Three Sides Of Woe

Oxford United's protracted talks over the ownership of their ground show no real sign of reaching a climax.

Firoz Kassam, the club's former owner with roots in takeaways and 'slum' hotels and the man whose name still adorns the Kassam Stadium, has now held the stadium for over 10 years since selling his interest in the club. Kassam took over the club in 1999, putting it through a CVA to slash debts to 10% of their original value after buying the entity for £1, and effectively bought the club and Manor Ground for around only £1million in total.

The Manor Ground was later sold between Kassam's companies for £6million, then to a developer for £12million shortly afterwards. Kassam pocketed the profit and later declared himself 'proud' of the deal in an interview with The Guardian.

With the stadium already partially built but with construction stalled, a year after taking over the club a scaled-back development, famously without a fourth side, resumed on the site with the club moving there in the summer of 2001.

At his 2006 departure as club owner, Kassam was reportedly charging Oxford United rent of £278,000 plus overheads meaning a £400,000 a year bill for the ground that Kassam retained much of the commercial income from, having added a substantial commercial development to the stadium on land he bought for a fraction of the sum he cashed the Manor Ground in for. An October 2016 press report put the rent figure now closer to £500,000.

Fast forward to the present day, and supporters trust OxVox have been in negotiations alongside the local Council to turn the stadium into a community-owned asset. Their latest statement hopes for Heads of Terms to be complete by the end of the season, news that brought frustration from the club's Board.

It has been over three months since Kassam acknowledged publicly discussions to complete a deal with the Trust, with club chairman Daryl Eales stating at the time of the original announcement that the deal could be complete in '10-12 weeks'. Kassam has reportedly refused any possibility of expanding the stadium during the process, with a dispute ongoing over money owed by the club under the lease terms, and the club have been excluded from talks on the sale despite being the sitting tenant.

The club have now warned that they may look to leave the ground, or have to scale back their expenditure on the team and youth setup as the burden of the rent demands and the lack of match day income from the current deal leave the club needing regular cash injections.

For Kassam, every day the current deal continues is another day of profit. And he is, by his own admission, in it for the money.

Support Your Local Sheriff

Another American Football franchise is on the move, with further relocations set to happen that would seriously question the commitment of the ordinary supporter.

The San Diego Chargers are to move to Los Angeles, meaning supporters will face a 240 mile round trip to support the club that has been housed in the city since 1961. Owner Dean Spanos' logic on the move includes the gem that the side was originally formed in LA, spending the 1960 season as the LA Chargers.

Quite how many of their supporters will remember one season 56 years ago is anyone's guess of a single figure percentage.

Spanos says he has spent 15 years trying to get a new stadium in San Diego to replace the 70,000 capacity Qualcomm Stadium, built in the late 1960s but considered to be incompatible for his side's needs. Local taxpayers were given the choice to agree to a 4% tax increase to secure funding on a $1.8billion building project but, with the economy still struggling, the team were given only two thirds of the support needed to pass the bill and their fate was sealed.

Attendances at the Qualcomm Stadium were averaging 66,000 in 2015 but dropped by 11,000 in the current season after Spanos failed to move the team in close season last year. Their seasonal performance also didn't help, winning just four of sixteen matches in 2015 and five in 2016, while the suspension of the NFL blackout policy over the past few seasons - where games are not televised in the local area if tickets are not sold out - has also hit several sides. If you wanted to make an argument on TV coverage affecting ticket sales, you'd probably start there...

The Chargers' new, temporary, home is the 30,000 capacity StubHub Center, with a 70,000 capacity stadium in the process of construction. That stadium will be shared with the LA Rams, who moved back to the city from St Louis after 21 years during the last close season.

The Rams are something of a nomad even by NFL standards, having played in Cleveland until their first LA move in 1946, then Anaheim (1980) and St Louis in 1995. Rams fans following their side from St Louis will need to take a week off work for the drive, or spend $500 on flights for each game. Or they can watch every match on TV. Which is the likelier outcome?

The Rams will play the 2017 season at the 90,000 Memorial Coliseum, their home during their previous LA run and also that of both the Chargers and Raiders during their stays in the city. The 90 year old stadium has gone through several renovations but its future as a NFL standard venue is now in doubt.

The other former tenant, now the Oakland Raiders, are set to move to Las Vegas (1200 mile round trip) - provisionally by 2020. They moved to Oakland in 1995 but are now set to end a 25 year stint with a move to Las Vegas, a city with zero history in the NFL due to the city's links to gambling.

The only gamble the NFL seem to like is with the emotions of the fans.

New Year, New Rules

The New Year has brought some new ambition from a couple of non-league clubs.

Both National League side Southport and National North Harrogate Town have declared their intention to go full time next season.

For Southport, a Football League club some 40 years ago, it is their second attempt to go full time in recent memory. They tried the same in 2006 that saw them lose then manager Liam Watson and most of their part-time side and, by the end of the season, their place in the Conference as the newly assembled squad failed to gel quickly enough under replacement boss Paul Cook. Cook also failed to last the season, being replaced in January by Peter Davenport who failed to halt the slide.

Davenport retained his job for the full-time squad to take a tilt at the Conference North title. They failed again, with Davenport axed in April prior to a play-off defeat to Stalybridge. Watson returned to the club in the summer, having previously refusing to give up his day job, and the full time project was quietly dropped.

This time around Watson is Operations Director at the club he served twice as manager, winning the National North title on each occasion. Chairman Charlie Clapham remains in charge of the boardroom, and with an average gate over 1,000 only by virtue of near neighbours Tranmere bringing 2,000 supporters for their August Bank Holiday weekend match.

The other club, Harrogate, have attracted gates as low as 400 this season and have an average of 1,000 boosted by huge travelling numbers from Halifax and Darlington. The decision to go full time has already cost them the services of Assistant Manager John McDermott, with the Grimsby Town legend opting - like Watson - to concentrate on his day job following the announcement.

Other clubs with similarly small attendances and income have tried full time status in the past, usually relying on a sugar daddy or a squad made of up players that prefer the lifestyle of a full time football to a wage they can realistically live on.

Some players have played full time for little more than pocket money and a roof over their head. Blackpool once employed an ex-Man Utd player, Bojan Djordjic on £90 a week as the player sought to follow the dream.

That was the minimum wage figure the FA accept for a full time footballer, given the hours they are expected to attend work. And there is always someone that is prepared to exploit that to call their club "full time" despite an obvious lack of resources.