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There is a meeting next Friday night (time not yet confirmed) at the Port Glasgow Golf Club, where the MCT board will be in attendance, along with Hopkin and MacKinnon. It's not a formal Q&A, apparently, but in fairness to MCT they have not been shy about answering questions in the past.

Now you mention it, I did see that. A “members only” event I’m sure I saw it advertised as? I suppose they’re entitled to invite who they want, but it’s not really great to have those restrictions in place when there are some undecided about whether to contribute or not, but have legitimate concerns about Morton’s wellbeing.

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Now you mention it, I did see that. A “members only” event I’m sure I saw it advertised as? I suppose they’re entitled to invite who they want, but it’s not really great to have those restrictions in place when there are some undecided about whether to contribute or not, but have legitimate concerns about Morton’s wellbeing.

 

It seems a bit mixed up to me, there's something about it being a members event, then a members only event, then free if you're a member (implying you can pay otherwise?) I think they're still finalizing it.

 

I'll say for them that they've never been shy about trying to attract new members so I'd be very surprised if this was a closed event.

 

edit: never mind, it is members-only according to the facebook. But still, I don't really blame them. They did have this kind of event as a bonus of membership, getting access to events like these and the attendees that they have. Fair play.

Edited by TRVMP

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I agree with Dunning that withdrawing support for a scheme like this based on short term first team performance doesn't make much sense. The club would potentially have to deal with reduced financial security every time we hit a bad run of form.

 

I haven't pledged because I simply dont trust Golden Casket. The idea of handing money over for players before having confirmation of debt write-downs seems ludicrous to me. Does this scheme exist to prop the club up and still let the Raes run it?

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How’s everyone feeling about MCT now? Still contributing? Anyone stopped their DDs with Christmas approaching? Happy with what they’re doing?

 

The positives are clearly Strapp and Lyon being signed on extended deals, but what else? Communication seems to have dried up, big time- over two months since their last update on here and at a time when the support’s concerns are growing by the day with the club being hit by embarrassment on the pitch and scandal off it.

 

I’m extremely concerned with the silence coming from Cappielow, and I’m probably not in the position to ask as I don’t contribute, but fuck it, have this fans’ body who are taking you guys’ money off you to hand over to Crawford asking the right questions? Or any questions?

 

My main concern about Mr McLennan when this was started was that after c. 25 years of going to Cappielow, I’d never seen or heard of this guy. I haven’t heard much of him since his 15 minutes of fame.

 

If any other investors don’t want to give their views of the current malaise at the club, that’s entirely their prerogative, but a fans’ group, taking fans’ money should really be more accountable. It’s beginning to feel like if you say nothing, hopefully folk’ll just stop asking questions. Is it now just a case of a few MCT guys getting a cosy seat in the stand and a nice lunch every second Saturday in exchange for not actually grilling anyone like they’re being paid to do?

 

Are MCT happy with how things are going on and off the park at the moment? If not, why not? If so, why so? Is it unreasonable for me to suggest they’re not doing anything other than handing Crawford a cheque every month to do what he pleases with it?

 

Paul made a point in the summer about the doomsday scenario. If we get to the point of another Save The Ton campaign, would folk be as inclined to put their hands in their pockets when many have already done it without seeing too much evidence of MCT actually representing their views?

 

Any answers to these questions would be appreciated.

 

In response to the current situation with the club, we have implemented a feedback system with the club to give us an official process in addressing our concerns as an organisation, and any feedback from our pledgers. This is from the most recent pledger update that was e-mailed to members on Friday; 

 

 

 

The feedback from MCT to Morton is intended to be constructive. The aim is that any points raised with the club will be answered within an agreed initial response, which is normally 7 working days.

 

It needs to be appreciated that the club may not always be in an immediate position to act on all suggestions as, for example, some things may require extensive investment that is not immediately available. Nevertheless, we are very hopeful that legitimate and realistic suggestions are incorporated into the day-to-day workings of the club. 

 

Using your valued feedback through the members’ survey and email enquiries, we have submitted 28 items of feedback based on the following topics:

5 points concerning communications

4 points concerning facilities

6 points concerning marketing

11 points concerning ticketing/value for money

2 issues concerning the sporting side of the club (The Team)

 

We can also confirm that we do not receive any 'freebies' from the club. All MCT members pay into all Morton games.

