Location location location

If RUFC get a new ground and facilities on the Golden Goose sight then the future may be a lot brighter. If this means that the Valley sites is sold for development then so be it. If being the operative word.

I think a lesson for anybody with the FC at heart is only a moments drive away from the new proposed sites at Studley FC. The owner of the Studley FC land can kick Studley off whenever they wish leaving the FC homeless and rather pointless. They can even do it under a business decision by hawking up the rent and just letting the highest bidder play there. Studley as a FC do not have a future set in stone where they Really at the moment, however well the 3G side of things are doing.

IF any future of RUFC moving home is done so within a deal so water tight no Swan or any other business can gain total control and hold RUFC to future ransom, then that's great news. The council must be on their toes here so no loop hole can be exploited by a very good business minded man or team.

The future and safety of the Football Club must remain the only reason in this debate, certainly not used as a smoke screen to make a tidy little fortune.

ROWLY1971 wrote:I think a lesson for anybody with the FC at heart is only a moments drive away from the new proposed sites at Studley FC. The owner of the Studley FC land can kick Studley off whenever they wish leaving the FC homeless and rather pointless. They can even do it under a business decision by hawking up the rent and just letting the highest bidder play there. Studley as a FC do not have a future set in stone where they Really at the moment, however well the 3G side of things are doing.

IF any future of RUFC moving home is done so within a deal so water tight no Swan or any other business can gain total control and hold RUFC to future ransom, then that's great news. The council must be on their toes here so no loop hole can be exploited by a very good business minded man or team.

The future and safety of the Football Club must remain the only reason in this debate, certainly not used as a smoke screen to make a tidy little fortune.

The Valley Stadium is owned by Redditch Borough Council. The proposed sites for a relocated RUFC are also owned by the Council. Why should there be any change to the security of tenure of the football club resulting from a move?

With respect, Rowly, the only smoke screen I see is yours.

ted striker wrote:With respect, Rowly, the only smoke screen I see is yours.

Ted I have no smoke screen.
So RBC own the Valley land, and they own the Golden Goose land. So why should Mr Swan cough up hard earned money to build a new stadium for the good town folk of Redditch on land he does not own?
Im no where near clever enough to know business ins and outs like other far superior people on here, all Im saying is, IF RUFC do move to a new stadium somewhere, I hope the Football Club remains safe, unlike the Footballing Club of Studley who are playing on a Succesful businessmans plot of land.

ROWLY1971 wrote:

ted striker wrote:With respect, Rowly, the only smoke screen I see is yours.

Ted I have no smoke screen.
So RBC own the Valley land, and they own the Golden Goose land. So why should Mr Swan cough up hard earned money to build a new stadium for the good town folk of Redditch on land he does not own?
Im no where near clever enough to know business ins and outs like other far superior people on here, all Im saying is, IF RUFC do move to a new stadium somewhere, I hope the Football Club remains safe, unlike the Footballing Club of Studley who are playing on a Succesful businessmans plot of land.

What is with you & The Golden Goose Rowley??????

ROWLY1971 wrote:

ted striker wrote:With respect, Rowly, the only smoke screen I see is yours.

Ted I have no smoke screen.
So RBC own the Valley land, and they own the Golden Goose land. So why should Mr Swan cough up hard earned money to build a new stadium for the good town folk of Redditch on land he does not own?
Im no where near clever enough to know business ins and outs like other far superior people on here, all Im saying is, IF RUFC do move to a new stadium somewhere, I hope the Football Club remains safe, unlike the Footballing Club of Studley who are playing on a Succesful businessmans plot of land.

Spot on that Rowley and I know exactly what you mean in respect of Studley. I am also with you on how is a football ground with facilities going to be funded, surely somebody has to pay for it (grants, Mr Swan, RBC) and it is not going to just appear without funding.

For me it's a case of "believe it when it happens" no point in speculating ground moves, grants, plans and whatnot if there is no intention of it happening.

Untill Chris Swan says Redditch united will be playing at so and so location as of so and so date and a new ground then we'll keep going to the valley to watch the first team play.

It is what it is, untill stated otherwise.

