Skelmersdale United, Having a good season so far Options

[shunter blue]

Our friends from East Lancs are top of the Evo Prem and possible opponents next season.

They are doing it on average crowds of 261, which is less than one tenth of the crowds we were getting the season we won that league.

Can we learn anything from them?

[The Colonel]

NO.

[rimmersring]

NO.

well pleased for them, and nice little run, but on crowds like that, good, but very much unsustainable...and nothing to be gleaned as far as we are concerned.

[Billy W]

Our friends from East Lancs are top of the Evo Prem and possible opponents next season.

They are doing it on average crowds of 261, which is less than one tenth of the crowds we were getting the season we won that league.

Can we learn anything from them?

Sign some of their players for a start

[boggle1983]

It does make you wonder how much money these clubs are running on?

Would be odd if we both do end up in Con North next season, then again seeing Hednesford in the con prem would be annoying!

[AGL]

Not having to go to Hednesford would be one bonus of relegation. Been there twice and no desire make it a hat trick.

[Ean]

they will muck it up before it's over

[waggoner]

It does make you wonder how much money these clubs are running on?

Would be odd if we both do end up in Con North next season, then again seeing Hednesford in the con prem would be annoying!

Clubs at the top of leagues with crowds of 200/300 must surely be getting bankrolled? you cannot pay for quality players on these sorts of crowd without?

[shunter blue]

It does make you wonder how much money these clubs are running on?

Would be odd if we both do end up in Con North next season, then again seeing Hednesford in the con prem would be annoying!

Clubs at the top of leagues with crowds of 200/300 must surely be getting bankrolled? you cannot pay for quality players on these sorts of crowd without?

Hednesford will be bankrolled I guess, but I'm not sure that Skelmersdale are.

[Mike Griffiths]

It does make you wonder how much money these clubs are running on?

Would be odd if we both do end up in Con North next season, then again seeing Hednesford in the con prem would be annoying!

Clubs at the top of leagues with crowds of 200/300 must surely be getting bankrolled? you cannot pay for quality players on these sorts of crowd without?

You can. You have fell into the BBC trap of believing attendances are the only thing that matters. In fact when the vast majority of the league get 200/300, its quite easy to be top with those crowds. Imagine if attendances were the only thing that mattered, Man Utd would win the prem every year as they pretty much do now, but Arsenal would be second and Newcastle would be third!!!!! Also Portsmouth would be walking away with league 2, Bradford would not have been in league 2 for so many years before last year, and Juventus would be a team we have never heard of with their 30,000 or so capacity ground. And many more examples.

Hednesford are being bankrolled slightly, but not by much. They earn over half a million from off field and commercial activities which pays for a decent team. They had a bigger budget than us 2 years ago, and we finished miles above them despite them beating us twice.

[Derry Exile]

It does make you wonder how much money these clubs are running on?

Would be odd if we both do end up in Con North next season, then again seeing Hednesford in the con prem would be annoying!

Clubs at the top of leagues with crowds of 200/300 must surely be getting bankrolled? you cannot pay for quality players on these sorts of crowd without?

You can. You have fell into the BBC trap of believing attendances are the only thing that matters. In fact when the vast majority of the league get 200/300, its quite easy to be top with those crowds. Imagine if attendances were the only thing that mattered, Man Utd would win the prem every year as they pretty much do now, but Arsenal would be second and Newcastle would be third!!!!! Also Portsmouth would be walking away with league 2, Bradford would not have been in league 2 for so many years before last year, and Juventus would be a team we have never heard of with their 30,000 or so capacity ground. And many more examples.

Hednesford are being bankrolled slightly, but not by much. They earn over half a million from off field and commercial activities which pays for a decent team. They had a bigger budget than us 2 years ago, and we finished miles above them despite them beating us twice.

Which is exactly what we need to compete at this level and above.

[boggle1983]

It does make you wonder how much money these clubs are running on?

