The phoenix club thread

[Brogue]

Bung it all in here. So what are the first steps?

[Dirk Gently]

- Get together a working group of interested and knowledgeable parties
- Work on what can potentially be salvaged/bought/taken over and how much it'll cost
- Identify potential sources of income (many different funding models are available)
- Tie the two above together and make detailed plans

Build a time machine and start doing all of the above about 18 months ago. (TBH, I'd be surprised - and very disappointed - if STAR haven't already started this process.)

[WestYorksRoyal]

Tie down Lewis Wing on a 5 year contract.

[BarryWhiteRFC]

- Get together a working group of interested and knowledgeable parties
- Work on what can potentially be salvaged/bought/taken over and how much it'll cost
- Identify potential sources of income (many different funding models are available)
- Tie the two above together and make detailed plans

Build a time machine and start doing all of the above about 18 months ago. (TBH, I'd be surprised - and very disappointed - if STAR haven't already started this process.)

Would the first step need to be that Reading FC cease to exist as a club? Not to be pedantic, I'm truly curious if this needs to happen first?

[Dirk Gently]

- Get together a working group of interested and knowledgeable parties
- Work on what can potentially be salvaged/bought/taken over and how much it'll cost
- Identify potential sources of income (many different funding models are available)
- Tie the two above together and make detailed plans

Build a time machine and start doing all of the above about 18 months ago. (TBH, I'd be surprised - and very disappointed - if STAR haven't already started this process.)

Would the first step need to be that Reading FC cease to exist as a club? Not to be pedantic, I'm truly curious if this needs to happen first?

If that ever happens there won't be much time to pick up the pieces or start again - and no time to put plans together at that stage. In my experience it's much better to make plans in advance and to be ready for the worst case, than to not have any plans and miss the chance at the vital moment - even if you do have to rip up those plans you've made.

[Sutekh]

- Get together a working group of interested and knowledgeable parties
- Work on what can potentially be salvaged/bought/taken over and how much it'll cost
- Identify potential sources of income (many different funding models are available)
- Tie the two above together and make detailed plans

Build a time machine and start doing all of the above about 18 months ago. (TBH, I'd be surprised - and very disappointed - if STAR haven't already started this process.)

Would the first step need to be that Reading FC cease to exist as a club? Not to be pedantic, I'm truly curious if this needs to happen first?

No it doesn’t need to happen first, a new club can start up any time - e.g. FC Utd of Manchester.

Hoping someone in STAR can advise on this thread whether or not they’ve laid any groundwork as yet.

After getting the finance organised the biggest worry is probably the cut off dates for applying and getting a place in a league somewhere, and you’d need to have to have the logistics in place for that so the league can grade and approve the ground accordingly.

[WestYorksRoyal]

- Get together a working group of interested and knowledgeable parties
- Work on what can potentially be salvaged/bought/taken over and how much it'll cost
- Identify potential sources of income (many different funding models are available)
- Tie the two above together and make detailed plans

Build a time machine and start doing all of the above about 18 months ago. (TBH, I'd be surprised - and very disappointed - if STAR haven't already started this process.)

Would the first step need to be that Reading FC cease to exist as a club? Not to be pedantic, I'm truly curious if this needs to happen first?

We could start an alternative Reading FC now if we wanted, but I doubt we'd take many fans.

But if we got kicked out of the EFL and had to start at the bottom, I imagine an alternative would get plenty of support over a non league club still owned by Dai. He'd own the real estate assets still, but then can you imagine the SCL hosting 9th tier football?

[BarryWhiteRFC]

- Get together a working group of interested and knowledgeable parties
- Work on what can potentially be salvaged/bought/taken over and how much it'll cost
- Identify potential sources of income (many different funding models are available)
- Tie the two above together and make detailed plans

Build a time machine and start doing all of the above about 18 months ago. (TBH, I'd be surprised - and very disappointed - if STAR haven't already started this process.)

Would the first step need to be that Reading FC cease to exist as a club? Not to be pedantic, I'm truly curious if this needs to happen first?

If that ever happens there won't be much time to pick up the pieces or start again - and no time to put plans together at that stage. In my experience it's much better to make plans in advance and to be ready for the worst case, than to not have any plans and miss the chance at the vital moment - even if you do have to rip up those plans you've made.

Thanks, makes perfect sense, thanks for explaining.