The whole scheme seems to be largely or wholly dependent on support from the Council and football grants. I find it impossible to believe that such assistance would be provided so a private business man could personally profit. There must be safeguards in place to prevent this from happening.

If you want to read all about grants, here’s the link to The Football Foundation. I’m guessing that this is the kind of grant the club is looking to secure.

http://www.footballfoundation.org.uk/apply/facilities-grants/facilities-grant/

Who is eligible? Amongst others, “registered charitable organisations / not for profit companies”. Maybe this is why ‘Redditch United in the Community’ has been set up?

Further to my previous post about Mrs Moor, it occurs to me that at least part of the reason for his/her lack of response to my challenge may be that given his/her criticism of our club's arrangements regarding the community side of the club, there might on the face of it seem to be some conflict with the receipt, by the Moors' own community section, of a £15k cheque from the Football Conference Trust before the game with Bradford PA. Maybe Mrs Moor just wants to avoid questions on that specific topic?

Now I have no evidence at all to suggest that there might be anything remotely underhand or questionable about this donation, and considering that the teams were welcomed onto the pitch by the band of a local community music project, as well as a group of boys from one of the club's junior age-group teams, and that the donation was made to further the club's links with the music project among other things, it all seems perfectly above board. But if our club had received a donation like this, Mrs Moor would have been on here posting his/her usual "Wicked Whispers" or "3am Girls"-type diatribes insinuating that the money was being channeled off into some Chris Swan slush fund (but of course, without actually saying any such thing).

All this is written, not with the intent of casting any aspersions on Solihull Moors FC, who I believe to be operating well within the letter and spirit of the applicable laws and regulations, but to demonstrate that to anyone on the outside, who doesn't have direct, intimate knowledge of the organisational structure of the football club, any financial transaction that is outside of the usual run of the mill business of running a football club might appear to be questionable - especially to someone determined to prove their one-eyed thesis of a club being run to line the pockets of its chairman.

Bob Marley wrote:

underground wrote:Maybe mrs moor knows more than he/she can let on and maybe is in a position where he/she has to remain hidden, because its 100% fact swan is keeping many things hidden from you all and running you all like fools.bob they are not the plans you gave him so give it up,he dont even like you.moving will be bad for the club if the club is not dead already, i said before "building land" and i was right.can you all remember what the kiddy lot were saying? Is it coincidence that all the staff left and those that are there are all peed off?reading on here i just hope some of you dont look a bit stupid come next year. RUFC R.I.P

I don't care if Mr Swan likes me or not......I don't care if anyone likes me or not.
I don't care if they are the plans or not.

I met the council personally...it was obvious to all in that meeting that RUFC would never get the support of the RBC whilst the club owed thousands of rent & rates.....that is now a thing of the past.

What I care about is RUFC....and Mr Swan has given us 2 more years of RUFC.

I love the Valley....but its time to move on and secure the life of the club.

Oh...MM is a sh*t stirring troll from the midland comb.

IMO Swans are building a hall of mirrors in a house of cards.

Blimey, I go away for a couple of days and when I get back I can't keep up with all the postings on here ! Just to clarify one thing (off topic I know) to those of you who blame the club for yesterday's events - ONLY THE MATCH REF CAN CALL THE GAME OFF. Sorry to shout but one or two on here don't seem capable of understanding a basic concept. I know how frustrating it can be - I've been there done that, got the t shirt many years ago.

Ok got that off my chest. Now the subject for this thread. What do we need as a club ?

1. Non match day related revenue ( all weather pitch hire, function room hire, bar takings, catering etc.).

2. Improved spectator facilities.

3. Improved main pitch.

I believe that 2 and 3 can be achieved at the Valley although clearly it will cost a few quid. What I'm not so sure about is 1. If you look at Google earth you can clearly see that there is no room for the club to expand unless that involves developing the Terry's fields directly behind the main stand.

I'm not entirely convinced that this would be acceptable and if it's not then where do we go from there ? The only way forward would be to move. As I've said before I'm quite attached to the Valley but if I felt that a move would give us a better chance of achieving what we all want then so be it.

