Cheltenham Town FC

Thank you to everyone who took part and sent a question in. You can now read this programme feature here on www.ctfc.com below.

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Hi Simon,

What an excellent question which goes right to the heart of what the club must do to ensure its long term sustainability. It is quite clear that football clubs at our level cannot survive on revenue generated from football related activities alone. There are a number of things we have done already, for example using our assets better - the ground share with Gloucester City, taking on the entire lease at our training facility and then subletting surplus areas to generate revenue and reduce the running costs and also letting out surplus office space at the ground to the Trust for educational use.

We are investing in our Conference facilities which are beginning to show a decent return and we have recently set up a number of new web sites specifically geared to promoting enquiries for room and function hire, conferencing, hospitality and things to do with children at weekends. And the investment in our Academy will we hope generate more revenue from the sale of young players which really can make a significant contribution.   

Firstly I hope that they will not be relegated but if they are I cannot see them being able to afford to renew their tenancy for a further season. Indeed if they are relegated they would not be required to have such a well appointed stadium. More realistically I think they will stay for another season by which time their new stadium will be ready. 

Hi Jamie,

At our last Board meeting we invited Jeff, the bar manager, to come along so we could chat about the running of the bars and we asked him the same question. It seems that the sort of events you are talking about are not financially attractive anymore - people just don't support them. It may be due to our location and the problem of driving or simply the cost of nights out but we are making good money with private functions such as wakes, parties, skittles, celebrations etc. where there is no risk and no time consuming organisation, ticket selling etc. 

The club used to organise a number of events such as Golf Days, Sporting Dinners etc. but the amount of time and effort involved compared to selling an advertising board for example meant that such events can no longer be justified on a revenue earned basis. 

Thanks Barry. I’m not sure I am best placed to answer this one given I have yet to discover 'social media'! 

However we do have an excellent website, we do regular e-newsletters but we really must improve our databases and collect more email data. We do engage on Twitter and Facebook and we are trying to improve the quality and content of our Robins Player package. Any ideas would be most welcome! 

Hi Lucy,

When we sat down with Mark at the beginning of the season we agreed a budget which we felt would give him a decent chance of making the play-offs. We agreed we needed to bring in players of a better quality but to do that it was necessary to work with a smaller squad. No money was set aside for strengthening the squad with loan signings; we took a calculated gamble with injuries

and hoped the new squad would gel quickly. 

I believe the current squad is certainly capable of reaching the play-offs. With regards to new players we have been able to make a number of loan signings using some of the money from the West Ham match and by making savings elsewhere such as the Keith Lowe deal to York. If we are to strengthen the squad in January then it can only be done by making savings elsewhere in the playing budget.

Last season the FA Cup success helped us to significantly strengthen the squad in January which further emphasises the importance of FA Cup success.

Hi Laurence.

 

Well on the field I would like referees to stamp out diving and time wasting which all fans hate. 

Off the field I wish fans would support their team rather than berate and wind up the opposition fans.  

Hi Paul.

Well fortunately we never budget to do make money from any of the cup competitions so whilst an early exit does not damage our revenue calculations it does mean we have to be very disciplined if we are to break even or make a profit. 

It also makes it very difficult to reduce debt and to strengthen the playing squad. Clearly if we reach the play-offs then it would be a significant bonus - especially if we got to the final! It would be the difference between making a loss or breaking even and making a profit, reducing debt and possibly investing in the playing squad in the following season. 

Hi Adam.

We have been delighted with the success of the new 'Junior Robins' scheme. Over 600 members have so far signed up so thank you for your favourable comments. 

We did, I recall, reduce prices for teenagers and students this season and we are trying to further develop our links with local Colleges and the University. I do think we could do more however to engage with school students. 

The problem with further reducing prices for young adults is that we will have to make up that lost revenue elsewhere and the opportunities for doing that are limited. The season ticket is excellent value for all age categories but I appreciate this age group probably cannot afford this outlay all in one go - although the instalment scheme may help!