Early bird attracts 1,105

So, the early bird season ticket sale ended yesterday evening with the club announcing a total of 1,105 season ticket sold.

That is more than I thought. In fact considering the dross served up these last few years and the shambolic decision making permeating the club I think this is a superb effort.

County fans – you are wonderful.

And there’s more good news. The M.E.N. reports that County have escaped punishment for the shenanigans that went on at Kidderminster on the last day of the season. The last thing we needed would have been a points deduction or a 5 figure fine.

So all is well. We even have a player or two newly signed up (Fagbola and King) and I think a couple more in the pipeline to bulk up a squad that can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

If you are still without a season ticket and are looking to buy one the price has only gone up by £20 if you buy in the not-so-early bird phase which runs from now until July 1st.

Just stick it on a credit card for a bit of protection.

What’s that you say? A bit of negativity creeping back in. Well…


* Close your browser now if you want to feel good about County *


Still with me? OK…. here’s what worries me.


It would appear that with the loss of Spencer Fearn we lost at least one shareholder with a bit of interest in the club. Mr Fearn made mistakes but he did put his money where his mouth was and is has sunk in £365,000 into the club. None of the other shareholders have put in anywhere near that. Read Spencer Fearn’s reasons for leaving here.

Now, that money is a loan so it will have to be repaid. Which is why Mr Fearn is not asking for it now as SCFC could not pay it. He could put us into admin again but of course would not get much of his dosh back.

So where is the interest in County now? Without a new ‘investor’ willing to stump up a 6 figure sum we are left with those who have put in a little, running a club that was debt free when exiting administration last time, but is now presumably losing money.

County now have all that new season ticket money sloshing around but just how much of it will be at Ian Bogie’s disposal? Many people think that promotion at the first time of asking is the only thing acceptable for a club of our size playing at this level.

Is the manager trying to dampen our expectations with quotes like this:

‘We`re in a situation that, in terms of competing with the top six next season, is going to be tough. I`m in a difficult situation; we have to embark on a massive rebuilding process when it comes to bringing in people and attracting the best players.’

‘There are players on contract for next season who will be earning beyond what we can afford to pay in Conference North. It`s disappointing but we have to remain positive; we`re still in the close season and we`re looking to reshape and rebuild – but it may take a bit of time.’

The maths of our situation do not stack up for me. We are told break even this year will be 1800. We look like we can sell 1500+ season tickets now so we should exceed that figure and I think average over 2,000. Then again we exceeded the break even figure last year and still the debts rise.

I would hazard a guess that a lot of that season ticket money will not reach the manager and without new investment Ian Bogie’s war-chest will be insufficient to get us out of this league at the first time of asking. What would that do to season ticket sales the following season… and with unknown levels of debt … well…. should we be thinking of the possibility of the ‘A’ word being used again?

We need more investment. Again. And soon.

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If you fancy writing something more upbeat please send your thoughts to stockport@vitalfootball.co.uk


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