As the Allams don't own Ferriby, they have no say in whether it's used as part of the deal. Ferriby, are, however, in very severe financial difficulty. The promotion has killed them, it's looking likely they'll go into administration before the end of the season and may skip the NLN and head straight for the Unibond league. A real shame, but inevitable given the lack of funding.
That's the exact problem, they operate on the same budget as Whitby Town. Or at least they did at the start of the season. They've brought in some players that have pretty high wages (by Ferriby standards), like Mukendi and Oliver and it's crippled them. The home crowds are the same as they were in the Northern Premier League and there's no way to boost that because City take all the fans. So the average home crowd remains at around 400. Away fans bolster it, particularly bigger clubs like York and Wrexham, but it's not enough. They make **** all on merchandising and spent a lot of money putting in extra turnstiles, toilets and refreshments to meet ground requirements. They've now got until July to improve the ground seating wise, or they'll be relegated anyway. SF isn't putting in anything else, he's keeping the running costs down by sacking a lot of the also rans staff (which is an unfair term to be frank, as they work bloody hard), but he's paying the bare minimum to keep the club going and it's going to end badly. It was why they got Housham in, because he was the cheap option, he isn't even a great manager. They tried to get the lad at FC United but they couldn't afford the compensation or the wage demands. They're heading back down the leagues, which in all honesty is where they belong. They've become a victim of their own success, they just played really good football and got promoted too quickly. It happened to Canvey Island a few years back, it's sad, but that's the world of non-league, if you don't have a backer like AFC Wimbledon, Maidstone or Salford, it can go tits pretty quickly.
You are right, in addition the area just isn't suitable for a club in the National League, there is not enough parking and if the gates could get to 2000-3000 per game which is where they need to be the area just can't handle crowds like that.
Absolutely. They'd need a whole new ground to be able to do that, but it's just not going to happen sadly. The lads will enjoy it while they can, but they'll probably all be free agents at the end of the season, which is a shame as I still think they're in with a good chance of finishing outside the bottom 4.
Assem Allam doesn't have anything to do with Ferriby. His daughter is married to Steve Forster, but the closest Ehab has come is attending during reserve games.
Thank you for explaining... So grown to quick? No backing? How much do you reckon they need to stay competitive ?
Nothing like. Steve suffered a life threatening disease which he had to have surgery on this year, he doesn't want to run the club anymore because he just wants to retire. He's willing to sell the club, he just hasn't announced it publicly because he's quite a private guy (he did announce earlier last year that the club wasn't for sale, but has since changed his mind). Steve is nothing like Ehab or Assem, he's a really down to earth bloke who has put a lot of hard work and effort into the club. Two of his sons came through the youth set up, he's become very attached to it, but he has limits and can't be blamed for that. If somebody comes in with a bit of cash then the situation might change, but I really can't see that happening.
It wasn't an argument, you said something incorrect, I corrected you. Exactly how it should work. I wouldn't have said anything if what you had said was true.
Realistically they needed a good cup run, which the club were hoping to get due to going in automatically at the 4th qualifying round. They got knocked out, which was a pisser and meant no extra funding was coming in. No money is coming in from the owners and the TV rights are only £7200 a game, of which Ferriby have been on once to my knowledge. The FA Trophy final, which Ferriby famously won, cost the club more to attend in travel, hotels and suits than they got in income for winning it. If you look at other semi-professional clubs in the National League, such as Solihull, Woking and Guiseley, they've got budgets 4 times the size of Ferriby's. The money just isn't there to run as a top tier non-league side.
