tired of the constant financial uncertainty and speculation surrounding the club;
willing to do something about it;
prepared to spend time on an interesting, challenging and worthwhile task;
able to offer expertise in at least one of the following five fields: administration, finance, football, information technology, law;
willing to join a working party to prepare a detailed plan from the outline published on 4 September 2009 on this site?
If you can answer yes to at least four of the above questions, then please contact me, in the first instance by email, giving your contact details and any relevant interest and expertise.
Human resources come before financial resources so the money can be counted as it floods in!
But seriously, some thought should be given to the financial feasibility of the project before acquiring material resources which may never be needed.
"So how much are we talking about?"
"How does £100 million sound?"
"Well it sounds like a lot of money."
"Until that is you divide by 50 million. That's £2 each."
"But not everyone in the country will wish to be involved."
"Well, let's take a different figure. The size of the crowd at Upton Park for example. Say 35,000."
"That's better. But it's still about £3k each."
"Maybe we could get a few large donations or possibly a lot of small donations."
"Yes. Maybe."
"Or a loan or a mortgage? There are all sorts of possibilities. Let's see what happens. Acorns and oaks. The main thing is to get started and not miss the chance again through lack of a plan.
Now let's consider human resources. The armed forces like counting in threes; two to do the business and one in reserve. And as it's an odd number, you can't get a tied vote from two plans.
So how about three from each of the following areas: finance, the law, administration. An interest in football an advantage. Call it a committee or a working-party. Add a chairman, a secretary and a treasurer and we're in business. Each sub-group reports its findings to the whole committee. And we take it from there."
"Now we need some money."
"But first we must recruit our volunteer experts."
This is going to be positive! I leave it to others to produce a different list if they wish.
The opportunity is there
At some time in the next two years, the current owners will be looking for a buyer.
The opportunity was there in 2003 and it was missed, mainly because the organisation was not in place. This time let us make sure it is!
The reputation of the club
For at least the last 60 years, West Ham has enjoyed and deserved a reputation for
playing attractive football
encouraging young players to succeed at the highest level
having supporters who appreciate the game
These are valuable assets which should be preserved for succeeding generations.
The money can be found
Yes, even in these difficult economic times. This is the time for wise investments and long-term planning.
From a rough comparison between Greater London and Greater Barcelona, we find that there are 35 inhabitants per top-division seat in London compared with the corresponding figure in Barcelona of 20. This suggest that there is considerable scope for increasing the number of top-division seats in London to satisfy potential demand. The present high percentage occupancy of seats would seem to support this view. Certainly most Premiership matches at Upton Park are sell-outs.
First watched West Ham in January 1946. Bondholder since 1992, former shareholder, season ticket holder from 1992 to 2009. My aim
is to do all I can to promote the return of football to its supporters by following as closely as possible the example of FC Barcelona.