 

In response to your point 'Are MCT happy with how things are going on and off the park at the moment? If not, why not? If so, why so? Is it unreasonable for me to suggest they’re not doing anything other than handing Crawford a cheque every month to do what he pleases with it?'. We are not in the position we would hope to be in, but there is a lot more to MCT that simply improving results in the short term. We are still on course to substantially reduce the club's debt, this will help achieve our long term aim to secure the future of the club for seasons to come.

 

We'd also like to emphasise that we do not simply hand Crawford Rae a cheque every month. Our contribution is required to be used exclusively to supplement the first-team budget. We, as an organisation, aim to strike a comfortable balance between gaining accountability as to where our contribution is going and trusting the judgement of the manager and backroom staff.  I'd also like to reiterate that MCT do not, and will not seek to, have any input into the club's recruitment or recruitment policy. 

 

In response to the point regarding another 'Save the Ton' campaign, we believe that prevention is better than a cure. The more successful and pro-active MCT is now, the further away we get from that particular scenario. While the short term may bear frustrations, our fundamental aim is to produce a debt-free Morton are we are taking strides towards that.

 

In response to your further post regarding the status of our 'Members Only' events, these events are one of the exclusive benefits of pledging to MCT. We have also held events open to any and all Morton fans, and we plan to organise more of these after the busy festive period. We would love to see you, and anyone else with questions for us, at one of these events to discuss the benefits of MCT further.

 

Thanks, 

Dean.

Edited by MCT Team
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So where are we with the debt cancellation? It was supposed to go in tranches of each £100K received, £500K would be written off. Has the first £100K been delivered yet? If so, has Crawford followed through with the write off? If not, is there something to bind him to follow through with it when that target is reached? What assurances are there that he will, or are we entirely dependent on his word alone? Aside from the debt, what is the input to the every day running of the club now a seat on the board has been secured? What’s the channel for passing concerns from rank and file MCT members through the representatives and onto the club?

 

 

 

The 1st payment was 6k and was only made at the end of Aug. If that 6k payment continued monthly ( which i doubt as people have withdrew) that would only make about 24k being handed over at most so i doubt we are anywhere near the first 100k.

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  • 1 month later...

Morton Club Together starts exploration of community ownership

 

 

The second largest shareholder at Greenock Morton Football Club has announced today that it is formally exploring if community ownership of the club could work and how best this can be achieved.

 

Non-profit company Morton Club Together (MCT) is embarking on the exploration of a community ownership project with “energy, urgency and positivity”. It is acting in response to a mandate presented to it by its 390+ members in a recent survey, and through taking account of feedback from the wider fan base.

 

MCT Founder and Chair, Graham McLennan, said;

 

“Almost 400 MCT members have already contributed £6000 a month to the Morton first team budget since August, which has boosted funds available to the Manager by more than 20% this season.

 

“From a standing start in May last year, MCT and our growing band of members have shown we can make a difference. The club is going through a major transition, based on a break even budget. Of course this means it’s tough times right now at Cappielow and we believe that with hard work and by all pulling together, an exciting future could lie ahead with the fans in control.

 

“We’ve already had the debt that Morton faces reduced by £500,000 and have an agreement with majority owner, Golden Casket, to have the remaining £2m debt written off by the end of next season, assuming we hit our target of contributing £400,000 to the first team in that period. So every £10 contributed by MCT members means Morton is more than £70 better off.”

 

Experts believe that a debt free Morton, could well be a viable and competitive proposition through majority community ownership. St Mirren is working towards this outcome and the Foundation of Hearts plans to take over a controlling interest in their club, from Ann Budge, later this year.

 

Stewart Farmer, also a volunteer director at MCT added; 

 

“The current majority owner has stated that community ownership is their preferred future for Morton, and our members have positioned MCT well to be the vehicle to deliver it. Within an estimated 9 months we’ll have left no stone unturned in exploring if community ownership of Morton is possible and, if so, what our plan is to achieve it. There are many questions and challenges ahead. We’ll work tirelessly to find answers and overcome the challenges.

 

“Morton fans could choose to continue to wait around for a white knight to appear over the horizon, and there’s no indication that this is going to happen.”

 

And in a call to arms, Morton Club Together is today asking more fans to dig deep to join the existing members, in a show of strength.

