Calling all shareholders

[aberred]

Abered posted :

" One huge thing in our favour is the Academy. I believe this September will see the opening of a new £5m training ground. And the first team will be using it. So while we may not be able to offer the best wages, the facilities will be some of the best on offer. This has to be used to its full potential. The club cannot let the opportunities the academy will offer, slip through their fingers. If we find gems from this then we get all of the transfer fees, this has to be key to sustaining the club as well. Sadly i'm not too sure how aware certain members of the board are of its value. Thankfully the football side of the club recognise the potential goldmine we have.

It sounds simple, but the club needs people who love it, not people who see it as an opportunity for self gain."


Abered, with regards to the Academy.

The £5m facility you refer to is not the training ground, but the recently completed extension and new facility at BMet College Stourbridge.

The first team have already relocated to the training ground and academy facilities. Upgrades to the changing rooms and other areas have probably cost around 5k! paid for by BMet College and expansion or building of new classrooms and facilities is planned in the near future.

Fortunately, the funding of the academy is ring fenced by the College, so no self gain to be had there. That means you are right in your assumption that certain board members would not be aware of its value. In fact, I can only think of one and that is because he has been supplying all the kit to the academy members and College for the past few years. As I said previously on this thread, i believe that is about to change at the end of the season when the contract moves to Macron, so it's highly likely that will be the end of the road for that individual. (Oops ! Better beware of the forum police !)

The academy has made great strides in the past few years under the guidance of Steve Guinan and his hard working staff and I am sure it will continue to do so, even though Steve sadly moved on.

Hi Ciranza, regarding the facility, whether it's the training ground that's been upgraded or the general facility, the fact is club have a superb facility that should be used to entice players to sign for us. It's huge for us in terms of offering facilities to new signings, however the current situation at the club means that will put potential new arrivals off.

Get it right at boardroom level and I really believe this club could fly because below first team level things are going really well. Three academy recruits are already in the first team squad, and this will only increase. Their development costs the club nothing, yet if we sign them and they progress, we get 100 % of the transfer fees. Imagine having a squad that has a healthy percentage of academy recruits. Surely that has to be the way forward for us. I believe GW and MC have a really good relationship with the academy and are keen as mustard to see it flourish.

I just think the club needs a complete overhaul in its thinking. Thankfully a new kit deal won't cost the club a penny, we'll no longer have to pay a director to make the kit for us (where was the logic in that decision?), but the club has to be pro-active in its marketing. What good does a reduced sponsorship from Hire-it do? Again, sponsorship from a director. Surely the club can get a better deal given how much exposure is given to the Conference now it's on BT sport. And use John Davies's contacts for other things.

One of the clubs I cover for work is Huddersfield Town. Their marketing department is so switched on, they have over 80 official business partners who all work together, network, and continue to grow. Yes I know this is a Championship club, but my point is that the club is so pro-active in this department, it really reaps the benefits of such a positive attitude.
What do we have at Harriers? Go on the commercial section of our website, and the last update was on the 1st December 2014, the advertising page boasts how are matches are shown on Premier Sports!! While the last time the room hire and conferencing pages were updated were 2012. The hospitality pages are from July 2013 - surely the prices on there are out of date??
I'm not having a go at the people who are the club looking to bring money in, i'm sure they work very hard under very difficult circumstances, but it's things like these which look so poor. Does it all come from the leadership from the top? What leadership?

The pitch needs to be sorted as well. I know at the AGM they said work would be done over the summer, but please tell me the people they are getting in to do it again are not the same people who stuffed it up in the first place!

I only wish I had enough money to get heavily involved with the club. Until then, I hope whatever happens, there are people out there who have the willingness, the hunger and the passion to get involved and turn this club around.

[S2RKK]

When I first started watching the Harriers they were in the Birmingham League and with effort from like minded hard working directors we climbed the ladder without big money being spent, we really need to go back to that ideal again.

I too recall the huge amount of time, effort and love former directors and indeed staff put in over and above what was expected during the 1970s and 80s. Some of these were deservedly made lifetime club Vice Presidents, which was then promptly revoked in the Lionel Newton era.

After our promotion to the Alliance Premier in the 1980s I recall the then Manager John Chambers spending the close season stripped to the waist laying concrete for the new terracing behind the goal!
Unfortunately those days are well and truly gone, but it kind of puts things in context.

Garth,
Oh for the good old days when everyone was pulling in the same direction, where supporters got there hands dirty instead of complaining about the TVs etc.

[garthrockett]

Garth,
Oh for the good old days when everyone was pulling in the same direction, where supporters got there hands dirty instead of complaining about the TVs etc.

Indeed, though I spoilt a decent top one summer painting the crush barriers red!

[S2RKK]

Garth,
Oh for the good old days when everyone was pulling in the same direction, where supporters got there hands dirty instead of complaining about the TVs etc.

Indeed, though I spoilt a decent top one summer painting the crush barriers red!

That was always the problem of the first home game of the season, everyone went home with a red stripe across the belly

[DownTheLine]

If people are ignorant about the Academy.....how many know about the Development Centre?

This caters for u9 to u16 and is where Luke Maxwell and Kennedy Digie first pulled on a Harriers shirt!

[aberred]

This, like the academy should be shouted from the rooftops.

