Swindon City proprietor Clem Morfuni slams ‘abuse’ of gamers and workers and says that the membership have been 10 days from going into administration.
This assertion is available in gentle of latest occasions the place each on-field efficiency and off-field administration have been topics of fan unrest and discontent. Response from supporters to this assertion is on the backside of this text.
Morfuni inherited a financially troubled membership in 2021, the place points included unpaid wages, authorized battles over possession, and monetary mismanagement.
However the scenario at Swindon has remained dire, the membership dealing with vital monetary challenges, together with not paying workers and gamers in full for intervals, and being below a switch embargo as a consequence of these monetary irregularities.
They sit twenty first within the League Two desk with 8 factors from 10 video games performed, 2 factors above the drop zone. They head to Cheltenham, who’re a spot above them, on Saturday.
Swindon City Soccer Membership wish to challenge the next message from Clem Morfuni:
— Swindon City Soccer Membership (@Official_STFC) October 9, 2024
STATEMENT
Swindon City Soccer Membership wish to challenge the next message from Clem Morfuni:
To all our supporters,
I wish to take this chance to reply to the Belief’s latest assertion and supply readability on the problems raised.
After I acquired the Club in July 2021, we have been simply 10 days away from administration and the brand new season beginning.
What we inherited:
1. Six gamers and no Supervisor.
2. The Membership had £10 within the financial institution and the workers had not been paid.
3. The package had not been ordered or paid for, subsequently there was no package for the gamers to play in.
4. There was no coach journey to take the gamers to the video games.
5. No sponsors for the package.
6. There was a £1.5 million HMRC debt which we needed to pay, which is now cleared.
7. The Membership had not paid the hire to Swindon Borough Council for 15 months, there was £300k of unpaid hire. The council had taken the Membership to court docket to retrieve the monies. This has been cleared.
8. We inherited £4.5 million value of collectors, these have been paid.
9. The Membership had a £2.95 million debenture as a result of earlier exorbitant spending on the enjoying price range, which has been cleared.
10. There was an impressive COVID EFL mortgage of over £500k, which needed to be paid off.
11. There have been excellent authorized points, a few of which proceed to today, which wanted to be paid. We can not talk about the main points of those for authorized causes and confidentiality.
The things we now have achieved since taking on:
1. Shopping for The County Floor 50/50 with the Supporters Belief. With out the nice Nigel Eady and the Trustees Robert Carter, John Carter, Jez Webb, and Gary Herbert this is able to by no means have occurred. I thank them for securing the way forward for the house of Swindon City Soccer Membership for generations to return.
2. Establishing an Advisory Board Assembly to meet with all of the supporter teams to debate objects throughout the Membership which I’ve attended in individual or over groups solely lacking one assembly. As a Chairman, the supporters & supporter teams have extra entry to me than many different Chairpersons. I’m at all times keen to talk about points with any supporter or supporter teams both personally or on the telephone no matter the place I’m round the world.
3. We have injected monies into The Nigel Eady County Floor, little or no funds have been spent on the stadium for 30 years.
4. We have paid the deposit for Statue Park and have organised the contractor to position the Don Rogers statue in the park.
5. We have appointed the Architects for the event of the Don Rogers Stand.
6. We have built-in the Girls’s Staff to safe their future as an integral a part of the Membership and are investing within the crew to intention for promotion and constructing a pathway for youthful feminine gamers into first-team soccer.
7. We now have invested within the Academy so we are able to develop our youth and type each a pathway into the primary crew and potential participant gross sales.
8. We negotiated a launch from our contract with Puma which was costing the Membership 100s of hundreds of kilos per yr. This has allowed us to negotiate a brand new contract with Professional-Direct and entry to the Adidas package.
9. We now have opened our books to Honest Sport and to the Supporters Belief which clearly confirms that I’ve by no means taken a penny from the Membership. I don’t take any cost or bills for my flights, journey prices, lodges, or meals, I even pay for my very own duplicate shirts.
10. We now have elevated the price range on the soccer facet, to the second greatest price range since Paolo Di Canio.
It’s vital to recognise that the Membership’s journey should embrace constructing a strong basis from which long-term success can develop. Merely put, it’s not nearly fast fixes. It’s irritating for us all that it takes time, however we should guarantee we now have stability and sustainability.
I additionally wish to tackle the criticism that my monetary help for the Membership is structured as debt. That is customary observe in soccer and ensures transparency and accountability. As I’ve mentioned many occasions, I’m not right here to revenue from Swindon City Soccer Membership. Each penny I’ve invested has been to guard and construct the Membership.
