Interesting Tweet from Accy Stanley Owner - The Trap

[Sincilbanks]

People expect Lincoln to kick on if we get to L1 but that would be a massive task to achieve.

Do they expect us to "kick on" though? I mean how long is it since we've been in the third tier of professional football? And for how many seasons of our history?
Just getting to League 1 strikes me as an amazing achievement given our history, never mind staying there for any length of time...

 

[Scotimp]

Do they expect us to "kick on" though? I mean how long is it since we've been in the third tier of professional football? And for how many seasons of our history?
Just getting to League 1 strikes me as an amazing achievement given our history, never mind staying there for any length of time...

Tier 2: 34 seasons (last season 1960-61)
Tier 3: 32 seasons (last season 1998-99)
Tier 4: 41 seasons (including current season)
Non-league: 14 seasons (last season 2016-17)
Not competing in league football: 4 seasons

 

[Luke Imp]

I agree. I think L1 is a tough old division.

Also agree.

That's where some serious money starts being spent at the top end. At L2 level, you might get a Portsmouth, Luton, Coventry type of team, but in L1 there have been, down the years, Sheffield United, Leeds, Southampton, Forest, Charlton, Blackburn - these guys don't pay £4k-£5k/week and £100k on signings.

 

[Casperimp]

People expect Lincoln to kick on if we get to L1 but that would be a massive task to achieve.

But are not the best things in life hard fought for? I am sure that if we do get promoted to League 1 we can consolidate as we have done in League 2 and kick on to challenge at the top end of League 1 after a season of so.

Nobody with any sense thinks it's going to be easy but you have to have ambition and you have to be prepared to give it your all to achieve the best. I think with Danny and Nicky at the helm getting to The Championship is not beyond the realms of possibility!

 

[Bazzzer]

Tier 2: 34 seasons (last season 1960-61)
Tier 3: 32 seasons (last season 1998-99)
Tier 4: 41 seasons (including current season)
Non-league: 14 seasons (last season 2016-17)
Not competing in league football: 4 seasons

Of the 66 seasons spent in Tiers 2 and 3, I suspect only about 15 of those were above the "bottom tier" of the Football League.

Figures since the formation of Div 4 may give a truer picture.

 

[NottyImp]

Times have changed radically, though. Whatever our history in Div 2/3 it is pretty much irrelevant now given the structure of football finances.

But our last sojourn in L1 was, obviously, very nearly 20 years ago which tells you all you need to know.

 

[NottyImp]

But are not the best things in life hard fought for? I am sure that if we do get promoted to League 1 we can consolidate as we have done in League 2 and kick on to challenge at the top end of League 1 after a season of so.

Nobody with any sense thinks it's going to be easy but you have to have ambition and you have to be prepared to give it your all to achieve the best. I think with Danny and Nicky at the helm getting to The Championship is not beyond the realms of possibility!

The best things in life are free. But you can give it to birds and bees. I want money!

 

[Brendan Bradley]

Tier 2: 34 seasons (last season 1960-61)
Tier 3: 32 seasons (last season 1998-99)
Tier 4: 41 seasons (including current season)
Non-league: 14 seasons (last season 2016-17)
Not competing in league football: 4 seasons

That looks better than I expected, but in the last 50 years only 9 of those were in what's now League 1.

And doesn't Tier 3 include all those 3rd Division North seasons which was still the bottom level of professional football?

 

[Sincilbanks]

But are not the best things in life hard fought for? I am sure that if we do get promoted to League 1 we can consolidate as we have done in League 2 and kick on to challenge at the top end of League 1 after a season of so.

Nobody with any sense thinks it's going to be easy but you have to have ambition and you have to be prepared to give it your all to achieve the best. I think with Danny and Nicky at the helm getting to The Championship is not beyond the realms of possibility!

I don't think making the playoffs in our return to League 2 qualifies as "consolidation" personally. More of a semi-miracle.

