Post AGM update.

Open now for discussion of all things Darlo!

Moderators: mikkyx, uncovered

JE93
Posts: 1855
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2009 2:48 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Post AGM update.

Post by JE93 » Mon Feb 11, 2019 5:18 pm

Post AGM update from the board can be found here:

https://darlingtonfc.co.uk/news/post-agm-update

spen666
Posts: 2296
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:12 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by spen666 » Mon Feb 11, 2019 5:43 pm

Maybe a silly question, but this remark caught my eye... and was I think mentioned at last net cafe
. Additionally, two significant commercial opportunities that we budgeted for are yet to be received by the Football Club.
Why did it catch my eye?

It reads as though the commercial opportunities are still expected to happen and not been written off.

Any idea what these opportunities are?

quakersfan
Posts: 491
Joined: Thu Dec 06, 2018 2:26 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by quakersfan » Mon Feb 11, 2019 6:12 pm

Possibly another major sponsor?

footifan
Posts: 792
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 3:34 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by footifan » Mon Feb 11, 2019 7:05 pm

spen666 wrote:Maybe a silly question, but this remark caught my eye... and was I think mentioned at last net cafe
. Additionally, two significant commercial opportunities that we budgeted for are yet to be received by the Football Club.
Why did it catch my eye?

It reads as though the commercial opportunities are still expected to happen and not been written off.

Any idea what these opportunities are?

Why should it worry you ?

super_les_mcjannet
Posts: 5995
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2012 8:41 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by super_les_mcjannet » Mon Feb 11, 2019 7:26 pm

footifan wrote:
spen666 wrote:Maybe a silly question, but this remark caught my eye... and was I think mentioned at last net cafe
. Additionally, two significant commercial opportunities that we budgeted for are yet to be received by the Football Club.
Why did it catch my eye?

It reads as though the commercial opportunities are still expected to happen and not been written off.

Any idea what these opportunities are?

Why should it worry you ?
Easier to comment on social media if you get more facts, presume that's why Spen lurks around here.

User avatar
Quaker85
Posts: 1028
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2018 7:38 am
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by Quaker85 » Mon Feb 11, 2019 8:04 pm

Contact the supporters group?

As I mentioned on the other thread, I did 3 times. All gone unanswered


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

OnTheTerraces
Posts: 147
Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2019 2:57 pm
Team Supported: Darlington
Location: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by OnTheTerraces » Mon Feb 11, 2019 8:15 pm

Tweet them

super_les_mcjannet
Posts: 5995
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2012 8:41 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by super_les_mcjannet » Mon Feb 11, 2019 8:19 pm

Quaker85 wrote:Contact the supporters group?

As I mentioned on the other thread, I did 3 times. All gone unanswered Image


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Did you contact Coles who offered?

DFCSG_Secretary
Posts: 58
Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 4:30 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by DFCSG_Secretary » Mon Feb 11, 2019 8:26 pm

Quaker85 wrote:Contact the supporters group?

As I mentioned on the other thread, I did 3 times. All gone unanswered Image


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hi Quaker85,

Neil checked after seeing your post on Uncovered & he hasn't got any unanswered emails at the moment. So for whatever reason your emails haven't been getting through to us. Please PM us on here or send an email to all of the below and we will get back to you.

membership@dfcsg.co.uk
chris.stockdale@dfcsg.co.uk
neil.raper@dfcsg.co.uk

User avatar
Quaker85
Posts: 1028
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2018 7:38 am
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by Quaker85 » Mon Feb 11, 2019 8:26 pm

super_les_mcjannet wrote:
Quaker85 wrote:Contact the supporters group?

As I mentioned on the other thread, I did 3 times. All gone unanswered Image


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Did you contact Coles who offered?
Ah no I missed that post for some reason.

Thanks for the heads up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

User avatar
don'tbuythesun
Posts: 2397
Joined: Mon Sep 13, 2010 12:24 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by don'tbuythesun » Mon Feb 11, 2019 9:02 pm

Hopefully you didn't miss the one above from the dfsg secretary with three options to choose from. As I've said before they are usually great at responding and really helpful. Let us know how you get on?

super_les_mcjannet
Posts: 5995
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2012 8:41 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by super_les_mcjannet » Mon Feb 11, 2019 9:45 pm

Really good update from the club, I would always like more detail but to be honest it's quite an open and honest review.

