East_Stand_Al Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 What is the purpose of the bucket collection? Doesnt sound too promising for the Well Society if we are having to resort to methods like this to fund it It's part of an ongoing fund raising initiative, there is a quiz night next Friday also. The Society has a financial target so the more opportunities we take to raise money the quicker we get to the goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 What is the purpose of the bucket collection? Doesnt sound too promising for the Well Society if we are having to resort to methods like this to fund it I would imagine its to raise funds. Surely income from any legal source is to be welcomed? A pound raised from a bucket collection is just as important as one raised from a donation/race night or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobey_Dosser Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 Well worth saving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_P Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 Went along last night. Quite an odd night on reflection. It bumbled along in much the same way as most AGM's do. Thanks offered. Election of new board member undertaken. Financials discussed. Membership levels advised. Discussion of future events and the questions posed how to take the WS forward then.... ...BOOM we got the show-stopper news of a fairly major change of strategy from the club who will now begin to actively seek external investment. My immediate was that this was a sign the game was perhaps up for the WS fan ownership model. Over the course of the remainder of the meeting the WS board and Derek Weir attempted to offer re-assurance that isn't the case, but I find it a little difficult to shake off the view that the importance of the WS in the overall club strategy has been downgraded given the slow pace of uptake. Essentially, going by what Weir said, the club still want the WS model to work. They still want full fan ownership. But having got just 30% or whatever towards that goal in close to 2 years they realise it isn't something that is going to happen soon. Having got feelers that there are people willing to invest in the club directly but not through the WS, they've decided to look at that avenue as the likes of Killie and Dundee Utd have done previously for finance in the more immediate term. What they say they will make clear however is any investor will be fully briefed that they are still working towards fan ownership in the longer term and so any investment they make should be made with that knowledge. In other words they aren't going to give someone a majority shareholding in return for money or anything like that. The role for the WS in that intervening period until the £1.5m is reached? Well life goes on as normal it seems. The attempts to attract more supporters and businesses into the WS continues. The attempts to build on the money raised goes on unchanged. The reasons for seeking additional capital from Derek Weir seemed sound enough. The safeguards he talked of and the commitment to the WS in the longer term seemed fair enough too. As for the WS response though, the "we only really found about it on Wednesday and haven't discussed it as a board yet" remark from the WS board before Derek Weir began to intervene and offer the club's perspective seemed a bit rabbit caught in the headlights like. More to come in the days, weeks and months ahead clearly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobey_Dosser Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 Sounds like promising news to me. Really hope Derek Weir is about to play a prominent role in the running of the club. Without knowing the ins and out of the Kilmarnock and Dundee Utd restructuring, there is still investors out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweed Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 I think the other thing that was mentioned about the Kilmarnock and Dundee Utd models were that the money that was invested by the business community was to clear the debt and put them on an even keel. Derek Weir said that if we were able to attract the same sort of investment that would be put directly into the playing budget as we don't have the bank debt. What was really interesting was that Weir implied he didn't believe we would have a league sponsor next year because the brand was seen as toxic because of what was going on in Glasgow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toxteth O'Grady Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 Thanks Andy and Tweed for the reports. Did anyone from the WS comment on the departure of Leeann and the appointment of Flow as her replacement? And what sort of turn out was there? Also, what are the current membership levels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoF Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 But having got just 30% or whatever towards that goal in close to 2 years they realise it isn't something that is going to happen soon. I imagine the biggest chunk of that 30% was secured in the first 6 months or so and the rest has trickled in. I'm ever the optimist, especially when it comes to MFC, but at that rate I simply can't see how we will ever reach the target. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joewarkfanclub Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 Mmm. Not sure what to make of that. I wasnt able to make a commitment to WS initially because of the cost of the initial outlay. However, with the offer of the monthly payment scheme I decided to take up a membership. I had hoped others would be similarly encouraged and we could have seen the scheme kick on. Be interesting to see how this develops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burn_Broomfield Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 I'm glad the board has seemingly decided to seek outside investment as that will be what will safeguard our immediate future as a Club. The WS has reached it's ceiling and I think everyone has been disappointed at the relatively low take up of the more expensive options. From a personal point of view, when it comes to the more expensive personal memberships and the business memberships, I would much rather be investing that type of cash directly into the club in the form of private shares as opposed to a WS membership. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Diggle Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 I think the other thing that was mentioned about the Kilmarnock and Dundee Utd models were that the money that was invested by the business community was to clear the debt and put them on an even keel. Derek Weir said that if we were able to attract the same sort of investment that would be put directly into the playing budget as we don't have the bank debt. What was really interesting was that Weir implied he didn't believe we would have a league sponsor next year because the brand was seen as toxic because of what was going on in Glasgow. If that final statement is the case then it really is quite stunning that football people from other clubs haven't been more vocal about pushing for more decisiveness from the authorities. As an aside I also heard from someone connected to the situation at Hearts that the current 11-1 voting at SPFL will never be removed as too many of the better supported clubs (particularly Aberdeen & Hearts) will never risk the voting in of gate sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_P Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 Thanks Andy and Tweed for the reports. Did anyone from the WS comment on the departure of Leeann and the appointment of Flow as her replacement? And what sort of turn out was there? Also, what are the current membership levels? There was formal thanks given and noted for Dempster's efforts but no direct discussion of her departure. And a welcome for Burrows (who was present at the meeting as a WS member). I'm not that great at guessing numbers but certainly the room (it was held in the Millennium Suite) seemed pretty full. I imagine the biggest chunk of that 30% was secured in the first 6 months or so and the rest has trickled in. I'm ever the optimist, especially when it comes to MFC, but at that rate I simply can't see how we will ever reach the target. Mmm. Not sure what to make of that. I wasnt able to make a commitment to WS initially because of the cost of the initial outlay. However, with the offer of the monthly payment scheme I decided to take up a membership. I had hoped others would be similarly encouraged and we could have seen the scheme kick on. Be interesting to see how this develops. On the numbers front can't remember if it was on the screen or announced but I scribbled down that we currently have 1271 members with 79 having joined since the payment options were revised earlier this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Pepper Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 Since we aren't entirely sure when we have the full amount to purchase the shares in the club, couldn't the society purchase just 51% of the shares in the club and leave the remaining 49% to external investors. Still means the fans would have a say on the board and it gives investors something back for their money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 As for the WS response though, the "we only really found about it on Wednesday and haven't discussed it as a board yet" remark from the WS board before Derek Weir began to intervene and offer the club's perspective seemed a bit rabbit caught in the headlights like. considering that the first objective of the society is to obtain fan ownership it puts them in a bit of a pickle. can they continue to give our money to directors who aren't committed to the society's goals/ i've missed the last few society meetings because i came to the conclusion that weir and co were only looking for a cash float and were not serious about fan ownership. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 Pity there wasn't a way to listen in as I have a lot of questions about that model. On the surface it seems they want investment from folks that won't be part of the WS, but will never lead to control of the club. I doubt there are many wealthy individuals who would want to donate in return for no control, so there must be something I'm missing here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 killie have sold their hotel and done a deal with their bankers and all united have done is have some fans buy their debt and give them more favourable terms. It's hard to see what MFC have to offer a rich benefactor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_P Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 considering that the first objective of the society is to obtain fan ownership it puts them in a bit of a pickle. can they continue to give our money to directors who aren't committed to the society's goals/ i've missed the last few society meetings because i came to the conclusion that weir and co were only looking for a cash float and were not serious about fan ownership. Well I can only take Weir at his word and he stated and repeated that it remained Boyle's wish that the fan ownership model succeeded and this was the route the board wanted to continue to go down too. I've no reason to doubt that. But certainly at the same time it's fairly obvious that even with less than a third of the funds required for full ownership the WS remains a very attractive option for MFC when times are tight. Indeed a considerable loan made this season is due to be repaid shortly. Personally