In this guest blog Tony examines a nuclear option for the parlous Lewes FC Women funding crisis. But is it nuclear or actually a much needed dose of common sense and a brilliant way forward for the club with the best of both worlds?
In 2010 Lewes fc became a ‘community owned entity’. If the disposal of 51% of the
women’s team to Mercury 13 proceeds, the club would no longer be a ‘community owned
entity’, not wholly, and not in any meaningful sense (at least not to the people of Sussex and
to matchday supporters). The club are justifying the disposal on the basis that it will achieve
one of the five pillars in the club strategy (high performance football), but what of two other
pillars, fan and community engagement, when having been negotiating with Mercury 13 for a
year they gave members just five days to respond, and then held a Town hall where no other
views were given a platform, and of course the most important pillar of them all, full
financial sustainability. The intention of the new ‘community owned entity’ in 2010 was for a
three year transition into ‘financial self-sustainability’. The club was largely self sufficient for
one year only, 2012/13. Since then two directors have donated over £1.4 million to ‘assist
cash flows’, and it is possible that since the last set of accounts were published even more has
been donated. Hardly financial self-sustainability!
With sound management, the part-time men’s team ought to be entirely sustainable. With
average attendances of over 800, plus membership subscriptions, our income is greater than
many teams in the Isthmian Premier or National League South. It is not the men’s team that is
causing the club financial stress.
Most of the donated money has been in the last few years (for example £600,000 in 2021/22)
and much of it has gone to support the women’s team. To conform to a Tier 2 Championship
Licence, the club has to have a Head Coach (UEFA A Licence holder); Assistant Coach
(UEFA B Licence holder); Goalkeeping Coach (FA Level 2); General Manager dedicated to
women’s team (minimum salary of £35k pa); Qualified Physiotherapist or Sports Therapist
(full time); Qualified Strengthening & Conditioning Coach (full time); a doctor at matches
and all contact training sessions; plus part time marketing and safeguarding posts, and of
course, twenty or so professional women footballers. The total cost of this, at absolute
minimum, including National Insurance and pension contributions, must be around £700,000
per year. And that would treble or perhaps quadruple if we ever reached the WSL. For a club
like Lewes, it is fantasy.
Let’s be honest, ultimately Mercury 13 will want a return on their investment, and that will
probably mean 100% ownership. They will have sharp solicitors and deep pockets and a
business acumen that quite frankly, our directors will not be able to match. The Dripping Pan
will soon become too small to accommodate the growth of women’s football at WSL or
Championship level (in any case a minimum stadium size might become a Tier 2 Licence
requirement), so if Mercury 13 want a return on their investment, how will they achieve it?
Their options would appear be twofold: to move their franchise away from the Dripping Pan
(remember Wimbledon/Milton Keynes) or to sell their share of the club at a profit. We might
then find the women’s team majority owned or wholly owned by a regime or individual
unpalatable to Lewes fans, or by another club (there are numerous examples in women’s
football of clubs being absorbed into other clubs – remember the controversial Charlton
Athletic takeover of top-flight Croydon).
There are other reasons why the Mercury 13 proposal is dangerous. They could incur huge
financial commitments for which Lewes fc is 49% responsible. Or they could incentivize
their global fan base to buy shares and take control of the whole club. What then for our
men’s team. Tenants at the Dripping Pan? Perhaps even evicted? It could never happen? Ask
fans of Kingstonian. It seems, even having discussions with Mercury 13 has exposed us to
danger. With sufficient membership numbers they could pursue a takeover driven by
members who are not local to Sussex, who know nothing about the history of the club, and
are not matchday supporters. If the town turns against Lewes fc, what then for a community
football club?
So here’s my suggestion. We SELL the women’s team 100% to Mercury 13. They would then
be required to keep the Lewes name, pay rent for our training facilities, and to hire the
Dripping Pan for home games (all at twelve months notice, should they wish to change
anything). Then we start a new women’s team, Lewes Women, much further down the
football pyramid (County League or SECWFL or perhaps even the L&SERWFL) and share
the brilliant moments and memories as they forge their way triumphantly back up through the
divisions. Very few girls from our Development Team have been given first team
opportunities in recent years (and then only in the Continental Cup) so we would actually be
providing more of a service to aspiring young footballers than we do at present.
ALL ROUND WINS. Mercury 13 get their Championship team (with all the costs involved),
we continue (in the short term at least) to enjoy women’s Championship football without
bankrupting our club, we have our own community women’s team as well, and not least, we
would be safeguarding the financial future of our men’s team.
And if Mercury 13 don’t want to buy our women’s team at a reasonable price, we close down
the negotiations with them, and have a club-wide discussion about how to move forward.
This discussion should not just involve directors, who have overseen years of lax financial
management, but should be club-wide (a Supporters Trust perhaps, certainly a Shadow
Board) and should focus on how we might attract further sponsorship, or indeed, whether we
could ever attract sufficient sponsorship to meet our women’s teams costs, and if not, whether
there are there other suitors who might buy the women’s team, or whether we should we drop
down into the National League where the costs are lower (but still a good quality of football –
Ipswich Town, Portsmouth, Oxford Utd, Plymouth Argyle, Cardiff City etc).
The problem we have, is articulating any alternative view to members, The Board are the
only ones with members email details, and they are unlikely to put forward proposals which
do not accord with their single-minded approach. So how on earth do we combat that, and
give members to give a more balanced range of views. Pamphleting outside of games will
only reach a percentage of members, but it might be worth a try. Raising the ante, we could
hold a meeting, elect an interim Shadow Board (membership, constitution, and formal
elections can all come later) and demand that as a Shadow Board we have the right to send
our own briefing paper to members. With the right media coverage, that could be a ballistic
option.
One final comment, what now for Equality fc when our own Board have said ‘Equality does
not always mean treating men and women the same.’
Tony Streeter. t.streeter702@btinternet.com Happy to have email discussion about any of
the points raised here (or a group discussion in the Lansdown, Gardeners, Arms, Oak etc).
The Rights of Fans. 