Can we all pull together to help Millbrook?

[Dave Deacon]

                                                                    CAN YOU HELP A FELLOW FOOTBALL CLUB WITHIN THE COUNTY?
By now I suspect most of you will have heard about the problem at Millbrook AFC. If not, to sum up their position, they need to raise £4000 by the 30th January (MONDAY), otherwise a major creditor will in effect and to put it bluntly, take them under!

Action therefore needs to be done quickly to help this club survive.
Already there has been amazing gestures such as Mousehole offering to have a collection at a function they are holding on Saturday, a Plymouth Argyle Supporters group have already passed over £250 to help the survival of Millbrook AFC and basically it’s at times like these that we all have to help our fellow footballing community as much as we possibly can.

OK – this £4000 is only a small part of the club’s problem, but with being able to raise this amount by MONDAY, the club moving forward has a plan, but it all evolves around getting this amount of £4000.

So what can we do?

Firstly there is already a “SAVE Millbrook football club!” collection started on the Crowdfinder site.

Take a look and read more about the club’s current plight, but more importantly while on the site, pledge some money. It’s easy enough to do and doesn’t have to be a huge amount, every £1 helps.

The link is http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/save-our-football-club?utm_source=crowdfunder&utm_medium=dashboardmodel&utm_content=shareonfacebook&utm_campaign=marketing

This scheme is already working as, at the moment I am writing this, the total showing as raised has gone up to £1,881.

However, as someone pointed out to me last night, if every Saturday team in the county, and by my reckoning there is about 69 Senior and another 130 at Junior level, were able to collect together at least say £30, the initial amount would be found, plus more to go towards the overall problem figure!

Just £30 per team, say £2 per person connected with that team, even on Saturday at your match, get the referee to donate part of his fee, we can all be in this together to help a Cornish football club which was formed in 1888.

Fortunately, I’m not old enough to remember the club’s first game, I certainly don’t want to be able to say I remembered its last!

So what do you reckon – can we do this?

We all moan about our local football dying, what about we start doing something now to change that.

We need to move very, very quickly though
•    Go to the Pledge and donate
•    Go to your match on Saturday and run a collection

EVERY POUND WILL HELP SAVE THE CLUB
Thank you for your help
Dave Deacon
(CORNISH SOCCER)

[Martin Eddy]

Sounds very good in theory Dave but have you tried getting money off players for subs every week. I'm sure that we at Redruth United will try our best

[Dave Deacon]

1 hour ago, Postman Pat said:

Sounds very good in theory Dave but have you tried getting money off players for subs every week. I'm sure that we at Redruth United will try our best

I know it's a thankless task, but I thought I would try. I see the crowdfinder figure is now better off by £336. If a little of that is from ourselves, we're all doing our bit. Even if you guys on Saturday only amass a tenner amongst yourselves, that's ten more than before today! Keep up the good work

[Lafs]

A very reasonable suggestion Dave and not a lot to ask in my view.

This is a great way to show solidarity within our great County. And I for one would be delighted to see all PLAYERS & OFFICIALS of clubs do a little bit each to make a huge impact in the grand scheme of things. 

Much has been documented recently about the state of today's game at all levels. Especially in terms of what some players are rumoured to get paid and also discipline towards officials (we've all been guilty of creating the issue at some point), so here is the perfect opportunity for EVERYONE (including myself) to make a huge difference with just a small good Deed- providing EVERYONE does their bit. 

I'm not currently attached to any club but will make my contribution and hope it's not just left to businesses or supporters of various clubs to dig deep, as both these already contribute every week to the existence of our fantastic local football scene. 

It may not be OUR mess, but a club in OUR County needs us all right now. Dont pay it lip service, take the bull by the horns and ask your teammates and club officials to chip in each a little before it's too late.

Look forward to seeing the balance of donations rise fast!

[Paul Collings]

I've absolutely no desire to see Millbrook  'go under' but am I alone in wondering why other clubs & their members (most of which will have been struggling financially themselves) need to be rescuing them. Is there somewhere that I can see the full story, what is the debt for, how much income have the Millbrook members been generating etc.

[a little bit of a dinho]

3 minutes ago, Paul Collings said:

I've absolutely no desire to see Millbrook  'go under' but am I alone in wondering why other clubs & their members (most of which will have been struggling financially themselves) need to be rescuing them. Is there somewhere that I can see the full story, what is the debt for, how much income have the Millbrook members been generating etc.

No you are not alone. I already asked these questions in the original thread and received no response.

58 minutes ago, Lafs said:

A very reasonable suggestion Dave and not a lot to ask in my view.

Also it is quite a lot to ask. £5,000.

