Supporters Group News New Group Statement 28/02/23

[Grayson]

If honest, I think fans should collectively hold off renewing season cards at present until RM engages with and responds.

This is a good point and an impactful action the fanbase can take, which is a rare opportunity for us.

It's clear that season ticket revenue has been used as cashflow easing before. Many won't want to risk jeopardising the team, given season ticket revenue is so crucial to budgeting, but 'the stronger the support, the stronger the team' is written on our season cards and quite clearly having 3,100 of us buyers wasn't enough to motivate Ron to do his bit. Maybe zero will.

 

[Cricko]

I guess if they're involved with FF, they have a financial interest so have no choice but to believe RM will get it all sorted. IMO, they are fools for getting into bed with such a shambolic business partner in the first place .... don't people research anymore?

There are many people before PG who have believed RM's spiel, me included in 2008. @Smiffy and i had a few meetings with RM before we saw through the fiasco of it all. We had further meetings when Tara came on board and he at first was swept up with it all and we know how that turned out.

 

[Sensei Phil]

I guess if they're involved with FF, they have a financial interest so have no choice but to believe RM will get it all sorted. IMO, they are fools for getting into bed with such a shambolic business partner in the first place .... don't people research anymore?

Well the reality now is that we're stuck in the National league and showing no signs of getting back. If anything, as each season goes on, and RM is running along with his delusional dream, we are closer to being relegated again or wound up. As well as the lads have done, and they've been brilliant, they are running out of steam. Two successive defeats against play off rivals has shown the gap in squad depth. And decent players know it. Kacper has seen it and gone, how long before others follow? GSM, Kensdale, Sandat, Miley, ect, won't be around long before their heads are turned. That could be said of Kev, Darren and Benno also because they came here to do a job, and they're being denied the tools. Even when the embargo has been lifted, what decent player will come? They'll see what's happened to Kacper and think twice. I already know of a couple of decent players that would like to work under our coaches but won't come under the current circumstances. And clubs looking to build a team will be looking on and seeing the miracles that Kev and Co have performed against all adversity. Won't take much to turn them also..

Stan has many other interests to financially keep him going so he's not here for money, he's here to try help. But his hand are tied. Stilly however, has extremely valuable skills that we need ... but he can't put them into practice because of ongoing embargos.

So at what point do we say enough is enough to Ron for his financial mismanagement and ignorance to the fans that pay into his pocket? The National League south? The Essex Senior League?

In a personal message from Kasper to me at the weekend, he said I quote:

"I hope you and the fans get your club back in order because you deserve it". Kasp

Tell me that's someone who doesn't give a damn about the fans or the club? We should take a leaf out of his book ....

We have good people in the club and Ron is taking advantage of everyone ..... as he always has done.

It's our club, not his play thing, and we need to take it back.

 

[hlane17]

If honest, I think fans should collectively hold off renewing season cards at present until RM engages with and responds.

RM has absolutely no regard for the fans so why should we back him with our hard earned cash??

If we don't stand up and vote with our feet, we're back to a winding up order in a few months.

If he does not sell any part of SUFC this summer, I'm very likely boycotting until that leaves.

Fan since 2007 and STH since 2010 but this club just drags me down and I feel I'm better off spending my weekends doing something else.

I'll still love my club, but it's looking more likely that it will be from a distance.

 

[Flinty]

No to all the above. We have no money and it seems will be reyling on new season cards etc to bring in money to cover us until June at the earliest. TL will it seems be fire fighting until then.

I thought we had enough working capital once everything was paid as per the club statement

 

[GNH]

I thought we had enough working capital once everything was paid as per the club statement

It did say that, and I think we may have believed it for a few days.

Now the dust is settling it appears that it may have been another piece of information, in a long line of statements, that is not all it seems to be.

 

[Sensei Phil]

If he does not sell any part of SUFC this summer, I'm very likely boycotting until that leaves.

Fan since 2007 and STH since 2010 but this club just drags me down and I feel I'm better off spending my weekends doing something else.

I'll still love my club, but it's looking more likely that it will be from a distance.

I understand fully why you feel like that.

