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[York Alty]

300k is a lot if you've got nowt in your back pocket.

[Bath Alty]

The best line in all that emotional stuff from the Weymouth fan is this one:

"Football isn’t about who can be the most successful, it’s still about the blood that runs through your veins"

Look what it took for that to really hit home.  If every club had this as a motto the league would be very different.  If only they had understood this at the start of "the dream" maybe it wouldn't all have got out of hand.  All that stuff about pride in the shirt, giving their all etc etc  did it not apply to the part time players they used to have before they starting spending money they didn't have?  Write it big and display it at Vics, at Ebbsfleet, at Salisbury, at Oxford, at Rushden......

[Ballers]

You carry on feeling sorry for the 'run of the mill' fans and i'll carry on thinking this whole saga has been in the pipeline for 18 months and theyve made a pretty p1ss poor attempt at avoiding it.

Whilst I don't doubt that there are some decent Weymouth fans and it's a horrible situation I don't like the knee jerk reaction  'It's the fans I feel sorry for.'

And OCG is bang on the money, I'm sure there is plenty they could have done to avoid this (and lots that they couldn't, in fairness). If for example the news broke tomorrow that the club secretary had embezzled all the funds/mortgaged the ground/pegged it to South America and that they had gone from no debt and well run to suddenly being £500k in the red through no fault of their own then fair enough but that's not the case is it.

And yes, I'm well aware of the various shady land deals that have taken place.

[casper]

Yet again we have the history and support of a non-league team ruined by financial mis-management. Quite when will these clubs figure out that money cannot instantly buy success? Getting gates of 1,110 to fund a full time squad, coaches and staff does not add up. Even Oxford getting over 4,000 are not immune to the financial problems.

Yep i feel sorry for Weymouth, for their supporters going through something worse than we endured. Not knowing when or if they have a club to support anymore. Turning up to a game knowing your going to get thrashed. But most importantly, a possibility that i may miss out on another weekend piss-up at a nice seaside town. Football is not just about cheering on the eleven guys kicking a round thing around for ninety odd minutes, its the atmosphere, the pulling together of townsfolk to cheer for their side. For Weymouth and other clubs this could end.
Yet what will happen next? There are plenty of other clubs whose future is less than rosy, just look at our annoying neighbours. I would hate to see northwich leave us, other than the 6 points being very useful, the rivalry adds to the history of the competition. Added to the fact that there are too many southern games already, our "debies" next season could end up being Wrexham, Barrow and Mansfield.

We are very fortunate to have such a well managed club. But for those clubs less fortunate let us send this message, "we have been there, we have succeeded, you can succeed if you follow our example". How many of us were bothered about the finances when we were doing well? How many complained when we splashed out £15k on a striker? We have learnt the hard way, we should be helping the other clubs to work around the debt. It is possible, we have done it. This league needs to cut costs quickly; we need more protection and oversight from the conference bigwigs. They need to sort out the owners and the finances of the clubs. The supporters need to take more of a role in the running of their clubs. Until this happens, more clubs will suffer, unfortunately you cannot stop the occurrence of utter shambolic regard for club finances, like having a club paying out a lot more than it earns in revenues. When the money men leave, or simply can’t be bothered anymore it is the town and supporters who suffer.

[Mick]

Little sympathy from me...........bored with it all.

1. They will go into admin, cheat on their debt, rob local businesses and be relegated.
2. Announce new ambitious owner over the Summer. Maybe the local ice cream tsar or a strip club owner, maybe a 28yr old (football loving) property developer, or maybe the usual mystery consortium.
3. Spend, spend spend......football league here we come. Players put up in marina appartments.
4. Get promoted and just miss out on Conf play-offs.
5. Owner upset at criticism. Reveals money was a loan afterall.
6. Cycle starts again.

[baldrick]

"Football isn’t about who can be the most successful, it’s still about the blood that runs through your veins"

This may be true at a lower level, but unfortunately football is about money and success. With automatic promotion and relegation the Conference is the fifth division in all but name. Clubs like Weymouth gamble with money they don't have. If the gamble pays off they achieve the impossible dream, but as any regular punter knows, you lose more than you win.

[hsmith1]

I like weymouth,we have a good history with them going back to when we first played them in the FA Trophy,they have never wished us any harm.As for last seasons 2-2 draw if the ref had not bottled it they would have been down to 8 players after 15 minutes,the ref cost us the win we needed.Whatever happens with Muff i for one will wish the fans well and hope they get a team they can be proud of,just like us.Have not heard what the outcome was,over the midnight deadline given yesterday by the players.It was and always seems to be Millionaries who think they can take over a club and boost their egos that bring about these problems,sadly the fans do not have much of a say in the matter(FCUnited are the exception).