 

 

[Lafs]

Yes you're absolutely right to ask why the debt has reached the level it has. No one is obliged to help, yet fully entitled to ask why before deciding to donate or not. Perhaps Dave may be able to get a few answers from a Milbrook official and post on here, there's nothing to gain by not disclosing a few of the unfortunate reasons. 

But I think we must bear in mind that Daves initial suggestion was pointing towards a squad of 16/20 players & management of each Saturday side in the County contributing £30 between them. As little as £1.50 each maybe in some cases! Is this too much to hope for in saving a Cornish Club before it's wrapped up this Monday?

I have no connection with Milbrook FC, but I'd like to think a few would spare £1.50-£2.00 each and know that they helped the cause. 

[Webby191]

I think the information on the crowdfunding link pretty much tells the story. Badly run by people with no real affiliation to the area or historically to the club. They were more interested in just having somewhere to play football then fully being able to run a club. Like the post says they now just want to concentrate on the future. Now they have locals back in control with passion, you've only got to see what Macca did with Edgcumbe and now done to the first team in regards to on the pitch compared to last season. I don't think they need to air their accounts, the main threat which they have been open and honest with is the 9,000 bill. They only gained control of the club this month and had about ten days to sort out the problem from when they became aware of it. They've said they have a meeting at the club Friday where they will be able to personally answer questions and in more detail explain any queries. If you're not a follower of local football or even football nationally then I understand it doesn't really mean a lot to you. However, if you are a few quid could go a long way. Great work by Dave and many others judging by social media & an articulate response by Lafs as well.

[a little bit of a dinho]

1 hour ago, Lafs said:

. As little as £1.50 each maybe in some cases!

It doesn't matter how small an amount it would be for any individual, that's not the point. We're trying to establish if this is a worthy cause. At the moment everyone is dancing around the subject of how the debts were incurred which is a bit concerning  

1 hour ago, Webby191 said:

 

I think the information on the crowdfunding link pretty much tells the story

 

No it simply explains the predicament and asks for money. Doesn't explain how the debts were incurred.

1 hour ago, Webby191 said:

Badly run by people with no real affiliation to the area or historically to the club.

So why were these people allowed to take control of such a grand club?

1 hour ago, Webby191 said:

Like the post says they now just want to concentrate on the future.

Ah okay so we should just sweep any past failings under the carpet and focus on the 30k right?

1 hour ago, Webby191 said:

I don't think they need to air their accounts, the main threat which they have been open and honest with is the 9,000 bill.

I think they do have to when asking people for money actually. Funnily enough they've disclosed the amount they need to settle (the 9k), how incredibly honest!  But not a whiff of how it was run up 

1 hour ago, Webby191 said:

They've said they have a meeting at the club Friday where they will be able to personally answer questions and in more detail explain any queries. 

I have no interest in driving to Millbrook to make enquiries that could be answered quite easily via the forum. (It's a 120 mile round trip).

1 hour ago, Webby191 said:

 If you're not a follower of local football or even football nationally then I understand it doesn't really mean a lot to you.

Clearly I am a follower of local football, does anybody sign up to the Cornish Football Forum to talk about other things?

So, if anyone can answer the question:

How did Millbrook FC incur debts of £30,000?

 

[Dave Deacon]

2 hours ago, Paul Collings said:

wondering why other clubs & their members (most of which will have been struggling financially themselves) need to be rescuing them

I don't think it's a case Paul of having to help, but rather more whether anyone would like to help. I threw this suggestion into the pot of the footballing community of the county, rather than the Duchy of Cornwall as a whole as we're all kindred souls of the local game!

I spoke to Mark Pratten at Millbrook AFC this morning, firstly to ensure I wasn't stepping on anyone's toes in doing this initiative and secondly to make sure of the deadline and figure involved.

To briefly summarise our chat, he, along with a couple others, came into the club in July last year, for the football side of things. He's an ex-player at the club, and for 29 years lived in the village. However, most of his summer he helped to fix some of the issues around the ground. Indeed the last time I visited the ground it was in a pretty dire state!

As time went on, it was apparent there were problems off the pitch and in November - the club was a day away from in effect closing down!

Since then Mark has been the man involved with the financial side of things. He has spent a lot of time talking to creditors and after an awful lot of dialogue with them all, they seem to be prepared to work together. That is apart from one!

Hence the club having to find £4000 by the 30th January - that's MONDAY, five days away from today!

Finding this amount won't of course mean the end of all their problems, but Mark assures me that he and the people now running the club have a plan moving forward, but it all evolves around being able to find the £4000 by Monday!