"but you have to have ambition" There's that word, the one in the tweet...

"I think with Danny and Nicky at the helm getting to The Championship is not beyond the realms of possibility"

I agree it's not beyond the realms of possibility, impossible is just an opinion after all..
The 2 questions are, I feel...
1. What are the terms we are prepared to accept to get enough investment to have a real go at getting to the championship?
2. What's the plan if we get there?

 

[Casperimp]

1. What are the terms we are prepared to accept to get enough investment to have a real go at getting to the championship?
2. What's the plan if we get there?

In terms of consolidation I meant that we didn't go straight up and yes I agree getting into the play offs was beyond all reasonable expectation

1.Well if it meant selling out the club to a sugar daddy then no I couldn't accept that personally

2. Well that's an easy one get promoted to the Premier League and shove it right up the big boy Premiership prima donnas right where the sun doesn't shine

Actually I think when you look at Rotherham it shows you what can be achieved by a club like ours. I would say they are similar or potentially similar in size to us! their average gate is 9,200 so far this season. I don't know if they are backed by a money person but if they aren't then it shows you what can be achieved.

 

[Sincilbanks]

In terms of consolidation I meant that we didn't go straight up and yes I agree getting into the play offs was beyond all reasonable expectation

1.Well if it meant selling out the club to a sugar daddy then no I couldn't accept that personally

2. Well that's an easy one get promoted to the Premier League and shove it right up the big boy Premiership prima donnas right where the sun doesn't shine

Actually I think when you look at Rotherham it shows you what can be achieved by a club like ours. I would say they are similar or potentially similar in size to us! their average gate is 9,200 so far this season. I don't know if they are backed by a money person but if they aren't then it shows you what can be achieved.

2. I like your style!!!

Rotherham finances
http://www.rothbiz.co.uk/2017/03/news-5435-millers-post-14m-loss-for.html

Most pertinently
"The financial performance is linked to the on pitch performance of the team and the reported loss is mainly due to an increase in wage levels, up from £4.8m in 2014 to £8.8m in 2016."

 

[helgy]

But are not the best things in life hard fought for? I am sure that if we do get promoted to League 1 we can consolidate as we have done in League 2 and kick on to challenge at the top end of League 1 after a season of so.

Nobody with any sense thinks it's going to be easy but you have to have ambition and you have to be prepared to give it your all to achieve the best. I think with Danny and Nicky at the helm getting to The Championship is not beyond the realms of possibility!

Not so much ambition you do need ambition more I’d say money that will push you on.
Its the money that will get the players in you want as you know the higher you go the more demands the players put in their contracts.

 

[Brendan Bradley]

Actually I think when you look at Rotherham it shows you what can be achieved by a club like ours

"The financial performance is linked to the on pitch performance of the team and the reported loss is mainly due to an increase in wage levels, up from £4.8m in 2014 to £8.8m in 2016."

Rotherham United has been, and is, totally reliant on 72 year old Tony Stewart, the owner of a lighting company who'd never even been to Millmoor before he took over the club.

He took them over for the fun of it and they've lost 4 million pounds in the 8 years he's been in charge.

Practically nothing can be achieved in professional football without a sugar daddy, and people should remember that when we hear the usual bleat of "where's the money gone?" from fans of any club.

 

[Casperimp]

Rotherham United has been, and is, totally reliant on 72 year old Tony Stewart, the owner of a lighting company who'd never even been to Millmoor before he took over the club.

He took them over for the fun of it and they've lost 4 million pounds in the 8 years he's been in charge.

Practically nothing can be achieved in professional football without a sugar daddy, and people should remember that when we hear the usual bleat of "where's the money gone?" from fans of any club.

So what you and Helgy are saying then is that unless we get a sugar daddy or sell the club's soul then the best we can realistically hope for is League 1 under our current guise?

Well I still think we can make The Championship under The Cowley's management without bankrupting the club. That might be niave and unrealistic to many but I will cling to that hope.

