Our finances

[Old_pie]

Alan Hardy recently on his time at Notts County

At a lower-league club, how do you achieve success and still balance the books?

Unless you’re incredibly skilled in developing and selling talent to make the club self-sufficient, I don’t believe it’s possible to run an EFL club without having a philanthropic owner propping it up financially. To a degree, I saw that as my role – to put something back into a club that I truly loved. Our attendances, sponsorship and pre-match dining was off the scale, but we still struggled massively to balance the books.

There he goes again, justifying his failures. "... club I truly loved". Well not historically, try Eastwood and Liverpool. Attendances - well he did get some bounce back after what ended up as a dire Trew era - but how many free bums on seats. And no, not struggle massively to balance the books - an abject failure resulting in a collapsed state of his business, Golf apart and no doubt the speedy Beamer.

Anyway when was the last time NCFC Ltd posted a trading profit let alone of a positive balance sheet. 1962?

[Davy500]

There he goes again, justifying his failures. "... club I truly loved". Well not historically, try Eastwood and Liverpool. Attendances - well he did get some bounce back after what ended up as a dire Trew era - but how many free bums on seats. And no, not struggle massively to balance the books - an abject failure resulting in a collapsed state of his business, Golf apart and no doubt the speedy Beamer.

Anyway when was the last time NCFC Ltd posted a trading profit let alone of a positive balance sheet. 1962?

I don,t think Hardy did to much different than many other clubs higher up the pyramid, examples given previously, just that he did not have a deep enough pocket to sustain it

it soon becomes painfully clear just why the owners of lower league teams seem so willing to bet the house on chasing promotion. Purchasing a club in one of the lower tiers is often an incredibly cheap investment – Steve Dale bought Bury FC for £1 in December 2018 as the club was already in financial difficulties – before the team managed to achieve a surprise second-place finish in League Two. Had the team have survived another promotion, revenues could have boomed to £31 million for just one season in the Championship.

Think Hardy is correct, almost impossible for a club to survive unless backed by a rich owner or owners



Gap widens between have and have-nots of English football

06 September 2019 Consultancy.uk
While revenues continue to explode in the land of milk and honey that is the Premier League, elsewhere in English football the picture is far less rosy. Beyond the top tier, fewer than 20% of clubs describe their finances as “very healthy”, as they play a high-stakes game of spending beyond their means to achieve promotion.

Beyond the lofty broadcast revenues of the English Premier League, many of English football’s oldest clubs are in a financially precarious state. To the despair of loyal fans, throughout the 2018/19 season a number of lower-tier sides have flirted with collapse: while Notts County’s beleaguered ownership endured a face-off with tax authorities, Blackpool FC entered into receivership to find a buyer.

The worrying trend has already bled into the following campaign, too. Since the end of last season, Bolton Wanderers has been desperately seeking new ownership, flirting with liquidation before administrators from David Rubin & Partners finally brokered a deal to keep the club afloat. Sadly, Bury FC did not have as much luck, and thanks to the perfect storm of a neglectful manager, a turbulent market, and a regulator seemingly asleep at the wheel, the historic club closed the doors to Gigg Lane at the end of August, having been kicked out of the English Football League (EFL) after failing to provide proof of its financial sustainability.

The news comes just months after Bury secured promotion from League Two, and according to two reports from the consulting world, they are not the only ones to have overstretched themselves while chasing glory. Indeed, Bury may be just the tip of the iceberg, thanks to the ever-growing gap between the top tiers of English football and the rest of the country.

[magpie_mania]

I don,t think Hardy did to much different than many other clubs higher up the pyramid, examples given previously, just that he did not have a deep enough pocket to sustain it

it soon becomes painfully clear just why the owners of lower league teams seem so willing to bet the house on chasing promotion. Purchasing a club in one of the lower tiers is often an incredibly cheap investment – Steve Dale bought Bury FC for £1 in December 2018 as the club was already in financial difficulties – before the team managed to achieve a surprise second-place finish in League Two. Had the team have survived another promotion, revenues could have boomed to £31 million for just one season in the Championship.

Think Hardy is correct, almost impossible for a club to survive unless backed by a rich owner or owners



Gap widens between have and have-nots of English football

06 September 2019 Consultancy.uk
While revenues continue to explode in the land of milk and honey that is the Premier League, elsewhere in English football the picture is far less rosy. Beyond the top tier, fewer than 20% of clubs describe their finances as “very healthy”, as they play a high-stakes game of spending beyond their means to achieve promotion.

