The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Simple our crowds have been too small, and as long as they remain too small we will struggle to survive at this level.

I recently posted a 'back of a fag-packet' calculation of what it could cost to run Accrington Stanley and how much revenue it was likely to receive from various gate numbers. The reason we are in debt is because we had average crowds of 2200 watching us win the Conference. It would not be unreasonable for the club ie. Eric to think when we got into the League then crowds would be higher and therefore a sustainable income would be acheived. What happened.... 1000 fans per game p*ssed off somewhere else, the main sponsor goes bust and some players whom I assume got decent salaries couldn't hack it for us. Bang goes the budget and at some point during this Dave O'Neill has forked out a not insignificant amount of cash to keep us going.
I have read alot of hard words in relation to the Chairman and the Directors particularly since the weekend. I don't know Dave but I do know some of the others and what is being said about them collectively is outrageous and unfair. There are people on the board who have given their time, money and lives to the club for decades. They have walked the streets of Accrington knocking on doors 'badgering' a relatively apathetic public to buy raffle tickets, weekly draw numbers, sportsmans dinner tickets, they've painted walls (somewhere in the club there is a wall that is the same colour of red as my dinning room because one director 'scrounged' the half-full tin I had left and painted it himself), dug drains, built terracing, installed seats, sold half-time draw tickets, counted gate money, written endless letters to countless businesses, endless phone calls late on Friday nights trying to get a last minute sponsors, donating raffle prizes. Remember the Chairmen at Accrington Stanley have 'owned' the club by virtue of their majority shareholding what they say goes, 51% has it over 49% everytime. You get on with it and do your best for the club and hope the Big Man maintains a reasonable level of common sense (why would any one with any common sense want the thankless task of running a football club, it is just like being Primeminister, you've got to be barking)
This isn't Manchester 'effing' United where a place on the board means a free ride, prawn sandwiches and regular European Cup Finals. For alot of the directors past and present it has meant parting with hefty sums of cash to keep the place afloat and working damn hard for b*gg*r all other than the satisfaction of keeping the club alive, a club they love as much as anybody who pays through the gate.

I read it like this, Eric took us a stage beyond his means and was struggling to maintain the level of input the place needed. He got out. Dave under-estimated the size of the immediate task and has found himself in it up to his neck. Both these characters obviously put alot of their time and money into the place. I suspect they both have big ego's hence the reluctance to accept Ilyas's offer of help.

Remember the supporters have paid third of the tax bill, Ilyas/Peter has paid a third and the club are paying a third. We are equal partners in this and thus should work together to get the club back on it's feet and not tear it apart, some fans are already saying and doing silly things. This has got to stop before we alienate the goodwill and wishes of the majority of the floating support we have attracted during the past few months.

WE NEED THESE FLOATING FANS! At the moment when I read some of the stuff on here I am embarassed and ashamed and I feel like staying away from the games, I won't but this is the feeling I have. Imagine then what the punter who does not have that emotional tie with the club must think 'Sod going to the Stanley there all a bunch of headcase's'.

Let's get a grip and start encouraging people to come and watch the fantastic football Coley and the lads have been serving up and put all the other crap behind us.

WE NEED MORE FANS.......simples

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

It's a very good post but how do you get the floating fans to turn up. First and foremost the club needs to attract those floating fans from the borough itself. The best way of doing this is actually make the club a part of the community. Slagging them off as one particular chairman has done is not the most subtle way of doing that. :rolleyes:

Part of that process of involving the local community is actually to form links with local businesses, community groups & schools. Do they do enough of that ?

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Ask Spring Hill and other schools.

Ask the kids who have done the soccer club this week or the ones who go to the Saturday Match Club.

I think there is a pretty good set up in that respect.

How do we know Dave wasn't going to push these sort of programmes had he not had to spend his efforts trying to find 300K.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

good post onymfo.

Whilst I dont disagree with what you have said about the directors, and it is true that they have worked very hard in the past and have 100% helped to get us where we are now, the fact remains that they are no longer up to the task IMHO.

