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General Category => Altrincham FC First Team => Topic started by: John Edwards on June 23, 2019, 07:35:51 PM
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There's a message from Phil Parkinson about the Patrons Scheme on the club website..
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I think, if finances allow, people should get behind this. Me and my bro are splitting it. Ask a mate, fellow fan, family member and let's support the playing budget that people have desperately wanted for years.
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Whilst its a good message to put out, and to get the manager to do it is very smart, what would really help the playing budget is investment from elsewhere.
We haven't heard a peep about that for over a year.
However, I will probably still contribute as I want the best side possible. But investment is what we need in the long term.
Also you only have to look at how busy the libero hut and the King George is after the game to see why people don't go in the sports hall. Its souless and the beer is rubbish. Never mind the fact people are STILL annoyed at what has happened in past seasons.
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Agree with above but a long term investor(s) might not happen anytime soon so let's make the difference now.
The club will welcome and snap the hands of the right people. I ain't going to mention who said it to me but I was told that Alty would need a starting platform of 5 million to go full time and compete.
Is that realistic.......? I very much doubt it, unless we are very lucky. Would they even be the right sort of people.
We are making the right steps and if people give that little bit more than maybe we can go the next step and attract the right investment.
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I sent Lawrence this https://fundraising.darlingtonfcsupportersgroup.org/pitches/boost-the-budget-19-20 (https://fundraising.darlingtonfcsupportersgroup.org/pitches/boost-the-budget-19-20) when I first posted about a digital patreom scheme. There was initial interest from his end and I hoped we might see something similar post-board meeting.
Darlington have managed to put in an extra 2500 in a week into their wage budget. That's via just 405 fans.
None of those items cost money but add value.
The club talk endless about bringing money but don't seem to want to provide value for it. Not commercial value either.
One day the club will be able to Leverage emotional value for financial clout without emotional blackmail or begging and then we might have a chance to play with the big boys.
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Agree with above but a long term investor(s) might not happen anytime soon so let's make the difference now.
The club will welcome and snap the hands of the right people. I ain't going to mention who said it to me but I was told that Alty would need a starting platform of 5 million to go full time and compete.
Is that realistic.......? I very much doubt it, unless we are very lucky. Would they even be the right sort of people.
We are making the right steps and if people give that little bit more than maybe we can go the next step and attract the right investment.
I guarantee we wouldn't need 5 million to go full time and compete.
I don't think 15 out of 24 clubs in the league above have 5 million (putting us midtable and maybe able to put a run together.
30 salaried employees at 50k and a 1 million for other costs would put us half of that.
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Agree with above but a long term investor(s) might not happen anytime soon so let's make the difference now.
The club will welcome and snap the hands of the right people. I ain't going to mention who said it to me but I was told that Alty would need a starting platform of 5 million to go full time and compete.
Is that realistic.......? I very much doubt it, unless we are very lucky. Would they even be the right sort of people.
We are making the right steps and if people give that little bit more than maybe we can go the next step and attract the right investment.
I guarantee we wouldn't need 5 million to go full time and compete.
I don't think 15 out of 24 clubs in the league above have 5 million (putting us midtable and maybe able to put a run together.
30 salaried employees at 50k and a 1 million for other costs would put us half of that.
Agreed, I'd like to see where the £5m figure comes from. There are league clubs running at £2-3m a year upwards.
In any case, we have a manager who clearly wants us to look at full time and going full time will probably mean us changing our current culture and ownership structure to fund it. Patrons schemes, golden goals, extra pints in the hall are all great (and fair play to everyone who does that) but a drop in the ocean in that regard.
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The £5 million figure didn’t say it was annual. I assume we’d need to commit to a three year minimum period of full time to attract people so a £5 m investment would be in the ball park people are talking about above and we could then see if we could make it sustainable from there based on the hopefully bigger crowds and better league position / profile we had established
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The £5 million figure didn’t say it was annual. I assume we’d need to commit to a three year minimum period of full time to attract people so a £5 m investment would be in the ball park people are talking about above and we could then see if we could make it sustainable from there based on the hopefully bigger crowds and better league position / profile we had established
I'd expect us to be a football league club with a 5 million pound pot.
Money attracts money.
