The Greenock Morton Thread - It's Better Than Yours

[Toby]

23 minutes ago, Ludo*1 said:

Huh?

It’ll be something boring like a Dutch parent or grandparent, or a Dutch passport that only Skyline Drifter knows about because he registered him when he played for Queen of the South when he played there.

Being the pedant that he is, he had to be straight in there pointing out that a guy born in South Africa isn’t South African, because, well, he’s Skyline Drifter and that’s what he does.
 

He’ll have been waiting for someone to ask for weeks now.

[Skyline Drifter]

John McEnroe was born in Germany, he"s not German.

Cliff Richard was born in India, he's not Indian.

Richard Gough was born in Sweden, he's not Swedish.

Etc. Kyle Jacobs is Dutch. If you ask him that he will tell you.

[M0rtonfc]

2 hours ago, Dunning1874 said:

MCT already have more than 50 new members after the announcement last night. While everyone wants more information about how exactly this will work in practice and that needs to come over the next few month, people are clearly buying into this already.

I'm one of them, signed up on the back of this news, was on the fence for a while but now is the time to back them, IMO.

Edited July 9, 2020 by M0rtonfc

[Toby]

2 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said:

John McEnroe was born in Germany, he"s not German.

Cliff Richard was born in India, he's not Indian.

Richard Gough was born in Sweden, he's not Swedish.

Etc. Kyle Jacobs is Dutch. If you ask him that he will tell you.

I’m not disputing that. I’m absolutely certain that you’re right because little things like that are important to you, and correcting folk is even more important.

You got a red dot for a post on an Internet forum, it’s really not the end of the world. If it makes you feel any better, red dot this one. I promise not to whine about it a few weeks down the line.

And PaisleyTon, you feel free as well- I won’t go grassing to a mod either.

[Rudolph Hucker]

3 hours ago, Toby said:

Being the pedant that he is

Thanx Toby, I genuinely did LOL when I read that. You're the biggest pedant that there is among the Morton posters, your pedantry is as close as your persona gets to a redeeming feature on here. 

SD is a pretty decent poster. He's generally accurate (like in the post you were replying to), well-informed and pretty even-handed most of the time.  Your posts are rarely a pleasant read, they're generally sniping, pedantic or boring. You come across as always wanting yourself, your posts and your team to be taken seriously. Since none of those three things are gonna happen regularly, why not lighten up a bit and enjoy this dump, and Morton, for what they are? 

 

PS - Cheers vt, took less than 2.5 minutes after posting for your wee rid dot to come in. That must be close to a record, even for you!

Edited July 9, 2020 by Rudolph Hucker

[vikingTON]

2 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said:

John McEnroe was born in Germany, he"s not German.

Cliff Richard was born in India, he's not Indian.

Richard Gough was born in Sweden, he's not Swedish.

Etc. Kyle Jacobs is Dutch. If you ask him that he will tell you.

He'd probably say that he's Miss Venezuela just to get out of a Rain Man back and forth with yourself.

[Dunning1874]

Updated Q&A on the MCT site: 

https://mortonclubtogether.com/question-and-answers/

As said previously the stadium situation is still a worry, but they've clearly thought through the issues and can't be accused of not being transparent about it.

[AsimButtHitsASix]

24 minutes ago, Dunning1874 said:

Updated Q&A on the MCT site: 

https://mortonclubtogether.com/question-and-answers/

As said previously the stadium situation is still a worry, but they've clearly thought through the issues and can't be accused of not being transparent about it.

I cannae view this at work (anti-Morton bias in the workplace once again clearly) any highlights?

[Dunning1874]

3 minutes ago, AsimButtHitsASix said:

I cannae view this at work (anti-Morton bias in the workplace once again clearly) any highlights?

Stuck it in the spoiler for you.

[AsimButtHitsASix]

55 minutes ago, Dunning1874 said:

Stuck it in the spoiler for you.

 

  Hide contents

 

 

 

Et tu brute?

[Dunning1874]

4 minutes ago, AsimButtHitsASix said:

Et tu brute?

Genuinely this time.

Following the announcement regarding community ownership on Wednesday 8th July, we have been asked a number of questions. We have aimed to answer as many of these as possible below. We have tried to group the hundreds of questions we have received into topics.

