Cod Almighty | Diary

Shareholders united

16 June 2020

Writing each week, Casual Diary is conscious about repeatedly banging the same drum. It is however difficult to ignore the current fundraising efforts being undertaken by both the fans and the Mariners Trust at present.

The trust website sets out concisely why fans should continue to fundraise despite the club stating that they could survive until next May without football being played. This is after staff agreed to take a pay cut and all staff should be congratulated on their sense of togetherness and unity. The trust statement that any money raised could be used to boost the manager's wage budget is an interesting one. I'm pretty sure that if this was written in stone the boost to the funds would be even greater than it already has been.

In a recent survey of average salaries for the season before last by footy.com, Town's average salary was given as £969 per week. It showed only four teams with a lower playing budget in the division, which suggests the club out performed it's playing budget by seven places. The median figure for the division was £1,188 meaning Town's budget was 20 per cent below the going rate, even taking out the high-paying franchise. The median wage in North East Lincolnshire according to the Office of National Statistics was £492 per week over the same period. So Town's player wages are just over twice the average for the area, compared with three times the local average for other clubs in the division.

More interesting is the amount paid by some clubs with very low gates. With the financial fair play rules limiting clubs to 50 per cent of turnover on players wages, it is hard to see how clubs such as Forest Green afford the salaries they pay. The answer is of course that injection of funds by owners is classed outside of turnover and can be spent as they please. It was this more than any other aspect that led to the demise of Bury.

Last week, Town called for a new set of rules governing financial fair play in which this get out clause is removed. If Town are successful in bringing in tighter rules to stop the use of the so called football fortune payments, they would be in a very strong position. A very quick survey suggests that Town, with a declared turnover of £3.5m, would have a salary limit in excess of the majority of clubs.

Of course to expect the club to spend the full 50 per cent on salaries is optimistic. Based on a rough calculation of 20 players in the squad, we currently spend around a third of turnover on the playing budget. We could in theory increase our spending substantially without penalty. With a maximum playing budget of £1.5m based on the same 20 player squad the average wage could rise from the published £969.00 to £1442.00 per week. With other clubs facing great reductions in the amounts they can spend Town would be in a much more advantageous place with regard to player acquisition.

Which brings us back to the fundraisers. I myself will be buying shares. I would encourage anyone who can find the £25 per month for four months to do so too: look on it as the money you've saved by not visiting Blundell Park since March. Then fans should organise in a shareholders united group, to have a single voice in any discussion on the way forward for Town. I would encourage the organisers of the crowd funder to convert monies raised into shares too and join. A shareholders united group - with policies determined by one member, one vote, regardless of number of shares purchased - could democratically reflect the views of the fans. It could continue to fundraise to increase our shareholding as a group, our influence, and our progress towards the Holy Grail of fan ownership.

In the same way the ITV Digital collapse was the trigger for our fall from the second flight, the current crisis facing football could be the catalyst for our rise back to what before the Fenty era we considered our natural home.

UTM.