Would be odd if we both do end up in Con North next season, then again seeing Hednesford in the con prem would be annoying!

Clubs at the top of leagues with crowds of 200/300 must surely be getting bankrolled? you cannot pay for quality players on these sorts of crowd without?

You can. You have fell into the BBC trap of believing attendances are the only thing that matters. In fact when the vast majority of the league get 200/300, its quite easy to be top with those crowds. Imagine if attendances were the only thing that mattered, Man Utd would win the prem every year as they pretty much do now, but Arsenal would be second and Newcastle would be third!!!!! Also Portsmouth would be walking away with league 2, Bradford would not have been in league 2 for so many years before last year, and Juventus would be a team we have never heard of with their 30,000 or so capacity ground. And many more examples.

Hednesford are being bankrolled slightly, but not by much. They earn over half a million from off field and commercial activities which pays for a decent team. They had a bigger budget than us 2 years ago, and we finished miles above them despite them beating us twice.

Which is exactly what we need to compete at this level and above.

That's the point I was trying to get at, the commercial side of the business supports the football club, something I think we have been failing on. In our first few seasons our gates gave us a massive advantage, but that alone is not enough. Mind you given the stadiums s**t location, current economic climate and the million and one other things you can do, it's hard to see how we can build additional revenue streams that will help build the club. Relying on stand/stadium/shirt sponsers and match day revenue is just not going to cut it. Especially if we want more than yo-yoing between con north and con prem.

[Mike Griffiths]

It does make you wonder how much money these clubs are running on?

Would be odd if we both do end up in Con North next season, then again seeing Hednesford in the con prem would be annoying!

Clubs at the top of leagues with crowds of 200/300 must surely be getting bankrolled? you cannot pay for quality players on these sorts of crowd without?

You can. You have fell into the BBC trap of believing attendances are the only thing that matters. In fact when the vast majority of the league get 200/300, its quite easy to be top with those crowds. Imagine if attendances were the only thing that mattered, Man Utd would win the prem every year as they pretty much do now, but Arsenal would be second and Newcastle would be third!!!!! Also Portsmouth would be walking away with league 2, Bradford would not have been in league 2 for so many years before last year, and Juventus would be a team we have never heard of with their 30,000 or so capacity ground. And many more examples.

Hednesford are being bankrolled slightly, but not by much. They earn over half a million from off field and commercial activities which pays for a decent team. They had a bigger budget than us 2 years ago, and we finished miles above them despite them beating us twice.

Which is exactly what we need to compete at this level and above.

That's the point I was trying to get at, the commercial side of the business supports the football club, something I think we have been failing on. In our first few seasons our gates gave us a massive advantage, but that alone is not enough. Mind you given the stadiums s**t location, current economic climate and the million and one other things you can do, it's hard to see how we can build additional revenue streams that will help build the club. Relying on stand/stadium/shirt sponsers and match day revenue is just not going to cut it. Especially if we want more than yo-yoing between con north and con prem.

hednesfords ground is at the end of nowhere too.

[waggoner]

It does make you wonder how much money these clubs are running on?

Would be odd if we both do end up in Con North next season, then again seeing Hednesford in the con prem would be annoying!

Clubs at the top of leagues with crowds of 200/300 must surely be getting bankrolled? you cannot pay for quality players on these sorts of crowd without?

You can. You have fell into the BBC trap of believing attendances are the only thing that matters. In fact when the vast majority of the league get 200/300, its quite easy to be top with those crowds. Imagine if attendances were the only thing that mattered, Man Utd would win the prem every year as they pretty much do now, but Arsenal would be second and Newcastle would be third!!!!! Also Portsmouth would be walking away with league 2, Bradford would not have been in league 2 for so many years before last year, and Juventus would be a team we have never heard of with their 30,000 or so capacity ground. And many more examples.

Hednesford are being bankrolled slightly, but not by much. They earn over half a million from off field and commercial activities which pays for a decent team. They had a bigger budget than us 2 years ago, and we finished miles above them despite them beating us twice.

