I have this strange urge. It is made worse if someone says 'don't be daft'. And it doesn't go away. It is not actually illegal, although you are likely to be taken to one side and asked 'are you sure?' as if you are thinking of embarking on a somewhat dodgy liaison.
I want to invest some money. More specifically, I want to invest some money in a football club.
I actually did this some years ago and didn't come to any harm. In fact, I made a profit of about 43% in just over 3 years which compares rather favourably with the annual 0.5% interest I currently get on a bank deposit account.
Of course not all investments return this sort of profit and I am not going to say you should risk more than you could afford to lose. And there are many considerations to take into account.
But the point is that I could not do this with the same club today even if I wished to. And neither could many other fans with other clubs.
Why is this? Put simply, the clubs are not prepared to offer their shares to small (in financial terms!) investors. If you could afford to spend a few million pounds, you would probably be welcomed with an open receipt book.
But recall that, except in very advanced mathematics, x times y = y times x. So, for example, 20 000 people subscribing £500 each produces the same total money as 500 people each providing £20 000 or indeed one person investing £10 million. Most chairmen would probably prefer the one rich person - much more cosy and lower management costs - at least until the lonely one aligns himself with other directors to boot out the chairman!
Vote-hungry politicians would probably, and often do, side with the fans. But in the current economic climate, can we realistically expect MPs to look at low-priority problems such as some football fans feeling unloved?
If the football club of choice (West Ham United) is not prepared to receive your investment, is there an alternative club nearby which might be more accommodating?
Well, it just so happens that a mere six stations east along the District Line from Upton Park, lies Dagenham East station. And if you head north from the station, the fifth road on the left (Victoria Road) is the home of Dagenham & Redbridge FC.
Next season Dagenham & Redbridge will be playing in Football League Division 2 and although the ground is small, they might just be able to accommodate a few refugees from the other club a short distance to the west.
We shall see!
Showing posts with label directors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label directors. Show all posts
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Saturday, 25 September 2010
An Olympian view
This is a distraction, I know, and has little to do with the main aim of this blog. But it has something to do with the thoughts of at least some of the directors of West Ham. And even a tentative post might help to clarify one's ideas.
As I understand it, there might be some benefit to West Ham from playing football at the Olympic Stadium. This of course would be quite different from the benefit to the directors (aka the shareholders) of being able to dispose of the present ground. They may even have already mentioned the idea to some of their business contacts, in a general sort of way, naturally, and nothing specific at this stage.
But how do Olympic Park and Upton Park compare?
Location
Upton Park (the station) is quite isolated if the District line is not running. Some years ago at the end of the game, the 500 m walk from the ground to the station coincided with the complete collapse of the railway service. And so began the great trek by refugee Hammers to West Ham station, over 2 km away, where the Jubilee line was still functioning.
Olympic Park is served by so many railway lines that only an international outrage of the most appalling kind would stop them all, and we certainly wouldn't be thinking of football, and probably of not much else either.
Olympic Park 1 Upton Park 0
Local amenities
Upton Park has had plenty of time to provide for all the (fairly) respectable needs of football fans, from food and drink to a sheltered fence if the call of nature becomes too urgent. Most fans do not expect much, and that is what they get - not much.
From the artists' illustrations, Olympic Park looks a little too civilised. Never mind. It will soon change as the fans do what fans have to do.
But there may be one problem. The cost of constructing Olympic Park will probably be reflected in the prices charged by franchisees for food, drink and entertainment.
Olympic Park 1 Upton Park 1
The atmosphere and the view of the football match
At Upton Park, they are reasonable in most parts of the ground, but the old ones will tell you that it is now nothing like as good as it used to be. But then, it probably never was.
Olympic Park has a problem. It is big, even if some bits are lopped off after the Olympic Games. The problem is not new and the cause is, whisper it, the athletics track.
Olympic Park 1 Upton Park 2
The effect of the weather
And I am not thinking of its effect on the pitch, where grass technology (always excepting any problems at Wembley) is much improved and heavy pitches amd footballs are virtually unknown now.
No, the spectator has got used to being offered protection from the worst of the elements. Only the effect of the cold if you are seated (and prevented from standing, like penguins, packed tightly together), is seriously unpleasant.
But I have been told, by someone who should know, that in the Olympic Stadium, only spectators right at the back in the top few rows will be protected adequately from driving rain. Perhaps this is not important in our summers, but at other times
a long way from the action, and
soaking wet, and
freezing cold?
No thank you!
Olympic Park 1 Upton Park 3
As I understand it, there might be some benefit to West Ham from playing football at the Olympic Stadium. This of course would be quite different from the benefit to the directors (aka the shareholders) of being able to dispose of the present ground. They may even have already mentioned the idea to some of their business contacts, in a general sort of way, naturally, and nothing specific at this stage.
