Week 4 - Team Wilshere

by sodhat Fri 07 Dec 2012, 3:37 pm

Week 4

Myself and Lady Viva have this week won £100m on the Euromillions lottery. After much discussion, we have decided to keep £50m for personal use, and to use the remaining £50m for an exciting business opportunity.

We want to own our own football club, and take it to the Premier League. Your task is three-fold:

- Choose a current non-league team to takeover, giving consideration to the fans, the town, and the history of the club;
- Plot our future course - stadium improvements, fan buy-in, sponsorship deals, player purchases, promotion planning etc;
- Come up with a club ethos - how will our club be known around the world in its principles and style? Factor in expectation of the players, the media, playing and coaching styles etc

Remember to cost up all your parts of the submission so we know how you're spending our money.

I realise this could be a HUGE task, so I will take that into account if you don't write 6 pages of text.

The winner will be the team that comes up with the more exciting portfolio. From the losing team, one of you will be fired.

Team Wilshere:
Soddy - CAPTAIN
Marky

by sodhat Fri 07 Dec 2012, 3:37 pm

Before anything else Marky - do we want Afro to participate?

by sodhat Fri 07 Dec 2012, 3:39 pm

2nd thing, initial thoughts on clubs.

We want one that:

a) Has a catchment area, and no real huge rivals nearby
b) Has a stadium in a relatively undeveloped area so we can easily expand as necessary
c) Is in the conference north/south at least, so we don't have a million years to realise our goal

by sodhat Fri 07 Dec 2012, 3:45 pm

How about Chelmsford City F.C.?

Firstly it's a city, which is kind of nice, and secondly:

The urban area of the city currently has a population of approximately 120,000,[1] whilst the district has a population of 169,500, however this is thought to be rapidly increasing on a year-by-year basis with many people from Essex and the London borders re-locating to the city.

So it seems to be growing and fans aren't spoilt for choice unless they wish to commute to London to see West Ham, Arsenal, Spurs etc. Which isn't cheap, believe me.

The stadium is poo, and not really for football, but there is a great deal of greenfields around the area so we could probably look into developing a home for them not too far away.

They are Conference South, and finished 6th last year so clearly not a bad side. That gives something to build on.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Fri 07 Dec 2012, 3:49 pm

#playtheStokewayifyouwantsuccess ghost

by Marky Fri 07 Dec 2012, 4:10 pm

Afro can help if he wants.

My suggestion is Darlington 1883 FC.

a) A big catchment area, seeing as the original Darlington FC went bust recently. Middlesbrough is the nearest big side, and that's about 16 miles away, if the style of football is good and the prices are right, we would be able to attract the floating fans.

b) It has a very new 25,000 capacity stadium on the outskirts of Darlington, a fortune would be saved on redevelopment with more money to be spent on players and staff.

c) The only flaw. Darlington 1883 are down in the Northern League Division 1, which is the 9th tier. Having said that, it's a higher level than AFC Wimbledon began, it's only 2 leagues below Conference North, and Darlington 1883 is the FA recognised continuation of the old Darlington FC, so there's already a fanbase, with plenty of history in the Football League, and I don't believe any traditions that weren't already ruined by the owners who overspent would be compromised by our input.

Thoughts?

by Marky Fri 07 Dec 2012, 4:13 pm

I thought Chelmsford when I first read the task, but thought it would be in too much competition with West Ham. Although having said that, Google Maps suggests there's pretty much no local side nearby.

by sodhat Fri 07 Dec 2012, 4:34 pm

Darlington is an equally good shout. They are up north in a fairly depressed economic area though, so would we be confident we could get the people with cash in?

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Fri 07 Dec 2012, 4:40 pm

People will always flock to see a football team, gives them something to live for

by sodhat Fri 07 Dec 2012, 4:49 pm

That's a little depressing...

Darlo have the stadium which saves us money I suppose. I would have set around £15m aside for a 10k seater to be expanded as we grow (e.g. Colchester's new stadium's rough costs, and the same basic ideas).

I wonder whether Chelmsford is a more attractive prospect for marketing though. Being Essex, in a relatively prosperous area, and with obvious marketing routes.

by Marky Fri 07 Dec 2012, 4:58 pm

Marketing depends on what businesses are nearby rather than where in the country you are. You could argue Truro City would be a worthwhile investment and use the Cornish Pasty Company as advertising!

Norwich City - Colemans Mustard another example.

If this was a few years ago I'd have said Crawley Town, decent catchment area and near a large international airport, only someone beat us to it!

