What Is It?
A Protest March to highlight the plight of Stockport County Football Club
When Is It?
Day : Wednesday
Date : 23rd of December 2009
Commemcing : 11:00 'On The Dot'
From Where? : Edgeley Park
Going Where? : Stockport Town Hall
Then Where? : The A6 Northbound To Manchester
Where Next? : The PFA Offices in Manchester off Peter Street
And Again? : Manchester Offices of DTE / Leonard Curtis off Deansgate
And Then? : The A6 Southbound To Manchester
Concluding : 18:00 'Best Guess'
Where At? : Back at Edgeley Park
Why Then? : Because the main targets of the Protest, SMBC and Leonard Curtis will be open, and they need to hear what we have to say. And the Schools, Colleges and many Businesses in the Area are closed for Christmas, so a great number of People can make it. There is no Optimum Time. And there is a dire and urgent need to make ourselves heard.
What Are We Hoping To Achieve? :
1. To dispel harmful rumours surrounding our entry into Administration.
2. To discover the Truth behind the Ground For A Pound money with an OPEN INQUIRY, and if there are any illegalities, ensuring that whoever accessed the money without permission is prosecuted, and/or whoever authorised the transfer is too.
3. To Remove any Members of the Club and Trust Boards from any ongoing involvement in the future Management of the Club
4. To ensure that David Farms NEVER builds another Football Stadium in England
5. To let people know the role Brian Kennedy has played in our demise, amd to ensure he feels pressured into accomadating Stockport County in the short to medium term on a fair rent and provides us with a Pitch that needs Mowing, not Ploughing.
6. To request that any interested Investor only bid for the Club if they are properly Funded, if not; To encourage them to lower their expectations and join forces with others to create a Consortium that actually has a chance of moving the Club forward.
Surely That's Not It!
NOT A CHANCE.
7. We need to ensure that our Football Club becomes the best Business Proposition it can be.
How Are We Going To Do That?
7a). By publicly DEMANDING that Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council provide tangible, fiscal support to any potential Investor, by following the example of a dozen Councils in England, the latest being Peterborough, and purhasing Edgeley Park, charging a rent to Sale Sharks to cover Maintainence, and offering County primary usage for a 'Peppercorn Rent'.
The Council have left us High and Dry. And it begs the Question, what other Attraction bears the Town's Name, and just exactly how many visitors to our town does it attract?
The Plaza? Don't Make Me Laugh.
What's That? The Plaza has received £8.5M in Grants. Don't Make Me Cry.
7b). By publicly DEMANDING that DTE / Leonard Curtis reduce their outrageous and wholly unjustifiable bill of nearly £400,000.00 / £300.00 pr hr.
This devastating bill could literally be the Final Nail in the Coffin of County as a Business Proposition.
I have personally appointed this Insolvency Practitioner in the last 18 Months, and their average Hourly Rate was £179.00.
How can County's possibly be 68% higher?
Are WE now expected to pay for their inexperience of running a Football Club?
YOU PAY FOR YOUR EDUCATION IN BUSINESS.
OK That Seem Clear, What About Him / Her / Them?
It is just as important to list what this Protest is NOT about;
Gary Ablett.
He is doing what he can, at the minute that is not enough, but he is working under incredibly difficult circumstances, and he deserves some credit for sticking with us.
The Players.
See Gary Ablett.
The Individuals of the previous County and Trust Boards.
We need to remember that they are Fans. Just like you and I.
We need to accept that although they made a balls-up of it they deserve at least some respect for having the balls to do it in the 1st place.
And they are encouraged to join in the March.
So Who Is Going To Go On It Then?
EVERYONE IS WELCOME.
The Stockport Express
The MEN
Crains Business News Manchester
Have all confirmed they will be joining us.
Many Fans from other Clubs in the area have offered to join us.
The Police have been informed and will where necessary help with Traffic Calming etc to ensure things pass off peacefully.
The BBC
Sky
Talksport
The Sun
The Mirror
Have all been informed and are interested in the 'Story' We shall see!
