Why have we lost 3 sponsors in less than 3 months ???

Appreciate that this is the best Sunday League going in the county but it does beggar the question ... How come we have lost nearly all our sponsors in such a short time ...

Leicester Mercury ... been main league sponsors for god knows how long .... gonethis spring !!
MDH Sports .... Sposnsors for 4-5 Sesons ..... gone this spring !!!
Rotenburger Tools ... Sponsors for 4-5 seasons ... gone this spring !!!
Fire Smoke Curtainds ... less than 2 months ... gone this summer !!!

I know the LSL can't crow about sponsorship, but this kinda worries me.... Is our committe doing the right thing , surely these 4 firms can't all be wrong at the same time ?????

League keeps increasing pressure on clubs, yet they seem to be screwing things up at their end just a bit, don't you think ?

We have lost sponsors due to a number of reasons!!

All the reasons are legitimate though and not through a lack of effort from all involved on the committee of the league I can tell you that!

Ultimately we are in a recession and times are hard.

We as a league are working hard to generate some new sponsors and will endeavour to have some on board by the start of the season.

Nice words but kinda avoids the issue ?

Why exactly have all these firms all said NO to the Alliance in such a short time ... we know how hard it is to get kit sponsors, so we have to drink too much at their pubs just to get a sniff ....

We have never lost 3-4 main sponsors in one go like this .... takes some believing from a club perspective, really it does !!

I dont think James avoided the issue at all...the recession...people dont have the money to throw on sponsorship.
MDH and Rothenberger are owned by the same family so that explains why both have gone at the same time. I do wonder if MDH would still have stayed as sponsors if they hadnt got all the grief they got last close season (suggest thats not committee fault but those who made it all fairly unpleasant
Firecurtains - decided that due to business reasons the money had to go elsewhere to protect jobs

If you have any suggestions for sponsors, i am sure any of us on the committee would be delighted to approach the suggested companies...hot leads welcome i am sure

Ok Widds ... as Usual u come out on the side of the League ...

Whatever way u look at this it isn't clever .... 3 months ago we were sitting pretty with 3 long term sponsors ... we saw the new kit sponsor @ AGM ... OK if you like cricket, but really ..... is that supposed to be a real alternative to MDH Sports ???? Come on ... would NRI buy their kits there ??? - No, I thought not !!!

Now We have just them and no-one else and apart from a very short post from Dennis, have had no real explanation as to why the League has screwed things up so badly ... Imagine that a club had 4 sponsors 3 months ago and lost them all all within 3 months ... wouldn't you question it just a bit ???

I'll bet you now in adbvance, that we will be looking at increased registration/affiliation fees for 2013-14 or do you want to GUARANTEE us that they won't go up due to lost sponsors ??

What are you saying that the league have done wrong?

Do you think they've ruined relationships? I doubt it. What do you expect the committee to do? Wipe arses?

Not everything is as simple as you make out.

As widds has said, mercury/rothberger went for financial reasons, so did fire smoke curtains. If the money isn't there, it simply isn't there. It was clubs who forced MDH out.

And I'm not on any committee.

I know SGP are sponsoring my side, and have sponsored other sides in the league set up, and are continuing to do so.

Maybe they could be worth an approach for league sponsor?

ChiefScout wrote:

Ok Widds ... as Usual u come out on the side of the League ...

Whatever way u look at this it isn't clever .... 3 months ago we were sitting pretty with 3 long term sponsors ... we saw the new kit sponsor @ AGM ... OK if you like cricket, but really ..... is that supposed to be a real alternative to MDH Sports ???? Come on ... would NRI buy their kits there ??? - No, I thought not !!!

Now We have just them and no-one else and apart from a very short post from Dennis, have had no real explanation as to why the League has screwed things up so badly ... Imagine that a club had 4 sponsors 3 months ago and lost them all all within 3 months ... wouldn't you question it just a bit ???

I'll bet you now in adbvance, that we will be looking at increased registration/affiliation fees for 2013-14 or do you want to GUARANTEE us that they won't go up due to lost sponsors ??

you asked for an answer and i gave you the factual answer. Its not about being on anyone else's side. And if you look at my recent posts i think you Will see that i give my opinion, sometimes its not what i should be saying as a committee member, but it Will always be an honest opinion.


why do you think the league has screwed up? i gave explained those that i know about.