Look at clubs like Corby and Evesham. Nice little set ups both of them, just the sort of grounds we could do with and nice pitches as well. Part of me wants to stay where we are and make the best of it and part of me thinks sod it lets start from scratch and build something as we would want it. I completely agree with Rowly though, the whole thing would need to be as legally watertight as a duck's a*** with no danger of future conflict and misunderstanding. Provided that was the case I'm all for a new start somewhere.

ted striker wrote:Further to my previous post about Mrs Moor, it occurs to me that at least part of the reason for his/her lack of response to my challenge may be that given his/her criticism of our club's arrangements regarding the community side of the club, there might on the face of it seem to be some conflict with the receipt, by the Moors' own community section, of a £15k cheque from the Football Conference Trust before the game with Bradford PA. Maybe Mrs Moor just wants to avoid questions on that specific topic?

Now I have no evidence at all to suggest that there might be anything remotely underhand or questionable about this donation, and considering that the teams were welcomed onto the pitch by the band of a local community music project, as well as a group of boys from one of the club's junior age-group teams, and that the donation was made to further the club's links with the music project among other things, it all seems perfectly above board. But if our club had received a donation like this, Mrs Moor would have been on here posting his/her usual "Wicked Whispers" or "3am Girls"-type diatribes insinuating that the money was being channeled off into some Chris Swan slush fund (but of course, without actually saying any such thing).

All this is written, not with the intent of casting any aspersions on Solihull Moors FC, who I believe to be operating well within the letter and spirit of the applicable laws and regulations, but to demonstrate that to anyone on the outside, who doesn't have direct, intimate knowledge of the organisational structure of the football club, any financial transaction that is outside of the usual run of the mill business of running a football club might appear to be questionable - especially to someone determined to prove their one-eyed thesis of a club being run to line the pockets of its chairman.

Hi Ted

I did read your message and I chose to ignore it, had I chosen to meet you I am sure your post would have been of a kinder nature. Please allow me to apologize for ignoring you. It has obviously upset you enough that you feel the need to post a blow by blow account on the forum.

Of course I am interesting on debating the issue but as yet not one person can tell me why the club has been split into two, are you the man for the job.

As for your comments regarding the Moors I am not aware the club has split into various factions perhaps you should enlighten us. I believe the club is the club and any good works undertaken by the club fall under the clubs umbrella not a separate registered company although I may be wrong.

As a Moors supporter I am amazed at how much money we spend on playing staff etc, if anything we are overfunded if based on attendances alone. However our Chairman did not offer us a five year plan but if he had I am sure he would have backed it up.

I have never insinuated that any money is being channeled off into a slush fund, i simply asked why the club has split into two. One part seems to attract a healthy income from public grants etc while the other seems to be struggling. I freely admit I am more than a little bit interested into the salaries of some of these so called charity workers but that’s just an idle curiosity on my part.

You’re a bit like Bob, happy to have a go at me but in the end just an empty vessel with nothing to say. Go on tell me why the club has been split into two parts and tell me why football and the teams performance seem so low on the agenda.

Troll. Please ignore.

Mrs Moor, I'm still puzzled as to why you come on here and ask us fans about something that would be much better answered by a simple email to the Chairman.. You know, the man that owns Redditch United FC, the man that has his own plans and desires for the club, the man that's there most home games and is always open to a discussion?

Or perhaps you're more contempt with sitting behind a computer, behind a false name asking questions that clearly nobody has the answer for? But then again, why should anyone here have to answer to you? Why should the actions of the chairman have to be justified to you, when you don't even have the bollocks to meet with someone when they want to meet you in person? You seem to have alot to say on here, yet when someone asks you to make yourself known you scurry back under the rock you're hiding from. That's fine by me, it proves to every one here that you're a keyboard warrior.

I don't see what it is to you anyway? What does it matter if the clubs being split into two? You're not a Redditch united fan.. Nobody knows you here except rowly and you won't tell anyone who you really are.. How can you expect to find answers?

