Darlington Rugby Club Meeting 14/12/2015 7PM

[Gow9900]

http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/darlingto ... 38066.html

Hopefully some good news in the next few days regarding getting our football club back home.......

[Gow9900]

http://www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.c ... ington_FC/

[AndyPark]

Anyone got an idea of how the meeting is going?

Have they voted yet?

[Mr_Tibbs]

Anyone got an idea of how the meeting is going?

Have they voted yet?

Not seen anything yet but here's their twitter page...

https://twitter.com/DarlingtonRFC

[Neil_Heaneys_Pace]

I suspect that it will be in the echo in the morning

[Darlofan97]

Good news -

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1 ... ington_FC/

[JE93]

Good news that there seems to be enough positive feeling amongst RC members that they are allowing talks to continue.
Not quite sure if this vote allows the RC board to complete the deal or whether another EGM would be required to do this?
It's positive news and a good sign that our short term objective is within reach. But until the deal is signed and delivered we have to be patient and keep expectations modest.

[Makka Pakka]

I have to admit I was hoping for approval of a groundshare agreement rather than approval to continue talking about it.

[Neil_Heaneys_Pace]

Could anyone provide a brief overview, I refuse to pay for the echo being am exile

[dsr]

I can sympathise with the line of thought that wishes the EGM had agreed the groundshare. But, in a technical sense, you can only do this once there is a final document for approval. Whether the directors have to call another EGM, or have sufficient powers to sign on the dotted line without one, is (again technically) down to their constitution documents. In practice, given the importance to the RFC, I would have thought wisdom would demand another EGM, even if legally not necessary.

The main point is, that for the first time in a long time, we have moved forward quite a way = real grounds for optimism that, come the start of the new season...

[Darlofan97]

Could anyone provide a brief overview, I refuse to pay for the echo being am exile

-Legal documents to be passed to the legal teams of both DFC & DRFC with a view to signing an agreement in January, allowing DFC to play at BM from next season.

-DFC, DRFC & DBC to meet next week to make further progress.

-Once an agreement has been signed DFC will re-apply for the FSIF grant which was originally approved.

[Quakerz]

I have to admit I was hoping for approval of a groundshare agreement rather than approval to continue talking about it.

Especially considering in the spring it was already supposedly signed sealed and delivered, with funding in place.

From the spring, we've taken 3 steps back, then 2 forward.

We'll just have to see how it develops.

[Darlofan97]

I can sympathise with the line of thought that wishes the EGM had agreed the groundshare. But, in a technical sense, you can only do this once there is a final document for approval. Whether the directors have to call another EGM, or have sufficient powers to sign on the dotted line without one, is (again technically) down to their constitution documents. In practice, given the importance to the RFC, I would have thought wisdom would demand another EGM, even if legally not necessary.

The main point is, that for the first time in a long time, we have moved forward quite a way = real grounds for optimism that, come the start of the new season...

Agree with this, and you can totally see the need for the vote last night to go ahead, even if not legally required.

There has been a number of changes to the plans of BM since the original vote held for DRFC members in December 2013. I guess this vote was DRFC 'testing the water' of their members, in order to see if the appetite was still there for DFC to share the facilities at BM, which will allow us to move towards a completion of the agreement knowing members of both sides support the decision.

[BaronsCourtQuaker]

Could anyone provide a brief overview, I refuse to pay for the echo being am exile

The Rugby Club Chairman, told the Echo members had approved the continuation of discussions with a view to agreeing to the ground share agreements.

Next step seems to be a meeting between the Rugby and football clubs next week then legal teams from both sides aiming to sign off on the agreement in Jan.

Regards to our Grant from the Football Stadia Improvement Fund. We need to re-apply as the time to collect on the original application was missed and although we requested a delay that was rejected, we have had ‘encouraging’ signs from the FSIF.

[Robbie Painter]

Before we can secure the FSIF grant we will need to do another fund raising round from the fans because we need to be able to show we have enough funding to complete the project.

[The Quaker]

What about the money raised last time that the club has in the bank would that not be proof of funding.

Sent from my SM-G901F using Tapatalk

[Robbie Painter]

We've used some of it to pay for this season's playing & coaching costs.

[JE93]

Before we can secure the FSIF grant we will need to do another fund raising round from the fans because we need to be able to show we have enough funding to complete the project.

Perhaps this could also be an opportunity to raise enough money to get BM up to ground grading B standard from the beginning? The bigger the capacity we can accommodate at our opening few games at BM can only be beneficial for us as I'm sure they'll be a sell out.

[Neil_Heaneys_Pace]

Cheers for the update guys. For summary we got back to a "when" instead of an "if" situation. Things progressing for a summer move.

[Quakerz]

Before we can secure the FSIF grant we will need to do another fund raising round from the fans because we need to be able to show we have enough funding to complete the project.

Was the grant not for 150k rather than the 244k that we raised in the end, or did I just make that up?

[divas]

Before we can secure the FSIF grant we will need to do another fund raising round from the fans because we need to be able to show we have enough funding to complete the project.

Was the grant not for 150k rather than the 244k that we raised in the end, or did I just make that up?

Yeah that's right but to satisfy the FSIF you don't just need to show evidence of matched funding, you also have to prove that you have the total funds to complete the project that you've planned to use the grant on.