There will inevitably be more questions, so please do continue to ask these and we will continue to provide answers.

Topic – Cappielow and the Car Park

Not surprisingly, many of the questions from the announcement have been around the ownership of Cappielow and, to a lesser extent, the car park. Questions like the lease fee, can we purchase Cappielow, who will be responsible for maintenance and upgrade costs, how long will the lease run, will Golden Casket raise the rent to unmanageable levels, what if Golden Casket sell the land?

We will try to deal with all these issues together. The terms of the lease are still under negotiation. What has been agreed is the outline of the deal. The lease fee or annual rent will be minimal. It will NOT be a market value rent. It will be a repairing and insuring lease, which means that the club will be required to maintain the stadium to at least the same standard as it is at present. This does not preclude us from making improvements to the stadium. The lease will run for as long as MCT is the owner of Morton. The lease will preclude any significant increase in rent – it will continue to be a nominal rent for the duration.

Insofar as any purchase of Cappielow is concerned, there are numerous legal options that can be pursued in the lease. For example, there could be an option to buy after a certain number of years, or there could be a clause giving MCT first option to buy should Golden Casket ever decide to sell. We are not saying that these will be included, as the fine print is still being considered, but we can assure you that the future of the club at Cappielow will be protected. We will also publish the details of the lease after it is agreed.

What if Golden Casket went into liquidation, or through a change of ownership?

This is one of the issues we are aware of and will be writing something into the lease to safeguard the stadium. Once the lease is finalised, we will be able to give further details.

Maintenance and Upgrades of Cappielow

Another popular question was about maintenance and upgrades of the stadium. Who will pay for these? Can we afford them?

The current budget for the club contains a sum for annual maintenance. We anticipate that the club will be able to continue to pay this from the budget. As indicated above, the general maintenance of the ground will be the responsibility of MCT as club owners. The cost of upgrades is more difficult to explain. Depending on the nature of the upgrades, and the terms of the final lease, they may fall to be paid by the landlord, the tenant, or a combination of both. Once the lease terms are finalised, we will publish it. It will be a commercial lease which will be registered as normal, and will be available to view. If the club wishes to upgrade the stadium and the landlord does not agree to pay, the tenant can, if the landlord agrees, carry out and pay for the upgrades themselves.

Finances

We were also asked questions about how much we need to raise to make the club viable. There is no single answer to that question. We have identified a number of areas where savings can be made, but also recognise the need to raise income. It is not as simple as saying “we need to raise £100,000 per year”. If we raise £150,000, that means we can afford to sign more and better players than we could if we raised £75,000. There is no magic number here. The more money we raise, the better the club will be. Significantly, as MCT has no shareholders, all profits will be ploughed back into the club and not paid out as dividends.

Shareholders

We were asked whether members of MCT are shareholders and can you sell your shares. The answer is no. MCT has been set up as a company limited by guarantee. We do not have shareholders – we have members. As indicated in our terms and conditions, membership is not transferable.

Greenock Morton Budget

Are we confident that we can run Morton as a viable business – yes. We truly believe that this can be done. As indicated, we have seen the club accounts and are aware of the issues. We do not think that this is going to be easy. We will need the support, financial and otherwise, of large sections of the community. The more people who support us, the easier our jobs will be! We desperately want to see Morton succeed both on and off the pitch. The more help we get, the more likely it is that we will succeed.

Will the current MCT Directors remain in place?

We serve at the will of the members. Our first AGM is due, COVID permitting, in August. None of the current directors have indicated an intention to resign, and they are not required to resign this year. Some of them are required to resign next year, but can stand for re-election if they wish. We are a democratic organisation, and whether we remain in place after next year will be entirely dependent on your votes.

External Investors

We have been asked about external sources of revenue. We are at very advanced stages of discussions with a number of people who have expressed an interest in supporting MCT and Morton. It would be unfair to name those parties at present, but we are confident that we will secure this funding to supplement the monthly contributions from members.

How many members do we need?

There is no magic number. Our membership has increased significantly over the last few days, and we are grateful to all members for their support. The more people who join, and the more money that they contribute, the more money that we can spend on players, ground repairs and upgrades, and other projects that we would like to develop.

Is this a done deal?

