Should supporters have to pay again?

[Rustyboy 2]

I would like to know what everyone else thinks about the club asking shareholders not to cash in their shares.

Should we still have to put money in the transfer fund now we are in the Premier league? I wonder how many City players have purchased shares from the bonus paid to them?

[Mcsncfcmcs 0]

Not being a shareholder myself, I admit my comments might be off the mark. But personally I have no problem at all with it. It''s easy to say "now we are in the Prem" etc but just being in it for one year doesn''t solve much financially (particularly with the large projected losses for the last financial year). And of course the whole point is that while your revenue goes up consderably in the Prem, your outgoings go up just as much as well.

There is always a myth ready and waiting in the wings for supporters to claim that there is money available but the Board won''t spend it, rather than accepting that the money we have spent is all the money we can afford.

No fan wants to see us spend money we haven''t got, particularly in an attempt to stay up, which would be in no way guaranteed even if we did spend some money on a striker in January. So there are then two alternatives. One is just to sit back and accept things. The other is to work hard to find ways to raise extra money.

So I''ve no problem with it. At least the Board are trying to do something positive and constructive (and they are prepared to put in as well) rather than shrugging their shoulders and saying there is no more money so we have to accept our limitations. If you are a shareholder and you want the money then fair enough, you''ve supported the club in the past. But I''m sure most will be only to happy to see money which they haven''t actually got yet going back into the club they love to raise more cash for the transfer kitty. Like I said, at the least the Board are given fans the option to directly help the playing budget.

[nottingham nick 0]

I have some shares and to be honest didn''t ever expect anything back.

I subscribed to both share offers as a way of contributing something to the club that I have supported for the last 10 years.

The shares were not brought as a cash investment but really in the future of the club.

So I do not intend to cash them in. In fact I was delighted to have actually received any dividend.

I am not a season ticket holder so see shares as a way to support the club.

Nick

[pieman01 0]

I don''t mean to sound funny about this and please don''t take this the wrong way but as a supporter, I''m a bit fed up with being asked to fork out every few months.

Aside from the cost of my and my wifes ticket - of which we can only get 3 a year - in the last year alone I''ve bought shares, got a brick on the wall, pay for membership, receive Canaryworld, booked my honeymoon through Norwich City Travel, taken my folks for lunch at Delias, bought 3 shirts, 2 DVDs as well as foam hands, flags and mechandising by the bucketload.

Of course I''m not going to redeem my shares and I''m going to send the dividend back.

But where will it all end? There''s got to be something wrong if despite all the sky money, all the cash coming in through a championship season, we''re still scrabbling around like a wino looking for coppers every few months.

I don''t mind helping out - I suspect none of us does - but I simply don''t have that much more to give. And - worse still - it doesn''t feel that the considerable amount of cash (by my standards) I''m spending is making the blindest bit of difference.

I know the club is doing its best but I can''t help feeling I''ve been wrung dry by the club. And that''s at a time when I can only get to see 3 home games a year.

Oh well, rant over. Time to get the chequebook out again... :-(

[sxcanaree 0]

Please can someone read what the club are saying in their comments - it is not that the club is skint simply that they have to manage within the rules. - In the prospectus for the first share issue the club intimated that they had a three to five year goal of getting promoted to the premiership - and guaranteed a bonus payment on the preference shares if they achieved this by June 2007.

In 2003 the Annual report stated that whilst the "dividends had been provided on the preference shares...these would not become payable until the company has generated sufficient realised reserves" -

ie until they have some cash they were not paying the 4% interest on the preference shares and  we are budgeting to pay out in three years time...

The problem is that they achieved Promotion in two seasons which causes as much of a problem as actually not achieving the target - they now not only have the cash to pay the deferred dividend and the standard dividend for 2004 but also the bonus is now payable. A nice problem but a problem nonetheless!

The club is simply a victim of their own success and should not be criticised for this, they now have the cash and whether we want it or not are paying it to us - they are also acting prudently in advising anyone who wants to cash in their B shares that they have the right so to do until 1/10. The club don''t want you to do it but you have the right to sell.

What this thread should be about is "Is anyone selling and why?!" I''m not selling mine. Is anyone selling theirs?

OTBC

P.S. I''m thinking of donating the cash dividend to the supporters trust to buy shares and grow the fans ownership in the club....