Can we survive ?

[spiritof86]

Can Banbury United survive the dreaded drop ?
Let’s face it with 3 home games coming up we should get a real clear idea of our fate soon . Just as a side issue I hope the club and local plod have given some serious thinking regarding our home game against Hereford on Good Friday , this potentially could be fireworks on and off the pitch .

[Steve T]

On the basis of results so far, it's hard to predict where the points will come from.

_1    W  Tamworth
_2  L    Scunthorpe United
_3  L    Chorley
_4  W D  Chester
_5  L L  Brackley Town
_6  D L  Alfreton Town
_7  L    Curzon Ashton
_8    W  Boston United
_9  W L  Warrington Town
10  W L  Scarborough Athletic
11    L  Hereford
12    L  South Shields
13  L    Spennymoor Town
14  L L  Buxton
15  L L  Peterborough Sports
16  D W  Farsley Celtic
17  D D  Blyth Spartans
18    W  King's Lynn Town
19    W  Southport
20    D  Rushall Olympic
21  – –  Banbury United
22  W L  Darlington
23  L W  Gloucester City
24  D    Bishop's Stortford

[Sparky]

For me if we get nothing from the next two games , NO.

[Dale]

Quite simply, No. I'm not sure this team would survive the league below in all honesty.

[greatworthred]

Mar 5, 2024 23:02:30 GMT 1 Dale said:

Quite simply, No. I'm not sure this team would survive the league below in all honesty.

Agreed we'd be a below midtable side in southern league. Recruitment been atrocious

[petet]

No, we can't survive at this level.
It's no one's fault. Make no mistake, both Ronnie and Kevin are desperate to stay up. The painful truth is that we are not equipped financially to stay at the level.
We have got some wonderful sponsors who kindly keep throwing money our way, we have got some great, loyal supporters who keep paying at the gate, buy beer, visit the shop etc,etc. But it's just not a big enough income/turnover to compete in the National league. Getting promoted to this level was a dream come true for so many of us. Gates of over a thousand, a brilliant team guided by an outstanding manager. What Whingy achieved was incredible considering the budget he had to work with. He built a great team of incredible talented players.
Losing Whingy was a blow, but it was inevitable. The appointment of Mark was a mistake, but that's exactly what it was,a mistake. Ronnie and the board thought he was the man,but he wasn't. Kevin hasn't done any better. But people must remember that they are working with a very limited budget compared to the rest of the league.
Without a rich benefactor we cannot survive at the level. We cannot compete at this level as a club dependent on the money of supporters.
We are heading back to the Southern league, where we can compete financially.
Let's try and enjoy the time that's left. We have watched our team play some big names over the two seasons, something we never expected to happen, and something we must never forget.

[dopey]

So was going to keep quiet but the decline is so bad I had to say something,
Can I see us winning again?
Not under mr Wilson I’m afraid , maybe if we had kept Craig in charge such a dynamic positive coach always giving instruction now the quiet bench looks sad and dejected ,

My main worry is where next?
Under this board
The rent has gone from £1 to £20,000
We built a stand we didn’t need for three years not paid for ,
Regs cafe takes over the food, championship winning year it brought in £26,000 plus, so lost revenue,
Shop given away so lost revenue,
The was always a increase in costs but the budget last year was set on 800 paying supporters every Tuesday and Saturday hence now a subs bench of kids having no effect on the game,
Supporters leaving or banned , main sponsors rumoured to not be coming back,
I can’t imagine the amount of debt we are in hopefully the new chairman is a multi millionaire,
I’m not even sure we are classed as a supporters owned club as we have no treasurer or secretary?

[graham]

Mar 6, 2024 10:16:04 GMT 1 dopey said:

So was going to keep quiet but the decline is so bad I had to say something,
Can I see us winning again?
Not under mr Wilson I’m afraid , maybe if we had kept Craig in charge such a dynamic positive coach always giving instruction now the quiet bench looks sad and dejected ,

My main worry is where next?
Under this board
The rent has gone from £1 to £20,000
We built a stand we didn’t need for three years not paid for ,
Regs cafe takes over the food, championship winning year it brought in £26,000 plus, so lost revenue,
Shop given away so lost revenue,
The was always a increase in costs but the budget last year was set on 800 paying supporters every Tuesday and Saturday hence now a subs bench of kids having no effect on the game,
Supporters leaving or banned , main sponsors rumoured to not be coming back,
I can’t imagine the amount of debt we are in hopefully the new chairman is a multi millionaire,
I’m not even sure we are classed as a supporters owned club as we have no treasurer or secretary?

To be clear..........I agree with most of your points however......
Blaming the Board for the rent going up is not a valid critism..........probably had no choice to be fair.
I cannot say for sure, but in respect of REG doing the food, I'd be fairly confident that REG has also sponsored the club so no quite the net loss of £26k of revenue?
REG also supplied the club with a car.........unsure if still the case.
By the way.............I do not work for REG's Cafe 

[didier]

I'm just playing Devil's Advocate ....

Re dopey's post re Reg's Café and the BUFC catering, there are many things to perhaps consider the decision when it was taken ? ;

Would Reg's Cafe improve the matchday product ?
If so, would more people buy food at the ground instead of in town which would lead to more beer sales and more of a buzz around the ground pre-match ?
Responsibility of an important matchday item shifts from a volunteer part-time Board ?
The Club won't be responsible for trying to recruit and to pay staff and to organise volunteers in an area that isn't the Board's speciality ?
The Club won't lose money on staff and wasted foodstuffs in the event of a game being postponed (floods ?)

The Club's Board and Chairman are in an unenviable position - heroes when we're promoted, villains when "things aren't going quite to plan" but every single one of them has stood up to be counted and will be doing their utmost to help our Club.