I doubt you'll reply to this, and even if you do you'll probably not answer anything and reply with a meaningless post about nothing

Either way, keep digging! You've been on this forum for over a year now? And you're no closer to whatever it is you're trying to achieve.

del boy wrote:Troll. Please ignore.

del boy wrote:Who is eligible? Amongst others, “registered charitable organisations / not for profit companies”. Maybe this is why ‘Redditch United in the Community’ has been set up?

You don't say.................

I am relatively new to all this, I have been to a couple of games last season and a few this, but I do read the forum with interest. The one outstanding feature of these posts is the recurring acrimony of a Mrs Moor, now I don’t know what has happened previously, did Mrs Moor work for the Swans in some capacity, because Mrs Moor does seem to be very critical of everything that the swans do.
Could you please explain your reasons as to why, as I have said I am new to this, and take no sides what so ever.

onlyme wrote:I am relatively new to all this, I have been to a couple of games last season and a few this, but I do read the forum with interest. The one outstanding feature of these posts is the recurring acrimony of a Mrs Moor, now I don’t know what has happened previously, did Mrs Moor work for the Swans in some capacity, because Mrs Moor does seem to be very critical of everything that the swans do.
Could you please explain your reasons as to why, as I have said I am new to this, and take no sides what so ever.

You're new to all this (and welcome to the forum by the way), most of us have been here ages and we still can't work out what the bl**** hell Mrs Moor is going on about and the reasons why !

Every time I ask work colleagues / friends / family to come and support the Reds....I get the following standard answers:

1. The Valley is a sh*t hole
2. It's too expensive
3. The standard of football is crap (mainly due to the pitch)

So...in most businesses, the customer voice / requirements are the main drivers for change / improvement:

1. Move to a brand new facility
2. Reduce the price to $5
3. Play a brand of exciting football (aka WBA / Swansea etc)

I honestly believe to stir any interest from the Redditch public, something dramatic has to happen with the club:

1. Move to a brand new facility
2. Reach FA Cup 3rd round

As number 2 is highly unlikely (cue Ted Striker with the data..), option 1 is always the only way forward IMO.

By having a facility that draws people to the club on a regular basis (yes, back to the 3G discussion), the club starts to have a standing in the community....I do not know the data, but I wonder how many new members/visitors of the Abbey Stadium there has been since the redevelopment?

I still do not understand why people do not trust Mr Swan?
The company accounts have been posted on time (the 1st time in recent history) and everytime I have spoken to him, he is open, transparent and tells you as it is....sometimes not nice to hear....but as it is.
Does anyone (except MM) believe any new facility owned by RBC would not be titled accordingly? Are you living on a different planet?

The Valley is doomed....the covenent (although not legally documented) by the Terry family is too 'difficult' for the council to challenge.....no redevelopment of the fields around the stadium will be allowed in the near future (until the covenent is forgotten about).
The club must increase revenue.
Sponsorship at this level is super difficult....so 3G and social events have to be the lifeline.
That will never happen at the Valley...sad, but true.

onlyme wrote:I am relatively new to all this, I have been to a couple of games last season and a few this, but I do read the forum with interest. The one outstanding feature of these posts is the recurring acrimony of a Mrs Moor, now I don’t know what has happened previously, did Mrs Moor work for the Swans in some capacity, because Mrs Moor does seem to be very critical of everything that the swans do.
Could you please explain your reasons as to why, as I have said I am new to this, and take no sides what so ever.

She's a man of mystery.

Some say she takes the form of a man called Roger every other Saturday and has a vintage collection of harmonicas.

Has anyone else noticed that Roger has disappeared and Mrs Moor has re-appeared? Just saying ...

Bob Marley wrote:Every time I ask work colleagues / friends / family to come and support the Reds....I get the following standard answers:

1. The Valley is a sh*t hole
2. It's too expensive
3. The standard of football is crap (mainly due to the pitch)

So...in most businesses, the customer voice / requirements are the main drivers for change / improvement:

1. Move to a brand new facility
2. Reduce the price to $5
3. Play a brand of exciting football (aka WBA / Swansea etc)

I honestly believe to stir any interest from the Redditch public, something dramatic has to happen with the club:

1. Move to a brand new facility
2. Reach FA Cup 3rd round

As number 2 is highly unlikely (cue Ted Striker with the data..), option 1 is always the only way forward IMO.