 

Gordon Ritchie, another of the MCT directors, also added;

 

“Almost every fan we’ve spoken with wants change. MCT is the only game in town to make this change happen.

 

“This is a strength in numbers situation. If supporters out there can afford to contribute £10 a month, we’re urging them to join us today by pressing a few buttons on our website. All Morton supporters can take responsibility for the Morton we love and demonstrate that we mean business. Talking and waiting is not an option any more.

 

“The beauty of MCT is that every penny of members’ contributions goes straight to the first team budget. Our best chance of staying in the Championship is to boost the playing budget so that the Manager has more money to attempt to strengthen the squad in the January transfer window. Staying in the Championship makes the dream of community ownership, and building a successful footballing future, much closer to being possible. So joining MCT really is a win-win!”

 

“As we’ve said from day one, we want more supporters to step up and help us drive MCT and Morton forward. We’re not saying to people simply to fork out their hard earned cash and that’s that. We’re giving supporters the chance to directly help and change their club for the better, become part of the possible majority ownership and shape the future for our Morton. MCT is open to all!

 

“Stewart and I didn’t know Graham before May last year. We are now active directors of MCT. If you believe you could help us and the MCT team to help Morton, and you believe that fans have a right to be fully engaged, please come forward. This is our big chance!”

 

Crawford Rae, Chairman of Greenock Morton and current majority owner, Golden Casket, commented;

 

“My family have invested significant resources into Greenock Morton Football Club for over two decades as it was my Father’s principal ambition to return the Club that he loved back to the top flight of Scottish Football.  It is therefore imperative for me to ensure that the legacy my Father has left behind can flourish, grow and hopefully achieve this ambition for all the people of Inverclyde.

 

“If Morton Club Together and all of its members can demonstrate a cogent plan and the capability to deliver it, then we believe this could be the best option for the Club and I will ensure that Golden Casket and Morton FC co-operates fully with MCT throughout the process of exploring if and how majority community ownership of the club we all love could be delivered.”

 

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That’s a significant development. I get that a lot of people have been reluctant to join as they feel their money would just be used to prop up an owner who’s lost interest, but now we have it confirmed that debt cancellation is already happening and can remove that owner’s grip on the club, while the end game for the organisation is now to buy that owner out entirely.

 

If you didn’t want to be involved because you don’t want to prop up the Raes, it’s now clear to see that this is the route to getting them out of the club rather than propping them up. As it’s something I’ve criticised in the past, it’s good to see MCT focusing on the debt cancellation aspect over the funding of the first team. I’ve always felt the focus on adding to the budget in their messaging helps creates the impression among reluctant fans that this was about propping up the current owners in the short-term rather than fundamentally changing the club, and that’s only going to put people off.

 

It does make the timing of Dave Mackinnon’s ridiculous tantrum even more unfortunate though. People who may have been on the point of being swayed into contributing are probably going to be less inclined to do anything they feel helps the club with the current board in place this week. While it’s clear that MCT now view themselves as the route to getting the current regime out of the club, they also aren’t in a position to publicly distance themselves or have a go at the Chief Executive.

 

Anyone who was in that position of debating whether this is a short-term leg up for Golden Casket or a workable route to getting them out may be more prone to telling everyone to ram it just now because of Mackinnon’s behaviour.

Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake

Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake

Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake

Oh Lord, Brian Wake

 

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That’s a significant development. I get that a lot of people have been reluctant to join as they feel their money would just be used to prop up an owner who’s lost interest, but now we have it confirmed that debt cancellation is already happening and can remove that owner’s grip on the club, while the end game for the organisation is now to buy that owner out entirely.

 

If you didn’t want to be involved because you don’t want to prop up the Raes, it’s now clear to see that this is the route to getting them out of the club rather than propping them up. As it’s something I’ve criticised in the past, it’s good to see MCT focusing on the debt cancellation aspect over the funding of the first team. I’ve always felt the focus on adding to the budget in their messaging helps creates the impression among reluctant fans that this was about propping up the current owners in the short-term rather than fundamentally changing the club, and that’s only going to put people off.

 

It does make the timing of Dave Mackinnon’s ridiculous tantrum even more unfortunate though. People who may have been on the point of being swayed into contributing are probably going to be less inclined to do anything they feel helps the club with the current board in place this week. While it’s clear that MCT now view themselves as the route to getting the current regime out of the club, they also aren’t in a position to publicly distance themselves or have a go at the Chief Executive.

