Who should control the Players' Fund?

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Expand view Topic review: Who should control the Players' Fund?

Who should control the Players' Fund?

by merse btpir » 03 May 2017, 16:19

Soupdragon wrote: 03 May 2017, 14:13 I don't see why the approval of the National League Board would need to be sought to increase any playing budget. There's no salary cap in the Conference National (I've just telephoned them to confirm), so how could they have any say in whatever a club decides it wants to spend on players and whether it wants to up that during a season?
I posted in relation to how it had been given to me when I made enquiries ~ not with the National League direct, I hasten to add ~ so the story told to you differs from the story told to me.

Whilst there is no salary cap in operation in the NL; there are strict financial controls and clubs need to prove they can sustain liabilities incurred through employing players and staff. By that score, I would assume that if they incur increased liability during the season then they will require NL approval; but maybe not who knows?

I do not have recourse to the detail, so whether they 'have any say in whatever a club decides it wants to spend on players and whether it wants to up that during a season' remains in doubt then.

I was talking to a Ryman League chairman very recently who expressed to me his horror at the prospect of having to submit so much information to the National League in the event of his club achieving promotion to it in relation to where they currently operate....I think once clubs move into these 'elevated' levels it really is a different world.........anyway ~ for what it's worth ~ I have been told there is no provision for the manager to draw on this fund in the future so if anyone on here is still contributing to it I suggest they cease forthwith!

Who should control the Players' Fund?

by Soupdragon » 03 May 2017, 14:13

merse btpir wrote: 03 May 2017, 09:47
I distinctly remember Steve saying he would publish a full account of the Players Fund at the end of last season and then (of course) he ceased to be CEO before that could have been done and so it became the responsibility of whoever took over his duties and was patently not done.....it was for that reason I immediately withdrew my support.


People need to be aware that in order to be able to increase the playing budget; the approval of the National League board needed to have been received in and in order to make a tidy representation to them I would imagine a significant sum (say c£10,000) would need to have been accumulated first in a specific account. A football club will have several accounts for different purposes and some of them might remain dormant until needed for another purpose than their original conception; and no doubt exists in my mind that this would have been the case in point.

That amount of money would then need to be transferred into an account of which the League Management Board are aware of and have access to the transactions in. I've no doubt this was the case and I've never had any suspicions as to Steve's integrity or honesty.

I think that the manner in which some people talk about the Player's Fund they imagine it is kept in some biscuit tin in the safe with off the record cash payments being drawn from it as and when the desire arose.

It's time to stop inferring that things were done in a haphazard or disreputable way and in a manner that could well get the club into trouble with the League Management Board.

Well, I do hope that emboldened bit in your post, Merse, doesn't mean me. I'm inferring nothing.

I've got questions about the rest of your post, though. Maybe I'm dim, but I don't see why the approval of the National League Board would need to be sought to increase any playing budget. There's no salary cap in the Conference National (I've just telephoned them to confirm), so how could they have any say in whatever a club decides it wants to spend on players and whether it wants to up that during a season? I also don't think that the 'League Management Board', would be permitted access to 'transactions' in any bank account run by an individual club. Surely the requirement would be, rather, to meet HMRCs rules? There's nothing in the Financial Arrangements, apparently, that requires separate club bank accounts for fundraising, merely that the contractual obligations for each player should be properly recorded in that player's contract - which is private between the player and the club - and properly fulfilled by the club.

Incidentally, I did find online a different TUFC account number (same sort code) for fans to pay in money to help fund the Seal-Hayne training ground. I hope there's no-one who set up a standing order for that and has forgotten to cancel it!

Who should control the Players' Fund?

by yellowmonkey » 03 May 2017, 10:19

Well said Merse totally agree :goodpost:

Who should control the Players' Fund?

by merse btpir » 03 May 2017, 09:47

Soupdragon wrote: 03 May 2017, 07:28 And with the greatest of respect, you haven't been involved with the club for over a year, so will have little idea of the financial arrangements currently in place. I'm not suggesting any wrongdoing, just that the arrangements haven't been substantiated, and I have seen no formal accounting in public for the monies received or the areas in which it was paid out.

