Dear Trust member,
The bonkers football economics of the Premier League, the dominance of television schedules which marginalise fans and the introduction of the game’s new Independent Football Regulator, as part of a football reform package, see the game at a crossroads where the path to sustainability is unclear. Clubs like
the Cobblers face financial challenges like never before.
Dubai-based retired lawyer David Bower has owned the Cobblers for more than ten years now, having agreed to take on a club clear of major debt in 2015. But, as at 30June 2024, the football club owed his company, Belle De Jour Ltd, and Nigel Le Quesne’s Sole Intention Ltd circa £11.5 million. Eighteen months on, that figure will have risen markedly.
On the East Stand, club chairman Kelvin Thomas is always quick to point out that its completion was delayed by the actions of the Supporters Trust in invoking the Asset of Community Value and bidding on the old athletics track land in August 2022 in order to protect a club asset.
The offer for the land was withdrawn at the end of January 2023, at which time the legal proceedings for a judicial review were already underway. He also cites this as a delaying factor – for the record this had nothing to with the Trust, this was a matter between the council and a private developer which was also interested in purchasing land around Sixfields.
The pandemic of course also created a delay, not forgetting the tensions between the club and the then Northampton Borough Council between 2015 and 2018 and the club’s refusal to build the stand from the summer of 2018 onwards when the council had given them a clear green light to do so. So delays stretch back to day one of the ownership. As always a little context is a wonderful thing!
Our questions to the club are always asked in the context of future plans and investment. Beyond the sale of a land asset for a warehouse development which, if approved, will hopefully pay off the club’s existing debt, there is no long-term plan for the club that we are aware of. And that is a big worry going forward.
On football reform, it is worth reminding members that the role of a Supporters Trust is different to that of a Fan Advisory Board. The latter clearly has its place but all recognised supporter groups at a club should have a seat at the table – FAB members should be elected, its chair should be independent from the club, meetings should have an open agenda and decisions/outcomes should be formally recorded and published.
On our Infrastructure Foundation proposals, these continue to be refined in the light of the prevailing financial and governance challenges facing the game and the document will be released to members when it is appropriate to do so.
A few headlines this year:-
Thank you for your continuing support and please support our Club 500 lottery and Cobblers Travel if you do not already do so. Up the Cobblers!
Andy
Andy Roberts, Chair, Northampton Town Supporters Trust
