Fans have been left deeply concerned for the future of 7th tier club Banbury United as the Board of Directors issue an update.
Townend Reds tweeted earlier this week: “I just don’t even know what to say anymore. It’s just heartbreaking watching our club be absolutely ripped apart after years of good, true Banbury United people trying to warn everyone what was happening. it’s just so sad it fell on deaf ears and its now come to this.”
In the post were screenshots of a briefing document sent to members with the board alluding to a £91,391 loss in its financial year ending in May 2024.
As per Banbury FM, reserves built up during the promotion run to the national League North and FA Trophy successes have been wiped out through loss of income due to flooding at Station Approach and the purchase of a new grandstand.
A meeting with members will be held next week to talk about the future of Banbury United as a fan-owned football club as the Board of Directors warned “carrying on as we are is not an option”.
In a briefing document to members, the board alludes to a £91,391 loss in its financial year ending in May 2024. Reserves built up during the promotion run to the national League North and FA Trophy successes have been wiped out through loss of income due to flooding at Station Approach and the purchase of a new grandstand.
I just dont even know what to say anymore. It’s just heartbreaking watching our club be absolutely ripped apart after years of good, true banbury united people trying to warn everyone what was happening. it’s just so sad it fell on deaf ears and its now come to this pic.twitter.com/sSejcyV1WW
— Townend Reds (@TownendReds) January 15, 2025
The Board state their view that, based on the operational income received during the first quarter of the season, Banbury United are unable to sustain football at the current level or above under the existing ownership structure and operating model.
The lack of a long-term lease – or ownership – of the ground at Station Approach is noted as an issue adversely affecting the club’s ability to create income.
A number of options will be discussed by members, including an increase in the amount members pay each year to provide more capital to the club, or budget cuts which would affect the amount paid to players and the number of staff employed.
Members will also be asked to consider moving from fan ownership to private ownership.
Claire Dumbrek from Banbury United said to Banbury FM: “The Board of Directors of Banbury United Community Football Club is meeting, as scheduled, with the Club’s member-owners next Thursday to discuss possible options for the future of the Club.
“The aim is a financially stable Club that continues to grow its position in football and the community, long term. To achieve that, major changes are required. Carrying on as we are is not an option.
“There have been open and transparent communications about this with the members for many months and this meeting is the next stage. It would be inappropriate to enlarge on the possible directions before the consultation meeting with the members.”
THE BRIEFING DOCUMENT
Member consultation on the future of Banbury United Community Football Club
Dear Banbury United FC member,
You are invited to a first consultation meeting regarding the future of Banbury United Community Football Club Ltd. This meeting will take place at the Spencer Clubhouse at 7-8pm on Thursday January 23rd 2025.
BACKGROUND
At the AGM on September 19th 2024, and in a subsequent member email, the Club reported a £91,391 deficit for its last full financial year, June 2023-May 2024. Two seasons of financial losses following promotion to the national League North, the loss of income due to flooding and the purchase of a new grandstand, saw all the Club’s cash reserves — gained during the good times of a promotion run and FA Cup and FA Trophy successes — erased, making the budget for this season extremely tight.
The Board has provided members with regular updates on the substantial business-focussed changes taken to address the budgetary challenges. It communicated it would be in a position to provide a clear view of the sustainability of the fan-owned business model by the beginning of November.
At the bi-monthly members’ meeting on November 21st 2024, and in a subsequent member email, the Board provided a financial update and a clear message to members: based on operational income in the first quarter of the season, the Club is not financially sustainable at Step 3 football or above under the existing ownership structure and operating model, and in the face of the particular contemporary challenges faced at Banbury United.
Since the Club was playing at this level a few seasons ago, the financial environment has changed significantly, with inflation, a huge increase in player wages, an influx of cash into Step 3 and large competing budgets. In contrast to many other Clubs playing at the same level, Banbury United is not able to apply for funding due to not having ownership or a long-term lease of its ground. The Club lacks its own dedicated training facilities and artificial surface pitches from which it could earn additional income. Despite multiple appeals, we struggle to recruit the required volunteer resource to run the Club.
In November, the Club’s projected income was reported as already being £80,000 short of meeting the 2024/25 budgeted expenditure of £589,000. As of the December 2024 accounts, this figure has grown to a forecasted shortfall of £84,000. There is every likelihood that this will continue to grow without a turnaround of the Club’s income situation, which may, very optimistically, include:
• Additional big-ticket sponsorship income. This is an area where the Club already does quite well with £100,000 profit coming from sponsorship. • Larger crowds, with more fans coming to the ground early and staying later on matchdays, spending money in the bar. Attendance has been poor this season with incoming falling £3,500 lower than budgeted per match. An extra 538 supporters are needed at each match to breakeven.
• Hire out the Clubhouse four evenings per week. • Higher bar and shop prices.
The Club is working hard on every front to increase this income, but it’s not close.
Besides increasing operating income, Treasurer Martin Jopp talked through measures already taken this season to control costs. He explained that the Club does not have a luxurious budget: Banbury United has a mid-table playing budget, the cost of the community department is fully covered by grant funding; staffing is lean for the level at which the Club is playing. Everyone is very careful about costs.
The kinds of options available to members to save Banbury United were laid out:
• Have more of the Club’s losses covered by its owners (members). In any other company, the owners would have to cover the operating losses.
• Operate more comfortably, within the Club’s current means, by competing at a lower level.
The Board advised that a members’ meeting would be held in the new year to discuss options. January 23rd’s consultation is that meeting.
