delia on anglia tv news tonight.......

[lucky green trainers 0]

she was outside ''yellows'' publicising its opening - holding a plate of burger and chips for the camera, the viewers were treated to the ''generating extra income for the football team'' mantra.  i could see she is genuinely trying her best for the club - but imo she''s selling city short now.for me, it smacked of too little, hopelessly too late - the boards policies might well make us a ''rich club'' in league 1 - but not in the champs anymore.  if NCFC can''t generate enough funds from 25000 full gates and ''extra income'' from restaurants and the like - to finance a competitive champs squad  capable of mounting a prem challenge (for me that''s the only criteria), then its clear more serious ways of generating funds for the clubs should be sought.after all, you''ve gotta sell burgers a plenty to get the likes of taylor here!!! 

[Smudger 0]

Really???

I am convinced that Delia can sell enough plates of steak & chips to see us survive and mount a late play-off challenge that will see us victoriously return to the Premiership by beating Ipswich 5-0 at Wembley.

I am so excited that I am dashing down to Carrow Road first thing tomorrow morning to get my ticket for the Scunthorpe game.... [:$]

[Canarygeorge 0]

Good post lgt.

She claims the catering facilities are turning over millions of pounds. Good. The magnificent city fans are filling Carrow road every home game. Fact. We''ve always been known for making a profit on buying and selling our best players. Fact.

I''ve only supported City since 1962 but i remember the dark days when we were lucky to get 1300-1400 fans and you could understand the the need to sell off the family silver.

I can see that the infrastructure is planning for the future but although we now have a brilliant stadium and training facilities they are at the cost of a competitive squad of players that us supporters and the supurb Glen Roeder deserve.

The Turners have been here a few months now, claim to be City fans but our decline seems to accellerated since they joined they board. We''ve never been so low in the 45 years i''ve supported City.

I dont blame Delia and Michael Wyn Jones they have saved the club when it could have gone under. Their biggest mistake was to  appoint that Scottish clown. Nuff said.

So to recap, We are making millions from catering, Filling the stadium, Making a profit on tranfers, And we''re up the creek without a pot to p*ss in. How come ?

Glen Roeder and the Brilliant fans deserve so much better.

Com''on Mr & Mrs Turner, if you are real fans put up or shut up !!!!!!! We need your money to keep us out the old 3rd division where i first saw Norwich at Rootes Hall Southend. We really dont want to go back there do we ?

Rant over!    

[Big Down Under 0]

I agree LGT. Restaurants and corporate hospitality are something all clubs do to raise additional funds, and we do it better than most, but it isn''t enough in this day and age by itself. Delia is doing all she can, she had retired from TV and books remember, but she is now back doing it. How much of that money will end up in the club coffers is anybodies guess, but I can''t see that being enough either. Full marks for her for doing what she does best in the interests of the club though. Anything is better than nothing.Maybe some of the other off the field activities will generate huge amounts, I don''t know (I doubt anybody on this board really knows). Without a rich benefactor / ''investor'' we won''t buy our way out of this league, and I don''t support this approach anyway. Delia and hubby aren''t rich enough, and the Turners don''t seem keen on just throwing money around (or just aren''t cash rich enough to). But they have supported the hiring of Roeder, he won''t be cheap, but I do believe he will keep us up this season. So we will remain a relatively debt-ridden Champs club rather than a relatively rich Lueague 1 club.Do you have money spinning ideas then LGT? Certainly some boards would develop a city centre ground to flats etc, take a huge profit, and move the club to an out of town area. Would you support that? Upping ticket prices? Closing the Academy?

