garthrockett wrote: ↑Sun Sep 22, 2019 10:06 pm
All sounds a bit daunting if not depressing garthrockett but it does have an air of reality about it. So what is the plan to bring some sunshine to the scene - well the last fella thought we could set up a university / academy and in 5 years from its birth the profits would be rolling in - several million a year I seem to recall was it or perhaps just a million a year - whatever. Well employing 10 coaches + other staff to bring about this reward has to date failed although in the future there maybe profits but I would suggest not of the level the other fella expected.
Pershore,
I look at the tragic histories of Maidstone, Rushden & D, Darlington, Hereford , Telford United, etc etc etc. and think "what makes our club different to these bankrupt endevours?"
The answer is nothing....we are cut from the exact same cloth.
We have to think of something to break the cycle 95% of clubs are in, and find some way of sustaining the club over and above a few wealthy benefactors pumping various amounts of money into an otherwise moribund football club.
Thats why I agree in principle with the academy/education model, if only to attempt to take KHFC out of what will surely be a bankruptcy that we have thankfully just avoided at least three times so far due to injections of several individual's money. (Including your own; many thanks!)
Even the most optimistic fan must surely appreciate we ( along with a whole glut of clubs) cannot stand on the edge of this financial precipice for years on end without eventually falling off it.
Richard Lane is going to have to come up with a robust financial plan that avoids such future risk.
I await with bated breath............
Garthrockett - Thanks for picking up on my post although you only quoted part of it.
I agree with much or what you have said and let's face it without RL stepping in many months ago we would already be treading the path of Maidstone, Rushden & D, Darlington, Hereford etc.
I would also accept that we need to have something to break the cycle BUT I do not believe the academy / education model is the route although it could be part of it. CG has had 4 years attempting to get it going and delivering a profit to make us sustainable. Those 4 years have seen losses in excess of £1.5million the first team budget slashed and the Club finish lower and lower in the NLN. Even now I do not see the revenue from the academy/ education model delivering the sustainability so sought after in even the near future.
The staffing costs (10 coaches + admin staff) and the like are significant fixed costs that cannot be avoided - the need according to CG that the Club remains full-time even in the NLN for the academy /education to work adds a further significant financial burden.
I am not totally against the academy / education (in fact I was on the Board when the academy was first set up in 2011) but we need to look at this over many more years than the five years CG wanted to deliver it in with a profit in excess of £1million a year.
Hence I think a more realistic approach (abandoned by CG) remains to have a couple of employees (part-time most likely) who know the local non league scene from top to bottom and can identify players such as Lolley, Matt, Johnson, Dunkley, Blissett whom we can bring into the Club where they can make significant contributions to the first team and move on for transfer fees that will out perform anything like the transfer fees mooted by CG that our academy could deliver.
I am with many others regarding the commercial side of the business which seems to have almost abandoned, the use of the Aggborough Suite and the like. The last 4 years in particular has seen a pretty much total disregard to making the most in terms of income from our assets which has only antagonised a collapsing stream of incomes.
CG looked for one income stream to fund everything - all other sources were dismissed as being worth only pennies. I would suggest that all profitable income streams need to be nurtured and developed - every penny counts they really do.
Im not sure offering high end part-time contracts really gives us any advantage to where we are now reference player recruitment.....I remain to be convinced.