Amongst the financial expectations of your board of directors are obligations to guide and instruct. This has never been seen to be done because we have operated with Chairmen who want to run things. They are still there to make valuable contributions to most aspects of the club and I personally wouldn't want to lose that. BUT ...

.. We recently heard that the words "I'd rather the club go under than deal with Ilyas or ASSF" were uttered by one of our directors and agreed with by another. This attitude would have taken the club to its grave had Ilyas shown them the disregard they showed him. Many of the Directors are no longer the successful businessmen they once were in younger days, to me a director is one who is still in the mix with what is going on in the business community and still has influence around the money men of the town. People like Gary Swann (Buy the House), Graham Charnley (Interlink) and Andy Thorpe (Combined Stabilisation). Incidentally these are all people who have recently become disillusioned with the club.

For whatever reason we were minutes away from the club folding. There are people at the top who could and should have done a hell of a lot more to prevent that situation from ever happening

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Its easier to fight when you know the goal to reach, but when fighting a battle and you think you have the advantage by knowing the enemy and target. it becomes harder to win when the enemy can play the sabotage card directly or by indirect ignorance. then the battle becomes more difficult until you weed the sabotage out.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Sort of expands on my point above, but I didn't realise there was a queue ;)

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

You can tell by the number of kids on the ground that the younger fans are being nurtured. The problem has always been with guys my age who didn't have a League club in Accy when we grew up an thus they support Rovers, Burnley (yourself perhaps) United Liverpool. You can't blame them but we could do with the people who saw us beat Huddersfield and Bournemouth or saw the Conference trophy presented at the home game against Tamworth. Christ we got 3000 when we got promoted from Unibond League 1 where are they now?

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Onymfo

the fact stanley where nearly assigned to 'the past' is as good a reason as any why the current directors/top management MUST go.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Gates will always improve when the team is successful. I think if things continue on the field as they have started the gates will improve as the season goes on.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

i think the community aspect of the club is probably its biggest asset. Remeber it is only in its third year and is growing bigger all the time. They are into most of the schools and the ones they arent into is not their fault. They probably couldn't do an awful lot more if they wanted to at this time because of a lack of facilities.

look at the number of 14/15 year olds who tag onto the Ultras at home matches - they'll still be here in a few years time and are the future of our active fanbase. They love the atmosphere and they saw us win the title at an impressionable age. Supporting Stanley now is cooler than it used to be - just not quite cool enough.

I also think Dave would have done well for Stanley had the tax debt not happened - however the way that he has dealt with the problem is the reason he is getting the flak now. Wrong man at the wrong time unfortunately for him.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

i am aware of a couple of local business people that would dispute that Mr Onymfo, agree they are making good improvements wi the kids "now" summat that was suggested the season they entered the league.:rolleyes: small gates have always been the problem that is beyond dispute, if i remember correctly was around the 3000 mark back in 62,-------------------------Let's get a grip and start encouraging people to come and watch the fantastic football Coley and the lads have been serving up and put all the other crap behind us.

WE NEED MORE FANS.......simples -------- ---------------really unless yer on mars, its the club that needs to get a grip, fans have been trying to encourage people to come along fer years, its rank bad management that has alienated some of what we had. coley n lads have served up some cracking footy this season n been let down by those at the helm IMHO.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

OK, between Mr O and Macca looks like the third part is coming along nicely. What about the other 2 :)

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

The fact Eric isn't p*ssing the punters off must be an attraction in itself :-).

Got to go I am afraid. There is a pint of yellow fizzy stuff with my name on it


Come on the Reds 1-1

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

It's not just getting fans through the turnstyle that's the problem. Have you ever tried buying anything from the club online or on ebay or tried to get the club to reply to emails? Last season I had a programme subscription as I only make games if my team aren't playing, and i would be lucky if I got half a dozen sent to me. At one point I picked up about 3 months worth towards the end of the season despite numerous emails. I only got the chesterfield one after Mr T intervened. This season I didn't renew and will get them as and when I'm down or off ebay. The Stanley ebay site in it's 3rd incarnation was OK but if you read recent feedback it will go the way of the previous 2. anything I have ordered from the stanleystore is more in hope than expectation and the stock is now so limited I struggle to find anything to buy.