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Fri 07 Dec 2012, 5:04 pm

Lets face it the further away from Essex you get the better really.

And that Colchester stadium is right next to the motorway its been placed in a fooking ridiculous place and isnt even that good. Darlo's stadium is miles better

by sodhat Fri 07 Dec 2012, 5:08 pm

That's true, but it's also reasonable to assume that there would be more businesses in a city not too far removed from London.

My gut says Chelmsford is the better option. I don't want to discount Darlo, but I reckon players would rather play in Chelmsford, sponsorship would be easier and the town is growing.

There are clubs inland if fans want to go to London, which is a concern of course. And Darlo have the stadium to save us money.

Maybe we should let Afro have the deciding vote?

by sodhat Fri 07 Dec 2012, 5:09 pm

Grant Holt V2 wrote:Lets face it the further away from Essex you get the better really.

And that Colchester stadium is right next to the motorway its been placed in a fooking ridiculous place and isnt even that good. Darlo's stadium is miles better

Bitter East Anglian. The Colchester stadium is in a weird place, but that's irrelevant to us because we'd steal the design ideals not the location.

by Marky Fri 07 Dec 2012, 5:12 pm

As much as I despite them, what about Luton Town?

One of the biggest non-league sides out there, big fanbase, already making the most of their proximity to Luton Airport with their Easyjet sponsorship and the fans would arguably accept success over maintaining traditions.

Stadium could do with relocating and something nicer going up, Kennilworth Road is a proper dump.

by Marky Fri 07 Dec 2012, 5:14 pm

One option is to franchise Chelmsford to Darlington Whistle

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Fri 07 Dec 2012, 5:44 pm

Franchise Dover to Darlington please Laugh

by Marky Fri 07 Dec 2012, 6:28 pm

"We all follow the Crawley, over land and sea, AND DOVER!"

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Fri 07 Dec 2012, 6:38 pm

If you guys need a hand give me a shout Ok!

by Marky Fri 07 Dec 2012, 7:22 pm

sodhat wrote:That's true, but it's also reasonable to assume that there would be more businesses in a city not too far removed from London.

My gut says Chelmsford is the better option. I don't want to discount Darlo, but I reckon players would rather play in Chelmsford, sponsorship would be easier and the town is growing.

There are clubs inland if fans want to go to London, which is a concern of course. And Darlo have the stadium to save us money.

Maybe we should let Afro have the deciding vote?

I'm actually torn between the two. I think if their circumstances were combined, and we had a City in the south with a Conference South team, big fanbase and a 25k capacity stadium we'd be onto a real winner Laugh

Advantages of Chelmsford City
Growing City
Lagre catchment area
Decent fanbase
Currently at Step 6
Disadvantages of Chelmsford City
New Stadium urgently needed for progression

Advantages of Darlington
25k capacity stadium
Decent catchment area
Good sized fanbase
Plenty of history
Disadvantages of Darlington
Down at Step 9

(While i'm at it)
Advantages of Luton Town
One of the highest placed non league sides (near top of Step 5)
Large fanbase
Plenty of history in the top flight
Already using the local airport to gain sponsorship
Disadvantages of Luton Town
It's a dump
They're not a traditional non league side
New stadium required, although not urgently

I'm undecided but while its a shame to waste Darlo's stadium, i'm leaning towards Chelmsford. What I will say is that we should include the debate over which club we choose in our submission, to show we've actually thought about which club is best to do rather than just going with the first option.

But I ultimately agree with your idea of Chelmsford City.

by sodhat Fri 07 Dec 2012, 8:00 pm

If you are happy then we can get going!

These are the tasks:

- Choose a current non-league team to takeover, giving consideration to the fans, the town, and the history of the club;
- Plot our future course - stadium improvements, fan buy-in, sponsorship deals, player purchases, promotion planning etc;
- Come up with a club ethos - how will our club be known around the world in its principles and style? Factor in expectation of the players, the media, playing and coaching styles etc

I guess we have already done number one with our debate which I can just trim down and copy more or less.

So we have the other two to split between us. Rather than foist one on you (because I was insistent on Chelmsford), which would be your preference as a task?

I will take the other once you have selected and we have loadsa time to get them done.

by sodhat Fri 07 Dec 2012, 8:01 pm

And Olly - thanks for the offer of help. I'd take you up on it, but Lord Azzy mentioned only Afro and GSC as possible helpers and so if we took you on and took your advice he may count it against us as some sort of treason.

by Marky Fri 07 Dec 2012, 8:04 pm

Well we did task 1 together, I don't see why we can't both work on task 2 then in the week both work on task 3.

