I my be mixed up but didn't the previous management try a 'Stronghold' scheme with discount benefits from local firms iirc. It didn't seem to last longer than a season.
The Aussie clubs have a 'Membership' scheme on a massive scale giving a variety of discounts to members. That is principally aimed at getting contributions from supporters who may ne even attend games.
The truth is that VIQI is made up of a minority of supporters rather than a larger number. In our case many of the wider supporters group object to the price of attendance at all!
AS VIQI members we all may have different motivation but the end result is the same - we stump up for the good of the club. (Many more hard-nosed supporters no doubt think that we are mad anyway.)
The last thing that most VIQI's would want is for the club to fail or fall short from lack of their financial support.
There was a comment on a recent post suggesting that the 'black weekend' rush for help was hastily assembled, and thank God that it was. Now is maybe time for things to be more securely established. Old ground I know but a critical element was that subscriptions were safe from the Administrator and that remains vital imo.
The present Board and staff have the respect of most supporters and that is fine, but times and personalities can change.
That is why a properly formalised Members Trust Fund should be formulated, raising funds as before for the purpose of providing financial assistance to the club but outside the club's financial system.
A post from someone with financial knowledge of how things could be organised would be useful!!
Forgot to add that I will probably continue to contribute anyway!
@sandgroper Do you not have a season ticket ? If you have then you are still entitled to discounts from local firms all be it not as many now. I fuel the car every match day saving 4p a litre, it all helps.
You're not wrong with all you say. Not going to mention anybody in particular, but some people i know put big amounts of money into the club to save it. It really was heroic effort by many. I'm not so sure that effort would ever happen again, we live in very different/uncertain times, lets hope it never comes to that. We are preaching to the converted on this board, but you have to think of a wider audience for new bums on seats, replacement VIQI, sponsorship etc., etc. Travel a few miles out of Widnes, does anybody really want to get involved, have they even heard of WV, huge football area etc. lots more leisure pursuits. Some diehards within the town I know are already swerving the matches, sad but true but there's only so much disappointment/poor displays some will stomach
I guess it all depends on what the Club put in place to control any funds contributed by fans.
In my opinion, the worst option is simply to treat any funds as just another income stream, for general use in the running of the Club and controlled directly by the Club.
Surely, it would not be too difficult to ring fence any funds for a specific purpose eg sponsoring players, with discretion in exceptional purposes to use it otherwise for the benefit of the Club. Trustees could be elected/appointed from season ticket holders/contributors, to control and approve the use of any funds.The Trust Committee could comprise the Trustees and representation from the Club.
This is not a criticism of the current Board or Chief Executive, but would ensure that funds could not be misused in future. The independent control of the fund may also encourage fans to contribute either on a regular or hoc basis, if the Club are seeking support to strengthen the squad.
I guess we will just have to see what the club proposes to put in place to replace VIQI in August.
@mick-george Sadly age and illness (not mine!) mean that I don't fill the car very often at all. In the past I would spend more at garden centres and more than paid for my donations!!
Thanks for the heads up anyway!
@frankg That's as I see it Frankg - even with our present low number of contributors it makes a difference. With an increase in take-up it could mean that we can be truly crowd funded.
Without this sort of arrangement we simply can't compete with cash cow backing.
@mick-george Sadly age and illness (not mine!) mean that I don't fill the car very often at all. In the past I would spend more at garden centres and more than paid for my donations!!
Thanks for the heads up anyway!
You quoted
I my be mixed up but didn't the previous management try a 'Stronghold' scheme with discount benefits from local firms iirc. It didn't seem to last longer than a season.
The fact I was trying to tell you is that we have had discounts for many a year with our season tickets, like i said not as many as years ago. There is even a discount for your garden centre visits.
https://widnesvikings.co.uk/2022-season-tickets/vikings-rewards/
Maybe the benefits need a better advertisement along with the VIQI replacement.
Relatively small business sponsorship isn't as obvious as the ICI style but it matters in what is a hard pressed small town. Bristol Motors have been outstanding.
The response to the potential loss of the club was magnificent and did indeed save it. We may not be Beaumont or Dr K but pulling together we could compete with most.
The crowd response on Sunday spoke volumes tbh, they were with the players and they responded. The 2500 that were there wanted to show the lads that they weren't on their own and imo, it showed.
There will be times when we think that things could have been handled differently but that's life - it's always easier from afar!!
Just seen a Twitter rumour that we are not upto date with paying our bills again ... If there is any substance to this it may explain why the club are desperate to get their hands on the Viqi money.
Just seen a Twitter rumour that we are not upto date with paying our bills again ... If there is any substance to this it may explain why the club are desperate to get their hands on the Viqi money.
Please try not to proliferate half-baked rumours like this by copying them onto other platforms. The number of contributors to any fund needs to be as high as possible, not decreased when people see stuff like this.
As for your statement about the club being 'desperate' to get their hands on money from the VIQI contributors, there's no evidence of that. None at all.
Just seen a Twitter rumour that we are not upto date with paying our bills again ... If there is any substance to this it may explain why the club are desperate to get their hands on the Viqi money.
Please try not to proliferate half-baked rumours like this by copying them onto other platforms. The number of contributors to any fund needs to be as high as possible, not decreased when people see stuff like this.
As for your statement about the club being 'desperate' to get their hands on money from the VIQI contributors, there's no evidence of that. None at all.
Very well said.
Fine, you keep burying your head in the sand as we all know the club can do no wrong in some peoples eyes. There were rumours everywhere that we were not payng bills and about to go bust when Jimmy and co were in charge and people wouldnt believe it then either until the administrators were called in.
The fact that I called it a rumour means unproven and may or may not be true. Almost everything on this board is rumour and opinion. Maybe people can form their own opinion on a rumour.
The statement from the club itself says they want full control of the cash rather than being told as they are now that it must be used on players only. Income has been massively reduced with diminishing attendances. They have been taking a big loss on merchandise with loads of last seasons kits still available at a fiver when the club would have paid top doller for them. At the moment they cant touch the £120k or so that fans have given to Viqi as it is ringfenced for new players or improved contracts. Its obvious to snybody with one eye that the club want the fans to give them the money directly so they can use it whatever way they want.
Fine, you keep burying your head in the sand as we all know the club can do no wrong in some peoples eyes. There were rumours everywhere that we were not payng bills and about to go bust when Jimmy and co were in charge and people wouldnt believe it then either until the administrators were called in.
The fact that I called it a rumour means unproven and may or may not be true. Almost everything on this board is rumour and opinion. Maybe people can form their own opinion on a rumour.
The statement from the club itself says they want full control of the cash rather than being told as they are now that it must be used on players only. Income has been massively reduced with diminishing attendances. They have been taking a big loss on merchandise with loads of last seasons kits still available at a fiver when the club would have paid top doller for them. At the moment they cant touch the £120k or so that fans have given to Viqi as it is ringfenced for new players or improved contracts. Its obvious to snybody with one eye that the club want the fans to give them the money directly so they can use it whatever way they want.
It's called blind faith mate. There's probably some people out there still think Jimmy Fool & The Charlatans were misunderstood