steelboy Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 Go on then surprise me ? The guys that sit next to me on a Saturday Weir, Wilson and McMahon are all lifelong Motherwell fans who are on the board because they have business experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 We are looking at another administration or any owner we can find at the moment. All this goes back to 2011/12 season were we went from making £500,000 or thereabouts to losing £600,000 the next season. That's over a million pounds difference in a season. Fans often make running a football club sound simpler than it is but that was a financial catastrophe, an inept failure in budgeting. I'd be amazed if we didn't make another loss last season and this season will be worse still. The club needs to be completely restructured in the close season, hopefully outwith an administration scenario but with the information at hand you have to say it looks more likely than not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 The mistake was agreeing to the prize money for second place being redistributed when we were favourites to finish second. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelman1991 Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 The mistake was agreeing to the prize money for second place being redistributed when we were favourites to finish second. Surely wasn't just us that agreed to that steelboy - and our disagreement I don't think would have changed the outcome, but that decision noble though it was didn't do us any favours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 Surely wasn't just us that agreed to that steelboy - and our disagreement I don't think would have changed the outcome, but that decision noble though it was didn't do us any favours. Well Celtic didn't want their share reduced and it wasn't. It must have took a unaminous vote to change the split midseason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 Surely wasn't just us that agreed to that steelboy - and our disagreement I don't think would have changed the outcome, but that decision noble though it was didn't do us any favours. Surely if we were due a certain amount in bonus money and were legally obliged to pay out a certain amount in bonus money we should have ensured that we at least didn't loss any money in the eventual deal. This was a substantial amount, not just money we could wave away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoF Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 The mistake was agreeing to the prize money for second place being redistributed when we were favourites to finish second. Well Celtic didn't want their share reduced and it wasn't. It must have took a unaminous vote to change the split midseason. Considering we were still sitting 3rd in February I'm not sure how you can say we were favourites to finish 2nd. That said, the 3rd place prize money stayed the same and all the rest went up by just 0.5%. I have no idea why Motherwell voted for it when they would only gain 0.5% should they finish below 3rd. Can only assume spl politics played it's part. Edit: It would be interesting to know when the vote actually took place. I suppose the earlier in the season, the Motherwell had to gain as we were something of an unknown quantity until the end of November. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 Considering we were still sitting 3rd in February I'm not sure how you can say we were favourites to finish 2nd. That said, the 3rd place prize money stayed the same and all the rest went up by just 0.5%. I have no idea why Motherwell voted for it when they would only gain 0.5% should they finish below 3rd. Can only assume spl politics played it's part. I seem to remember the club saying after the vote that it was in their longer term interests to up the prize money across other positions because (obviously) they will finish not 2nd a lot more often than they will finish 2nd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobey_Dosser Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 Albeit, it was a 1 year agreement... So the email on Sunday was written by the society and not the club. Indeed Motherwell have distanced themselves from it a little on twitter - despite the letter being signed by the Board. Therefore, the club may not have such an averse reaction to the prospect of 3rd party interest as portrayed in the letter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WellSoc Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 A brief update - Tonight's meeting lasted about two and a half hours, lots of questions asked as you can imagine. Some people pledged money beforehand, some people pledged money afterwards, some went home to think about it, others were more sceptical. Different means of providing loans to the club were mentioned and different conditions were suggested. There is another meeting on Friday which will be crucial. Just a few short points for clarity - the email was written by the Well Society rather than the club. The club is not in immediate financial danger - they have just paid back the Well Society loan after getting in the rest of the SPFL prize money from last season. Every detail of the background financial situation was in the club statement in May. What's changed in recent weeks is that £800kMIGHT not be enough to give the club financial security in the second half of the season (remember that £150k of the total raised was spent on a share purchase). But that's going on the worst-case scenario. And obviously that we are weeks from the deadline and that means that the situation has become critical. Clearly some fans don't like the idea of the Well Society and/or fan ownership in general. At the moment though we firmly believe there is no better option in the pipeline. That's why we are continuing to push for the Well Society to succeed. I'd imagine everyone who joined the Well Society, by the very act of giving their money, wants what is best for the club. Obviously the WS