[lucky green trainers 0]

[quote user="Big Down Under"]I agree LGT. Restaurants and corporate hospitality are something all clubs do to raise additional funds, and we do it better than most, but it isn''t enough in this day and age by itself. Delia is doing all she can, she had retired from TV and books remember, but she is now back doing it. How much of that money will end up in the club coffers is anybodies guess, but I can''t see that being enough either. Full marks for her for doing what she does best in the interests of the club though. Anything is better than nothing.Maybe some of the other off the field activities will generate huge amounts, I don''t know (I doubt anybody on this board really knows). Without a rich benefactor / ''investor'' we won''t buy our way out of this league, and I don''t support this approach anyway. Delia and hubby aren''t rich enough, and the Turners don''t seem keen on just throwing money around (or just aren''t cash rich enough to). But they have supported the hiring of Roeder, he won''t be cheap, but I do believe he will keep us up this season. So we will remain a relatively debt-ridden Champs club rather than a relatively rich Lueague 1 club.Do you have money spinning ideas then LGT? Certainly some boards would develop a city centre ground to flats etc, take a huge profit, and move the club to an out of town area. Would you support that? Upping ticket prices? Closing the Academy?[/quote]we had success 1 year from 10 through extra investment generated by the share issue.  that was then - now, i doubt if say £2m would be enough to hire the trio of hux, crouch and harper - the football world has moved on at a pace since.  regretfully, it seems that genuine investment from directors on a speculative basis is the only serious answer and model to follow.  sheff utd did it the year before last, and derby/sunderland last year.  sure, they may get relegated, but remain sufficiently rich enough to mount a serious promotion challenge.  when clubs like stoke, cardiff, hull and bristol city show more financial ambition than NCFC, its time to get worried - cos without the dosh, we may well be going to the place they came from - league 1!!!selling burgers ain''t enough and actually looks amatuerish - good effort andall that - but out of touch with the fantasy economics of football - where investors speculate without guarantee of return - rather like drilling for oil.  if the rewards are big enough, then some will have a punt - and obviously enough believe the rewards are big enough at the moment.  the board can wish it was different all they like - but it ain''t - and they need to act in the best interest of NCFC and get upto speed with reality pronto. 

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="canarygeorge"]

So to recap, We are making millions from catering, Filling the stadium, Making a profit on tranfers, And we''re up the creek without a pot to p*ss in. How come ?

[/quote]

Don''t confuse turning over millions of pounds with making millions of pounds - I doubt we make much, if anything, out of the catering jamborees, though there''s still plenty of mark-up on the half-time pies.

Sadly, hotels and renovated bars don''t make for championship winning sides.

[ricardo 7,385]

[quote user="lucky green trainers"][quote user="Big Down Under"]I agree LGT. Restaurants and corporate hospitality are something all clubs do to raise additional funds, and we do it better than most, but it isn''t enough in this day and age by itself. Delia is doing all she can, she had retired from TV and books remember, but she is now back doing it. How much of that money will end up in the club coffers is anybodies guess, but I can''t see that being enough either. Full marks for her for doing what she does best in the interests of the club though. Anything is better than nothing.

Maybe some of the other off the field activities will generate huge amounts, I don''t know (I doubt anybody on this board really knows).

Without a rich benefactor / ''investor'' we won''t buy our way out of this league, and I don''t support this approach anyway. Delia and hubby aren''t rich enough, and the Turners don''t seem keen on just throwing money around (or just aren''t cash rich enough to). But they have supported the hiring of Roeder, he won''t be cheap, but I do believe he will keep us up this season. So we will remain a relatively debt-ridden Champs club rather than a relatively rich Lueague 1 club.

Do you have money spinning ideas then LGT? Certainly some boards would develop a city centre ground to flats etc, take a huge profit, and move the club to an out of town area. Would you support that? Upping ticket prices? Closing the Academy?
[/quote]

we had success 1 year from 10 through extra investment generated by the share issue.  that was then - now, i doubt if say £2m would be enough to hire the trio of hux, crouch and harper - the football world has moved on at a pace since. 

regretfully, it seems that genuine investment from directors on a speculative basis is the only serious answer and model to follow.  sheff utd did it the year before last, and derby/sunderland last year.  sure, they may get relegated, but remain sufficiently rich enough to mount a serious promotion challenge. 

