Rupp & Sparks Out?

The 1.5m each year for 3 years to prove you can run the club doesn’t mean you have to spend it.

Well Rupp and Sparks need to go and fans need to take action. The club is on its knees.

 

What are you suggesting that fans do?

 

Whatever the figure, £10m, £13.5m, to pay that for a fourth tier club playing in a leased ageing stadium in a moribund city before you start spending on players and off the field infrastructure. It’s a lot of money that you’re probably only getting back in the championship, it's easy see why there isn’t a queue of interested parties.
A break in the short term view of survival to the end of the season is needed. Give Alexander a commitment and modest funds to achieve promotion, it doesn’t need millions, it just needs the club to stop wasting money on sub standard signings year in year out. Very few permanent signings have left and gone on to better things in recent years, and that’s a damning indictment of the management of the football side of the business. Nothing changes until the recruitment improves, Rupp at the helm or otherwise.

 

First of all stop acting like scared cats!

Fans need to start highlighting to Sparks and Rupp they want them gone. Not even sure Sparks is aware of anything.

The increase the action and yes come renewal don’t renew.

This club treats the fans like mugs. Hangs on to them. Only thing this club has but owners not willing to give to us. Time for a change of direction.

 

I get your frustration, we all are. Not sure on the ST refusal. That could drive the club into enormous debt which is also not good for morale or the club.

 

The season ticket thing is a big problem for Rupp and Sparks.

On the face if it expected a slight increase for next season to take them to around the £220 having held the prices last year.

Is there enough goodwill there for them to do that? A few have already said they will be unlikely to renew next year without changes at the club, so how does the club, who are reportedly running at a loss this year, cover that loss of income?

Putting up prices, to cover the loss of the drop off of fans buying may result in further fans not purchasing as they no longer see the value.

Say 2,000 don't renew, at a worst case scenario that's £400,000 based adult prices of £200 currently.

Covering that £400k by the remaining 14,000 is an extra £28.50 per ticket and that's before you factor in any pre planned increase to cover general expenditure increases.

Add the £28.50 and say a pre planned figure of £20 then that's a 25% year or year increase in the cost of season tickets (£199 to £249) just to cover costs.

Whats the take up then?

 

A mass boycott of ST purchases. Its not without risk, but i actually think the outcome would be for Rupp to prop up the budget to ensure we have enough of a playing squad to avoid relegation- which would write off his 'investment' to date, whilst sending a message that would force his hand in selling.

 

It won’t drive the club into an enormous debt at all.
The only thing season ticket sales do is enable you to manage you cash flow better to know funds for the season etc.

So again it’s up to fans to do everything by this club? Rupp isn’t even sacking Sparks or getting a new CEO in. People need to wake up and understand what is happening to the club.

 

thanks there was an article here. We seem massively overpriced in comparison not a surprise there are no takers.

https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/sport/23950947.tom-piatak-plans-make-carlisle-united-regional-powerhouse/

 

I can't see the same uptake of season tickets that we've seen for the last few season unless there is a massive turn around from now till the end of the current season.
So given we're midtable I expect possibly 10/12,000 at a push, that will mean a reduction in the player budget if what we believe is true, ie season ticket sales generate the player budget, we saw under Parky success can be achieved without a top player budget but it can't continue Rupp needs to give his situation as owner some very serious thought.
Does he want to be the owner of a thing he has little/no interest in (not speaking with his latest employee and most important appointment for over a fortnight were given to believe), does he think the CEO he appointed is the right man for the job, sorry to say Ryan has not shown to be successful with regards the appointment of new managers although at the time of those appointments they looked to be the correct call,.
Would Rupp take Ryan on one side and make his concerns know and tell him he believes someone with a better football back ground needs to come into the club.
I'm sure interested parties will know Rupp is prepared to listen to offers but why not go public I believe many football clubs have advertised in the past in the the Financial Times etc.
I'm as p!ssed off as the next Bradford City fan but I can't see some of the stuff being posted ie going down and out of the EFL and starting again is a good idea, in fact I'd suggest it's a crazy proposal.

 

There is a lot of unknowns to this strategy. How many would we need to withhold there monies for ST purchases to make our message viable? I think the ST will drop dramatically in any event, the only thing that might bolster ST sales would be success on the field.

 

That shouldn’t be the fans problem.

Bradford City fans for years have done enough for this club and now enough is enough. Time to make a stance that not everything should be on us.

If fans have the club at heart then currently they shouldn’t renew. Rupp isn’t even caring about the club . Sparks is putting himself first by no resigning.

It’s a mess!

 

Fan definition

an enthusiastic devotee (as of a sport or a performing art) usually as a spectator.

Maybe fan/fans are not the correct word to use ?.

 

As said before, unless a rabbit is pulled out of the hat before soon (March is just over 6 weeks away folks) the ST marketing is going to be a challenge to say the least. I do not think this forum is representational, in that there ST holders who are relatively new to City, who, whilst balancing other growing financial outgoings, are unlikely to renew if there is no evidence of ambition by the Club. We have had some carrots dangled in front of us in one shape or form for the last few years, but now where are they going to come from, and if it is only hype will "we believe" ?

Whether more long standing fans should not purchase a ST next year out of principle is a different matter, and one I feel uncomfortable with, as in my view it will only add to the bleak forecast, and not have the desired effect.

 

Next Saturday... The plane with that banner being sent up over VP?

Tennis Balls?

Couple of chants Rupp and Sparks out?

Not a penny more?

What a time to be alive supporting Bradford City.

 

When doing any sums on tickets, don’t forget a lot of STs are kids. I buy three kids tickets every year but the kids barely turn up. But u11 are so cheap it makes sense to renew and give ourselves more room anyway!

the point is, If one adult doesn’t renew, it coukd easily be four not renewing. If you do that for lots of different families, a sharp decrease could easily happen.

Rupp out

 

I think that at the very least, Rupp needs to fund a D.o.F. (Not Gent as I unfunnily suggested yesterday). Let Sparks continue his quest to monetize anything and everything but get a “football” person in to run the football side of it.