irnbru Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 5 hours ago, GiGi said: They still have MCT money topping up the first team budget. Hopefully still put a good enough team out to be competitive in mid table at the least. MCT are looking at changing their constitution so all money doesn't go to the first team and we were in debt to get a mid table team this season when we had the full amount going to the playing squad. There's a lot of questions about the stadium, etc but the more pressing one is what happens in the coming season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCT Team Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GiGi Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 On 7/8/2020 at 8:32 PM, GiGi said: Sustainability under community ownership might mean we end up at the same level as Airdrie, Clyde or Falkirk. However other clubs around us are going to need to wake up to the same reality. Inverness, Dundee, QoS etc will fare no better. MCT are going to have to find significant income sources for this to work in the long term. But since we know who will own the club from here I will be happy to increase my contributions to give it the best shot. Hopefully other people who are able will do so as well, and others who were skeptical of joining will now see a better reason to get involved. https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/sport/football/dundee-fc/1437410/dundee-give-midnight-deadline-to-players-yet-to-accept-a-pay-cut-and-warn-wages-may-not-be-paid/ And there it is. Peter Weatherson is the greatest player since Ritchie, and should be assigned 'chairman for life' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunning1874 Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 Updated Q&A in response to some of the questions they've had: https://mortonclubtogether.com/question-and-answers/ Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake Oh Lord, Brian Wake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post MCT Team Posted July 11, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 11, 2020 Questions and Answers After Community Ownership Announcement Following the announcement regarding community ownership on Wednesday 8th July, we have been asked a number of questions. We have aimed to answer as many of these as possible below. We have tried to group the hundreds of questions we have received into topics. There will inevitably be more questions, so please do continue to ask these and we will continue to provide answers. Cappielow and the Car Park Not surprisingly, many of the questions from the announcement have been around the ownership of Cappielow and, to a lesser extent, the car park. Questions like the lease fee, can we purchase Cappielow, who will be responsible for maintenance and upgrade costs, how long will the lease run, will Golden Casket raise the rent to unmanageable levels, what if Golden Casket sell the land? We will try to deal with all these issues together. The terms of the lease are still under negotiation. What has been agreed is the outline of the deal. The lease fee or annual rent will be minimal. It will NOT be a market value rent. It will be a repairing and insuring lease, which means that the club will be required to maintain the stadium to at least the same standard as it is at present. This does not preclude us from making improvements to the stadium. The lease will run for as long as MCT is the owner of Morton. The lease will preclude any significant increase in rent – it will continue to be a nominal rent for the duration. Insofar as any purchase of Cappielow is concerned, there are numerous legal options that can be pursued in the lease. For example, there could be an option to buy after a certain number of years, or there could be a clause giving MCT first option to buy should Golden Casket ever decide to sell. We are not saying that these will be included, as the fine print is still being considered, but we can assure you that the future of the club at Cappielow will be protected. We will also publish the details of the lease after it is agreed. What if Golden Casket went into liquidation, or through a change of ownership? This is one of the issues we are aware of and will be writing something into the lease to safeguard the stadium. Once the lease is finalised, we will be able to give further details. Maintenance and Upgrades of Cappielow Another popular question was about maintenance and upgrades of the stadium. Who will pay for these? Can we afford them? The current budget for the club contains a sum for annual maintenance. We anticipate that the club will be able to continue to pay this from the budget. As indicated above, the general maintenance of the ground will be the responsibility of MCT as club owners. The cost of upgrades is more difficult to explain. Depending on the nature of the upgrades, and the terms of the final lease, they may fall to be paid by the landlord, the tenant, or a combination of both. Once the lease terms are finalised, we will publish it. It will be a commercial lease which will be registered as normal, and will be available to view. If the club wishes to upgrade the stadium and the landlord does not agree to pay, the tenant can, if the landlord agrees, carry out and pay for the upgrades themselves. Finances We were also asked questions about how much we need to raise to make the club viable. There is no single answer to that question. We have identified a number of areas where