[Dirk Gently]

- Get together a working group of interested and knowledgeable parties
- Work on what can potentially be salvaged/bought/taken over and how much it'll cost
- Identify potential sources of income (many different funding models are available)
- Tie the two above together and make detailed plans

Build a time machine and start doing all of the above about 18 months ago. (TBH, I'd be surprised - and very disappointed - if STAR haven't already started this process.)

Would the first step need to be that Reading FC cease to exist as a club? Not to be pedantic, I'm truly curious if this needs to happen first?

We could start an alternative Reading FC now if we wanted, but I doubt we'd take many fans.

But if we got kicked out of the EFL and had to start at the bottom, I imagine an alternative would get plenty of support over a non league club still owned by Dai. He'd own the real estate assets still, but then can you imagine the SCL hosting 9th tier football?

We wouldn't start at the bottom. We'd start at a level deemed appropriate by the FA Competitions Committee. My best guess would be National League South, but the technical aspect is whether we're seen as an entirely new club (like Scarborough Athletic were) or a continuation of an existing club (like Chester FC were.) And what facilities we'd be using, which is a significant criterion taken into account by the Competitions Committee.

[Crusader Royal]

- Get together a working group of interested and knowledgeable parties
- Work on what can potentially be salvaged/bought/taken over and how much it'll cost
- Identify potential sources of income (many different funding models are available)
- Tie the two above together and make detailed plans

Build a time machine and start doing all of the above about 18 months ago. (TBH, I'd be surprised - and very disappointed - if STAR haven't already started this process.)

Would the first step need to be that Reading FC cease to exist as a club? Not to be pedantic, I'm truly curious if this needs to happen first?

No it doesn’t need to happen first, a new club can start up any time - e.g. FC Utd of Manchester.

Hoping someone in STAR can advise on this thread whether or not they’ve laid any groundwork as yet.

After getting the finance organised the biggest worry is probably the cut off dates for applying and getting a place in a league somewhere, and you’d need to have to have the logistics in place for that so the league can grade and approve the ground accordingly.

No chance of getting a ground graded for next season - you would have to find a ground already approved for the level you are going to play at. Probably needs a share at a ground already at NL level but I doubt we could share with an existing NL club…,

[Sutekh]

Would the first step need to be that Reading FC cease to exist as a club? Not to be pedantic, I'm truly curious if this needs to happen first?

No it doesn’t need to happen first, a new club can start up any time - e.g. FC Utd of Manchester.

Hoping someone in STAR can advise on this thread whether or not they’ve laid any groundwork as yet.

After getting the finance organised the biggest worry is probably the cut off dates for applying and getting a place in a league somewhere, and you’d need to have to have the logistics in place for that so the league can grade and approve the ground accordingly.

No chance of getting a ground graded for next season - you would have to find a ground already approved for the level you are going to play at. Probably needs a share at a ground already at NL level but I doubt we could share with an existing NL club…,

Slough and then Bracknell would be the most likely as they have all weather pitches so could cope with the extra games, Arbor Park is probably the favourite of the two.

[tmesis]

Would the first step need to be that Reading FC cease to exist as a club? Not to be pedantic, I'm truly curious if this needs to happen first?

We could start an alternative Reading FC now if we wanted, but I doubt we'd take many fans.

But if we got kicked out of the EFL and had to start at the bottom, I imagine an alternative would get plenty of support over a non league club still owned by Dai. He'd own the real estate assets still, but then can you imagine the SCL hosting 9th tier football?

We wouldn't start at the bottom. We'd start at a level deemed appropriate by the FA Competitions Committee. My best guess would be National League South, but the technical aspect is whether we're seen as an entirely new club (like Scarborough Athletic were) or a continuation of an existing club (like Chester FC were.) And what facilities we'd be using, which is a significant criterion taken into account by the Competitions Committee.

A reformed Reading, if essentially the same club, but under new ownership and starting again, effectively a professional set-up in the non-league world, wouldn't have to start at the bottom, that's true.

A club formed by some fans, with no players, no backing, no proven structure, and no decent ground, probably would have to start at Hellenic League level.

[Crusader Royal]

No it doesn’t need to happen first, a new club can start up any time - e.g. FC Utd of Manchester.

Hoping someone in STAR can advise on this thread whether or not they’ve laid any groundwork as yet.

