Support your family Club

[James Frazer]

Any idea what the Sports Council loan is for?
That does represent a huge chunk of the increase I was referring to

No idea. It was a note in the last accounts.

[Rba]

I wonder what the bank loans were for, maybe for some form of ground improvement ?

[Fuggletim]

Was the Sports Council Loan something to do with funding during the Covid pandemic, perhaps?

[abee]

My user name popped up on this thread so just confirming that I am alive and well.

Although Aldershot is my second club I have not posted on here since June 22 2021 after I received a PM from a prominent Shotsweb poster. That made me reflect and I ceased posting. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address one of the most important in history contained just 272 words and I did not feel compelled to write something twice as long as that to advise that I wasn’t posting anymore. You just stop don’t you?

For clarity I have no axe to grind and would love to see Aldershot back in the EFL before I pop my clogs. I am 84yo now and a full time carer at my home for my wife who is 86. Sadly she has had two strokes and my days of voluntarily contributing time/money to any football club are gone.

Regardless of shareholdings I’ve always considered that a club belongs to the supporters.

Board directors good and bad, rich and poor are just passing through as custodians of the supporters legacy. They are no more and no less than that.

So never, ever give up, support your team and believe that better days are coming.

Good luck for this and future seasons. I don’t get to matches anymore either at Brentford or Aldershot because of my personal circumstances but I do follow both clubs keenly.

[HackJowarth]

My user name popped up on this thread so just confirming that I am alive and well.

Although Aldershot is my second club I have not posted on here since June 22 2021 after I received a PM from a prominent Shotsweb poster. That made me reflect and I ceased posting. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address one of the most important in history contained just 272 words and I did not feel compelled to write something twice as long as that to advise that I wasn’t posting anymore. You just stop don’t you?

For clarity I have no axe to grind and would love to see Aldershot back in the EFL before I pop my clogs. I am 84yo now and a full time carer at my home for my wife who is 86. Sadly she has had two strokes and my days of voluntarily contributing time/money to any football club are gone.

Regardless of shareholdings I’ve always considered that a club belongs to the supporters.

Board directors good and bad, rich and poor are just passing through as custodians of the supporters legacy. They are no more and no less than that.

So never, ever give up, support your team and believe that better days are coming.

Good luck for this and future seasons. I don’t get to matches anymore either at Brentford or Aldershot because of my personal circumstances but I do follow both clubs keenly.

Welcome back Abee. Sorry to hear about your wife.

PM from a prominent Shotsweb poster, not so prominent anymore perhaps?

All the best!

HJ

[MikeB]

My user name popped up on this thread so just confirming that I am alive and well.

Although Aldershot is my second club I have not posted on here since June 22 2021 after I received a PM from a prominent Shotsweb poster. That made me reflect and I ceased posting. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address one of the most important in history contained just 272 words and I did not feel compelled to write something twice as long as that to advise that I wasn’t posting anymore. You just stop don’t you?

For clarity I have no axe to grind and would love to see Aldershot back in the EFL before I pop my clogs. I am 84yo now and a full time carer at my home for my wife who is 86. Sadly she has had two strokes and my days of voluntarily contributing time/money to any football club are gone.

Regardless of shareholdings I’ve always considered that a club belongs to the supporters.

Board directors good and bad, rich and poor are just passing through as custodians of the supporters legacy. They are no more and no less than that.

So never, ever give up, support your team and believe that better days are coming.

Good luck for this and future seasons. I don’t get to matches anymore either at Brentford or Aldershot because of my personal circumstances but I do follow both clubs keenly.

Best wishes to you and your wife. I enjoyed the reference to Abe Lincoln. Yes, you do just stop.

[James Frazer]

As a general point of interest, shareholders (I am not) have several rights, including that of receiving a copy of the annual accounts.

Rights of all shareholders, regardless of percentage of shares held
Information rights
to inspect the register of members and the index of members' names without charge

to be given a copy of the register of shareholders within 10 days of a request (possibly subject to a charge)

to inspect the register of directors’ service contracts without charge

to receive a copy of the annual accounts

to inspect the minutes of any general meeting

Meetings
to ask the court to call a general meeting

to receive notice of general meetings

to vote at a meeting of members

Other
not to be unfairly prejudiced

to be given a share certificate

to have the shareholder’s name entered on the Register of Members

to have the company wound up, provided that it is just and equitable to do so

Source https://www.netlawman.co.uk/ia/shareholders-rights

[Rba]

A Bee, all the best to you and your wife. Shame you have sense you would be so good for Aldershot.
Yes we had two gentlemen retire ( for the moment) why say 1 word when a million will do.

[WTF]

My user name popped up on this thread so just confirming that I am alive and well.

Although Aldershot is my second club I have not posted on here since June 22 2021 after I received a PM from a prominent Shotsweb poster. That made me reflect and I ceased posting. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address one of the most important in history contained just 272 words and I did not feel compelled to write something twice as long as that to advise that I wasn’t posting anymore. You just stop don’t you?

