The upcoming fans forum....

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quaker4life
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The upcoming fans forum....

Post by quaker4life » Tue Apr 11, 2017 7:34 pm

Sorry to go off on a tangent here but I felt this needed it's own thread.

Obviously if worse comes to worse emotions will no doubt be running high for everyone but I hope the evening, good or bad, passes peacefully.

I know I complain like no doubt many others do about the board but they had a highly unenviable and difficult task of returning us to the town, at times it was highly frustrating (which I know all too well!) and at one point didn't look like it was going to happen at all.

However they have delivered, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciates their efforts in doing so, even the contribution made by those no longer involved with the club, it would not have been possible without them and I hope anyone attending keeps this in mind.

They've done their best and unfortunately in this instance it doesn't appear their best has been good enough but nevertheless it's all anyone can ask for, it certainly hasn't come down to a want of trying. They simply do not have X amount of millions behind them as per Fylde/Salford to build a flashy new ground I'm sure all of us realise this.

I don't plan on letting this spoil for the remaining games for me, I shall be at the FC United game next Monday regardless!
love it! wrote:Considering we are Darlington 1883 I'm happy that we are named correctly

Yarblockos
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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by Yarblockos » Tue Apr 11, 2017 7:44 pm

quaker4life wrote:Sorry to go off on a tangent here but I felt this needed it's own thread.

Obviously if worse comes to worse emotions will no doubt be running high for everyone but I hope the evening, good or bad, passes peacefully.

I know I complain like no doubt many others do about the board but they had a highly unenviable and difficult task of returning us to the town, at times it was highly frustrating (which I know all too well!) and at one point didn't look like it was going to happen at all.

However they have delivered, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciates their efforts in doing so, even the contribution made by those no longer involved with the club, it would not have been possible without them and I hope anyone attending keeps this in mind.

They've done their best and unfortunately in this instance it doesn't appear their best has been good enough but nevertheless it's all anyone can ask for, it certainly hasn't come down to a want of trying. They simply do not have X amount of millions behind them as per Fylde/Salford to build a flashy new ground I'm sure all of us realise this.

I don't plan on letting this spoil for the remaining games for me, I shall be at the FC United game next Monday regardless!
Sorry, but this situation has nothing to do with money, its about competence.

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by Undercovered » Tue Apr 11, 2017 7:53 pm

I disagree. We're cutting corners off the field to maximise budget on the field and have been since day one. As far as I'm aware all directors are full time employed in pretty high profile jobs and spend their spare time running the club. We could probably do with a full time club secretary to work 9-5 but I'd imagine you'd be talking upwards of £25K. If we were awash with cash we could pay for some key positions to administer the club better. Possibly that's what we now have to do now we've moved up to a decent level, it can only come out of the playing budget tho
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quakerste
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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by quakerste » Tue Apr 11, 2017 7:54 pm

This hasn't just come out of the blue the club have known about this for several months. Let's wait and see how this plays out, the club may have a plan b in the event of reaching the playoffs.

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by Yarblockos » Tue Apr 11, 2017 8:14 pm

Undercovered wrote:I disagree. We're cutting corners off the field to maximise budget on the field and have been since day one. As far as I'm aware all directors are full time employed in pretty high profile jobs and spend their spare time running the club. We could probably do with a full time club secretary to work 9-5 but I'd imagine you'd be talking upwards of £25K. If we were awash with cash we could pay for some key positions to administer the club better. Possibly that's what we now have to do now we've moved up to a decent level, it can only come out of the playing budget tho
Maybe its time the club emplyed a full-time secretary. The play-off money that we could lose out on would be more than enough to fund such a position. If the club make screw ups that cost us promotion (or a points penalty as in the past) then its a false economy to carry on with volunteers.

DarloDave40
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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by DarloDave40 » Tue Apr 11, 2017 8:42 pm

Yarblockos wrote:
Undercovered wrote:I disagree. We're cutting corners off the field to maximise budget on the field and have been since day one. As far as I'm aware all directors are full time employed in pretty high profile jobs and spend their spare time running the club. We could probably do with a full time club secretary to work 9-5 but I'd imagine you'd be talking upwards of £25K. If we were awash with cash we could pay for some key positions to administer the club better. Possibly that's what we now have to do now we've moved up to a decent level, it can only come out of the playing budget tho
Maybe its time the club emplyed a full-time secretary. The play-off money that we could lose out on would be more than enough to fund such a position. If the club make screw ups that cost us promotion (or a points penalty as in the past) then its a false economy to carry on with volunteers.
The club have priced up the seats from Bishop as far Im concerned these were fine until a few weeks ago until the league not the FA confirmed they had to be covered. Without a quick £50k in the bank what are the club to do?