Would like to see more regular updates like this, and maybe some numbers to put into context certain elements. For example the creditor position has moved to a better situation but what does this mean in terms of numbers.

poppyfield
Posts: 1889
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2012 11:36 am
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by poppyfield » Mon Feb 11, 2019 10:21 pm

Not sure I like the idea of looking at the 500 club again, I know its a way to get early monies into the club, but its like re-mortgaging your house the debts still there, so just impact future seasons
I am a 500 club member and think I've still got another season to go (lost count) it just seems so long ago that the money raised then still impacts the club on a seasonal basis, but I am sure some will want extend again.
Help get the club back to Darlo by helping to spread the word about the "Back to Darlo!" fund. The image on the right will be constantly updated with the latest total so please feel free to use the image link below the thermometer on your own signatures, blogs, websites, etc.Image
Image link: http://www.mydarlo.co.uk/img/BTD-therm-350x100.jpg

Darlo_Pete
Posts: 14080
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2009 10:13 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by Darlo_Pete » Tue Feb 12, 2019 8:33 am

poppyfield wrote:Not sure I like the idea of looking at the 500 club again, I know its a way to get early monies into the club, but its like re-mortgaging your house the debts still there, so just impact future seasons
I am a 500 club member and think I've still got another season to go (lost count) it just seems so long ago that the money raised then still impacts the club on a seasonal basis, but I am sure some will want extend again.
Agree with this, I'm a 500 club member and there is still one more season to go after this one. A significant part of our financial problems is down to the club not getting any revenue from a major slice of our support. Yes re-doing the 500 club may resolve our immediate financial troubles, but it would just store up more problems in the near future.

spen666
Posts: 2296
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:12 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by spen666 » Tue Feb 12, 2019 8:52 am

Darlo_Pete wrote:
poppyfield wrote:Not sure I like the idea of looking at the 500 club again, I know its a way to get early monies into the club, but its like re-mortgaging your house the debts still there, so just impact future seasons
I am a 500 club member and think I've still got another season to go (lost count) it just seems so long ago that the money raised then still impacts the club on a seasonal basis, but I am sure some will want extend again.
Agree with this, I'm a 500 club member and there is still one more season to go after this one. A significant part of our financial problems is down to the club not getting any revenue from a major slice of our support. Yes re-doing the 500 club may resolve our immediate financial troubles, but it would just store up more problems in the near future.

Like you say, continuing to extend the 500 club period builds up future income shortfall, but the other side of it is that it plugs any current income shortfall.

If you do not extend the 500 club period, then how do you plug the financial shortfall in the short term? ie what is going to replace the income today that the 500 club would provide?

Once any business starts spending income related to a "future" period, then it becomes difficult to stop doing this. pulling forward income is usually (not always) masking current financial cash flow issues.

Darlo_Pete
Posts: 14080
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2009 10:13 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by Darlo_Pete » Tue Feb 12, 2019 9:02 am

spen666 wrote:
Darlo_Pete wrote:
poppyfield wrote:Not sure I like the idea of looking at the 500 club again, I know its a way to get early monies into the club, but its like re-mortgaging your house the debts still there, so just impact future seasons
I am a 500 club member and think I've still got another season to go (lost count) it just seems so long ago that the money raised then still impacts the club on a seasonal basis, but I am sure some will want extend again.
Agree with this, I'm a 500 club member and there is still one more season to go after this one. A significant part of our financial problems is down to the club not getting any revenue from a major slice of our support. Yes re-doing the 500 club may resolve our immediate financial troubles, but it would just store up more problems in the near future.

Like you say, continuing to extend the 500 club period builds up future income shortfall, but the other side of it is that it plugs any current income shortfall.

If you do not extend the 500 club period, then how do you plug the financial shortfall in the short term? ie what is going to replace the income today that the 500 club would provide?