Tbh - yes it's extremely difficult to get through to a man that won't engage with you. I know Shrimpers Trust members, as @Cricko has suggested, have been having this battle for years. But collectively we can force change. Once again I refer to fan power against the mighty elite clubs across Europe, who turned on their wealthy owners regarding the proposed super league. It wasn't that long ago that these super rich owners all backed down to fan power within 24 hours. One by one they fell. This is one man, who owns nothing but debts and a wild dream, not a Glazer.

The supporters groups have to unite together. We have some brilliant people with brilliant skills and minds, I'm certainly not one of those but it frustrates me that these people are trodden on and abused within a caring fan base and within the club. It's just disrespectful.

People can't blame TL either. This is a man that has great skills and can do a magnificent job with backing. A man who also been thrown under the bus at times. A man who took his suit off pre-season and cleaned pigeon crap off the seats you sit on. A man I highly respect, who cares deeply. Last night before the game I briefly spoke with him and I've never known him to be so down. I genuinely felt for him. Tom works all hours ..... and always against it.

Hitting Ron where it hurts isn't going against Tom, Stan, Kev, the players or anyone else. Just Ron ....

We have to make him engage somehow because he owes us all, we don't owe him.

"Be grateful".... what an arrogant heartless selfish man.

 

[hlane17]

I thought we had enough working capital once everything was paid as per the club statement

I'd hazard a guess that group companies more important than SUFC probably have plenty of working capital.

SUFC will get the bare minimum required, just enough to keep the club afloat for the pot of gold. The only reason we're still here is because we are needed for FF. I truly believe if we were not required, we would have been left to go bust on the 1st.

I don't think our Glorious Chairman particularly cares what league we're in. If he did, we would not have suffered from repeated embargoes that wrecked the team and led to our double relegation in the first place.

 

[Rayleigh boy]

I'd hazard a guess that group companies more important than SUFC probably have plenty of working capital.

SUFC will get the bare minimum required, just enough to keep the club afloat for the pot of gold. The only reason we're still here is because we are needed for FF. I truly believe if we were not required, we would have been left to go bust on the 1st.

I don't think our Glorious Chairman particularly cares what league we're in. If he did, we would not have suffered from repeated embargoes that wrecked the team and led to our double relegation in the first place.

the chairman needed the relegations to reduce his football costs .. (players wages) .

 

[danbowen]

Without being disrespectful to the guys who try to engage with Ron maybe it needs a new approach with new people who will get under his skin and keep pushing him until we get a response. I feel like he knows how he can play they people who have been doing this for years now which is why he constantly gets away with things.

We as fans need to push for:

1. a fan representative on the board
2. a statement from the club regarding what is going on inc what is stopping the embargo being cleared
3. the missing information to be provided to the council to get this stadium moving along.
4. understand Rons plan - when he is going to leave, if he will accept help etc
5. get the accounts up to date

It is disappointing that from what I have seen that the protests seemed to have calmed down as the pressure needs to stay on Ron but also that influential people also dont seem to be asking the difficult questions. For example, has anyone actually asked Ron/Tom what is holding up the embargo? Also Anna Firth who people were thanking only a week or two ago has literally stopped pushing for change as she feels she has done her part to try and look good.

As fans we need to adapt and get fresh ideas as to how we can try to change things but at times we seem to be complacent and that is what has allowed this to go on for years and appears to have been the case again since HMRC were paid.

 

[Rayleigh boy]

I was with an orient fan last night ... a highly respectable individual with a professional background in banking -

he ended up participating in the pitch invasions at Orient - actions that contributed to changing the ownership ..

the most important thing we have now is a united group of supporters groups who can represent us - to the National League. the FA, the council, the media, the governemnt - whoever.

we need this united group of fans organisations to be formally and legally constituted.

then we can move forward -

once we are organised we can discuss options like with holding season ticket money ..

until we have this organisation properly sorted out we remain a rabble

 

[Blue43]

I thought we had enough working capital once everything was paid as per the club statement

Based on many of the statements from the club, I would take what they say with a pinch of salt as most of it is bull**** just to appease the fans!

 

[Sensei Phil]

@Cricko

Can we have a poll asking current season card holders if they would be willing to refrain from renewing until Ron engages with the Trust and answers key questions set out relating to finances, forward planning, capital, embargo, payment to staff, exit strategy.

Then send him the results.

Please discuss tonight.

Much better to try avoid holding back paying first before suggesting it widespread? You might get some engagement from him then if he knows what potentially we are prepared to do as a fan base without answers.
Losing money he banks on getting speaks more volumes than protesting outside his house.

