We all know what is needed and that’s to contribute more to the club. It’s not rocket science. However, statements like “stepping up to the plate” are rather crude. Fact is though watching a Division 4 club is expensive enough as it is. I think you are dreaming if you think fans in Newport can pay another £30 per month on top, plus many already contribute to the lottery and sub draw.newgroundrodney wrote:What we needed was for the fans of the club to step up to the plate financially. What we needed is what I said all along, "1500 fans donating £30 a month"... trouble is, it was not focused on at the TIME. There was too much emphasis on the buying of shares, and not enough emphasis on the monthly donation ongoing. Many thought, and still do, that joining The Trust for a tenner is doing their bit. Joining the Trust gets you your right to vote & attend certain meetings, that's it. What ELSE will you do for the club? In a time when simply buying tickets and a bit of merchandise is not enough, we need fans who are willing to cough up monthly.
We have an average home fans figure of just over 3100..... now, as I've said before, around half of those will be children, seniors, students, low paid & unemployed, but the other half, the "financially able" half, have not stepped forward.
To paraphrase Chris Blight: "it's easier to ask 1500 people for £30 a month, than to ask one man for £500k"....and he is absolutely right.
For whatever reason, the fans who ARE able, have not been willing......and in a way, why should they, when you think of what we've been told:
... " there'll be much more transparency going forward, and we know we've fallen short on this so far. It will improve".....
... " you'll get more say on a range of issues"
... " there'll be regular meetings"....
...." there'll be regular updates ".....
If we ditch the model, we'll get even less say.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, we need a packaged monthly payment scheme to include Trust Membership, Match Ticket & Benefits & rewards donation. When we have that, perhaps we'll get the money we need monthly.
Those who wish to buy their Season Ticket up front could still do so.
For me the above applies regardless of who / how the club is run.