We signaled as much as Honest Sport and supplied them with all the knowledge that they wanted to provide their report earlier in the yr.
In our conferences and on the Advisory Board conferences, the Belief has confirmed that few different Golf equipment present as a lot entry to the proprietor and the monetary and common particulars of the Membership as we do.
Communication and Engagement
Concerning communication, I acknowledge there may be at all times room for enchancment, and we have been actively recruiting a Senior Digital Marketing skilled to bridge this hole during the last 5 months.
At first of final week, we carried out a second spherical of interviews with candidates and are hoping to nominate this place by the top of the month. It takes time to recruit this sort of function, and we want to ensure that this key place is crammed by the precise individual.
I’m dedicated to creating positive that our supporters are stored up-to-date and engaged with the Membership’s actions.
We now have appointed a Fan Engagement Officer. As this appointment consists of ticketing queries and supporter liaison it naturally sat effectively with the SLO function as they’re obtainable to followers on matchday, and it supplyed a possibility for a workers member’s development.
We now have produced a Fan Engagement Plan that’s obtainable on our web site which will probably be up to date every season and are totally dedicated to bi-monthly advisory board conferences (this was agreed by all our supporter group representatives in our January AB assembly, which included a Belief consultant).
We have a crew of workers which might be what we are able to do to boost the matchday expertise for all our followers which incorporates the boys’s and girls’s groups. The Junior Reds room has been an awesome success and as a Membership, we’re at present what we are able to do for the 11-17 and 18-24-year-old supporters.
Our advisory board has welcomed new members from key supporter teams, and we even have extra workers members obtainable on the conferences to reply questions and provides division updates. I’ve attended all however certainly one of these conferences.
We are going to proceed to carry our Followers Boards and are at present completely different ways in which we are able to make the discussion board extra inclusive for all of our supporters’ teams, together with our youthful followers and abroad supporters.
We now have been holding common conferences with the OSC to debate joint initiatives i.e. Charity of the 12 months and to seek out methods to enhance our fan expertise and hearken to suggestions from the followers.
Following our supporters’ group assembly in June, we now have, as requested, been assembly with the Belief frequently to reply any questions and to hearken to their suggestions.
We now have confirmed, in our matchday programmes, our social media channels, and on our web site, the delay of and reasoning for the completion of the Legends Lounge and Store entrance and we are going to remain dedicated to offering updates as and when we now have data to offer you.
We now have recognised the significance of holding followers updated with what’s happening within the footballing facet of the Membership. We now have tremendously elevated the data obtainable relating to the boys’s first crew, academy and girls’s groups with pre-match and post-match evaluations, interviews and different articles which can be found throughout all social media channels, on the web site together with our match day programme. We stay dedicated to offering extra participating and informative content material for our followers, as at all times, we welcome our followers’ suggestions on how we are able to enhance.
On Area Efficiency
We all know that each one of you have been as disillusioned as we have been with the outcomes on the pitch final season and this season hasn’t but met our expectations, however we moved to recruit a brand new head coach and crew as rapidly as we might for the beginning of the season. All of the workers and gamers on the footballing facet of the Membership are totally dedicated and dealing very onerous to get outcomes on the pitch.
I elevated the price range to allow us to recruit gamers and elevated this once more on the finish of the final switch window to recruit some further gamers to boost the squad additional.
We are within the technique of recruiting some further workers for the Academy, we have launched some further roles and the Women’s groups have further coaches working with them this season.
Funding is and continues to be made into the soccering facet of the Membership.
Different Possession and Funding
As for the Belief’s name for different possession and funding alternatives, I’ve at all times acknowledged that I’m totally dedicated to proudly owning and operating the soccer membership.
In our assembly with Neil Hutchings and James Phipps, I acknowledged that I wasn’t all in favour of promoting the Membership. Nevertheless, if the Belief needs me to depart, I acknowledged they need to present proof of funds and a proper letter of curiosity and I reiterated that the soccer membership will not be on the market and I stay devoted and dedicated to constructing a Membership that followers will be pleased with.
Impression of On-line Hate and Division
I really feel strongly concerning the on-line abuse and unfavorable behaviour that has surfaced in latest weeks. Criticism is a component and parcel of soccer, and I settle for my justifiable share. I’m involved by the degrees of private assaults and abuse directed at not solely me but in addition at gamers, workers, and different supporters. This isn’t what being a Swindon City fan is about.
Bullying is for cowards and on-line hate impacts the psychological well being and efficiency of our gamers, particularly the youthful ones. It’s demoralising and it may possibly even push proficient people away from the Membership.
