The piece in Saturday's programme about the Big Screen shows just how parlous the club's financial situation still is, although it is understandable that resources should be concentrated on the pitch which is where it really matters. Incidentally, nothing that follows represents a criticism of the Bream Team and the excellent work done by them and their feesh (who I haven't seen recently so perhaps they are victims of financial cutbacks).
It appears that the big screen has been there for about ten years and is showing its age, as has been evident for some time. The cells in it are particularly vulnerable to cold weather and are expensive to replace. Hence the idea of closing down the bottom part of the screen and using spare cells from there as replacements. It also soumds a bit desperate, but needs must.
One wonders if a commercial sponsor could not be found for the big screen, but this is not easy in a recession. One could also ask fans to sponsor a cell, but probably the costs of organising such a scheme would be too great. Moreover, one consequence of the staff cutbacks at The Valley is that we don't have the staff to organise sponsorship any more.
Looking back on Saturday's match, the most exciting event was the arrival of David Gold in his Rolls which I witnessed, not realising who was inside. Could he be our saviour? A controversial figure but he and Karen Brady did a decent job at the Blews. They didn't exactly splash the cash, but that has never been the Charlton way.
4 comments:
Sorry i'm missing your point - Are you really suggesting that the club slpash out £75k-£125k on a new screen just so the crowd can see some animated fish swim around ??
You want to see fish go to the aquarium.
Let just spend the 100k on some decent defenders
I'm not suggesting that the screen is a priority compared with players. I do suggest that it is indicative of the general financial position of the club which is why we still new investment. It is also perhaps unfortunate that we did not buy a better quality screen that would have needed less maintenance when we had more money.
I think anon is missing the point. The screen is an important part of the match day. This varies from showing video from the past as it did on Saturday to publicising various initiatives like the Charlton Upbeats, an important project as part of our community work. Much more noticable and effective when on the screen as opposed to an article in the programme and reaches a wider audience.
This leaves aside the occasional football shown from live games before the match, listing the teams, the time, ticket info etc.etc.
In addition, I think the days of £100k for a decent defender are long gone. Unlikely that someone will sponsor a player in the same way and to that extent.
I see that the SLP is suggesting that Gold has given the board a 6 week deadline to complete the sale of the club or he will walk. Lets hope the new structure will enable the board to respond quickly and to put the club's interests above their own.
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