how the club is run and will go along with board recommendations which will be to accept the proposal.
Moving forward is where no vote will get dicey. Actively pursuing new members as the board have been for years and when push comes to shove eschewing the viewpoint of those members signals a breakdown in trust and shows what I have said for years. The Board at Lewes FC is weak. This will possibly be the beginning of the end for the club in the current form. Lose the trust of your owners you are finished. All cracks expand and eventually fall to pieces. We already have a really lightweight board lacking gravitas. You only had to watch last years AGM to see bar Stuart Fuller, who sadly and worryingly is leaving in October, the characters running the club are not up to scratch running a club our size. Indeed even more lightweight after today as a member of the board has just been suspended.
This will unravel and become apparent over this process if Mercury13 come in undemocratically. These are people actually of gravitas and will almost certainly essentially do what they want and have the wherewithal to get what they want. Don’t give me the ‘red lines’ they cannot cross contractually, everyone knows this is unrealistic surely? This will cause almighty difficulties within the club. Our board of ill-equipped amateurs making many decisions alongside a wealthy organisation of smooth operators with ten times the guile experience. That is obvious, but when the owners see the inevitable rising dominance of Mercury 13 all of the current claptrap bullshit excuses for the investors by the board will be seen for exactly what they are and the club will be finished.
The heart of the community club is its nucleus and the solidarity of the owners. A board seen to ignore the wishes of the owners will forever mean the board will stand accused of dumping on the membership and will be seen as law unto itself, not representative and therefore not fit for purpose.
It boils down to this. If Mercury13 is a disaster and they have been installed undemocratically, the current club is finished. Mercury 13 is a disaster but has been approved by the fans, nobody has a right to moan or blame the board. Simple as that. Why the procrastination? Announce a vote.
The Rights of Fans. 