Macclesfield Town FC wound up

He did. An awful manager. Played his part in their downfall
He has recently been complaining that his problems are being caused by him having to start at the bottom of the ladder and that it he had a job at a big club with the right infrastructure behind him he would be a success - ho hum
 
He has recently been complaining that his problems are being caused by him having to start at the bottom of the ladder and that it he had a job at a big club with the right infrastructure behind him he would be a success - ho hum

To be fair to him, he’s not wrong is he? What would be an easier job - managing a team in English lower leagues or managing at a team where you can spent millions assembling a team?
 
Football finances are truly fucked. Wound up over an amount that a top EPL player will earn in a fortnight. Clubs at that level shouldn't be able to accrue debts of half a million. TV money has ruined English football, from the top flight to the bottom of the football league. They might only have an average crowd of about 2000 but that's 2000 people who have lost their club and will be lost to the game. They might follow another team from afar but they're not going to go elsewhere on a Saturday afternoon. Thats an opportunity for local kids to play football lost. I hate seeing clubs struggle and go out of business.
 
To be fair to him, he’s not wrong is he? What would be an easier job - managing a team in English lower leagues or managing at a team where you can spent millions assembling a team?

But playing against teams where they have spent millions assembling a team...
 
I posted this on the Silmen Supporters Trust Facebook page.


Ladies and Gents - I wish you well. I was on the board of the Rangers Supporters Trust for many years. A couple of years back I offered some thoughts to the Hartlepool fans. I hope this is relevant to you guys and that may be of some help.





Best of luck!








Jan 24, 2018



I knocked up this scribble and posted it onto two of their Facebook pages - hopefully they will learn a bit from our past troubles.











A FEW WORDS WHICH MIGHT BE HELPFUL








I’m a Rangers fan. I was on the board of the Rangers Supporters Trust for a decade and have edited the Rangers fanzine and website Follow Follow for yonks.








Hartlepool is your club and you have different circumstances from what we went through but I hope a few pointers might be of help to you. We made our mistakes along the way, I hope you can learn from them.











1/ THE POUND IN THE BANK IS YOUR BEST FRIEND





The nearer you get to the money the nastier people become - equity is king in football clubs and if you don’t have shares or money you’ll find yourselves sidelined from the big decisions. Start collecting cash now.








2/ DELIVER FAN UNITY





We created the Union Of Fans to bring in the supporters groups and websites who wanted to fight the Spivs we had in charge. You won’t agree on everything but move together as far as you can in the same general direction. The punters love unity - nothing is more discouraging that seeing fans fight amongst themselves.








3/ CHOOSE YOUR PARTNERS CAREFULLY





You’ll probably have to partner up with someone with a fair bit of unencumbered capital (i.e., they haven’t borrowed it from somewhere else) - if you can’t find they have much of a track record then alarm bells should go off.








4/ GET SOMETHING FOR YOUR MONEY





Be careful how you structure things - if you fundraise in a certain way you won’t be able to donate it and get shares in return. Ideally put in your cash in return for shares or the money being regarded as a loan. It’s a crisis so there is the pressure just to put money in a bucket and hand it over to the current lot and that’s understandable. But long-term it would be a mistake. Attach strings.








5/ ALWAYS HAVE A POSITIVE MESSAGE





Even when delivering bad news. We gave the Spivs a real hammering but always finished off with a bit of positivity to give people hope and activities to engage in.








6/ GIVE PEOPLE THINGS TO DO





Build up your activist core with leafleting at the ground etc. One of the things that worked well for us was making huge leaflets which people could hold up at 18 and 72 minutes (Rangers formed in 1872) - at halftime and when the team came out. Every home game is a fantastic opportunity to fundraise and get your message over.








7/ UNITY OF COMMAND





Get your message straight - get a spokesman who will be the contact point and make sure others who have been in the media in the past direct enquiries to him and don’t dilute the message.








8/ DISCIPLINE





Aggro turns off far more people than it turns on. So keep all your activities lively and fun.








9/ DO YOUR HOMEWORK





Read everything - League regulations, Articles of Association, Accounts, old court cases, etc, etc. It’s amazing what you can find. Be prepared for any eventuality and know your rights.








10/ THERE’S A WORLD OF HARTLEPOOL FANS OUT THERE





Use the internet to connect with them - accounts, lawyers, researchers - build a database of fans online. It’ll all be useful.








I know these are dark days for your right now - but they are also great days when you will see the best in your fans and if you work together you will have better future for the club.








Best of luck!
 
Didn't he keep them up?

Not sure if he did but I know Paul Ince did a few years back. It ent to last game of the season but they stayed up..,.i was actually at that game.

Such a shame the number of clubs that are shafted by owners. The silkmen are a community club and it'll be a shame for the town.
When was the last time football associations actually punished the people at fault when clubs go into crisis. It's utterly ludicrous that part of the points docked last season was as a result of failure to pay players wages. That actually punishes the previous and subsequent performance of those players.
It's about time the articles of association were changed to make owners fully liable with a clause that allows their removal / suspension and a judicial factor type person appointed to run the club. That may need a "fund" of sorts that every club owner has to pay an amount into which would at least prevent t some unscrupulous people getting involved. I don't know the whole story at Macclesfield but, we need only look at the sorry mess we were put into and notice that it was the employees / contractors etc. and fans of the club that we're punished. Not those responsible.
 
