The gestures of support are noble and well-intentioned, but I'm wondering if much of this is merely plugging the leaks of a sinking ship.
While most would agree with the idea of a Charlton women's team, the sad truth is that there is just not enough interest or financial backing to support many teams operating at national level.
I ran a women's team in the late 1980's/early 1990's and we were entirely self-funded at the beginning. Then we attracted commercial sponsorship and linked up with a local men's club … and this really was the secret to financial stability.
I'm not sure that things have changed too much in the intervening 30 years. My feeling is that women's teams (Charlton included) really need to be affiliated and supported by the established men's club to survive and progress. I think that's how it is with Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea etc ... isn't it?
Not ideal timing for the Charlton women's team at the moment with our Club still in ownership turmoil, but direct affiliation (and hence financial support) has to be the eventual target surely?
Hi Dave
Hopefully I can answer some of these points.
Last summer 38,000 Charlton fans packed out Wembley. I was one of them with my dad, and also the entire women's team were there as well all showing their support. To sustain the women's team next season we need less than 500 (approx 1.5%) of these fans there to set up a small donation each month or make a one off donation. I really think this is possible.
We are a family club, so many people on here I know have daughters and over the past two years, I've lost track of the amount of people who have told me that they are so pleased their daughter has been able to find a female Charlton role model as well as the main club men's players to aspire to. I think this is so important for any club's future to have and I hope in the future if I have a daughter I can give her a Charlton role model who is also female to aspire to.
Football has changed massively in the past two years and is completely different to 30 years ago. A lot of this has come from teams such as Manchester United forming a women's team, Tottenham, West Ham, Birmingham, Reading etc all investing in women's team. The great part of this is the game has evolved massively (an attendance record 38,000 was set last season), the possible negative of this is that criteria has increased often rightly so as the game develops. What we have found is that the items outside of our control such as new FA criteria have all added up with a lot of new criteria coming into place this season which is unfortunate timing.
We rely heavily on small sponsorship, ticket money and the generous donations of a few people to currently run. We don't expect crowds to return straight away and my instinct is not within this calander year although I hope I'm wrong. Therefore we have lost 2/3 of our funding methods (sponsorship and ticket revenue) with no real means to replace this.
We know we can't come to the fans every summer and by in large we have tried to avoid this where possible. We have asked for donations before but we have never been in the situation where it is about long term survival of the club if we don't get the donations in.
Our long term plan is to become more integrated into the main club. We have had positive conversations in the past and became a lot closer and no doubt when the new ownership comes in and is settled we will have positive conversations again but this is sadly about the interim period and the temporary stage of getting us to these talks.
I'm very conscious that I don't want the message of this thread to get lost and to change into a different conversation as the key message is that we need your support to survive long term. My email address is always open to anyone including yourself and I'm happy to answer any other questions
Together I know the power of Charlton fans and I know we can get the support we need.
Also a big thank you to all those who have supported monthly or one off, it's really appreciated
Thanks, Steve.
It sounds like you have the right 'big picture' approach. Once the Club situation is more settled, what's your thinking about selling the benefits of a women's team to the new ownership? Do you know what the selling point was for Man Utd, Tottenham, West Ham etc? In simple terms, what does the Club get for its £50 -100k per season?
Are we still in the days of paying lipservice under the guise of political correctness or is there really interest in a successful professional national competition?
You mention crowds of 38,000 at top level. How many watched Durham v Charlton last season … or London Bees v Charlton? Those are the sorts of questions the new owners might have.
The gestures of support are noble and well-intentioned, but I'm wondering if much of this is merely plugging the leaks of a sinking ship.
While most would agree with the idea of a Charlton women's team, the sad truth is that there is just not enough interest or financial backing to support many teams operating at national level.
I ran a women's team in the late 1980's/early 1990's and we were entirely self-funded at the beginning. Then we attracted commercial sponsorship and linked up with a local men's club … and this really was the secret to financial stability.
I'm not sure that things have changed too much in the intervening 30 years. My feeling is that women's teams (Charlton included) really need to be affiliated and supported by the established men's club to survive and progress. I think that's how it is with Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea etc ... isn't it?
Not ideal timing for the Charlton women's team at the moment with our Club still in ownership turmoil, but direct affiliation (and hence financial support) has to be the eventual target surely?
Hi Dave
Hopefully I can answer some of these points.
Last summer 38,000 Charlton fans packed out Wembley. I was one of them with my dad, and also the entire women's team were there as well all showing their support. To sustain the women's team next season we need less than 500 (approx 1.5%) of these fans there to set up a small donation each month or make a one off donation. I really think this is possible.