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by Yarblockos » Tue Apr 11, 2017 8:48 pm

DarloDave40 wrote:
Yarblockos wrote:
Undercovered wrote:I disagree. We're cutting corners off the field to maximise budget on the field and have been since day one. As far as I'm aware all directors are full time employed in pretty high profile jobs and spend their spare time running the club. We could probably do with a full time club secretary to work 9-5 but I'd imagine you'd be talking upwards of £25K. If we were awash with cash we could pay for some key positions to administer the club better. Possibly that's what we now have to do now we've moved up to a decent level, it can only come out of the playing budget tho
Maybe its time the club emplyed a full-time secretary. The play-off money that we could lose out on would be more than enough to fund such a position. If the club make screw ups that cost us promotion (or a points penalty as in the past) then its a false economy to carry on with volunteers.
The club have priced up the seats from Bishop as far Im concerned these were fine until a few weeks ago until the league not the FA confirmed they had to be covered. Without a quick £50k in the bank what are the club to do?
Irrelevant. We should have been aware that we needed an extra 250 seats to be eligible for the play-offs months ago. It was written in black and white. This is a monumental cock-up by those who run our club.

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by QUAKERMAN2 » Tue Apr 11, 2017 9:04 pm

Should make for some fans forum this one, could get a bit nasty with the obvious question as to why now with less than 3 weeks to go has it come to light.
If the appeal is unsuccessful which I would imagine it will be, you have to feel for the players who have done the club proud and Martin and his staff for really a wasted season.They will be absolutely gutted and to be honest very angry.

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by quaker4life » Tue Apr 11, 2017 11:26 pm

If what the echo has said about the FA confirming Blackwell Meadows fell short of Category B grading then we have a far more serious problem than just missing out on the play offs, hopefully they are mistaken.
love it! wrote:Considering we are Darlington 1883 I'm happy that we are named correctly

Quakerz
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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by Quakerz » Wed Apr 12, 2017 6:02 am

The FA wouldn't give a B grading if they felt it fell short - what are you (and the Echo) on about? Where does it say that?
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robsraiders
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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by robsraiders » Wed Apr 12, 2017 7:55 am

Yarblockos wrote:
DarloDave40 wrote:
Yarblockos wrote:
Undercovered wrote:I disagree. We're cutting corners off the field to maximise budget on the field and have been since day one. As far as I'm aware all directors are full time employed in pretty high profile jobs and spend their spare time running the club. We could probably do with a full time club secretary to work 9-5 but I'd imagine you'd be talking upwards of £25K. If we were awash with cash we could pay for some key positions to administer the club better. Possibly that's what we now have to do now we've moved up to a decent level, it can only come out of the playing budget tho
Maybe its time the club emplyed a full-time secretary. The play-off money that we could lose out on would be more than enough to fund such a position. If the club make screw ups that cost us promotion (or a points penalty as in the past) then its a false economy to carry on with volunteers.
The club have priced up the seats from Bishop as far Im concerned these were fine until a few weeks ago until the league not the FA confirmed they had to be covered. Without a quick £50k in the bank what are the club to do?
Irrelevant. We should have been aware that we needed an extra 250 seats to be eligible for the play-offs months ago. It was written in black and white. This is a monumental cock-up by those who run our club.
I do hope you come to fans forum and stand up and state your case looking forward to that

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Geordie Quaker
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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by Geordie Quaker » Wed Apr 12, 2017 8:12 am

robsraiders wrote:
Yarblockos wrote:
Irrelevant. We should have been aware that we needed an extra 250 seats to be eligible for the play-offs months ago. It was written in black and white. This is a monumental cock-up by those who run our club.
I do hope you come to fans forum and stand up and state your case looking forward to that
Howay Rob, no need for such pseudo-threatening talk there. If people feel that way (and a fair few clearly do) then they should be entitled to air it. Being fan-owned doesn't make us immune to criticism.

If such a view is misplaced then the club needs to realise that is largely down to a total lack of communication on their part.

Proposal for the meeting: anyone who responds to criticism with "Well why don't you volunteer" is immediately transferred to support West Auckland.

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robsraiders
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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by robsraiders » Wed Apr 12, 2017 8:27 am

Geordie Quaker wrote:
robsraiders wrote:
Yarblockos wrote:
Irrelevant. We should have been aware that we needed an extra 250 seats to be eligible for the play-offs months ago. It was written in black and white. This is a monumental cock-up by those who run our club.
I do hope you come to fans forum and stand up and state your case looking forward to that
Howay Rob, no need for such pseudo-threatening talk there. If people feel that way (and a fair few clearly do) then they should be entitled to air it. Being fan-owned doesn't make us immune to criticism.

If such a view is misplaced then the club needs to realise that is largely down to a total lack of communication on their part.