I signed up to the Stanley Legends a few months after it started and after they actually started sending my programmes. I started at a fiver a month to see how it developed with the intention of increasing it if it was worthwhile. That never happened and if I ever get round to it I may cancel my standing order.

When the new season ticket deal was announced I considered getting on as the discount vouchers and the low price would have been almost worth it for the games I make but when I emailed Rob with a few queries before making a decision I got no reply so I pay on the door when I'm down.

At one point I considered giving up and going to Burnley again as I did many years ago with my dad when he was alive but the lure of the Stanley still too strong and it is a far better experience at Accy. I have a season ticket at Ibrox so don't need the lure of the Premiership, unless it's with the Gers, or Stanley :D.

If people get a bad service from the club it puts them off buying again but good service might make them come for a look or come back.

When I've been down I have met Rob a few times and had a chat and a pint or two and he is a great person but online or by email it often seems the exact opposite. The one person who has always been a credit to the club in my experience is MrT who has always helped when he could and always replies to me.

As with any organisation the problem isn't so much getting people to come it's getting them to come back.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

I have to agree, If only they had been open about everything it would of gained them both better respect, but the way they have dealt with it is a joke and I ain't laughing like the rest of you.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Disagree.
He thinks he can make the club sustainable even profitable and seems to be doing the job for the wrong reasons; for example the position and status of chairman.

He hasnt got the cash to ever make a success of Stanley which is a huge long term project with slow progress and will probably struggle to break even for the next 10/20 years without players to sell on/cup runs/tv revenue.

Community is the key to stanleys future and there is no money to be made in such a club.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

a) Remain unconvinced about that

b) How deep is the rift ?

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Indeed - the couple of times I've bought stuff online from the shop, it has taken a long time to arrive. Furthermore, a friend of mine ordered something 2 1/2 - 3 weeks ago, and it's still not arrived.

To my mind, if you order something online - from any website based within the UK - it should be no more than one week from the moment you make your order, and the moment it arrives at your door.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Totally agree with the comments about ordering stuff on line. I put in an order for £50 worth on 12th September. On 20th October I had a e-mail from Rob Heys asking whether or not I'd received anything. I e-mailed back the same day saying nothing had arrived. Still nothing.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

It's a common thing with Stanley. Had it not been for MrT and his intervention I doubt I would have go mine too. He is the one person at the Crown Ground I have absoloute faith in because he always does what he says. Ilyas and Peter would be up there too but I haven't met them yet.

Transparency. Simple.
 

Dear all – I am a Stanley supporter of 20 plus years and was born and bred in Oswaldtwistle. I moved South due to a new job 5 years ago and still regularly attend our games, making the 500 mile round trip as often as possible. I don’t normally (ever) comment on message boards but have found that due to the lack of formal and transparent communication from the club, this is the best (and only) source of up to date information on how the club that I love has been battling to survive. As the club itself is in dire straits this is absolutely crazy – regular, “official” transparent communication from the club (Mr O’Neill) should be at the forefront of any other action that is taken.

I felt compelled to comment this evening due to some of the (quite frankly horrendous) posts on this site. I agree with 90% of the comments on here but there is a minority of them that I find to be totally incredulous. How anybody can question or doubt the credibility or intentions of Ilyas Khan or Peter Marsden is beyond belief. Without these two individuals the club would have been wound up on 28th October. Fact. Ilyas has been nothing but totally transparent. If the club (Mr O’Neill) had acted with the same transparency over the past 8 weeks (and much further back) we would have collectively recognised we were going to be significantly short of the £308k and had our eyes fully open to it well in advance of the 28th October. The lack of transparency from the club is utterly astounding – when trawling back over the past few hours to refresh myself on press releases, programme notes (!), interviews, forum posts etc I cannot believe how the club (Mr O’Neill and Mr Whalley) have acted in recent times. To let the club build up the level of debt that it has done is obviously a recipe for disaster. I’m not sure what kind of a future Mr Whalley and Mr O’Neill thought the club would have by running up £100,000’s of PAYE debt (amongst other items) but they came very close to being remembered as the men who led ASFC to be wound up a second time. In Mr Whalley’s case in particular this would have been extremely unfortunate given the footballing success we have had in recent times (I will not comment on how I believe the financial side of the club has been run for many years now).