savings can be made, but also recognise the need to raise income. It is not as simple as saying “we need to raise £100,000 per year”. If we raise £150,000, that means we can afford to sign more and better players than we could if we raised £75,000. There is no magic number here. The more money we raise, the better the club will be. Significantly, as MCT has no shareholders, all profits will be ploughed back into the club and not paid out as dividends. Shareholders We were asked whether members of MCT are shareholders and can you sell your shares. The answer is no. MCT has been set up as a company limited by guarantee. We do not have shareholders – we have members. As indicated in our terms and conditions, membership is not transferable. Greenock Morton Budget Are we confident that we can run Morton as a viable business – yes. We truly believe that this can be done. As indicated, we have seen the club accounts and are aware of the issues. We do not think that this is going to be easy. We will need the support, financial and otherwise, of large sections of the community. The more people who support us, the easier our jobs will be! We desperately want to see Morton succeed both on and off the pitch. The more help we get, the more likely it is that we will succeed. Will the current MCT Directors remain in place? We serve at the will of the members. Our first AGM is due, COVID permitting, in August. None of the current directors have indicated an intention to resign, and they are not required to resign this year. Some of them are required to resign next year, but can stand for re-election if they wish. We are a democratic organisation, and whether we remain in place after next year will be entirely dependent on your votes. External Investors We have been asked about external sources of revenue. We are at very advanced stages of discussions with a number of people who have expressed an interest in supporting MCT and Morton. It would be unfair to name those parties at present, but we are confident that we will secure this funding to supplement the monthly contributions from members. How many members do we need? There is no magic number. Our membership has increased significantly over the last few days, and we are grateful to all members for their support. The more people who join, and the more money that they contribute, the more money that we can spend on players, ground repairs and upgrades, and other projects that we would like to develop. Is this a done deal? Effectively it is, although both parties have a “get out” arrangement in March. Nobody wants to see MCT fail in their stewardship of the club. If it becomes apparent that we are not ready by March, the deal may be delayed. None of us, including Golden Casket, want to rush into this and then fail. How far can we go under community ownership? That’s an impossible question to answer. We guess that the only answer would be “as far as the supporters are willing to take us”. The traditional football model in UK has been ownership by a wealthy benefactor. Unless you are playing in the English Premiership, there are few of these. When looking further afield, there are numerous clubs in continental Europe (many of them being very successful) who operate under a fan ownership scheme. There are also a number of successful community owned clubs closer to home in Scotland who we can learn from. What if COVID is an issue for longer than anticipated? That is one of the reasons for the option to defer the takeover for 12 months. We live in uncertain times Morton in the Community This is a separate company, but it runs with close ties to the club. The future links with the Community program will be part of our agreement. We will be a community owned club, and we wish to maintain strong links to the community. We do not envisage any huge changes to the relationship with this program and if anything, we will look to strengthen this. Should we look at a business club to generate income? This is a good idea – thanks to the member who asked – and is something we will consider. Will David MacKinnon remain as CEO? We hope to be sitting down with all key employees of Morton in the near future to discuss their roles going forward. As we said in the webinar, we will be fan owned but not necessarily fan run. We will need the assistance of an experienced chief executive to manage the day-to-day business of the club. Is relying on large personal donations sustainable? We believe it can be. Those who are interested are Morton supporters. It is a better financial model, we believe, to ask 6 people to pay £25k each, plus individual member contributions, rather than one person to pay £250k. If you rely on one person to pay £250k, and they fail or decide not to pay, the club is in serious trouble. We will also be planning to take advantage of efficiencies that can be implemented at the club, as well as looking to generate more income commercially. What about the Youth Academy? We see the academy as both another strong tie to the community, and a great resource for producing talent for the first team. There is no doubt that good young players who are acedamy graduates get stronger support from the fans as “he’s one of our own”. We would like to see the academy continue to thrive, but again this will depend on the post-COVID financial position. If a lottery winner wants to buy the club, what happens? MCT would require to hold a general meeting to discuss this offer before accepting it. The money would