By having a facility that draws people to the club on a regular basis (yes, back to the 3G discussion), the club starts to have a standing in the community....I do not know the data, but I wonder how many new members/visitors of the Abbey Stadium there has been since the redevelopment?

I still do not understand why people do not trust Mr Swan?
The company accounts have been posted on time (the 1st time in recent history) and everytime I have spoken to him, he is open, transparent and tells you as it is....sometimes not nice to hear....but as it is.
Does anyone (except MM) believe any new facility owned by RBC would not be titled accordingly? Are you living on a different planet?

The Valley is doomed....the covenent (although not legally documented) by the Terry family is too 'difficult' for the council to challenge.....no redevelopment of the fields around the stadium will be allowed in the near future (until the covenent is forgotten about).
The club must increase revenue.
Sponsorship at this level is super difficult....so 3G and social events have to be the lifeline.
That will never happen at the Valley...sad, but true.

An interesting read Bob but with Mr Swan living five minutes away from a similar project that failed I am sure he is not silly enough to think it’s the answer.

The only thing to encourage people to watch football is their in bred passion for a club or the fact they are being entertained royally by events on the pitch.

If the supporters have lost their passion and the owner refuses to invest in the team it does not matter where they play.

Swan said

He saw the club in the conference in five years

He understood it was all about momentum and success bred success.

He also said he planned to extend the lease and improve the facilites.

Well I agree with him, it is all about momentum and success does breed success. The trouble is it’s his job to start the momentum and by appointing his choice of Manager and reducing the playing budget rather than introducing momentum he began the season introducing the completely opposite effect.

Invest in the manager, invest in the team.

rededitor wrote:

What is with you & The Golden Goose Rowley??????

Well, to the worst spelling editor of all time, try to keep up, it's not too difficult.
The topic is titled location location location, and was born from a couple of stories I heard during my last visit to the Valley about RUFC moving to a new location in the town. One sites was the Holloway Park site but with it being right on a traffic island and near a river with a man made brook running through it and on uneven land, the other location mentioned seems more logical, the land at the back of the Golden Goose. I'm sorry if this has another name that I fail to use properly, but by calling it the Golden Goose site most people on this thread seem to know where it is. So for the purpose of good debate and throwing ideas around, this site looks like it has been adopted for a good example for a new development if at all there is to be one..... Unless of course you know certain facts you wish to educate us all with that we have missed out.

Hope this answers your question

Mrs Moor wrote:Hi Ted

I did read your message and I chose to ignore it, had I chosen to meet you I am sure your post would have been of a kinder nature. Please allow me to apologize for ignoring you. It has obviously upset you enough that you feel the need to post a blow by blow account on the forum.

Indeed it would - had I even felt it necessary to comment on it publicly at all. My hope was that by meeting face to face, I could get more of an understanding of your viewpoint so that when reading your posts on here, I would have had context to enable a more rounded reading and avoid the kneejerk reactions of which I (and others) are guilty. But let's move on.

Of course I am interesting on debating the issue but as yet not one person can tell me why the club has been split into two, are you the man for the job.

I'm sorry to inform you that I'm not. That's mainly because I actually don't care about the corporate structure of the club.

(To be honest, I can't really claim to care that much about what happens on the pitch either - if I did, I'd still be paying to watch them play every week, rather than making the occasional trip when I'm on reporting duty.)

But also, it's not the first time that the club has been split in two - if I remember correctly, the company was split into a football company and a social company a few years ago, in an arrangement similar to the one that almost killed Worksop Town. It seems to me, not that I have investigated in any depth (see previous paragraph), that the creation of a company to act as a vehicle for attracting funding that is only available to not-for-profit organisations is an eminently sensible development, and not a cause for concern.

As for your comments regarding the Moors I am not aware the club has split into various factions perhaps you should enlighten us. I believe the club is the club and any good works undertaken by the club fall under the clubs umbrella not a separate registered company although I may be wrong.