when clubs like stoke, cardiff, hull and bristol city show more financial ambition than NCFC, its time to get worried - cos without the dosh, we may well be going to the place they came from - league 1!!!

selling burgers ain''t enough and actually looks amatuerish - good effort andall that - but out of touch with the fantasy economics of football - where investors speculate without guarantee of return - rather like drilling for oil.  if the rewards are big enough, then some will have a punt - and obviously enough believe the rewards are big enough at the moment. 

the board can wish it was different all they like - but it ain''t - and they need to act in the best interest of NCFC and get upto speed with reality pronto. 
[/quote]

Dead right LGT.

The football world is moving on. We may not like everything about the way money has become the master of the sport but we need to get on board or get out of the way.

[First Wizard 0]

Far too little and far too bloody late!.[:@]

[Unlucky Fried Kitten 0]

[quote user="Smudger"]

Really???

I am convinced that Delia can sell enough plates of steak & chips to see us survive and mount a late play-off challenge that will see us victoriously return to the Premiership by beating Ipswich 5-0 at Wembley.

I am so excited that I am dashing down to Carrow Road first thing tomorrow morning to get my ticket for the Scunthorpe game.... [:$]

[/quote]

Nice positive post from you for a change, Smudge, lol.

[King Juan of Spain 0]

[quote user="Smudger"]

Really???

I am convinced that Delia can sell enough plates of steak & chips to see us survive and mount a late play-off challenge that will see us victoriously return to the Premiership by beating Ipswich 5-0 at Wembley.

I am so excited that I am dashing down to Carrow Road first thing tomorrow morning to get my ticket for the Scunthorpe game.... [:$]

[/quote]

Give us a shout if you need any instructions on how to buy a ticket as we know it''s not something you''re too familiar with, Smugger.

[Bryan Gunn 0]

[quote user="Mister Chops"][quote user="canarygeorge"]

So to recap, We are making millions from catering, Filling the stadium, Making a profit on tranfers, And we''re up the creek without a pot to p*ss in. How come ?

[/quote]

Don''t confuse turning over millions of pounds with making millions of pounds - I doubt we make much, if anything, out of the catering jamborees, though there''s still plenty of mark-up on the half-time pies.

Sadly, hotels and renovated bars don''t make for championship winning sides.

[/quote]

As a caterer, I''m afraid this is all to true. Margins in catering are notriously tight with most companies turning over very large sums of money but only making small profits. Delia''s does generate a large turnover but the Net profit is a drop in the ocean in football terms 

Arsenal have shown the revenue that can be generated from of having top class catering and hospitality to look after their corporate ticket holders. But what our board need to realise is that if the team is not up to standard then people won''t want to fork out on regular tickets let alone the ''premium'' ones who will use Delias catering. Our current high atendances are still riding on the interest generated from our promotion + premiership season. That will soon becomes ancient history and we''ll be left with 12,000-16,000 (on a good day) in the late nineties. Though i''m not a doom merchant and have every confidence Glenn will build a team capable of challenging for the Premier League soon

 

[still holding out for new heroes 0]

[quote user="Mister Chops"][quote user="canarygeorge"]

So to recap, We are making millions from catering, Filling the stadium, Making a profit on tranfers, And we''re up the creek without a pot to p*ss in. How come ?

[/quote]

Don''t confuse turning over millions of pounds with making millions of pounds - I doubt we make much, if anything, out of the catering jamborees, though there''s still plenty of mark-up on the half-time pies.

Sadly, hotels and renovated bars don''t make for championship winning sides.

[/quote]

Correct, its been reported somewhere this week (I think on Waggers site) that all that turnover translates into 500k profit (which in context is about 1/2 of what it cost us to have Taylor on loan) big whoop.