MEMBER CONSULTATION MEETING
Having communicated the situation in which the Club finds itself, the Board is consulting with members on the option(s) to pursue before necessary major, trajectory-changing actions are taken, and as preparations get underway for next season. The Board has concluded that the Club is not financially sustainable at Step 3 football or above under the existing ownership structure and operating model, and in the face of the particular contemporary challenges faced at Banbury United.
At this first consultation meeting, the Board will put forward the following options, for discussion and an informal vote:
Scenario 1 — Remain as a Community Benefit Society (i.e. a fan-owned club) and afford to continue playing at Step 3 level by raising £140,000 per year from member-owners.
Most businesses and many/most football clubs have their working capital funded by their owners. This season, Banbury United has 235 paying members raising just £4,700 (£20 each) for the season, which is less than one per cent of the £589,000 working capital requirement. The Club’s model demands that a predominantly volunteer leadership and management team then raises the remaining £584,000. This is unsustainable, for financial and many other reasons.
An example proposal might be a subscription of £50 a month per person over 40 weeks/10 months of the year from a slightly increased membership base of 280. An alternative would be 100 members paying around £140 per month over 10 months.
Likely discussion topics: Are the examples above realistic? Would you pay £500 per year or more to strengthen Banbury United and allow the Club to play at least at its current level? What commitment could be realistically relied upon for us to sign up to this model as our route out of trouble? If this subscription model fails, and no other extraordinary income source materialises, is it inevitable that the Club would naturally fall into Scenario 2?
Scenario 2 – Remain as a Community Benefit Society (i.e. a fan-owned club) on current income levels but accept inevitable drastic budget cuts.
The implication of doing nothing without any new reliable source of working capital would be a significant cutting of costs. The biggest cost is the playing budget and this could be envisaged to be reduced to amongst the lowest in the league. There would be job losses and the need for a significant number of new volunteers to come forward to perform duties previously undertaken by staff. The Club could, however, be in a position to offer cheaper match tickets and bar prices.
Likely discussion topics: What is the level at which the Club can sustain itself financially, while being fan-owned and controlled? Does our town have the necessary appetite and loyalty to support a Club playing at Step 3 or above? How important is fan ownership to you? Do we have enough people who would come forward to volunteer to run the Club?
Scenario 3 — Move the Club from fan ownership to private ownership, to enable a situation whereby a new owner can, at the very least, fund the Club’s current working capital requirement.
This option is about speaking to potential buyers of the Club so that a private owner could invest to operate the Club at its current level at the very least. At this stage, a positive vote for this option is purely to give the Board your permission for the Board to speak to potential buyers and undertake due diligence, before reporting back to the membership with details of any interest. It is not a final vote to sell the Club.
To transition from the current Community Benefit Society model to full or part private ownership (or any other ownership structure that may be presented) would require a special resolution vote at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), as per the Club’s Society Rules. A minimum of 75% positive votes from the membership would be required. The vote on January 23rd is the first step in an informal, ongoing consultation process. You may decide to change your mind later.
Any potential buyer would need to satisfy the Club’s Board that they have sufficient funds at their disposal to meet the short and long-term costs involved in making their plans a reality and persuade the Club’s members that their plans would improve the Club’s fortunes.
It is also hoped that any potential buyer would be able to invest in other foreseeable projects to cement and accelerate Banbury United’s long-term future. These may include a paid staff and CEO, the building of a new stadium at Banbury 12, new training ground facilities, increased player budget to help the Club climb the football pyramid, and funding for extra development teams and coaching.
Likely discussion topics: How important is fan ownership to you? What would an acceptable form of private ownership look like to you?
While we are consulting on a topic of such magnitude for the Club, and to ensure we consult exclusively with our ownership as of today’s date, Banbury United will not be accepting new members. We envisage this will stay in place for the remainder of the season this is not a peak time for selling annual memberships!
VOTING
The Board would like to hear the views of members in response to the above options. This will be possible by voting, via:
• Paper slips handed in on the night, after the meeting.
• Paper slips, either taken away on the night or downloaded from the website (to be uploaded after the meeting), returned by hand to the Club Office by the deadline of 8pm on January 28th.
• An online poll, to be sent to members via email after the meeting, to be completed by the deadline of January 28th.
Two questions will be asked:
1. Which of the three presented scenarios do you favour (you may answer more than one option)?
2. Do you grant the Board permission to explore Scenario 3 (a switch to private ownership) and speak to potential buyers? (yes/no).
We will act based on the majority response.
There will be opportunity to make comments.
All members may vote whether they attend the meeting or not, but voting will not be open until after the meeting.
We will update members of the outcome of this poll as soon as possible after January 28th, once the results have been collated.
We are undertaking this process having sought guidance from the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA), the national, democratic, representative body for football supporters in England and Wales, which oversees the governance of Community Benefit Societies in football.
While we are consulting on a topic of such magnitude for the Club, and to ensure we consult exclusively with our ownership as of today’s date, Banbury United will not be accepting new members. We envisage this will stay in place for the remainder of the season -this is not a peak time for selling annual memberships!
We appreciate that this is a very lengthy invitation to a meeting and a lot of information to digest. Thank you for getting this far! This is an important topic and not everyone who wishes to attend the meeting may be able to do so. Therefore, as rounded and complete a picture as possible of the Club’s situation has been provided so that those members not able to attend the meeting have clear information as a basis on which to make their vote.
Yours sincerely,
Claire Dumbreck – Club Secretary Banbury United Football Club clairedumbreck@banburyunitedfc.co.uk
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