Fire up the totaliser

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BUSHEAD
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Fire up the totaliser

Post by BUSHEAD » Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:23 am

As I , and many other i'd imagine will no longer be heading to Salford last game of the season as its pointless, is someone going to start up a new fundraising page for new stand/seats etc.

I'd donate what would have been my outgoings for that day, travel £20, ticket £7 , food/drink £20 , programme / raffle £3 = £50.

If the 600 or so that would have gone do the same, it'd be a hell of a start to the new fundraising campaign .
Think before posting

Craig09
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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by Craig09 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 11:57 am

Ive said this on facebook but we have them seats at bishop behind the goal. Im sure can round up some volunteers to take it down move it to BM and with the money being raised for the new pitch just use that to upgrade them seating stand to covered and fixed its a no brainer. Hopefully it will only be a fraction of the supposed 150k for the new stand

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dfc4me
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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by dfc4me » Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:06 pm

The pitch has to be relaid as a condition of the FSIF grant, we were given dispensation to delay until this summer due to the delay in work starting.

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D_F_C
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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by D_F_C » Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:07 pm

If someone set something legit up, I'd be happy to put some cash in

Yarblockos
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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by Yarblockos » Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:15 pm

Almost sounds like something you expect a board to do.

lo36789
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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by lo36789 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:18 pm

Yarblockos wrote:Almost sounds like something you expect a board to do.
They are on the 21st April - that has already been widely reported.

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by al_quaker » Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:19 pm

Yarblockos wrote:Almost sounds like something you expect a board to do.
The next round of community shares for improvements to BM is expected to be launched at the fans forum. Of course, this was before the recent news, but I imagine it will still happen then.

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by lo36789 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:22 pm

You do realise setting up these funds isn't just a case of opening up a bank account. I am sure it took 3-6 months to get the legal sign off, and input from the likes of supporters direct etc. for our last lot.

It is not a frivolous process there are an abundance of regulations that need to be complied with when offered shares in your company to the public, and also offering services 'on credit' (ie. 5 year season ticket).

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by Craig09 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:23 pm

Ok forgot the pitch money then but im still sticking with them seats at bishop. Its our way of a cheaper seating area by upgrading that with out having to build a new one with more seats

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by Yarblockos » Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:24 pm

lo36789 wrote:You do realise setting up these funds isn't just a case of opening up a bank account. I am sure it took 3-6 months to get the legal sign off, and input from the likes of supporters direct etc. for our last lot.

It is not a frivolous process there are an abundance of regulations that need to be complied with when offered shares in your company to the public, and also offering services 'on credit' (ie. 5 year season ticket).
How long does it take to set up a crowdfunder account? Didn't the fans raise money for dugouts and goalposts using their own initiative? This didn't take 6 months.

If you want to see a board that is really proactive in fund raising the take a look at FC United. Their crowdfunding initiatives are a constant thing. When was the last time the board initiated any new fund raising?

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by al_quaker » Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:25 pm

Craig09 wrote:Ok forgot the pitch money then but im still sticking with them seats at bishop. Its our way of a cheap seating area with out having to build a new one with more seats
Would we not need planning permission to install the seats at HP at BM as a permanent structure? Whereas we have planning permission for an extension to the seated stand I believe.

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by lo36789 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:29 pm

Yarblockos wrote:How long does it take to set up a crowdfunder account? Didn't the fans raise money for dugouts and goalposts using their own initiative? This didn't take 6 months.

If you want to see a board that is really proactive in fund raising the take a look at FC United. Their crowdfunding initiatives are a constant thing. When was the last time the board initiated any new fund raising?
These things need to be measured and strategic if you are trying to raise £150,000. The board haven't because they are planning for a proper launch of a fundraising initiative.

If they board kept launching a crowdfunder account, which don't take any cut of your money whatsoever, every time a frivolous need came up there would be serious investor fatigue. "Oh they are out with the buckets again".

FC United are on the bones of their arse and their is significant unrest, leading to protests on the pitch as to how the financial affairs of the club are being run because of the constant appeals for cash to cover holes.

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by Craig09 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:38 pm

al_quaker wrote:
Craig09 wrote:Ok forgot the pitch money then but im still sticking with them seats at bishop. Its our way of a cheap seating area with out having to build a new one with more seats
Would we not need planning permission to install the seats at HP at BM as a permanent structure? Whereas we have planning permission for an extension to the seated stand I believe.

Honestly not sure but if the planning permission is already there for the extension would it make a difference as the seats could be part of that new extension

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by Yarblockos » Thu Apr 13, 2017 1:08 pm

lo36789 wrote:
Yarblockos wrote:How long does it take to set up a crowdfunder account? Didn't the fans raise money for dugouts and goalposts using their own initiative? This didn't take 6 months.

If you want to see a board that is really proactive in fund raising the take a look at FC United. Their crowdfunding initiatives are a constant thing. When was the last time the board initiated any new fund raising?
These things need to be measured and strategic if you are trying to raise £150,000. The board haven't because they are planning for a proper launch of a fundraising initiative.

