The future

[tictactoe]

The thing is about Fylde it’s not just about the stand itself it’s about the businesses around it that pay rent etc and help the sustainability of the club in general. That’s where Fylde have it spot on

[Jim]

I think Steve Story's sentiments are spot on. Regarding Jo's 'match day experience' theory, I agree up to a point. I haven't been to Fylde, but do remember Rushden's swish new ground and didn't rate the experience at all. The problem with Holker Street is that it lacks atmosphere and the majority of fans tend to be undemonstrative and don't create atmosphere either. I am convinced that the open Holker Street end and the horrible Crossbar building ruin the ground and I would put a plan to cover the HS end and put a new building at the 'steelworks end' as priority.

Regarding the immediate future, I could accept relegation philosophically if I thought it would lead to a period of planning and consolidation. Arguably, we have moved too far and too fast, have been too ambitious or too hasty. I would rather we spent a few years in Vanarama North with an owner who was comfortable with the level of expenditure/subsidy he was willing to put in and slowly improve the ground along the lines I suggest, rather than lose the owner's backing and go bust.

[Bigfathoss]

Perhaps it's just me, but I have always thought the first big mistake was allowing the Bluebird to be removed as part of the set-up. Certainly for myself and the people I have regularly gone to the footy with over the years, it meant that there was no reason to get to the ground any earlier then KO-10 minutes. The Crossbar (really should have renamed it Square One when we had the chance) will never, ever be a suitable alternative. It should be turned into a 7 days a week snooker and pool hall and allow the drinkers to go to the Soccer Bar. As part of possible ground improvements (yes, with hindsight I know) it would have been my number one priority.
I also am not really affected by the condition of the ground aside from the saga of the Popular Side bogs. I will stand in the same spot regardless...but for how long I couldn't tell you. I had previously thought we would stay up with a game or two to spare but I now agree with those that expect us to go down.
We have a team with no fight in them.
Too many of that team give the impression that they really don't want to be here.
As big a division between the organisation and the core fans as I have ever seen.
Apparently no idea of commercial ventures going forward.
Yeah, we're about done unless there are things going on that no bugger knows about to pull us out of this shit.

[Pedro]

The thing is about Fylde it’s not just about the stand itself it’s about the businesses around it that pay rent etc and help the sustainability of the club in general. That’s where Fylde have it spot on

The difference is Fylde have a local owner in David Haythornthwaite who runs a company worth £20 million .
In the space of 10 years they had two stadiums built and gradually progressed towards the plan of eventual promotion.
In 6 years he has raised over £85000 for local charities.
I will be honest I had to look for this information.
Our owner sought the lime light promised alot and delivered little.
We may well end up in a position similar to the Vaughan era unless he chooses to gift the assets to a trust.
The end of this season will see a definitive statement being released by our owner I think.

[Lowtower]

I think the future contains at least another 100 threads about the future.

[Middleton Nick]

The future is in our hands. We have a chance to stay up and the chance starts tonight.If we do stay up then massive changes need to be made or else we will be in the same position next season.
If we get relegated then so be it, but I will still be watching next season.
I haven't a problem with Paul Casson. I shudder to think of the amount of money he has put into the club and the amounts he is losing each week.
He made a lot of promises which in hindsight he probably regrets. If he had just taken the club over and kept it going then I think most people would have been happy.
Let's get this season over and start again, in which league I have no idea.

[Wintergreen]

The future is in our hands. We have a chance to stay up and the chance starts tonight.If we do stay up then massive changes need to be made or else we will be in the same position next season.
If we get relegated then so be it, but I will still be watching next season.
I haven't a problem with Paul Casson. I shudder to think of the amount of money he has put into the club and the amounts he is losing each week.
He made a lot of promises which in hindsight he probably regrets. If he had just taken the club over and kept it going then I think most people would have been happy.
Let's get this season over and start again, in which league I have no idea.

That's the conclusion I have arrived at also; if PC had said initially I want to buy the club and put cash in to keep it going we would have taken that as there was nothing else on the table at that time. His words may have been wayward but his good intentions weren't. However, in contrast to the doom-mongering he will be well connected and maybe trying to attract a partner organisation or other party to come on-board to try and bring his stated ambitions to reality. We don't know what his plans or thoughts are right now but I think it is time he shared them with us.

[The Tomahawk Kid]

If Casson had put his money into building a new, decent ground then attendances would've doubled. We, the true supporters, would've had a lot more patience as well with what was going on 'on' the pitch and Casson would've then had his lasting-legacy. It was, and is, his biggest mistake the ground and I've said it from day one. Had a few opposing opinions from people on here who were saying we'd get bigger grants once we were back in the league (if only!) but that's just water-on-the-pitch...I mean under-the-speedway-track now.