Effectively it is, although both parties have a “get out” arrangement in March. Nobody wants to see MCT fail in their stewardship of the club. If it becomes apparent that we are not ready by March, the deal may be delayed. None of us, including Golden Casket, want to rush into this and then fail.

How far can we go under community ownership?

That’s an impossible question to answer. We guess that the only answer would be “as far as the supporters are willing to take us”. The traditional football model in UK has been ownership by a wealthy benefactor. Unless you are playing in the English Premiership, there are few of these. When looking further afield, there are numerous clubs in continental Europe (many of them being very successful) who operate under a fan ownership scheme. There are also a number of successful community owned clubs closer to home in Scotland who we can learn from.

What if COVID is an issue for longer than anticipated?

That is one of the reasons for the option to defer the takeover for 12 months. We live in uncertain times

Morton in the Community

This is a separate company, but it runs with close ties to the club. The future links with the Community program will be part of our agreement. We will be a community owned club, and we wish to maintain strong links to the community. We do not envisage any huge changes to the relationship with this program and if anything, we will look to strengthen this.

Should we look at a business club to generate income?

This is a good idea – thanks to the member who asked – and is something we will consider.

Will David MacKinnon remain as CEO?

We hope to be sitting down with all key employees of Morton in the near future to discuss their roles going forward. As we said in the webinar, we will be fan owned but not necessarily fan run. We will need the assistance of an experienced chief executive to manage the day-to-day business of the club.

Is relying on large personal donations sustainable?

We believe it can be. Those who are interested are Morton supporters. It is a better financial model, we believe, to ask 6 people to pay £25k each, plus individual member contributions, rather than one person to pay £250k. If you rely on one person to pay £250k, and they fail or decide not to pay, the club is in serious trouble. We will also be planning to take advantage of efficiencies that can be implemented at the club, as well as looking to generate more income commercially.

What about the Youth Academy?

We see the academy as both another strong tie to the community, and a great resource for producing talent for the first team. There is no doubt that good young players who are acedamy graduates get stronger support from the fans as “he’s one of our own”. We would like to see the academy continue to thrive, but again this will depend on the post-COVID financial position.

If a lottery winner wants to buy the club, what happens?

MCT would require to hold a general meeting to discuss this offer before accepting it. The money would then be distributed to members on an equitable basis, as decided by that meeting

Who makes the decision on viability in March?

That decision will be taken by Golden Casket and MCT together.

What have we learned from other clubs?

I’m not sure that we have enough space on our website to answer that question, we have had an incredible amount of support and advice from so many other clubs that are either wholly or partly fan owned. Say it quietly, but one of the most helpful groups has been the St Mirren Independent Supporters Association. From the launch of MCT, these groups have offered their advice about funding, structure, liaison with the club, marketing, supporter liaison etc. We genuinely could fill a book with the advice given, and everyone at MCT is very grateful for that help.

Supporters Trust Members

We have been asked why supporters trust shares have to be transferred to MCT. This is not what we said at the webinar. If former trust members, or indeed any existing shareholder in Morton, wish to donate their shares to MCT they can do this by contacting Morton. There is no obligation for them to do so. We will be seeking to contact individual shareholders in Morton after the takeover is completed.

Is there a planning restriction on Cappielow?

We understand that Cappielow is zoned by the council as a sports facility. Any change of use would require re-zoning. We are not aware of any request or desire to re-zone the land.

Will the Rae family still be involved in Morton?

We have not made any decisions about the future board membership, and have not spoken to current board members about their interest in remaining with the club. The Rae family has 20 years of experience of running Morton and that experience would be invaluable to us. The same applies to other board members. There will certainly be changes, but we cannot say, at this stage, what those will be. The other side to this question, of course, is “Do the Rae family still want to be involved with Morton?” We will be asking that question soon.

[AsimButtHitsASix]

19 minutes ago, Dunning1874 said:

Genuinely this time.

 

  Hide contents

 

Following the announcement regarding community ownership on Wednesday 8th July, we have been asked a number of questions. We have aimed to answer as many of these as possible below. We have tried to group the hundreds of questions we have received into topics.

There will inevitably be more questions, so please do continue to ask these and we will continue to provide answers.

