Torquay United Fans Forum

tomogull wrote: I have to say through gritted teeth that I agree with David Phillips that the future of TUFC lies away from dear old Plainmoor. It's a nice little ground but it is no longer fit for purpose in the 21st century.

This is undoubtedly true for the long term future of the club, but right now we need money to see us through the end of the season. That's priority number 1. Planning for this glorious future is all well and good but if the club goes bust before that happens, it's all for nothing.

For all of the questions surrounding GI, I think the way for a football club like ours to prosper is by capitalising on non-football income. That means doing something on the 340ish days of the year where we don't have a home game. That means improved facilities. Etc etc.

The headlines in today's Mail read - MONEY MACHINE MUST BE FED BY REGULAR SUCCESS ..... AND UNITED KNOW IT. Okay, it's that other United who play at Old Trafford they're talking about, but the same applies to TUFC as Wivel rightly posted on this thread earlier. A successful team playing good football would increase our home gates by 800 - 1000 which would considerably ease financial concerns. Apart from the end of last season, we have had three seasons of abject failure and a successful side playing good football looks to be light years away at present.

Teams - e.g. Exeter - make their own luck. We had a winnable home Cup draw against Woking, another side experiencing money worries. We frittered the chance away. There were over 4000 at Stockport on saturday for their first round match. I think gate money from cup games is split three ways - home team, away team and the F.A. - so I suspect Woking picked up £15000/£16000 from gate money alone. They will also pick up £thousands for their win and have got the chance of another lucrative draw tonight. I can't remember when we last won a F.A. Cup round 1 match.

Of the suggestions on here, goody's idea isn't bad, although I think making £1000 per home game is a tad optimistic ! The other one which I think could be a runner is a Coffee Shop/TUFC centre in town. Yet another coffee shop opened in Paignton about a month ago - the town is awash with 'em. Yet they all seem to be doing good business. I rarely go into Torquay (which must be a strong contender for the most depressing town centre in the country), but I can't think of many coffee outlets in Union Street. Obviously some 'money crunching' would have to be done (rental, staff costs etc) but if shown to be viable, it would provide revenue for the club all year round and give TUFC a presence in the town centre.

However, after standing on the Plainmoor terraces for six decades plus a few years (yep - I'm one of Matt's coffin dodgers), I have to say through gritted teeth that I agree with David Phillips that the future of TUFC lies away from dear old Plainmoor. It's a nice little ground but it is no longer fit for purpose in the 21st century. I have been persuaded by Forever's arguments, but not his argument for a G4 pitch. A ground with added sports facilities, parking and perhaps a hotel at, say, Nightingale Park (not convinced this is the ideal venue) is what any prospective purchaser, hopefully not GI, should be aiming for long term. Just take a look at Paignton Community College on any evening. The place is buzzing. The Sports Hall and pitches are always fully used. The College must be making a bomb. I have never been to Eastleigh, but the sort of facilities that Soton Gull describes seems like a model we could learn from. But all this seems a long, long way from where we are now.

How about having the fans pick the man of the match, text a number, the poll shown on the big screen at the end of the game, charge £1/£1.50 per text. Easy way of making aprox £1000 per home game

PhilGull wrote: Oh okay. I guess we'd better just sit on out hands and wait for that to happen then.

Well, seeing as the board have two offers on the table from parties able to invest in us financially, yes, that seems like a good course of action.

madgull wrote: He's said before how we can secure the future of pro football in Torbay: sell the club to somebody with the money to pump into it and cover losses, better yet to someone who fancies chucking in the money to build us a new stadium with revenue-generating capabilities. The situation really is that simple, but people don't want to hear it.

Oh okay. I guess we'd better just sit on out hands and wait for that to happen then.

PhilGull wrote:So come on Matt. With every post you belittle the ideas of everyone else. You've put your name forward to 'help' but just what is it you expect to be helping with. What are YOUR ideas to secure the future of professional football in Torbay?

He's said before how we can secure the future of pro football in Torbay: sell the club to somebody with the money to pump into it and cover losses, better yet to someone who fancies chucking in the money to build us a new stadium with revenue-generating capabilities. The situation really is that simple, but people don't want to hear it.

So come on Matt. With every post you belittle the ideas of everyone else. You've put your name forward to 'help' but just what is it you expect to be helping with. What are YOUR ideas to secure the future of professional football in Torbay?

Oh Dave, I love your enthusiasm and I wish I viewed the world with such a childlike naivety of business and the way of things, but this talk of beer festivals and whatnot is so grotesquely impractical there's really not enough time left in the universe to explain why it won't work.

Save yourself the heartache, we aren't organising a beer festival.

If you fancy helping, have a think about giving your time freely, as I have asked elsewhere.

Matt.

