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The Well Society


stuwell
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Aye, it's the time factor that is the issue for most. That's the problem - unless there is some way to split the load we are always going to end up with people who have nothing better to do.

 

I never see Barnstaple on here - it would be a good start if some of our views were being solicited. I know we don't represent the entire membership, but I think we have a pretty good cross section.

 

He's lurkin on here now weeyin.....

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But you two make a valid point regarding there being a wide range of views, some of whom won't feel represented. How the society gets round that is, I'm glad to say, not my problem...

 

As far as I understand it, you go to a meeting and voice your suggestions/concerns/opinions. If not possible you write to Alison or a board member or a fellow society member and ask them to act as a proxy and communicate it on your behalf. Alternative is you come on a forum and poke holes/cry conspiracies.

 

I joined the society last year and I am glad I did as I could afford it and it is something the club I love asked me to consider to invest in the future. However before joining I was very sceptical that we had a big enough fanbase with the means to provide the Society with the money required to function. Sadly 17 months down the line nothing much has changed on that front. I hope the board of the society do have the skills, contacts and initiative to bring the money we require home but I have a deep underlying fear no matter how good a job they do the capital required just isn't there. I hope I'm proved wrong and I have no regrets in investing and I have no bones about the make up of the board I'm just concerned that the concept, whilst good in principal can only work where there is a bigger audience.

 

Totally agree with Tweed on this one, a defining missing element was a decent number of £25,000 business' signing up, which looks like its being addressed with a new approach. Combine that with the club's reliance on the 3,000-4,000 core support, yet again milking the easy targets.

 

We have a further 3-5k regular but lapsed attenders from past 10-15 years plus a further 5k occasional "fair weather" fans and 10k of people who would identify with the club but would only attend cup finals etc. Add to that the the disinterested/disenfranchised/newly arrived in the area and those who wouldn't consider the club unless they are engaged directly in the local area (Bellshill/Motherwell/Wishaw and outlying towns) minus the hardened old firm fans = 50k more. These people are harder to get involved but importantly, its a new revenue stream not a well tested and tired one.

 

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I joined the society last year and I am glad I did as I could afford it and it is something the club I love asked me to consider to invest in the future. However before joining I was very sceptical that we had a big enough fanbase with the means to provide the Society with the money required to function. Sadly 17 months down the line nothing much has changed on that front. I hope the board of the society do have the skills, contacts and initiative to bring the money we require home but I have a deep underlying fear no matter how good a job they do the capital required just isn't there. I hope I'm proved wrong and I have no regrets in investing and I have no bones about the make up of the board I'm just concerned that the concept, whilst good in principal can only work where there is a bigger audience.

 

The corporate memberships are definitely something we are lacking. I also think we missed a trick by not putting some scheme in place where we could contribute in increments individually until we hit the next level. There was a fair jump from the 300 quid level to the next one. I might be an exception seeing as I'm not buying a season ticket etc. these days, but I wouldn't mind contributing a bit extra when I had it if I knew it was being added to the funds. And even if it took me another 10 years to reach, at least it would be something to aim for.

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1372895407[/url]' post='388250']

The corporate memberships are definitely something we are lacking. I also think we missed a trick by not putting some scheme in place where we could contribute in increments individually until we hit the next level. There was a fair jump from the 300 quid level to the next one. I might be an exception seeing as I'm not buying a season ticket etc. these days, but I wouldn't mind contributing a bit extra when I had it if I knew it was being added to the funds. And even if it took me another 10 years to reach, at least it would be something to aim for.

 

Doubt you are in the minority there with that proposal, the very point was raised and noted by the board. Given there is no requirement to pay annual subscriptions I'd like to see this progressed as a viable revenue stream.

 

 

 

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To be honest, you can wrap it up in whatever packaging you like- what 'Well Society members are essentially doing is making a donation. The benefits don't, and shouldn't, come close to being worth the money (the only satisfaction I've had for my £350 to date is ticking a wee "No" box on a bit of paper) so it's unfair to make guys who haven't signed up feel guilty, especially during this charmed existence of having European trips to pay for every year during a recession.