though for me that was always going to be one of the ways the WS could assist the club and I've no issues with that at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_P Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 killie have sold their hotel and done a deal with their bankers and all united have done is have some fans buy their debt and give them more favourable terms. It's hard to see what MFC have to offer a rich benefactor. Another example was cited where an investor could take a percentage of a transfer fee of an academy player's transfer fee in return for more immediate investment. I suppose any such arrangement would come down to a variety of factors, not least the people looking to invest and the sums involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweed Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 considering that the first objective of the society is to obtain fan ownership it puts them in a bit of a pickle. can they continue to give our money to directors who aren't committed to the society's goals/ i've missed the last few society meetings because i came to the conclusion that weir and co were only looking for a cash float and were not serious about fan ownership. I don't think there was anything that has changed the Society's objectives, the only thing is that the club are going to try and obtain other investments in the short to medium term. However, Weir said it would be made clear to any investor, the objective remains fan ownership. I'd never come across Weir before but he seemed to be a shrewd cookie and it seems that there is a lack of trust in the business community about a direct investment in the society and the club are going to try and exploit that in the meantime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatcalf Posted May 7, 2014 Report Share Posted May 7, 2014 If that final statement is the case then it really is quite stunning that football people from other clubs haven't been more vocal about pushing for more decisiveness from the authorities. As an aside I also heard from someone connected to the situation at Hearts that the current 11-1 voting at SPFL will never be removed as too many of the better supported clubs (particularly Aberdeen & Hearts) will never risk the voting in of gate sharing. Baistard, that's that plan scuppered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NottsMFC Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 From Evening Times It's high Society for Well re-launch THE Well Society hope to hit their £800,000 cash target in four months as they prepare to launch a new campaign to attract more members to the Steelmen cause. Despite several years of on-field success, finances are still tight at Fir Park and the Society stepped in last season to loan the club £230,000, just 12 months after £150,000 was ploughed in to help Well through a cash flow shortage.Despite several years of on-field success, finances are still tight at Fir Park and the Society stepped in last season to loan the club £230,000, just 12 months after £150,000 was ploughed in to help Well through a cash flow shortage. The group, made up of fans, have raised just over half the funds they require to acquire a majority stake in the club as former chairman John Boyle looks to hand over his shares to the supporters. Boss Stuart McCall led his side to second place in the Premiership last term, once again clinching European football this season, but the club still reported a six-figure financial loss. And the Well Society are now set to up their efforts to attract more members and money as they attempt to play their part in ensuring a bright future at Fir Park. A statement read: "The Well Society board is finalising plans for an imminent new campaign to raise money as we strive to reach the target set by the club. "A steering group has been formed to look into various ways of supplementing membership income as we seek to hit the £800,000 mark by the end of November. "This is being operated by board members Robert Montgomery, Brian McCafferty and Tom Feeley, who are liaising closely with Motherwell Football Club. "The group is working on fresh ways of raising money such as soft loans and donations from Motherwell-minded business people and others who support the idea of community ownership. "Graham Barnstaple has temporarily stepped back from his role as chairman because of work and family commitments. "Graham will still be involved in the society and remains committed to its goals but is unable devote the time necessary to lead efforts at the moment. Brian McCafferty will act as chairman for the time being. "Other board members and volunteers are continuing to work on recruitment, fund-raising events, communications/publicity and membership participation." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toxteth O'Grady Posted July 15, 2014 Report Share Posted July 15, 2014 A new agreement with Motherwell FC allows the Well Society to keep more of the renewal fees - the club will now only receive the cost of the benefits taken up and the rest of the renewal fees will go towards the fan ownership fund. http://www.thewellsociety.co.uk/category/news/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mic2904 Posted July 15, 2014 Report Share Posted July 15, 2014 I still think the WS will struggle to hit the target. Not that I want to and I personally went as far as I was able to, but 800k is a massive target to reach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EightSixteen Posted July 15, 2014 Report Share Posted July 15, 2014 What do folk reckon of Barnstable taking a back seat on our final push for the 800k? Shat the bed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazilian Posted July 15, 2014 Report Share Posted July 15, 2014 No Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.