We are a family club, so many people on here I know have daughters and over the past two years, I've lost track of the amount of people who have told me that they are so pleased their daughter has been able to find a female Charlton role model as well as the main club men's players to aspire to. I think this is so important for any club's future to have and I hope in the future if I have a daughter I can give her a Charlton role model who is also female to aspire to.
Football has changed massively in the past two years and is completely different to 30 years ago. A lot of this has come from teams such as Manchester United forming a women's team, Tottenham, West Ham, Birmingham, Reading etc all investing in women's team. The great part of this is the game has evolved massively (an attendance record 38,000 was set last season), the possible negative of this is that criteria has increased often rightly so as the game develops. What we have found is that the items outside of our control such as new FA criteria have all added up with a lot of new criteria coming into place this season which is unfortunate timing.
We rely heavily on small sponsorship, ticket money and the generous donations of a few people to currently run. We don't expect crowds to return straight away and my instinct is not within this calander year although I hope I'm wrong. Therefore we have lost 2/3 of our funding methods (sponsorship and ticket revenue) with no real means to replace this.
We know we can't come to the fans every summer and by in large we have tried to avoid this where possible. We have asked for donations before but we have never been in the situation where it is about long term survival of the club if we don't get the donations in.
Our long term plan is to become more integrated into the main club. We have had positive conversations in the past and became a lot closer and no doubt when the new ownership comes in and is settled we will have positive conversations again but this is sadly about the interim period and the temporary stage of getting us to these talks.
I'm very conscious that I don't want the message of this thread to get lost and to change into a different conversation as the key message is that we need your support to survive long term. My email address is always open to anyone including yourself and I'm happy to answer any other questions
Together I know the power of Charlton fans and I know we can get the support we need.
Also a big thank you to all those who have supported monthly or one off, it's really appreciated
Thanks, Steve.
It sounds like you have the right 'big picture' approach. Once the Club situation is more settled, what's your thinking about selling the benefits of a women's team to the new ownership? Do you know what the selling point was for Man Utd, Tottenham, West Ham etc? In simple terms, what does the Club get for its £50 -100k per season?
Are we still in the days of paying lipservice under the guise of political correctness or is there really interest in a successful professional national competition?
You mention crowds of 38,000 at top level. How many watched Durham v Charlton last season … or London Bees v Charlton? Those are the sorts of questions the new owners might have.
Hi Dave
Again conscious to not change the theme of the thread so the original message gets lost but there is an interest in the women's game from a long term point of view. A lot of it isn't something to go through with on a forum site (happy to discuss more off site) but a few very quick examples.
Our women's game against Aston Villa at The Valley last season saw 400 fans who weren't on the club system attend and therefore they were unlikely to have gone to a Charlton game before. A lot of them were kids and a lot of them females and/or families. Marketed well you can turn those 400 first time visitors into Charlton fans and if you can then get them to a stage of buying a season ticket, say £200 for easy maths you have then brought in £80,000 revenue before you even take into account shirts, programmes, food and drink etc inside the stadium. In my eyes more important than money in so many ways you have 400 new fans in the next generation of Charlton fans. I know that you won't ever statistically convert all but you can do some and if you keep building those numbers up over the years you are building up the next generation of fans. I cannot confirm if it's true but I heard Man Utd sold 10,000 shirts with women's names on the back last season. If true and they are selling these shirts for £50+ then again that's a lot of revenue.
The women's game is about long term investment but many sponsors are getting on board (Barclays, Lucozade, Nivea, etc) so they must see the growth of the game to be investing. I also hate the financial comparisons sometimes as I could easily counter and say only 6/24 mens Championship teams made a profit last season
Once again a few more people have donated thank you to those who have and hopefully if we can keep donating we can help the team! If anyone is having problems or wants to donate differently please do get in touch
The gestures of support are noble and well-intentioned, but I'm wondering if much of this is merely plugging the leaks of a sinking ship.
While most would agree with the idea of a Charlton women's team, the sad truth is that there is just not enough interest or financial backing to support many teams operating at national level.
I ran a women's team in the late 1980's/early 1990's and we were entirely self-funded at the beginning. Then we attracted commercial sponsorship and linked up with a local men's club … and this really was the secret to financial stability.
I'm not sure that things have changed too much in the intervening 30 years. My feeling is that women's teams (Charlton included) really need to be affiliated and supported by the established men's club to survive and progress. I think that's how it is with Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea etc ... isn't it?
Not ideal timing for the Charlton women's team at the moment with our Club still in ownership turmoil, but direct affiliation (and hence financial support) has to be the eventual target surely?
Hi Dave
Hopefully I can answer some of these points.