[quote="Leicester Klub Sportowy"]I know SGP are sponsoring my side, and have sponsored other sides in the league set up, and are continuing to do so.

Maybe they could be worth an approach for league sponsor?[/qu

do you have a contact? i don't know who they are. can you private message me with the details and i Will speak to others on the committee to follow it up.

good to have people trying to help rather than pointing fingers.

ChiefScout wrote:

Ok Widds ... as Usual u come out on the side of the League ...

Whatever way u look at this it isn't clever .... 3 months ago we were sitting pretty with 3 long term sponsors ... we saw the new kit sponsor @ AGM ... OK if you like cricket, but really ..... is that supposed to be a real alternative to MDH Sports ???? Come on ... would NRI buy their kits there ??? - No, I thought not !!!

Now We have just them and no-one else and apart from a very short post from Dennis, have had no real explanation as to why the League has screwed things up so badly ... Imagine that a club had 4 sponsors 3 months ago and lost them all all within 3 months ... wouldn't you question it just a bit ???

I'll bet you now in adbvance, that we will be looking at increased registration/affiliation fees for 2013-14 or do you want to GUARANTEE us that they won't go up due to lost sponsors ??

just two other points-

1- NRI lost firecurtains as a sponsor as well, so perhaps i am the common denominator? or maybe its the reason we mentioned!

2- i wasn't at the agm but your comment about the new sponsor being a poor alternative makes me not want to bother contacting them. is this the way to attract more sponsors? by criticising them on a forum?

Helly ... What I am saying is no-one is offering any form of an explanation other than the recession, although Widds latest post does contradict yours a bit ... He says clubs forced Mdh out ( not the downturn). Anyway I Think we are moving away from my main point which is if the best senior league in the county can't hold down any of it's 4 major sponsors .... What is the outlook from here .... Pretty poor I'd say ?

[quote="Widds"]

ChiefScout wrote:

Ok Widds ... as Usual u come out on the side of the League ...

Whatever way u look at this it isn't clever .... 3 months ago we were sitting pretty with 3 long term sponsors ... we saw the new kit sponsor @ AGM ... OK if you like cricket, but really ..... is that supposed to be a real alternative to MDH Sports ???? Come on ... would NRI buy their kits there ??? - No, I thought not !!!

Now We have just them and no-one else and apart from a very short post from Dennis, have had no real explanation as to why the League has screwed things up so badly ... Imagine that a club had 4 sponsors 3 months ago and lost them all all within 3 months ... wouldn't you question it just a bit ???

I'll bet you now in adbvance, that we will be looking at increased registration/affiliation fees for 2013-14 or do you want to GUARANTEE us that they won't go up due to lost sponsors ??

just two other points-

1- NRI lost firecurtains as a sponsor as well, so perhaps i am the common denominator? or maybe its the reason we mentioned!

2- i wasn't at the agm but your comment about the new sponsor being a poor alternative makes me not want to bother contacting them. is this the way to attract more sponsors
? by criticising them on a forum?[/quote

Back on your Stanno bandwagon Widds ? And out of interest where do Nri buy their kits?

Our income from sponsorship for the year ending 30th April was zero.

The M D H /Rothenberger sponsorship was lost mainly because of the poor reception some gave to the sponsors and the relatively small level of business received from Alliance clubs when compared to the other adult league and a youth league which they sponsor . If a sponsor does not feel welcome, or if they are not getting value for money, they walk away

The problems at the Mercury are obvious to all.

Firecurtains withdrew their offer because of changing economic circumstances within the company.

We remain on good terms with all of these companies thanks to regular meetings to build up a good relationship, which we do not expect member clubs to be aware of - it is part of our responsibility.

DMS supply football kit as well as cricket and football kit. You will be surprised at the value for money when the DMS/Alliance webpage becomes available.

We are awaiting a response to an invitation to a company to become our new principal sponsor. if this is turned down, we have a list of companies (including SGP) who will be approached in a formal, business like way.

I am disappointed that you feel we are increasing pressure on clubs and that we are screwing things up. Any suggestions you have would be welcomed.

Please do not think that we just sit back do nothing because that is far from the truth - and in our own spare time

Dennis .... We ALL do this in our spare time ... No-one is a saint in Sunday football, not even you even with such a long & distinguished record. It's good to hear that there are some positive/alternative plans for the future and that was my main concern - that very little was being said/explained and all that we clubs could see from the outside, was a wholesale collapse of sponsorship. Does this mean NO increases in fees to clubs in 2013-14 ??