I, like Lafs, has no allegiance with the club, that is apart from recalling my late mother being knocked over by a wayward shot when she was watching me play many, many years ago at their previous ground! They looked after her at the time, perhaps, in a very small way, this is my opportunity to thank them.

It would be easy to dwell in the past and ask why the club is in this mess, but there's no time and no actually no real point. Action is needed to get pass Monday's problem first! So if anyone reading this can give a pound or so, fantastic. Just today, the crowdfunder site figure has increased by almost £800 in the time since I first posted. It's making people aware and hoping they can react, but as I am sure you are all aware, by no means is it compulsory to contribute. 

 

 

 

[Webby191]

In their statement they've said they have only just come on to the committee so I imagine they are still investigating as to why so much has incurred. An educated guess from what they have said and pretty easy to work out is that the past chairman and committee who are no longer there obviously didn't have the club house running properly, weren't astute in business and ignored bills which is why I believe they have a new stewardess with lots of experience running it and doing a good job from all the posts I see on Facebook. We've no reason to doubt the new guys that have come in especially looking at what they're trying to do so I'm willing to gamble on donating a couple of pounds and putting my faith in them. Fortunately, the vast amount of energy being put in is positive and not trying to pick it apart. Really hope they can raise it. 

[a little bit of a dinho]

11 minutes ago, Dave Deacon said:

It would be easy to dwell in the past and ask why the club is in this mess, but there's no time and no actually no real point. Action is needed to get pass Monday's problem first!

Yeah no questions asked just donate! Bailouts are in fashion these days though I guess.

 

[Dave Deacon]

13 minutes ago, a little bit of a dinho said:

Yeah no questions asked just donate! Bailouts are in fashion these days though I guess.

 

Like I suggested Dinho - no need to help if it's not for you.

I agree - lots of questions unanswered, but I'm not even sure the present committee would be able to satisfy all your concerns by Monday.

[panda]

I do not want to seem harsh but to run up an electric bill of £9000 means in all probability they have not paid an electric bill for nearly 2 years. Why wad this slowed to happen?

[margo]

2 hours ago, panda said:

I do not want to seem harsh but to run up an electric bill of £9000 means in all probability they have not paid an electric bill for nearly 2 years. Why wad this slowed to happen?

Laurence Reed on BBC Radio Cornwall 13.05 today.  Maybe you'll get some answers if you tune in!

 

[a little bit of a dinho]

14 hours ago, Dave Deacon said:

Like I suggested Dinho - no need to help if it's not for you.

I agree - lots of questions unanswered, but I'm not even sure the present committee would be able to satisfy all your concerns by Monday.

It's really not about whether I would personally want to donate or not. I'm simply questioning the validity of all this. If you want to blindly get behind any cause just to say you "did the right thing", that's up to you.

So I am helping actually Dave. Helping to establish the facts so people can make an informed decision rather than blindly cajoling people into one 

[Webby191]

I'm not sure why people keeping asking why this debt was allowed to build up like it's the new committees fault? If you have a chairman, a committee and a steward in charge of the club then they are the ones responsible and those in charge have the information, it's not like Joe Bloggs can wonder off the street and stumble upon paperwork that shows the truth. On the face of things if everything looks ok then it wouldn't even cross your mind. For those that quite clearly are desperate to know the ins and outs then there's a public meeting on Friday which has been repeatedly put out. If you're that bothered you'd attend rather then just wanting to know the gossip. I'm sure after the meeting someone might put every detail on social media. The bill has to be paid by Monday. They have known this for a week. I imagine along with what they're doing they still have full time jobs and families to take care of. It hasn't given them much time to carefully address every single question until the Community meeting which is just one of the things they have been able to do within a week. If you don't want to donate, don't donate as Dave has said. Fortunately the vast majority of the footballing community is getting behind it and looking at the total now they hopefully will get there!

[ex-chairman]

This all started somewhere with a wrongful criticism of FA of whom I am no great fan. They shouldn't though be expected to bail out clubs at any level, when it is blatant incompetence or deceit for this situation to build up.

Of course all are welcome to chip in but who knows if its just plugging the dam?

I speak as an ex- Chairman so fully understand how these things can find you out!

 

 

 

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

For me it is a Millbrook problem, and the immediate community of Milbrook.

I know crowd funding, and all of the other ways that are popular today will probably save the day in the short term, long term who knows.

This will show whether the people of Milbrook want a community football club or not.....their choice - nothing to do with me, or anyone else for that matter.

Millbrook today....who will it be tomorrow (?) probably 25% of the clubs in Cornwall are looking at sizeable deficits, the biggest of course is Truro, is everyone going to give them a couple of quid (would need to be weekly) no chance....so for me  - no difference.

 

[Dave Deacon]