board and other volunteers have been tasked with securing a majority shareholding if possible but no-one would continue to blindly chase that goal if it was to the detriment of the club or if they felt there was a better option. No matter how much time/effort/money people have spent on trying to succeed, the future of MFC will always be more important. Here's the Well Society statement from earlier in case anyone missed it As we stated a couple of times in the past few weeks, we have been holding a number of meetings with individuals and the club over the future ownership and financial stability of the club. The background to these talks is as follows. As everyone knows, we were given until the end of November to raise £800,000 to keep the prospect of fan ownership viable, the ultimatum coming in a club statement released in May. We realised that we would probably need a major input of cash and were – and still are – in talks with someone over a soft loan that would ensure we not only reached the total, but hopefully a higher total that would trigger the transfer of John Boyle’s majority shareholding to the Well Society. However, earlier this month we were given new information that means we MIGHT need more money to underpin the club’s finances should we assume control. Given we are very nearly at the cut-off point, we needed to act quickly to make sure that the club remains in the hands of Motherwell fans– there are no guarantees that will be the case if the Well Society does not reach the funds required by the end of November. One of the main points of the Well Society has always been to ensure that the club remains in the hands of the community – as expressed in our statement in May, for example. To do this, we contacted several Motherwell fans and Well Society members whom we felt would be willing and able to help the club through any potential difficulties in the second half of the season by way of a loan. Having been given some encouragement, we decided to open there quest out to more people and push for a deal that can provide financial security for the club and guarantee the club remains in the hands of Motherwell supporters. The prospect of selling shares to fans, should the Well Society assume a 75% stake, was also discussed and remains a potential option,but given we do not have the shares and given the need for quick action, we decided to keep it simple and seek contributions to a joint loan. However, we know that some fans would prefer to own shares than become Well Society members so that remains a further potential source of cash for the club. There is a meeting tonight which we invited certain people to, but anyone who can provide cash is obviously extremely welcome to attend.After much discussion, the appeal was not published publicly, but if the emergence of the email in an online forum encourages fans to attend and pledge money then all the better. We realise that some fans might be concerned by the email but the financial situation outlined was previously explained by the club in its statement in May. The reason for the ultimatum was that the club needed financial security after recent annual losses – this obviously remains the case. And, naturally, the way the season has gone so far means that some more money than first envisaged MIGHT be needed. In short, the Well Society board is committed to helping the club towards financial stability and keeping the ownership of the club in the hands of Motherwell fans – those have always been the main goals and they are guiding the way we approach these talks. There are more talks planned on Friday as well as tonight and we will provide an update as soon as we can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelmaninOZ Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 A brief update - Thanks for the update Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fergi4 Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Is anyone holding SPFL to account for failure to attract sponsorship? Surely this would have significant difference to the revenues? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfc Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 agreed about the failure to attract sponsorship how doncaster is still in a job is beyond me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fergi4 Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 agreed about the failure to attract sponsorship how doncaster is still in a job is beyond me. It's mad, strategy to hold out until they get a deal they like while clubs are desperate for income. If the options are not attractive, then 1 year at a time...and Motherwell are good with 1 yr deals, so all they have to do is ask Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StipeIsGod Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Thanks for the update Yes. Thank you for updating us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelmaninOZ Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 From today's Herald http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/mcfadden-the-ghost-from-seasons-past-returns-with-a-chance-to-haunt-old-club-motherwe.25739101 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1991 Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 I really can't see why anyone would invest in the society or club at this time. I love the club as much as everyone else but I fear if the season does not improve and the worst happens Administration is inevitable if we manage to survive and stay in SPL the club's financial position will be in a far worse place than they are just now so what no doubt require another loan which takes the society backward again. I hope the society prove me wrong and is a success but to me it will be a constant plea to fans for cash as the club finances continue to decline Sorry for the negativity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StipeIsGod Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 If the club's not in imminent financial danger, I'm far from pleased with the letter from the society and what now feels like an attempt to hold us to ransom to achieve their goal of fan ownership. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobey_Dosser Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 If the club's not in imminent financial danger, I'm far from pleased with the letter from the society and what now feels like an attempt to hold us to ransom to achieve their goal of fan ownership. Yeah, sigh of relief that the desperation is not coming from the club. The confusion was unfortunate. It would appear that the goalposts for the society have been moved significantly, possibly due to a poor run of firm on the park - which underlines why an over-reliance funded backing is such a precarious predicament to be in. Now we are back to the original plan of seeing where we are at the end of November and finding out what the clubs model is. Personally I'm not in favour of business takeover being facilitated by debt. Particularly a football club with limited revenue streams. In my opinion, commitment to repayments would strangle any future growth of the club over the next 5 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inthebasement Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 We realise that some fans might be concerned by the email but the financial situation outlined was previously explained by the club in its statement in May. The reason for the ultimatum was that the club needed financial security after recent annual losses – this obviously remains the case. And, naturally, the way the season has gone so far means that some more money than first envisaged MIGHT be needed. In short, the Well Society board is committed to helping the club towards financial stability and keeping the ownership of the club in the hands of Motherwell fans – those have always been the main goals and they are guiding the way we approach these talks. Thank you for the update WellSoc, it is a relief to that the club is not in immediate financial peril. I wonder if you or anyone else involved could clarify whether the original leaked email is in any way a response to a potential outside buyer? Communications since that email imply that the push for cash is in the normal course of WS objectives, but that remains out of step with the wording of the initial email. I am maybe misreading this! All the support deserve as full an explanation as is reasonably possible here - even those who have not pledged financial support to the WS may potentially consider this if the club was in trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmac Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 The word omnishambles has never been so pertinent. Motherwell Football Club is an absolute joke from top to bottom at the moment. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toxteth O'Grady Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 There's a bit in today's Sun, but I don't have a subscription so can't read the full online article: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/motherwell/6044732/Well-fans-given-a-month-to-find-1m-to-own-club.html?teaser=true Presumably it's just been lifted straight from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Not to be an a$$hole but ... The update from WellSoc tells us absolutely nothing. It seems that the clubs finances are not too far away from being extremely perilous; this is not the time for a post mortem as to the reasons why we're in this situation. Treating fans on a "need to know" basis helps no one. The Well Society can not expect pledges of cash from anyone in such an environment, so the questions are quite simple ... Who are the mystery buyers? Do they even exist? How much cash is required? Is it £300k of £500k? Or more? Is the cash to keep us afloat? Is the cash for ensuring the mystery buyers don't gain control? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well Up For It! Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Not to be an a$hole but ... The update from WellSoc tells us absolutely nothing. Kind of agree with this, and what Stipels said. The fact it hasn't come from the club is a bit more comforting, but the spotlight now turns on the WS cause with the complete lack of transparency this stinks of scaremongering and possibly based on their goals, not the clubs. The last few years have been great and I knew it wouldn't last forever, but this is most certainly not the comedown I expected. We are flatlining in all departments and it's a grim situation. Repeat what I have said - questions need to be answered from to bottom up at our club just now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onthefringes Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 1414746609[/url]' post='423934']Not to be an a$hole but ... The update from WellSoc tells us absolutely nothing. It seems that the clubs finances are not too far away from being extremely perilous; this is not the time for a post mortem as to the reasons why we're in this situation. Treating fans on a "need to know" basis helps no one. The Well Society can not expect pledges of cash from anyone in such an environment, so the questions are quite simple ... Who are the mystery buyers? Do they even exist? How much cash is required? Is it £300k of £500k? Or more? Is the cash to keep us afloat? Is the cash for ensuring the mystery buyers don't gain control? That's the crux here, it suits the 'in it for the blazers' mentality that prevails. And for I and other fellow members I know of, it's a major stumbling point. Dress it up how they like... The club has an offer on the table that outweighs what's on offer from the society, wether it presents better value for the club may well be debated in future - if we were under the control of the bank like others, we'd be seeing a powershift with any outside investment embraced long since. Would it be prudent for both parties to combine efforts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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