After getting the finance organised the biggest worry is probably the cut off dates for applying and getting a place in a league somewhere, and you’d need to have to have the logistics in place for that so the league can grade and approve the ground accordingly.

No chance of getting a ground graded for next season - you would have to find a ground already approved for the level you are going to play at. Probably needs a share at a ground already at NL level but I doubt we could share with an existing NL club…,

Slough and then Bracknell would be the most likely as they have all weather pitches so could cope with the extra games, Arbor Park is probably the favourite of the two.

Bracknell don’t have a ground, they play in Sandhurst and a three way ground share would be logistically impossible. I’m also fairly sure the ground is not up to NLS standards.

[Royal Ginger]

No chance of getting a ground graded for next season - you would have to find a ground already approved for the level you are going to play at. Probably needs a share at a ground already at NL level but I doubt we could share with an existing NL club…,

Slough and then Bracknell would be the most likely as they have all weather pitches so could cope with the extra games, Arbor Park is probably the favourite of the two.

Bracknell don’t have a ground, they play in Sandhurst and a three way ground share would be logistically impossible. I’m also fairly sure the ground is not up to NLS standards.

I’d have thought Aldersh*t or Farnborough would be viable ground share options.

[Dirk Gently]

We could start an alternative Reading FC now if we wanted, but I doubt we'd take many fans.

But if we got kicked out of the EFL and had to start at the bottom, I imagine an alternative would get plenty of support over a non league club still owned by Dai. He'd own the real estate assets still, but then can you imagine the SCL hosting 9th tier football?

We wouldn't start at the bottom. We'd start at a level deemed appropriate by the FA Competitions Committee. My best guess would be National League South, but the technical aspect is whether we're seen as an entirely new club (like Scarborough Athletic were) or a continuation of an existing club (like Chester FC were.) And what facilities we'd be using, which is a significant criterion taken into account by the Competitions Committee.

A reformed Reading, if essentially the same club, but under new ownership and starting again, effectively a professional set-up in the non-league world, wouldn't have to start at the bottom, that's true.

A club formed by some fans, with no players, no backing, no proven structure, and no decent ground, probably would have to start at Hellenic League level.

Exactly. The Competitions Committee looks at the size of the ground and its facilities, the likely size of crowd, the likely playing budget and so on, and makes an assessment. They changed the rules after AFC Wimbledon took 2-3k to grounds like Bottom Meadow, Sandhurst, in the Combined Counties League and this caused all sort s of problem for clubs at that level.

From what I remember, an "AFC Portsmouth" was destined to start at Tier 5, but that was never needed as they bought their club out of administrations so it was a "continuation " club. IMHO, that;'s by far our best and most realistic option, but a lot of things need to happen in the right way for that to be possible, and we're dealing with an owner who doesn't seem to have any plan, any business acumen or any logic, so it's impossible to predict.

[bcubed]

https://thefsa.org.uk/fan-resources/res ... 0they%20do.

Step by step guide

[Gunny Fishcake]

Could our new ground be near some pubs please ?

[WestYorksRoyal]

If the existing club gets liquidated, could we be in a bizarre situation where the the new club Board spawned out of STAR are negotiating with Dai to use the SCL? Or would we refuse to give him a penny on principle?

[Sutekh]

Slough and then Bracknell would be the most likely as they have all weather pitches so could cope with the extra games, Arbor Park is probably the favourite of the two.

Bracknell don’t have a ground, they play in Sandhurst and a three way ground share would be logistically impossible. I’m also fairly sure the ground is not up to NLS standards.

I’d have thought Aldersh*t or Farnborough would be viable ground share options.

Not exactly in the locale though are they? Woking would be another of that type that'd fit the bill.

And Bottom Meadow would probably be fine for a club starting out, esp. as I think Reading Phoenix starting at the National League levels, while not impossible, is rather unlikely.

Anyway, I'd suggest Arbor Park is the obvious choice (don't think Slough are sharing with any other Saturday non league outfit currently). After that for grounds in the locale it's Maidenhead United then Bracknell/Sandhurst and Binfield. Wouldn't rule out Marlow as a possible either.

[Emmer Green Royal]

If the existing club gets liquidated, could we be in a bizarre situation where the the new club Board spawned out of STAR are negotiating with Dai to use the SCL? Or would we refuse to give him a penny on principle?

SCL would seem to be a good option. Otherwise the fans need to travel farther and a good resource is wasted. But as you say, would depend on agreement with Dai.