For clarity I have no axe to grind and would love to see Aldershot back in the EFL before I pop my clogs. I am 84yo now and a full time carer at my home for my wife who is 86. Sadly she has had two strokes and my days of voluntarily contributing time/money to any football club are gone.

Regardless of shareholdings I’ve always considered that a club belongs to the supporters.

Board directors good and bad, rich and poor are just passing through as custodians of the supporters legacy. They are no more and no less than that.

So never, ever give up, support your team and believe that better days are coming.

Good luck for this and future seasons. I don’t get to matches anymore either at Brentford or Aldershot because of my personal circumstances but I do follow both clubs keenly.

All the very best to you and your wife Abee. Thank you for your past intelligent input!

[Triggers Broom]

My user name popped up on this thread so just confirming that I am alive and well.

Although Aldershot is my second club I have not posted on here since June 22 2021 after I received a PM from a prominent Shotsweb poster. That made me reflect and I ceased posting. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address one of the most important in history contained just 272 words and I did not feel compelled to write something twice as long as that to advise that I wasn’t posting anymore. You just stop don’t you?

For clarity I have no axe to grind and would love to see Aldershot back in the EFL before I pop my clogs. I am 84yo now and a full time carer at my home for my wife who is 86. Sadly she has had two strokes and my days of voluntarily contributing time/money to any football club are gone.

Regardless of shareholdings I’ve always considered that a club belongs to the supporters.

Board directors good and bad, rich and poor are just passing through as custodians of the supporters legacy. They are no more and no less than that.

So never, ever give up, support your team and believe that better days are coming.

Good luck for this and future seasons. I don’t get to matches anymore either at Brentford or Aldershot because of my personal circumstances but I do follow both clubs keenly.

Thanks for posting on here Abee. I'm sorry to hear about your wife. It can't be easy for either of you.

I think it was a missed opportunity for our club to not make use of your expertise. I don't know all the background of what went on but I do wonder where we could've been now.

Anyway, wishing you and your wife all the best.

[IanShots]

Was the Sports Council Loan something to do with funding during the Covid pandemic, perhaps?

Just looked that up, I think you are right...

[Silasgoldeen]

We all know being a Shots supporter is tough at the moment, but in tough times shouldn't we all be sticking together and backing the club to the hilt. A lot of supporters myself included identify with the club in a family scenario and one thing we generally don't do is turn your back on family. I know there's a lot of Shots who are looking to stay away but I would ask those that are thinking of not going to the Rec to think again as this will only hurt the club financially.
The club according to the last accounts had 1.4 million cash debt and shares owned by various large shareholders Circa 1 million No one is going to stump up the money to buy the club and realign it's finances. 3 million is what I feel is needed to buy out and kick on, so we are stuck with the status quo hence why I feel we need to support now in times of trouble.

When Deane Wood came in we were told he had taken on the total club debt at that time of £750k. How can the debt now be 1.4 million?

There are a few posts about National League finances out there and it does suggest that most teams lose money to varying degrees. This article says that only two clubs made a profit in 22/23, for instance: https://therealefl.co.uk/2024/03/29/a-f ... -revealed/. 10 teams lost over £1,000,000 and the average operating loss was £970,000. So say whatever we will about the board, this is the reality they're working in. Either lost a million quid a year to really try to push on, or try to balance the books and hold firm. It's a bit of a damned if you do, damned if you don't, but on this basis presumably the idea is stability, which doesn't seem ridiculous all things considered.

[abee]

Was the Sports Council Loan something to do with funding during the Covid pandemic, perhaps?

If that is the case and it was a loan taken by the club to cover the period when they had the usual expenses but no income then my recollections are that certain other loans that the club may be carrying would have to be subordinated to the Covid loan.

That is cash flow could not be used to repay say directors loans whilst the Sports Council loan is outstanding.

I haven't checked and this is just something that I had in my mind. However I'm hallucinating a lot now at my great age and maybe I need to look it up on my way to the care home!!

[brian bloomfield]

Was the Sports Council Loan something to do with funding during the Covid pandemic, perhaps?

There were 35 (Total £13.5m) emergency loans paid during covid to National League clubs for operational support over and above covid grants for employment support.

Some clubs have already made payments the latest due date for first payment is September 2025.

DCMS's loan book of £474m has so far cost £16.5 m to administer and PCW are still modelling / investigating the loan portfolio.

[James Frazer]

Across many different threads the current BOD are criticized for matters financial as well as management. At least some of the criticism is warranted.
Regarding the financial issues, it seems that different supporters want different things, including :-

• Investment in players
  Better management of the playing area
  Better catering
  Drinks and pies to reward travelling supporters
  Better business administration
  Better communication with spporters
  Better ground facilities
  Better stewarding
  New stadium

Given that there isn't likely to be a magic money tree hidden amongst the resident horse chestnut trees, what would people prefer to see prioritised ?