The FT Appeal: THE GRECIAN EARN*
Regular readers of the Trigger will have noticed a certain bias in favour of Exeter City Football Club on here. Two of our regulars are badge-wearing, card-carrying Grecians, and several more have come along to City games over the past few years.
One of the Wedge’s issues is the involvement of supporters in the running of their football clubs. City, following a crisis a year or so back, have been taken over by our Supporters’ Trust. The club is owned and run by its fans. We think this is a good thing. It’s a good thing because it puts the lifeblood of the club, those who care about it most, in charge of how the club moves forward. It’s a good thing because the illusion (in most cases) of running a football club for profit is removed and instead the club can concentrate on running itself as well as it can for the long term. It’s a good thing because (in practice) fan-controlled clubs become more of a resource for their communities rather than fiefdoms or status symbols.
Exeter City are, as has been the case for more or less as long as I can remember, in financial trouble. We’ve been on the verge of folding for a while, and we’ve entered into a Voluntary Arrangement to control and reduce our debt burden (one of the things which being a City fan in the last year has meant is gaining a working understanding of the Companies Act (1994)). This is good for the long-term future of the club but it means that we have to raise ‘750000 in the next sixteen months or so. That’s fine, except that the club is not generating anything like that kind of surplus. In fact, while things are being pulled around financially, the club is not generating a surplus at all.
So there’s an appeal, catchily named Red Or Dead. The Trust are asking for 1500 pledges to raise ‘500 to save the club.
One of those pledges will be coming from Freaky Trigger. The Trig has had a lot of mileage from City in the past and hopes to do so in the future. We think they’re worth our support. We’re not sure how we’re going to reach the target just yet, but rest assured we will be incorporating money-raising bits in our regular FT activities. All cash-generating ideas welcome, of course, including donations if you feel so moved. We need to generate about thirty five quid a month. How hard can that be? We know we’ve taken the first step though: we have a totaliser to keep you in touch with progress.
*Mild apologies for the namecheese.