To share or not to share

The sun always shines when they wombles win it seems. That’s what I would like to convince myself, however its probably just that I take more notice of it when we win games like we did on Saturday.

Going into the Northampton game, we had only won a single game against Northampton in 15 attempts and that win was courtesy of a Harry Forester winner in October 2017 at Sixfield. My wife remembers Northampton away with fondness as it was here I took her for Valentine’s Day back in 2012 and I felt I was very resourceful and took her for a slap up meal in TGI Friday with excellent views of the ground. I had mistimed it slightly and we had to skip dessert…. we lost the game 1-0!!!

Saturdays game ended up with seven late second half minutes being so crucial to our season. A Cheye Alexander corner, who was my MOTM, was headed back by Will Nightingale and Joe Pigott managed to cause a nuisance of himself and get the winner. Then with the final play of the game the referee awards a controversial penalty when he adjudged that Luke O’Neil had taken the Northampton forward out when he tried to wrap his foot to the ball from behind.

Nik Tzanev did not have a save to make for 96 minutes, yet he kept his concentration to dive to his right and ensure the three points were added to our season total. Heneghan and Palmer were the first to congratulate him and this showed me how big the team sprint is within the camp which further convinced me we are in with a great shout of staying up this season. Ashley Bayes jumped for joy and he spoke about this on our Sunday Night Live - Ashley Bayes

As I write this on Tuesday morning, we have a busy couple of days ahead on and off the field. Tonight we have another monthly “Meet the DTB” which has been a welcome addition and tonight Joe Palmer joins the session. The main topic I’m sure will be the pending vote on the London Broncos ground share which is voted tomorrow (Wednesday 31st March) after our FA Youth Cup 4th round fixture against Spurs at Plough Lane. 

The London Broncos situation has really troubled me from what my heart says and what my head says. From a personal point of view I have waited 30 years since I was 16 to return to Plough Lane and let's be honest, it has not been an easy ride since the possibility was raised in a DT meeting back in 2015. We had the concerns from the people in the local area, then the vote at Crown House in Morden. Then it was down to the Mayor of London calling it in for a review which delayed it further, then the Seedrs launch for shares and then that meeting at Kingsmeadow in December 2019. To top it off we had the arrival of Covid 19 which meant we have spent a year since March 2019 with an on and off lockdown and we have not all been able to go to a game since the goalless draw at Kingsmeadow vs now League Two Bolton Wanderers. 

So after all that my heart is saying I want to be selfish and enjoy Plough Lane all too myself and not share it with the Broncos. I have nothing against Broncos and I will admit that I don’t really follow Rugby League, but I do know enough to have concerns about the pitch and that their season clashes with the start and end of our regular season. This is not a summer sport as I have heard too often and it will impact our most crucial parts of the season and after seeing the bald patches in front of the South Stand, it raises concerns that the pitch will be affected. Robbo has already said that he wants to get some loans from the big clubs in England and that will be based on our playing style. Does our pitch quality raise concerns with parent clubs before they loan to us I wonder. 

My head of course is saying we need the money as we have already launched a very successful Plough Lane Bond along with a significant cash injection from Nick Robinson and been able to arrange a short term bank loan. Add to this that Covid 19 has meant no additional income from the ground, it's obvious why we need the money, but my concern is we are not in the strongest of negotiation position and we look from outside a little desperate for this money. The money range of £200k to £500k is too wide for me as we know it means the lower end is for Broncos staying in the Championship and the high end is for Super League entry. I am old enough to remember the ground share with Crystal Palace at Selhurst and the deal that Ron Noades negotiated which meant we never benefited from anything on matchday and it was simply ticket income. Is that something we have negotiated with Broncos so we get additional income on top of the basic rent is a thought. Also with Broncos playing some of their seasons in our close season, does it impact our ability to hold non-football events like weddings, birthdays, christening and even eSport events. 

The Q&A’s released on 13th March gave us a good introduction to the conditions, but it didn’t really address any benefits we would get from agreeing to this deal. We have had a year of no income from the ground, so have we factored this into the finances. Also we have changed the management structure to a Head Coach and also we are looking at different types of players along with using our Academy more. With the better loans would that mean we don’t pay as much of a contribution to their salary as these clubs wouldn’t miss a few grand a week. These might seem minor queries from me, but as I mentioned before I don’t really want to share and I need to be convinced before I register a yes vote. 

Proxy votes had to be returned by midday on 26th March which has now passed and we will get additional information from the “Meet the DTB” tonight. That again concerns me that we have asked people to vote without any further information. I have many friends on the DTB and I know how hard they work and how little time they have to focus on so many challenges they have, so my concerns are simply that and nothing personally to anyone on the DTB. 

After our excellent 1-0 win against Burnley a few weeks ago, we now face Spurs at Plough Lane a few hours before the Broncos vote. I have always been keen on watching the academy games as there is nothing better than seeing the start of a player's journey into the senior team. I watched Jason Euell and Carl Cort in the youth team that destroyed the South East Counties league and smashed regular enemies at that level, Crystal Palace. I was at their old Mitcham training ground when we beat them 4-0, with Ron Noades watching with interest. I don’t like to single out players, however I really hope Kwaku Frimpong continues his development as this lad loves to tackle and will give Alex Woodyard a run for his money to be the first into the referees notepad! Also look out for Quaine Bartley who has this as his message to the fans in his player bio on the OS “Remember my name…because I'll be next up to help make new history at this club!”

You might need an additional screen for the SGM tomorrow as it clashes with England’s World Cup qualifier with Poland at a deserted Wembley. I am still struggling with international football and it makes it no easier when we cruise past San Marino and Albania away without conceding a goal and without breaking sweat. I am more concerned that our England U21’s have lost both group games in the Euro 2020 competition as we have a great group of young talent and these are under performing.

Easter brings us two games in four days, which lets be fair is nothing nowadays. Trip down south on Good Friday against an inconsistent Plymouth Argyle team where we have a decent record and then home to recently departed Joey Barton’s Fleetwood town. Isn’t Joey doing well at Bristol Rovers!

The last Easter we had with games was in the 18/19 season and we picked up 2 points with draws at home to Bristol Rovers and away to Luton Town and we came out of that period in 21st position with two games to go. Thankfully we get our Easter eggs earlier this year and gives us more than enough opportunity to escape from relegation yet again.