[a1canary 0]

[quote user="lucky green trainers"]regretfully, it seems that genuine investment from directors on a speculative basis is the only serious answer and model to follow.  sheff utd did it the year before last, and derby/sunderland last year.  sure, they may get relegated, but remain sufficiently rich enough to mount a serious promotion challenge.  when clubs like stoke, cardiff, hull and bristol city show more financial ambition than NCFC, its time to get worried - cos without the dosh, we may well be going to the place they came from - league 1!!! [/quote]Is it just me that sees a flaw in this? "Investment from directors on a specualtaive basis" - the only serious answer? Well in that case we''re all playing a big lottery game aren''t we, just waiting for our big sugar daddies to come along! What a pathetic existence. Lifelong fans with more money than sense. We''ve already go that in DS & MWJ, and they''re not good enough. We''re talking mega mega mega millions that someone is prepared to gamble with. Where are these people?  Is this what it has come down to? Hanging around waiting for the next Marcus Evans? As many have already pointed out, there''s a lot we don''t know about the motives of that man. Don''t get drawn in by the so called ''takeovers'' we''ve seen proposed at Saints, or go ahead at Ipswich and Coventry. SISU capital? Capital? Hello!! Do we want to be owned by a HEDGE FUND!!!? These have happened because the clubs are in desperate straits and becuase the men behind the takeovers see an oppotunity to  MAKE  MONEY out of the clubs.  Do we want that for NCFC? These takeovers are a million miles from what we''ve seen a Chelsea, Villa and so on. If we can create a club that is self-sufficient instead of creating monstrous, unsustainable money pits that head ever faster to financial oblivion - or the next Marcus Evans - then i''m all for it.

[Big Down Under 0]

regretfully, it seems that genuine investment from directors on a

speculative basis is the only serious answer and model to follow. 

sheff utd did it the year before last, and derby/sunderland last year. 

sure, they may get relegated, but remain sufficiently rich enough to

mount a serious promotion challenge.  when clubs like stoke,

cardiff, hull and bristol city show more financial ambition than NCFC,

its time to get worried - cos without the dosh, we may well be going to

the place they came from - league 1!!!LGT, firstly, ALL clubs sell burgers to raise money for the club, it certainly doesn''t make us look amateurish. With a household name for cooking on the board, it would be crazy to not use her for the catering PR. It generates profit, it generates good PR for the club, it really can''t be spun up as a negative! It won''t in itself generate enough money for us to buy our way oput of the league, and it isn''t all we do.LGT, lots of clubs have ''shown more financial ambition'' and have ended up in administration. Half the clubs in the football league since the start of the Premiership have been in administration. I have just gone into some details on another thread "Aah- Doom and Gloom''s long awaited return!" and presume it will get past the mods, so I won''t repeat myself here. I will just add there is a very, very serious risk involved in spending beyond your means, and if you look at what has/is happening at Cardiff you wouldn''t hold them up as a role model!Lastly, we have had genuine investment from our directors. Their major failing seems to be that they just aren''t rich enough to buy us into the premiership. If only we could find 5 local business people to pump in 5m each like Derby did last season. But we can''t so we have to move on.

[a1canary 0]

[quote user="lucky green trainers"]when clubs like stoke, cardiff, hull and bristol city show more financial ambition than NCFC, its time to get worried - cos without the dosh, we may well be going to the place they came from - league 1!!![/quote]Thankyou BDU, meant to mention this as well. Quite how anyone can hold up Cardiff as an example of how we want our club run is beyond me. I''ll give you the benefit of the doubt LGT and assume you''re not aware of what that baffoon dreamer Peter Ridsdale has done to Cardiff. I''ve said before on here he needs a restraining order keeping him at least 50 metres from any football boardroom in the country. Cardiff will be in adminstration by the end of the season. I can''t believe no-one heard the alarm bells down there when two of the players at Leeds during Ridsdale''s tenure turned up at Ninian Park. Even Leicester with Mandaric at the helm pulled out of neogtiations to sign Hasselbaink! And yet Ridsdale sanctions his arrival at Cardiff when his predecessor Sam Hammam just two years ago pleaded with fans to turn up to watch their games becuase their budget was based on average gates of 13,000 and they''re more like 11,000.  Is this what people call ''ambition''?