then be distributed to members on an equitable basis, as decided by that meeting Who makes the decision on viability in March? That decision will be taken by Golden Casket and MCT together. What have we learned from other clubs? I’m not sure that we have enough space on our website to answer that question, we have had an incredible amount of support and advice from so many other clubs that are either wholly or partly fan owned. Say it quietly, but one of the most helpful groups has been the St Mirren Independent Supporters Association. From the launch of MCT, these groups have offered their advice about funding, structure, liaison with the club, marketing, supporter liaison etc. We genuinely could fill a book with the advice given, and everyone at MCT is very grateful for that help. Supporters Trust Members We have been asked why supporters trust shares have to be transferred to MCT. This is not what we said at the webinar. If former trust members, or indeed any existing shareholder in Morton, wish to donate their shares to MCT they can do this by contacting Morton. There is no obligation for them to do so. We will be seeking to contact individual shareholders in Morton after the takeover is completed. Is there a planning restriction on Cappielow? We understand that Cappielow is zoned by the council as a sports facility. Any change of use would require re-zoning. We are not aware of any request or desire to re-zone the land. Will the Rae family still be involved in Morton? We have not made any decisions about the future board membership, and have not spoken to current board members about their interest in remaining with the club. The Rae family has 20 years of experience of running Morton and that experience would be invaluable to us. The same applies to other board members. There will certainly be changes, but we cannot say, at this stage, what those will be. The other side to this question, of course, is “Do the Rae family still want to be involved with Morton?” We will be asking that question soon. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irnbru Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 It sounds like a lot of the above is still a work in progress but the biggest question for me is still what happens in the transition period of potentially two season? Can we expect a much reduced playing budget as MCT are looking at changing things so money isn't just for that and GC will be making sure they don't risk running up any more debt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveoath Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 Are MCT involved in the club merchandise side of things? Do profits from shirt sales etc go the MCT? MORTON - NEWCASTLE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_M Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 3 minutes ago, steveoath said: Are MCT involved in the club merchandise side of things? Do profits from shirt sales etc go the MCT? Why would they be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunning1874 Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 2 hours ago, irnbru said: It sounds like a lot of the above is still a work in progress but the biggest question for me is still what happens in the transition period of potentially two season? Can we expect a much reduced playing budget as MCT are looking at changing things so money isn't just for that and GC will be making sure they don't risk running up any more debt? GC were already cutting back to avoid running up more debt. It shouldn't make us any worse off in that regard - GC's position in terms of avoiding debt is the exact same as it was when setting the budget for 19/20. Obviously every club is going to have to make cuts this year due to the Covid related loss of revenue, but that's a separate issue. Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake Oh Lord, Brian Wake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post capitanus Posted July 11, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 11, 2020 3 hours ago, MCT Team said: Questions and Answers After Community Ownership Announcement Following the announcement regarding community ownership on Wednesday 8th July, we have been asked a number of questions. We have aimed to answer as many of these as possible below. We have tried to group the hundreds of questions we have received into topics. There will inevitably be more questions, so please do continue to ask these and we will continue to provide answers. Cappielow and the Car Park Not surprisingly, many of the questions from the announcement have been around the ownership of Cappielow and, to a lesser extent, the car park. Questions like the lease fee, can we purchase Cappielow, who will be responsible for maintenance and upgrade costs, how long will the lease run, will Golden Casket raise the rent to unmanageable levels, what if Golden Casket sell the land? We will try to deal with all these issues together. The terms of the lease are still under negotiation. What has been agreed is the outline of the deal. The lease fee or annual rent will be minimal. It will NOT be a market value rent. It will be a repairing and insuring lease, which means that the club will be required to maintain the stadium to at least the same standard as it is at present. This does not preclude us from making improvements to the stadium. The lease will run for as long as MCT is the owner of Morton. The lease will preclude any significant increase in rent – it will