Proposal for the meeting: anyone who responds to criticism with "Well why don't you volunteer" is immediately transferred to support West Auckland.
Sorry if it reads as a threat not meant to be, but if you recall most fans forums are attended by the same people, it is their opportunity to come along and ask questions, we accept that we are not immune to criticism, but remember that sometimes issues are confidential and just cannot be broadcast as soon as they come apparent.

Craig09
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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by Craig09 » Wed Apr 12, 2017 8:42 am

When is the next fans forum guys ?

al_quaker
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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by al_quaker » Wed Apr 12, 2017 8:50 am

21st April I believe

super_les_mcjannet
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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by super_les_mcjannet » Wed Apr 12, 2017 8:51 am

Only way forward is an honest and fair appraisal of what went wrong.

I presume it's one of the 3 below.

1 - Someone missed this rule.
2 - We took the decision not to upgrade as we thought the team would not be in the playoffs.
3 - The league gave us some discretion on the rule but we are now not sure.

So when did we find out about this rule?
I did hear we were planning on bringing Bishop stand for the playoffs if we got there. Was this the plan and we thought we understood the rule but got it wrong?

We are where we are for me, time for some honesty in the situation and confirmation of what we need. If we have to get it right from Mar 31st 2018 then we have to. Nothing has changed my plan of supporting the next fundraising and I will still be putting my money in.

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by al_quaker » Wed Apr 12, 2017 8:59 am

super_les_mcjannet wrote:Only way forward is an honest and fair appraisal of what went wrong.

I presume it's one of the 3 below.

1 - Someone missed this rule.
2 - We took the decision not to upgrade as we thought the team would not be in the playoffs.
3 - The league gave us some discretion on the rule but we are now not sure.

So when did we find out about this rule?
I did hear we were planning on bringing Bishop stand for the playoffs if we got there. Was this the plan and we thought we understood the rule but got it wrong?

We are where we are for me, time for some honesty in the situation and confirmation of what we need. If we have to get it right from Mar 31st 2018 then we have to. Nothing has changed my plan of supporting the next fundraising and I will still be putting my money in.
Fair post as always Les. Those questions need answering if we are to move on. The fans forum will no doubt be feisty, but it is coming at a good time. Get everything out in the open, be honest, and then we can move on and try and take the next step forwards as a club.

I do worry about the next fundraising though. I always thought it was going to be a much tougher proposition. "Build a cat A ground" doesn't quite have the same ring to it as "Return to Darlo", and then you can add in some perceived issues with the rugby club, and now this turn of events.

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by Daidy » Wed Apr 12, 2017 9:07 am

al_quaker wrote:
super_les_mcjannet wrote:Only way forward is an honest and fair appraisal of what went wrong.

I presume it's one of the 3 below.

1 - Someone missed this rule.
2 - We took the decision not to upgrade as we thought the team would not be in the playoffs.
3 - The league gave us some discretion on the rule but we are now not sure.

So when did we find out about this rule?
I did hear we were planning on bringing Bishop stand for the playoffs if we got there. Was this the plan and we thought we understood the rule but got it wrong?

We are where we are for me, time for some honesty in the situation and confirmation of what we need. If we have to get it right from Mar 31st 2018 then we have to. Nothing has changed my plan of supporting the next fundraising and I will still be putting my money in.
Fair post as always Les. Those questions need answering if we are to move on. The fans forum will no doubt be feisty, but it is coming at a good time. Get everything out in the open, be honest, and then we can move on and try and take the next step forwards as a club.

I do worry about the next fundraising though. I always thought it was going to be a much tougher proposition. "Build a cat A ground" doesn't quite have the same ring to it as "Return to Darlo", and then you can add in some perceived issues with the rugby club, and now this turn of events.
Both very sensible posts.

To be honest, as long as nothing about the decision making process and how we ended up in this situation is hidden, I am sure there will be a frank but fair discussion and we can move forward as a club.

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by super_les_mcjannet » Wed Apr 12, 2017 9:44 am

All we can do is wait now, the club statement in all honesty was poor. It basically said the club were having discussions with NL because the supporters had made up some rumours and a decision would be made in due course.

The club are not having discussions because supporters have made up rumours, they are having discussions because we didn't hit the grading required. The club need to stop using the blaming supporters line as these supporters will be the ones who put money in to get us to the correct grading.

We now sit tight and await an update, support the club in the next two games and move on to the fans forum.

We didn't get where we are by giving in, whatever the outcome we need to learn from our mistakes and make sure we don't repeat them.

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by Darlobaz79 » Wed Apr 12, 2017 9:54 am

There does seem to be some leeway..Grade B status requires a 3,000 capacity which is part of the same document that says about the 500 seats yet North Ferriby were allowed to compete with a capacity of just 2,700 last year. Anyone explain that?