If they board kept launching a crowdfunder account, which don't take any cut of your money whatsoever, every time a frivolous need came up there would be serious investor fatigue. "Oh they are out with the buckets again".

FC United are on the bones of their arse and their is significant unrest, leading to protests on the pitch as to how the financial affairs of the club are being run because of the constant appeals for cash to cover holes.
I haven't yet heard one Darlo fan complain that the club are out asking for money again. If anything, most are surprised at why there is so little fundraising going on. The crowdfundung set up to buy the dugouts and the goalposts etc. were very popular. There is a limit to how many times you can do this of course, but we seriously haven't got anywhere near sickening people off.

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by Craig09 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 1:16 pm

Im up for trying to raise some cash towards the stand ive got a few ideas and one which i think would be very popular which may raise a few quid towards the cost of the stand. Im not sure it would raise loads but it will all help

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TinShedDarloFan
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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by TinShedDarloFan » Thu Apr 13, 2017 2:06 pm

As fans we all knew it would come to the point that more funds would be needed to be raised for Blackwell Meadows, for me as soon as the club realised there was a problem with the seats they could of spoke to the fans who would of rallied around, we may not of raised £150k which seems to be the figure that has been mentioned but we'd be on our way to raising it, abit of honesty from the clib would of gone along way, now a quick browse of twitter shows alot of trust has gone with the current board

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by Beano » Thu Apr 13, 2017 4:28 pm

I'm sure many of us that have invested above and beyond match day expenditure will need serious reassurance before doing the same again.

We cannot continue to recklessly overspend, requiring bailouts, and want to know exactly how the money will be spent and how sustainable the plans are.

At the very least, the quality of communication needs a rethink.


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H1987
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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by H1987 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 4:35 pm

They need to produce some plans for fans to see. It's gone so quiet since we moved to BM anyway, which they can just about get away with if this hasn't happened, but people have been asking what comes next anyway.

I'd imagine a lot less fans are willing to chuck money in the buckets et al if there's little faith in the board... They may as well focus on the appeal and see if they'll make an allowance if we move the temporary stands as the board have suggested. If that doesn't come off, honestly, i think you let the dust settle for a few weeks and produce a full plan in the summer of what they intend to do to get BM up to standards and how much they need to raise to do it. I don't like the pitch at BM at all but it can wait, frankly. What's the point in a good pitch and a good team if we can't progress up the leagues because the infrastructure is lacking.

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by al_quaker » Thu Apr 13, 2017 4:42 pm

H1987 wrote:They need to produce some plans for fans to see. It's gone so quiet since we moved to BM anyway, which they can just about get away with if this hasn't happened, but people have been asking what comes next anyway.

I'd imagine a lot less fans are willing to chuck money in the buckets et al if there's little faith in the board... They may as well focus on the appeal and see if they'll make an allowance if we move the temporary stands as the board have suggested. If that doesn't come off, honestly, i think you let the dust settle for a few weeks and produce a full plan in the summer of what they intend to do to get BM up to standards and how much they need to raise to do it. I don't like the pitch at BM at all but it can wait, frankly. What's the point in a good pitch and a good team if we can't progress up the leagues because the infrastructure is lacking.
April 21st

H1987
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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by H1987 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 4:57 pm

al_quaker wrote:
H1987 wrote:They need to produce some plans for fans to see. It's gone so quiet since we moved to BM anyway, which they can just about get away with if this hasn't happened, but people have been asking what comes next anyway.

I'd imagine a lot less fans are willing to chuck money in the buckets et al if there's little faith in the board... They may as well focus on the appeal and see if they'll make an allowance if we move the temporary stands as the board have suggested. If that doesn't come off, honestly, i think you let the dust settle for a few weeks and produce a full plan in the summer of what they intend to do to get BM up to standards and how much they need to raise to do it. I don't like the pitch at BM at all but it can wait, frankly. What's the point in a good pitch and a good team if we can't progress up the leagues because the infrastructure is lacking.
April 21st
Is that when the appeal is announced?

lo36789
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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by lo36789 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 4:58 pm

no it's the date they said they would announce our future development plans and the fundraising required to achieve them.

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by al_quaker » Thu Apr 13, 2017 4:59 pm

H1987 wrote:
al_quaker wrote:
H1987 wrote:They need to produce some plans for fans to see. It's gone so quiet since we moved to BM anyway, which they can just about get away with if this hasn't happened, but people have been asking what comes next anyway.

I'd imagine a lot less fans are willing to chuck money in the buckets et al if there's little faith in the board... They may as well focus on the appeal and see if they'll make an allowance if we move the temporary stands as the board have suggested. If that doesn't come off, honestly, i think you let the dust settle for a few weeks and produce a full plan in the summer of what they intend to do to get BM up to standards and how much they need to raise to do it. I don't like the pitch at BM at all but it can wait, frankly. What's the point in a good pitch and a good team if we can't progress up the leagues because the infrastructure is lacking.
April 21st
Is that when the appeal is announced?
Launch of the next community share offer (+ fans forum).

