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[Ashley Alty]

At least we are not suffering like this.....

FARNBOROUGH TOWN STATEMENT
By the Farnborough Town directors, and from the official Farnborough Town website

Firstly we would like to thank the loyal fans who have attended games and sponsored the club in various ways. Our volunteers have as
usual been exceptional and are the heartbeat of the club.

The team sit second in the League, having led the League earlier this season and this is partly due to the support given by our
fans. However with the current low level of attendance at games and no fans having bought into Boost the Boro standing-order scheme
on a regular basis, despite the great effort of FAST on match days the current playing budget cannot be maintained. The budget is
nowhere near the levels mentioned on social media, or close to the highest in the League, but we expected that if the team was
fighting for promotion, more fans would turn up to support the team. Our paying attendance is considerably lower than when we were
really struggling at the start of last season. We have marketed the club more than in recent times with leaflet drops, banners and
general advertising but so far with little return.

Attendances have even deteriorated since the start of the season and even in the last couple of games, despite being unbeaten at
home until last weekend. Out of Saturday's 189 attendance, some were mandatory free passes for the two clubs' officials, 20 players
passes, children U16 are free, which meant only around 100 patrons paid, of which many are concession tickets. After officials fees,
stewarding and safety we took a loss of over GBP300. We then have rent, rates, utilities and maintenance to account for.

We have been working so hard behind-the-scenes to generate funds through sponsorship, events and other commercial avenues, but with
home games not even generating enough revenue to cover the cost of staging the match, these other revenue streams cannot be relied
upon alone to pay the players' dues. We are not prepared to run the club at a loss, as we know where that can lead, as seen in
recent years and we pride ourselves in paying the players what is owed on time. Therefore difficult decisions need to be made
extremely quickly and we have informed the manager of the budget position that looks likely to be adjusted imminently if things
don't change.

On the eve of the season, we made it clear that our supporters either had to use or lose the facilities. We listened to our
supporters and gave them a lot of the squad of last season that had performed so well at the death, local, well-known players that
we could all relate too and reduced prices in a fantastic facility. With our current paying support, we really are a step-four club,
albeit with fantastic facilities and it may well now be the time to accept that and adjust accordingly with future plans. Other
similar historic clubs playing at the same level, such as Lewes and Salisbury have found out just how tough this level is, despite
having far greater attendances. To even be competing at the top of the table is an achievement and we all need to be supportive in a
season that has already been far more enjoyable than many recent ones before it. For a few supporters to use the phrase 'tin-pot
League' is totally disrespectful and completely incorrect, we have no automatic right to be any Division higher than we can
financially afford and justify over a period of sustainable growth which at the moment is slow in a difficult economy.

As much as this statement will be criticised by some, we feel it is important to be upfront with our finances so supporters can
fully understand the position. We do not have the right to be promoted with the finances we have and criticism of those finances is
way off the mark when we run the club the right way. The players, management and volunteers support this in so many other ways that
we will not detail but we can assure you they are all going well beyond what is expected and contribute to the club massively. We
will continue to work tirelessly to promote the club and bring in more finance but will not risk the future of the club. So please
do your bit and grab a friend or family member and get them down to Cherrywood Road starting a week on Saturday for our "Santa
Festive game" against AFC Dunstable, your club needs you now. The players are doing their bit and we need to support them more than
ever in order to push on with our promotion bid.

[MarpleAlty]

Thanks for the share, it does bring a bit of perspective in the sense that, unfortunately we have no divine right to do well, especially with limited resources. A lot of our traditional foes (Runcorn, Northwich Vics, Kettering, Stafford Rangers, Enfield, Merthyr Tydfil, Bromsgrove) are all operating at a lower level than us. As long as we have good revenue streams (yes, the CSH), we will eventually fix the team and we will bounce back.

[Hemel Alty]

Just looking at that league which is basically Evostick regional - rock bottom with just 6 points, Histon.

[The Sound of Silence]

Really sad. When I lived in Devon I saw them play cup ties against Exeter & Tiverton, and they were in the Conference National then - in fact they beat Torquay in the Cup around then. Hope they get out of the mire.

[Matt Taylor]

Thanks for the share, it does bring a bit of perspective in the sense that, unfortunately we have no divine right to do well, especially with limited resources. A lot of our traditional foes (Runcorn, Northwich Vics, Kettering, Stafford Rangers, Enfield, Merthyr Tydfil, Bromsgrove) are all operating at a lower level than us. As long as we have good revenue streams (yes, the CSH), we will eventually fix the team and we will bounce back.

Farnborough are suffering from dropping two divisions in two seasons, and because the chairman has managed to create such a divide between himself and the supporters that they are now only getting 100 paying customers through the gate. The loss of revenue from relegation, and fans choosing to stay away, means they can't operate on the wage bill capable of getting them back up that they hoped they could.

So let's not be too quick to jump on that high horse just yet. That could be us in 12 months.

[Jimmy]

Spot on Matt the idiot chairman has drove away fans that have gone home and away for years,I also have lost interest after 30 odd years support and over 25 going all over watching Alty.

[wayno]

Thanks for the share, it does bring a bit of perspective in the sense that, unfortunately we have no divine right to do well, especially with limited resources. A lot of our traditional foes (Runcorn, Northwich Vics, Kettering, Stafford Rangers, Enfield, Merthyr Tydfil, Bromsgrove) are all operating at a lower level than us. As long as we have good revenue streams (yes, the CSH), we will eventually fix the team and we will bounce back.

I think we have clearly understood  now that the CSH is just one revenue stream and that alone would never stem the gap in lost revenue If we lose away fans, home fans the revenue from them , sponsorship and all any other associated revenues from playing at lower levels .

The CSH in my opinion is a fantastic addition to the ground as I have posted previously

But it's a small part of a successful football club

[SW]

Wasn't that Farnborough "chairman" the bloke who popped up at Aldershot several years ago who turned out to be not what he reckoned he was, resulting into what happened to them? Spencer Trewerthy? I'm pretty sure Aldershot let him take the reigns as a teenager!!

[Jimmy]

Farnbough in their pomp were only getting crowds of 350

[Matt Taylor]

Wasn't that Farnborough "chairman" the bloke who popped up at Aldershot several years ago who turned out to be not what he reckoned he was, resulting into what happened to them? Spencer Trewerthy? I'm pretty sure Aldershot let him take the reigns as a teenager!!

It's the same chap you are thinking of, but he's the manager at Farnborough and not the chairman.