Which is exactly what we need to compete at this level and above.

That's the point I was trying to get at, the commercial side of the business supports the football club, something I think we have been failing on. In our first few seasons our gates gave us a massive advantage, but that alone is not enough. Mind you given the stadiums s**t location, current economic climate and the million and one other things you can do, it's hard to see how we can build additional revenue streams that will help build the club. Relying on stand/stadium/shirt sponsers and match day revenue is just not going to cut it. Especially if we want more than yo-yoing between con north and con prem.

don't help with the restrictions of use the council have in place at the deva

[K klass]

Went to Trafford tonight to see them play Chorley. Our old friends won 5-0 and not far off the top of the league. Anyone for a trip to Victory Park next year?

[ANDERS]

It does make you wonder how much money these clubs are running on?

Would be odd if we both do end up in Con North next season, then again seeing Hednesford in the con prem would be annoying!

Clubs at the top of leagues with crowds of 200/300 must surely be getting bankrolled? you cannot pay for quality players on these sorts of crowd without?

You can. You have fell into the BBC trap of believing attendances are the only thing that matters. In fact when the vast majority of the league get 200/300, its quite easy to be top with those crowds. Imagine if attendances were the only thing that mattered, Man Utd would win the prem every year as they pretty much do now, but Arsenal would be second and Newcastle would be third!!!!! Also Portsmouth would be walking away with league 2, Bradford would not have been in league 2 for so many years before last year, and Juventus would be a team we have never heard of with their 30,000 or so capacity ground. And many more examples.

Hednesford are being bankrolled slightly, but not by much. They earn over half a million from off field and commercial activities which pays for a decent team. They had a bigger budget than us 2 years ago, and we finished miles above them despite them beating us twice.

Which is exactly what we need to compete at this level and above.

That's the point I was trying to get at, the commercial side of the business supports the football club, something I think we have been failing on. In our first few seasons our gates gave us a massive advantage, but that alone is not enough. Mind you given the stadiums s**t location, current economic climate and the million and one other things you can do, it's hard to see how we can build additional revenue streams that will help build the club. Relying on stand/stadium/shirt sponsers and match day revenue is just not going to cut it. Especially if we want more than yo-yoing between con north and con prem.

hednesfords ground is at the end of nowhere too.

It's not great but not too far out of the way I didn't think.

They get decent gates for that league too, well, competitive at least.

[Always a Support...]

Our friends from East Lancs are top of the Evo Prem and possible opponents next season.

They are doing it on average crowds of 261, which is less than one tenth of the crowds we were getting the season we won that league.

Can we learn anything from them?

Rather than stir the s**t why don't you offer a couple of positive points to work on. I won't hold my breath. And...... . What can we learn from Skem then ? Your question so you start answering.

[waggoner]

Our friends from East Lancs are top of the Evo Prem and possible opponents next season.

They are doing it on average crowds of 261, which is less than one tenth of the crowds we were getting the season we won that league.

Can we learn anything from them?

Rather than stir the s**t why don't you offer a couple of positive points to work on. I won't hold my breath. And...... . What can we learn from Skem then ? Your question so you start answering.

By what I am reading 'Shunter blue' is starting a very fair and reasonable debate not sure you can call that s**t stirring. In answer to the question I would say we could look at their business model and how they can put together a competitive team year after year with very low crowds and if practical adopt a similar approach here at chester I;e. lower wage bill for the same result thus we on crowds of 2,000+ could build a decent war chest that way ready for a big push at going full time sometime in the future. (see AAS look how easy it is replying to a poster without insults and nastiness)

This post has been edited by waggoner: Oct 30 2013, 08:11 AM

[shunter blue]

Our friends from East Lancs are top of the Evo Prem and possible opponents next season.

They are doing it on average crowds of 261, which is less than one tenth of the crowds we were getting the season we won that league.

Can we learn anything from them?

