Dave Bartlam

Gerald was a gentleman and someone that was always willing to offer advice and wisdom to me when I was part of the Trelawny League. Terribly sad news. RIP Gerald.

Morning all, Thank you for the sympathies posted above and on our social media account. Unfortunately, we have been a victim of what so many teams have fallen victim of before. More than half of our squad from last season have left the club and signed for new club, Lanner. We also lost two to Wendron and a few others through either retirement or injury. As we were losing players, some others lost the commitment to stay and battle. That meant that our most committed and loyal women were having to play as a 7/8 against teams like Mousehole (battered by over 20 goals). These 8 individuals were willing to play as an 8 every week but it's just not sustainable, not just for the team, but also the competition. We tried so hard to recruit the players but the truth is, there are now too many teams in a short distance of us and nowhere near enough women to play. Then last week we received word from the Women's League that they were going to remove us from the competition unless things improved. But we just couldn't get it to work. Very frustrating not just for the committed ladies and management/coaching team, but also for us financially. We'd paid for a venue for the season, for a brand new kit, for insurance/affiliation/cup fees etc and for equipment etc so we are about £3-4k down which will hit us hard. It was a very tough decision for the Club. Going forward, it's my intention to speak with Cornwall FA to try and bring my Flexi League (which has been so successful in Penzance since 2017) into the modern era and try to provide the same format, but for women. It's been a fantastic player vacuum for our men's teams, recruiting brand new players that have transitioned into Saturday football, I see no reason that it couldn't work for Women aswell.

I think the best people to ask will be Cornwall FA as they will be able to give you an exact answer based individual ban/circumstance

Yep. Suspended until the team he/she was sent off for has played the required number of games. Only time it changes is if it's a different category of football - so a player sent off in Sunday league can still play Saturdays. That changes again if there is misconduct which would ban the player from all football, not just the category.

As above... Look at the numbers quoted. We could get pretty much any player in Cornwall for that sort of money. Yet, as someone has already said, most of our players are unheard of. I've been asked by my committee to not comment on it anymore because they know it annoys me and I'll do my best to defend my club and try to put the record straight for stupid rumours like this. Honestly, it's so frustrating for me but laughable at the same time. It's okay for people behind pseudonyms to talk rubbish though. I'll grant my committee's wish now and not comment further as I'm justifying myself to people who believe a Trelawny (St Piran) player is on £100-150 a game. Its a much better thing to believe than a player playing for a club for his/her own enjoyment 🤷‍♂️

My word...

How many fouls did the player commit prior to that foul, Dave? There's something else that may have played a part in the referees thinking.

We could have easily gone into another club, taken over and used their facilities but I don't want that reputation. I don't want to be that guy to dress it up as 'saving a club' when it would just be a takeover. We've had approaches from clubs to merge or 'save' but we've declined because the impact it would have on us. Not only that, I want to be able to say in forty years time when I'm on the balcony of a club house looking down on a thriving club (my vision is based on St Day) knowing that I took it from that one little Flexi League team to a Western/Southern League club. It's common knowledge that we have had a massive problem securing facilities. It's still the biggest threat to our club. Only last season we had teams playing in Falmouth, Mabe, Perranporth, Camborne and Cury. That is not sustainable and costs so much money. We just need that break, that piece of land that the community want to save from becoming a 100 home housing estate and we will be okay. Until then, we will continue to struggle. We aren't the only ones though. I'm glad I've curtailed a small amount of the cynicism, I try not to comment on the forum anymore but like a little fish, I do get hooked sometimes. People never ask us directly what's going on, if they did, I'd be absolutely transparent because that is what is best for our club - the rumours, speculation and false statements only damage us. Trust me, it's extremely frustrating for me because whilst we have gained success with our teams (I don't measure success in silverware) across the club, the club is failing it's members by not having a permanent home. The biggest issue is that 'club feel' that we all long for. But, those in the club know we are trying so hard to find that land, to find that opportunity. That's all we need. Once we get a break, we will be okay.

And that's exactly it. We've got some very good players but we have no-one that's played at a standard much higher than St Piran. We don't need players of that ability at our current level. We were lucky enough to have Paul Robertson at the club last season - an asset to us as a player and a person and one we regretfully lost this season to Newquay. But we also have alot of players that someone states 'not heard of them'. And that's the beauty of it. We are now beginning to create players who people will soon hear of (I hope). We don't need to recruit big names. We want to try and create them.

I look at it as a sponsorship & professional avenue for us. Because the more successful the product, the more funding we have available for reaching that sub-free club that I crave - note that I say sub-free club and not league/title winning club. My priority lies obviously with our club members rather than our stature. I actually don't know how many players are on it. It's very few but It will hopefully increase soon (as you can see in the facebook, it's proved successful in beta testing). I was on it but came off because it took too much of my time up (you have to attend regular meetings and actually do some work - hence why I closed my business). It's not just a case of playing for the club. You do have to put some graft in. I genuinely don't get involved in it and I have no desire to know who is - it's not my business or the Club's business. It's a relationship. I simply email the boss and say 'I recommended this person for the scheme', it's then up to the company to do what they want. They choose to contact the person or not. It's worth noting that it's not just for the first team - it's a scheme used across all our teams (adult and youth) and for coaches and Committee members. It hasn't helped us at all for recruiting players because new players can't go on it. They must have served at least a season before being considered. Retaining players wise, I'll be able to answer that question at the end of the season when/if more have joined it. I'll always be honest about it because it's better to hear it from the horses mouth rather than rumours that have no substance. I'll answer any questions as honestly as I can. I'm proud of the relationship between club and company (they hate being called a sponsor as it's more than that for them, as it is for us). Some people don't understand. We get more ridicule and negative attention than I believe is warranted because people don't understand, make up truths by themselves and/or listen to rumours. The opinions that matter to me are those of the people that have actually been involved at the club in some capacity. You just have to look at are player retainment to know that we aren't a bad club.