Topic – Cappielow and the Car Park

Not surprisingly, many of the questions from the announcement have been around the ownership of Cappielow and, to a lesser extent, the car park. Questions like the lease fee, can we purchase Cappielow, who will be responsible for maintenance and upgrade costs, how long will the lease run, will Golden Casket raise the rent to unmanageable levels, what if Golden Casket sell the land?

We will try to deal with all these issues together. The terms of the lease are still under negotiation. What has been agreed is the outline of the deal. The lease fee or annual rent will be minimal. It will NOT be a market value rent. It will be a repairing and insuring lease, which means that the club will be required to maintain the stadium to at least the same standard as it is at present. This does not preclude us from making improvements to the stadium. The lease will run for as long as MCT is the owner of Morton. The lease will preclude any significant increase in rent – it will continue to be a nominal rent for the duration.

Insofar as any purchase of Cappielow is concerned, there are numerous legal options that can be pursued in the lease. For example, there could be an option to buy after a certain number of years, or there could be a clause giving MCT first option to buy should Golden Casket ever decide to sell. We are not saying that these will be included, as the fine print is still being considered, but we can assure you that the future of the club at Cappielow will be protected. We will also publish the details of the lease after it is agreed.

What if Golden Casket went into liquidation, or through a change of ownership?

This is one of the issues we are aware of and will be writing something into the lease to safeguard the stadium. Once the lease is finalised, we will be able to give further details.

Maintenance and Upgrades of Cappielow

Another popular question was about maintenance and upgrades of the stadium. Who will pay for these? Can we afford them?

The current budget for the club contains a sum for annual maintenance. We anticipate that the club will be able to continue to pay this from the budget. As indicated above, the general maintenance of the ground will be the responsibility of MCT as club owners. The cost of upgrades is more difficult to explain. Depending on the nature of the upgrades, and the terms of the final lease, they may fall to be paid by the landlord, the tenant, or a combination of both. Once the lease terms are finalised, we will publish it. It will be a commercial lease which will be registered as normal, and will be available to view. If the club wishes to upgrade the stadium and the landlord does not agree to pay, the tenant can, if the landlord agrees, carry out and pay for the upgrades themselves.

Finances

We were also asked questions about how much we need to raise to make the club viable. There is no single answer to that question. We have identified a number of areas where savings can be made, but also recognise the need to raise income. It is not as simple as saying “we need to raise £100,000 per year”. If we raise £150,000, that means we can afford to sign more and better players than we could if we raised £75,000. There is no magic number here. The more money we raise, the better the club will be. Significantly, as MCT has no shareholders, all profits will be ploughed back into the club and not paid out as dividends.

Shareholders

We were asked whether members of MCT are shareholders and can you sell your shares. The answer is no. MCT has been set up as a company limited by guarantee. We do not have shareholders – we have members. As indicated in our terms and conditions, membership is not transferable.

Greenock Morton Budget

Are we confident that we can run Morton as a viable business – yes. We truly believe that this can be done. As indicated, we have seen the club accounts and are aware of the issues. We do not think that this is going to be easy. We will need the support, financial and otherwise, of large sections of the community. The more people who support us, the easier our jobs will be! We desperately want to see Morton succeed both on and off the pitch. The more help we get, the more likely it is that we will succeed.

Will the current MCT Directors remain in place?

We serve at the will of the members. Our first AGM is due, COVID permitting, in August. None of the current directors have indicated an intention to resign, and they are not required to resign this year. Some of them are required to resign next year, but can stand for re-election if they wish. We are a democratic organisation, and whether we remain in place after next year will be entirely dependent on your votes.

External Investors

We have been asked about external sources of revenue. We are at very advanced stages of discussions with a number of people who have expressed an interest in supporting MCT and Morton. It would be unfair to name those parties at present, but we are confident that we will secure this funding to supplement the monthly contributions from members.

How many members do we need?

There is no magic number. Our membership has increased significantly over the last few days, and we are grateful to all members for their support. The more people who join, and the more money that they contribute, the more money that we can spend on players, ground repairs and upgrades, and other projects that we would like to develop.

Is this a done deal?

Effectively it is, although both parties have a “get out” arrangement in March. Nobody wants to see MCT fail in their stewardship of the club. If it becomes apparent that we are not ready by March, the deal may be delayed. None of us, including Golden Casket, want to rush into this and then fail.

