by Neal » 23 May 2015, 08:06
Modgull wrote:I remain concerned for the future of the Club despite Thea's generosity in leaving us debt-free. It's a simple question of maths.
If you want a squad of, let's say, 18 pros and 4 emerging youth players then an average wage of around £500 pw for the senior players will give you room for an experienced spine to the team costing £700 - £800 pw as long as you can attract other, decent players at £300 pw for the rest of the team. Let's be clear that this will not necessarily be a squad of league winners - these are not by any means overinflated wages for the Conference.
The cost of this team is around £530,000 including the younger players and employers costs.
Let's say the cost of the manager, assistant, goalkeeping coach, physio etc is another £130,000 including on-costs
Many members of this forum refer to an overblown back office staff but I know from experience that there is no fat in the overheads for running the Club - the academy and FITC sections very much pay for themselves with help from sponsorship. The cost of the overheads - administration, grounds staff, cleaning and maintenance, heating, electricity, rents, insurances, licenses, travel and other match day costs could easily top £300,000.
I know there is income from the various franchises - the Club shop, Boots and Laces rent, the catering outlets, mobile phone masts etc and profit from the Gulls Nest and No 10s restaurant - perhaps £100,000 pa.
So the annual cost of Conference football might be in the region of £860,000
If the average entry price for the 23 home games is £15 (it might well be less, especially since I don't know how VAT is accounted for) then we would require an average gate of 2,500 just to break even. If the average gate dropped to 1,800 (not unreasonable given the second half of last season) then the Club would make a loss of £241,000.
So those people who call for a further reduction in ticket prices as a condition of supporting the Club are just making the job of putting a competitive squad together even less likely with the self-fulfilling prophesy of falling gates and, yes, further financial losses. What this does show, however, is that running a modern football club at this level is a form of economic madness. We should all be grateful that there are people wanting to do this and take the financial risk so we can watch what I believe is still a good standard of football.
Well put! Might make some realise the actual financial situation and that "if you have the club at heart" yeah right, then 1 or 2 pounds extra is probably a lifeline at this moment in time and could make the difference in the quality we might be bale to attract.
Football fans and its not restricted to us actually want to pay less and expect more, DONT HAPPEN!!
[quote="Modgull"]I remain concerned for the future of the Club despite Thea's generosity in leaving us debt-free. It's a simple question of maths.
If you want a squad of, let's say, 18 pros and 4 emerging youth players then an average wage of around £500 pw for the senior players will give you room for an experienced spine to the team costing £700 - £800 pw as long as you can attract other, decent players at £300 pw for the rest of the team. Let's be clear that this will not necessarily be a squad of league winners - these are not by any means overinflated wages for the Conference.
The cost of this team is around £530,000 including the younger players and employers costs.
Let's say the cost of the manager, assistant, goalkeeping coach, physio etc is another £130,000 including on-costs
Many members of this forum refer to an overblown back office staff but I know from experience that there is no fat in the overheads for running the Club - the academy and FITC sections very much pay for themselves with help from sponsorship. The cost of the overheads - administration, grounds staff, cleaning and maintenance, heating, electricity, rents, insurances, licenses, travel and other match day costs could easily top £300,000.
I know there is income from the various franchises - the Club shop, Boots and Laces rent, the catering outlets, mobile phone masts etc and profit from the Gulls Nest and No 10s restaurant - perhaps £100,000 pa.
So the annual cost of Conference football might be in the region of £860,000
If the average entry price for the 23 home games is £15 (it might well be less, especially since I don't know how VAT is accounted for) then we would require an average gate of 2,500 just to break even. If the average gate dropped to 1,800 (not unreasonable given the second half of last season) then the Club would make a loss of £241,000.
So those people who call for a further reduction in ticket prices as a condition of supporting the Club are just making the job of putting a competitive squad together even less likely with the self-fulfilling prophesy of falling gates and, yes, further financial losses. What this does show, however, is that running a modern football club at this level is a form of economic madness. We should all be grateful that there are people wanting to do this and take the financial risk so we can watch what I believe is still a good standard of football.[/quote]
Well put! Might make some realise the actual financial situation and that "if you have the club at heart" yeah right, then 1 or 2 pounds extra is probably a lifeline at this moment in time and could make the difference in the quality we might be bale to attract.
Football fans and its not restricted to us actually want to pay less and expect more, DONT HAPPEN!!
