Former Billericay owner Glenn Tamplin takes over Romford FC

[HELVETICVS]

Looks like a desperate attempt to bolster those falling attendances is in play :
7 Match Package | Bostik League Premier Division | Billericay Town Web

£50 for the remaining 7 games, only available until Tuesday 27 March.
£7.14 per game, pro rata.

This very much looks like a breach of Standardised Rule 20 to me.
Standardised Rules apply in Steps 1-6, Rule 20 is p.553 of the FA Handbook.
[Divisions 5-10 in old money, because there is no such thing as the 'Premier League', which is merely a marketing wheeze concocted back in 1992 to repackage Division 1]

It can only stand up if the same offer is available to visiting fans on the day and I'm guessing away fans will be asked to stump up £11 on the gate, or whatever the usual charge is.

A "home Club concession as appropriate" means a Season Ticket

Rule 20 :
"The minimum charge for admission to all matches shall be determined from time to time by the Board.

Admission charges, excluding home Club concessions as appropriate, must be the same for home and visiting supporters at Competition matches.

Clubs may, with the written permission of the Board, have a maximum of three Competition Match days each Playing Season during which they can vary admission charges for adults including allowing free admission."

Fuck me gently, this really is a bunch of Zippo's Circus Clowns.

Last team that tried this bullshit was Hull United in NCEFL-D1 [Division 10] and they fell apart like cheap shoes - they're now playing in the Humber Premier League [Division 12] after being kicked out of the NCEFL and had to take their Reserves' place in the HPL.

They were so desperate for people to attend that they were resorting to giving away a car in a raffle at one point - ended up going to the Chairman's friend, unsurprisingly. 'Twas only a Nissan Micra.

2-1 to Tonbridge Angles as I write - they've called them Angles three times so far...

#TogetherWeFailAsOne

 

[EDC]

Looks like a desperate attempt to bolster those falling attendances is in play :
7 Match Package | Bostik League Premier Division | Billericay Town Web

£50 for the remaining 7 games, only available until Tuesday 27 March.
£7.14 per game, pro rata.

This very much looks like a breach of Standardised Rule 20 to me.
Standardised Rules apply in Steps 1-6, Rule 20 is p.553 of the FA Handbook.
[Divisions 5-10 in old money, because there is no such thing as the 'Premier League', which is merely a marketing wheeze concocted back in 1992 to repackage Division 1]

It can only stand up if the same offer is available to visiting fans on the day and I'm guessing away fans will be asked to stump up £11 on the gate, or whatever the usual charge is.

A "home Club concession as appropriate" means a Season Ticket

Rule 20 :
"The minimum charge for admission to all matches shall be determined from time to time by the Board.

Admission charges, excluding home Club concessions as appropriate, must be the same for home and visiting supporters at Competition matches.

Clubs may, with the written permission of the Board, have a maximum of three Competition Match days each Playing Season during which they can vary admission charges for adults including allowing free admission."

Fuck me gently, this really is a bunch of Zippo's Circus Clowns.

Last team that tried this bullshit was Hull United in NCEFL-D1 [Division 10] and they fell apart like cheap shoes - they're now playing in the Humber Premier League [Division 12] after being kicked out of the NCEFL and had to take their Reserves' place in the HPL.

They were so desperate for people to attend that they were resorting to giving away a car in a raffle at one point - ended up going to the Chairman's friend, unsurprisingly. 'Twas only a Nissan Micra.

2-1 to Tonbridge Angles as I write - they've called them Angles three times so far...

#TogetherWeFailAsOne

That’s the way it finished too.

 

[PartisanDulwich]

 

[HELVETICVS]

Jan, Feb & Mar in the League :
DWWDW LLLLW L
Win Rate : .3636
Unbeaten Rate : .5454

A quick side note, with reference to a continuous and ongoing study I undertook of all Football Leagues/Combinations/Alliances [including non-league].

