Thank you to Lincoln City Chairman for answering Questions from the Vital Lincoln City Members.
Thank you to Lincoln City Chairman for answering Questions from the Vital Lincoln City Members.
Not going to the game tonight? Join us on Vital Lincoln City for Team News & Match Updates RIGHT HERE.
How is the £70k loan to yourself going to be paid back? Is it a case of wait until the time is right, or in very small installments?
A: My 70k loan will be paid back as and when the Club is in a position to start paying it back.
Dear Bob, where does the Bank debt restructuring, and the 99.9% potential investment leave the Ground move? Are these two things in any way linked? Thank him for his efforts, and money! UTI.
A: Our new investment in to the Club is in no way linked to the potential new ground move.
Bob, is the manager now being paid for his services or is he still doing the job for free?
A: Chris Moyses is doing an excellent job and is still unpaid for his hard work.
Bob, how does our current playing budget compare to others in this division?
A: Our current playing budget is running at around 525k pa and I think this would place us in 12th/14th in the league, in terms of spending power.
Mr. Dorrian, we recently played two away games on a Wednesday night winning one and drawing the other. We always used to play our home games on a Wednesday night and, partly for selfish reasons and partly because less teams play on Wednesdays means less diluted publicity, I would love to see a return to playing home games on that day. Any chance?
A: The league dictates that we play on a Tuesday night, however because of Cup commitments, postponed games, we are able to change to a Wednesday night if required, but bear in mind there are still Champions League games on a Wednesday night too.
Not a question, but a thank you, not an easy position being Chairman and at times I suspect a lonely one.
A: Thanks to German Imp for his appreciation.
Can you tell us what the £185,000 raised during the summer from bonds, shares and the Madness concert was used for? Many fans thought it was earmarked for reducing the debt but, from this week’s announcements, that appears not to have been the case with the debt apparently still at £370,000.
A: The 185k raised through Shares and Bonds, etc was used to maximise cash flow between January and June of this year at a time when traditionally we find it very financially challenging. It also helped us to make a sound start to our new financial year and as a result helped in our negotiations with the Bank.
You referred to the agreement with the bank as ‘financially damaging’; repaying £25,000 per year doesn’t sound too damaging to me – can you elaborate?
A: Whilst 25k in itself is not a large amount of money, it still has to be found. The real damaging part for us is the reduction we will have in cash flow from 300k to 150k and the problems this may cause.
The Liam Hearn affair has left a sense of anger amongst fans; has the club considered referring it to the National League or the FA for investigation?
A: The Liam Hearn Affair was quite upsetting for all of us at the Club, especially for the Management team who had nursed and nurtured him through his injury recovery.
‘Tapping Up’ will always be a problem in football and is difficult to prove, however Liam will be back with us in early January and we shall assess the situation then.
Many fans do not like the thought of moving away from Sincil Bank, our home for 120 years. Is there any possibility of redeveloping the existing ground to include the infrastructure necessary to generate the income required?
A: We are convinced that a new Stadium is the best way forward for LCFC with all the tremendous commercial possibilities that this would bring.
Whilst I, like you,have great memories of Sincil Bank, it would have nowhere near enough commercial prospects as a new Stadium would have and for that reason alone we have to look to the future and a new beginning.
With substantial investment on the horizon, is the intention to offer longer-term contracts to the players to create more continuity? Do you have any idea at this stage what percentage of the investment will go to Chris Moyses’ playing budget?
A: We are always looking to offer longer contracts to players we think are worth it,regardless of the investment coming in. In fact we have six players on two year contracts this year.
With the new investment coming in I would expect to spend in excess of 50% on the pro-budget.
Bob, you’ve put a lot of money into the Club over the last few years – it must be over £500k now and thanks for that – is all that money in the form of loans?
A: I have put in 500k in shares in to the club and with my 70k loan my total loans to the club will be 157k, along with my personal guarantee of 150k to cover our overdraft should we default.
Following the earlier question re loans, how much have you and other directors put in to the club in the form of loans? Suggestions on this site have often said the club owes the directors more than £1.5 million, and this has grown by more than £100,000 a year in recent times. Is this correct?
Is the new investor buying shares with his cash? Is his investment being made in the form of a loan in a similar way to the directors? Will any of his cash be used to repay any earlier director loans?
How much money has the manager put into the club, and has this been done in the form of a loan in the same way? If the current slump continues will any questions be asked, or can he simply put more money in to effectively buy himself a contract extension?
A: Total director loans in to LCFC are currently around 260k in total.
The new investor will be buying shares and none of his investment will be in loans, also none of his money will be used to pay off existing director’s loans.
Do the new loan and reducing overdraft facilities with the Co-op have the same interest rate as the previous overdraft? If not are the additional arrangement fees/interest costs punitive?
A: Both the interest rate on the bank loan and the overdraft have been reduced in the new agreement with the bank. The arrangement fees are not punitive.
Has Chris Moyses already identified targets heading into the January transfer window. What type of player and position would you like to see us strengthen?
A: Chris is continually looking to strengthen our squad and with the new investment money coming in, you could say that this was perfect timing with the January window around the corner.
I am sure there will be some new intake in the next 2/3 weeks.
Thanks for all your support during the two Moyses Missions.
Made a big difference now the club is engaged more with the fans.
A: Thank you to Helgy for all of his fund raising exploits. A fantastic effort.
If everything runs smoothly (highly unlikely I know) and there are no hitches, what would you consider to be a realistic timescale of a move to a new stadium. 3, 5 or 10 years?
A: Assuming everything goes according to plan we would hope to be in a new stadium in 5/6 years.