Transparency is the key here. The lack of communication from Mr O’Neill and the club is unforgivable. The way that the club have ran the SOS campaign is like an A-Z of how not to run an SOS campaign (not updating the “thermometer” on a daily basis, lack of regular comms from the club, no information on how the club director’s are “leading the way” with the fund by articulating how much money they have donated themselves, not allowing "the books" and / or true total debt to be published etc etc etc – it adds up to a total Google Page Ranking disaster – and at the worst possible time). Mr Khan offered to match the donations of Mr O’Neill and other club director’s - had Mr O’Neill (& others) agreed to put in £100k at any point since early Sept the £308k would have been paid. They (and he – Mr O’Neill) did not put their money where their mouth is and unfortunately actions do speak louder than words.

I have nothing but admiration for the effort the fans, including Mr Khan and Mr Marsden, have made – the best and most loyal set of fans in football (ok, I am very biased!). They do not deserve to be treated like idiots by Mr O’Neill and the club. It is not time for a witch-hunt so apologies if this seems like too much of a tirade – this isn’t my intention. All I want to do is to try to (passionately) say to the people who doubt Mr Khan – look back at his words and actions over the past 6/7 months (not to mention for the past 20 years). This message board will allow you to do that. You will find nothing but words of love for Accrington Stanley and total transparency in his words and actions (sorry for keep repeating this word but the lack of this is the key to what has gone wrong with our club). I will end this post by comparing this to just some of the (albeit few and far between) words of Mr O’Neill in recent times;

Mon 26th Oct –
“Yes we are going to beat it, of course we are going to make it”
“On a scale of one to 10, we are a nine now”
"All the bank transfer will be done on Tuesday”
“A few fans have said they are not sleeping. Let me do the not sleeping”

Wed 30th Sept –
“When I took over I was confident we could pay off the debt”

Wed 29th July –
“There’s lot of things we can benefit from having Marcelle with us at Accrington Stanley”

Sat 20th June –
“We’ve an agreement with the tax office and providing we make all the payments on time, then there’s no embargo”

Lots of these things have been said before on this forum so thank you for reading!

Re: Transparency. Simple.
 

Wow - welcome to Accy Web, for a first post, absolutely spot on, just don't stop now.

Re: Transparency. Simple.
 

Hell of a first post, nail straight on the head.;)

Re: Transparency. Simple.
 

Cracking first post :) Welcome to the 'madhouse' :)

Re: Transparency. Simple.
 

Nice effort there FOOTYMAD1... with literary skills such as you've demonstrated, (and the logical matter within), you are far to advanced for most of us on here. But as OUTBACK O says.."Don't stop now".
Welcome.

Re: Transparency. Simple.
 

John...I agree with you entirely !..

This is indeed a most welcome and. if I might say succinct (?) message from Footymad !....I'm going to enjoy reading his postings !!.... so FM1 do continue to delight, along with us, in the current convolutions which unfold daily as the SOS saga is playout before our eyes !.

'ON STANLEY!!!...ON!!!...TO GREATER THINGS !!!'

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

One of the worst examples of this is on the SOS site, where it said that if people didn't want to donate directly, they could buy a shirt or some other merchandise from the club shop. This is despite the fact that the shop doesn't have many (any) shirts available. I know someone who spent money on a shirt and never received it. In fact the only time they received any response from the club (despite numerous emails) was when they issued a Paypal refund request due to the non-delivery of paid for items!
How many other 'well-wishers' are in the same position? How many of them would be willing to spend money with the club again?

