There was a coo

[cowdenbeath]

3 hours ago, BojanK said:

No. 
 

Football is quickly becoming an impossible task without someone aimlessly pumping money into clubs. 
 

At all levels clubs now really have two options. 
 

1. spend beyond means with dodgy backers hoping to get a paycheck from promotion and level out somewhere. 
 

2. Become a community club with youth teams and Astros to balance books, utilise the selling on of players to fund the level and maybe, just maybe, get a promotion run with a good batch of young’uns and hope to maintain that level a while. 

At one time artificial pitches would be a money spinner not so sure now the areas saturated with them

[UsedToGoToCentralPark]

If folk can’t be arsed watching us in Cowdenbeath we would end up with  even less playing in Kelty,
You would maybe get away playing at Hill of Beath as it’s more or less part of the town.

Thanks, can we move out if the club wanted to? Or are we tied up in any sort of lease?

[Aberdeen Cowden]

Are we tied into having to play at Central Park? Could we not move to New Central Park or something and ground share? Better than having no club?

I wouldn’t go to New Central Park. It’s just as bad as Cove for watching a game.

[cowdenbeath]

3 hours ago, UsedToGoToCentralPark said:

3 hours ago, cowdenbeath said:

If folk can’t be arsed watching us in Cowdenbeath we would end up with  even less playing in Kelty,
You would maybe get away playing at Hill of Beath as it’s more or less part of the town.

Thanks, can we move out if the club wanted to? Or are we tied up in any sort of lease?

In Saturdays programme article it just said we had paid the rent for this season, no idea how long the lease is.

[Cowden316]

I know there is a lot of discussion on here and programme regarding the viability of Central Park and the financial challenges.

In respect of any potential future location my view is it's essential for Cowdenbeath to remain playing in the town of Cowdenbeath whether that be at Central Park or a new location as if you move Cowdenbeath F.C away from the town the club loses it's Identity and may risk being another meadowbank in the future being rebranded. Obviously not under current board that care deeply for  the club but who knows what the longer term future holds for Cowdenbeath.

New Central Park is a no from me personally as you would be as well as merging the clubs as it's out of the town and as folk have pointed out if struggling to get fans to games as it is.

I have heard another location mooted and whilst would set a fresh start for the club with new foundations and interesting to an extent, I would have the same concerns in losing the clubs identify.

Ideally as we all know if we want to get back to the SPFL we need someone to bankroll it as rightly or wrongly seems to be the way.

I just can't see with our future budgets/infrastructure how we can compete to win the Lowland League and win the playoffs. That's not me being doom and gloom as I more than anyone want Cowdenbeath to succeed and survive with a quick return to SPFL football, I am just being realistic.

The main thing for me right now is to have Cowdenbeath F.C continued existence to carry on it's proud history with the club laying foundations for a proud future for generations to come. We have great people doing just that on and off the park but we need to keep at it and come up with new ideas and promote the club.

 

Adding further onto this but just stumbled across this article back in May 

https://scottishfsa.org/chairmans-blog-20-05-22/

I wonder if such discussions about the future of the Scottish game are taking place amongst clubs including clubs such as ourselves who voted for pyramid?

Personally at these meetings if they take place they should also invite a fan representative from each club for their thoughts and ideas by running a series of workshops.

Edited November 9, 2022 by Cowden316

[PELE]

Being realistic, the only way teams at this level can progress currently is if they overspend.

If the set-up remains the same, the Lowland League will eventually fill up with teams like Darvel (and probably League 2 eventually).

Teams that can't or won't overspend will either vanish or drop to a much lower level never to return. This is not a criticism of the wealthier teams, because I wouldn't be complaining if Cowden had a wealthy benefactor. Although I am sure without DF we would be even worse off.

The only hope for teams with smaller budgets is if they change the promotion/relegation to 2 up and 2 down (or maybe 1 up and a play-off) and then the teams with money won't need to spend silly amounts, giving the others a (small) chance to compete. However, the age old problem still exists in that it is not just one league below the SPFL. If it was, it would make it far easier to change.

Moving away from Cowdenbeath or ground sharing is not something I would want. It's just a slippery slope then. Like East Stirlingshire. I hope they survive, but I would not be surprised if they call it a day soon. I personally would stop going if Cowden followed that route.