But how do Olympic Park and Upton Park compare?
Location
Upton Park (the station) is quite isolated if the District line is not running. Some years ago at the end of the game, the 500 m walk from the ground to the station coincided with the complete collapse of the railway service. And so began the great trek by refugee Hammers to West Ham station, over 2 km away, where the Jubilee line was still functioning.
Olympic Park is served by so many railway lines that only an international outrage of the most appalling kind would stop them all, and we certainly wouldn't be thinking of football, and probably of not much else either.
Olympic Park 1 Upton Park 0
Local amenities
Upton Park has had plenty of time to provide for all the (fairly) respectable needs of football fans, from food and drink to a sheltered fence if the call of nature becomes too urgent. Most fans do not expect much, and that is what they get - not much.
From the artists' illustrations, Olympic Park looks a little too civilised. Never mind. It will soon change as the fans do what fans have to do.
But there may be one problem. The cost of constructing Olympic Park will probably be reflected in the prices charged by franchisees for food, drink and entertainment.
Olympic Park 1 Upton Park 1
The atmosphere and the view of the football match
At Upton Park, they are reasonable in most parts of the ground, but the old ones will tell you that it is now nothing like as good as it used to be. But then, it probably never was.
Olympic Park has a problem. It is big, even if some bits are lopped off after the Olympic Games. The problem is not new and the cause is, whisper it, the athletics track.
Olympic Park 1 Upton Park 2
The effect of the weather
And I am not thinking of its effect on the pitch, where grass technology (always excepting any problems at Wembley) is much improved and heavy pitches amd footballs are virtually unknown now.
No, the spectator has got used to being offered protection from the worst of the elements. Only the effect of the cold if you are seated (and prevented from standing, like penguins, packed tightly together), is seriously unpleasant.
But I have been told, by someone who should know, that in the Olympic Stadium, only spectators right at the back in the top few rows will be protected adequately from driving rain. Perhaps this is not important in our summers, but at other times
No thank you!
Olympic Park 1 Upton Park 3
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
Update
The West Ham world has turned on its axis since my last post. The club has new owners and there is a desperate struggle to avoid relegation. The manager is the subject of speculation, the players lack the confidence to show their ability and the directors are accused of making unhelpful comments.
But hang on a moment! All that does sound dreadfully familiar. The fundamentals have not changed. The club is still far away from the ideals of FC Barcelona, both in playing ability and in corporate structure.
So what has happened to WHAM! in the last six months?
Taking the advice given by Supporters Direct, the time has been used to assess the level of interest in, and possible support for, the project.
Using information available on the internet, a list of the names of about a hundred declared celebrity West Ham fans was obtained. Further investigation soon revealed that some celebrities can have a very elastic definition of a football fan! So the list was reduced to 40 names where the attachment to West Ham could be shown to be sufficiently strong. David Gold, then Chairman of Birmingham City FC plc, was included. A letter explaining the nature of the project was sent to each name, with the following results:
Letters were sent to the Chairman and to the Secretary of The Hammers Bond Company. There has been no response.
A letter was also sent to Scott Duxbury, then Chief Executive Officer, West Ham United plc. An acknowledgement was received.
Where does this leave WHAM!? Still trying to gain supporters for the cause? Most definitely. Exploring possibilities? Certainly. Talking to West Ham directors? Perhaps. Giving up? Never!
But hang on a moment! All that does sound dreadfully familiar. The fundamentals have not changed. The club is still far away from the ideals of FC Barcelona, both in playing ability and in corporate structure.
So what has happened to WHAM! in the last six months?
Taking the advice given by Supporters Direct, the time has been used to assess the level of interest in, and possible support for, the project.
Using information available on the internet, a list of the names of about a hundred declared celebrity West Ham fans was obtained. Further investigation soon revealed that some celebrities can have a very elastic definition of a football fan! So the list was reduced to 40 names where the attachment to West Ham could be shown to be sufficiently strong. David Gold, then Chairman of Birmingham City FC plc, was included. A letter explaining the nature of the project was sent to each name, with the following results:
- 6 MPs, 6 replies. Very impressive!
- 6 former West Ham shareholders, 1 reply.
- 14 media people, 2 replies.
- 14 others, 2 replies.
Letters were sent to the Chairman and to the Secretary of The Hammers Bond Company. There has been no response.
A letter was also sent to Scott Duxbury, then Chief Executive Officer, West Ham United plc. An acknowledgement was received.
Where does this leave WHAM!? Still trying to gain supporters for the cause? Most definitely. Exploring possibilities? Certainly. Talking to West Ham directors? Perhaps. Giving up? Never!
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