The primary duty of the owners is to safeguard the club to hand on to its successors. That means the discipline of living within your means, even if that means less success than you would like. It works for eg Forfar and Neilston Juniors, so it should have worked for Macclesfield.
Speculation for accumulation needs to be undertaken, if at all, carefully, because of the risks of destruction if undertaken recklessly.
 
But playing against teams where they have spent millions assembling a team...

What’s a tougher job, Man Utd or Macclesfield for example?

I personally think it would be easier to manage world class players, being able to spend millions building a team, working with them everyday etc than working with a team of semi pros.
 
Not sure if he did but I know Paul Ince did a few years back. It ent to last game of the season but they stayed up..,.i was actually at that game.

Such a shame the number of clubs that are shafted by owners. The silkmen are a community club and it'll be a shame for the town.
When was the last time football associations actually punished the people at fault when clubs go into crisis. It's utterly ludicrous that part of the points docked last season was as a result of failure to pay players wages. That actually punishes the previous and subsequent performance of those players.
It's about time the articles of association were changed to make owners fully liable with a clause that allows their removal / suspension and a judicial factor type person appointed to run the club. That may need a "fund" of sorts that every club owner has to pay an amount into which would at least prevent t some unscrupulous people getting involved. I don't know the whole story at Macclesfield but, we need only look at the sorry mess we were put into and notice that it was the employees / contractors etc. and fans of the club that we're punished. Not those responsible.
I couldn’t agree more. There’s no excuse for ignoring the guilty men at the top. For example to conduct insolvent trading is surely not only a breach of law, but also a breach of football rules.
 
Not sure if he did but I know Paul Ince did a few years back. It ent to last game of the season but they stayed up..,.i was actually at that game.

Such a shame the number of clubs that are shafted by owners. The silkmen are a community club and it'll be a shame for the town.
When was the last time football associations actually punished the people at fault when clubs go into crisis. It's utterly ludicrous that part of the points docked last season was as a result of failure to pay players wages. That actually punishes the previous and subsequent performance of those players.
It's about time the articles of association were changed to make owners fully liable with a clause that allows their removal / suspension and a judicial factor type person appointed to run the club. That may need a "fund" of sorts that every club owner has to pay an amount into which would at least prevent t some unscrupulous people getting involved. I don't know the whole story at Macclesfield but, we need only look at the sorry mess we were put into and notice that it was the employees / contractors etc. and fans of the club that we're punished. Not those responsible.
Had a quick look at Campbell's record as manager. He did keep them up and then backed hmrc's bid to wind the club up. He claimed he was owed £180,000
Agree with your main point, clubs are being run badly and this needs more examination than it currently gets.
 
Had a quick look at Campbell's record as manager. He did keep them up and then backed hmrc's bid to wind the club up. He claimed he was owed £180,000
Agree with your main point, clubs are being run badly and this needs more examination than it currently gets.

He agreed to defer wages then changed his mind at the last minute. Was getting paid a good enough whack. Totally mismanaged and series owners running up debts by bringing in costly Managers and player on loan rather than building a base. All short term thinking and should have declined the promotion. All these debts ran up to package the club and sell it on. Shame as it's a nice local club. Like most others round the M60 there will be hundreds heading to Old Trafford and Etihad or watching Premiership in the pub when Macclesfield are at home. Hopefully they find a way through.
 
What’s a tougher job, Man Utd or Macclesfield for example?

I personally think it would be easier to manage world class players, being able to spend millions building a team, working with them everyday etc than working with a team of semi pros.

There’s a reason top teams get top managers (in theory) who get top wages. I’m not saying that managing a low level team is easy, but there is a reason you get paid a lot more in the top leagues.
 
Our request to put a colts team into the Scottish 2nd division got turned down, and I have often wondered how viable it would be to buy a struggling team like this in lower leagues of English football instead.

Costs would obviously be higher but it would be far better for the development of our youngsters and we would get much higher fees even for the players that don’t make it.
 
Our request to put a colts team into the Scottish 2nd division got turned down, and I have often wondered how viable it would be to buy a struggling team like this in lower leagues of English football instead.

Costs would obviously be higher but it would be far better for the development of our youngsters and we would get much higher fees even for the players that don’t make it.
Absolutely, I would love Rangers to explore this option!
 
Pretty central spot for travelling Bears in Cheshire not far off the M6. Also it's half an hour from my house.

The amount of Premiership players living within ten miles of the ground is huge. Easily in the hundreds. All Manchester, Midlands and Stoke Championship players will be under half an hour away. The amount TV and dodgy cash in the area is mind boggling. Mate does interiors for John Lewis and even City's physios and Doctors have gated mansions.
 
Shame to see any club go to the wall but unfortunately they won’t be the last in this current climate.
 
Campbell is a mercenary , with a chip on both shoulders ! Never commanded a transfer fee , always ran contract down and moved on a free with a lovley lump to him ! Shit on Spurs , kept saying loved the club and would sign a new contract . then went to the Arse ! To demand £180k when he is a multi millionaire says all you need to know about him !
 
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