 

[Shrimpet steve]

This is pointless! Ron will run the club the same way he has been doing for the last 20 years until Fossetts is developed! Nothing else to say and not worth the time worrying about it.

 

[TJC]

If honest, I think fans should collectively hold off renewing season cards at present until RM engages with us and responds.

Why are we still under an embargo?

Why does he want us to put money into his club when he is not backing the manager to get us out of the National League? Where has that money gone considering it was stated the loan paid HMRC and gave us capital. Where has this capital gone? Has it run out already?

RM has absolutely no regard for the fans so why should we back him with our hard earned cash??

If we don't stand up and vote with our feet, we're back to a winding up order in a few months.

I've been thinking about this over the last few weeks. I just hesitate that it will damage the club financially even more. However, how much worse can it get? If fans witholding ST renewals sends us over the edge, it will only tide us over for a few months at best.
I certainly think if we could collectively withhold in large enough numbers until Ron at least communicates a plausable way out of this mess that it backed by facts rather than a wing and a prayer, it might just be one of the weapons in our arsenal.

 

[TJC]

@Cricko

Can we have a poll asking current season card holders if they would be willing to refrain from renewing until Ron engages with the Trust and answers key questions set out relating to finances, forward planning, capital, embargo, payment to staff, exit strategy.

Then send him the results.

Please discuss tonight.

Much better to try avoid holding back paying first before suggesting it widespread? You might get some engagement from him then if he knows what potentially we are prepared to do as a fan base without answers.
Losing money he banks on getting speaks more volumes than protesting outside his house.

Defo worth a pole I'd say. Not sure what the representative number of STs on SZ is, but would be good to see the conscious of support for this would be; even if just a small sample. If there is support, we could broaden to other socials etc?

 

[LeedsSUFC]

@Cricko

Can we have a poll asking current season card holders if they would be willing to refrain from renewing until Ron engages with the Trust and answers key questions set out relating to finances, forward planning, capital, embargo, payment to staff, exit strategy.

Then send him the results.

Please discuss tonight.

Much better to try avoid holding back paying first before suggesting it widespread? You might get some engagement from him then if he knows what potentially we are prepared to do as a fan base without answers.
Losing money he banks on getting speaks more volumes than protesting outside his house.

The Trust have to be more transparent to have a strong hold opinion of ALL fans.

Right now, I don’t know the trust stance on anything…

Do they want their £40k back from Ron?
Do they want Ron out?
How long do they expect Ron to stay?
What is their ideal owner?
What is their opinion on the Lopata saga?
Do they support the protests?
Do they support the documentary (does it exist still?)
Do they still talk to Ron on a near daily basis?

If the Trust want the core fan base to support anything, they have to make their actions and intentions clear. Give us a plan, a vision to what we want and what we could achieve!

If they want Ron out via protests, they have to start with the Trust, not random twitter accounts calling to start protests outside Ron’s house…

The only memorable opinion of the trust in my memory is Ron isn’t a viable long term owner and thank you Anna Firth/Government for the white paper…

 

[Sensei Phil]

Defo worth a pole I'd say. Not sure what the representative number of STs on SZ is, but would be good to see the conscious of support for this would be; even if just a small sample. If there is support, we could broaden to other socials etc?

Ron predicts us all the time. We know when he'll be asking for our money .. let's predict him and use it to our advantage for once. Why should he hold all the cards all the time?

 

[Chairman Trigg]

Wouldn't believe a word Ron says now. Would do his usual ...tell them what they want to hear and then do what's best for him.Sorry to say I feel we are on a verge of a Bury.
The withholding ST money is the only strong card supporters have left and I wouldn't trust his answers.
Only hearing our situation face to face from TL the council and maybe a couple of other sources would give me the confidence we are going to survive in our current form.

 

[hlane17]

Ron predicts us all the time. We know when he'll be asking for our money .. let's predict him and use it to our advantage for once. Why should he hold all the cards all the time?

He's very good at creating an illusion that he holds all the cards all the time.

The reality is the fans hold the power regarding SUFC. Considering he needs SUFC to realise his dream, he should realise who he answers to.

The potential for real change between now and next season depends on how brave our fans want to be in standing up to RM.