Since all League Competitions were begun in 1888, a Win Rate of .364 has placed a Club firmly within the Relegation zone.

The Mean Average requirement which guarantees avoiding Relegation, over 130 years of Competition, is for :
a Win Rate of .400 minimum, in conjunction with an Unbeaten Rate of .600

So, to be clear, BTFC's current form in 2018 would have gotten them Relegated in just about every Football Combination League that has ever run, when looking at the Mean Average Requirement.

Now, whilst I recognise that the past is no indication of future performance [and no, I'm not looking to sell you an investment] if one looks at the forthcoming Fixtures for BTFC then it doesn't bode particularly well.

Jan : DWW
Feb : DWLL
Mar : LLWL [24][26][28][31]
Apr : [2][5][7][9][14][17][19][21] [cup final] [24][28]

That Fixture pile-up crash-collision, where the date of the Fixture is shown in square brackets, is one of the worst I've seen since Kidderminster in the mid-80s and represents one of the worst since the mid 1960s or so, when a number of Clubs had to play 2 games in one day.

Caveat, they are a victim of their own success - and fair play to them for that, they've still another Cup Final to play in amongst those forthcoming matches.

And probably Play-Off matches, I would imagine, given the pile-up...

Is Glenn still offering odds on the Title, in contravention of the Association's Conduct Rule E8, FA Handbook pages 120-122?
If so, yespleaseyumyum.

 

[HELVETICVS]

Love this, BTW.
Now with added Tonbridge Angels. Good Stuff.
Qualitissimo.



Love the fact that they've put DHFC[TM], too...

 

[editor]

Three bookings for Billericay too. They must have the worst disciplinary record in the league. Is it listed anywhere?

 

[editor]

Just look at the matches they've got coming up. Three games every week!

 

[HELVETICVS]

And the memes just keep coming...much like the Fixtures & Losses!



This really is becoming a LOLcow
Love it.

 

[Lucy Fur]

Three bookings for Billericay too. They must have the worst disciplinary record in the league. Is it listed anywhere?

Nah, they can only manage second in that too!

 

[bringbackelmo]

They must be getting a little nervous over there...a couple more defeats and it'll start to get interesting.

 

[Pink Panther]

They must be getting a little nervous over there...a couple more defeats and it'll start to get interesting.

I'm surprised this hasn't happened earlier. They've got an unqualified egomaniac managing the team, assisted by an inexperienced yes-man. I've been saying all season that if they get a couple of bad results I'm not sure those two are equipped to stop the rot and turn it around. Then there was the episode when the players were asked to give up a week's wages due to poor results after playing four matches in eight days, and the owner/manager tried to shame the squad by telling the world that the majority had refused his request. Sounds like a text book example of "how to lose the dressing room". He could have just given Craig Edwards a bigger budget and let him get on with it (after all he won this league with Billericay six seasons ago) or he could have spent some of his vast wealth on bringing in an experienced Conference manager to go with all his experienced Conference players. With the individual quality in the squad they may well get back on track and win the league, but it'll be despite the manager not because of him.

 

[bringbackelmo]

They've undoubtedly achieved all season despite him rather than because of him. Didn't realise quite how poor their league form is, five defeats in the last six!

 

[HELVETICVS]

The gentleman has treated the top tier of Regional Football [Division 7, Isthmian/Southern/Northern Prem.] as though it were the entry to the Pyramid [Division 10, various leagues above their respective County Senior Leagues] on a budget which is more or less at par to, or in excess of, the combined wage bill of all four Promotion contenders from the sub-National tier [Division 6, Conference North/South].

That's not just excessive, it is obscene.

That's simply outwith the spirit of Non-League Football - we're a family, as the recent outpouring of support for The Hamlet[TM] has shown. One questions, were BTFC to flounder in a similar vein, would we still act as a family towards them?
Yes, once the 2020 AFC Billericay Phoenix FC restarts at County Senior League, yes - we probably will.