continue to be a nominal rent for the duration. Insofar as any purchase of Cappielow is concerned, there are numerous legal options that can be pursued in the lease. For example, there could be an option to buy after a certain number of years, or there could be a clause giving MCT first option to buy should Golden Casket ever decide to sell. We are not saying that these will be included, as the fine print is still being considered, but we can assure you that the future of the club at Cappielow will be protected. We will also publish the details of the lease after it is agreed. What if Golden Casket went into liquidation, or through a change of ownership? This is one of the issues we are aware of and will be writing something into the lease to safeguard the stadium. Once the lease is finalised, we will be able to give further details. Maintenance and Upgrades of Cappielow Another popular question was about maintenance and upgrades of the stadium. Who will pay for these? Can we afford them? The current budget for the club contains a sum for annual maintenance. We anticipate that the club will be able to continue to pay this from the budget. As indicated above, the general maintenance of the ground will be the responsibility of MCT as club owners. The cost of upgrades is more difficult to explain. Depending on the nature of the upgrades, and the terms of the final lease, they may fall to be paid by the landlord, the tenant, or a combination of both. Once the lease terms are finalised, we will publish it. It will be a commercial lease which will be registered as normal, and will be available to view. If the club wishes to upgrade the stadium and the landlord does not agree to pay, the tenant can, if the landlord agrees, carry out and pay for the upgrades themselves. Finances We were also asked questions about how much we need to raise to make the club viable. There is no single answer to that question. We have identified a number of areas where savings can be made, but also recognise the need to raise income. It is not as simple as saying “we need to raise £100,000 per year”. If we raise £150,000, that means we can afford to sign more and better players than we could if we raised £75,000. There is no magic number here. The more money we raise, the better the club will be. Significantly, as MCT has no shareholders, all profits will be ploughed back into the club and not paid out as dividends. Shareholders We were asked whether members of MCT are shareholders and can you sell your shares. The answer is no. MCT has been set up as a company limited by guarantee. We do not have shareholders – we have members. As indicated in our terms and conditions, membership is not transferable. Greenock Morton Budget Are we confident that we can run Morton as a viable business – yes. We truly believe that this can be done. As indicated, we have seen the club accounts and are aware of the issues. We do not think that this is going to be easy. We will need the support, financial and otherwise, of large sections of the community. The more people who support us, the easier our jobs will be! We desperately want to see Morton succeed both on and off the pitch. The more help we get, the more likely it is that we will succeed. Will the current MCT Directors remain in place? We serve at the will of the members. Our first AGM is due, COVID permitting, in August. None of the current directors have indicated an intention to resign, and they are not required to resign this year. Some of them are required to resign next year, but can stand for re-election if they wish. We are a democratic organisation, and whether we remain in place after next year will be entirely dependent on your votes. External Investors We have been asked about external sources of revenue. We are at very advanced stages of discussions with a number of people who have expressed an interest in supporting MCT and Morton. It would be unfair to name those parties at present, but we are confident that we will secure this funding to supplement the monthly contributions from members. How many members do we need? There is no magic number. Our membership has increased significantly over the last few days, and we are grateful to all members for their support. The more people who join, and the more money that they contribute, the more money that we can spend on players, ground repairs and upgrades, and other projects that we would like to develop. Is this a done deal? Effectively it is, although both parties have a “get out” arrangement in March. Nobody wants to see MCT fail in their stewardship of the club. If it becomes apparent that we are not ready by March, the deal may be delayed. None of us, including Golden Casket, want to rush into this and then fail. How far can we go under community ownership? That’s an impossible question to answer. We guess that the only answer would be “as far as the supporters are willing to take us”. The traditional football model in UK has been ownership by a wealthy benefactor. Unless you are playing in the English Premiership, there are few of these. When looking further afield, there are numerous clubs in continental Europe (many of them being very successful) who operate under a fan ownership scheme. There are also a number of successful community owned clubs closer to home in Scotland who we can learn from. What if COVID is an issue for longer than anticipated? That is one of the reasons for the option to defer the takeover for 12 months. We live in uncertain