Once any business starts spending income related to a "future" period, then it becomes difficult to stop doing this. pulling forward income is usually (not always) masking current financial cash flow issues.
I believe that most of the 500 club did not take up the extension proposed a year or two ago. So a lot of us will drop out at the end of next season, which will give a considerable boost to our finances from the start of the 20/21 season as we buy season tickets. So for the next year and a half it will be tough, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. If the club does want to start a new offer, perhaps they could limit the offer to a smaller number like 100 to 150 fans, so giving a short term boost to finances, but it won't cause so many problems in the future with reduced income.

Darlopartisan
Posts: 1738
Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2017 12:49 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by Darlopartisan » Tue Feb 12, 2019 9:06 am

spen666 wrote:
Darlo_Pete wrote:
poppyfield wrote:Not sure I like the idea of looking at the 500 club again, I know its a way to get early monies into the club, but its like re-mortgaging your house the debts still there, so just impact future seasons
I am a 500 club member and think I've still got another season to go (lost count) it just seems so long ago that the money raised then still impacts the club on a seasonal basis, but I am sure some will want extend again.
Agree with this, I'm a 500 club member and there is still one more season to go after this one. A significant part of our financial problems is down to the club not getting any revenue from a major slice of our support. Yes re-doing the 500 club may resolve our immediate financial troubles, but it would just store up more problems in the near future.

Like you say, continuing to extend the 500 club period builds up future income shortfall, but the other side of it is that it plugs any current income shortfall.

If you do not extend the 500 club period, then how do you plug the financial shortfall in the short term? ie what is going to replace the income today that the 500 club would provide?

Once any business starts spending income related to a "future" period, then it becomes difficult to stop doing this. pulling forward income is usually (not always) masking current financial cash flow issues.

I think the short fall could be achieved by more work been done around the season ticket ‘offer’ I am sure fans on here could come with imaginative ways to make it more of ‘a no brainer ‘ to get one.

spen666
Posts: 2296
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:12 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by spen666 » Tue Feb 12, 2019 9:14 am

Darlopartisan wrote:
spen666 wrote:
Darlo_Pete wrote:
poppyfield wrote:Not sure I like the idea of looking at the 500 club again, I know its a way to get early monies into the club, but its like re-mortgaging your house the debts still there, so just impact future seasons
I am a 500 club member and think I've still got another season to go (lost count) it just seems so long ago that the money raised then still impacts the club on a seasonal basis, but I am sure some will want extend again.
Agree with this, I'm a 500 club member and there is still one more season to go after this one. A significant part of our financial problems is down to the club not getting any revenue from a major slice of our support. Yes re-doing the 500 club may resolve our immediate financial troubles, but it would just store up more problems in the near future.

Like you say, continuing to extend the 500 club period builds up future income shortfall, but the other side of it is that it plugs any current income shortfall.

If you do not extend the 500 club period, then how do you plug the financial shortfall in the short term? ie what is going to replace the income today that the 500 club would provide?

Once any business starts spending income related to a "future" period, then it becomes difficult to stop doing this. pulling forward income is usually (not always) masking current financial cash flow issues.

I think the short fall could be achieved by more work been done around the season ticket ‘offer’ I am sure fans on here could come with imaginative ways to make it more of ‘a no brainer ‘ to get one.

Doesn't that have same problem?

I am assuming you mean the early season ticket scheme ( however, even normal time purchase has same problem) .

This just means money coming into business today & used to cover any current cash shortfall, but then leaves the club short of money this time next year. The cash can only be spent once.

The only way I can see of getting out of such a cycle is to increase income faster than expenditure - eg extra commercial income, increased gate income ( not simply earlier gate income), reduction in expenses. The latter is very hard to achieve without a detriment to the team.