To get out of the entry to Regional Football at Division 10, newly-established clubs have been spending £60k-£85k.
Clubs competing for Promotion from the Division 9 Regional Leagues to the supra-Regional Division 8 [i.e. into the Isthmian/Southern/Northern Prem.] newly-established clubs have been spending in excess of £125k and then below double that at £250k for Promotion from Division 8 to Division 7 [i.e. internal Promotion within the Isthmian/Southern/Northern Prem.]

At those levels and on those budgets, Clubs have been able to get away with what BTFC have set up. Inexperience isn't an issue and a generous playing budget will smooth out any cracks in that set-up. 'New Money' sails through - like a knife through better [not a typo, BTW].

What those nouveau-riche Clubs also share with the nouveau-riche yet 138-year old BTFC is a pattern of repeated Breaches of the Association's Rules.
I'm going to cite Shaw Lane Aquaforce as an indicative example, to use as an analogy on this one, for two notable Breaches :
1. 'Aquaforce' was the Club's Sponsor, owned by the Club's owner (naturally), and no-one noticed this within the Association or at the Sanctioning Competitions for a number of years - in England, Clubs are not allowed to bear the name of their Sponsor within the Pyramid, only at Division 11 County Senior Leagues and below;
2. Shaw Lane Aquaforce were a victim of their own success and had a Fixture pile-up when it came to competing in the Promotion Play-Offs. Their decision was to refuse to play in the County Senior Cup Final, giving preference to the Play-Offs instead. I'm sure you can guess the opinions of the Clubs they'd knocked out en route. The refusal to play was a Breach of the Competition Rules and the Association's obligation on Clubs in England to compete for their Affiliated Associations' 'County Cups'.

I cite the above examples as being indicative of arrogance on the part of the 'New Money' towards fellow Clubs, supporters of those Clubs, the Association & their Associations, THE ACTUAL GODDAMN RULES and the contempt that they all-too-frequently direct at the latter.

Cue Mr Tamplin.

The Muriel contains more about the last 13.8 months than it does the preceding 138 years of BTFC's history.

You utter Knobjockey.

Gosh, if the gentleman had just had a couple of chats with some real 'football people' then BTFC could have gotten in the right Staff and on a much, much lower playing budget whilst still achieving the chap's ambitions - all the "silver wear" right across the board. This is nothing against Harry Wheeler, or any of the others for that matter, he's plenty of miles left on the clock and he's got plenty to learn.

The 'gentleman' should learn, very quickly I'd suggest, that less is more.
And yes, I'm aware of the irony in me saying that, but fuck you.

/rant

 

[DonkeyAssessor]

Just look at the matches they've got coming up. Three games every week!

View attachment 130694

A bit more bad weather and it could be 8 games in the final week. does the £50 deal include games at aveley ?

 

[DonkeyAssessor]

Nah, they can only manage second in that too! View attachment 130717

with all their games in hand, don't write them off in that

 

[DonkeyAssessor]

Looks like a desperate attempt to bolster those falling attendances is in play :
7 Match Package | Bostik League Premier Division | Billericay Town Web

£50 for the remaining 7 games, only available until Tuesday 27 March.
£7.14 per game, pro rata.

This very much looks like a breach of Standardised Rule 20 to me.
Standardised Rules apply in Steps 1-6, Rule 20 is p.553 of the FA Handbook.
[Divisions 5-10 in old money, because there is no such thing as the 'Premier League', which is merely a marketing wheeze concocted back in 1992 to repackage Division 1]

It can only stand up if the same offer is available to visiting fans on the day and I'm guessing away fans will be asked to stump up £11 on the gate, or whatever the usual charge is.

A "home Club concession as appropriate" means a Season Ticket

Rule 20 :
"The minimum charge for admission to all matches shall be determined from time to time by the Board.

Admission charges, excluding home Club concessions as appropriate, must be the same for home and visiting supporters at Competition matches.