The thing is, we've been saying the same thing for years now and nothing changes.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

They don't even want help when you offer it :(

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

merged 2 threads again please if there is a simular thread post in that before new ones made.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Footymad, this is probably the best first post I've ever read on here and articulates the feelings of most of us perfectly. As others have said, please continue! :)

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Correct about the SOS website thing, big example was when bucket collecting from ewood park and anfield was counted by the fans, the club never bothered to wander up to crown (its miles away) and pick up the money, and after picking it up, the website could be updated and a least people would know the target was getting nearer...

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Outback Ozzy / cashman / ukcowboy / Kiwi John / yonmon / Wynonie Harris - thank you for the welcome; it's much appreciated! :) I will post as often as possible over the next few weeks as the club (hopefully) gets back on it's feet. I (unfortunately!) tend to have to work 60/70 hours per week and have a young family so my post times will probably be either very early or very late. I'm sure there are plenty more "twists and turns" to come but hopefully (and following on from the interventions from Ilyas and Peter) we can start to move in the right direction.

Stanleymad - thank you for moving my original post into this one (I should have done this in the first place - apologies).

To continue the theme of this thread I simply can't believe how poor the customer service has been from the club for very basic things like selling shirts. Add this to the Google Page Ranking gaffs of recent times and it does give me real hope that when we have a change at the top (i.e. Mr O'Neill leaves) that whoever replaces him will have full scope to improve the club as a business and a commercial entity. The club is never going to make huge amounts of profit (probably none at all) but as others have said before, ran prudently and transparently, there would be real hope for the future.

I wish I had the money to take charge of the club (and play a part in running it) myself. My background is in developing and working with small and medium businesses and in doing so making sure great customer service is achieved (globally). Our ASFC brand has been somewhat tarnished over recent events but it is still great and IMHO has not been used to it's full potential (not necessarily in the UK - but globally). Getting the basics right first is obviously fundamental (replying promptly to all emails, shipping orders quickly, ensuring the website is kept up to date etc would be a start!) but once you are in a cycle of doing this (and getting good press and feedback from the general public for doing so) then it is time to look further afield and be more innovative and creative with your ideas.

Anyway, I don't want to get to far ahead of myself - let's get this week out of the way and then focus on applying the necessary pressure for the badly needed regime change (I know this is much easier said than done). But as I say above, with transparency, we can look to a brighter future. Even if the "books" revealed more debts that even the court isn't aware of, I would still see this as a positive outcome as at least then it would be in the public domain so we would all then be in a clear position to help. If the accounts were then to indefinitely stay in the public domain that would be fantastic. If we could get to this stage then you will not be able to shut me up with my ideas over how we could progress Stanley as a business to generate as much cash as possible to keep us solvent.

deeayess / teach - your poor commercial experiences of the club are all the more incredulous as they have happened whilst the hierarchy at the club have known we are in massive debt. Great customer service costs nothing and to not reply to emails about potential season ticket sales is absolute madness and makes me really angry given the situation we are now in. How many more people out there have received no replies to ticketing or mechandise queries? Reading the experiences on this thread and on others I bet it is a fair few. :mad:

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

such a simple thing as keeping the fishy site updated is neither costly nor difficult, simple things like a Salisbury Fan, posting on here cos no prices yet announced fer the cup tie yet, is simply pathetic IMHO. yeh don't need Alan Suger or someone fer things like that.:rolleyes: the guy was saying could possibly be 300- 500 making the trip, maybe nearer 500 wi any luck if they knew what it would cost em.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Completely agree cashman!! None of this is rocket science - you would think at this time more than any Mr O'Neill and the rest of the team would not want to be risking either turning away potential money from ticket sales or further damaging their reputations by running the club like Fawlty Towers. It's really sad to see but at least there is hope for the future as anyone with even an ounce of common sense would be able to list and action dozens of improvements to how the club is being run commercially.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

only if "Billy Smarts Circus" has left town.:rolleyes:

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Interesting stuff, Footymad. Obviously you have considerable experience in this area yourself. If the club had any commercial nous, they'd get in touch with you to discuss your thoughts and ideas at greater length and perhaps take some of them on board.

