Change of Venue - ATD Q&A With James Brent

Cerbera wrote:

20% was valued at £400,000 according to JB last night.

And definitely no seat on the board.

Thank goodness the leaders of the Trust are examining this very carefully and taking informed advice. That's a huge amount of money to raise for little tangible return.

(Also, I might have misunderstood, but I think James Brent said something about having to convert the 20% into full shares to be able to share in any profit? Maybe somebody who knows about these things could clarify?)

How many went?



Did anyone hook up after?



What were the whites of Brent's eyes like?



Was he as smooth as Todd?

I struggled with the accountancy terms at that point too, Peggy. look at my post it notes JB mentioned something about a coupon which would entitle the Trust to a 5% return on profits, each year.

No seriously, how many went?

I bet you were all impressed, he is a very clever man!

Cerbera wrote:

Czar,

The ground at the moment is non policed. This is because Zoo Corner is closed. The police have the right to demand from Football League clubs whether games are policed or not.

JB stated that keeping the Zoo closed was saving the club circa £250,000 a year in policing costs, or in playing budget money, four or five top rated L2/L1 players. He said that whilst it was good (in a crowd pulling, local rivalry way) for Exeter to be down, the police would insist on it being a 'policed game' (obviously) and the costs for that will be circa £30,000. Our capacity is currently 16,000 so even with a sell out crowd, we will effectively lose money that day. The police are also at liberty to charge for any policing that is related to the match for other venues - North Road Station, for example, or on the Plymouth approaches on the A38.

So, I think it is more a case of saving police costs rather than keeping two taxi loads of away fans apart from our fans.

Cerbs, I get all of that, of course police are needed for local Derbies, but that wasn't what I was asking.

The question I am asking is, why, when there are whole multiple blocks closed off in the barn park end anyway, is it deemed compulsory to have a police presence if blocks 15-18 are re-opened?

It is probably a question that can be answered by the police, but I thought that Brent may have been able to give a direct answer as to why the police are insisting on being present?

For example, the Dagenham game at HP. Now there really were a couple of taxiloads of fans there! Are we to believe that the police would have insisted on being there, if 15-18 were open?

Seriously?

With my cynical head on, I'd say that a large part of closing 15-18 isn't police-related. I'd like to be persuaded otherwise, if anyone can elaborate?

pilgrim_pete wrote:

No seriously, how many went?

I bet you were all impressed, he is a very clever man!

A dozen, I think.

I wasn't so much impressed that he is clever (I'm sure he is) but that he was tough. And as open as he could be.

If Andy is out of pocket for organising this event, how about those of us who did not go contribute towards the refreshments.

hmdr wrote:

If Andy is out of pocket for organising this event, how about those of us who did not go contribute towards the refreshments.

Just a quick reply as I'm still at work. Those that went last night chipped in, so money for the buffet is not an issue. I will accept drrinks from anyone at the end-of-season Freak Meet on saturday lunchtime!

I'll get a full report done and emailed to Rick C tonight so hopefully it will be online over the weekend. Chemical Ali and others have put a lot of good information up already; if anyone who put a question but wasn't at the meeting would like the full transcript of James and Peter's answers, PM me and I'll get it to you asap.

Chemical Ali wrote:

A figure was given to the 20% share offer to the Trust, but it was clear that the Gasboard is the way to go- the argument against the Trust was that it only represented a small proportion of fans at its peak (1500 out of 7000) and the Gasboard is seen as all encompassing. JB stated that the purpose of the Gasboard was to give a critical eye over the club and to ensure that recent events (with Argyle) weren't repeated. The Trust 20% offer does not include a seat of the board but they would be entitled to a percentage of profit.

A question was asked about the lump sum payment (c. £2m) at the end of the 5 years (and how it would be paid) and JB mentioned 50% of unbudgetted income was being used- the lump sum figure has already been reduced and will be amoritised.

Thanks for asking my question (re the £2m lump sum payment) although I'm not sure I understand the response. Does it mean that they are budgeting for £1m of unbudgeted income!? They 'amoritised' suggest they will be paying some of it off beforehand, but how is this budgeted for if they are already paying 200k a year on top of the £2m? Seems like a bit of an evasive answer to me.

Still not sure about the GASBoard. Seems like a way of weakening any potential influence of the Trust. It seems like they are giving the message that you don't have to join the Trust because we will be dealing direct with other groups of fans and keeping Trust influence to a minimum.I suppose any form of oversight is welcome, but it does seem a bit like a 'divide and rule' strategy.

Hard to see how the Trust will be able to raise 400k with just 1500 members. That's around £250 per member!

The £2m is already down to around £1.7m according to JB.

The only income budgeted for is for 1st round of FA Cup. If we progress further, then 50% if this unbudgeted income will go to reduce this debt - as an example. So any extra income reduces this debt. At the end of five years, whatever is left will come from 'other sources' according to JB. This might mean capitalising the balance and paying it off over a further period of time, if it hasn't been paid off of course.