I distinctly remember Steve saying he would publish a full account of the Players Fund at the end of last season and then (of course) he ceased to be CEO before that could have been done and so it became the responsibility of whoever took over his duties and was patently not done.....it was for that reason I immediately withdrew my support.


People need to be aware that in order to be able to increase the playing budget; the approval of the National League board needed to have been received in and in order to make a tidy representation to them I would imagine a significant sum (say c£10,000) would need to have been accumulated first in a specific account. A football club will have several accounts for different purposes and some of them might remain dormant until needed for another purpose than their original conception; and no doubt exists in my mind that this would have been the case in point.

That amount of money would then need to be transferred into an account of which the League Management Board are aware of and have access to the transactions in. I've no doubt this was the case and I've never had any suspicions as to Steve's integrity or honesty.

I think that the manner in which some people talk about the Player's Fund they imagine it is kept in some biscuit tin in the safe with off the record cash payments being drawn from it as and when the desire arose.

It's time to stop inferring that things were done in a haphazard or disreputable way and in a manner that could well get the club into trouble with the League Management Board.

Who should control the Players' Fund?

by stephen breed » 03 May 2017, 08:11

Fair point sue all I can answer is when I was there there was a separate bank account which was aptly named players fund where all contributions went into.

Who should control the Players' Fund?

by Soupdragon » 03 May 2017, 07:28

With the greatest of respect, no evidence has been produced to support that.

And with the greatest of respect, you haven't been involved with the club for over a year, so will have little idea of the financial arrangements currently in place.

I'm not suggesting any wrongdoing, just that the arrangements haven't been substantiated, and I have seen no formal accounting in public for the monies received or the areas in which it was paid out.

Who should control the Players' Fund?

by Southampton Gull » 03 May 2017, 07:11

I'm sure everyone who knows you will vouch for your integrity, Steve.

My concerns have been raised with who controls it NOW.

Who should control the Players' Fund?

by stephen breed » 03 May 2017, 06:17

Soup Dragon the players fund account was a separate account to the main Torquay United account I have answered this question before

Who should control the Players' Fund?

by Southampton Gull » 02 May 2017, 21:28

"Anything paid into the players fund is very unlikely to end up paying for players."

I would advise people not to pay into this fund from now onwards.

Who should control the Players' Fund?

by Soupdragon » 02 May 2017, 21:28

Cheers, Scott, but there's no evidence that those accounts aren't the general TUFC one!

Who should control the Players' Fund?

by Scott Brehaut » 02 May 2017, 21:24

Who should control the Players' Fund?

by Soupdragon » 02 May 2017, 20:57

It's not my intention to be 'unfair' to anyone, but I distinctly recall assertions on this site and others that the money was assimilated into the TUFC general account.

Perhaps you could provide hard evidence to the contrary? Account numbers and sort codes? That ought to do it.

As a postscript: I've found a post elsewhere, by a director from the Phillips/Breed 'administration' that gives an account number and sort code for payment to the players fund, and which also states that cheques should be made payable to 'Torquay United FC'. That doesn't seem like a 'separate' account to me.

Who should control the Players' Fund?

by Gullscorer » 02 May 2017, 19:31

That's unfair on Steve Breed. See his posts on this page: http://www.torquayfans.com/viewtopic.ph ... &start=120
I've no reason not to believe Mr Breed; his integrity was never in doubt.

Who should control the Players' Fund?

by Soupdragon » 02 May 2017, 18:45

Gullscorer wrote: 30 Apr 2017, 13:31
Which brings me to the Players' Fund. We know from Steve Breed that it had a separate bank account and should therefore be ring-fenced.
What?

I thought we 'knew' completely the opposite: that the money went straight into the everyday TUFC account.

So far as I know (or care; I don't contribute), the money could go to pay Mr Osborne's Costa Coffee account, should he have such a thing.

I believe absolutely nothing that the Phillips/Breed administration told us. They proved they couldn't run a bath, let alone a football club.

Who should control the Players' Fund?

by Caldwellanddobson » 02 May 2017, 14:40

I cancelled my standing order today. Would be happy to start it up again once we have clarity over the existence of the fund and where the money goes (and it being additional money available to the manager, not just a revenue stream to be exploited saving the owners from investing their own money).

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