News

FANCY RUNNING A FOOTBALL CLUB?

Comments (0)

20 March 2008

Owners make extraordinary appeal for investors into local sides 

Both of Southwark's historic non league football clubs could soon be changing hands, after their current owners made public an extraordinary offer for potential new investors.

Dulwich Hamlet - based at the foot of Dog Kennel Hill - and Fisher Athletic - originally from Salter Road in Rotherhithe but currently ground sharing in Dulwich - are owned by local businessmen Nick McCormack and Eren Muduroglu respectively.

However, both owners are tiring of the day to day responsibilities of running the clubs and are eager to welcome new blood through the door. In an attempt to solidify the future for the clubs, both owners have vowed to continue their financial support, whilst allowing new faces to come in and run the business.

Speaking exclusively to the 'News' - on behalf of his brother Eren, now largely resident in Turin, Italy - former chairman Sami Muduroglu said: "Fisher costs us a hell of a lot of money at the moment and we're not competent in the infrastructure at all. All we're doing is literally throwing more and more at it to have a go.

"If somebody wants to take Fisher tomorrow - it's with our blessing. If someone wants to come and take Dulwich tomorrow - it's with our blessing.

"You can't commit expenditure to the tune of probably £1m a year to Fisher Athletic to get nothing back. Our business isn't running the football club and it never has been.

"When you add in all the salaries we've got to pay, you're at budgetary levels that require someone to sit and look at it and say things like - 'where can I get £50k of sponsorship?' and 'we're the most senior club in Southwark, where can I sell some boards? Where can I get some corporate entertainment going?' That type of thing - someone who actually wants to make it work where the costs are offset.

"It would be foolish to say, just out of love, we're going to pump - even if it's just £500K a year - £12.5m into Fisher Athletic over the next 25 years."

Mr. Muduroglu says his family - who collectively have run Fisher for many years - would be willing to provide a significant sponsorship to both clubs, but would actively welcome anybody who wanted to run the club - and would make nothing off limits to them.

Addressing long standing rumours of a merger between the two sides, he said: "Personally, I'm against it - but if one person came in and took Fisher and one person came in and took Dulwich and they spoke to each other, there's nothing I could do about it."

The move opens up a number of interesting possibilities for the future of both clubs. There has long been talk of a fan orchestrated buyout at Dulwich Hamlet, with the club's supporters’ trust holding a sizeable war chest they are still hoping to invest in shares.

The future for Fisher is less clear. As the 'News' reported last week, it is set to be at least a year before they know the outcome of their proposals to build a state of the art new stadium in Southwark Park. With the club currently still holding a commitment to redevelop their former stadium on Salter Road (before constructing the apartments they also have permission for), the location for their home matches over the next five years or so is still up in the air.

Despite his desire to move on from the day to day running, Mr. Muduroglu certainly has a view on this, decrying any potential short term move back to Rotherhithe: "Our obligation at the moment is to build a million pound stadium [at Salter Road] before we deliver the flats", he said.

"Well, a million pound stadium there would almost be a lego kit. It would be worth nothing and everything could probably be disposed of there for probably half a million pounds afterwards."

He continued to pose a number of rhetorical questions, asking: "What do we do with Fisher? Do we go back to [Salter Road] in two years’ time for three years, knowing we're going on? Do we stay at Dulwich because it gives Fisher the security of tenure and it gives Dulwich a certain security? In my opinion, the best thing for Dulwich is Fisher staying there."

His comments were backed up by Nick McCormack, the owner of Dulwich Hamlet - who was keen to add a clause of his own: "I agree with what Sami is saying here, but there is a key difference", he revealed.

"The changes will obviously affect us at Dulwich but in a much smaller way than they will affect people at Fisher.
"At the end of the day our priority is our families and it is time for someone else to carry the mantle.

"I'd absolutely welcome my colleagues at the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' Trust stepping into run the football club if they want to try. Having said that, I would anticipate the Dulwich operates on substantially more than what the trust has raised to date."

Read more...
'Supporters will never buy shares'

---

Social Bookmarks:
del.icio.us Digg Newsvine Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon
Wikipedia: social bookmarking

---

Comments (0)

No comments have been posted.

Post a Comment

Please note Name and E-mail Address are required.

Name
E-mail Address (not displayed)
Comment (you may use HTML tags for style)
Enter Text Shown in Picture*
Comments are moderated, and will not appear on this article until the comment has been approved.