Two heads are better than one.

by **Afro** Fri 07 Dec 2012, 8:17 pm

Evening gents. You seem to be doing well without my help, but should you want it, my help is there. Just tell me anything you want me to do Ok!

I'll keep my opinion to a minimum unless it is requested.

by Marky Fri 07 Dec 2012, 8:20 pm

Cool

Sodhat, if you'd prefer us to take a task each, i'll choose the future course one.

by sodhat Fri 07 Dec 2012, 10:15 pm

We can work together - it's a team game after all

by Marky Sat 08 Dec 2012, 9:32 am

- Plot our future course - stadium improvements, fan buy-in, sponsorship deals, player purchases, promotion planning etc;

Stadium: you suggested Colchester's as a template, any others we could potentially use?
Fan buy-in: would the fans buy into the idea of being taken over by a multi millionaire? There would be plenty of skeptics at first, so something like regular open forums/Q&A sessions would help keep their mind at ease and get them on board, show them we're honest and open.
Sponsorship deals: if there are any local based national/international companies they'd be ideal, worth Googling.
Player purchases: emulate Crawley Town somewhat, attracting very good players from League 2 or BSP with the higher wages we can now offer, and with them being of a League 2 standard they're superior to BSS players but also used to lower league football.
Promotion planning: 3 year promotion plan to League 2, if not manager out. Happy to retain current manager until he fails rather than rock the boat too much. This involves 2 promotions in 3 seasons. It would be naïve to plan too far ahead but if all went well, first year in League 2 would be consolidation before progression.

by Marky Sat 08 Dec 2012, 11:31 am

We'd also need to ensure we mention going full time/professional, as Chelmsford will be part time currently.

by sodhat Sat 08 Dec 2012, 11:40 am

Britvic has a huge plant in chelmsford, so we could look to them?

I also checked out Doncaster's new stadium cost but it was a lot more, so I reckon 15m with potential to expand as we need to is best to start with.

by Marky Sun 09 Dec 2012, 11:42 am

Stadium templates (Club - Name - Cost - Capacity):

Colchester United - Colchester Community Stadium - £14m - 10,000 (potential to increase to 18,000)
Rotherham United - New York Stadium - £20m - 12,000 (potential for unspecified increase)
Morecambe - Globe Arena - unspecified - 6,500 (potential for increase)
Doncaster Rovers - Keepmoat Stadium - £32m - 15,000 (potential to increase to 25,000)
Chesterfield - B2Net/Proact Stadium - £13m - 10,500

by Marky Sun 09 Dec 2012, 12:39 pm

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britvic

by **Afro** Mon 10 Dec 2012, 9:12 am

If you need me to do anything, then PM me Ok!

by sodhat Mon 10 Dec 2012, 9:26 am

Good stuff Marky

With Colchester being so geographically close to Chelmsford we could make the case that we used the same contractor and got the same price on the stadium...

Fan buy-in: Q&A is a good idea. There are other things we can do, like family days with the club, loyalty schemes, ticket deals, arranging travel for away days. One thing I am always taught in dealing with stakeholders is to keep them involved in the direction you're going, albeit just letting them know what the plans are mostly. So we should probably have a website and/or newsletter thing updated with information.

Player purchases: Agree that we go for higher level players. Maybe try and find some gems from local youth football, of which there are plenty.

Promotion planning: So we have 3 years to get two promotions, which is achievable I reckon. Momentum seems to carry more weight down the divisions. Ideally we want to go up at the first attempt but if we can't I think we have to give the manager at least two seasons to move us up one division, with promotion to League 2 in season 3 a must.

by sodhat Mon 10 Dec 2012, 3:20 pm

Come up with a club ethos - how will our club be known around the world in its principles and style? Factor in expectation of the players, the media, playing and coaching styles etc

I guess we want to play good football, but is it sustainable down the leagues - you know more than me there!

We would presumably also want to be a fairly fashionable club, and we can play on the Essex connection there. As well as being a growing city, I guess we would be looking to draw young fans in to the club perhaps with setting up an academy and instilling a coaching ethos throughout all levels of the club?

by Marky Mon 10 Dec 2012, 10:34 pm

You'd know more about the local area than me, being an Essexonian and all.

Another thing about the Fan Buy-in is "Kids for a quid", usually works well for lower league clubs, 0-4 Free, 5-13 £1, 14-21 £6, Adults (22+) £12, OAP's (65+) £6.