Jerry wrote: Yellowfest was a beer festival as well as the "music".

http://www.englishriviera.co.uk/whats-o ... h-p1691253

Take your point Jerry. However the price of £15 a day or £25 for both points to where the problem was, especially if you put that entrance price up against the line up, must CAMRA events are between £3-£5 to enter, with live music, I drove past the last one held at Tuckers Maltings, people were at the event by the coach load, literally, there were coachs parked along side Osbourne park, the park was full of people.

Mattpumas idea is an excellent though. It's not just about charging £3 to go in, the endless opportunity to promote the club, if you held such an event at Tuckers for argument sake, you've got Osbourne park, hold a 5 a side football tournament at the same time, maybe, and so the list of possible extra activities can go and on.

TUST_Member_Rob wrote:The club memorabilia ideas are,all well and good but hasnt the shop been contracted out?

If this is the case then couldn't the club buy shirts for Nicho to sign then raffle them off on match days, have an online auction on the OS or add them to the 50/50 Crossbar Challenge draw.

No reason to buy the entire stock but it experiment by buying a couple to start with.

forevertufc wrote:

Yes the club lost money on yellow(bore)fest 2, but again, you offer the right music to the right people, you'd make money. Thought the beer festival idea was a cracking one being honest, it doesn't matter, if you 5-10-15-20 of them, they come in by the coach load, plainmoor probably not the best venue, could it not be held elsewhere, like TUFC in conjunction with Tuckers Maltings, maybe.

Yellowfest was a beer festival as well as the "music".

http://www.englishriviera.co.uk/whats-o ... h-p1691253

Fanfests before matches. Maybe not every home game but having something else that makes it more of a day (as let's be honest the football is not the greatest).

Get some ex-players down - they're clearly keen (e.g Sills etc for the Games night) but I feel people are more likely to attend if it was on a game day.

Fiver entry or maybe £10 inc. a pasty and a pint. It seems to work well down the road!

Matt,

Do you mean like the TUST and other working parties that have aided the Club previously. Or is it essential that you are number 1 in this instance?

Listen, it's not the worst idea, champ. It has indeed been done to beneficial effect before and could happen again. I believe there are now two fans organisations whose membejrs might now be interested in such a thing. One has been set up with that as it's primary/possibly sole focus. Contacting both may assist to see if they will be your 2 and 3. I might be your 4, if they are, but you'll get some numbers on the forum so I'll take my place in line. Maybe they'll read and contact you. That would be great. I know you'd like that. And I know they'd like your energy. They ought to. But if they don't, give them a bell.

Quite a few of the other ideas already posted would also help, too. Not just your "unique" one. Why so dismissive? Extra trip required for Fun Night vs. At the match already for the photo idea? That's just one example of where being so dismissive misses the point the poster has made. The free players one was another one recently laid to rest.

You are quite right to acknowledge that greater numbers organised and rallying around a cause is better than one rallying around their own. It's constructive in many respects, but its sometimes better not to say 'you're all clueless twats, here's how it is" to get people who will actually follow through on something other than completing your list for forum purposes.

Channel the energy and try not to focus on getting insults in every post you make. I've tried to be polite getting this over. Good luck.

Hey - why not sell the club out to property developers? That is a surefire way to make some serious money.

Or have we already tried that?

ferrarilover wrote: Two sittings for pre-match lunch when we don't even sell out of one sitting. Holding another music festival despite the fact that the last one lost us money. Talk of setting up a beer festival, which would be about the ten thousandth in the area, in a place with no parking and makeshift facilities and organised by a business with three employees, none of whom have even the first ounce of experience of such a thing.

I am aware as said in a previous post the club is seriously under-staffed. Part of the problem is highlighted, when a TUFC fan and poster on this forum (Neal) posts back down the thread what's no10's, when you find yourself a situation when the clubs own fans haven't heard of the clubs own restaurant, boy are you in trouble.

The internet by the way is such wonderful invention, 1 person can do the job of 10 and reach 1000's of people in seconds using it, 1 generic e-mail sent to all e-mail address held on file, 1 post on facebook, 1 tweet, 1 post on each of the TU related fans forums, and every fan knows.

Yes we don't sell out 1 sitting, however if you offer a carvery at say £15 a head, well great, wonderful, marvellous. However if you offer a carvery and family stand ticket for £20 suddenly it becomes a little more inviting. So you fill a few gaps in the family stand, you would sell out 1 sitting , maybe, maybe not a second, and what do people do when they eat, yes, of course they drink, they go to the bar and buy a few rounds, and that's where you make your money.

Yes the club lost money on yellow(bore)fest 2, but again, you offer the right music to the right people, you'd make money. Thought the beer festival idea was a cracking one being honest, it doesn't matter, if you 5-10-15-20 of them, they come in by the coach load, plainmoor probably not the best venue, could it not be held elsewhere, like TUFC in conjunction with Tuckers Maltings, maybe.