[pb12345]

Pleased to see a few positive comments in some of the posts, I know that criticism is not a bad thing, but some of the stuff....
Instead of moaning about everything , why not moan, and then try to do something about it? Does anyone know if shares can be bought (say 100 quids worth?). I for one would do this, because this time next year at the AGM, I would have a voice, and if enough people do the same......
Don't get me wrong (I also criticise), but it's about time someone on here made the effort to make suggestions of how we can improve things with our beloved club. If we all just complain and do nothing about it, what actually is the point? Apart from getting ourselves more and more pissed off and get in to a frenzy.

[Sheffield Harrier]

You are of course correct that people should not just moan and actually offer help.

But it can be very frustrating. Having taken a very minor role as a KHIST board member for a short amount of time, one is taken with how slow ideas are discussed, listened to and actioned. The KHIST board meet formally once a month(ish) and I would imagine the KHFC board don't meet much more often than that on a formal basis. Under these conditions, change is slow. I am not sure how many hours the board members can devote to the club (I am sure devote more than others) but they have work to do and businesses to run. This isn't meant to be pointed, but the club is crying out for a top class general manager who is at the club working ten hour days and knows the place from top to bottom (and ideally, is a supporter). Someone who can generate money, save money and present the club in a better way. I'm not saying this is easy, and perhaps someone like this doesn't come cheap, but this area seems lacking if you ask me.

How many people on here know who is the contact at the club on a day-to-day basis?

[Phil]

Helen and, er, Helen

[pb12345]

You are of course correct that people should not just moan and actually offer help.

But it can be very frustrating. Having taken a very minor role as a KHIST board member for a short amount of time, one is taken with how slow ideas are discussed, listened to and actioned. The KHIST board meet formally once a month(ish) and I would imagine the KHFC board don't meet much more often than that on a formal basis. Under these conditions, change is slow. I am not sure how many hours the board members can devote to the club (I am sure devote more than others) but they have work to do and businesses to run. This isn't meant to be pointed, but the club is crying out for a top class general manager who is at the club working ten hour days and knows the place from top to bottom (and ideally, is a supporter). Someone who can generate money, save money and present the club in a better way. I'm not saying this is easy, and perhaps someone like this doesn't come cheap, but this area seems lacking if you ask me.

How many people on here know who is the contact at the club on a day-to-day basis?

A point well made, and fully taken on board (pardon the pun)!

I remember such a man who seemed to be Mr Kidderminster Harriers years ago, who put in countless hours. Ray Mercer. You don't see many of his kind these days, and on his watch, this sort of thing would never have happened

[Cal's Spongebag]

Funnily enough similar thoughts went through my head yesterday - similar to Sheffs.

The club is crying out for a person of stature and charisma. One who has the ability to motivate individuals and groups and to draw people together under a single cause.

He might be called the Chairman. He might be called someone else. He needn't necessarily have to invest his money, but he must have the time and determination to drive the club forward.

Unfortunately, you don't find people like this easily and they rarely come cheap.

And, by the way, he would stand above the patronising corporate lexicon that we recently seem to have to endure from Directors and others - and that really, really gets on my, err, nerves.

[sprials]

If people are ignorant about the Academy.....how many know about the Development Centre?

This caters for u9 to u16 and is where Luke Maxwell and Kennedy Digie first pulled on a Harriers shirt!

I wont take credit for these 2 lol...oh go on then!! lol

[Phil]

They ARE our future. In fact they can play this Saturday.

http://www.bostonunited.co.uk/l/match-centre-25556/0-2507030

[Sir Luke Medley]

Well, having attended the AGM on Monday I have to say I left very despondent as to where our club is heading. The model since Lionel Newton withdrew has been based on the club being basically run by volunteers who are willing to put in the time to do it. Whether these people have had the necessary skills to run a business with a turnover of 1.5 million is open to question (and despite what Mr Ruffinato thinks, it is a business and a business should care about its customers). I would love to help out but with a mortgage to pay, a job working around 45 hours per week plus family commitments I simply do not have the time. I am sure there are many more Harriers fans who feel the same. Which means under the current model we have to be 'thankful' someone is willing to do it however out of their depth they appear to be. So, I am also beginning to think along the lines of Sheffield Harrier. Any good business is led well from the top and this tends to feed all the way down and vice versa. Clubs tend to think nothing of shelling out £50,000 a year on a player who may be rubbish, break a leg or be paid off after a few months of his contract but baulk at actually employing a general manager or CEO because they can't afford it. This in my book is false economy and the results of this are very evident at KHFC at the moment. Now is the time to look to the future and set out a strategy that will lead (not necessarily to the football league) but at the very least of providing us all with a club we are proud of and enjoy visiting on a Saturday afternoon. So, if we have a budget of £350k to spend, I would rather spend 50K on someone who can start giving club the time it deserves and only spend £300k on the players. This may mean relegation (but then so might £350K spent on players) but at least if we go down we may be taking one step back to go two steps forward. As we stand at the moment, we are only going one way with the downward circle about to spiral quickly once the inevitable drop in season tickets sales arrives.

[sprials]

funny the meeting I was out, that is what they said..

I think you point out its the time, we all have skills that the club could use, but its the time. and that's what we have to remember about the current board , they have full time jobs like us and still run the club so I guess that's not an excuse really ...( but you only do 45 hours=part time )

the budget is the budget...it will be set and Gary Whild has to build a team from that. youth players, young pro players and a core of seasoned players.
other clubs can do it.

now here is the shocker!!! I do agree with you about the club employing a MD-CEO to run the club full time as they can keep direction . and with a number of point raised in your post:grouphug: