Charlton can't sell stair lifts, what about funeral plans?

I have finally got round to listening to the Richard Cawley podcast on club finances and I thought it was very good value.

It starts by interviewing the financial supremo at The Valley who I thought was impressive, in particular straightforward and transparent in his answers.

It would appear that the £1.4 m profit on player sales is largely down to Alfie May.   Much criticised at the time, it has proved to be good business on and off the pitch.

The second part of the podcast is an interview with fanzine editor Rick Everitt.   Rick also worked for the club for 14 years, primarily in a development role, pioneering the 'Rickshaw' coach service which penetrated parts of Kent I did not know existed (to the fury of Gillingham)..

The Rickster stressed that he is not an accountant, but he has been studying the club's accounts for decades and knows where to look to find information that would not otherwise be in the public domain.  (One of my findings in the past was that Richard Murray had originally gone under another name which appeared to be East European).

Before jobs adverts went online, the FT was full of positions for chartered accountants.   I have always seen it as a job that is both boring and stressful.  One day a typesetter at the Pink 'Un changed an advert to 'Chartered Alcoholic'.   I got that reproduced in Private Eye.

One puzzle that Rick uncovered was that directors' pay had gone up to more than £300k which is high for Charlton.  His first thought was that it must have been to grease the palm of Charlie Methven, but he is not listed as a director at Companies House.

Rick pointed out that the commercial figures had been artificially boosted by taking the club shop in house and that the club's record on commercial were poor, as it always had been.

He thought that the explanation for this was structural in terms of geography: where the club was located and where the fan base was to be found.   I take his first point to be is that it is an unfashionable part of London (despite recent boosting of Plumstead by The Times as the  next fashionable place to live in London).

The biggest concentration of fans is in Kent which has a relatively elderly population in the coastal areas where many fans to be found and many areas of real deprivation.  There isn't much commercial mileage in stair lifts, zimmer frames or funeral plans (although given the latter market is currently very competitive, I would give it a try.)

We could have a demonstration stair lift in one of the stands and perhaps sell the naming rights so that it became the Pure Cremation Valley.    Perhaps not.

Commercial sponsors are interested in young males in particular who think they have money to spare and are receptive to brands.  My step grandson is happy to pay £300 for a top with the right label.

Finally, the Rickster took issue with the assertion by football finance guru Kieran Maguire that the finances of clubs like Charlton are not sustainable.  Sure, the current owners have put in £15m but if they backed up someone else would come along with the readies.  Maybe, but I will feel more comfortable if we owned the stadium and the training ground.