Czar, I think the police have insisted that if Zoo corner is opened, then all games need to become policed. That's my understanding of what JB said last night, and he gave the impression that the police have a right to do this, with the club having no recourse. So, yes two taxi loads of Daggers fans costs us £30k if we open the Zoo.

Well done andy for sorting the meeting and putting in your time and effort( though mr newell who is a real fan with real prefects would have packed the room with ollieclappy's and docile woolybacks to greate a proper farm lovefest) must admit though it seems jams might be the man to take the club forward,this time next year should tell us if he is,i'm starting to feel positive which is a bit of a worry.

Cerbera wrote:

Czar,

The ground at the moment is non policed. This is because Zoo Corner is closed. The police have the right to demand from Football League clubs whether games are policed or not.

JB stated that keeping the Zoo closed was saving the club circa £250,000 a year in policing costs, or in playing budget money, four or five top rated L2/L1 players. He said that whilst it was good (in a crowd pulling, local rivalry way) for Exeter to be down, the police would insist on it being a 'policed game' (obviously) and the costs for that will be circa £30,000. Our capacity is currently 16,000 so even with a sell out crowd, we will effectively lose money that day. The police are also at liberty to charge for any policing that is related to the match for other venues - North Road Station, for example, or on the Plymouth approaches on the A38.

So, I think it is more a case of saving police costs rather than keeping two taxi loads of away fans apart from our fans.

So, is the club looking to sign "top rated League 1 or 2 players" on contracts worth £1,000-£1,200 per week?

And JB reckons this is one of the best budgets in the Division?

JB actually quoted average weekly wages for all the leagues, which I presume came from an authoritative source. £28K for Prem £4 for Championship £1.2K (I think) for L1 and £750 for L2.

I was greatly surprised by these figures, perhaps they include all the youths and YTSers etc. I'd like to see the source. £750/week for a short career seems nigh on benefits level.

Cerbera wrote:

The £2m is already down to around £1.7m according to JB.

The only income budgeted for is for 1st round of FA Cup. If we progress further, then 50% if this unbudgeted income will go to reduce this debt - as an example. So any extra income reduces this debt. At the end of five years, whatever is left will come from 'other sources' according to JB. This might mean capitalising the balance and paying it off over a further period of time, if it hasn't been paid off of course.

Czar, I think the police have insisted that if Zoo corner is opened, then all games need to become policed. That's my understanding of what JB said last night, and he gave the impression that the police have a right to do this, with the club having no recourse. So, yes two taxi loads of Daggers fans costs us £30k if we open the Zoo.

Ok Cerbs, cheers for that.

Outrageous isn't it?

Daylight robbery by the Old Bill.

I may complain.

Charlie Wood wrote:

JB actually quoted average weekly wages for all the leagues, which I presume came from an authoritative source. £28K for Prem £4 for Championship £1.2K (I think) for L1 and £750 for L2.

I was greatly surprised by these figures, perhaps they include all the youths and YTSers etc. I'd like to see the source. £750/week for a short career seems nigh on benefits level.

Totally agree there Charlie. Lies, damn lies and Stats, 'an all that.

Going by those figures, a reasonably decent Sparky, Plumber, or decent plasterer would be comfortably matching the salary of a lower league pro footballer.

Speaking today to someone 'close to the club', yes that includes Youth, Apprentice, etc wages so skews the figures somewhat.

To give you an example, one of our more 'seasoned' first teamers (i.e. coming towards the end of their career) might be on £2500 a week.

James Brent quoted last night that £750 per week was the average payout to a league division 2 player.I didn't wish to appear disrespectful but would suggest that £3000 per week is more like a reallistic sum to get players to play for us that live in Northampton.

Exactly oddball. Playing us a bit there. He was quoting figures that include the youth and all the apprentices, etc. That drags the figure down. See my post above yours.

Just as an aside to the wages debate I know that the Swindon players each received a £6.5k bonus for gaining promotion and that Steve Adams was on £950 a week + a £50 a win bonus in the Luggy Mk1 L1/L2 days.

Long summary asap plz...

Mock Cuncher wrote:

Long summary asap plz...

Everyone's patience is appreciated.

I got home from the meeting just after 10 last night, I was in work at 10am today and I got home from work just under an hour ago. I'm writing it up now and will email a draft to Rick Cowdery. The final, agreed draft will hopefully be published at the weekend. Sorry it's taking a bit of time, but I do occasionally have to behave like a loyal and hard working employee, as well as a devoted <cough> husband and father. Having said that, the other attendees have covered the meeting very well, especially Chemical Ali's contributions to this thread.

Yawn, all I want is a long report and all I get is excuses.

Sickening.

Remind me again, where were you in the wor?

I was in Sydney.

Mock Cuncher wrote:

Yawn, all I want is a long report and all I get is excuses.

Sickening.

Remind me again, where were you in the wor?

I was in Sydney.

Poor old Sydney. I bet you made his eyes water.

Stop playing on here and get on with it man!