times Morton in the Community This is a separate company, but it runs with close ties to the club. The future links with the Community program will be part of our agreement. We will be a community owned club, and we wish to maintain strong links to the community. We do not envisage any huge changes to the relationship with this program and if anything, we will look to strengthen this. Should we look at a business club to generate income? This is a good idea – thanks to the member who asked – and is something we will consider. Will David MacKinnon remain as CEO? We hope to be sitting down with all key employees of Morton in the near future to discuss their roles going forward. As we said in the webinar, we will be fan owned but not necessarily fan run. We will need the assistance of an experienced chief executive to manage the day-to-day business of the club. Is relying on large personal donations sustainable? We believe it can be. Those who are interested are Morton supporters. It is a better financial model, we believe, to ask 6 people to pay £25k each, plus individual member contributions, rather than one person to pay £250k. If you rely on one person to pay £250k, and they fail or decide not to pay, the club is in serious trouble. We will also be planning to take advantage of efficiencies that can be implemented at the club, as well as looking to generate more income commercially. What about the Youth Academy? We see the academy as both another strong tie to the community, and a great resource for producing talent for the first team. There is no doubt that good young players who are acedamy graduates get stronger support from the fans as “he’s one of our own”. We would like to see the academy continue to thrive, but again this will depend on the post-COVID financial position. If a lottery winner wants to buy the club, what happens? MCT would require to hold a general meeting to discuss this offer before accepting it. The money would then be distributed to members on an equitable basis, as decided by that meeting Who makes the decision on viability in March? That decision will be taken by Golden Casket and MCT together. What have we learned from other clubs? I’m not sure that we have enough space on our website to answer that question, we have had an incredible amount of support and advice from so many other clubs that are either wholly or partly fan owned. Say it quietly, but one of the most helpful groups has been the St Mirren Independent Supporters Association. From the launch of MCT, these groups have offered their advice about funding, structure, liaison with the club, marketing, supporter liaison etc. We genuinely could fill a book with the advice given, and everyone at MCT is very grateful for that help. Supporters Trust Members We have been asked why supporters trust shares have to be transferred to MCT. This is not what we said at the webinar. If former trust members, or indeed any existing shareholder in Morton, wish to donate their shares to MCT they can do this by contacting Morton. There is no obligation for them to do so. We will be seeking to contact individual shareholders in Morton after the takeover is completed. Is there a planning restriction on Cappielow? We understand that Cappielow is zoned by the council as a sports facility. Any change of use would require re-zoning. We are not aware of any request or desire to re-zone the land. Will the Rae family still be involved in Morton? We have not made any decisions about the future board membership, and have not spoken to current board members about their interest in remaining with the club. The Rae family has 20 years of experience of running Morton and that experience would be invaluable to us. The same applies to other board members. There will certainly be changes, but we cannot say, at this stage, what those will be. The other side to this question, of course, is “Do the Rae family still want to be involved with Morton?” We will be asking that question soon. A really interesting read, many thanks for posting this. I have to admit that I was possibly the fiercest critic of both MCT and Graham McLennan, but I am thoroughly impressed and encouraged by what I have seen/read over the past few days. They have managed to do within the space of little over a year what the GMST were unable to do in nearly twenty years - despite the GMST having countless fundraising events throughout that period plus several representatives on the GMFC board etc. Also, with regards to the Rae Family who have came in for a fair amount of criticism over the years, but credit has to be given to them for turning down a more 'lucrative offer' in favour of MCT. The identity of those behind the 'lucrative' offer is unknown, probably due to non-disclosure clauses etc. However there have been 'local businessmen' with a dubious reputation circling the club for several years now. Their presence was most likely to be off-putting to other potential suitors however credit where it's due to Mrs Rae for preferring the supporters ahead of some local villains who were considered to be 'the only show in town' and inevitable incumbents by so many Morton supporters. I'm personally delighted it's not them who are taking over Morton. Finally, the future is ours to make. It's the start of a journey. Along the way there will be personality clashes, attention seekers, gloryhunters etc. But there will also be a lot of good, honest, well meaning Morton supporters doing the best for the club. If others can do it, why can't we? With this in mind, it's time for a giant leap of faith - I'm finally signing up. The ownership of the stadium remains an issue of concern, but I'm sure that can be overcome. It may be that public funding, grants etc. May be available to facilitate the purchase of the stadium for community purposes - one things for sure is those third sector gravy train types will know what's what in that regards. 