24-10-2018, 10:12
I`m not going to argue with any of that, Dev.
The idea of setting up an amateur club as a `feeder` club is quite intriguing. I`ve no idea whether or not AFC Mansfield was set up or functions on this basis, but that idea might have some potential. It would give the fringe players and the senior academy players (if there is such a thing) a taste of competitive `men`s football`, as MA likes to call it. The downside, of course, is the cost and, to be fair, there are probably one or two local junior sides already running who might be happy to be taken under the wing of a more senior club on this basis. A few years ago, I used to work with a bloke who was on the committee of a club who played in the Evo-Stik at that time; they were approached by Aston Villa, I think it was, to operate on that basis. They turned the offer down, as it happens, because they wanted to keep their independence. Interesting idea, nevertheless.
Realistically, though, the time for doing that was a few years ago when we weren`t in the financial mire that we are now. There would still be a cost that we clearly couldn`t carry at present.
The idea of setting up an amateur club as a `feeder` club is quite intriguing. I`ve no idea whether or not AFC Mansfield was set up or functions on this basis, but that idea might have some potential. It would give the fringe players and the senior academy players (if there is such a thing) a taste of competitive `men`s football`, as MA likes to call it. The downside, of course, is the cost and, to be fair, there are probably one or two local junior sides already running who might be happy to be taken under the wing of a more senior club on this basis. A few years ago, I used to work with a bloke who was on the committee of a club who played in the Evo-Stik at that time; they were approached by Aston Villa, I think it was, to operate on that basis. They turned the offer down, as it happens, because they wanted to keep their independence. Interesting idea, nevertheless.
Realistically, though, the time for doing that was a few years ago when we weren`t in the financial mire that we are now. There would still be a cost that we clearly couldn`t carry at present.