Me neither. I have even less knowledge about the organisation of SMFC than I do about that of RUFC. My point was that without such understanding, it can be easy to leap to the wrong conclusions about the legitimacy of a club's "charitable" arm, especially if one is inclined to take the contrary view.

As a Moors supporter I am amazed at how much money we spend on playing staff etc, if anything we are overfunded if based on attendances alone. However our Chairman did not offer us a five year plan but if he had I am sure he would have backed it up.

We definitely have some common ground here. One of the things I dislike about the Moors (aside from the local rivalry and a couple of particular games from years ago that I really ought to let go) is their ability to rescue themselves from lowly league positions by pulling in money seemingly from nowhere and using it to fund the signing of that key player who drags them out of the shyte - clearly this is a heady mix of envy (you're still in the BSN) and hypocrisy (Lee Hendrie anyone?) and is my issue.

Oh, and five year plans are a bad idea. Just ask the Communists.

I have never insinuated that any money is being channeled off into a slush fund

To be honest, that's exactly how it comes across, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that view.

i simply asked why the club has split into two. One part seems to attract a healthy income from public grants etc while the other seems to be struggling. I freely admit I am more than a little bit interested into the salaries of some of these so called charity workers but that’s just an idle curiosity on my part.

Clearly you have done more homework on this topic than I have. Again, one of us cares, and it's not me.

As other people have pointed out on many occasions, you really ought to be directing these questions to Chris Swan. I've only met him once, so I can't claim to have any inside track on his character, but he seemed like a polite and reasonable person. If you know him better than I do, then maybe you have reasons why you can't approach him directly, but you really should stop banging your head against the brick wall of this forum, because no one here has the answer, and clearly people are getting tired of the question.

But it's a free forum, and you are entitled to come here and have your say just as much as I am, so I'm not going to suggest that you shouldn't post here. Just remember that you're not going to become any more welcome if you continue to post the sort of stuff you've been posting.

You’re a bit like Bob, happy to have a go at me but in the end just an empty vessel with nothing to say. Go on tell me why the club has been split into two parts and tell me why football and the teams performance seem so low on the agenda.

Guilty as charged. I have nothing to say because I know little and care even less about the things that vex you so, except to speculate that the team's performance may be so low on the Swans' agenda simply because they want to get the back of house in order first, and feel that the level of investment in the playing side is sufficient to keep the club at its current level until such time as more external revenue streams are opened up.

Redditch United has had a few homes in its time and every time it has moved it has been for the benefit and longevity of the club, i have always said if we cant move forward at the valley then a move is vital no matter how sad. Maybe if this is reality a fans forum would be good so we can here about the plans and maybe a bit of input too dj? Onwards and upwards

A new location and start for RUFC could be very good indeed yes without doubt. There's nothing more I'd love to see than a well ran RUFC community open 7 days a week benefiting both the community and the Football Club. You only have to pop down Studley any evening of any given week to see how popular the 3G pitch is for footballers of all ages and abilities, and how a well run venture could financially help RUFC at the same time as others.
I doubt this is a case of smoke without fire and I hope something along these lines are indeed in the pipeline.
I did originally say I'd like to see money spent on the Valley to bring it up to scratch and maybe utilise the Terrys fields behind it for a 3G venture but in hindsight maybe a new start and new location may be for the best all round. Time moves on I guess.

RedJeff wrote:Redditch United has had a few homes in its time and every time it has moved it has been for the benefit and longevity of the club, i have always said if we cant move forward at the valley then a move is vital no matter how sad. Maybe if this is reality a fans forum would be good so we can here about the plans and maybe a bit of input too dj? Onwards and upwards

In fairness to our fans that do not read this forum mate I cannot say too much but I know that Chris is working with various partners on both refurbishment and relocation plans. However, bureaucracy and red tape have made and are still making progress tediously slow.

Personally, I love The Valley, and have seen many changes since my Granddad first took me many years ago but it’s beginning to look a bit dated and in need of reinvigoration.

I do agree that relocation would probably be a good move but one thing is for sure if we don't we desperately need the additional monetary stream from 3D pitch (s).