[Saint Canary 0]

[quote user="Big Down Under"]regretfully, it seems that genuine investment from directors on a speculative basis is the only serious answer and model to follow.  sheff utd did it the year before last, and derby/sunderland last year.  sure, they may get relegated, but remain sufficiently rich enough to mount a serious promotion challenge. 

when clubs like stoke, cardiff, hull and bristol city show more financial ambition than NCFC, its time to get worried - cos without the dosh, we may well be going to the place they came from - league 1!!!

LGT, firstly, ALL clubs sell burgers to raise money for the club, it certainly doesn''t make us look amateurish. With a household name for cooking on the board, it would be crazy to not use her for the catering PR. It generates profit, it generates good PR for the club, it really can''t be spun up as a negative! It won''t in itself generate enough money for us to buy our way oput of the league, and it isn''t all we do.

LGT, lots of clubs have ''shown more financial ambition'' and have ended up in administration. Half the clubs in the football league since the start of the Premiership have been in administration. I have just gone into some details on another thread "Aah- Doom and Gloom''s long awaited return!" and presume it will get past the mods, so I won''t repeat myself here. I will just add there is a very, very serious risk involved in spending beyond your means, and if you look at what has/is happening at Cardiff you wouldn''t hold them up as a role model!

Lastly, we have had genuine investment from our directors. Their major failing seems to be that they just aren''t rich enough to buy us into the premiership. If only we could find 5 local business people to pump in 5m each like Derby did last season. But we can''t so we have to move on.
[/quote]

I think the figure is 20 clubs in administration since 92 so it''s more like a third than half.  Having said that it''s still a lot.

This is a debate that has been running on for a long time and no doubt it will never really be put to bed.  To invest heavily or not in a bid to make the promised land of the Prem and all the cash that comes with it?  It requires a really long answer and I won''t do that but I will add a few points.  I totally back the "Prudence with Ambition" way of running a football, in todays football it makes sense.  I would not want to have to rely on a rich suger daddy to keep my club going and the board should commended for their ambition to make Norwich City a long term viable business by way of non football ventures. 

However, any plaudits the board get for their long term ambitions, they have to face some stark criticism for their overly prudent short term thinking and this is where our trouble has been.  I am not suggesting we should go out and spend millions we do not have in a desperate bid for one year of Premiership money.  We need to build a team over a number of seasons that can grow together, get us promoted and then keep us there.  Reading''s title winning team was not built in one close season.  We are not heading in this direction right now becuase we have seen far too much player turnover and quick fixes on the pitch in the last few years, some of this is down to managers spending money poorly but a lot of it has to do with not enough money being available.  Money cannot buy you success but it does help and no one can deny that our most sucessful season to date came on the back of some ambitous signings in the transfer market.  When we have spent money on players, it has largely paid off.  Huckerby, Ashton and Earnshaw being the 3 that spring to mind most.  Those signings were both prudent and ambitous and it is that mixture that will bring success. 

 I think that the board are well meaning but guilty of looking so far ahead they have taken their eyes of the now at times.

[blahblahblah 2]

[quote]I think the figure is 20 clubs in administration since 92 so it''s more like a third than half.  Having said that it''s still a lot.[/quote]from here :[quote]To do so would require the League to make an exception in its insolvency policy for Leeds, after standing firm on all the other 41 clubs which have collapsed into insolvency since 1992.[/quote]I think that there have been 2 or 3 since this was written too.