6 *insert signature here* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irnbru Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 12 minutes ago, dunning1874 said: GC were already cutting back to avoid running up more debt. It shouldn't make us any worse off in that regard - GC's position in terms of avoiding debt is the exact same as it was when setting the budget for 19/20. Obviously every club is going to have to make cuts this year due to the Covid related loss of revenue, but that's a separate issue. Already cutting back but with an interest in keeping us in the division and more attractive to potential buyers. Now we have potentially two years of bare minimum money and effort with part of the playing budget diverted elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capitanus Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 7 minutes ago, irnbru said: Already cutting back but with an interest in keeping us in the division and more attractive to potential buyers. Now we have potentially two years of bare minimum money and effort with part of the playing budget diverted elsewhere. How long were you in charge of the GMST? What the fuck did you do in that time? In a fraction of that time the MCT were able to go from a back-of-fag packet idea to become a sizeable shareholder and are now incumbent owners of Morton FC. Are you in a fit position to criticise them? 2 *insert signature here* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 4 hours ago, irnbru said: It sounds like a lot of the above is still a work in progress but the biggest question for me is still what happens in the transition period of potentially two season? Can we expect a much reduced playing budget as MCT are looking at changing things so money isn't just for that and GC will be making sure they don't risk running up any more debt? 1 hour ago, irnbru said: Already cutting back but with an interest in keeping us in the division and more attractive to potential buyers. Now we have potentially two years of bare minimum money and effort with part of the playing budget diverted elsewhere. There's a community trust in Berwick looking for a gormless lackey right now, time to reunite with your big mate Warren at an appropriate level for both of your skillsets (East of Scotland Division Two before the decade's out). 1 The site is supposed to be a place for the extended 'family' of Morton supporters - having an affinity with people that you don't know, because you share a love of your local football club. It's not supposed to be about point scoring and showing how 'clever' or 'funny' you are, or just being downright rude and offensive to people you don't know, because you can get away with it. Unfortunately, it seems the classic case of people who have little standing/presence in real life, use this forum as a way of making themselves feel as if they are something. It's sad, and I've said that before.. So, having been on Morton forums for about 15 years I guess, I've had enough... well done t*ssers, another Morton supporter driven away. You can all feel happy at how 'clever' you are Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunning1874 Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 58 minutes ago, irnbru said: Already cutting back but with an interest in keeping us in the division and more attractive to potential buyers. Now we have potentially two years of bare minimum money and effort with part of the playing budget diverted elsewhere. They were already operating at the bare minimum, operate at break even and put no money in budget. I genuinely don't see where you're coming from here; there's no tap for Golden Casket to turn off. In terms of MCT funding for the first team budget, it's true that they may decide to divert some of their subscription income to building up a cash reserve rather than putting it all directly to the first team budget, although they've also been clear that could only be decided by a vote of the members. However they've already had an increase in membership of 110 in under three days since announcing the ownership deal, and they announced back on 22nd May that they'd accumulated £25K over the course of lockdown, while they aren't contributing anything to the club due to furlough. That was seven weeks ago so they must have a considerably larger amount now. It's feasible that they could build their own cash reserves and continue to contribute to the first team budget. It would be sensible to hold something in reserve anyway given the uncertainty around income for next season. Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake Oh Lord, Brian Wake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irnbru Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 3 minutes ago, dunning1874 said: They were already operating at the bare minimum, operate at break even and put no money in budget. I genuinely don't see where you're coming from here; there's no tap for Golden Casket to turn off. In terms of MCT funding for the first team budget, it's true that they may decide to divert some of their subscription income to building up a cash reserve rather than putting it all directly to the first team budget, although they've also been clear that could only be decided by a vote of the members. However they've already had an increase in membership of 110 in under three days since announcing the ownership deal, and they announced back on 22nd May that they'd accumulated £25K over the course of lockdown, while they aren't contributing anything to the club due to furlough. That was seven weeks ago so they must have a considerably larger amount now. It's feasible that they could build their own cash reserves and continue to contribute to the first team budget. It would be sensible to hold something in reserve anyway given the uncertainty around income for next season. It's not so much a criticism of MCT - they've got a lot of questions to answer but have explained there's a period where they'll be doing more work to get a greater understanding of what's needed so hopefully it's a success. The work they've done so far has been good. The problem is that we're potentially facing two years of an owner who knows they're leaving and won't be able to give financial backing as they have to represent shareholders of another company so can't risk costing them money. From the sounds of it there's been a debt again this season when it was supposed to be break even so the budget is going to drop yet again to reflect that. The caveats are that Crawford has stuck to his word of writing off debt, has a good relationship with MCT and I've no reason not to believe him saying he wants to leave a good legacy but I'd feel more comfortable if we knew some more about the transition period so we're not in a worse position than we are now if/ when MCT take over. As you say though, if people more get on board and MCT can keep funding the playing budget then that might be the answer to this question. None of this means I don't support MCT (I've increased my contribution like a few others have) but I'd much prefer they start from at least where we are now then after two years of even more cuts and being relegated along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubes Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 Sounds positive going forward. Q&A is a useful tool for folk like myself who havent been totally convinced by it all. Only two things that came up that I’m still unsure of. In relation to Cappielow “there could be a clause to give MCT first option to buy if Golden Casket ever decide to sell”. I thought aslong as MCT are in control GC wouldn’t sell Cappielow at all anyway? I understand MCT would want to have first option on this though. The ownership of Cappielow could be a potential worry and surely it would be more beneficial MCT owning it too? Financially that would have huge implications in order to acquire it but ideally this would be owned at time of the changeover. Secondly, “we would like to see the academy continue to thrive, but again this will depend on the post Covid financial position”. Does that sound a bit ominous? Is there an option of not having the academy going forward when it seems to be actually giving us some decent players? I thought this would have been really important going forward with a sustainable/break even budget? Overall the MCT have done a shitload of work on this over the past while which is definitely impressive and hopefully things continue to go in the right direction. You can’t help but compare this progress to the GMST. Light years ahead and I feel MCT is doing what a lot of us would of expected the GMST to be doing. Keeping my fingers crossed for the future. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody66 Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 6 hours ago, irnbru said: It sounds like a lot of the above is still a work in progress but the biggest question for me is still what happens in the transition period of potentially two season? Can we expect a much reduced playing budget as MCT are looking at changing things so money isn't just for that and GC will be making sure they don't risk running up any more debt? Where are you getting this two season transition period from? Summer of 2021 is next season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoon Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 This upcoming season will certainly be one where we’re just looking to stay in the division. The budget means under normal circumstances we probably wouldn’t be far off anyway. It’ll naturally take a while for MCT to get settled next year, but we can’t really afford to write that season off as well (serious apathy is likely to set in - even early on) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_M Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 40 minutes ago, Woody66 said: Where are you getting this two season transition period from? Summer of 2021 is next season. It's a potential 2 years, if they can't convince of viability next March, it's extended by a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody66 Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 1 hour ago, Jamie_M said: It's a potential 2 years, if they can't convince of viability next March, it's extended by a year. Ah, got it now. With 100 new members in the first couple of days after the announcement, I don't foresee there being a problem for next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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