Sunny Day Fund

[Northern_jaggie]

The problem: insufficient playing budget to win the league, year after year.

The (potential) solution: save up over a number of seasons and use the cash to recruit a squad and management team genuinely capable of winning the league, allocated over 1 season (conditional contracts to players upon winning the league).

At the idea’s core is a fundamentally positive ideology: a common goal with realistic timescales to unite the fan base and the board. Nothing unites better than common purpose and goodness knows we all need a “light at the end of the tunnel”!

Think Gretna style spending for a single season to get us to the SPFL - it worked for them and history tells us we can sustain ourselves when in the top league.

There is the possibility of a fan offering to create such an investment. Detail, board structure + voting rights aside for now. 

The club adds a modest surcharge to walk up tickets and season ticket cash is sent to the fund, perhaps cup run money, strip money from a special strip etc. 

Types of people such as Directors and investors who have sunk large amounts of cash over the years would be incentivised to buy shares to contribute alongside the club and fans, in the same season.

Annual transparent reporting on fund value with the trigger on using the fund sitting with the fans (somehow).

Just imagine we had thought of this say 5 (heck even 10) years ago and we were sitting on a significant sum of money ringfenced right now. A fan body fires the starting gun that next year is our investment year;

• a good number of high quality players sign (quality manager is either retained or signed)

• we retain quality players that usually sign for others

• big hype about the season ahead leads to bumper season ticket sales

• in-season walk up sales increased

• most importantly, the club and fan base are pulling together and ICT feels extremely positive like it did in the “believe” promotion campaign. 

We are promoted. Fans and directors are repaid their investment from SPFL revenue.

The obvious barrier to this I feel is that the fund needs to be separate to the club as it grows, what with ICT’s ongoing financial problems.  Once the fund is spent with the club, that should attract some form of share detail (tbc!). 
 

Good to know your thoughts.
 

p.s. Sunny Day Fund is a cheesy, horrible name for a project but you get the idea that it is the exact opposite of a rainy day fund. Someone can come up with a much better name

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

I have an assessment slot at 15.30.

[+HawkeyeTheGnu]

The trick will be avoiding relegation to league one while the fund is built. 

[ictbob]

There are people pumping big amounts of money into the just to keep it afloat.