Where do we go from here?

Friday was a fairly turbulent day off the field with Pizza's statement, and the resultant fall out. Anyone who knows me, or who reads this blog on a regular basis will know that the news comes as no surprise. In fact, the only surprise is that it has taken so long to happen. In my view we have been overspending for several years and the club have managed to keep the show on the road for quite a while.

I don't the energy for a full article(dying with a Carlisle Grounds cold) so my initial thoughts are:

I'm sorta stuck between two stools, as I have volunteered a lot at the club and I've gain at lot from it. I'd like to think I have decent personal relationship with a few of the directors, and I don't want to slate them, but questions have to be asked.

Less than three months ago we were told that it was merely temporary problems. Journal article, 2nd of June


Questions were raised at that meeting as to the financial state of the club, but we were told there was nothing to worry about. Added to this, we are still awaiting the AGM which was promised for early 2009.

After the talk of cutting the wage bill at the end of last season, we signed Scullion, Kearney, O'Brien and McManus. In fact we paid transfer fees for some of them! Add to that the overnight stays and pre match meals which people have been questioning for months. Asking genuine questions on derrycitychat.com just provoked allegations that you were "anti board". Given I'd already had one fairly public spat with a director, I can understand why people thought that.

The start of June saw the revelation that we'd lost the two sponsors and we were running the draw for a new sponsor and selling next year season tickets early. I thought the shirt sponsor draw was a great idea but I told the chairman at the time that I still believed that massive cost cutting was required. The season ticket idea was just robbing Peter to pay Paul.

The talk is always that we are a community club, but are we? The only contact I got from Derry City as a season ticket holder was the letter asking me to buy next year's season ticket early. As someone described it to me, we are a not particularly well run charity. We have(had) a CEO, a Community Promotions Officer and a Commercial Manager and yet we appear to no better run off the pitch.

Derry City has always depended on a hardcore band of volunteers to keep the show on the road. People who consistently have up 15-20 hours a week, who put their hands in their pockets when it was required. These people don't want their name in lights, they do it for the club and that's it. However the worrying thing for me is that it is the same people who have been there from the very start. In every organisation there should be a changing of the guard, where younger people get involved and gradually take more and more responsibility. That isn't happening at Derry City. Worse, younger people are walking away from involvement with frustration.

The support in Bray was symptomatic of the situation at the club, with the demographic heavily sloped towards the over fifties. Where will that leave the club in ten/fifteen years? What is the club doing about it?

Where is the club going? I don't know. I was working on a strategic review/plan for the last week or two. It won't pay any bills or save us but it is clear that we have to go back to basics. Click on the link to have a juke.

Review Idea