The administration and training workers additionally really feel the stress of those assaults, making an already demanding job even more durable. All of us must keep in mind that there’s a human facet to soccer that goes past wins and losses.
I urge all supporters to rally behind the crew and positively channel their ardour. All of us need the identical factor – to see Swindon City succeed and transfer up the soccer ladder. Your help makes an actual distinction on match day, and I ask that we concentrate on creating an surroundings the place gamers really feel inspired to offer their greatest.
Assist for Belief Initiatives and Subsequent Steps
The joint possession of The Nigel Eady County Floor is a testomony to what we are able to obtain once we work collectively, and we’re grateful to the Belief for his or her efforts in making this a actuality and naturally, the great legacy left to us by Nigel Eady who made this doable.
Work has begun on Statue Park which we shared with you lately as we intention to offer a brand new outside assembly house for our supporters and improve the matchday expertise.
I welcome the Belief’s continued engagement and stay up for assembly in individual subsequent month after I return to Swindon.
Till then, I encourage all followers to remain united, help the crew, and be aware of the impression their phrases and actions can have on those that characterize the Membership.
Let’s concentrate on what we are able to construct collectively.
COYR!
Regards,
Clem Morfuni
Right here’s what Clem mentioned 8 months in the past in a video posted on the membership’s YouTube channel…
Twitter customers gave their take because the Swindon proprietor slams ‘abuse’ of gamers and workers and says the membership have been 10 days from administration…
@rachw101: The Nigel Eady fund purchased the CG not you. We had our worst league end. You’ve lied repeatedly. Get the fundamentals proper the remaining is pure waffle. We want new possession now.
@dickostfc: No point out of missed funds “admin errors” quite a few horrible coaches and the involvement of the kielys hart Austin ranford and many others oh and the abysmal on area performances we now have needed to endure
@ChisieWeirdo: Yet one more new low for the Membership. Who’s advising the proprietor earlier than statements like this are launched? Is their no fundamental comms or PR technique? Each week the senior administration on the Membership acts more and more like a two bit non-league membership
@haydenbedwell2: You missed off your achievements “lowest ever league end within the golf equipment historical past”.
@DinseyRob: It’s not the form of assertion you set out when issues are going effectively, is it?
@DeanMcMackin: Completely proper, abuse is improper and everybody would like to be totally behind the gamers but it surely’s been robust. Taking credit score for what must be regular enterprise practices is the place followers get irritated although. It shouldn’t be a privilege that payments are being paid and issues are painted
@SN1Insider:
“CLEM MORFUNI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB”
Loud and clear on Saturday, city followers!
@ijwilmer81: I miss out on how ‘getting a package’ and appointing an architect as constructive strikes for a soccer membership….. that’s simply customary enterprise. My suggestion could be appoint a PR skilled and or company as these statements have gotten increasingly shambolic!!
@Simonhockey45: It’s not working Clem. We thanks for saving the membership, however I wouldn’t have confidence that you’ve got the monetary means to take this membership to the subsequent degree. Please have a look at all critical affords that come your means.The followers will respect you extra for that, than sticking round..
@PaulD_70: Hello Clem, thanks for the assertion. Don’t let the door slam in your arse on the way in which out. Love and kisses…
@pvfcken: Rivalry apart, no fanbase deserves (particularly loyal EFL supporters) should be taken for a trip by two bit businessmen who don’t give two hoots concerning the membership they personal. For the betterment of your membership, I as a vale fan want youse the perfect
@harryjjnicholas: We don’t care, promote up
@MarkHopgoo44290: Setting apart rivalry I hope you get your possession sorted out. You have to be difficult on the high finish of League One. I’m sufficiently old to recollect you beating Arsenal 4-3 on the County floor in 79 in entrance of 20k plus followers.
@mtholmes84: Simply pack up and go Morfuni. The entire tone of that assertion stinks of you claiming to be the sufferer & followers being improper for anticipating a competently run soccer membership! Morfuni out! #stfc
@jackomanaco: We aren’t falling for this anymore. Continued gaslighting of followers and a regurgitation of ‘achievements’ that remind me of somebody wheeling out their 90s document of Achievement Folder to point out off their GCSE in meals tech for a 2024 job interview. We aren’t fools
@ClaireFurnell1: What a load of waffle… promote up and get out of our membership Clem and take all of the “others” with you
@JamieD_STFC: If you happen to want to make this membership one thing to be pleased with, fuck that prick Corridor out. I 95% agree with the targetting of membership staff needing to cease, however I refuse to cease calling out this man till he’s gone. Absolute fucking virus upon this membership full of fine individuals.
@Alfiesims08: Promote up and fuck off
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