The K's In Point

The current State and the Future

By Filipo9/10 19:09Wed Oct 9 19:09:08 2024In response to Re: Ambivalence towards this K's team/the club

Views: 460

I was going to write this post at some point during this week and as it happens it ties in nicely with the contributions from others today and it’s important we continue these discussions. I thought I would let the dust settle a little following last week’s supporters club meeting with the board, there has been some posts about it and of course the minutes which despite threats from the board about publishing these, it's more important than ever to be open and transparent with our supporters. Make your own mind up about the board and their recent behaviour but I think we all know now it is to be expected. I should point out that this is not recent behaviour but continuous.

What we saw at the start of last year following the KBH’s announcement was that the KBH had attempted to purchase shares in the club and potential control of the club. For me it wasn’t just a group of 13 multi skilled professionals willing to put in £30k a season. It was much more than that; it was about involving the fans to help run the club in way it should be. Straight away a number of us outside the KBH group offered our services in doing what we could to help it be a success. It offered us hope, a glimpse of what the future could be. It would have influenced and galvanised the fans, it would and could still be a success. But no, the status quo wouldn’t allow it, the same old ways of running the club board after board with no ideas, no people skills and no care towards what the supporters actually want. More than once this chairman had tried to tell me that the KBH wanted their money back after a few years, did I believe him? No, because I am not an idiot. Members of the KBH subsequently advised all their documentation was available for public viewing and still is.

Let’s look back at 2016 and the failed vote on fan ownership 8 years on. Most of us voted NO at the time as we didn’t know enough about the state of the club including the finances required to run the club. The KBH faced this same problem again last year when they were denied access to the accounts so that the 3(yes three) accountants as part of that group could properly examine the club finances. What were they hiding?
Thus not only did we not have the full picture we did not have the right people standing and pushing for fan ownership at the time. Three of which are now on the board, we would have had to work with these three who have now proven to the Supporters Club, KBH, former players, managers and sponsors that you just can't work with them.

But it was only 6 years after the failed vote that the KBH formed as it was clear as a collective they could do a better job of running the club than the board at the time (and the current board no doubt either).

In being asked to stand and being subsequently elected by our fellow supporters, the Supporters club set about seeking to engage with the then Kingstonian board last September at the away match in Bognor. We were warned by members of the KBH, supporters and others close to the club we would be wasting our time. That they will say one thing and do another and that we would not be able to trust them. Whilst we listened to these concerns we still had to do everything possible to show that we would try to work with them. We did have a good conversation, we shook their hands, they promised to work with us, to look at how to improve supporter/board relations, communications, updates on the search for a ground and of course re-visiting fan ownership. They failed miserably on all counts. Instead of ever even looking at fan ownership models they were busy facilitating the move for a new board. A real kick in the teeth and sticking two fingers up to all Kingstonian Supporters.

When the new board formed in February, we as a committee despite having concerns decided it was only right to give the new board a chance. The onus was on the board however to convince us they have what it takes to run the club. Therefore we did try again; we continued with our efforts to keep the Kingstonian support together, providing regular communications, being open and transparent and of course organising a successful club event in the end of season party (I think about 5 people turned up to the official club event).

At last week’s meeting between the Supporter’s club and the board, it’s clear from the board there is nothing on offer. The same old story about the ground and options, renegading about the 6-8 weekly communications, no business plan, no strategy and no transparent financial information. We were told to mind our own business when asking if the project manager had been paid yet and what money it was from given half of the AFCW money has gone in 7 years. Ultimately being told by this board if we don’t like it to go and form our own club. I have been asking for a business plan since the ‘new’ board took over in February, I like most other supporters am concerned about the existence of our club so I want to be assured that the right people are running it and what the plan to succeed is. This is no way to run a business of which the football club is.

There a lot of good people at the club who have something to offer in terms of volunteering to help the club succeed. As Taimour has highlighted, it's not about being sour about not getting to run the club, it’s those who are running or ‘ruining’ the club that we just could not give some time to support that cause. Why should we? They take us for granted and haven't got the decency to be open and transparent about the state of the club or can satisfy us that we will have a club within a few years. If you are helping the board you are unfortunately pissing in the wind and we all know how that feels!

It doesn’t need to be this way, I did start drawing up various fan owned models at the start of the year. I paused when the new regime took over which meant all previous talk on fan ownership was just lip service.

Rex went to the trouble of producing a paper on falling attendances, a survey and narrative. The board didn’t care. Scott has asked to see the paper and will hopefully understand that the majority of people are not happy with the way the club is being run. We now have 3 out of 4 board members who previously ran the supporters club, the same 3 who stood on that platform pushing for a fan ownership vote. The power of owning a dying football club has got to their heads. You do have to have a good laugh.

We as supporters were right to vote NO in 2016, we as a supporters were right to question how this new board came about, criticise their performance and behaviour because ultimately it is killing the club.

We do not play in Kingston, we are no nearer to getting a ground than we were 8 years ago when the announcement was made to leave Kingsmeadow or 20 years ago when Kingsmeadow was signed over to AFCW when the focus by subsequent boards should have been about a home ground in the long term. We have taken a gamble on a great manager and good team to produce results that will in turn bring the fans back (that’s the big master plan from the board) but in the medium to long term its not sustainable.

I wanted to use Jimmy Cochrane’s example as a discussion point. Various previous board members have attempted to discredit Jimmy about the state of the club’s finances when he was at the helm without ever being able to prove it. Jimmy is very open and approachable and hates to see the state the club is in and has been in for many years by mismanagement from the various boards. But, Jimmy back in 2006 for the good of the club he loves stepped aside because others at the time presented an alternative. The worry is now this chairman/this board will never do so. That’s not just my opinion but the opinion of many who have reached out to me and expressed their concerns over the past few years and even in the past few days.

In 25 years of supporting the club I have never heard supporters talking about forming a new club but I have in the past few weeks. I personally hate the idea, we would lose the name and history of the club but the alternative is to watch that club that we all love disintegrate because this board know best. They did tell us to form a new club and as a programme manager that’s a red rag to a bull. Whilst that idea kills me inside I know its achievable and I believe I could get us a ground in the borough of Kingston upon Thames quicker than this shambles of a board could for the club as it currently is.

Therefore it is probably time to entertain those discussions about the future of our club; if the current board want to continue with their ego project then we should let them. It doesn’t need to be like this; we have enough supporters, former sponsors, players, managers and even chairmen floating and pushing the idea of a new Kingstonian on us.

In the meantime Gary I hope the SACK THE BOARD T-shirts are ready for some new outings, if this board did the decent thing and stepped aside they would get a lot of respect. Whilst they continue to kill the club with their behaviour and incompetence, then they need to be told!

reply to this article | return to the front page

6 people    1 person