During the ‘consultation’ period to consider the Mercury 13 proposal we saw very little consulting at the first Town Hall meeting. Just the case for the defence. One sided argument in favour fronted by the Board of Directors. In this first blog about this crucial ‘meeting’ I will do my own ‘myth busting’ about the proposal. The first half hour was essentially why the board feel we need to accede to the Mercury 13 proposal and in this blog I will deal with this part as it is very important.
I will write 2 blogs, this blog is about the first main section of information presentation. ‘State of Play’
Later this week, once I have watched the next part, I will write a blog about what I think is the nuances of the Mercury 13 offer. ‘Investment Consultation Process Update.’
Let’s face it this ‘presentation’ (diktat) as some see it is all part of the incredible story of the leadership of Lewes FC’s craven desire to trash our constitution, accede pure fan ownership of the club, follow a ridiculous and dangerous unsustainable agenda to keep the Lewes FC Women in the financially draining flight 2 of women’s football. No meaningful mention was made of the ramifications of dropping a division to flight 3 which has highly limited financial demands compared to the top 2 and is affordable if our club is run like a proper football club and not a vehicle for change or whatever codswallop it is branded as.
There may well be a validity and a very good case for the Mercury 13 investment, however the failure to offer up an alternative future of the club frankly makes no valid case whatsoever. We are in a consultation period and are in needs of all the facts, not those deemed appropriate by the board. Trevor Wells presenting said ‘we are at a crossroads’ yes, but one of the roads is closed.
In general elections in this country the main media channels have to give equal TV time during campaigns to the three main parties. With this forthcoming election to decide whether to accept the Mercury 13 proposal at the moment Lewes FC have divvied the allowance 100% to themselves, the party supporting the takeover. There was no alternative vision offered, even a former high profile former director broke rank to criticise the presentation. Remember in our constitution we are supposed to be a democratic club. All we got here was a hustings with one party.
The first 25 minutes viewed like the summing up for the defence in a murder trial. Unlike a murder trial though there was no case for the prosecution. In reality 25 minutes of jaw jaw jaw for the defence of the proposition was given entirely over to the case of the board all before the few seconds it took to say ‘do we really want to look at other ways to carry on?’ for the prosecution. You couldn’t write it.
It was so one sided it was insulting.
So here are some points the board made on why we should sell out.
Finances are increasingly tough for both the women and men’s teams. For the men the reader cited as an example Wrexham, the one club you should never use as the governance is fantasy Hollywood. In reality yes, the finances for the women are exceedingly trying. But for the men this is not true or should not be for a club our size.
Apparently, the men used to financially compete at the top of the Isthmian Prem financially but are falling behind by seemingly about £25-35,000 a year. This is a club that spent £40,000 on a staff car so I am finding this claim unpersuasive. Wanna keep up with our competitors for a season trade the car in and run the club like Lewes FC not like we are made of money. The problem is the board have sanctioned the drift into a high stakes club with the vast spiralling cost of the women being in £100,000’s a season although we and Mercury13 do not know if it will be spiralling by £1,000,000’s over the next few years. In order to remedy the mess the board have got us into we are being asked to trust the board to know what they are doing moving on. In the whole presentation there are so many plot holes and assumptions. The men’s costs are merely rising in line with our competitors, the women rising exponentially out if control. Keeping the men’s team up with competitors just means fresh ideas and working harder. Simple. Bringing the catering in-house and running properly and efficiently would see profits go into our coffers rather than those of Only With Love who hold the de facto franchise This will more than cover these shortfalls the board mention.
We are asked where do you want to be? This is a question you ask before you decide a way ahead, not when you have hoisted a fait accompli on fans.
‘We are continuing to look at new ways to run the club.’ No, you are not you are looking at new ways to fund an unachievable high status for our women’s team in a game that is pulling way out of our reach. You are not looking at how to run the club without bankrolling the women’s team, how we can reconnect with the town and draw on the amazing and wealthy resources of Lewes.
We have been in dialogue with lots of potential sponsors but they are not coming up with enough potential investment. Only Mercury13 are. Who want to own half our women’s team. As a barrister for the prosecution, I would ask the question, ‘have you really tried to work out a possible sponsorship cartel with these other interests who presumably do not want to strangle the fan owned ethics of our club, or have you been too enwrapped for the last year in the easy option, Mercury13, not able to consider alternatives?
‘We are an independent club, especially the women’s side’ oh the side to be 51% owned by an outside entity.
Up to now the poor old men, owners and fans have not had a proper mention.
With all the new money we can better plan ahead. Oh diddums, it is such a trial having to plan ahead like every other club. Fact is we have been doing this planning ahead for too long now knowing one of the directors will underwrite it which is why we are in such an unnecessary mess and have such an inefficient club. Laziness with finances has really bred mismanagement.
The money will give our teams a better chance. Where is the evidence? There is none. Lewes FC and Mercury13 HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA of the financial demands in the licences of women’s football in the next few years. ABSOLUTELY NONE. It is due to be restructured, we have NO IDEA.
If we go ahead huge income streams will disappear. Absolutely no mention of the far larger costs and expenses that will disappear too. Sponsors will disappear. Yup hope so, then do what every other non league club does and stop thinking you are god and a big player and get local businesses back on side. For the record, many board members have previously acceded to me the club has ‘lost the town’ They all used this term so presumably this is a frequently spoken word! Get it back. All that talent and money.
Gates and catering will drop. Any drop in gate revenue can be made up for easily with running the catering to it’s potential as I have forever told the club. Not interested.
We will lose volunteers. You won’t. You will get the vast swathes of people who love Lewes FC but don’t want to get involved as they do not like how it is run volunteering. Luckily the fans who don’t like how it is run fall into the ‘live in Lewes’ category. That’s handy.
In summing up your honour. This was an embarrassing one-sided presentation. No alternatives to Mercury 13 were offered and no attempt to suggest how the club could function without the new investment. Easily and better. Anyone who has read our brilliant constitution and watched that drivel would assume we are on a different page.
The Rights of Fans. 