Last summer 38,000 Charlton fans packed out Wembley. I was one of them with my dad, and also the entire women's team were there as well all showing their support. To sustain the women's team next season we need less than 500 (approx 1.5%) of these fans there to set up a small donation each month or make a one off donation. I really think this is possible.
We are a family club, so many people on here I know have daughters and over the past two years, I've lost track of the amount of people who have told me that they are so pleased their daughter has been able to find a female Charlton role model as well as the main club men's players to aspire to. I think this is so important for any club's future to have and I hope in the future if I have a daughter I can give her a Charlton role model who is also female to aspire to.
Football has changed massively in the past two years and is completely different to 30 years ago. A lot of this has come from teams such as Manchester United forming a women's team, Tottenham, West Ham, Birmingham, Reading etc all investing in women's team. The great part of this is the game has evolved massively (an attendance record 38,000 was set last season), the possible negative of this is that criteria has increased often rightly so as the game develops. What we have found is that the items outside of our control such as new FA criteria have all added up with a lot of new criteria coming into place this season which is unfortunate timing.
We rely heavily on small sponsorship, ticket money and the generous donations of a few people to currently run. We don't expect crowds to return straight away and my instinct is not within this calander year although I hope I'm wrong. Therefore we have lost 2/3 of our funding methods (sponsorship and ticket revenue) with no real means to replace this.
We know we can't come to the fans every summer and by in large we have tried to avoid this where possible. We have asked for donations before but we have never been in the situation where it is about long term survival of the club if we don't get the donations in.
Our long term plan is to become more integrated into the main club. We have had positive conversations in the past and became a lot closer and no doubt when the new ownership comes in and is settled we will have positive conversations again but this is sadly about the interim period and the temporary stage of getting us to these talks.
I'm very conscious that I don't want the message of this thread to get lost and to change into a different conversation as the key message is that we need your support to survive long term. My email address is always open to anyone including yourself and I'm happy to answer any other questions
Together I know the power of Charlton fans and I know we can get the support we need.
Also a big thank you to all those who have supported monthly or one off, it's really appreciated
You got me there @sadamson84 I will set up a small regular payment for the women.
Thank you very much for your donation @GreenWithEnvy and thank you again to everyone else.
We have made very good progress in just a few days but there is someway to go, if anyone can share this on other platforms please do let us know. A regular donation can be £3 a month or less but all support combined massively helps
Comments
It sounds like you have the right 'big picture' approach. Once the Club situation is more settled, what's your thinking about selling the benefits of a women's team to the new ownership? Do you know what the selling point was for Man Utd, Tottenham, West Ham etc? In simple terms, what does the Club get for its £50 -100k per season?
Are we still in the days of paying lipservice under the guise of political correctness or is there really interest in a successful professional national competition?
You mention crowds of 38,000 at top level. How many watched Durham v Charlton last season … or London Bees v Charlton? Those are the sorts of questions the new owners might have.
Again conscious to not change the theme of the thread so the original message gets lost but there is an interest in the women's game from a long term point of view. A lot of it isn't something to go through with on a forum site (happy to discuss more off site) but a few very quick examples.
Our women's game against Aston Villa at The Valley last season saw 400 fans who weren't on the club system attend and therefore they were unlikely to have gone to a Charlton game before. A lot of them were kids and a lot of them females and/or families. Marketed well you can turn those 400 first time visitors into Charlton fans and if you can then get them to a stage of buying a season ticket, say £200 for easy maths you have then brought in £80,000 revenue before you even take into account shirts, programmes, food and drink etc inside the stadium. In my eyes more important than money in so many ways you have 400 new fans in the next generation of Charlton fans. I know that you won't ever statistically convert all but you can do some and if you keep building those numbers up over the years you are building up the next generation of fans. I cannot confirm if it's true but I heard Man Utd sold 10,000 shirts with women's names on the back last season. If true and they are selling these shirts for £50+ then again that's a lot of revenue.
The women's game is about long term investment but many sponsors are getting on board (Barclays, Lucozade, Nivea, etc) so they must see the growth of the game to be investing. I also hate the financial comparisons sometimes as I could easily counter and say only 6/24 mens Championship teams made a profit last season
Once again a few more people have donated thank you to those who have and hopefully if we can keep donating we can help the team! If anyone is having problems or wants to donate differently please do get in touch
We have made very good progress in just a few days but there is someway to go, if anyone can share this on other platforms please do let us know. A regular donation can be £3 a month or less but all support combined massively helps
https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-athletic-women-set-50k-fundraising-total-as-covid-19-impact-adds-extra-costs/
Please donate if you can.