CW - the Sky/Premier League thing in 92 fundamentally changed the game. Whilst money had some bearing we and clubs like Luton and Coventry showed you could get by on heart. This was because the bigger clubs had less money and the gap was not big. The Prem League and now the Champions League money has now created a gap that cannot be bridged by heart alone. And the only way to compete is to spend what you don't have.

Keefy - it remains to be seen if the £1.8 million loss was a one-off or the norm. I think the previous year it was at least a million less and chunk on that was interest on the debt. It may mean we do not have to sell to survive if our losses is under a million in the next annual reports. We could have our finance committee report on a quarterly basis as a lot of companies do. It could allay the speculation a bit.

Silk-I think money always talked even back in the 60s when we were winning the Amateur cup by illegally paying our players.Clubs in the poorer parts of town like Romford and Hillingdon went bust whereas the more affluent areas like Barnet and Wimbledon they kept going

We won't stay as we are if we cannot sell a gem every year we will go onto admin

Things like the ST/DT debate are a meaningless distraction. Unless it gives us a new source of income then whatever side prevails it won't make a bit of difference to where we are as a club.

We are in a Catch-22 situation. The reason we are running at a loss is because we pay our players more than can afford. If we paid our players what we can afford then we would do what Sutton are doing and go down, as they have been more realistic about the wages they pay, by all accounts. There is nothing that either WISA or the DT can do unless they have a big pile of cash to invest in the club. And we do not have anyone who wants to buy us and invest a shitload of cash in us. So we are stuck at standing still until we at least pay the stadium debt off. The EFL clubs a whole should collectively agree to pay lower wages but that will never happen. The politics of this club is now very boring as only more money will make any change.

Thought those running the Dons Trust and Wisa were part of the same clique?

Ferret that seems an appropriate solution to fight the right-on nonsense that's been happening over the last five years. I generally agree with what the supporters trust SHOULD stand for, but it seems to me that here at least, there's a gap in reality between those who are running it and those who should be served by them. From Buckingham babies to video gate to the ST/DT debacle we are seeing today, they appear to be heading the same way as Supporters Direct. They shot themselves in the foot when their politicians from within overstepped who they are, pretty much inline with how things are happening now.

If you don’t want to opt in or out of the Dons Trust you could of course join WISA it’s only a fiver

I can't be bothered to relitigate the whole ST/DT thing again, but merely would point out we are planning to charge some members double and some nothing. Deeply confused stuff. Also means the club will be paying some members' subs for them ie the owned body will be paying for its own ownership. It's governance gibberish.

RIP Leighton James.

I'm on the cricket green. They're still putting the fire out. The old girl looks in a sorry state.

Evening Scotty, have a little read back. ?

Timmy - the disused Cumberland hospital in Mitcham "mysteriously" burnt down as well back in the late 80s when there was a lot of dispute about what to do with it.

Late 80s we use to meet in there on a Friday,as we had a couple of mitcham womble mates.

Guess it will be easier to turn into flats now

Did you ever drink there Spit ?

Or you could say that the Bullock is Burning 😉. It's been full of squatters for years. My wife was driving home in the direction of the Cricket Green when everyone started turning around and my wife had to divert via Mitcham Park and come out at that the other end of the Cricket Green.

Wondered what the smoke and smell was around Rosehill

Bad Egg [Link]

According to my sister The Burn Bullock is on fire 🔥

P99 - it was originally the pear version of cider that they couldn't sell so they put it in small bottles with a fancy name at about 5 times the price and it suddenly became 'fashionable'.

Never knew babycham was that strong 6% I’ll have a pint

Pure desperation linking season tickets to hoover up some trust members

One thing that I just noticed is that this year sees the end of the old 5 year season ticket scheme (the club decided to stop allowing these to be extended back in 2020 and this year - 2023/4 - is the fourth season after that). The effect of that is that, even if the revenue from season tickets stays the same, all of those (like me) who have been running off their tickets will be back having to pay real money for next year onwards, which will help the club's cashflow.