How do you think this will play out then?

I can see major cutbacks if and when the new season starts. The majority of non-playing roles going voluntary only. 44 week contracts for the players, possibly even going for a part/full time set up.

Not trying to stir the pot but I must say I'm troubled by the noises/actions coming out the club. Will we even exist this time in a year?

Hard to predict really but a very high percentage of clubs are in exactly the same boat as Pools so you are probably going to see massive changes throughout lower League and non League football as a result of this. I would expect a fair amount of cash to filter down from the top to help sustain the lower leagues.

Nobody can say but life’s never really going to be the same so footballs pretty trivial at the end the end day. I’m sure we’ll all be back at some point watching Pools at the Vic when and who against would make for an interesting sweep!!

Season tickets will be hit hardest, and as the majority of our home gate is ST holders I think we'll suffer more than a lot.

Who's buying one for a season that may not start?

Depending on people’s financial position (which will be an issue for many) I think lots would be willing to buy one to support the club at the same time of year as they normally do. I can definitely see a will to do that.

On the flip side I’ve seen others asking for a refund for the rest of the season. You after laugh.

Are you kidding me?

Nope. I’d quote it but he blocked me for calling him out. Standard I guess.

what a kernt.

I don't see football getting played in front of a crowd until a vaccine comes, at least not in the UK. Maybe somewhere like a dictatorship like Belarus will still have football, but most the west won't. National League, allegedly (the source was the Sun I think so probably rubbish), only want to play with a crowd...what year we talking then? 2023?

I think in time clubs will go bust and perhaps the leagues too. People won't want to pay bills for things that are practically non existent. Do we even have an exit strategy yet? Why pay for something that may never happen?

What if no vaccine is forthcoming? What happens then?

Do we all just give up on all the things we've always loved?

Pools haven't got a future, Raj Singh taking over wasn't the beginning of a glorious new era , it was keeping us on the life support machine just a little longer, before the inevitable happens. Covid-19 might just speed up the process.

Yes, I'd imagine we would.

You think so? I would wager things would over time return to normal regardless.

I really hope you're right but I cannot see it. I feel people will become too accustomed to this.

If I’m honest, sod football.

The thing is, lots of clubs of all sizes will get into financial shite. They can't all go busto never to return can they? Not all at once?

What would be ideal is the powers that be finally doing their job properly so that the wealth is distributed to protect all clubs down the ladders.

Some kind of protective measures to make sure we don't see any more Coxalls or Oystons, perhaps the FA could hold a 51% stake in all clubs so that asset-strippers or owners gambling on promotion can't put clubs at risk or something.

The German model of club ownership seems to work fairly well. If nowt else its cheap to watch games there.

If people are seriously asking for refunds then id oblige and then ban them from the ground for life.

No decent fan would even dream of asking for a refund ffs

Wasn't that around the time they decided that away teams wouldn't benefit from gate receipts at away matches too, so that the home clubs kept all the money?

with segregation around nowadays i have always thought that away clubs should actually keep the gate money that their fans generate. would help pools and some other northern clubs who actually take fans away from home to offset travel expenses. might actually get more southern teams to bring more than a tandem booked for their fans as they see the benefit to their club.

The powers that be think they are doing their job properly , diverting money from rich to poor , aided by laws they themselves passed to speed up this process, mimicking what goes on in the real world outside of football.

1988 was when it changed, it was the start of many laws that would favour the rich over the poor , mimicking what goes on in real life outside of football.

That is why they make sure they get the right people in place to make sure this continues to happen , football is no different to the politics , BBC or the media.

When the country was decent so was football, away teams getting share of gate receipts , no live tv games when Hartlepool were playing Southport on a Monday or Friday night , cup replays , one substitute , semi finals at Villa Park and Hillsborough , etc etc etc

All the rule changes made since 1988l are geared up to making the rich richer and the poor poorer.

Is this meant to be a joke ??

No, why would any supporter ask for a refund from the club at a time when they have no income?

At the very least they want pelting with rotten fruit.

Except if course many many people are starting to feel their own financial strain. If you are desperate you will look for anywhere to get money to buy your family their next meal. Or help to pay the mortgage or rent


Its not good form to assume that everyone is fine during this disaster.

A refund pro rata of about forty quid on something you paid for nearly a year ago?

I am not assuming anything but if you want to do that to the club.... 19 games at £13 a go is hardly being ripped off is it?

No of course not. But peoples circumstances are all different. We shouldn't be judgemental at this time.

And its worth reiterating we are not all in this together.

Some people could be just about bankrupt. So it's not unfair to ask for money back if you really need it, but let's look at it another way. Would "Hamster" chastise all the pay on the day people who won't chip in for the games they won't see?

What if the guy demanding a refund is an absolute bell end generally ?

I am sure all fans would forego a refund , if they could afford to, if they cant, they have every right to ask for a refund, without getting their windows put in.

My membership of the Mill House Baths expires next month, do I ask for a refund? and potentially help close the place down or do I forego it? How far do you take this? lots of businesses need help, most a lot more important than a football club.

In the defintions of the terms and conditions on the official site it says: “Match” for the purpose of validity of the ticket, means any National League match in which the Club participates and takes place at the Ground during the season."