I thought quite a number of years back that there would come a day in the near future when Cowden were no more. At the time I honestly didn't think we would still be in existence by now. Every season is a bonus now, but it is getting harder just to survive, never mind compete.

Re the energy costs, why don't the SPFL or SFA or the National Lottery help clubs with the cost of installing the likes of Solar panels etc., to reduce costs and also reduce their consumption of fossil fuels? Might have to change our club badge though if they did . The old miners wouldn't be happy. I can picture the stand roof covered in solar panels.

[Aberdeen Cowden]

Being realistic, the only way teams at this level can progress currently is if they overspend.
If the set-up remains the same, the Lowland League will eventually fill up with teams like Darvel (and probably League 2 eventually).
Teams that can't or won't overspend will either vanish or drop to a much lower level never to return. This is not a criticism of the wealthier teams, because I wouldn't be complaining if Cowden had a wealthy benefactor. Although I am sure without DF we would be even worse off.
The only hope for teams with smaller budgets is if they change the promotion/relegation to 2 up and 2 down (or maybe 1 up and a play-off) and then the teams with money won't need to spend silly amounts, giving the others a (small) chance to compete. However, the age old problem still exists in that it is not just one league below the SPFL. If it was, it would make it far easier to change.
Moving away from Cowdenbeath or ground sharing is not something I would want. It's just a slippery slope then. Like East Stirlingshire. I hope they survive, but I would not be surprised if they call it a day soon. I personally would stop going if Cowden followed that route.
I thought quite a number of years back that there would come a day in the near future when Cowden were no more. At the time I honestly didn't think we would still be in existence by now. Every season is a bonus now, but it is getting harder just to survive, never mind compete.
Re the energy costs, why don't the SPFL or SFA or the National Lottery help clubs with the cost of installing the likes of Solar panels etc., to reduce costs and also reduce their consumption of fossil fuels? Might have to change our club badge though if they did [emoji846]. The old miners wouldn't be happy. I can picture the stand roof covered in solar panels.

Covering the stand roof with solar panels would save a fortune. Moving kick offs to mid-day would be worth trying? We are now in difficult times and everything should be considered.
On another matter. Why do we always kick off towards the High street? I’m led to believe that in the past Cowden always started the game attacking the Chapel street end.

[Deanburn Dave]

Please correct me if my understanding of solar panels is wrong.    They are not "cash cows" for Fitbaw clubs.

There are no grants for buying these in Scotland. They are very expensive to buy even with interest free loans.    The only benefit is you should recoup the outlay over 30+ years saving a wee bit of the planet in the process.   

[Cowdenleith]

.

1 hour ago, PELE said:

Teams that can't or won't overspend will either vanish or drop to a much lower level never to return. This is not a criticism of the wealthier teams, because I wouldn't be complaining if Cowden had a wealthy benefactor. Although I am sure without DF we would be even worse off.

 

I would guess that DF is a relatively well off individual, but he must have crossed paths with some seriously wealthy people over the years.

Please could one of them have interest in becoming the benefactor of a wee football team in Fife. Not too much to ask.

[Kelheart]

9 hours ago, cowdenbeath said:

If folk can’t be arsed watching us in Cowdenbeath we would end up with  even less playing in Kelty,

You would maybe get away playing at Hill of Beath as it’s more or less part of the town.

Should merge with HoB and use their ground 

[big al]

5 minutes ago, Kelheart said:

Should merge with HoB and use their ground 

You know the likely hood of that happening.

[lithgierose]

46 minutes ago, Kelheart said:

Should merge with HoB and use their ground 

Would need to go astro. Hob already cancelled a testimonial because the park is cut up.

[tamthebam]

1 hour ago, Cowdenleith said:

.

I would guess that DF is a relatively well off individual, but he must have crossed paths with some seriously wealthy people over the years.

Please could one of them have interest in becoming the benefactor of a wee football team in Fife. Not too much to ask.

I get your drift but there are also seriously wealthy people in Edinburgh and they've ran a mile from Hearts and Hibs over the years let alone put some bawbees into Cowden.

You don't get rich by spending your own money ("you should know, Tam"- @cowdenbeath)

[The_Pit_Owns]

 

[Only coo in the village]

18 hours ago, perthmo said:

The lengthy article on the club's finances in the programme last night makes depressing reading.