Beyond the lofty broadcast revenues of the English Premier League, many of English football’s oldest clubs are in a financially precarious state. To the despair of loyal fans, throughout the 2018/19 season a number of lower-tier sides have flirted with collapse: while Notts County’s beleaguered ownership endured a face-off with tax authorities, Blackpool FC entered into receivership to find a buyer.

The worrying trend has already bled into the following campaign, too. Since the end of last season, Bolton Wanderers has been desperately seeking new ownership, flirting with liquidation before administrators from David Rubin & Partners finally brokered a deal to keep the club afloat. Sadly, Bury FC did not have as much luck, and thanks to the perfect storm of a neglectful manager, a turbulent market, and a regulator seemingly asleep at the wheel, the historic club closed the doors to Gigg Lane at the end of August, having been kicked out of the English Football League (EFL) after failing to provide proof of its financial sustainability.

The news comes just months after Bury secured promotion from League Two, and according to two reports from the consulting world, they are not the only ones to have overstretched themselves while chasing glory. Indeed, Bury may be just the tip of the iceberg, thanks to the ever-growing gap between the top tiers of English football and the rest of the country.

Key words there are 'higher up the pyramid'. We were L2, not Championship.

If you want to take over a football club as an investment, it is a massive risk. You need to be rich enough not to notice the loss you are probably going to make.

[Old_pie]

I don,t think Hardy did to much different than many other clubs higher up the pyramid, examples given previously, just that he did not have a deep enough pocket to sustain it

Clearly, and as per Trew. They needed instant success to the Championship hence the "5 Year Plan" which was never a plan but merely an aspiration. As the aspiration did not materialise the owners' desperation grew and poor decision making, akin to a gambler trying to recoup his losses, followed.

it soon becomes painfully clear just why the owners of lower league teams seem so willing to bet the house on chasing promotion. Purchasing a club in one of the lower tiers is often an incredibly cheap investment – Steve Dale bought Bury FC for £1 in December 2018

The £1 is the minimum value that a registered share for a Limited Company can be traded. Hence Poundpie (you do know who Poundpie is/was don't you?.

[B]Think Hardy is correct, almost impossible for a club to survive unless backed by a rich owner or owners

And bears sh1t in the woods - tell us something new.

Our current owners seem level headed and astute. But we had high hopes for the last 3 owners (if Munto can be considered an entity).

[crazyfists]

I think our owners follow the Brentford model and it's a good way to go about it.

[Davy500]

I think our owners follow the Brentford model and it's a good way to go about it.

Yes i think more or less all of us are satisfied with the owners since they have taken over the club

They seem stable, dont make a lot of public statements, or rash decisions

However none of us know how much financial clout they have, or how much money they will spend on keeping notts county a float, i i doubt with the players and managers wages that notts were operating at a profit last season

[Old_pie]

I think our owners follow the Brentford model and it's a good way to go about it.

Well yes - they lost in their play-off final too. That's following a step too close

[McCullochisGod]

Not impossible at all if the club is run right. Burnley FC have an average attendance of 20,500 in the Premier League yet are the 4th cash wealthiest in the league. £25m profit a year. Shows what can be achieved with a good manager. Maybe we should also look at the ridiculous salaries some of the office staff are earning at a club in the National League. Does a club of this size really need an HR Manager?

[Notts78]

Not impossible at all if the club is run right. Burnley FC have an average attendance of 20,500 in the Premier League yet are the 4th cash wealthiest in the league. £25m profit a year. Shows what can be achieved with a good manager. Maybe we should also look at the ridiculous salaries some of the office staff are earning at a club in the National League. Does a club of this size really need an HR Manager?

I see you are full of the community spirit. Having local people involved in supporting the clubs running and you think they are over paid. How much are these office workers paid? I assume it’s obscene amounts like 20-25k a year? Having a(n) HR Manager these days with any sizeable business is a must. Without looking at the specifics of the role I would imagine it’s a little bit more difficult than just advising people at the club on how to deal with disciplinary issues.
So whilst we are slimming the staff. Get rid of the kit man, the lads can wash there own kit. How many groundsman we got? We only need 1, after all how long does it take to mow some grass. Football on the community, sack that off, the kids in Nottinghamshire can play on there Playstations.
I trust the Reedz have the staff in that they feel is necessary to run a football club in a financially prudent way. Football at the level Notts are at is more than just 11 blokes kicking a bag of wind around.

[McCullochisGod]

Nothing to do with community spirit, just pure finances. Times your figure by 4 you will be closer to the mark. We'd get 2 decent players for that amount. Sizeable business?