There needs to be some firm proposals, if the council and Peel are sincere about trying to structure things so that a supporters trust could eventually take over then they need to publicise that and start the ball rolling. Clearly a fledgling organization already exists in Forever Reds - I'd expect contact there to happen.
I expect the next council meeting to be an interesting one - Motion No 1 - "In these times of cutbacks and austerity we commit £750,000 to a possibly moribund sporting club" mmmm?

The Club needs cash to fund future losses which are near certain.
The supporters trust,or whatever,is a red herring.
Whoever puts in the cash,if that person exists,can't leave the running to a hotch potch of amateurs,however sincere and well meaning.
It would be akin,with all due respect,to the lunatics running the asylum.
If the interim owners don't find a new benefactor or an entirely different game plan,it pains me to say that I don't know how we can sustain full time professional rugby but the club will,of course,continue to exist in some form.

That really is playing up to stereotypes. RL fans aren't all skill-less plebs. I'll bet that amongst all clubs' supporter bases there are people with senior managerial experience, financial management, marketing, employment law and safety experience. It's whether these people have the time or inclination to get involved.

Completely agree, but more fundamentally is the question of whether a sensible business plan can ever be put in place. Are there any Superleague clubs who exist without constant external funding over and above normal trading and sponsorship deals?

There were some multi skilled lunatics in the asylum,too !
Don't take offence,please,I'm making the wider point that whoever puts the money in needs professional management not a patchwork quilt of varying talents.

like he said



According to some , we've been led by a hotch-potch of amateurs for a number of years already .. who else could have gone over to Aus to look for the next Wayne Bennett , but find the next Sir Les Patterson.

I don't usually panic or totally despair but the piece about the RFL appointing chairman and chief executive,'on their recommendations',is extremely worrying given their involvement in Wrexham and Bradford.
With Tasker and Ferres now at Bradford and Castleford respectively it may very well be Rod Findlay who is next in line.
He was C/E at 2 clubs which were finally liquidated and the guy who brought in Licensing,which included the stadia requirements - or not,depending on which club it may be !
It looks as though his 'risk management' ain't working at one particular place.
rlLINKrl

Anyone know where the best place is for the purchase of cyanide pills ?

Iain your probably very correct with your assumption.
The problem with running the club through a supporters trust is as you say appointing the correct team to run the club on a day to day basis, setting a budget and financial plan which the "team" sticks to at all costs and of course raise additional funds through lottery etc.
If I was considering operating such a club I'd be looking at memebers, by which it means the fans, paying a memebership fee each year to give the club a regular income over and above RL & gate money in Salfords case say it was to offer a monthly membership of £12 over 12 months and working on your gates being 4000 but with a take up of say 3500 that would generate a net income of say £403200 allowing for any Vat implication. The problem is obviously getting the fans to agree, this could be done using it as a discount on match day fees.
Clearly then you may stand a chance of operating a sucessful club financially wise, but it does put a massive burden on the elected officers as it does become a full time job.

Re-supporter led clubs.I don't dismiss the abilities of any fans lets face it there are multi millionaiire fans of Salford.The problem is that supporter led clubs in this country seem to be ok when they are the lower end of the food chain-I don't see any in the Premier League in football.AFC Wimbledon is a gd example of a really good supporter led club but they are scraping around at the lower end of Div2 in football having risen through the ranks.One of the biggest FC United has hit a plateau as well and their crowds have started to fall.So bearing in mind we are in the top division it seems a non-starter to me.The Club may survive in that form but not at the top table.

Quote: shandybass "Re-supporter led clubs.I don't dismiss the abilities of any fans lets face it there are multi millionaiire fans of Salford.The problem is that supporter led clubs in this country seem to be ok when they are the lower end of the food chain-I don't see any in the Premier League in football.'" It's not complete ownership, but Swansea City are 20% owned by the fans, and were in a pretty bad way before they got involved. www.swanstrust.co.uk/History.aspx

Quote: shandybass "Re-supporter led clubs.I don't dismiss the abilities of any fans lets face it there are multi millionaiire fans of Salford.The problem is that supporter led clubs in this country seem to be ok when they are the lower end of the food chain-I don't see any in the Premier League in football.'" It's not complete ownership, but Swansea City are 20% owned by the fans, and were in a pretty bad way before they got involved. www.swanstrust.co.uk/History.aspx

What a pickle we are in...

Part of me thinks that this club could operate from a supporters trust run club if we were willing to drop down a level... I could think right now of 5 or 6 people who could run the club who would come with all of the skills required... However... the other part of me sees the personal issues involved with running a club like this. Too much jealousy amongst fans... and too much backstabbing would be involved. Those who can actually do something and try to make a difference are often alienated or slagged off due to jealousy... Imagine trying to run a club with all that knocking about... Forever Reds has been a victim of this for years. People won't get involved as they have always thought of it as a clique from day one... and rather become part of it... would sooner slag it off and distance themselves... so imagine the whole club being run that way.

Generating publicity and fund-raising ideas should be the focus until any 'news' is confirmed.
Volunteers for abseiling and mini-marathons will be required as they still,apparently,get sponsorship.
It's all hands to the pump time - no time for anything else.
We're all in it together !

Please may I excuse myself from abseils and marathons

5 or 6 people with all the skills required??
This is a multi million pound business,not a board game.
I could name fans with lots of business experience but sports admin is a degree course in itself.

Whilst we've definitely found our level for know, the average crowd has stayed within a hundred or so of the same figure for three or four years. Hardly falling.



If it's a straight choice between that and having no club at all then so be it.

By the way, Swansea have already been mentioned, but I'd also like to throw into the mix Barcelona & Real Madrid who are wholly supporter owned and the German Bundesliga clubs who have to have 50% + 1 share in the hands of supporters, albeit with two current exceptions. They don't do too badly now, do they?

As Iain says, it's not a case of going "well, we're just normal supporters, we can't run a club", it's a case of whether or not the people with the necessary expertise would be willing to get involved.

B*llocks. The only sticking point would be the necessary cash injection. And, seemingly, a huge wave of apathy as well.