HTH
COWS
Peels On Wheels
Have all been asked for their help.
HISC
SuppClub
Haven't responded
BBC 606 Stockport County
Have Supported the March
Yellowboard
Has been approached, Terry Hermitage as yet has not provided me with a Password to Post on there, but I expect he will asap.
YOU!
There is no Magic Fix.
We may achieve Nothing.
But We Have To Try.
Have a think about how you feel when a Player appears to be putting in less than 100% commitment to OUR Club.
Have a think about how you would feel if people said the same thing about you at County's Funeral.
Go on the March.
And let's make it known to any interested Investor that Stockport County Football Club has a wonderful assett on offer.
US!
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"publicly DEMANDING that Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council provide tangible, fiscal support to any potential Investor"- No way, not on my council tax bill you don't! I like Stockport County, but it has to be able to stand on its own two feet without forced subsidusdy from all the residents of SMBC. The council will have limited money for sports, so far better that it is used in grass roots sports where actual residents and more importantly children of Stockport can develop their sporting skills then a bunch of professional footballers. If Stockport County can't stay afloat in the division they are in due to excessive costs then they need to drop down to a cheaper division. Stockport County has no special status that it must at least be in the league it is currently in. There are loads of clubs in lower leagues and there's nothing wrong with them, not every club can be in the top few leagues, and I certainly don't want to be forced to pay for Stockport County via Council Tax.
ReplyDeleteShiz.
ReplyDeleteStockport County is much more than a Professional Football Club.
It has over 200 kids on it's books, almost exclusively from the Stockport Borough and closest neighbours.
It also reaches out via the Stockport In The Community Programme to EVERY Schoolchild in the area, providing not just Football Coaching, but promoting a healthy lifestyle, in terms of excercise, diet, respecting others.
And I really don't want to offend you, but if you can tell which other attraction the Council has that bears the Town's Name, I'm advocating they support them too.
But I don't know of one.
And as far as the local economy is concerned the Club has attracted 12 Million people through it' s gates.
TWELVE MILLION.
And 20% (2.4M) of those Visitors have come from everywhere in Great Britain and beyond.
Bringing with them fresh money to invvest inwardly to local Shops, Hotels, Pubs, Clubs the list is almost endless.
And how do you feel about 127 years of history, just being allowed to die?
If you don't want your Tax£'s spent on Stockport County, that is your perogative.
But please answewr me this;
How did you feel about The Plaza receiving £3.5M over the past 6 months?
I'll wait whilst you mull it over.
Just to be clear, I'm not against County, just against me being forced to bailout a Football club, and that is probably the only real thing stopping me supporting your protest (which for all other areas I commend).
ReplyDeleteCounty sold their stadium and that money and that seems to have disappeared. They did the ground for £1 and that money has disappeared too. This background is not exactly the best picture for putting limited public money in is it?
If County's had 12 million visitors then surely it should be able to stand on its own two feet? There are loads of other sports organisations in Stockport without that support and in a better position financially then County, so I don't see why that makes County more deserving of public subsidy?
I'm not here to justify spend on the Plaza, I've never been there, and am unlikely to go anytime soon, but then that's not my scene. Some points to consider though with the Plaza funding (playing devils advocate), it's a one off payment of £300,000 from the council (not £3 Million like you say) so it would probably buy two and a half Edgeley terrace houses, far short of the whole stadium. The Plaza is one of the most distinctive buildings in the very centre of Stockport and the money was to the restoration rather then a constant subsidy and it is certainly not in Stockport’s interest to have a derelict building bringing down the mood outside the main shopping centre.
Another thing to consider is that the council could never guarantee this funding for County; a change of government or policy centrally or locally and all of a sudden County's funding could be cut off (or the stadium need to be sold) and then County is insolvent again. Surely it is far better for the long term of County for it face facts that it is not financially viable in its current state and to drop a division or two in the short term to where it can afford to operate? These things are cyclical and over time maybe County would rise again, but if County goes bust due to a sudden withdrawing of a potential Council subsidy that really would be the end.