We met (digitally) with Dale CEO David Bottomley on Wednesday afternoon to discuss a range of matters:
When will the League One vote to continue / curtail the season take place?
There is no current planned meeting for EFL 1. The information from the EFL Board regarding a potential end is now in the public domain, and it is hoped that a meeting is called soon for clubs to discuss and a vote taken. Realistically it has to end , we are past the point of no-return now to allow 3 weeks “mini pre-season“ and sufficient time to play 10 games and play offs by the all-important date of 31st July (Player Contract reasons). As things stand, there is no meeting planned to allow a vote to take place.
There has been talk of costs up to £500,000 for continuing the season behind closed doors. What would these costs be?
The costs on playing behind closed doors are made up of a multitude of things, from EFL publicised testing costs of £140,000 , to having to bring back the entire squad, to having to bring many of our furloughed staff back, and to having medical presence at matches.
It was revealed last week that club have taken out a loan from the Council. Is this loan for a specific purpose and is this something that we as supporters should be concerned about?
Regards the loan it is absolutely nothing that supporters should be worried about. The loan is to assist in temporarily funding a number of essential major projects at the club such as the planned pitch work, a new fire alarm system, and changing facilities amongst others at a time when the club is deriving no income and to ensure full compliance with EFL regulations. It will not be used for the general running of the club/players’ wages, and repayment of the loan will be met from future revenue sources. The underlying financial planning being planned by the Directors covers all eventualities and including the pessimistic judgement of not being able to benefit from any income for the next twelve months.
When will the proposed pitch work start? It had been discussed that the scale of the work meant a longer time period for the work to take place. With it now being four weeks since what would have been our last home game, will there be sufficient time for the planned work?
Regards the pitch, we are starting as soon as we receive confirmation from the EFL of the season end, with the contractors involved ready to start immediately. We do have sufficient time to complete the work. The Covid-19 crisis has had no impact regarding the plans for the work taking place that we shared with supporters earlier this year.
Has there been any suggestions for a possible start date for the 2021-22 season?
We have no likely date for the 2020-21 Season start and no indication either from the EFL .
What was the thinking behind the decision to end Lotto agents?
The situation is that the lottery due to lack of members funds coming in, could not continue to operate as it was not legal to do so, and we are taking the professional steps required to address the situation and bring it right up to date in a competitive modern world. As things stood, we were one of just two clubs (within our lottery partners) that still operated a doorstep collection. The agents have been absolutely brilliant over the years. Unfortunately, there has been a decline in profitability to the extent where the scheme was in danger of folding.
It was disappointing that a number of long-standing agents have not received any communication from the club, and discovered via the club’s social media that their services were no longer required after many years’ service. The Trust itself was a Lotto agent and have not been contacted by the club. Why is that?
Every effort was taken to contact all 92 Agents. A letter has gone out with a cheque for any commission owing (some agents have received this using BACS payments), but we are not able to control the postal delivery (especially currently) which may have led to some delays. What I can tell you is that a small number of people operating on a 50 % salary cut, are regularly working 12-14 hour days to keep the club running and we don’t live in a perfect world at times regarding contact. We are doing what is the absolute best for the club, and we have only the best intentions on all matters. Any agent who has not received their letter and/or commission should contact the club.
As of November, less than 50 out of 5500 members had converted over to standing orders/direct debits. Is there a risk that members will not convert over and the club loses much needed income at a time when it is needed most?
Since announcing this last week, we have been encouraged by the number of supporters who have made the switch to paying by direct debit. However, if we are unable to resume the lottery – we will evaluate weekly the response to Direct Debit applications – all members will receive refunds.
Will agents still receive their commission on Lotto members they have converted to standing order / direct debit members?
No, agents will not receive commission, but we have offered a gesture for all their wonderful loyalty over the years and we will be contacting them with regards to this in the next few weeks.
Those who have previously signed up via direct debits have seen up to three payments taken since Lotto was put “on hold”. What is the situation with regards to these payments?
Members who have paid in – I am one of them – will have greater chances of winning when we do our first draws. Again, should it not proceed, all payments made will be refunded.
We finished the meeting with a discussion regarding season tickets. Those discussions will continue after there is a resolution to the EFL regarding the current season and we will publish more details when it is available.