 

Anyone who was in that position of debating whether this is a short-term leg up for Golden Casket or a workable route to getting them out may be more prone to telling everyone to ram it just now because of Mackinnon’s behaviour.

I agree with much of the above and am already a MCT member.

 

However regarding David McKinnon's behaviour I can only assume that you know more than is in the public domain.

 

All I know is that certain individuals have been blocked on the Club's official Twitter site for posting stuff considered to be personal and/or abusive. I don't know, nor have I seen any of the offending tweets.

 

Furthermore I don't know if Mr McKinnon was responding because of complaints he had received from members of staff.

 

If that was the case then he as CEO has a duty of care and would be obliged to respond appropriately.

 

The statement he released was pretty routine and his offer to meet anyone who feels 'hard done by' seems on the face of it entirely reasonable.

 

However as I said above I only know what is in the public domain, but if that is all there is to it I think his actions have been appropriate.

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I agree with much of the above and am already a MCT member.

 

However regarding David McKinnon's behaviour I can only assume that you know more than is in the public domain.

 

All I know is that certain individuals have been blocked on the Club's official Twitter site for posting stuff considered to be personal and/or abusive. I don't know, nor have I seen any of the offending tweets.

 

Furthermore I don't know if Mr McKinnon was responding because of complaints he had received from members of staff.

 

If that was the case then he as CEO has a duty of care and would be obliged to respond appropriately.

 

The statement he released was pretty routine and his offer to meet anyone who feels 'hard done by' seems on the face of it entirely reasonable.

 

However as I said above I only know what is in the public domain, but if that is all there is to it I think his actions have been appropriate.

It's pretty public that most people who were blocked did nothing of the sort.

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I agree with much of the above and am already a MCT member.

 

However regarding David McKinnon's behaviour I can only assume that you know more than is in the public domain.

 

All I know is that certain individuals have been blocked on the Club's official Twitter site for posting stuff considered to be personal and/or abusive. I don't know, nor have I seen any of the offending tweets.

 

Furthermore I don't know if Mr McKinnon was responding because of complaints he had received from members of staff.

 

If that was the case then he as CEO has a duty of care and would be obliged to respond appropriately.

 

The statement he released was pretty routine and his offer to meet anyone who feels 'hard done by' seems on the face of it entirely reasonable.

 

However as I said above I only know what is in the public domain, but if that is all there is to it I think his actions have been appropriate.

Hi Dave.

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I agree with much of the above and am already a MCT member.

 

However regarding David McKinnon's behaviour I can only assume that you know more than is in the public domain.

 

All I know is that certain individuals have been blocked on the Club's official Twitter site for posting stuff considered to be personal and/or abusive. I don't know, nor have I seen any of the offending tweets.

 

Furthermore I don't know if Mr McKinnon was responding because of complaints he had received from members of staff.

 

If that was the case then he as CEO has a duty of care and would be obliged to respond appropriately.

 

The statement he released was pretty routine and his offer to meet anyone who feels 'hard done by' seems on the face of it entirely reasonable.

 

However as I said above I only know what is in the public domain, but if that is all there is to it I think his actions have been appropriate.

You don’t even know what’s in the public domain though, as, as you’ve admitted, you have any actually seen any of the tweets, which are still on Morton’s team selection thread from Saturday.

 

You’ve made an assumption, based on the club’s statement, and in spite of whatever anyone else has said in relation to it.

 

It looks to me that you believe what you want to believe- that’s your prerogative, but spare us the bullshit about only knowing what is out there to the public. There’s plenty of evidence that you’ve blatantly ignored as it doesn’t suit your argument.

Edited by Toby
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  • 3 weeks later...
Dear Members,

 

It has now been almost three weeks since we announced our intention to explore the feasibility of community ownership of Greenock Morton.  We would like to take this opportunity to thank every one of our members for their ongoing support. 

Over the last month or so, we have seen an approximate 10% increase in membership which has been a great boost.

 

We have now begun the nine month exploration/planning project regarding community ownership.  A meeting has been arranged early in February via Supporters Direct Scotland, where we will sit down and learn from other clubs such as St Mirren, Hearts, Dunfermline and Motherwell who have gone through community ownership projects. We will continue to keep our members updated with our progress and plans.

