The Dart(s) Board

Dicky Dart wrote: Thu May 08, 2025 7:23 pm The worry for me is that crowds held up well, to the point that they wouldn’t increase that much if we went back up, so the Board must think what’s the point of going up? We’d have higher costs without the extra income, and that potentially leads us down the path towards bankruptcy. The ethos at Dartford FC is unlike any other. We’d love to be averaging 2,000+ in the NLS, or, better, 3,000+ in the NLP. Unfortunately, that’s unlikely, and we certainly can’t guarantee it. Therefore, I fear the only way that promotion would be financially desirable is if we had less income in the Isthmian. Which means lower crowds, sadly.

Dart of Herts wrote: Thu May 08, 2025 7:47 pm

Dicky Dart wrote: Thu May 08, 2025 7:23 pm The worry for me is that crowds held up well, to the point that they wouldn’t increase that much if we went back up, so the Board must think what’s the point of going up? We’d have higher costs without the extra income, and that potentially leads us down the path towards bankruptcy. The ethos at Dartford FC is unlike any other. We’d love to be averaging 2,000+ in the NLS, or, better, 3,000+ in the NLP. Unfortunately, that’s unlikely, and we certainly can’t guarantee it. Therefore, I fear the only way that promotion would be financially desirable is if we had less income in the Isthmian. Which means lower crowds, sadly.

Our attendance didn’t just hold up. According to football web pages, our average was 1,289. Thats higher than both conference relegation seasons and all but one season in National South (21-22: first post-Covid)

So what’s to say that it won’t go up? Obviously being in a title race helped attendances but I think the board deserve a lot of credit for taking on feedback and implementing changes this season. Is it not to our credit that we finished 3rd when our budget was 17th? That means at least 15 other teams spent more than us and also didn’t go up.

Like many others, I wanted us to bounce back at the first attempt and am disappointed. But there are so many positives to take and build on. These conspiracy theories about the board are laughable

Sleightly Deceptive wrote: Thu May 08, 2025 8:53 pm I hear ya Parky. And I get it and kinda agree. However, it doesn’t hurt to speculate. We are a BIG club in the non league world and it’s not wrong for DFC fans to have a healthy elevated expectation going forward. For sure, it’s easy to slide down the slippery slope to oblivion. THAT is my worry. We just HAVE to rise - and f*cking quickly. And if that means ‘sod the budget’ for a while, then so be it. There are too many clubs ‘ready’ to take our ‘place.’

Mark Sweet wrote: Thu May 08, 2025 11:13 pm Makes the club look terrible and unattractive to any players who may want to join.

Looks like we will be losing our manager and 90% of our squad.

Oh dear. So much for the 5 year plan.

Sleightly Deceptive wrote: Fri May 09, 2025 11:48 am Can peeps please not ‘quote’ the cretin’s posts. I’ve got him blocked and my therapy is going well. But the tit crops up on reposts! (tongue in cheek).

The 5th Searcher wrote: Fri May 09, 2025 1:53 pm

Sleightly Deceptive wrote: Fri May 09, 2025 11:48 am Can peeps please not ‘quote’ the cretin’s posts. I’ve got him blocked and my therapy is going well. But the tit crops up on reposts! (tongue in cheek).

Thanks for the tip SD regarding blocking, it certainly works .

Tony H wrote: Sun May 18, 2025 6:54 pm Nobody knows what the budget is, nor should they outside the Board and management team. Ady did superbly well to achieve 3rd with many home grown players without splashing out as previous managers have done at this club and others simply to achieve nothing. Classic example - Folkestone last year!