Clubs may, with the written permission of the Board, have a maximum of three Competition Match days each Playing Season during which they can vary admission charges for adults including allowing free admission."

Fuck me gently, this really is a bunch of Zippo's Circus Clowns.

Last team that tried this bullshit was Hull United in NCEFL-D1 [Division 10] and they fell apart like cheap shoes - they're now playing in the Humber Premier League [Division 12] after being kicked out of the NCEFL and had to take their Reserves' place in the HPL.

They were so desperate for people to attend that they were resorting to giving away a car in a raffle at one point - ended up going to the Chairman's friend, unsurprisingly. 'Twas only a Nissan Micra.

2-1 to Tonbridge Angles as I write - they've called them Angles three times so far...

#TogetherWeFailAsOne

Nothing to stop league clubs doing multi game packages at reduced prices, to try and get a better attendance at an unattrative Tuesday night in november

 

[HELVETICVS]

A bit more bad weather and it could be 8 games in the final week. does the £50 deal include games at aveley ?

Presumably.
The advertising fluff is strangely silent/nebulous on the point. As are the Ts&Cs.
The webpage address quoted in post #1591 is more keen to take your payment details than to tell you mere things such as details and venues - you know, the unimportant stuff.

Having just tried to order tickets, I got sent into a self-directing permanent loop - a webspiral, if you will.
https://billericaytownfc.ktckts.com/clienterror
NB you may not wish to click on this, dependent upon your device.

The ticket sales are handled by a 3rd Party and its Ts&Cs are, shall we say, somewhat lacking.
Both in substance and as regards enforceable terms, I will add.
Terms & Conditions | Billericay Town Web

Hilariously, the 3rd Party's Ts&Cs contain Clauses which purport to Bind BTFC whilst stating, "Kaizen Ticketing Solutions LTD (www.kaizenticketing.com) owns and operates this Website." Presumably they'd take the payment too, once they fix the perma-loop.
It's pretty obvious, having seen precisely this sort of thing before from similar smaller 'ticket solutions' companies and start-ups, that Kaizen Ticketing have simply copied & pasted BTFC's Ts&Cs into their own.
Amusing.

Not being a Contracts Lawyer, I couldn't possibly comment on the ambiguity in the Construction of the Clauses [or even absence thereof] being construed in the favour of the Consumer, or the Party which did not 'draw up' the Contract, on that point and several others which spring to mind...

I also note, with interest, that two of BTFC's sponsors are Law Firms. Hilarious.
Hope GT has a discount on hourly Billable Rates & I'm sure they've been kept busy this Season.

Zippo's.
Circus.

 

[HELVETICVS]

Nothing to stop league clubs doing multi game packages at reduced prices, to try and get a better attendance at an unattrative Tuesday night in november

Yes there is. Standardised Rule 20.
The bare max, other than Season Tickets, is 3 League Fixtures.
I've quoted it above in post #1591 and it's to be found in both the FA & Isthmian Handbooks.

There is a strict set of requirements, detailed in the Rule.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

I think picking over other team's ticketing T&C's is a bit...unnecessary, tbh.

They're still just another Isthmian League team at the end of the day.

 

[liamdhfc]

As long as you have approval from the league then everything is fine. We have a number of offers at specific groups that are all agreed by the league in advance.

 

[HELVETICVS]

Monkeygrinder's Organ ,
Unlawful or non-contractual behaviour is Unlawful or non-contractual behaviour.
I call it as I see it and I have my opinion on that.

I mentioned the offer because the context is a falling attendance.
It is of course, an attempt to address flagging attendances when fans are going to be going to the AGP Arena or Aveley more frequently than perhaps was planned.
I don't disagree with that motive on the part of BTFC.

liamdhfc
As to DHFC's promotions, different situations entirely.
As you correctly identify, with permission from the League is the key - Rule 20 sets that out clearly. There are caveats on what an allowable concession is. 15% on the admittedly optional wording.