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As sombody who was involved with local supporters branches and the Motherwell supporters association many years ago, ( Yes i dealt with Martin Rose) i found that the people who are active in these various committees are judged on their actions and what they achieve for their members. The same is true now with the supporters trust and now the Well society.

Personally i never signed up to the WS as i was not convinced of its merits at the time, but i may join this year. The people who are active in the WS give their time and effort, and if they are seen to be doing a good job in representing the fans views and interests, then this may encourage others to sign up, ie will the fans views be heard and considered by the board when making any decisions relevant to them.

 

The WS and the people who have been elected to manage it on behalf of the members will be judged on their actions and achievements in getting the fans views heard and respected, so if they do this well then i would not grudge any of them a jolly to Nyon.

 

However if the general concensus from the members is that the WS is a bit of a talking shop, offering no real benefits, whether financial or influence on club policy regarding fans issues etc then its elected officials will be viewed differently. In this scenario the WS chairman going off on a jolly to Nyon may be viewed as a bit too cosy and taking the benefits for doing nothing .

 

But it is down to the WS members to stand up and be counted, only they have the power to remove officials from office if they consider them to be failing in their obligations.

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Doubt you are in the minority there with that proposal, the very point was raised and noted by the board. Given there is no requirement to pay annual subscriptions I'd like to see this progressed as a viable revenue stream.

 

 

Aye, I read the email from the Society after I posted this and saw that idea had been floated. Glad they are giving it some consideration.

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Just got my Goals of the Season DVD in the post today, and to be fair it seems nicely done. Haven't had any time to do anything other than skim through it so far, but if I was to be really fussy I'd probably rather they'd spent the time putting a caption on each goal (or at least on each game) than on putting together the montage sequences at the beginning and end. I know how much time and effort it takes to put these sorts of things together at all though, though, so can't really complain :)

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With Boyle's 73% stake due to be gifted to the Well Society if they can raise the £1.5m needed to convince the main shareholder that there will be sufficient reserves in the bank to cope with difficult trading periods, Dempster is well placed to comment on fan ownership.

 

she obviously didn't explain it very clearly to the guy from the herald either

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Was just wondering if there is anyone reading this message board who is a motherwell diehard who still hasn't signed up to the well society?

I know things are tight finacially for a lot of us at the moment but if you can manage to sign up or get your kids to sign up that would be fantastic.

Is there other ways the well society can raise funds?Say prize draws or collection tins at the kiosks.

I still need to get my second son signed up which I am going to do fairly soon. Every little helps

Every new motherwell player should be made to become a member when they sign. With £100 taken off there wages in the first three months. Would be good gesture from the players.

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Was just wondering if there is anyone reading this message board who is a motherwell diehard who still hasn't signed up to the well society?

I know things are tight finacially for a lot of us at the moment but if you can manage to sign up or get your kids to sign up that would be fantastic.

Is there other ways the well society can raise funds?Say prize draws or collection tins at the kiosks.

I still need to get my second son signed up which I am going to do fairly soon. Every little helps

Every new motherwell player should be made to become a member when they sign. With £100 taken off there wages in the first three months. Would be good gesture from the players.

 

I haven't joined the Society, and have no plans to.

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If it had a chance of working, I'd have reluctantly invested.

 

Depends what you mean by 'working'. I don't have the need for a season ticket, so put my money into the Society. Not under any illusions of owning the club, but because I understand the need to have a cash float that the banks are unwilling to fund.

 

Don't have any problem with people not joining, though - just a choice that worked for me as an ex-pat.

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It's each to their own isn't it?

 

For me though the aim still has merit for two main reasons.

 

When it boils down to it there is no one else really interested in taking ownership of the club? How long was Boyle looking to offload it before he decided to go down the fan ownership route? We had the butcher guy Adams who passed away who was credited with an interest and the guy Coakley whose aims, whatever they might have been, seemed to cause Boyle to step back from a deal. But who else really in all the time since we came out of administration?

