To be perfectly honest I wasn't really that interested in the game or the result.
In the immediate short-term I think it was vital to win that match purely for morale-boosting purposes. Still five points clear at the top of the table - I feel the notion that we're not just keeping the team going, but contributing towards a successful team makes a big difference.
The off-pitch support was immense. But...being a 'Natural Born Pessimist', if Meadows Residential hold steadfast, with no improvement, we will have to continuously raise this sort of money, and these crowds, to continue as we are. We are all as extremely generous as we can be, but most will not be able to do so indefinitely.
Its hard to say until we know what needs to be covered on a weekly basis. If it is just the wage bill i'm pretty confident you could find enough people to cover that week to week.
It need's a bit more clarity moving forwards. People won't indefinitely throw money at an intangible situation, I'm pretty confident they will if there is a definite and visible target to hit. To cover the wage bill as I understand it it would take about 500 people willing to pay £10 a week for 40 weeks of the year. That's achievable.
It's vital that we don't all sit back and congratulate ourselves over last night's efforts, because it's an ongoing situation for an indefinite period. We mustn't think that we're winning the battle just because last night went well and was emotionally uplifting, it's going to be a long hard slog.
I can understand pushing the need for immediate donations in the aftermath of Meadow dropping their stink bomb and walking out of the room and locking the door behind them. However one method of donating towards the 12th Man fund that doesn't seem to have been highlighted over the past week is by
standing order. That way there's a more predicatable amount of moneyhitting the 12th Man account each week/month. If we're just relying on ad-hoc online donations or dropping money in a bucket it's easy for people with busy lives just to forget about it when there isn't a home game for a couple of weeks.
I set up a standing order for £10 a week to the 12th Man last week. In one sense that may sound a lot to the individual; in another sense it sounds like a drop in the ocean in terms of the overall wage bill. But if all of us give what we can it all adds up. If everyone who was there last night gave £1 a week to 12th Man that probably covers the wages of four senior players. If those who can afford a bit more give more then we're really getting somewhere.
Personally, when it comes to deciding what I can "afford" I think of it in these terms: I'll often spend twenty quid on a few pints after a game, or just on an evening down the pub with friends. I may do that several times a month, as I'm sure many others do. If I stay at home occasionally I can give the money I've saved to the 12th Man. I was tempted to stay at home last Saturday instead of going to Harlow, then sticking the £25 it would have saved me on train fares + ground admission into the 12th Man. As it happens I went to Harlow (and wished afterwards I hadn't!), but I stuck an extra tenner in the bucket last night on the basis that I'd have had to pay on the gate if we'd been facing Harlow in a replay. I know a lot of people have other commitments and interests that all cost money not least children, or other hobbies and interests they care passionately about, but personally the way our club has evolved over the past few seasons has really brightened up my life and made a big difference during a period when a lot of other things have gone wrong, therefore I'm determined to keep giving as much as I can.
The big imponderable is Meadow's very unhelpful set of conditions imposed upon the club. They tell us we'll still have the profit from their matchday operations, but that's not a fixed amount and we have no opportunity to reduce matchday overheads by dispensing with some of the very large number of paid matchday staff they employ whose roles could be filled by supporters on a volutary basis, as they were in the not too distant past. For example, in addition to the security staff (which I think most of us accept as a sensible measure given the size of our crowds now) last night there seemed to be at least half a dozen stewards in the pink hi-viz vests doing very little other than being on hand to deal with any low level issues that might arise, plus three turnstile staff performing a role that Griff and other committee members or supporters used to do on a voluntary basis. Given the overall situation this is just pissing money down the drain. If it reaches the stage where players have to be released, but all these staff are still on the payroll, I feel it needs to be made clear in no uncertain terms to Meadow that it's not acceptable.