Any business in Cowdenbeath's position needs to aim to reduce costs and increase income.

Yet the article indicates that energy costs are rising and ground rental may also rise considerably.  The club are also tied into an agreement where they pay ALL the utility costs for Central Park, not just those associated with the football club.

Meanwhile income from the SPFL (parachute payment and League Cup money) will drop significantly next season and disappear completely the following year.

These costs and income are basically outwith the control of the club.   To compensate they presumably have to reduce their costs in terms of wages while trying to increase their income in a league where matches are unattractive both to spectators and potential sponsors.   

And all that in a stadium where fingers, toes and everything else are crossed in the hope that no major repairs are needed.

And at a time when people are struggling for money to pay their own bills let alone help out others.  As a season ticket holder I got an e-mail this week asking me to contribute £10 to enter a World Cup sweep.  I thought about it but decided to spend a tenner extra in Tesco on food to donate to a foodbank.  That's the sort of choice people are having to make in 2020s Scotland..

it's a worrying situation.  The club cannot keep going to the same hard-core of people again and again asking them to contribute more and more.  The reality is that prize money from the SPFL was essential for the club's finances.  Yet with the current team and future financial projections there is no realistic prospect of ever returning to that level

Yes, results have improved, but that cannot conceal that an existential crisis is looming.

Or am I being overly pessimistic?

 

I think that your post is realistic and mirrors my own feelings of concern regarding the future for the club. I’ve been a supporter since the late 1970’s and have seen a lot of extremely bad seasons as well as being lucky enough to see us winning league titles under Mixu and Colin Cameron. Never thought I’d ever see Cowden competing in the Championship and beating some of the bigger teams in Scottish football. I was at East End Park when we put Dunfermline to the sword in the play off final and ruined Leishman’s party plans. This however is the lowest period in the club’s history. Sadly the rot set in after that great achievement. We plummeted like a stone down the leagues after that. People I’ve seen going to games through thick and thin are no longer going to games through sheer disillusionment and I don’t see them coming back. 
 

I wish I had answers but the grounds owners seem to have the people running the club by the balls. Cowdenbeath FC seem to be responsible for all of the bills and upkeep of a crumbling stadium while being charged an increasing rent with a dwindling support and income and ever increasing costs. I just don’t see how staying at Central Park is viable but there don’t appear to be any obvious alternatives. 
 

Hopefully someone can come up with a solution. No sugar Daddy is going to come to the rescue unless I win EuroMillions. 
 

 

[Kelheart]

8 hours ago, big al said:

You know the likely hood of that happening.

I know but think you would have a cracking set up there and there is room to develop the ground if needed , HoB not what they used to be with old sponsors putting their money Crossgates way nowadays , get an Astro down probably get funding from lottery trusts and boom away Cowdenbeath Hawthorn goes 

[LowerLeagueFC]

10 hours ago, Kelheart said:

Should merge with HoB and use their ground 

do HoB get a say in this? 

Like what are the benefits to them?

A big cracking astro that nobody likes to play on. 

[cowdenbeath]

20 minutes ago, LowerLeagueFC said:

do HoB get a say in this? 

Like what are the benefits to them?

A big cracking astro that nobody likes to play on. 

It would never happen.

[Aberdeen Cowden]

Please correct me if my understanding of solar panels is wrong.    They are not "cash cows" for Fitbaw clubs.
There are no grants for buying these in Scotland. They are very expensive to buy even with interest free loans.    The only benefit is you should recoup the outlay over 30+ years saving a wee bit of the planet in the process.   

Not quite right. It’s not about making a fortune more about cutting costs. Has anyone taken this further? Nothing wrong with asking some questions.
The length of time now to repay for solar has been reduced significantly.

[PELE]

3 hours ago, Aberdeen Cowden said:

Not quite right. It’s not about making a fortune more about cutting costs. Has anyone taken this further? Nothing wrong with asking some questions.
The length of time now to repay for solar has been reduced significantly.

As we don't own the ground, I guess it would be a non starter.

I would have thought someone at the SPFL or SFA should consider a scheme to do this for clubs. They could cover the cost. Or, cover the cost and recoup the money through slightly reduced payments to clubs over a number of years.