Ah I was wondering 😆

All club owners are responsible for funding their club and ensuring their club is as well-run and sustainable as possible. No one is forced to be a club owner.

It is time that we looked at what selling the majority stake would involve. That doesn't mean we have to do it, it means we would understand what the process involved - would all bonds need to be instantly repaid? would minority shareholders need to be offered an exit? what price could/would the DT shares be sold at? What limitations would be imposed on the make-up of the board after the acquisition? and so on and so on. I want that groundwork done so that if our plans aren't financially viable and the regulator in shining armour fails to materialise, we have an idea of how to act.

If I cared about fan ownership any more I would be really depressed- as it is I just see this as another step towards the end game.

It’s not good NickW - I’ve been trying to be more balanced and am genuinely ownership agnostic (although that is a step away from my fan-ownership-stalwart former stance) - but this is a reminder that we still don’t have a professional approach to our finances both in terms of money in and money out.

Trigger - agree that the plea for cash is extremely amateurish in its phrasing- is this really the best we could come up with given that we have known about the black hole in our finances for several years, and it was explicitly discussed months ago at the “meet the plc” meeting

Definitely a marked change in DTB performance and behaviour this time around. Still a way to go and more change needed.

The process was meant to get us in the Championship in 1 more year, we are not out of it yet, maybe by November though.

And seeing the football regulator as a light at the end of the tunnel is like seeing Blackpool Pleasure Beach and thinking you’re in heaven.

I do think though that those who get elected to the DTB are ideologically committed to fan ownership come what may and would rather go down with the ship than look for a more pragmatic solution. Realistically we just have to wait for the process to work itself out.

For anyone who hasn’t read or been able to read the recent funding request the key bit is here: “There is light at the end of the tunnel, with the football regulator likely to be focusing on tighter controls to ensure more sustainable club spending, as well as improved funding for lower league clubs. But that is likely to take time to become a reality. For the season ahead, we are seeking to maximise investment in the playing squad to be competitive, whilst also being committed to improving our supporter experience, and investing where we can drive further revenue growth to reduce our reliance on 'football fortune' (player sales, cup runs for example). The wish-list and 'must have' list for capital investment (improving the stadium and training ground) is ever-growing, and we need to prioritize accordingly. We are also doing our utmost to sell the remaining shares available, with proceeds set aside for capital investment and to reduce our debt.”

Yes, no real harm in passing around the church plate to keep the religious dream alive. That said, Cope, Woodroof and now the club board have got their L1 excuses in barely before the Wembley hangovers wore off. The inference is it’s up to the hoi polloi (🖕) to avert relegation and it’ll be their fault if we don’t.

No problem with us trying the “begging bowl” approach- I have given to similar initiatives in the past (WAWF, Dons Draw, share issue, player sponsorship etc) but no longer see fan ownership as worthwhile in itself and certainly won’t be stumping up this time. Maybe we will raise enough in donations (recalling that this is an annual shortfall, not a one-off need) but, if not, this is clearly the last throw of the dice for fan ownership and we will have to recognise that selling to an owner willing to invest (and they clearly do exist if you look how many other clubs have found such investment) is the only alternative to draining away to failure and administration,, at which point fan ownership will end anyway, just in an uncontrolled way .

SW - nothing to do with me or what I’m helping out with. I probably saw it when you did

Fat load of use holding out the begging bucket if it has a hole in it.

If i set up a DD do we get an end-of-season presentation? Do we get any engagement from the club? Do we continually get patronised? Will it still be job for the boys but shut up and put up.

OI Might it better to work out what the 50%+001 is actually ring-fenced and what a couple of 15%er can invest in to make a profit on for themselves?

And as someone has pointed out regularly, for a relatively small one off payment we are selling perennial positions without checks to see whether promises or wishes are being fulfilled [Link]

There is also a difference between buying a 15% share, through 50%+1, and having decisions made by well meaning amateurs as opposed to owning 51% and being able to make things happen. I would still love not to sell out but finding 51% buyers is a totally different activity from finding 15% buyers.

Will be interesting to see how much is raised this time around.

Repd.. of course there was, though We were constantly been told there wasn’t. It was all too rushed and desperate to be anything other than someone waiting to buy in. Probably a mate of mr asos. No thanks.

Here we see the dilemma. Silk wants to ‘keep the dream alive’, but doesn’t have the money to pay for it. Those who do, well, they know better than to spunk good money after bad.

Exactly OI. Appreciate that isn’t an easy thing to put together.

That is why I want to see a costed strategy. If it says we'll make ÂŁ10K by cost cutting, ÂŁ90K by extra sales and ÂŁ1.9 million by the owners coughing up then frankly they could go whistle (or other activites). If it says we can do this, that and the other but it still leaves ÂŁ500K to be covered by fundraising then maybe it is workable.

The club message is perhaps partially a signal from JJ and CC in a back us or lose us type challenge. I don't believe it wholey the case, however if the fund raising is disappointingly low that might be the outcome further down the line.