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I'd like to touch on Dec's comments about the Community Sports Hall and say, in all seriousness, thanks. The one thing the club wanted above all, from the original post, was feedback, either good or bad, to enable them to at least look at ways of trying to improve the facility and make it more appealing for supporters. Dec's observations will be passed on, as will any more anyone might have. Please do share your thoughts on here. Criticisms will readily be taken on board, but so, too, will suggestions for making it a venue people will want to frequent. Any input will be greatly appreciated.
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The Noel White Suite feels, to me at least, like it is vastly under utilised and the conversion of that space into a fan bar on a membership-basis would create an environment for fans like Dec (of which there are plenty) to generate the atmosphere that would see them drink at the club pre and post game.
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Most of the people that used fill the old bar until and then patronise the new bar until it closed of a Saturday evening won’t be back until
there’s a change of chairman. That’s not mischief making, that’s fact. I don’t bother hanging around now as no one is in there, it’s very sad.
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The Noel White Suite feels, to me at least, like it is vastly under utilised and the conversion of that space into a fan bar on a membership-basis would create an environment for fans like Dec (of which there are plenty) to generate the atmosphere that would see them drink at the club pre and post game.
Totally agree, I also reckon the sponsors lounge is well off it's full potential as an asset. Facilities like that are rare at this level.
A modernised, more exclusive sponsors lounge and revamped Noel White Suite membership package is worth considering in my view. Both would compliment the CSH well. Three different facilities for different clientele is a good mix.
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Some honest feedback from me about the sports hall :-
Beer is fine (I drink real ale or keg bitter or cider) and the prices are fine - It can take too long to get served at busy periods pre-match and half time which puts me off - post match is ok because if it is busy I am more than happy to wait for it to quiet down
Enjoy chatting post match, but the place does lack a Social Club atmosphere (like an Ashton or even a Guiseley). How this is changed I am not sure because it needs to be like it us to double up in the week for other functions
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Some honest feedback from me about the sports hall :-
Beer is fine (I drink real ale or keg bitter or cider) and the prices are fine - It can take too long to get served at busy periods pre-match and half time which puts me off - post match is ok because if it is busy I am more than happy to wait for it to quiet down
Enjoy chatting post match, but the place does lack a Social Club atmosphere (like an Ashton or even a Guiseley). How this is changed I am not sure because it needs to be like it us to double up in the week for other functions
Got a bit of time to kill so I've had a think about this.
- Acoustic 'Manchester' music mixed with renditions of the tunes that inspire our chants.
- If live music is pushing it at this stage then mute the commentary on whatever is playing through the TV and funnel some decent music through. No one wants to listen to Adam Virgo commentating on Solihull Moors vs Bromley, decent music would elevate the atmosphere straight away.
- Solid, consistent deals every game rather than as-and-when discounts that are announced within 24hrs of kick-off. That way fans know what to expect and the deals can be relied upon. I think there's a bit of confusion as to why deals such as the £1 pint have been run and then pulled, or swapped for different deals. It just leads to people being unsure of whether they're coming or going.
- Further deals for season ticket holders and members. Again, every game and the same each week so you know exactly what there is.
- Supporters' Man of the Match announced post-game in the bar.
- More decor to try and make you forget you're in a hall-for-rent. Fair play to the club for trying with the mat by the bar and whatnot, perhaps darken the lights a bit so it isn't as bright. Is there anything we can do with the walls? Flags from the ceiling? Just thinking out loud.
- Cut-out token in the programme for some kind of offer the following home game. Incentive to purchase the programme and then step foot in the bar.
- Continue to work on lowering the queue time. This will help encourage some people to return if they've currently got a bad impression. Pre pour pints before HT and FT so they can be rapidly given out? Make more of a point about the bottle bar, etc.
- Sell bottles or cans 'by the bucket' with a bit of ice. 5 for £10 or something? This would also make a really cost-effective social media prize ;)
Just scribbling ideas there but if I think of anything else I'll revisit.
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Offers:
Standardised offers are key for any bar or pub.
We should have set offers for midweek games and set offers for weekend games. Perhaps a further set for midweek CSC and replays.
We should be more aware of when Pay Day is each month, and adjust accordingly.
Better pricing would cut down on the times spent queuing. Very few people buy 1 beer, so allowing 2 for £5 or four for £10 would negate the need for change too.
We don't have menus so pricing and clear signage of what we sell will allow people to make decisions on what they want whilst in the queue - similar to the indoor snack bar.
I only ever see charities set-up pop up in the bar, never Pukka Pie or Jamesons Whisky (Assuming we have certain brands we stock that might be able to offer support).