Alternatively, the Euro millions is a big jackpot tonight....get buying tickets

User avatar
Quaker85
Posts: 1028
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2018 7:38 am
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by Quaker85 » Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:13 am

What were the terms of the original 500 club scheme?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

poppyfield
Posts: 1889
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2012 11:36 am
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by poppyfield » Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:55 am

Quaker85 wrote:What were the terms of the original 500 club scheme?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
you basically paid a lump sum and got a 5 year season ticket, the club got a wedge of money to help us through a period were we needed a good injection of cash at the time , this first offer expires in the 19/20 season, some members paid for a years extension, (not sure how many) the thing with 500 club it impacts on the normal sales of season tickets, which 500 club members would usually buy.
As I said before I am a member, and not sure extending again is the best way to go.
Help get the club back to Darlo by helping to spread the word about the "Back to Darlo!" fund. The image on the right will be constantly updated with the latest total so please feel free to use the image link below the thermometer on your own signatures, blogs, websites, etc.Image
Image link: http://www.mydarlo.co.uk/img/BTD-therm-350x100.jpg

User avatar
Spyman
Posts: 12643
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2009 10:04 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by Spyman » Tue Feb 12, 2019 11:01 am

You could always make the 500 club into the 100 club (I don't think there was 500 takers initially) and cut the number of people the offer is open to, therefore helping with short term funds while reducing the long term impact?
On Sunday April 29, 2012 at 10:25 pm, Darlo Cockney wrote:Sadly some people have nothing better to do that invent rumours.

We will be playing at the arena again next season - fact.

Quakerz - if you actually attended games and spoke to people you might actually find our facts, rather than spreading s*** on this board.

DC

OnTheTerraces
Posts: 147
Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2019 2:57 pm
Team Supported: Darlington
Location: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by OnTheTerraces » Tue Feb 12, 2019 11:17 am

i get the feeling there is going to have to be a point where we have a season where we have to cut the playing budget significantly to reign in these debts

H1987
Posts: 2073
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2016 4:14 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by H1987 » Tue Feb 12, 2019 11:39 am

It does feel like we're just kicking the can down the road a little. I'd prefer we move away from the 500 club model. I'm not sure I have a solution, but we can't just keep gambling for short term gain. It was probably right at the time, but i'm not entirely sure the one year extension was the right course of action either.

Reading up on it again, for the friendlies, does anyone think we should be giving the away fans more tickets in future? Sunderland sold their allocation, for example. I'd happily give them the ground, and just have Darlo in the tinshed & clubhouse next year. The same if we manage to get Boro or Newcastle in for a friendly. It was the home fans turn out that made the crowds disappointing, unfortunately.

We really, really need a cup run next year.

al_quaker
Posts: 5942
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 2:51 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by al_quaker » Tue Feb 12, 2019 11:48 am

Yes winning even a couple of FA cup games would help hugely.

I read 'limited extension to the 500 club' that there would be a maximum number of extensions possible. Which would limit the 'kicking of the can down the road', and cause our revenue potential to gradually increase from 2020/21 over the following few years.

OnTheTerraces
Posts: 147
Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2019 2:57 pm
Team Supported: Darlington
Location: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by OnTheTerraces » Tue Feb 12, 2019 12:10 pm

hopefully our new Finance Director has this issue of spending future income to plug gaps at the forefront of his mind. It has to stop.

super_les_mcjannet
Posts: 5995
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2012 8:41 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by super_les_mcjannet » Tue Feb 12, 2019 12:19 pm

The 500 club is about 350 people in reality, these currently have a staggered end at end of seasons 19/20, 20/21, 21/22 and also 25/26 I believe.

An extension of a limited number say 100 will just stagger the drop off, yes in theory it's spending today, future money - however do we want a hard fall on budget or a soft fall.

What's missing from the update is some future predictions in debt fall, 500 club drop off etc. I am sure they club have this and should all be built in to future plans. We should be working on at least a 5 year plan, and constantly updating/amending it as new variables or changes to variables take place.

Whatever happens we will have less 500 club members as of season 20/21 and in theory (doesn't always work like this), we should therefore have a nice graph somewhere that shows a steady revenue increase.

