The Guardian on Mr. Scally | Page 3 | Vital Football

The Guardian on Mr. Scally

Interesting thread with a range of views. Considering he knew over 12 months ago that the issue of refunds for those last 5 home games of 2019/20 would have to be properly addressed and has still not done so is very poor PR in my opinion but I accept others may disagree.
 
That's Rochdale, sitting at the bottom of the league, likely to be relegated.

Maybe they could have afforded a few better players this year and stayed up if they had ignored their fans for a year and they would be in our position now.

The price of doing the right thing!

Maybe
Who knows?
Maybe had the club decided to refund all ST holders, Oliver and Graham would not have been signed.
Maybe big John as a single striker
supplemented by cheap young loans.
We’ll never know.
 
Interesting thread with a range of views. Considering he knew over 12 months ago that the issue of refunds for those last 5 home games of 2019/20 would have to be properly addressed and has still not done so is very poor PR in my opinion but I accept others may disagree.

It all depends how fine the margins are.

If we're to believe what he's said previously, if the club were simply to give back that revenue generated from ST sales for missed games etc, it could cripple us.
 
That's Rochdale, sitting at the bottom of the league, likely to be relegated.

Maybe they could have afforded a few better players this year and stayed up if they had ignored their fans for a year and they would be in our position now.

The price of doing the right thing!
But then maybe looking long term they will have more support if they survive as I am sure their fans will feel that their club chairman put the hardship in the community first.
 
Will be interesting to see what Scally pays himself for this past Covid year, given all the financial difficulties, I guess it will be a couple of years before we find out though, by which time no one will really care.

I don’t see how Scally giving a few quotes to a Guardian reporter about agents fees and sorting out the season ticket issue are remotely related though. The Guardian interview would have been a 5 minute phone call.

Scally has easily had long enough to find a solution, but continually defers it and talks about what might happen without actually doing anything.

He could have been waiting to see which league we will end up in next season, after Monday’s defeat it’s almost certainly going to be League 1.
Also he may be waiting to get a clearer idea of how finances will work for next season:- will there be any help from Premier League again, will PFA continue to pay for testing, will fans be allowed in to games and if so how many ? etc etc.

He may need answers to the above before he can work out what if any compensation can be offered.
 
I strongly agree that the longer Scally holds of making any sort of offer to those who have missed out on games due to Covid.The larger the numbers will grow of those wishing to claim some sort of compensation. On top of that fewer will want to renew especially in the more expensive seats if they are not going to be able to see games live anyway. It has to be remembered that those paying about £500 for season tickets are effectively gifting the club £270 for this season's matches plus the five games last season. So their losses are probably in excess of £400 thus far.That assumes that were happy to pay £10 per match to watch match on a screen.For a family group the losses thus far could easily be a thousand pounds. That might not be big money to those people but to not even have a statement for those people who might have since lost the financial where for all to pay for the luxury could be enough to lose fans altogether.
 
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To simplify the season ticket question can be divided into two camps. Are you a supporter of the club or a customer? A supporter puts the club first, and is willing for the sake of the club to take a hit over the finances to keep the Gills solvent.
A customer is just a consumer, therefore if there are no games to watch then a refund should be paid.
Paying ST prices upfront means the money has gone it is no longer part of your annual budget. Just ask which are you.
 
To simplify the season ticket question can be divided into two camps. Are you a supporter of the club or a customer? A supporter puts the club first, and is willing for the sake of the club to take a hit over the finances to keep the Gills solvent.
A customer is just a consumer, therefore if there are no games to watch then a refund should be paid.
Paying ST prices upfront means the money has gone it is no longer part of your annual budget. Just ask which are you.
Good point and as a percentage of those who watch Gillingham are actually frustrated fans of other teams. I believe we probably have a fair number of customers. They are often seen at big games but some are frustrated enough to attend regularly .
To answer your question until moving to Suffolk I would always say supporter without hesitation. But now I think I might be a customer.
 
It's worth remembering that Scally says we have a £700,000 tax bill hanging over the club which still needs paying at some point. To be honest, I can completely understand why he doesn't feel able to commit to any ST offers at present.

HMRC have to be number one in the pecking order before supporters. They’ll not hesitate to put in a winding up application. Scally needs to be honest with season ticket holders and tell them that they’re not going to see any refund.
 
HMRC have to be number one in the pecking order before supporters. They’ll not hesitate to put in a winding up application. Scally needs to be honest with season ticket holders and tell them that they’re not going to see any refund.
Scally was hoping to agree a repayment plan with them soon after his letter to fans was released. It doesn’t all have to be paid back in one go.
 
Scally was hoping to agree a repayment plan with them soon after his letter to fans was released. It doesn’t all have to be paid back in one go.

HMRC typically will expect repayment within 18 months maximum. That’ll be a challenge given that I doubt that revenue is unlikely to ramp up any time soon and fully recover to BAU levels for some time.

All the while, GFC will be incurring additional liabilities for PAYE, NI and VAT.

Interesting to see what PS does. The club’s biggest asset is the land/stadium. I guess they could always take a bank loan secured against the stadium?!?
 
HMRC typically will expect repayment within 18 months maximum. That’ll be a challenge given that I doubt that revenue is unlikely to ramp up any time soon and fully recover to BAU levels for some time.

All the while, GFC will be incurring additional liabilities for PAYE, NI and VAT.

Interesting to see what PS does. The club’s biggest asset is the land/stadium. I guess they could always take a bank loan secured against the stadium?!?

Interesting to see what PS does. The club’s biggest asset is the land/stadium. I guess they could always take a bank loan secured against the stadium?!?[
Surely the water feature alone would provide enough security against the £700,000 debt.
 
A few trying to create a binary argument for or against Scally/the club, which is a false one and is an attempt to shut down debate. Scally is absolutely right about agents, we all seem agreed, and this benefits the club. That was the subject of the original post and it's a good news story.

The ST issue is entirely separate and I find no difficulty in stating an understanding of the problems the club faces, the need to cut costs and conserve resources while still making criticisms about the treatment of ST holders. Like most I have no intention of seeking a refund and never did have from the beginning. The club could and should have addressed the concerns of those, who needed the money, without creating embarrassment and division. It is not helpful that Scally has often described us as customers in the pas. I have tackled him over this face to face, as have other fans, and I think he at least realises that we are offended by this description.
 
Professional football clubs were ordered by the government to stop admitting spectators. Therefore they should be targeted for refund claims. Every club's fans could amalgamate into one organization and take the government to court to claim for compensation. Fat chance.
Individual clubs were expected to do as they were told.