A novel idea

[Council Juice]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33065314

Whilst it doesn't in itself have anything to do with ICT, this fan raised transfer fund is a novel idea. Would it be worth looking at for a club like us? Funds that could be used for player wage budget. Either supplementing a wage or covering it for one extra player. Or even a bonus fund perhaps?

What's our average home gate? Could a fund raising £20 a head thing be set up? Maybe even rope the shirt sponsors into matching whatever we raise as a challenge. Be great publicity for them and a huge benefit to our manager too I'm sure.

[Scotty]

not a novel idea ... I initiated a 'pay a player' scheme for ICT back in the Paterson days (its even referenced in Ian Broadfoot's book). Everyone loved the idea but ran a mile when it was time to actually put the money in .... luckily it ceased to be an issue as the timing coincided with the arrival of David Sutherland who alleviated that financial abyss ........

Edited June 15, 2015 by Scotty

[Council Juice]

Seems it worked for Grimsby though. Aye its always the case when forking outs involved. Things tend to get quiet.

[Scotty]

Seems it worked for Grimsby though. Aye its always the case when forking outs involved. Things tend to get quiet.

​indeed. perhaps now in this 'kickstarter' and 'gofundme' era it might be easier .... when I tried it was going to involve monthly direct debits and people baulked at that idea when you handed them the DD form. A single anonymous donation is so much easier ... 

[Council Juice]

Probably, one of those fund raising sights like JustGiving or something. Imagine what Yogi could do with an extra 25000-50000 in his budget.

Anyway, Im sure I've mentioned it before. I'm an ideas man. Not an actual organiser type. 

Though I'd cough up, and announce it too.

[CaleyD]

It's taken the club a few years to stabilise the finances and get a workable and sustainable balance with the budgets.

I'd personally prefer to see any new investment being used to improve facilities and encourage income growth which would, in turn, create additional funds to be invested in the squad.

[Council Juice]

 

It's taken the club a few years to stabilise the finances and get a workable and sustainable balance with the budgets.

I'd personally prefer to see any new investment being used to improve facilities and encourage income growth which would, in turn, create additional funds to be invested in the squad.

So what your essentially saying is we need a good big beer tent.... 

[CaleyD]

 

It's taken the club a few years to stabilise the finances and get a workable and sustainable balance with the budgets.

I'd personally prefer to see any new investment being used to improve facilities and encourage income growth which would, in turn, create additional funds to be invested in the squad.

So what your essentially saying is we need a good big beer tent.... 

Maybe not a tent....but yeah, things like extending the Sports Bar area and conferencing facilities etc would all allow the club to improve income.  As would an artificial pitch that could be hired to the public.

No doubt there's 101 ideas to be looked at....but the money needs to be there first, or some kind of coordinated effort put in place to raise the money for a specific project.

[Council Juice]

I don't want an artificial pitch at the TCS. (Personally I'd prefer a switch to summer football. The only team who would be possibly affected by international tournament summer calls would be Celtic anyway and who cares about them)

But I'm sure £50000 (ballpark figure plucked out the air) for stadium improvements and equipment at fort George could help out just that extra little bit. Even to pay for initiatives to improve further community relations.

[CaleyD]

Summer football actually increases the requirement for artificial pitches as you are taking away the period during which work is done on grass pitches to prepare them for the winter season.  The winter break provides little/no period of growth for grass regeneration.

It's the biggest flaw in the whole "Summer Football" argument.

[Council Juice]

But grass continues to grow during summer and therefore recovers more quickly after being used. Whereas as you say, grass doesnt regenerate at all during winter and thus by summer needs 7 weeks of work to get it playable again as its been used all winter without being able to recover and as such dies.

It still needs to be managed correctly. Either way. 

But there's many reasons to switch. Better weather for fans. Less last minute call offs. Longer days. Better for fans driving home long distance. Less pressure post Christmas.

For the club. No need to power undersoil heating. No need to power floodlights (this money could be reinvested in heat lamps similar to those used by Arsenal for grass recovery off season.). Also it would give the club more opportunity for events days on match day for fans to enjoy and them to earn more.

The only drawbacks I've ever seen muted are fans going on holiday. Thats quite a small fry attitude. And is easily countered. I'm sure there are lower attendance's caused by horrid weather and low January cash flow also.

And interruption by summer tournaments. Eh really? Because like maybe 3 players go to the World Cup from Scotland. OK. No.

But then there's always the chance for better TV deals. I'm sure sky etc would love to show old firm games during the EPL off season. Just make sure they don't clash with an England game 

[CaleyD]

Don't really want to turn this thread into an argument on Summer/Winter football (it's a discussion being had elsewhere), but my statement was one based on what experts (Grounds Staff) say on the matter.  I also know from having spoken to a senior person in the FAI that they regret switching to a summer schedule because of pitch issues and crowds having dropped.

Anyway, I mentioned the artificial pitch idea (regardless of whether the season is summer or winter) because it is a great income generator. It could pay for itself (and the additional facilities that go with it) in a little over 3 years and then be generating a 6 figure annual income beyond that.  It could just as easily be built externally whilst leaving the grass pitch as is....although that too is in need of total replacement, will cost at least a couple of hundred thousand and not increase the clubs income as a result!!

As I said above, ideas are no more than that if the money isn't there to execute them.

[Council Juice]

Yeah true enough, I'm just not a fan of synthetic pitches. I don't think I've ever felt that such surface has helped create a good game but I've seen in hinder one.

Many of the top English clubs (United and arsenal for example) actually use a hybrid pitch which is a mixture of both and its also now used at murrayfield. 

It's one idea to generate extra income, but if this is income raised by fans it doesn't even need to be directly for that. Used towards infrastructure it would probably do so indirectly anyway. And with Celtic pushing for safe standing then perhaps a fan paid for terrace of some kind would be a thought?

[Iain]

Yeah true enough, I'm just not a fan of synthetic pitches. I don't think I've ever felt that such surface has helped create a good game but I've seen in hinder one.

I have, ICT have passed Killie of the pitch on their artificial surface. Really suits the current team's passing style IMO.

[Council Juice]

Still, I haven't. Or if I have I can't recall it. And I've seen it ruin more games than improve them. Although this could be as much to do with lack of knowledge in pre game preparation. It's a relatively new surface compared to grass and some groundsmen at pro clubs struggle with even that. Never mind a new and ever evolving surface.

Still I'd rather look at hybrid surfaces if anything. Using both grass and synthetic. It makes the pitch more durable and doesn't take away the natural grass effect etc.

Anyway a discussion for another thread. Perhaps this one has run its course. It was just an interesting article about fan raised transfer funds and whether that could be implemented at a club like ours via supporters club and trusts. If it was to bring in that little extra money to the club I couldn't see the harm in it. Even if it was something simple - pay for a team bonus or something. Like the fans rewarding the players for excellent end of season performance (finishing 3rd and winning the cup for example). Incentives always work anywhere I've worked. Particularly when they involve cash.

And if they under perform - it all goes to a charity of their choice.