Additional Edit : I'm simply not a huge fan of so-called 'Financial Doping' [and surely no-one disputes that this is an instance of the same], but if one does such things which distort the Competition then one should expect a certain level of scrutiny.
Ducks need to be in a row and the sad fact is that they haven't been.
That makes me cross.
And sad.

 

[iamwithnail]

Isn't it the same as us offering half-season tickets? Like we did last year, 93 quid for the last half of the season - Just a season ticket for the last five games, effectively. As others have said, there's so much richer pickings to be had with Billericay.

 

[DonkeyAssessor]

As long as you have approval from the league then everything is fine. We have a number of offers at specific groups that are all agreed by the league in advance.

And in deed we did likewise almost exactly a year ago for a 3 match package including the home game v Havant & waterloovile.

 

[HELVETICVS]

No, Season Tickets, Half-Season Tickets & variations thereof are what the Rule terms Allowable Concessions - the term has nothing to do with OAP/Student/Disability concessions.

In accordance with written permission from the League is the key.

And again, the Allowable Concession is 15% per [admittedly optional part of] the Rule.
Assuming £11, £7.14 is over that percentage.
Strictly, the max discount would leave a ticket of £9.35

The foregoing paragraph applies to Allowable Concessions - Season Tickets and fractions thereof. Anything else must be agreed in writing by the League.
The question is, has the League done so prior to the Advertisement of the Promotion?

Anyway, I agree with a previous poster - much richer pickings elsewhere with BTFC.

Shall we put a pin in this one, there?

 

[Pink Panther]

I think picking over other team's ticketing T&C's is a bit...unnecessary, tbh.

They're still just another Isthmian League team at the end of the day.

As long as you have approval from the league then everything is fine. We have a number of offers at specific groups that are all agreed by the league in advance.

I understand that one rival club in our division (not Billericay) made a complaint to the League about the range and breadth of our special offers and concessions last season or the one before, which strikes me as remarkably petty.

 

[HELVETICVS]

I understand that one rival club in our division (not Billericay) made a complaint to the League about the range and breadth of our special offers and concessions last season or the one before, which strikes me as remarkably petty.

I'd agree.
Rule 20 is, in fact, indicative of the operation of a Cartel, being very much contrary to anti-Cartel Rules and is in fact one of the matters being challenged in an upcoming case against the Association.

Personally, I don't like Rule 20 because it's anti-Competitive and acts against the interests of the Fan.

[Edit] :
Furthermore, it is a coercion of Clubs into acting as a Cartel by explicitly imposing upon them a Contractual Obligation, through Rule 20, if they wish to play in a specific Competition.
I say 'specific Competition' because there are Rule 20 equivalents found in all Association-Sanctioned Competitions operated by Affiliated Leagues & County FAs, whether it be a League or Cup as operated by that Affiliated entity.

There is no Case Law in England, of which I am aware, that applies the 'General Sports Exemption', or some form of sporting exceptionalism to it. If it were MLS, by way of example, then the US's Anti-Trust Laws would certainly have been applied already by an Interested Party; an Anti-Trust Case was brought against MLS over there in the early 2000s over Player Contracts and you will doubtlessly be aware that another is being Drafted in respect of Promotion/Relegation.

I most certainly am aware that the CAMA policies are hardening with regard to this matter, vide :
Cartels: confess and apply for leniency - GOV.UK
Cartels - informant rewards policy - GOV.UK
Hence, from the titles alone, you can see that there is significant Governmental pressure forthcoming in respect of this, and other, Association Rules.

Minimum-pricing Cartels, which is what Rule 20 actually entails, really should be seen as the back-end & flip-side of what was the target of "£20's Plenty" campaign.
It's another pricing measure which hurts the fan. Or customer as 'The 92' would have it.