I won't hold my breath, though... :rolleyes:

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Must admit the customer service, from the merchandise side has been appalling considering its 1 of the easiest ways to generate more income.

I was after a new home shirt and scarf for weeks but was constantly given excuses for the lack of stock. Also no shirt number printing machine was rather annoying, why move it into another business in town??

You would be hard pressed to find any other club where you cant buy a new home shirt :(

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

It wasn't moved as such, we were helping out. Think you will find the service is back up at the club now, we served our purpose :rolleyes:

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

The fishy site has grounded to a halt seems news updates quicker here or in telegraph :(

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

an in town outlet sounds a good marketing move,a sole shop/shop share/in door stand.

employ someone witha retail background,other P/T staff could be fans students unemployed looking for retail experience.

many town centre management agents allow week to week renting over the xmas period

not many bother going out of their way to the club if they are lucky and can someone with a key to open it they only find very limted stock

maybe ticket sales bookings for kids footy school etc.....

as for fishy site it should be renamed the snail site in fact a snail is bloodly quicker!

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

We have offered the club space in our shop at no cost. You may wonder whats in it for us :). From our point of view we get people knowing where the shop is for other 'non' Stanley stuff. Also one half of the ownership is a Stanley fan.

We have also offered to produce merchandise for the club at near cost price. Apart from a half hearted order it's never been taken seriously :(

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Waste of time katie, the club was offered the stand in the arndale foc for the sos and still couldn't man it to the point it was vacant.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

like i said i do not think they wanted to raise the dosh, they wanted it to go under. before i just thought it possible, now i'm 90% sure.:mad:

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

if it is planned well and 1 person employed to manage the rota stock etc....it could work well

the sos stall was thrown together in a very short space of time with no time for planning etc....not having ago but thats how it was

it does need a real business plan and by real i mean 1 that will ensure basic costs are covered

even i manage to run a small business so im sure stanley could but like you said do they really want it

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

I'm afraid I think you're right. I've thought for some time that 'administration' was and maybe still is the goal of the board. Maybe it's all they think could ever be achieved; and the longer the crisis can be strung out, the better. What's a ten point deduction if you can leave all your creditors behind and start all over again, for a few more years? May as well owe £308miilion as £308K if the belief is that 'administration' will wipe out the debt.
Trouble is Stanley, unlike some other big city clubs that have 'chosen' that route, can't look to a guaranteed future fan base come-what-may.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

You havent experienced stanley for very long, we had that already before when it had someone running it - was no better. Unless a new overhaul of board then no change will happen, its erics way or the highway atm.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

i know all the old ways but it was an idea for the new stanley hopefully!

will go and sit in the corner as ive not enough experience of stanley it seems

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Sorry i dont mean to offend its just the way it is with the club, our shop, the OSC has even tried to offload the store onto us so that the merchandise issue would be solved. We had someone run the club shop before and if u read old threads & im sure someone here will clarify had problems with their merchandise. Im all for new ideas it just was an idea out of many thats been tried & failed, frustratingly. Like i say unless a new board come along to take over then souch ideas may grow into fruition but whilst things stands as they are then no proper successful changes will happen, its the realistic answer atm we have all tried to address these issues & no doubt finding out yourself its being ignored or not listened to.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

The club seems to appoint an endless stream of people to jobs connected with commercial management but nothing ever changes.

When Martin Edmundson was appointed, he said this : “I’m here to re-establish the club’s crucial community links and generally help Stanley progress to meet the set targets." What are the set targets? Who set them? How did the appointment of Marcelle Lazarus (who?:confused:) link to Martin's appointment? How is Martin's job linked to Dan Warburton's? There seems to be considerable overlap.