In other words, if the National League cancels matches they are no longer included in your season ticket so you don't get a refund. It's a remote risk that you agree to when you buy one and saying that you didn't read the terms and conditions doesn't really work as an argument against that. Pools let season ticket holders into all the National League games played at the Vic during the 2019-20 season so they kept to their side of the agreement.

Anybody facing hardship could ask nicely and explain their situation but I'm guessing that would be a waste of time. For supporters who aren't in too bad a situation adding further financial pressure to the club wouldn't be very supportive thing to do, Pools aren't Man United.

Well if it says that in the T&C then that's the end of any argument , in regard of refunds. There is always one ! a person who actually reads the terms and conditions and the small print

Sad thing is I never do it before I buy anything. But if I did I'd lose the receipt so it wouldn't matter anyway.

The thing is, if you feel you've been short changed you won't get a season ticket next season. And what's to say this won't happen again? Or Singh splits?

If some company with a channel(like BT) covered all of the games in our league live(or one's that would pay) and touted them on every day of the week(2 games per day if they couldn't cover all 12 on one day) fans would pay to watch them live in the comfort of their own homes, with a good percentage income going to the clubs concerned of course.

I say that as I doubt Pools could afford their own sports channel?
No tackling allowed of course. Social distancing rules applying.

When all players/staff have had the vaccine of course.

In other words it's such a difficult situation to estimate an end too, without a certain amount of risk involved or huge benevolence from the fans. I fear for the future of all clubs at our level.

Me too. The premier league will be OK, the football league might get some government support, possibly through guaranteeing loans, but the bulk of that help will go to Championship clubs. After that things will be looking very bleak indeed. I think this might end with the lower divisions and National League going part time and possibly regional, but a lot of clubs will probably fold competely before then.

Raj speaks 20 - 46 mins in

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p08bsww8

Sounds ominous

those who could afford the initial outlay for a season ticket are still quids in to a regular who pays every home game. if you are ill during the season or move miles away do you ask for a refund then. its not exactly pools fault is it.

Just had a listen. Doesn't sound positive.

In the National leagues i can see a good few clubs going to the wall which makes you think how many will be left. Regionalisation may be the way forward condensing 3 leagues into two?
More part time clubs with volunteers assisting.
The way forward must be something like this unfortunately.

If the queen had balls she'd be the king.

None of your above mentioned "ifs" apply to what I'm saying here - which is, by nobodies fault the ticket purchaser hasn't received what they paid for and some of these purchasers right now could be very short of money. All clubs should do the right thing here and seek to address in some way this short fall, depending on the ticket purchasers situation, otherwise trust in the future could diminish.

Mind - you have Singh as chairman so trust will be minimal in the first place!

Thats an understatement. This is being mirrored now by pubs, small businesses, other sports, Shops, restaurants and the list goes on.

Makes you wonder what will be left to live for doesnt it?

I read an article yesterday from an american economist, that basically said, even the jobs currently safe, like Doctors, Nurses, Teachers, bankers etc will be under threat too, as no country will be able to afford to fund them due to having to pay incredible sums out for unemployemnt benefits etc.

Supermarkets, currently making an absolute killing, will also go downhill, when the very people shopping there, dont have the income anymore to keep going there.

Its grim, and makes you wonder just what, long term, we are locking down for.

I know that sounds harsh, and isnt something in the short term I agree with, but there may come a time when countries around the world, think, sod this, we had better get open again and just take the risk.

I really want my kids and their kids to have some sort of positive future and not the grim outlock a long term lockdown will give them.

If you look at stock market share prices though, some are are going up. Some of them are higher than before March so there is confidence out there.

Nobody knows what will happen.

As a trust member I'm certain the trust would do anything within its power to keep the club alive (and I'm well aware of more important issues in the current climate) and implore any lapsed or new members to join, but to raise 'real' money and I've said this before the fans should have a 1k club(it doesn't have to be separate from the trust) involving say 100/200 fans who are prepared to put that kind of money in (and hopefully wouldn't miss it) so you have a 100/200k pot to fall back on(or invest) should the worst happen.
I'm pretty sure amongst our fanbase we would be able to achieve that sort of target. Your talking about 3 to 6% of the fanbase. Also would like to thank Raj/Jeff/et al personally for shouldering what is now a huge financial responsibility.

I won't re-join if my money is going towards shoring up the club under Singh's tenure. Singh IMO is out of his depth , running a football club is not his forte. That money will disappear down the proverbial pan with the football club. Unless the club is being ran properly it will continue to leak money. Singh states on that interview , regardless of investment, its his club and he expect to have the final say on how its run, fair enough , but that wouldn't attract any investment from me. He wants your money but not your input.

When the club has a capable chairman with a clear ambitious realistic plan to follow is the time for the Trust to invest , or when the club goes tits up and a phoenix club needs to be formed.

if pools got relagated to the national league north then you would see plenty of that type of thing. teams like bradford park avenue are really run by volunteers and they are far from the only one.

Yes you are right. But I think thats based on the assumption that the economy will start to move forward soon. Listening to the doommongers out there, and there are plenty, this might not happen any time soon.

Countries that ease their lockdowns and start to move forward, even taking a slight risk, will be the ones leading the ecomonic future. Those beong over-cautious might never catch up.

Like you say, who knows?

Good post Horden. (2 above)