We're a high footfall venue on a match day.
The CSH
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The community sports hall also badly fails on the pub LITMUS atmosphere test (poor Lighting, average temperature, no music). Can we consider softening the lighting, or covering them in someway? We should be able to have music, be it via Spotify ( a digital jukebox ) or a live acoustic act. The size of the hall and the materials its made from means it often feels cold.
The seating arrangements aren't designed for conversation with groups, so most will choose to stand and therefore their dwell time is shortened.
The breeze block walls add a cold empty feel to the place, and the large open space (designed for sport) are too empty to create atmosphere.
We'd be almost better adding the wall in, and having the door open at each side to shut down some of the space.. We could actually decorate this in some way.
As a venue, I can't see why we can't invest in photo frames or poster frames that other groups can remove or adapt with their own images for events.
We should offer Thwaites or Football Accumaltors the opportunity to create this: https://copa90.com/wc19/clubhouse - a fan bar experience that is set up and taken down each game and extend their partnership.
Other random ideas:
*** Football Accumulator Live with... bringing their key contacts down to create a live podcast.
Football Accumaltors bring their podcast and guests live to Moss Lane: https://www.myfavoritemurder.com/live-shows (https://www.myfavoritemurder.com/live-shows)
*** Pre-match Crawl route with Pubs
Accept all fans aren't going to come to Moss Lane from 12pm, work with Libero, and A.N other pub to create a schedule where fans visit 2 pubs and visit Moss Lane for the final couple of pre-match beers.
*** Football Print Exhibitions
Invite local artists (with decent followings in the local area) to create Altrincham artwork, sold at Moss Lane on a given day, with each person in before 12pm gets the chance to win the original.
*** Retro Football Shirt Swap with Classic Football Shirts
Invite Manchester's Classic Football Shirt to bring down a selection of their shirts for a pop-up event. This could be match-day or non-match day. Altrincham could sell retro shirts from across the generation donated by fans to raise money for the club at the same time.
*** Retro Gaming or Subbuteo tournaments
There's a Manchester Subbuteo team based in Hotel Football. Invite the hold tournament and get older fans in.
Random Non-Football Ideas:
Ted x Altrincham
- Very popular at The Bridgewater Hall, Ted x brings in amazing speakers and gives them a platform to speak. Also bringing in a certain crowd, who might want to get involved in the football club
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Some honest feedback from me about the sports hall :-
Beer is fine (I drink real ale or keg bitter or cider) and the prices are fine - It can take too long to get served at busy periods pre-match and half time which puts me off - post match is ok because if it is busy I am more than happy to wait for it to quiet down
Enjoy chatting post match, but the place does lack a Social Club atmosphere (like an Ashton or even a Guiseley). How this is changed I am not sure because it needs to be like it us to double up in the week for other functions
Got a bit of time to kill so I've had a think about this.
- Acoustic 'Manchester' music mixed with renditions of the tunes that inspire our chants.
- If live music is pushing it at this stage then mute the commentary on whatever is playing through the TV and funnel some decent music through. No one wants to listen to Adam Virgo commentating on Solihull Moors vs Bromley, decent music would elevate the atmosphere straight away.
- Solid, consistent deals every game rather than as-and-when discounts that are announced within 24hrs of kick-off. That way fans know what to expect and the deals can be relied upon. I think there's a bit of confusion as to why deals such as the £1 pint have been run and then pulled, or swapped for different deals. It just leads to people being unsure of whether they're coming or going.
- Further deals for season ticket holders and members. Again, every game and the same each week so you know exactly what there is.
- Supporters' Man of the Match announced post-game in the bar.
- More decor to try and make you forget you're in a hall-for-rent. Fair play to the club for trying with the mat by the bar and whatnot, perhaps darken the lights a bit so it isn't as bright. Is there anything we can do with the walls? Flags from the ceiling? Just thinking out loud.
- Cut-out token in the programme for some kind of offer the following home game. Incentive to purchase the programme and then step foot in the bar.
- Continue to work on lowering the queue time. This will help encourage some people to return if they've currently got a bad impression. Pre pour pints before HT and FT so they can be rapidly given out? Make more of a point about the bottle bar, etc.
- Sell bottles or cans 'by the bucket' with a bit of ice. 5 for £10 or something? This would also make a really cost-effective social media prize ;)
Just scribbling ideas there but if I think of anything else I'll revisit.