[dfc4me]

Think it was £225K for a basic 2000 capacity grade C ground, £300K for grade B.
We raised £244K plus money from B2D, about £14K I think but have had to use £50K to cover this season which leaves £208K in the kitty.
We therefore need a further £17K plus any increase in cost since last time to get to what we need for a grade C ground. Obviously it would be nice get more and make it to grade B straight away but, in reality, if we get promotion we have until March 2017 to raise the extra which should be easier once we are back in town

[Robbie Painter]

Think it was £225K for a basic 2000 capacity grade C ground, £300K for grade B.
We raised £244K plus money from B2D, about £14K I think but have had to use £50K to cover this season which leaves £208K in the kitty.
We therefore need a further £17K plus any increase in cost since last time to get to what we need for a grade C ground. Obviously it would be nice get more and make it to grade B straight away but, in reality, if we get promotion we have until March 2017 to raise the extra which should be easier once we are back in town

I think its 1/5 of 500 club money + £50k overspend - so approx £100k + potential cost increases (building sector running at 5% inflation off top of my head) + additional funds for grade B.

Divas may have a better idea than me though.

It'll be interesting to see the appetite for another cash call on the fans, given the money doesn't seem to coming from anywhere else.

[darlodog]

Think it was £225K for a basic 2000 capacity grade C ground, £300K for grade B.
We raised £244K plus money from B2D, about £14K I think but have had to use £50K to cover this season which leaves £208K in the kitty.
We therefore need a further £17K plus any increase in cost since last time to get to what we need for a grade C ground. Obviously it would be nice get more and make it to grade B straight away but, in reality, if we get promotion we have until March 2017 to raise the extra which should be easier once we are back in town

I think its 1/5 of 500 club money + £50k overspend - so approx £100k + potential cost increases (building sector running at 5% inflation off top of my head) + additional funds for grade B.

Divas may have a better idea than me though.

It'll be interesting to see the appetite for another cash call on the fans, given the money doesn't seem to coming from anywhere else.

As a fan funded club I would like to think you me and all fans will dig deep into their pockets and support the club, as without a rich benefactor fund raising never stops. At the end of the day we will get a club that fans are prepared to pay for.

[shawry]

Think it was £225K for a basic 2000 capacity grade C ground, £300K for grade B.
We raised £244K plus money from B2D, about £14K I think but have had to use £50K to cover this season which leaves £208K in the kitty.
We therefore need a further £17K plus any increase in cost since last time to get to what we need for a grade C ground. Obviously it would be nice get more and make it to grade B straight away but, in reality, if we get promotion we have until March 2017 to raise the extra which should be easier once we are back in town

I think its 1/5 of 500 club money + £50k overspend - so approx £100k + potential cost increases (building sector running at 5% inflation off top of my head) + additional funds for grade B.

Divas may have a better idea than me though.

It'll be interesting to see the appetite for another cash call on the fans, given the money doesn't seem to coming from anywhere else.

As a fan funded club I would like to think you me and all fans will dig deep into their pockets and support the club, as without a rich benefactor fund raising never stops. At the end of the day we will get a club that fans are prepared to pay for.

I thought the whole point of going fan owned was living within our means, not replacing the money a benefactor puts in with having to fund raise to meet the same requirements.

[darlodog]

Martin Gray said at the FF it would take between £800k - £1m as a playing budget to be competing in the conference.

[Makka Pakka]

Martin Gray said at the FF it would take between £800k - £1m as a playing budget to be competing in the conference.

Well that's the level Singh said we were spending at the point he sacked Mark Cooper. We'll never cover that with conventional income.

[shawry]

If we have to raise the same income as we did with a 'rich' owner, then I'm not sure what the point of being fan owned is. We should be finding our level without having to keep fund raising to top up the playing budget.

It is acceptable to fund raise to get the ground up to spec, to buy cameras or a whole host of other things, but as soon as we are fund raising for wages then we have an issue.

[richymidd]

If we have to raise the same income as we did with a 'rich' owner, then I'm not sure what the point of being fan owned is. We should be finding our level without having to keep fund raising to top up the playing budget.

It is acceptable to fund raise to get the ground up to spec, to buy cameras or a whole host of other things, but as soon as we are fund raising for wages then we have an issue.

This.

If we are not aiming to run this club as a true, going concern then what is the point?

What is the point of raising money to achieve a goal and then 'dipping' into it? Why is the board/management team spending money we don't have? And who exactly is holding the purse strings here?

I have supported the club financially. Other than paying to get in, or merchandise, or other 'legitimate' revenue streams, I don't want to continue to have to support the club financially. I want us to try a model that really works. It may not be a normal football model but I'd much rather us try to break the mould.

If that means we stand still in a footballing sense every now and again, so be it.

I don't buy into the top flight football and never will. I don't agree with the way it is run and funded and I don't want a part of it. Neither do I want us to go off down that road again and talk of 'we need a playing budget of this to compete at so and so level' does not fill me with much hope. On a different scale, Leicester and the rest of the league this year are somewhat putting to bed the notion that the club with the deepest pockets wins, no?....

[divas]

Once things fall into place with the return home and we get the off field side of things running as efficiently as we can I would expect to have very few emergency cash calls on fans, except in extreme circumstances such as multiple postponements affecting cash flow.

The BM move falling through at the 11th hour has massively impacted us this season in terms of budget.

However I see no reason why we will not continue to ask fans to raise money as that is the model of a fan owned club. This should be done upfront though and any money raised should form part of the budget for the season ahead rather than trying to plug a shortfall.