I have to say that Northwicher as done nothing but post calm, balanced and interesting posts. There is nothing wrong with having a sensible debate on a football forum…even with those from the darkside!
Northwicher is defending the club they support in the same manner that we support ours, I would much prefer to read the posts they have made than one of their supporters coming on and saying “your c**p, you’re going down. blah de blah”.
As a wittoner I dislike Vics as much as the next man but I am equally capable of putting myself in the shoes of one of their supporters. The last couple of years for them has been a very nervous time and whilst they always magically seem to survive it cannot have been a pleasant period as a supporter. Having Mr Connett as your chairman would be torture for anyone, I am just glad he was not on our side of the canal.
With the turmoil that we went through at the start of this season and our current league position we have had a good taste of what life may have been like as a Vics supporter! I don’t think anyone has room to gloat in the current local football climate.
As far as Vics are concerned. If they were to go ‘belly up’ then the benefit to us would be relatively minor in regards to attracting additional fans, it may also plough the town deeper into the footballing wilderness!
I would certainly not want a merger between the clubs, both have a long and proud history as two of the oldest non-league clubs and I think this should be protected. I hope that when I have kids they can grow up stood on the terrace watching Witton (poor things)!
I do subscribe to the view that a groundshare makes perfect commercial sense. One facility would be easier to maintain, potentially make more money and give both clubs arguably a better chance of survival. There is sentiment attached to where we play and plenty would prefer we were still based at the Central Ground. However Stoke used to play at the Victoria Ground, Arsenal at Highbury, indeed most of the clubs in the top flight have built new stadiums. Inter and AC share the San Siro and Dynamo and CSKA Moscow share the same ground, passionate cities where it is made to work.
The problems facing Vics remain grave in my opinion. They owe £300k to the tax man, they currently have a rent agreement of £50k a year. They wage budget is £35k a month plus £15k PAYE, which combined is over £10k a week. They are signing new players on a full time basis and including accommodation with the package which on paper they can ill afford.
Based upon the average gates of 850 (which includes some big away support) they cannot sustain that level of spending, the lowest league gates have been 300 lower than that!
The club does not own its ground and has the problem that the current ground is in the hands of the receiver with the owner also facing a winding up petition. If the receiver believes the best route to returning creditors their money is to bulldoze the stadium and sell the land then their lease may not be worth the paper it is written on, successor tenants or not!
For Northwich to seek a new consortium they are again relying on a single or group of benefactors, history shows the danger of this. If people plough £1m, £2m or £3m into a football club then they either want a return or at the very least they want control. What happens when the money is withdrawn, when these people get bored. It spells disaster and only adds to the rollercoaster ride! Speaking to Bradford Park Avenue fans on Saturday they have exactly the same concerns, their chairman currently picks the team according to them and he calls all the shots!
If Northwich were to go bust I would lose no sleep, I think some of their fans have a very strange view of reality and worry only about the money being available to buy players and challenge at the top of their league. When this happens people forget the consequences! I would however feel for the genuine Northwichers who deserve that fete just as much as we do!
We have our own set of problems to focus on. We have this year cut our budgets to a level that means we have one of the lowest playing budgets in the league and it is, as our league position shows, hard to compete on this basis. What our chairman has achieved is a degree of financial stability, however if our end product is poor and we are threatened with relegation our gates and our revenue will remain low. We need to have a medium and long term plan that brings more money, fans and commercial activity into the club. These days the off the pitch revenues need to support the playing budget to be in with a chance of competing.
Sure enjoy a smile over Northwich’s situation, but in their shoes how would you feel. Our shoes are not that different at the present time, just slightly more comfortable!