Some great ideas and the big one for me and a few others who I attend with is decent music. It would defo pick up the atmosphere before kick off.
The idea of the community hall is great for funding our future but I do miss the intimate atmosphere of the Noel White suite. We need to aim to recreate that.
It will be hard work with such an open large space but as Flynny mentions flags/photos that will at least make it more personal.
Or re-design and re-open the Noel White suite as a smaller bar with craft beer and tunes playing.
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The £5 million figure didn’t say it was annual. I assume we’d need to commit to a three year minimum period of full time to attract people so a £5 m investment would be in the ball park people are talking about above and we could then see if we could make it sustainable from there based on the hopefully bigger crowds and better league position / profile we had established
Exactly,people always automatically think player budget. We need a lot of ground improvements. The main stand is on its arse and most of the ground needs new covering apart from where the camera's go.
The person who gave me that figure was likely referring to everything involved to go full time and I bet it isn't far off 5 million if not more.
I am not against going full time but we need to do it the right way, with the right people and right time.
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Fantastic response, great comments, please keep them coming - they WILL be passed on.
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I agree with the need to replace parts of the stands which are in need of repair. Would it be worth exploring the possibility of seeking a grant from the likes of the FA and the like for such projects?
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I agree with the need to replace parts of the stands which are in need of repair. Would it be worth exploring the possibility of seeking a grant from the likes of the FA and the like for such projects?
Interesting link below. As a Conference North club you can get up to £250k over 5 years but they'll only cover up to 70% of the project.
Happy to stand corrected but it looks like we got £115k for the CSH, £20k for the pitch and maybe similar for the fence. Not sure how that all fits into the rolling 5 years total and the fact we have been in 3 different divisions.
https://www.fsif.co.uk/funding/the-fa-national-league-system/
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The seating arrangements aren't designed for conversation with groups, so most will choose to stand and therefore their dwell time is shortened.
I was looking into "Poseur Tables" yesterday, https://www.onlinereality.co.uk/cat/cafe-furniture-1/poseur-tables/folding-poseur-tables/page/2 (https://www.onlinereality.co.uk/cat/cafe-furniture-1/poseur-tables/folding-poseur-tables/page/2) , standard bar height, maybe 10 folding ones that can then create an area where you can stand, but lean and rest your pint. Possibly a few bar stools to go around too. Just a bit tight on storage space. I find the tables we have a bit too big for some groups.
For music, we trialled a jukebox during the beer festival, just a standalone one, but I'd be keen on a permanent wall mounted digital affair with ceiling speakers - but, I fear it would never be the right volume, too busy and hard to hear, too quiet and too loud and the acoustics are just poor in there.
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I agree with the need to replace parts of the stands which are in need of repair. Would it be worth exploring the possibility of seeking a grant from the likes of the FA and the like for such projects?
Interesting link below. As a Conference North club you can get up to £250k over 5 years but they'll only cover up to 70% of the project.
Happy to stand corrected but it looks like we got £115k for the CSH, £20k for the pitch and maybe similar for the fence. Not sure how that all fits into the rolling 5 years total and the fact we have been in 3 different divisions.
https://www.fsif.co.uk/funding/the-fa-national-league-system/
Hi Bob, Thanks for taking an interest, the club are aware of the grantaid opportunities and various improvements were part of the recent board review.
On the CSH which I designed and PM'd, the grantaid structure was different then, on a total spend of 753K we got about 490K in grantaid from 3 different sources and funded the rest from generous donations and various sponsorships etc
Future plans will be revealed in due course I'm advised. Cheers Ian
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There are some great points here, and a good skid debate. This is what we were hoping for from the planning day - your views on what we should do. A lot of these activities are actually in hand - showing we need to get better at telling you hat we are doing. We will!
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I cannot remember if i renewed my Patrons for this up coming season (GR normally writes to me) so i phoned the club Friday at 12 noon,no one was there and i am still waiting for a reply.
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Hi Harold, GR has been made aware of this, says sorry you didn't get a response on Friday and he will phone you tomorrow to sort it out. Hope that's ok.
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thanks John,will be out from 12:30 monday ,but will be home till then .
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Why was no one available to take an enquiry at 12pm on a Friday?
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Maybe busy
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Why was no one available to take an enquiry at 12pm on a Friday?
Perhaps we could link our phone to someone's mobile
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A simple answering machine would be a good idea.