Amsterdam Alty,
Well, here's a club statement....finally:
https://altrinchamfc.com/blogs/news/the-clubs-position-on-the-national-league-cup
I don't think anyone needs me to tell them this is utter sh*te from the club once again.
The money is a nonsense. If we're so desperate for 60k I think we should all be panicking. Something is clearly getting very desperate. Yet again the club insults us by flashing the headline figure, then going further to state the money doesn't just go to teams in the comp but north and south teams as well... so it's less than 60k per team involved. If the round bonuses are generous outline them and show us how 1.2m divides between 60ish clubs and gives those involved decent return for the risk of injuring a member of our small squad. For those unable to understand why 1.2m isn't very much money in real terms it's essentially 20k per club on an even divide so either NL clubs are all getting 50k each and NLN/S teams are getting a paltry few grand each. If this was offering 1m to the winner of the comp it would be a whole other story and then being in it to win it would make sense.
When we inevitably announce bargain basement prices for the games that will be the ultimate admission from the club that this is a stupid competition that even they know is not worth the effort for the fans, so they will try and bribe entry like Oldham have done (?5 per game or ?15 for all 4).
I won't put it past them announcing it's free for season ticket holders which would be laughable only a few months after announcing that friendlies were no longer free for fans to raise a little more income. Also then the club can claim it a success because attendances include season tickets.
There is an attempt to trick the fans in to softening about this competition but also while refusing to actually acknowledge the valid criticisms.
Another tip for crisis comms is not to use further ambiguity in your statements... if you consider it a net positive for the club yet every sane minded human cannot do the same explain how and why. We're all grown adults we're not taking what we're told as gospel like it's being dictated to us from above.
Growing revenues does not = growing profit or indeed actually being a net positive on cashflow. Take matchday costs in to account and f**king no one turning up even at ?2 a ticket we'll sink the "prize money" in electrics and performance bonuses when we f**king destroy stoke kids 7-0.
Could we not afford to have some morals and refuse the 50k? Told the fans, utilised the goodwill and probably raised it with ease. See the reception to Eastleigh saying f**k off, they could have raised the money within the week from the goodwill it earned them.
If we had refused to take part, we would have also been having a say in the future of the competition. Protest is far more powerful than conforming.
The club needs to understand that there is no great news for fans regarding this competition.
They better sort out streaming it, selling it to weird Utd fans around the globe might be the only way to actually make revenue out of this cup.