[a1canary 0]

I agree with your asessment Saint. I am watching Sunderland this year with interest. They have gone down the route of spending BIG, probably more than any club that has gone up in recent years, in a bid to survive that first season. The pressure on them now is enormous and began to show even with the new ice man of the dug outs, Mr Keane, at the weekend. I shudder to think what sort of a state they will be in if they go down, although i don''t know hwo their big aquisitions in the summer (gordon £9m, jones £6m, richardson £5m etc) were funded.As always it''s a fine line. If Shackell hadn''t conceded the penalty that led to Palace equalising in THAT 3-3 game in our Prem season, we could all be having very different conversations today and Worthy and City could have received all the plaudits for pulling off the impossible (with ambition and prudence!). I agree though that on balance we ''under'' stretched ourselves when we went up and should have gone all out for Ashton in the summer of 2004 for a start.

[lucky green trainers 0]

[quote user="a1canary"][quote user="lucky green trainers"]regretfully, it seems that genuine investment from directors on a speculative basis is the only serious answer and model to follow.  sheff utd did it the year before last, and derby/sunderland last year.  sure, they may get relegated, but remain sufficiently rich enough to mount a serious promotion challenge.  when clubs like stoke, cardiff, hull and bristol city show more financial ambition than NCFC, its time to get worried - cos without the dosh, we may well be going to the place they came from - league 1!!! [/quote]Is it just me that sees a flaw in this? "Investment from directors on a specualtaive basis" - the only serious answer? Well in that case we''re all playing a big lottery game aren''t we, just waiting for our big sugar daddies to come along! What a pathetic existence. Lifelong fans with more money than sense. We''ve already go that in DS & MWJ, and they''re not good enough. We''re talking mega mega mega millions that someone is prepared to gamble with. Where are these people?  Is this what it has come down to? Hanging around waiting for the next Marcus Evans? As many have already pointed out, there''s a lot we don''t know about the motives of that man. Don''t get drawn in by the so called ''takeovers'' we''ve seen proposed at Saints, or go ahead at Ipswich and Coventry. SISU capital? Capital? Hello!! Do we want to be owned by a HEDGE FUND!!!? These have happened because the clubs are in desperate straits and becuase the men behind the takeovers see an oppotunity to  MAKE  MONEY out of the clubs.  Do we want that for NCFC? These takeovers are a million miles from what we''ve seen a Chelsea, Villa and so on. If we can create a club that is self-sufficient instead of creating monstrous, unsustainable money pits that head ever faster to financial oblivion - or the next Marcus Evans - then i''m all for it. [/quote]noble A1 and i wholeheartedly agree that the twisted and warped reality of footy finances leaves nothing but a foul taste in the mouth - but if the board can''t generate cash to mount a serious prem challenge in these conditions - then in my eyes they are ''unfit for purpose.''  its absolutely nothing personal - my first loyalty is to NCFC, not the board of whatever ilk/creed.  no one writes the financial rules that governs the football world - they exist whether we like them or not - what is clear though, is that NCFC  ignores them at their peril.  it seems that traditional run clubs are increasingly just that - traditional and old age.    rage all you like about an unfair world - but sky/prem league and government have agreed that the market decides - and if entrants (including us billionaires) wish to enter and distort it for the locals then ''thats life'' by all accounts.btw - i don''t have sky - choosing to spend my dosh on ''live'' footy at carra rd - how many others reading this help to support the current economic fashions by subscribing to it??? 

[lucky green trainers 0]

[quote user="Saint Canary"]

[quote user="Big Down Under"]regretfully, it seems that genuine investment from directors on a speculative basis is the only serious answer and model to follow.  sheff utd did it the year before last, and derby/sunderland last year.  sure, they may get relegated, but remain sufficiently rich enough to mount a serious promotion challenge.  when clubs like stoke, cardiff, hull and bristol city show more financial ambition than NCFC, its time to get worried - cos without the dosh, we may well be going to the place they came from - league 1!!!LGT, firstly, ALL clubs sell burgers to raise money for the club, it certainly doesn''t make us look amateurish. With a household name for cooking on the board, it would be crazy to not use her for the catering PR. It generates profit, it generates good PR for the club, it really can''t be spun up as a negative! It won''t in itself generate enough money for us to buy our way oput of the league, and it isn''t all we do.LGT, lots of clubs have ''shown more financial ambition'' and have ended up in administration. Half the clubs in the football league since the start of the Premiership have been in administration. I have just gone into some details on another thread "Aah- Doom and Gloom''s long awaited return!" and presume it will get past the mods, so I won''t repeat myself here. I will just add there is a very, very serious risk involved in spending beyond your means, and if you look at what has/is happening at Cardiff you wouldn''t hold them up as a role model!Lastly, we have had genuine investment from our directors. Their major failing seems to be that they just aren''t rich enough to buy us into the premiership. If only we could find 5 local business people to pump in 5m each like Derby did last season. But we can''t so we have to move on. [/quote]

