Minutes of January AFT Meeting with Martyn Starnes

So when the historic debt is eventually paid off, we can assume that the ticket prices will come down?

I wouldn't assume anything if I were you.

Interesting!

I wonder if the club did a poll, how many fans would want the tickets to stay at the same price (virtual parity with others in the league) after the debts have been paid off, in an effort to give DA a bigger budget to plan a (nother??) promotion campaign.

Just a thought!

But James Brent is a rich businessman, why should the fans have to pay for the team to do well? If we're going to look at it as the fans paying good money to fund the team, why don't we just make the club fan owned anyway?

Number 6 is worded slightly differently from the post on Facebook.

Josh, at the very start, JB stated that this club would have to be self substaining. That means no one person has to use their money to keep the club going. I would have thought many 1000's of Argyle fans are cool with that.

If we could get a rich Sugar Daddy that would be great, but we haven't got one of those, and they certainly don't grow on trees.

As for fan owed, not for me (and many others I suspect). I've seen what Exeter have done, and that's not what I would like for PAFC I must admit.

Paven":svthxjk8 said:

But James Brent is a rich businessman, why should the fans have to pay for the team to do well? If we're going to look at it as the fans paying good money to fund the team, why don't we just make the club fan owned anyway?

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That's quite a naive and simplistic way to look at it really Josh. It depends what your definition of rich is for one. He certainly isn't a Glazer, a Sheik, an Oligarch nor even a Steve Lansdowne and his failure to be able to finish or even start most of his current ventures indicates he is either far less wealthy than you think, he is reliant on other peoples money to fund them or his money is tied up thus making him cash poor? Do you expect whoever the chairman is to fund the team from his own pocket without ever seeing the money back or simply hope his benevolence stretches that far?
I think we all expect to pay a fair rate for the product whether it be £20 or £22 but the issue here is whether pay on the dayers should pay an extra £2. For an ordinary run of the mill game when seats are aplenty I personally don't think they should but for games likely to be close to capacity I can see the sense to encourage people to purchase in advance and simplify things like entry on the day, though that of course is dependent on sufficient turnstiles and direction being given at the turnstiles-another story of course.
£20/£22 is a fair rate for league 2 at present, it is not as if we are being asked to pay £25 or a few quid surcharge to fund the team.
As regards the bricks, I feel the club should show willing and fund this in the close season, it amounts to a fortnight's wages for a decent player and morally they should in view of the amount of money it brought into the club in the first place. Whilst volunteers are all well and good and their efforts very laudable the club can't keep waiting and hoping volunteers will take care of this sort of thing all the time. I know if they choose to it's up to them and it saves the club money but if in the future the club is sold for a handsome profit will those profiting make a donation in return to the value of the money all the volunteer work saved in the hard times?

Baby Face Johnson":11zjbt5g said:

Number 6 is worded slightly differently from the post on Facebook.

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Not just on facebook.

Graham Clark":3auz3pql said:

I note the January AFT meeting minutes with Martyn Starnes with interest. I notice that the issue that arose about the condition of the bricks in Pilgrims Way was not discussed.

As a result of the comments here and elsewhere the bricks in Pilgrims Way have received a little more TLC and are no longer weed and moss strewn.

However, I took it upon myself to contact the original installing company Bricenomics and send them some photos of the condition of the bricks. They are able and willing to do a restoration job on them for around £3,500 (excluding VAT) and outline a future simple maintenance plan.

Pilgrims Way was one of the first of its kind and was enthusiastically endorsed by the Board at the time of installation from 2002. It is home to a number of well loved supporters whose names will be familiar to us all and sadly are no longer with us.

The work can only be done in dry conditions and is best undertaken in the close season so if the club are committed to doing it it should not have any impact upon the current season's finances.

I have copied the e-mail correspondence to Bob Foale at the AFT and Martyn Starnes so perhaps the issue can be raised at their next meeting to secure a commitment from the club to do the work.

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How about Pasoti raising the money for this to be done in the Summer. There is no advantage for the Club in having this done, in fact it is a financial burden. The bricks were donated by the fanbase, so let the fanbase pay for the maintenance.

Surely they were bought by the fanbase to provide funds for the club rather than donated? As I said all well and good volunteers doing all these jobs but at what point does the club take some responsibility for basic ground maintenance?

I agree with that.

PASOTI certainly won't be raising money for this.

Helping clean a few bricks is one thing but paying for a maintenance contract is quite another.

Plus I KNOW that this is not an expectation from anyone at the club.

What is the expectation of the Club, then?

Did the Club have any plans for upkeep when they were purchased?

Cannot see the Club spending that sort of money unnecessarily.

Unless someone takes responsibility the bricks will just deteriorate until they collapse.