ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

We don't have the money

There is one phrase that gets on my fucking tits: it's 'We don't have the money'. Well, can anybody tell me why we are fucking skint? It's not as if we spend millions each season on transfers is it?(I wish!)

We are one of the top teams when it comes to gate averages. The lad in the club shop said the club do a roaring trade on merchandise. There is money coming in left, right and center from tv deals, Sky etc. So can anyone genuinely explain why we are always crying poverty?
Brian Waring, Wokingham Posted 24/07/2007 at 10:41:22

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Michael Kenrick

I thought that was a no-brainer. Keith is saving our sheckles to pay the £10M, £15M, £20M, £35M, or whatever the Kirkby Project is actually going to cost EFC.

Barry Bragg
1 Posted 24/07/2007 at 14:51:33

We are skint because our yearly takings are about £50m compared to say Liverpools takings of nearly £150m. Just to give you an example. Yes we get crowds in but our prices are pretty cheap and we don’t have any corpoeate or catering facilities to speak of. The new stadium will allow mnore fans and more refreshment sales and more corporate facilities to enable us to make more money.

Rupert Sullivan
2 Posted 24/07/2007 at 15:07:23

Michael, does this mean that when we all vote no DM will be able to buy Fernandes and Riquelme?

Thommo
3 Posted 24/07/2007 at 15:22:25

The obvious answer is Bill Kenwright and Keith Wyness. The rest of us can only guess until someone finds the detailed accounts. May be we had to repay last years borrowed transfer fees. Perhaps we found out that we eventually do need 5M quid to buy 5M quid players. May be we can only pay off the largest debt from season ticket takings but part of that money is needed to finance wages, day to day operations and/or any new major projects. Therefore, to pay out more of the season ticket takings we need to divert other funds to provide for the day to day costs. All this may be true but as I don’t have access to those aforementioned accounts, it might easily not be. But why did we cap season ticket numbers a season or so ago while offering a discount on early renewals?

David C
4 Posted 24/07/2007 at 19:06:15

One reason is that we’ve spent a certain percentage of our season ticket sales for the next 20+ years. When Bill gained control he did so on the cheap, paying off Johnson whilst assuming all of the debt accumulated. A few seasons ago {sorry can’t be more specific} we took on a long term loan based against our season ticket sales. We’ve spent your money - and your unborn kids money too - in essence.
The club needs new revenue streams pronto. {And don’t mention increased TV revenue because most of that money goes into players pockets through increased contracts}.

A sugar daddy is the best hope to end the perpetual "we’re skint" theme. But at the risk of mentioning something that has been mentioned a million times, there isn’t anyone. There isn’t anyone daft enough to give the current board a truck full of wonga without being given a say in the running of the club. And the current board has shown an inability/unwillingness to dilute control to gain new investment. Money wise, it looks like a new stadium or bust...which may or may not influence thinking when it comes to ballot time.