I think the figure is 20 clubs in administration since 92 so it''s more like a third than half.  Having said that it''s still a lot.

This is a debate that has been running on for a long time and no doubt it will never really be put to bed.  To invest heavily or not in a bid to make the promised land of the Prem and all the cash that comes with it?  It requires a really long answer and I won''t do that but I will add a few points.  I totally back the "Prudence with Ambition" way of running a football, in todays football it makes sense.  I would not want to have to rely on a rich suger daddy to keep my club going and the board should commended for their ambition to make Norwich City a long term viable business by way of non football ventures. 

However, any plaudits the board get for their long term ambitions, they have to face some stark criticism for their overly prudent short term thinking and this is where our trouble has been.  I am not suggesting we should go out and spend millions we do not have in a desperate bid for one year of Premiership money.  We need to build a team over a number of seasons that can grow together, get us promoted and then keep us there.  Reading''s title winning team was not built in one close season.  We are not heading in this direction right now becuase we have seen far too much player turnover and quick fixes on the pitch in the last few years, some of this is down to managers spending money poorly but a lot of it has to do with not enough money being available.  Money cannot buy you success but it does help and no one can deny that our most sucessful season to date came on the back of some ambitous signings in the transfer market.  When we have spent money on players, it has largely paid off.  Huckerby, Ashton and Earnshaw being the 3 that spring to mind most.  Those signings were both prudent and ambitous and it is that mixture that will bring success. 

 I think that the board are well meaning but guilty of looking so far ahead they have taken their eyes of the now at times.

[/quote]i''m sorry to say BDU that clubs don''t need to have 1 foot in the administratots briefcase to be taken over.  sure, delia bought out chase at such as stage, but this need not be.   with city''s catering third in the world - it seems delia can bring expertise into the club in her chosen field, but perhaps not always in terms of football.  mind you - chase reverted to type when as a builder, he couldn''t resist speculating on land around carra rd - and actually created a windfall for NCFC some years later.  however, again in terms of football - he let himself down maybe by penny-pinching in appointing deehan, and also not replacing gunn with a top goalie rather than drafting andy marshall in - result, we got relegated from the prem.saint - regretfully, re the reading model - i''m doubt if they got where they are by not investing above and beyond what the club could generate from support/players sales/burgers.  in any event - reading would have a tougher job already to gain promotion this year - the relegated teams from the prem now enjoy £15m chute payments, and as such they are able to field squads of genuine quality.  in other words - as each season go by, we are less competitive in terms of our spend.

[Carlos Valderrama 0]

[quote user="Bryan Gunn"][quote user="Mister Chops"][quote user="canarygeorge"]

So to recap, We are making millions from catering, Filling the stadium, Making a profit on tranfers, And we''re up the creek without a pot to p*ss in. How come ?

[/quote]

Don''t confuse turning over millions of pounds with making millions of pounds - I doubt we make much, if anything, out of the catering jamborees, though there''s still plenty of mark-up on the half-time pies.

Sadly, hotels and renovated bars don''t make for championship winning sides.