Rather than stir the s**t why don't you offer a couple of positive points to work on. I won't hold my breath. And...... . What can we learn from Skem then ? Your question so you start answering.

By what I am reading 'Shunter blue' is starting a very fair and reasonable debate not sure you can call that s**t stirring. In answer to the question I would say we could look at their business model and how they can put together a competitive team year after year with very low crowds and if practical adopt a similar approach here at chester I;e. lower wage bill for the same result thus we on crowds of 2,000+ could build a decent war chest that way ready for a big push at going full time sometime in the future. (see AAS look how easy it is replying to a poster without insults and nastiness)

Thanks for your support. Never any intention to s**t stir. I must be the only Chester supporter who doesn't get why we've been in the top 6 or 7 supported teams since our inception, yet can't compete with teams that get less than half our support. The bankrolled answer doesn't always wash with me. Someone on here has said that Hednesford raise £500K p.a. from commercial activity. Why aren't we doing that? Are our underperforming players being paid too much? Should we revert to a part-time manager and save a wedge? Overnight stays? Non-children freebies? Selling Sarce too cheap? Not making more effort to keep certain players that are clearly better than what we've signed,etc.

[waggoner]

Our friends from East Lancs are top of the Evo Prem and possible opponents next season.

They are doing it on average crowds of 261, which is less than one tenth of the crowds we were getting the season we won that league.

Can we learn anything from them?

Rather than stir the s**t why don't you offer a couple of positive points to work on. I won't hold my breath. And...... . What can we learn from Skem then ? Your question so you start answering.

By what I am reading 'Shunter blue' is starting a very fair and reasonable debate not sure you can call that s**t stirring. In answer to the question I would say we could look at their business model and how they can put together a competitive team year after year with very low crowds and if practical adopt a similar approach here at chester I;e. lower wage bill for the same result thus we on crowds of 2,000+ could build a decent war chest that way ready for a big push at going full time sometime in the future. (see AAS look how easy it is replying to a poster without insults and nastiness)

Thanks for your support. Never any intention to s**t stir. I must be the only Chester supporter who doesn't get why we've been in the top 6 or 7 supported teams since our inception, yet can't compete with teams that get less than half our support. The bankrolled answer doesn't always wash with me. Someone on here has said that Hednesford raise £500K p.a. from commercial activity. Why aren't we doing that? Are our underperforming players being paid too much? Should we revert to a part-time manager and save a wedge? Overnight stays? Non-children freebies? Selling Sarce too cheap? Not making more effort to keep certain players that are clearly better than what we've signed,etc.

Every saving we can make would be the only way. No overnight stays, part time manager lower wages for the team etc... even down to cheaper toilet rolls! any saving we can make we should and invest that saving in other parts of the club...youth set up, community side of the club. Oh and lobby the council to remove this bloody stupid restriction on use of the ground and the way we can use it to gain revenue, for example car boot sales (the rugby club make a bloody fortune doing that). If the council really give a toss then let them show it by not tying the clubs hands behind it's back by making it hard to gain any funds by using the deva to do it.
Oh while I am at it perhaps they could also extend the lease to say 50 years so we can start to get some improvement grants in place.

[Midnight Rider]

The 500K Hednesford are making from commercial activity is an extraordinary figure. Is there any substance to it?
This roughly equates to about 25K per game, or £100 per fan per game. If the figure is true, they have the world’s dumbest sponsors! It would be cheaper for the sponsors to take every single fan for a slap up meal at the Grosvenor once a fortnight, booze included, than advertise to them through Hednesford FC. Oh, and the away fans get to go too!!

The only clubs which are truly making inroads in the commercial realm are those with an edge. Look at Crewe. They own a huge car park right next to Crewe station. This is filled with hundreds of cars 7 days a week, each paying £3.50. They’re probably making as much from their car park as they are from ticket sales.

[Dobba]

The 500K Hednesford are making from commercial activity is an extraordinary figure. Is there any substance to it?

It is certainly news to me.