Have you not taken in a single word I've said? Players are not paid to play 🙄 We signpost them to an investor. I've always been open about it when people have asked - mainly because it really frustrates me when people accuse our club of paying players. It's really not players being played to play football. It's club members offered to earn a few extra quid by working with our main sponsor in a legitimate business agreement. 🤷‍♂️ However I dress it up, people will criticise. With regards to product popularity, you'd actually be surprised at what people buy - I used to run a gift business and coasters, coins, keyrings and scrapbooks (photo albums, doodle pads or however you title them) actually sold quite well. That is the risk that the investor takes with the products though. They are experts in their field and know what sells and what doesn't. One design will be created into a product of maybe 4-5 in quantity. They will then be listed on the platform of choice by the company and if they sell, maybe 10-15 will be produced. If they sell, more are produced etc. So there's very little risk by the investor except for the initial outlay of the design. If it fails, it fails and other designs are trialled. If it goes well, it goes well and the club benefits. The incentive for the owner is simple and this is where it's misunderstood. He just wants to provide a Community Football Club and like me, wants it to be sub free. Any person that's held a committee role within a club knows how expensive it is to actually run. Our outgoings last season were stupid. The Costa involved: referees, kit, grounds, training facilities, affiliations, insurances etc. It's a huge outlay but with 6 adult teams and three youth teams, we managed it accordingly and unfortunately, players stumped up most of that in subscriptions and subs, with quite a few actually being sponsored. We don't want people paying to play football. I'll answer that question in 5 seasons time. Whether people take us seriously is down to the individual. My club committee certainly take it seriously. Our players take it seriously and for me, that's all that matters to me. Not the opinions of those threatend by a concept of idea or those that are severely misinformed. I'm happy to discuss the concept of the club - it's all open source information available just by a quick scroll on social media and a couple of websites. Whilst I talk about it, I'm openly promoting the concept so it's a win win. I've broken my rule of not commenting in the forum anymore (I was doing so well). But if anyone does want information on how we operate, please email me at general@dropshipfc.com before listening to rumours

Also don't think of this as a performance based scheme. It's not. It doesn't matter if the player plays well or not. It doesn't matter if they play in our first team or our Flexi League team. This isnt a performance based scheme. It's a commitment based scheme. If they produce a poor product then that is between them and the company, which is absolutely nothing to do with me or the club. They'll just receive further training I'd imagine.

'I'm yet to see quality players they've attracted through this mind' What are you expecting? Us to sign some of the players that the likes of Mousehole, Falmouth, Helston etc are? In St Piran Division 3? The team we have at the moment won the league and league cup last season and were runners up in the Junior Cup. Why do we need to attract any other players at this moment in time? It's not a case of play a season then re- build a squad like many do. We want the players that come to us to commit and stay with us. That's the whole point of what we try and do. As people are well aware, commitment and loyalty are two words that have become less familiar in Cornish Football in the past ten years with players going from club to club every season. That's not what we want. We want players to basically find a home and stay there. Commit to playing for us. That's what any club want - sustainability. The issue we have is that people are unaware of our project because they want to believe everything they hear, which is often out of the mouths of the misinformed. I've always said (it's even minuted from our AGM) that if I ever found out players were paid to play for the club, they'd be looking for a new Chairman. If you pay players, you lose loyalty and then you lose sustainability - as we have seen for so many years, in so many instances. That's not what I want. I'm very open with how the club is run because I appreciate we do get eyebrows raised and questions asked. It's a newish concept, particularly to Cornwall so it is going to be strange for some. But it's a perfectly legitimate and innovative project. It's probably worth noting that players are removed from the scheme if they leave the Club. Only players playing for the Club benefit from the Club/business relationship (they're all obviously made aware of this and sign a document stating so).

It's no secret that players can make money through their relationship with Dropship Football Club. But they are not being paid by the club (how the hell can clubs afford it at this level?) and they are not being paid to play for the club. Committed players who have been at the club longer than a season who display various traits such as commitment and dedication to the club may be invited onto a programme where they carry out freelance work for the company behind us, basically by creating designs. That is a legitimate business transaction between a self employed individual (as they must do tax returns if earning over a certain amount) and a company. This is not a secret - it's been advertised all over the club and company social media. It's one thing that we can offer which is different to other clubs. And why not? In the times we are currently living in where most people in the County are struggling financially, why would this be criticized or ridiculed? Using the individuals designs, products are created and sold. The profits made are then invested back into the Club via sponsorship - hence how all of our teams have a brand new kit this season, how we can afford to use multiple facilities because we can't secure land etc. It's actually pretty clever, intuitive and well, pioneering. That aside, it also reduced the costs involved for our players. My aim is to have a sub-free Community club within the next 3-5 years. What is very frustrating is the rumours from people who genuinely have no idea about the Club and what we do. It frustrates me hearing these rumours because it detracts from what we actually do and what we are trying to achieve.

Don't believe everything you read on here!