[/quote]

As a caterer, I''m afraid this is all to true. Margins in catering are notriously tight with most companies turning over very large sums of money but only making small profits. Delia''s does generate a large turnover but the Net profit is a drop in the ocean in football terms 

Arsenal have shown the revenue that can be generated from of having top class catering and hospitality to look after their corporate ticket holders. But what our board need to realise is that if the team is not up to standard then people won''t want to fork out on regular tickets let alone the ''premium'' ones who will use Delias catering. Our current high atendances are still riding on the interest generated from our promotion + premiership season. That will soon becomes ancient history and we''ll be left with 12,000-16,000 (on a good day) in the late nineties. Though i''m not a doom merchant and have every confidence Glenn will build a team capable of challenging for the Premier League soon

 

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Depends what end of the spectrum you are at mate.  I know of caterers who make very good profits from their respective business''.  Sometimes as much as 20% nett.  Now that isn''t bad if we can achieve a figure like that.

I agree with most of what had been written on here to an extent.  But lets not forget that facilities such as yellows don''t actually cost that much to set up.  And true they may not contribute much at the moment, but one day in the future they will be a tidy, profitable little asset.  We would be in total sh.street without the off field infastructure.

I agree though that serious outside investment is required for the playing side of things.  At this level very few have the serious money required, but the number of clubs with benefactors is increasing all the time.  Unless we address the issue within the next 2 seasons max. we will get left behind.

[Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB 1,023]

a1 - I see what you are saying re Sunderland but presumbaly if they do go down they can sell Gordon, Jones and Richardson etc, plus they will have the parachute money, who will we have to sell to bring in big bucks if we go down?.......

[Mello Yello 2,289]

[quote user="Sons of Boadicea"]a1 - I see what you are saying re Sunderland but presumbaly if they do go down they can sell Gordon, Jones and Richardson etc, plus they will have the parachute money, who will we have to sell to bring in big bucks if we go down?.......[/quote]

Our ''Lemon'' Souls?[:|]

[Big Down Under 0]

i''m sorry to say BDU that clubs don''t need to have 1 foot in the

administratots briefcase to be taken over.  sure, delia bought out

chase at such as stage, but this need not be.   with city''s catering

third in the world - it seems delia can bring expertise into the club

in her chosen field, but perhaps not always in terms of football.  mind

you - chase reverted to type when as a builder, he couldn''t resist

speculating on land around carra rd - and actually created a windfall

for NCFC some years later.  however, again in terms of football - he

let himself down maybe by penny-pinching in appointing deehan, and also

not replacing gunn with a top goalie rather than drafting andy marshall

in - result, we got relegated from the prem.saint -

regretfully, re the reading model - i''m doubt if they got where they

are by not investing above and beyond what the club could generate from

support/players sales/burgers.  in any event - reading would have a

tougher job already to gain promotion this year - the relegated teams

from the prem now enjoy £15m chute payments, and as such they are able

to field squads of genuine quality.  in other words - as each season go by, we are less competitive in terms of our spend.LGT, are you suggesting that our club would be a good investment because of the catering? Er, I don''t think so! To take us over, you would have to buy the debt (and as we are able to service it, it wouldn''t be a cheap buy like Evens at Ipswich) AND have money to put into the team. We are talking 30m plus to get a debt free club that will make you 500k pa profit from catering?. Evans will spend 20m on Ipswich, get 600k pa in dividends, be OWED 32m by the club, who knows what interest will be payable to him on that each year, and will control the club via his 3 seats on the board.Financial investors will only buy a club from which they can potentially make a huge profit. The easiest profit from our club would be to move the stadium out of town, and develop flats over the pitch and sell them. Then develop Colney. You don''t like Hotels? How about hotel/casino complexes? Our ticket prices aren''t currently expensive, they would be after a buy-out from someone purely interested in profit. And if they *do* get us to the Premiership? More money in their pocket and thanks very much!I agree with your other points. Reading were bankrolled by Madejsky but it still took years and years (he did buy them in 1990 as a Div 3 team), and yes it gets tougher every year. A cash rich investor who has the longterm interests of the club at heart IS a great way to go, but this isn''t as likely as you think. Until such a person can be found, if they exist, we will have to live with our current board and whatever profits they can generate.