 

And perhaps more pressingly as we work towards full ownership we are providing the club with a financial safety net along the way that wouldn't ordinarily be there through regular banking methods.

 

There is obviously a desire to keep the plan bubbling away but I think it's going to be a long long road until we get there. That said I'm happy enough that in principle the second part there is working nicely if the ultimate aim of ownership may be crawling along.

 

I personally think the average supporter is a resource that can only be tapped for so much for so long so the guy trying to entice businesses to get involved has perhaps a critical role in how quickly the sums required are reached.

 

But yeah for me its still worthwhile to get involved if you can.

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For me, it's because im just genuinely not interested in getting involved in that side of things. I like going to the football on a Saturday (or whichever day it happens to be) to watch my team...and that's where it starts and stops for me. I don't want to know how the club is run, don't want to be involved in any of the non-matchday stuff, it genuinely wouldn't bother me if I didn't even know who Leeane Dempster is, let alone what she thought about things...and that's not a slur on her at all, I happen to think she's doing a great job...but If her opinions and aims weren't put out there in front of me in a way i can't really ignore...then I wouldn't seek to find out what they were. If it wasn't for the internet and this forum, I probably wouldn't even know who our Chief Executive was, and I genuinely wouldn't care.

 

Much the same as I'd enjoy a film less if I was privvy to budgets, re-takes, the monotony of editing etc, then i'd never be able to just sit and watch a film for what it was...if I was privvy to any behind the scenes football stuff, then it would destroy what watching football is for me. It's my escapism from the rest of the week and my chance to just switch off and not think about anything else for an hour and a half. Then it finishes and I go home...im not interested in it being more than that because i'd lose more than I gained in terms of football's role in my life.

 

Football is my Wizard of Oz...and im not interested in pulling back the curtain to find out it's just an old guy with a microphone.

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Interesting to find put different supporter views. It seems it is going to take a long time to convince enough people to join so that our club can have a more stable future. Personally there are various ways this can happen. We as supporters can stump up for the well society to give our club a safety buffer in times of unexpected expense.

our club could charge more for season tickets, food, programmes, MFCTV and the like and use that extra money to build a financial buffer.

If the club sold a player, which is rare these days a percentage of the money should be ring fenced as a financial buffer as should any money earned from progression in any cup competitions.

A consortium of local business people could invest together to build a financial buffer.Or all of the above.

The problem in football is nothing is set in stone and all we can do is to support the club in which every way we choose.The main thing is we support the club.

The well society in my opinion is a good thing for our club and has raised in the region of 400 grand. The more members of the well society and the more people we can get to support our club means a better future all round.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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For me, it's because im just genuinely not interested in getting involved in that side of things. I like going to the football on a Saturday (or whichever day it happens to be) to watch my team...and that's where it starts and stops for me. I don't want to know how the club is run, don't want to be involved in any of the non-matchday stuff, it genuinely wouldn't bother me if I didn't even know who Leeane Dempster is, let along what she thought about things...and that's not a slur on her at all, I happen to think she's doing a great job...but If her opinions and aims weren't put out there in front of me in a way i can't really ignore...then I wouldn't seek to find out what they were. If it wasn't for the internet and this forum, I probably wouldn't even know who our Chief Executive was, and I genuinely wouldn't care.

 

Much the same as I'd enjoy a film less if I was privvy to budgets, re-takes, the monotony of editing etc, then i'd never be able to just sit and watch a film for what it was...if I was privvy to any behind the scenes football stuff, then it would destroy what watching football is for me. It's my escapism from the rest of the week and my chance to just switch off and not think about anything else for an hour and a half. Then it finishes and I go home...im not interested in it being more than that because i'd lose more than I gained in terms of football's role in my life.

 

Football is my Wizard of Oz...and im not interested in pulling back the curtain to find out it's just an old guy with a microphone.

Excellent post

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Maybe, but to be honest it's really Board Members that are privy to those details.

 

There is no obligation to participate in any Society activities if you pay your dues any more than you are obliged to attend public meetings regarding the future of the BBC because you own a TV Licence.

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