 

[Brendan Bradley]

So what you and Helgy are saying then is that unless we get a sugar daddy or sell the club's soul then the best we can realistically hope for is League 1 under our current guise?

Not exactly. But I'm also saying that without someone funding losses during the duration of the non league days (and prior) up to the point of the unexpected F A Cup run, the club already effectively had a sugar daddy anyway.

The only difference between Lincoln and, say, Bournemouth or Brentford is the scale of the sugar-daddiness. Or as most would call it - "investment"

 

[Impalex]

I think that for the first time in living memory, we have a Board of Directors who seem to know what they are doing, have the experience to know how to achieve more, have the financial wherewithall to keep the club financially stable as it progresses and have potential contacts to continue the excellent investment into LCFC without mortgaging our future and, probably most important of all, have employed the very two people as our management team who are best placed to assist the board in their future achievements.

In short, I believe that the Championship is not out of the question and, when you look at the Premier League and, especially, the eight teams who have progressed to that level having competed in the lowest level since Watford left the old Fourth Division in the late seventies, then you must also wonder what the ultimate aim could be?

 

[Impalex]

I think that for the first time in living memory, we have a Board of Directors who seem to know what they are doing, have the experience to know how to achieve more, have the financial wherewithall to keep the club financially stable as it progresses and have potential contacts to continue the excellent investment into LCFC without mortgaging our future and, probably most important of all, have employed the very two people as our management team who are best placed to assist the board in their future achievements.

In short, I believe that the Championship is not out of the question and, when you look at the Premier League and, especially, the eight teams who have progressed to that level having competed in the lowest level since Watford left the old Fourth Division in the late seventies, then you must also wonder what the ultimate aim could be?

Incidentally, I am only referring to those eight team currently in the Premier League. Others have made it to the top table from level four in the same period: Swansea City, Wigan Athletic, Hull City, Reading, Portsmouth, Blackpool, Oxford Utd. to name but seven and I'd like to bet I have missed one or two.

 

[Luke Imp]

So what you and Helgy are saying then is that unless we get a sugar daddy or sell the club's soul then the best we can realistically hope for is League 1 under our current guise?

Well I still think we can make The Championship under The Cowley's management without bankrupting the club. That might be niave and unrealistic to many but I will cling to that hope.

I think they're making the point that the competitiveness goes if you get to that level without serious money, particularly when you're likely to be one of the smaller grounds (see Burton).

Which is where Accy's Chairman comes in. For them, L1 is probably too far to be able to compete in the same way the Championship would be for us.

That's not to say us or them wouldn't make a good go of it, but wouldn't be able to compete in the main on a financial level.

 

[helgy]

I think that for the first time in living memory, we have a Board of Directors who seem to know what they are doing, have the experience to know how to achieve more, have the financial wherewithall to keep the club financially stable as it progresses and have potential contacts to continue the excellent investment into LCFC without mortgaging our future and, probably most important of all, have employed the very two people as our management team who are best placed to assist the board in their future achievements.

In short, I believe that the Championship is not out of the question and, when you look at the Premier League and, especially, the eight teams who have progressed to that level having competed in the lowest level since Watford left the old Fourth Division in the late seventies, then you must also wonder what the ultimate aim could be?

I don’t think that tr

I think they're making the point that the competitiveness goes if you get to that level without serious money, particularly when you're likely to be one of the smaller grounds (see Burton).

Which is where Accy's Chairman comes in. For them, L1 is probably too far to be able to compete in the same way the Championship would be for us.

That's not to say us or them wouldn't make a good go of it, but wouldn't be able to compete in the main on a financial level.

In the 6 years we were out of the league it’s changed so much money is so much more the king , with the Prem & Championship getting the lions share it’s getting harder and harder for teams in the lower leagues.
Wolves were paying 27k a week in wages to some players last season they gambled and got to the Prem.
Without serious levels of backing from a multi millionaire or billionaire could we compete against that level without that sort of backing?