[Jezza]

We have been in weymouth's position....we won promotion back to the conference with players we couldn't afford.

And we nearly went out of existence when Maunders left us debt free.(how come Northwich and Weymouth will be saved with massive debts and even people fighting over the takeover yet no-one wanted us for nothing?)

So we can empathise with fans of other clubs and distinguish between them and the people at the helm mismanaging these clubs.

But we can also feel bitter (even though we've done it ourselves) at week after week trying to compete on an unlevel playing field against clubs playing better players than ours with money they don't have.

And then we get called the cheats for getting a reprieve!!! (rather pi$$ing on the theory this is all one big happy family of football fans).

Intense rivalry and hatred followed by messages of support for fans of clubs that hit the inevitable brick wall.....you can't really explain the mindset of a run of the mill football fan.

In response to the 'cotes cheating comments most weymouth fans have said he was quite right...a few have dissented with words of war.....but surely all are run of the mill fans of weymouth?

[JTH]

"How would we feel if we were in the same position as Weymouth and the fans of a team with whom excellent relations have existed since the formation of the Conference did no more than gloat at our misfortune and make snidey comments about a situation which the normal run of the mill fan can do absolutely sod all about"

For what its worth I think our club is 100% better because of the lean years and the Maunders experience. Maybe its because we know our current status has been hard earned that the plight of clubs who have overspent is viewed with less than 100% sympathy. Particulalrly if we've been on the end of condescending comments from those same clubs fans over the years.

I think supporters can make a big difference - Crawleys gates were down about 600 when the Majeeds started their antics, whose to say they still wouldn't be in charge if that cash had been around? (well probably the law but you get my drift). The BSP's not the Premiership, the % of a clubs total income derived from gate money is much much higher at our level - therefore fans do have a lot more power if they choose to exercise it.

The real 'run of the mill' fans are the nit-wits who blithely repeat the mantras of the Premiership 'sack the board', 'they're not ambitious enough','we're living the dream'' etc. Perhaps if more Muff fans had questioned the logic of going full time funded on (another) ground sale and new stadium things might not be so bad now. If they can get control of their club great, or help fund a board who can run the club properly fine. I just think supporters at our level are more than just turnstile fodder - unless of course thats all they want to be.   

[Narcissist]

You carry on feeling sorry for the 'run of the mill' fans and i'll carry on thinking this whole saga has been in the pipeline for 18 months and theyve made a pretty p1ss poor attempt at avoiding it.

Whilst I don't doubt that there are some decent Weymouth fans and it's a horrible situation I don't like the knee jerk reaction  'It's the fans I feel sorry for.'

And OCG is bang on the money, I'm sure there is plenty they could have done to avoid this (and lots that they couldn't, in fairness). If for example the news broke tomorrow that the club secretary had embezzled all the funds/mortgaged the ground/pegged it to South America and that they had gone from no debt and well run to suddenly being £500k in the red through no fault of their own then fair enough but that's not the case is it.

And yes, I'm well aware of the various shady land deals that have taken place.

ATS, i'm not here to suggest hindsight fundraising schemes or supporter takeovers that would have avoided this situation. My point, as quoted and supported above, is that its not like someone just ran through the doors last week and plucked a 300k debt out of the air is it. The club/players/fans have known about this for months/years building up to last week.

Im not laying responsibility with the fans, quite the opposite, the club should have supported fund raising or share options the first time they realised they would struggle paying the players. That was not last week.

I dont feel sorry for the fans, they support weymouth through thick n thin, let them get on with it, they dont need a cuddle, just like we didnt.

[Saughall Robin]

We have been in weymouth's position....we won promotion back to the conference with players we couldn't afford.

And we nearly went out of existence when Maunders left us debt free.(how come Northwich and Weymouth will be saved with massive debts and even people fighting over the takeover yet no-one wanted us for nothing?)

So we can empathise with fans of other clubs and distinguish between them and the people at the helm mismanaging these clubs.

But we can also feel bitter (even though we've done it ourselves) at week after week trying to compete on an unlevel playing field against clubs playing better players than ours with money they don't have.

And then we get called the cheats for getting a reprieve!!! (rather pi$$ing on the theory this is all one big happy family of football fans).

Intense rivalry and hatred followed by messages of support for fans of clubs that hit the inevitable brick wall.....you can't really explain the mindset of a run of the mill football fan.

In response to the 'cotes cheating comments most weymouth fans have said he was quite right...a few have dissented with words of war.....but surely all are run of the mill fans of weymouth?

Excellent post. I agree 101%

[Scottie]

Great words and wonderful sentiments from the Weymouth fan. Anyway f**k   'em.
Like many of you I travelled there at the end of last season;  My kids were in tears as Alty were condemed to the drop by a bunch of cheats. They had players they couldn't afford and now they have been found out.