How far can we go under community ownership?

That’s an impossible question to answer. We guess that the only answer would be “as far as the supporters are willing to take us”. The traditional football model in UK has been ownership by a wealthy benefactor. Unless you are playing in the English Premiership, there are few of these. When looking further afield, there are numerous clubs in continental Europe (many of them being very successful) who operate under a fan ownership scheme. There are also a number of successful community owned clubs closer to home in Scotland who we can learn from.

What if COVID is an issue for longer than anticipated?

That is one of the reasons for the option to defer the takeover for 12 months. We live in uncertain times

Morton in the Community

This is a separate company, but it runs with close ties to the club. The future links with the Community program will be part of our agreement. We will be a community owned club, and we wish to maintain strong links to the community. We do not envisage any huge changes to the relationship with this program and if anything, we will look to strengthen this.

Should we look at a business club to generate income?

This is a good idea – thanks to the member who asked – and is something we will consider.

Will David MacKinnon remain as CEO?

We hope to be sitting down with all key employees of Morton in the near future to discuss their roles going forward. As we said in the webinar, we will be fan owned but not necessarily fan run. We will need the assistance of an experienced chief executive to manage the day-to-day business of the club.

Is relying on large personal donations sustainable?

We believe it can be. Those who are interested are Morton supporters. It is a better financial model, we believe, to ask 6 people to pay £25k each, plus individual member contributions, rather than one person to pay £250k. If you rely on one person to pay £250k, and they fail or decide not to pay, the club is in serious trouble. We will also be planning to take advantage of efficiencies that can be implemented at the club, as well as looking to generate more income commercially.

What about the Youth Academy?

We see the academy as both another strong tie to the community, and a great resource for producing talent for the first team. There is no doubt that good young players who are acedamy graduates get stronger support from the fans as “he’s one of our own”. We would like to see the academy continue to thrive, but again this will depend on the post-COVID financial position.

If a lottery winner wants to buy the club, what happens?

MCT would require to hold a general meeting to discuss this offer before accepting it. The money would then be distributed to members on an equitable basis, as decided by that meeting

Who makes the decision on viability in March?

That decision will be taken by Golden Casket and MCT together.

What have we learned from other clubs?

I’m not sure that we have enough space on our website to answer that question, we have had an incredible amount of support and advice from so many other clubs that are either wholly or partly fan owned. Say it quietly, but one of the most helpful groups has been the St Mirren Independent Supporters Association. From the launch of MCT, these groups have offered their advice about funding, structure, liaison with the club, marketing, supporter liaison etc. We genuinely could fill a book with the advice given, and everyone at MCT is very grateful for that help.

Supporters Trust Members

We have been asked why supporters trust shares have to be transferred to MCT. This is not what we said at the webinar. If former trust members, or indeed any existing shareholder in Morton, wish to donate their shares to MCT they can do this by contacting Morton. There is no obligation for them to do so. We will be seeking to contact individual shareholders in Morton after the takeover is completed.

Is there a planning restriction on Cappielow?

We understand that Cappielow is zoned by the council as a sports facility. Any change of use would require re-zoning. We are not aware of any request or desire to re-zone the land.

Will the Rae family still be involved in Morton?

We have not made any decisions about the future board membership, and have not spoken to current board members about their interest in remaining with the club. The Rae family has 20 years of experience of running Morton and that experience would be invaluable to us. The same applies to other board members. There will certainly be changes, but we cannot say, at this stage, what those will be. The other side to this question, of course, is “Do the Rae family still want to be involved with Morton?” We will be asking that question soon.

 

 

Genuinely surprised and, honestly, disappointed, it wasn't just Dick Byrne again

[#Gary]

Not quite the hard hitting question, as they've vaguely answered those already but how long does the merchandise deal with Smiths have to run? That could be problematic in trying to improve certain income streams, which is obviously something they should be keen to do.

[Dunning1874]

Some comments from MacKinnon in this article:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53375596

Quote

The key thing is operating a break-even budget. Last season we had one of the lowest budgets in the Championship and we'd taken several hundred thousand off it.

If we are facing the worst-case scenario, whereby there are no fans coming through the turnstiles until 2021, the budget we had last year would need to be cut even further. If we don't get it right, it could put the future of the club in jeopardy and we won't allow that to happen.

We furloughed our players until the end of May and then extended that to the end of July. We took the decision that the situation was unfair on players and we didn't want to add to their stress.

I think the players are realistic about the situation. We have a core of seven or eight and would look to add 12-14 more, but because of the uncertainty we have to balance things very finely.

The SFA and the SPFL are looking into extending the transfer window for Championship, League One and League Two clubs. They are also looking at increasing the number of loan players from four to six, and to extending the period when you can sign players on loan.

Cuts are obviously inevitable with fewer games and less income, but I wonder if he's preparing us for running with a heavily reduced squad, with any new signings being gambles on cheap loans while relying on the youth team quite heavily for cover.

Ideally I'd like us to let Ramsbottom, McLean, McGinty, Millar, Muirhead and Doolan go while bringing in a goalkeeper, four defenders, one central midfielder and one centre forward (bearing in mind we've already lost Rogers, Baird, Cadden & McHugh) but I'm starting to wonder if we're going to have that many coming in even if that many leave.

The budget isn't finalised yet so I suppose if we get more clarity on when fans will be back at games before recruitment starts that could change, but I think making comments like that is maybe part of starting to prepare fans for the reality of how tight we're going to be this season.

[AsimButtHitsASix]

7 minutes ago, Dunning1874 said:

Some comments from MacKinnon in this article:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53375596

Cuts are obviously inevitable with fewer games and less income, but I wonder if he's preparing us for running with a heavily reduced squad, with any new signings being gambles on cheap loans while relying on the youth team quite heavily for cover.

If they decided to pretty much have a first XI and make the bench up with youth players (as an example) or any other kind of cost cutting measure I think we'd all just lump it for a year. With Hearts coming down we're very unlikely to win the league so wouldn't want to be splashing money for the lottery of the play offs. Staying afloat and not getting dragged into a relegation scrap would be enough to keep me happy this coming season.

[El Chapo]

7 hours ago, AsimButtHitsASix said:

If they decided to pretty much have a first XI and make the bench up with youth players (as an example) or any other kind of cost cutting measure I think we'd all just lump it for a year. With Hearts coming down we're very unlikely to win the league so wouldn't want to be splashing money for the lottery of the play offs. Staying afloat and not getting dragged into a relegation scrap would be enough to keep me happy this coming season.

What is the Morton youth set up like these days? I remember there was a boy (Russell?)a few years ago who appeared to be getting decent reviews, what happened to him?

[Jamie_M]

31 minutes ago, El Chapo said:

What is the Morton youth set up like these days? I remember there was a boy (Russell?)a few years ago who appeared to be getting decent reviews, what happened to him?

Decided to reject a new contract for the illustrious 'new challenge', hoping for bigger and better but went the other way. First to little Falkirk then to Finn Harps in Ireland.

Youth setup has delivered a couple of first team players in recent years, Lyon and Strapp in the first team just now, Quitongo made the step up a few seasons ago, albeit he came from other youth setups first.

[Rudolph Hucker]

10 hours ago, Dunning1874 said:

Some comments from MacKinnon in this article:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53375596

Cuts are obviously inevitable with fewer games and less income, but I wonder if he's preparing us for running with a heavily reduced squad, with any new signings being gambles on cheap loans while relying on the youth team quite heavily for cover.

Ideally I'd like us to let Ramsbottom, McLean, McGinty, Millar, Muirhead and Doolan go while bringing in a goalkeeper, four defenders, one central midfielder and one centre forward (bearing in mind we've already lost Rogers, Baird, Cadden & McHugh) but I'm starting to wonder if we're going to have that many coming in even if that many leave.

The budget isn't finalised yet so I suppose if we get more clarity on when fans will be back at games before recruitment starts that could change, but I think making comments like that is maybe part of starting to prepare fans for the reality of how tight we're going to be this season.

More by accident than design, but maybe by a bit of both, the current situation may be to the benefit of Morton. With the intended change to community ownership next year the current owners will of course be looking to keep further outlays to a minimum, and to be honest there probably couldn’t be a much better season to do that than this one as every club In the division will be cutting their budget.  We could therefore be on a more level playing field than would otherwise have been the case.

Early days, and obviously a huge amount will depend on who we sign and what loan deals Hopkin can arrange, but being in this division for season 21/22 may be less difficult than it could’ve been.

[AsimButtHitsASix]

11 hours ago, El Chapo said:

What is the Morton youth set up like these days? I remember there was a boy (Russell?)a few years ago who appeared to be getting decent reviews, what happened to him?

As well as the ones mentioned there's been a coupla players we've released who seem to be doing alright in the seaside leagues. Dunno what the cost/quality ratio is but seems promising so far.

[Jamie_M]

Statement from Crawford Re: MCT and season tickets.

https://gmfc.net/2020/07/14/statement-from-chairman-crawford-rae/

 

"A new chapter in the history of Greenock Morton Football Club is about to be written.

The last 20 years have been a rollercoaster of emotions for every member of the Rae family, with a series of highs and lows, promotions and relegations resulting in a combination of post-game celebrations and long sleepless nights.  There have been many amazing days, we have met many great characters and made some good friends along the way.

However, despite our very best efforts I am very sad to say that we have not delivered to the level that we would have liked, with our biggest regret, as you all know, that we have not been able to deliver top flight football back to the fans.

We are greatly disappointed with this, as no-one had higher expectations for the Club than my Father, who at times spent from the heart and not from his head. Football has that effect on you and I’m sure if he were to have his time again, he would do exactly the same thing with his never-ending optimism and desire for Morton to be successful.

The one constant throughout our journey has been the support of our fans.  The supporters have been amazing and while we always spoke of community ownership, until MCT came along, we honestly could not see a way to deliver this for the Club. Graham McLennan founded MCT and has put together a group of fantastic people who between them, have a huge wealth of experience in so many different fields.  If everyone with a passion for the Club gets behind them then we truly believe that great things can happen. There is always strength in numbers but far greater strength is achieved with a collective goodwill which MCT delivers in abundance.

It was this vision that MCT displayed to our family that convinced us that Community Ownership was the best option for the future success of Morton Football Club and the right time for us to step aside.

The supporters have dreamed of Morton playing at a higher level and there is no better legacy than to afford the fans an opportunity to make this happen through their ownership. This is why the family have decided to gift MCT our majority shareholding at the end of this season as opposed to selling to a third party, assuming they are in a financial position to make this happen.

We believe that the Club is on the cusp of something special, we have the best Manager in place and if we can give him the resources and the backing that he deserves then we will succeed. Last season we had definitely turned a corner and we were beginning to see the Hoppy Factor and the buy-in from supporters. We had a team on the park which other teams feared and didn’t want to face.

We want this momentum to continue and if we all stick together and trust one another, then our collective goodwill gives us the best possible chance of success.

There is no getting away from it, this year will be incredibly tough. The country is still in the middle of a pandemic which has played havoc with football at all levels. Whilst we are still unsure of when supporters can return for the new season, we are acutely aware that we have a number of season ticket holders from last year that lost out on the four remaining home fixtures.  As we now look to finalise budgets, we have sought to allocate a reserve to address this.

With this in mind, the Club is prepared to make partial refunds available to those supporters who wish to apply,  although it is important to note that should all season ticket holders claim a refund, it would put a significant financial strain on the Club at a time when we have little to no income stream.

We would ask the fans who can afford to decline this offer to please do so which would be a great relief and enormously appreciated by us all.

We fully understand, however, that given the current circumstances, some households may need this money more than others and we will fully support any fans wishing to claim a refund for the four missed games.

We would ask that any supporter who does intend to request a refund to email our Chief Executive, David MacKinnon, at ceo@gmfc.net  by 5pm on Friday 24th July.  For any season ticket holder who does not get in touch by that date, we will assume that you will not be claiming the refund and we thank you for this.

Season tickets for this coming season will be getting launched next week. All full and concession season tickets will have free streaming of Morton TV for any closed door and partially supported matches along with access to all interviews and videos.

Please also remember that every season ticket sold before the season kicks off allows our playing budget to be increased.

Finally, thanks again to all supporters, young and old. Let’s all get behind MCT, keep your pledges coming and help open up this exciting new chapter for Inverclyde and the future success of Greenock Morton Football Club.

You can pledge to MCT at www.mortonclubtogether.com

I hope to see you all very soon."