Playing style, you need to find the right balance. If you go for passing possession and technically skilled football, you'll be vulnerable to rubbish pitches and players who are happy to give you a good kicking, almost Stoke v Arsenal on a cabbage field on a weekly basis. We'd need to find the right balance between good stylish football and a good physically and mentally strong side.

Weekly emails/newsletters is a good idea, it keeps the fans in the loop and promotes future fixtures.

One thing I didn't factor in is the proximity of Braintree Town FC, as a BSP side they're potentially using the same catchment area to build a base on. We'd need to make sure we were offering them something that makes them want to return.

by Marky Wed 12 Dec 2012, 7:04 am

Come up with a club ethos - how will our club be known around the world in its principles and style? Factor in expectation of the players, the media, playing and coaching styles etc

We will be known for playing good football but with the ability to get stuck in when necessary, when we are in control we keep the ball, tire out the opposition with our tidy possession and close control, but if we are chasing the game or if the conditions don't allow for that style of football (which is often the case with non-league football) we can adapt in personnel and style to ensure we get the win. In the early seasons, results are more important than style then we can build solid foundations once we are a League side.

The players will be expected to perform week in, week out, going undefeated is a very unlikely and unrealistic demand so we wont be panicking if and when the blip comes along, but we would be signing players with the goal of promotion in mind, so if they don't perform they won't be kept on. One way to keep the players focused is to only offer one year contracts, from experience of non-league football, players on one year deals work hard all the way to the end of the season when they need to earn themselves another year's contract, their real life comes into it when there is a threat of unemployment/relocation. It's common knowledge that players on a two year deal at that level can rest on their laurels and as a result their performance levels can sub-consciously drop towards the end of a season if they have the following year secured. Obviously the exception to the rule is if we have a supremely talented player on our books.

The coaching.management staff's expectation will be to ensure the team are playing good honest football, no urgency to play "tippy-tappy" football, but we would also not expect "hoofball". The right balance will bring the right results and would also keep the fans coming in. There is a difference between the long ball, and a long pass. One is played by any old footballer, the other was made famous by the likes of Hoddle, Beckham and Scholes. There is also a primary objective to achieve promotion, while we would prefer this to be done in our preferred style, the realism is we would accept promotion in the wrong way than non-promotion in the right way.

The media would be expecting us to win promotion. Tags such as "moneybags" and "the Man City of non-league" would be applied to our club and it would be a bigger news story if we lose than if we win. The media would also be constantly speculating, whether it's players linked with our club or speculation regarding the manager's position, stuff like this would be a hurdle but a hurdle we can overcome if the owners ignore the media speculation and allow the management to work to the best of their abilities.

(It looks like i've done loads, but I was up since half 4 with the kids so had to do something!)

by sodhat Wed 12 Dec 2012, 9:25 am

Top stuff Marky!

I don't see I can add much to that so I reckon I can take the above as it is, because I agree with it all.

I can get the rest of the stuff together and submit this tomorrow I think.

by Marky Wed 12 Dec 2012, 9:28 am

Nice one. Let me know if you need an opinion on anything else thumbsup

by Marky Wed 12 Dec 2012, 9:28 am

Actually one more thing we might need is a list of transfer targets, or do we just say we'll trust the manager to choose transfer targets?

by sodhat Wed 12 Dec 2012, 9:30 am

Rather than a list of players I think a general ethos of what we would buy may help.

I guess a mix of young talented footballers and some experienced heads from higher up the leagues?

by Marky Wed 12 Dec 2012, 9:36 am

Sounds good, if you elaborated on that a bit then I think that would be sufficient.

by sodhat Thu 13 Dec 2012, 12:15 pm

This is where I'm at with the presentation. What do you think? Happy to push on with this?

Spoiler:

by Marky Thu 13 Dec 2012, 12:29 pm

Brilliant. If there's nothing more to add, we might as well post it now.

by **Afro** Thu 13 Dec 2012, 12:31 pm

Looks really good lads Ok!

Great work clap

by sodhat Thu 13 Dec 2012, 12:38 pm

Thanks Afro

Posted Marky, it's been a pleasure

by Marky Thu 13 Dec 2012, 12:39 pm

sodhat wrote:Thanks Afro

Posted Marky, it's been a pleasure

Until we lose Whistle

by sodhat Thu 13 Dec 2012, 12:40 pm

Yeah, then you're under the bus my son!

by Marky Thu 13 Dec 2012, 12:48 pm

Bring it bitch boxing

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