+1

+ 2

[dids21]

Would it be a disaster if we did go down build a new young team hopefully with some cumbrian/lancashire lads playing for us might just get some of the lost fans back and re build from there just look at Blackburn now last year no interest in the club fans calling for the owners heads now everyone is pulling in the same direction UPWARDS

[mickmike wilson]

So what’s does it take to run a club like Barrow? Geographically isolated, we struggle to attract players, but counter to that, we have a fanbase out there and on its day, Holker Street can be a passionate cauldron that’s can lift the home side as the twelfth man. That has been absent for too long. As far back as Daz and Dave since I last truly experienced that atmosphere at Holker Street. We need that back. Off the pitch, a tangible plan for sustainability is a must. I would welcome discussion on how fan groups can reinvest Back into the club through a share option scheme. From investing from as little as £1 to 4 figure lifetime commitments. Maybe some kind of Barrow AFC premium Bond- with a monthly prize draw. There needs to be more opportunities to reinvest back into the club. Casson cannot do this alone.

Plus 1

[BTC]

I think Casson started out with genuine intentions to try to build and improve the club, both on and off the field. It seems however he's done this without researching too much, if at all, how a non-league football club is run, and more importantly how it's financed. It looks like a combination of the cost of the floodlights combined with Cox's spending on players, wages and agents fees has woken him up to the reality that to pursue his adventure properly he's going to need to spend much more of his own money than he ever imagined. This has then seen him pocket any large income for himself from player sales and pull up the drawbridge financially and retreat into his bunker in Texas to work out what he does next? At present it looks like this plan includes getting demoted, going back part-time and reducing the wage bill and hence his expenditure. I don't personally believe he's bought the club with any real interest in developing the land for other purposes. I can think of a thousand better ways to invest and spend your money than this.

[barrowfan]

This has then seen him pocket any large income for himself from player sales and pull up the drawbridge financially and retreat into his bunker in Texas to work out what he does next? At present it looks like this plan includes getting demoted, going back part-time and reducing the wage bill and hence his expenditure.

I think that is a very harsh judgement on a man who has kept alive this football club, losing millions of pounds in the process.

[mickmike wilson]

This has then seen him pocket any large income for himself from player sales and pull up the drawbridge financially and retreat into his bunker in Texas to work out what he does next? At present it looks like this plan includes getting demoted, going back part-time and reducing the wage bill and hence his expenditure.

I think that is a very harsh judgement on a man who has kept alive this football club, losing millions of pounds in the process.

Agreed, It’s also stupid to think he’s only bought the club for a land grab but then spends large amounts of his own money on the Floodlights, Pitch leveling & all the other well documented things that needed doing.

Factor in that Texas for example is booming and land values rising fast so in theory he could have bought many acres on the outskirts of just about any city in the state of his choosing & sit on it for 10 years & probably treble his outlay...

[mulholland]

Is there only me that doesn’t give a shit what ground I watch the football in as long as there is decent football to watch? I’m not bothered about a new stadium and can’t see it happening just give me a team playing decent football giving their all and progressing

I’m not a Casson fan never have been but he promised a lot and basically hasn’t delivered. Am I surprised? No

I also don’t think we have a right to be in this league - we are at the moment and hope we stay there but if we don’t I’ll still watch next season if there’s a team to watch

No it is not only you, the supporters like you and me who to be honest dont give a flying [SwearFilter] about this mythical “ matchday experience”are the ones who dont come on here moaning at every opportunity. Ninety percent of supporters who turn up for a match do so in the 15 minuets leading up to kick off and then leave at full time.”matchday experience” my arse, we are non league,what i pay my money for is to watch my team put in a hundred percent,if that happens i go home happy. Fylde built a new ground so what, its modern, its pleasing on the eye, but give me holker st anyday.

Yeh well sometimes I guess you get the ground 'some' of the supporters deserve. On the other hand 'Jo' no one is going to take a child, youth, whatever you want to call the future of this club down to Holker st. and be smitten by the experience are they? Whether dinosaurs like you enjoy the match-day experience or not this club has got to wise-up and drag itself into this century. The chairman's been here long enough now and has failed to recognise the elephant in the ground.

[Hadrian]

Maybe he hasn't failed to do so at all?

Maybe he isn't able to justify the possible spend needed to realise his ambitions because the cost:benefit ratio doesn't make sense?

Maybe he is exploring other ground options which will need to remain confidential until/if an agreement is made?

Maybe there's not a lot of point speculating?

As for the BTC comment above about 'pocketing' money from player sales, perhaps BTC would like to remind us how much they have brought in to date for Mr Casson and compare that with the amounts the owner has had to 'un-pocket' in order to buy and run the club?

I suspect the answer, or maybe the silence, will be as convincing as that from the "only bought the club to sell the ground for house-building" merry band when challenged to show their working to justify their assertions. (As their point of reference look at the site at Sutherland and Arthur Streets which cost £10 million to buy, clear and market and which was sold for house-building for £302 000 and, no, I haven't left off a zero)