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by H1987 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 5:06 pm

I mean, that's great, but given we had the planning permission for the extra seating as a bare minimum, it really should have happened before now.

If you had a scheme whereby you announced we had to have a certain amount by a certain time I have every faith we could have made it. Everyone has been coasting by on the assumption that we would have until next March to get things up to standard if we achieved a shock promotion.

I mean it really does come back to frustration that someone should have picked up on this.

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by lo36789 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 5:09 pm

H1987 wrote:I mean, that's great, but given we had the planning permission for the extra seating as a bare minimum, it really should have happened before now.
Why do you believe that when fans were told an extra £75,000 would get us 500 seats and the fans didn't provide enough money that telling people a few months later we need £150,000 for 500 seats would suddenly make it appear?

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by al_quaker » Thu Apr 13, 2017 5:15 pm

Someone should have picked up on it yes. I'm not convinced we would have raised the necessary funds, although it would have been good to be asked. Having said that, the club's statement says that when they found out about the requirement for permanent seats there wasn't enough time anyway, so perhaps that's a moot point.

Of course, if we'd started fundraising again as soon as we moved into BM there may well have been time. However, the board obviously decided against that, for what would have seemed valid reasons at the time seeing as we thought we had at least 14 months from moving in to get BM up to cat A standards (and that's if we won promotion this season) We have to be careful to avoid investor fatigue, and what the club says they will announce at the fans forum sounds exciting, well thought out, and could create a real connection between fans and the club.

What has happened is undeniably frustrating, and it shouldn't have happened. Hopefully an open discussion about what went wrong, the steps taken to ensure it doesn't go wrong again (using the wrong criteria is pretty schoolboy), and an apology will enable us to move on as a club. It's all we can do now, but the board have to act first to clear the air.

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by al_quaker » Thu Apr 13, 2017 5:17 pm

lo36789 wrote:
H1987 wrote:I mean, that's great, but given we had the planning permission for the extra seating as a bare minimum, it really should have happened before now.
Why do you believe that when fans were told an extra £75,000 would get us 500 seats and the fans didn't provide enough money that telling people a few months later we need £150,000 for 500 seats would suddenly make it appear?
Because in the former it was under the impression that it was needed for cat A standard, a scenario that seemed a while off when asked. In the latter it would have been "we need this money or we aren't allowed in the playoffs".

I'm not convinced that we would have raised the money, but the situations are different.

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by H1987 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 5:18 pm

Because it involved several extra months to raise that money, and the impetus to raise it, given we knew the existing set up wasn't enough?

I don't understand why you are so defensive about this. It's a monumental cock up, and your attitude seems to mirror that statement the board have put out, which is frankly, not good enough. Shrugging shoulders and passing the buck when it's too late to do anything about it.

We could also have investigated cheap alternatives to obtain that extra seating as pointed out in the other thread, whether it involved a cheap solution to the seating on the clubhouse side, converting the temporary stand, whatever. It's now too late for all of it, and it's caused a monumental disappointment to both fans and I would imagine the players and managers.

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by lo36789 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 5:26 pm

because when I first heard the news. That is exactly what I did I shrugged my shoulders.

I wanted us no where near promotion this season. I wanted a season of stability to increase money in the pot and develop the infrastructure of the club and not spent frivolously on strikers. I have had everything I wanted from this season.

We are back in Darlington, we have our name back, and as at 21st April there was to be announced the future plan to build the infrastructure at Blackwell Meadows so we can then progress and be competitive in NLP.

What I am defensive over is the suggestion that the was some sort of malpractice by the board, that there is any element of a them and us in the structure of the club and I will fight tooth and nail to prevent the situation where there are people on one side of a table being chastised by masses on the other side - especially when it is for making genuine and actually given the other demands (back to darlo) were quite understandable oversights.

Playoffs would have been a bit of fun but I'd have been praying we lost.

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by H1987 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 5:37 pm

I don't think we would have done up either, and it would have been best if we didn't financially, but as I pointed out, they would have generated some valuable income for us. I certainly wouldn't be praying we lost, and i'm sorry, but the board are guilty of malpractice. There's no need to call for heads, but they should acknowledge their fuck up and apologise. People would understand. Passing the buck just annoys people.

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Re: Fire up the totaliser

Post by Radar » Thu Apr 13, 2017 5:54 pm

The Management and playing staff must feel let down beyond comprehension. Back in May of 2016, MG and his management team will have been working on planning, preparation and recruitment for the season ahead. In the July, the players and management will have gone through a rigorous pre season training programme (unpaid), in order to be in the best condition possible, which in turn, would hopefully bring success for the season ahead. 9 months of dedication, sweat, pain and battling for what?? I don't care whether we are seen to be ready to make the next step up, the football on the pitch decides that, and at this moment in time, we have a fighting chance. I sincerely hope we win any appeal put forward, but the statement issued by the club, just isn't good enough.

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