Very honest appraisal from Mark.




General manager voices concerns
March 30, 2020

Linnets general manager Mark Hearle fears the ongoing coronavirus pandemic could change the ' landscape of football ' for years to come.

 

Speaking to the club's website www.kltown.co.uk Hearle said ' Firstly on behalf of the football club may I wish all of our supporters good health and ask them to continue to follow the advise of the government and the NHS in these times of concern. I would also like to place on record our thanks as a club to everyone working in the NHS both locally and nationally who are working around the clock to treat the seriously ill from this terrible pandemic. I have began contacting some of our elderly supporters and season ticket holders to enquire upon their wellbeing and bringing them up to date with developments at the club as well as just having a general chat with them' continued Hearle.

 

Having seen the latest government briefings in regards to the length of social isolating and restrictions on everyday life being extended further Hearle admitted a return to the days of football returning to The Walks and crowds of 1500 supporters inside the ground look a long way away. ' I must admit the comments made at the weekend by the authorities were very sobering and gave plenty of food for thought. These are the thoughts of professional people and have to be respected and I would expect even further tighter restrictions to be put in place in due course. The isolation must continue until such times as the risk has diminished enough and if that bring's us round to the Autumn then that will be the case - people's health and safety must always come first, football means very little to at present.

 

Hearle admitted the ongoing uncertainty had effected his role greatly and called for clarity from the football authorities on the Linnets position. '  We have been in a state of limbo now for too long and initially we need an answer as to how the 2019/20 season will be decided. Once this is done we then have closure on that particular situation but then need to have a timescale on the start of next season if that is possible - and I am not sure that we will be able to be given that after the events of the last few weeks. At present I am keeping in touch with companies who had agreed to match day sponsor packages and informing them of the situation. All are understanding and I'm hoping they agree to carry over their packages to next season if we don't play any further fixtures of this campaign. I have struck deals with new board sponsors for next season but these were struck before this situation arose and with the very sensitive state of industry at present and going forward we should remain understanding of their position as well. Some of the existing board sponsors I have been in touch with have said they will continue to help us  but we have to expect that some may not be able to continue to support the football club going forward .

 

We have lost an awful lot of business in the function rooms both for night and day hire. One education supplier has over 20 dates booked with us over the summer which would have created some very useful income in what is a slow period for football  clubs but of  course this is now being reviewed on a weekly basis. As soon as we know what's happening we are hopeful of making season tickets available for next season but until such times as we have clarification on a date to commence I feel we should be cautious. With all of this ongoing, and likely to be so for a while yet, the general landscape of football from top to bottom , will change dramatically in my opinion'.

 

Hearle concluded by thanking everyone who had donated to the club's appeals for help since the season was suspended just over two weeks ago. ' We have received some very generous donations from right across our fan base over the last couple of weeks and some lovely letters of support as well from people wishing us well and I cannot thank everyone enough for their generosity. All of these monies will assist us as we move forward in paying bills that continue to arrive even though we have little if any income at present.

 

I am able to confirm that the undisclosed fee for Alex Brown was paid for personally by the chairman from his own money last week and also that all off field staff are also assisting the club in way's suitable to both them and the chairman over the next few weeks and months'.

Listening to Dr Jenny Harriess on BBC Website she is coming up with 6 Months before we start getting back to normal.  That’s October, though they expect social distancing will still be required after that. 
Could Football Clubs at all levels cope with being mothballed to re-start for season 21/22?   

Awful times in the World and despite me being lover of the game,  there are far important things than Football.

I see a lot of positives with this signing.

Young, and one that IC will hopefully develop on and bring money into the club at a later date.   Speculate to accumulate and all that.  Just maybe in the current climate within Non League Football we got him for a knocked down price.

However the big plus, as I see it is.    If The Chairman is throwing his cash about to sign a player for next season then the bigger picture is there is going to be a next season and no matter how much of the 100k he is short that  needed to get us to next season then the Chairman is going to find that cash, from somewhere.

The only negative side I can see is that we could well be saying goodbye to Nathan Fox.  Been out of favour for a good few weeks ( Guiseley apart) and signing an England C international, left sided defender is going to limit it opportunities with us.

Come on guys.  Whatever the FA or The decision makers do they are stuffed.  Can’t please all of the people all of the time.

It’s only a game.   In the swing of things does it matter which team is in which League come next season ?

With Stephen Cleeve stating the Club needs 100k to pay everything ( is this to the end of April?). The Chairman is sticking in 40k himself.  Where  is the balance of 60k going to come from?   Can the fans raise that kind of money? 

My source at the Club tells me this statement has nothing to do with Stephen Cleeve and was put out by an employee in the Media Department at The Club.
 
Axe to grind Mark, or is my information incorrect ?

Didn’t the Trust buy and pay for for the insulation of the 2 new sets of turnstiles during this season ?  Hardly the act of an unsupportive body.

Quote from: Stan on March 23, 2020, 01:28:21 PM

Quote from: Mallard on March 23, 2020, 01:10:34 PM

Would anyone want to ‘invest’ by buying shares in the Football with a big wedge of directors loans.  ?  Unless Mr Cleeve wrote them off ( or converted the loans into shares).

For those fans without a financial background, could you explain that please?

Basically SC hasn't 'given' the club money, rather he as loaned the money to the club.  All well and good whilst he is the sole owner as we all know we are basically one man's play thing until such time as he gets bored / runs out of cash, no real difference between us and Chelsea in that respect.

What I think Mallard is saying is why would the Trust membership vote to effectively 'burn' a sizable amount of the funds they have raised over the years to buy into a club that could still cease to exist by the start of next season should SC decide to call in his loans?  Personally as a Trust member, I would vote against such a proposal.

Exactly Tony.    There speaks the voice of reason