The Government is looking to crack down on a number of footballing matters, not simply those which currently threaten DHFC[TM], I can assure you. It is our duty as fans to ensure that these measures are the right ones and I think we're now reaching a critical mass to achieve that - hopefully...
[/Edit]

If a Club wants to let people in for free, then why not?
Other than for the reason it has appeared in this context, whereby it's obvious that a Club able to do so is operating beyond its means and is most regularly done by Clubs seeking to bolster tiny or non-existent crowds, rather than those Clubs which are augmenting existing ones or, as is the case with DHFC[TM] amongst others, as part of a Community-benefit initiative.

However [and here I'll use the original language, as being the most appropriate] :
Ja, aber Regeln sind Regeln.

Anyways, back to those Rich Pickings & brightening the mood.
Background image from the Phoenix FM Interview and almost on the same level as "Trophys" [sic] appearing on the Muriel :

 

[HELVETICVS]

I'm sure that this has popped up on the feeds of those who use Twitter, but for those that don't, as follows :

Leatherhead have made a statement that one of their players, who made his Whitehawk debut on 23 December 2017, was ineligible to play for them during the course of a number of Fixtures.
Statement from the board of directors - News - Leatherhead Football Club 03067144
BTFC supporters have alleged that Yannis Ambroisine was ineligible for Leatherhead v BTFC in the FA Cup, leading this particular BTFC fan to believe that £18k in prize money could be due to BTFC:


This happened quite some time ago, so it's staggering that it's only cropping up now. I am therefore somewhat curious as to how that has occurred so late in the Season, four months down the line.
And that it's Leatherhead again.

Comments of their supporters concur with this & seem somewhat resigned, if anything :


The Club's statement doesn't give enough specifics, but the only applicable part of Rule 16 of the FA Cup's Competition Rules, which remains of any utility whatsoever, is the levy of a fine.

As the BTFC supporters have realised, Rule 25(g) can be applied to any Club in breach of the Competition Rules and that Club ordered to repay prize funds.
FAC Rule 25(g) :
"...the Professional Game Board may...order the repayment of any monies gained by such Clubs for Rounds of the Competition in relation to which it is determined that the Club was in breach and the Professional Game Board may (in its absolute discretion) award the recovered monies to the Club(s) that were defeated in such earlier Rounds"
I've added the emphasis by underlining that it is not a given guaranteed repayment - a club in Breach may have already spent the money, four months down the line by way of example, with an enforced repayment pushing it into unnecessary hardship.
PGB may even order repayment and retain it for itself, per the first clause of the Rule; BTFC will of course be looking for an exercise of the second clause of the Rule.

It's quite conceivable that only a fine be levied in this instance, under Rule 16, exercised in isolation.

Leatherhead have requested a Personal Hearing. If I were advising them, I'd be running the arguments laid out above. And I'd advise against a Personal Hearing. Unnecessary expense & a damn-near nailed-on risk of adverse Costs, when it can clearly be dealt with on the papers.

I'm amazed that this has only arisen four months after the FAC-R1 Tie.
Not surprised, mind you, merely amazed.
English football, eh?

The equivalent League Rules would be 6.1.1 & 6.1.2 with the sanctions/penalties set out by Rule 6.9, being the usual fine, points deduction from any gained during those matches or the possible option of a replay [but I bet no-one fancies a replay, even if it's feasible during this somewhat problematic current Season].

 

[DonkeyAssessor]

That news should make the Leatherhead v ricay fixture on Easter Saturday a bit tastier.

 

[HELVETICVS]

Our good friend Mark Baker's a real charmer...this is some more great Essexshire artwork :



Plenty of class on exhibit in that part of the world at this moment, eh?

I almost enjoy the amateurism of the 'e' being so lazily placed, over the edge of the placard and hanging out in space. And the 's'. And the asterisk. And the 'w' comma.
That's some high-quality Photoshopping, right there - gr8skillz, that man...

 

[GregDHFC]

When their club goes under because Tamplin is in prison, they will get absolutely no sympathy. Let's hope their club ceases to exist, and they can all go back to complaining about supporting west ham.