User avatar
divas
Posts: 13213
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 1:38 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by divas » Tue Feb 12, 2019 12:21 pm

H1987 wrote:It does feel like we're just kicking the can down the road a little. I'd prefer we move away from the 500 club model. I'm not sure I have a solution, but we can't just keep gambling for short term gain. It was probably right at the time, but i'm not entirely sure the one year extension was the right course of action either.
Playing devils advocate is there any difference to spending that income now rather than in 2/3/4 years? Maybe that extra spend this season has allowed us to stay in the NLN rather than get relegated. As it’s much easier to stop up than get promotion would it not be then considered a smart thing to do to have spent a little now to ensure we remain in the league rather than get relegated and then have the income in 2/3 years that still doesn’t get us up?

I agree that of course you want to be in a position where you don’t have to do this but every business needs some headroom in order to cover shortfalls. In the absence of donations this seems to be the strategic way the club has chosen to cover these

If anyone would like to make a donation to cover the shortfall this season then it would be welcomed with open arms. I’m sure they don’t WANT to have to do this.

User avatar
divas
Posts: 13213
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 1:38 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by divas » Tue Feb 12, 2019 12:24 pm

Darlopartisan wrote:
spen666 wrote:
Darlo_Pete wrote:
poppyfield wrote:Not sure I like the idea of looking at the 500 club again, I know its a way to get early monies into the club, but its like re-mortgaging your house the debts still there, so just impact future seasons
I am a 500 club member and think I've still got another season to go (lost count) it just seems so long ago that the money raised then still impacts the club on a seasonal basis, but I am sure some will want extend again.
Agree with this, I'm a 500 club member and there is still one more season to go after this one. A significant part of our financial problems is down to the club not getting any revenue from a major slice of our support. Yes re-doing the 500 club may resolve our immediate financial troubles, but it would just store up more problems in the near future.
Like you say, continuing to extend the 500 club period builds up future income shortfall, but the other side of it is that it plugs any current income shortfall.

If you do not extend the 500 club period, then how do you plug the financial shortfall in the short term? ie what is going to replace the income today that the 500 club would provide?

Once any business starts spending income related to a "future" period, then it becomes difficult to stop doing this. pulling forward income is usually (not always) masking current financial cash flow issues.

I think the short fall could be achieved by more work been done around the season ticket ‘offer’ I am sure fans on here could come with imaginative ways to make it more of ‘a no brainer ‘ to get one.
Selling more season tickets for a future season is still substitutionalising revenue we would have had next season, and you have to sell a damn site more to make the revenue that 20/30 500 club tickets would.

You’re also not going to get brand new fans buying season tickets so again if you did increase the number you’re just taking that off what you’d make on the day

User avatar
QuakerPete
Posts: 1196
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2009 11:51 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by QuakerPete » Tue Feb 12, 2019 12:40 pm

divas wrote:
H1987 wrote:It does feel like we're just kicking the can down the road a little. I'd prefer we move away from the 500 club model. I'm not sure I have a solution, but we can't just keep gambling for short term gain. It was probably right at the time, but i'm not entirely sure the one year extension was the right course of action either.
Playing devils advocate is there any difference to spending that income now rather than in 2/3/4 years? Maybe that extra spend this season has allowed us to stay in the NLN rather than get relegated. As it’s much easier to stop up than get promotion would it not be then considered a smart thing to do to have spent a little now to ensure we remain in the league rather than get relegated and then have the income in 2/3 years that still doesn’t get us up?

I agree that of course you want to be in a position where you don’t have to do this but every business needs some headroom in order to cover shortfalls. In the absence of donations this seems to be the strategic way the club has chosen to cover these

If anyone would like to make a donation to cover the shortfall this season then it would be welcomed with open arms. I’m sure they don’t WANT to have to do this.
Any progress on the on-line “donation” scheme for a match day ticket? Could even be extended for things like season tickets and fund-raising evenings (for those who can’t attend)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

User avatar
divas
Posts: 13213
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 1:38 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Post AGM update.

Post by divas » Tue Feb 12, 2019 1:01 pm

Sorry Pete, I did get the go ahead to set that up but having a few technical difficulties at the moment that I need a little bit of assistance with - I’ll try and get it resolved ASAP

In the meantime if anyone did want to make direct donation they can do so by sending it directly to the DFCSG who will then distribute to the club

30 84 43 sort code
30283268 account number

Post Reply