There will come a time – I am sure of it – when Sevco fans will reach the limits of their faith in the word of Dodgy Dave King and his board. I am positive that will happen. It has to. But that it has not happened yet is incredible to me, and will remain so.
How many times can someone tell you lies, and be caught in them, before you say “enough is enough”?
I marvelled this week at the stories concerning Club 1872, and the way King has them in the palm of his hand. For an “independent” fan organisation, they certainly like a dance to whatever tune is playing in the boardroom.
You’d think that just once, for the sake of variety perhaps, that they’d say “this time we’re not doing what you want.”
In case you’re not following it, here is what’s been going on.
As you’ll all be aware, Sevco needs money. King has promised Gerrard funds. He did a press conference shortly after announcing the manager, in which he told the media that he would put the pieces of a share issue in place, with the aim of raising £6 million.
Now, it’s widely known that £2 million of that was supposed to come from the fans, via Club 1872, as this share issue can only be aimed at existing shareholders. At the last count, the coffers were pretty bare. The fundraising drive had produced less than half the money.
This week, the Club 1872 board issued a statement and told its members – and those who aren’t members yet – that it was time to pony up and get King his £2 million in cash. A pretty bog standard piece of tin cup rattling, except for one small thing.
Club 1872 was set up as a shareholder’s organisation. Their explicit reason for being is to accumulate as high a shares percentage as possible, in order to command authority and perhaps even, one day, exercise a little control in their boardroom.
Last month, the ordinary members got a shock when it was confirmed to them that participation in any coming share issue would actually see their shareholding diluted rather than raised, and that they would need to spend serious amounts of money on more shares just to maintain their current level of voting power, which stands at 10% or thereabouts.
Imagine the shockwaves that must have sent through their supporters.
It is a scam, a diabolical one, and it must be infuriating if you’ve set up your direct debit and taken part in it. But this week even worse has happened, and it’s gone unexplored by the media, although the Bampots, as ever, have been all over it.
When someone joins Club 1872, they get two options for their money.
With the first, they put it straight into buying shares, the stated aim of the organisation in the first place. But the second option is explicitly not about buying shares; it puts the money aside for other projects, long term fan financed projects like a museum.
And now Club 1872 is balloting all of its members to secure their permission to loot the money in the long-term projects account and use it for King’s share-buying scam.
Those who joined Club 1872 to invest in museums and stuff must already know how this story ends.
As the majority of shareholders in the organisation bought in to buy shares in the first place, it’s almost a certainty that the vote will go against them. The cash they thought would be for infrastructure the fans could look back on in years to come will be “invested” in shares that, in terms of their voting power, are utterly worthless.
The chances are that the “fund-raising” drive won’t get near the £2 million mark required … and so in fact their money is probably going to pay for shares that actually leave Club 1872 weaker than it is just now.
And honestly, I feel for those fans.
If we cut through the rivalry, if we cut through the behaviour of the club itself, those are ordinary football supporters like us, who want to see the best for their club. I would be appalled, we all would be, if this was happening anywhere else.
Shame on the media trying to sell this bag of sick to them.
I would say shame on King but he has none, and nor do any of his acolytes.