These are issues of overall management and strategy. I feel that this is the REAL problem at Accrington Stanley. It was a lack of overall management and strategy that made such a mess of the SOS Fund and its promotion.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

I know what you're saying Katei but about the Arndale stall, it had been known by the club for a while that the space in the Arndale was available to them each Monday foc, at a meeting the ASSF had with Dan & Martin on 4th August, Dan mentioned they had been made the offer and that they wanted it to be a 'presence in the town', mainly to promote the Goldbond draw & sell official merchandise but they were struggling to man it. I offered to help out as at the time Monday was my day off work, Dan said he would be in touch when they needed me.
The next I heard was a month later at the SOS forum on 4th September - we ran it for the first time on Monday 7th, by then it had been turned into the sos stall.
So , although you're right in that as an sos fundraiser it was thrown together quickly - they had had time to plan something properly.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

WE HAVE A WINDING UP ORDER AGAINST US WE CANNOT GO INTO ADMINISTRATION. If the winding up order goes ahead Stanley will close immediately. If we are wound up on Wednesday we will not play Salisbury in the FA Cup, they will get a bye and we will not play any more matches in the Football League. Maybe that's why they haven't announced the prices for the game - just in case we are wound up.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

Sh*t, Jeff. If that's the case it looks like '62 all over again. Different circumstances and reasons, but i seem to recall the chairman was 'missing' then.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

I know what you're saying Katei but about the Arndale stall, it had been known by the club for a while that the space in the Arndale was available to them each Monday foc, at a meeting the ASSF had with Dan & Martin on 4th August, Dan mentioned they had been made the offer and that they wanted it to be a 'presence in the town', mainly to promote the Goldbond draw & sell official merchandise but they were struggling to man it. I offered to help out as at the time Monday was my day off work, Dan said he would be in touch when they needed me.
The next I heard was a month later at the SOS forum on 4th September - we ran it for the first time on Monday 7th, by then it had been turned into the sos stall.
So , although you're right in that as an sos fundraiser it was thrown together quickly - they had had time to plan something properly

4weeks is very short time in business,in the 4weeks leading upto the 1st SOS stall running the taxman was getting faster at chasing DON and co,i would think the stall idea was very low on the list of things to do,although it should of be higher on the list ie more income,the club then handed it over to the SOS appeal,more than likely with huge sign of relieve,1 less job for them!

Sorry i dont mean to offend its just the way it is with the club, our shop, the OSC has even tried to offload the store onto us so that the merchandise issue would be solved. We had someone run the club shop before and if u read old threads & im sure someone here will clarify had problems with their merchandise. Im all for new ideas it just was an idea out of many thats been tried & failed, frustratingly. Like i say unless a new board come along to take over then souch ideas may grow into fruition but whilst things stands as they are then no proper successful changes will happen, its the realistic answer atm we have all tried to address these issues & no doubt finding out yourself its being ignored or not listened to

No offence taken,think fans are becoming very mad through passion for stanley and jumping on each other comments,not a shock given the hell we are be put through

If we get through wed everyone who beileves they can help the club in a small or big way should be listened to not told oh we did that before it didnt work
look at the reasons why it didnt work can it work if things were done a little different

as for the present board they need to see they have a huge group of people willing to give their time for free in many cases to take the club forward

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

KATEI 77.. you really must learn to either 'Cut and paste' or how to use the 'Quote' tab. It'll save wear on your fingers AND keyboard. :)

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

It wasn't a job for them at all. The club didn't do anything.

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

It was an effort for certain people from the club to even turn up :rolleyes:

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

i did cut and paste:)

Re: The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley
 

i know the club did bleep all,thats why i said it would not of be top the list but it should of be higher on the list but iam not talking about what the club did/didnt do but that just because the club have not listened to ideas before or planned ideas right it does not mean these ideas are unworkable

but no ideas will work untill we are listened to and that will be the fans biggest hurdle