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by Quakerz » Wed Apr 12, 2017 10:23 am

They prayed to the lord I think baz - as you know he always answers prayers.

But he fucking hates Darlo to be fair, as well as gays and seafood.

Maybe you can try on our behalf though?
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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by Darlobaz79 » Wed Apr 12, 2017 10:26 am

Quakerz wrote:They prayed to the lord I think baz - as you know he always answers prayers.

But he fucking hates Darlo to be fair, as well as gays and seafood.

Maybe you can try on our behalf though?
I guess we gotta have some faith Q!

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by MKDarlo » Wed Apr 12, 2017 11:45 am

should be feisty and i wish i could attend. Seeking to fall back on the issued statement will not play well at all.

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by quaker4life » Wed Apr 12, 2017 4:03 pm

quaker4life wrote:If what the echo has said about the FA confirming Blackwell Meadows fell short of Category B grading then we have a far more serious problem than just missing out on the play offs, hopefully they are mistaken.
Shock horror the echo have now altered this to say BM now "falls short of grading requirements for promotion from step B" :roll:

They certainly haven't helped our cause with this and stating Gary Neville had come out in "support" of us when his tweet was clearly a snide dig.
love it! wrote:Considering we are Darlington 1883 I'm happy that we are named correctly

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by SwansQuaker83 » Wed Apr 12, 2017 5:51 pm

Just said this on the other thread, I really hope the club get an answer before the forum, as theyve stated they wont comment further until the outcome, and call me crazy, but I reckon the subject may come up.

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by lo36789 » Wed Apr 12, 2017 6:00 pm

I suspect they won't look to assume or guess at the outcome or share specific details of the discussions.

Questions like when did you become aware, how did the oversight happen - was it an oversight etc. will likely be ok.

If it ended up being a third party who potentiall advised then that may not be called out probably not wise if you are asking the FA for dispensation to publicly apportion blame at the same party...for example.

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by HarrytheQuaker » Wed Apr 12, 2017 7:47 pm

super_les_mcjannet wrote:All we can do is wait now, the club statement in all honesty was poor. It basically said the club were having discussions with NL because the supporters had made up some rumours and a decision would be made in due course.

The club are not having discussions because supporters have made up rumours, they are having discussions because we didn't hit the grading required. The club need to stop using the blaming supporters line as these supporters will be the ones who put money in to get us to the correct grading.

We now sit tight and await an update, support the club in the next two games and move on to the fans forum.

We didn't get where we are by giving in, whatever the outcome we need to learn from our mistakes and make sure we don't repeat them.
Totally agree Les , No supporters NO club end of....

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by HarrytheQuaker » Wed Apr 12, 2017 7:51 pm

quaker4life wrote:
quaker4life wrote:If what the echo has said about the FA confirming Blackwell Meadows fell short of Category B grading then we have a far more serious problem than just missing out on the play offs, hopefully they are mistaken.
Shock horror the echo have now altered this to say BM now "falls short of grading requirements for promotion from step B" :roll:

They certainly haven't helped our cause with this and stating Gary Neville had come out in "support" of us when his tweet was clearly a snide dig.
I think Kev Burgess fell out with the echo over a few comments made about Darlo ...

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by D_F_C » Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:04 pm

quaker4life wrote:
quaker4life wrote:If what the echo has said about the FA confirming Blackwell Meadows fell short of Category B grading then we have a far more serious problem than just missing out on the play offs, hopefully they are mistaken.
Shock horror the echo have now altered this to say BM now "falls short of grading requirements for promotion from step B" :roll:

They certainly haven't helped our cause with this and stating Gary Neville had come out in "support" of us when his tweet was clearly a snide dig.
I took Neville's tweet in good faith. I thought he was making out that it should be about football and nothing else. Didn't get any sense of a dig

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Re: The upcoming fans forum....

Post by princes town » Thu Apr 13, 2017 4:23 pm

D_F_C wrote:
quaker4life wrote:
quaker4life wrote:If what the echo has said about the FA confirming Blackwell Meadows fell short of Category B grading then we have a far more serious problem than just missing out on the play offs, hopefully they are mistaken.
Shock horror the echo have now altered this to say BM now "falls short of grading requirements for promotion from step B" :roll:

They certainly haven't helped our cause with this and stating Gary Neville had come out in "support" of us when his tweet was clearly a snide dig.
I took Neville's tweet in good faith. I thought he was making out that it should be about football and nothing else. Didn't get any sense of a dig
Nor me. I thought it was pretty commendable. Neville is first and foremost a footballer and contrary to popular opinion has a lot of respect for us. In fact, one issue for the appeal may be how other play off clubs react to our situation so it is good we have Salford support

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