Clarke Osborne interview - Torbay Weekly

[happytorq]

SuperNickyWroe, I am for real, look at where we were before the meeting, still in the dark, moaning about his lack of clarity for the future of the club, he answered a lot of those questions, I see today Torbay weekly have announced that there will be a meeting between the club and the TUST, if they do not get the answers you particularly want will they all be traitors to, I answered all Midland gulls well presentred questions . but bottom line after everything else economics takes over, our match day revenue only scratches the surface of our outgoings and that would be true for whoever owned the club, he is still here, paying the bills, if I have any arguement with his rationale it is his blind loyalty to Johnson.

I'm not exactly sure which questions he answered. He blamed local politics for a stadium location falling through. He says he doesn't have the time to attend games (ok, fair enough, but you can't then complain if the fans get upset your absence. Which would again be ok if there was some level of communication or action to fill the vacuum). He says that he gets excited by building projects. What has he actually built?!

I don't care that his dad got him a job, or that he was an accountant, or that his daughter is doing a Masters. None of it is relevant. It's a nice profile to do if TUFC is doing well and the supporters feel that under his stewardship the club is moving forward. But it's not - and coupled with the article's timing (immediately after fans have said they intend to do some sort of protest), this article appears to be a lame attempt to mollify people.

You are of course right that 'economics takes over', but there are plenty of very inexpensive things that the club could have done to impove the relationship between them and the fans, to help the matchday experience, and ultimately earn more money. But they've not done it, and now a struggling side sees attendances fall, which will then probably become another reason not to further invest. I don't really think he's actively trying to get the club to fail for some nefarious reason, but a lot of the things that have happened under his watch can be perceived to be working towards exactly that.

[Chelston TUFC]

He doesn't attend TUFC because he's too busy with his other businesses.....they must be either doing incredibly well or incredibly badly

[Scorpion]

Given how starved the fans have been of information from the owner, it would have been nice to ask some more pertinent questions.

Gary Johnson is being described as a man who can take Torquay in to the football league, however they currently sit 11 points behind the leaders in a division of mostly part time teams. Without meaning any disrespect to them, it is worrying that a team like Aveley can be as good if not better than Torquay are given the presumed financial backing of Torquay as a full time club. It would be nice to know what the Owner feels is going wrong - or has he been too busy to take in the team's results and where Torquay are in the table?

[SuperNickyWroe]

SuperNickyWroe, I am for real, look at where we were before the meeting, still in the dark, moaning about his lack of clarity for the future of the club, he answered a lot of those questions, I see today Torbay weekly have announced that there will be a meeting between the club and the TUST, if they do not get the answers you particularly want will they all be traitors to, I answered all Midland gulls well presentred questions . but bottom line after everything else economics takes over, our match day revenue only scratches the surface of our outgoings and that would be true for whoever owned the club, he is still here, paying the bills, if I have any arguement with his rationale it is his blind loyalty to Johnson.

Take a look at Happytorqs great post at the top of the page.
Saves me time explaining it to you.........

[culmstockgull]

happytorq, I agree it wasnt the definitive answer to all our questions, but its a good start, and hopefuly the TUST may get a few more answers, in terms of his statement he gets excited by building projects, my understanding of that is not in the literal sense of bricks and mortar but taking on a project and developing it, besides the huge amount of money he has stumped up, his presence in the directors box every saturday will not influence results. I am quite happy to believe local politics have played a large part in his frustrations about not receiving what he considers support for a new ground, anyone who lives in the bay knows that local politics change with the seasons, one party may be in favour of supporting the club while others definetely are not.
As for the matchday experience ,considering the league we are in and probably the most expensive match day ticket in this league the attendances are amazing, yes, we may increase another 500 over time with a better experience on the day but boring economics again if it is costing him a million a year on top of matchday revenues just to pay the bills then in my simple maths we need roughly another 2500 every home game just to be cost neutral.

[happytorq]

As for the matchday experience ,considering the league we are in and probably the most expensive match day ticket in this league the attendances are amazing, yes, we may increase another 500 over time with a better experience on the day but boring economics again if it is costing him a million a year on top of matchday revenues just to pay the bills then in my simple maths we need roughly another 2500 every home game just to be cost neutral.

Would agree that our attendances have remained surprisingly steady. You've described your maths as 'simple', but what I will say is that 500 extra people on the average gate would bring in more than a simple 500 x £ticket price; you've got money spent while in the ground, you've got drinking in Boots before/after, you've got your merchandise (which we do poorly at) and all that sort of stuff. But that ancillary stuff only happens if people enjoy themselves at the game, and often the result or the quality of play is secondary. If you go to a place (any place; not just football) and feel that you're treated well and had an overall positive experience, you're more likely to come back, even if the activity itself was average.

I was Altrincham last season and it was telling that the owner of the club was outside the home pub welcoming people, thanking them for coming, etc. I'm not suggesting that Osborne do this, but it's indicative of the disconnect from the supporters that there currently is. It is incredibly easy to make people feel valued, and at no point have the current regime done that, either in word or deed.

It is undoubedly tough going in this division. Away attendance tends to be incredibly low, which limits further your matchday revenue. But I think the main point I want to make regarding this ownership, and the recent interview, is that most of it is irrelevant. They may have a genuine desire to build a new stadium and take Torquay United forward into League 2 (and beyond!) but that is simply not possible as things are now. It's a divided club, and even if we manage to rescue things on the playing side and find ourselves as a decent National League side again next season, the years of fan neglect will simply be washed away by that 'success'.

I could probably pull a list of half a dozen things that could be done relatively cheaply within a week or two to improve the relationships that the club needs to prosper, but I've never got the sense that Osborne et al particularly care. That may well be very harsh, particularly on Mel and Ian Hayman, but without evidence to the contrary, I (and others) can only go on what we've seen, and what we've seen is very little.

Local politics are always like this, as you also say - so blaming that for a lack of movement on the stadium seems churlish. They needed to have a solid stadium plan ready to go so that when the wind of the politics do blow the correct way, you're ready.