 

As previously mentioned MCT have also commenced our formal feedback loop with the club where we will raise members’ comments or questions with Morton to help ensure that our voice is heard and respected. We want to develop the loop into a ‘You Said, We Did’ forum so that we can best represent your views to influence change at the club.

 

We can now share with members the club’s responses to the initial twenty-eight points raised with the club.

The first loop has taken longer to complete than anticipated. We intend to ensure that the process from raising a point to receiving a response will quicken. We also hope to improve the layout and format of the loop in the next editions as we realise that this communication is quite lengthy.

 

We have included in the following pages the points raised by members and the direct response from the club. If you did raise some points with us directly or through our survey hopefully you may spot your comments!

 

In addition to some of these points raised we have followed these up and offered to club some additional assistance around matters such as communications; the development of the new website and need for the clear communication of a long-term vision. These are items which we believe MCT has the skills and passion in our member base to assist the club.

 

The club have responded to say that they will take advice and assistance from MCT on these issues when this is required.

 

There are a number of responses to items in which the club are keen to deliver improvements in the near future.

 

It is positive to hear this from Morton and MCT will keep a close eye on these items to help make sure that outcomes which are committed to being achieved actually happen in the right way.

 

The second feedback loop will be issued to the club during the week of 27th January 2020 as we have had some additional points raised by members. If you do have any question or suggestion for the club then please feel free to email enquiries@mortonclubtogether.com by 7pm on Tuesday 28th January 2020 and we will include this in next weeks loop.

 

View the feedback loop update here; 


 

Thanks,

MCT Team

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A few of the club’s answers there come across as a bit ‘jam tomorrow’ with the notion that many of these problems are going to be sorted magically just by having a new website. That makes sense for something like the fan cards and turnstiles, but not for example communication, although there are promising signs of improvement there over the last fortnight. With that in mind, getting some sort of timescale on the website would be helpful.

 

Still, providing answers at all is a step in the right direction.

Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake

Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake

Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake

Oh Lord, Brian Wake

 

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A few of the club’s answers there come across as a bit ‘jam tomorrow’ with the notion that many of these problems are going to be sorted magically just by having a new website. That makes sense for something like the fan cards and turnstiles, but not for example communication, although there are promising signs of improvement there over the last fortnight. With that in mind, getting some sort of timescale on the website would be helpful.

 

Still, providing answers at all is a step in the right direction.

That annoys me in work and it annoys me with the statement. You can have a horrible looking and functioning website that's still a good source of information and people will read it so blaming the site for a lack of communication isnt really a valid argument.

 

The current site could be doing with a few tweaks but it's still decent enough as a place to give information and keep fans up to date. No website will be useful unless it has the content.

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I went on the official site on Sunday night (my time, so middle of the night UK time) to look for the match highlights. Silly me, they hadn't even added the score yet, much less the highlights.

 

The highlights were on Youtube by this time but there's no joined-up thinking at all here.

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MCT Funding Contributes to Jacobs’ Contract Extension

 

jacobs-extension.jpg 

 

Morton CEO David MacKinnon has confirmed that support from MCT allowed the club to extend Kyle Jacobs’ contract beyond the end of the season. The CEO also commented that MCT’s backing has had a positive impact upon the club’s recruitment policy as a whole;  
“Following the contract extensions of academy graduates, Lewis Strapp and Reece Lyon, Kyle Jacobs is the first senior player to commit to the club for next season and beyond. We’re working hard behind the scenes to build a squad for the long term, and are hopeful in bringing in one or two new faces during what’s left of the window. Without the support of the Club Board and MCT members, this signing strategy would not be possible and we’d like to thank each MCT member for their support. Every penny raised goes directly into Hoppy’s first team budget and we greatly appreciate your commitment.”
MCT is committed to allowing Morton to build a first team squad geared towards stability and ultimately, success. We welcome our contribution allowing a greater level of continuity within the first team squad. Every single pledge we receive helps boost Morton’s first team squad and helps to reduce the club’s debt. We are striving towards a successful Morton team on-the-pitch, with a secure long-term future off-the-pitch. We would like to take this opportunity to thank every single Morton fan who is helping to move Morton forward.
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