The mercury were facing trying times in the spring as were other firms. If u are about to make people redundant (or find alternatives), it would be very hard for those staff suddenly on the dole knowing that a generous amount went on sunday morning football in sponsorship. If u run a business your main priority is 2 your staff, so things like football sponsorship will be the first 2 go if their jobs are under threat. As for MDH I agree that their treatment last year at the meeting was probably the beginning of the end. All they got was flack and if I remember rightly one of Mr Sparrows comments in response to one detractor was: 'its comments like that that make sponsors think if it is worth it'.
Bit harsh to have a pop at the league for the mess our economy is in, seems no matter how hard we work we just can't stop the negativity sometimes

[quote="ChiefScout"]

Widds wrote:

ChiefScout wrote:

Ok Widds ... as Usual u come out on the side of the League ...

Whatever way u look at this it isn't clever .... 3 months ago we were sitting pretty with 3 long term sponsors ... we saw the new kit sponsor @ AGM ... OK if you like cricket, but really ..... is that supposed to be a real alternative to MDH Sports ???? Come on ... would NRI buy their kits there ??? - No, I thought not !!!

Now We have just them and no-one else and apart from a very short post from Dennis, have had no real explanation as to why the League has screwed things up so badly ... Imagine that a club had 4 sponsors 3 months ago and lost them all all within 3 months ... wouldn't you question it just a bit ???

I'll bet you now in adbvance, that we will be looking at increased registration/affiliation fees for 2013-14 or do you want to GUARANTEE us that they won't go up due to lost sponsors ??

just two other points-

1- NRI lost firecurtains as a sponsor as well, so perhaps i am the common denominator? or maybe its the reason we mentioned!

2- i wasn't at the agm but your comment about the new sponsor being a poor alternative makes me not want to bother contacting them. is this the way to attract more sponsors
? by criticising them on a forum?[/quote

Back on your Stanno bandwagon Widds ? And out of interest where do Nri buy their kits?

wasn't just the stanno issue, there were other issues, i spoke with tony for about an hour recently about the grief he had received over the past year. if you don't want to hear the answers don't ask the question.

we purchased our first kit from the internet and second kit from MDH.

ChiefScout wrote:

Dennis .... We ALL do this in our spare time ... No-one is a saint in Sunday football, not even you even with such a long & distinguished record. It's good to hear that there are some positive/alternative plans for the future and that was my main concern - that very little was being said/explained and all that we clubs could see from the outside, was a wholesale collapse of sponsorship. Does this mean NO increases in fees to clubs in 2013-14 ??

true, everyone does this in their spare time, but giving up time for your own club is different to giving up time fo other peoples clubs.

with regards increasing fees, i would suggest that the league Will do everything possible not to increase them.

No ones got any money anymore(at this level), its being stolen from all people at this level of life, it's being stolen off of us by the filthy rich and the politicians standing by letting it happen, because they are part of the filthy rich system, bankers taking the p#ss big time, supermarkets over charging us for food, i mean come on nearly £5 for a small block of cheese that costs about 10p to produce, wake up and smell the roses chiefscout for christs sake, everyone sits around uninterested about the real causes, it'll be too late when you do notice, all the damage will be done, you sit there paying your over priced council tax, for services they are now cutting, you come along for a game of football, they charge you again for use of a park, this country needs a revolution.....stop finding fault with people at this level, we really are in it together, unlike the filthy rich.

Sound slike someone just wants to have a pop at the league. Nice.

Probably got a barclays account.

always suprised how some people still seem to think this league places money above football, that is just not the case

I always wondered why Dennis keeps taking them easyjet flights to the channel islands, meeting up with other committee members for a dockside lunch.

mdh were very dear, then the league tried to come up with some football bullsh1t to get everyone buying footballs from their and lets be honest they were the worst footballs that money could buy

but they were free for each club so didnt cost you anything

not sure if that was the reason tommy, but even if it was, surely that's how sponsorship should work. clubs get something, sponsor gets something.

Polska legend II wrote:

but they were free for each club so didnt cost you anything

1 false fifa approved football could not last any club a season, so yes they did cost money, extortionate prices paid for footballs to make up for the cost of a free 1, a very common ploy

Widds wrote:

not sure if that was the reason tommy, but even if it was, surely that's how sponsorship should work. clubs get something, sponsor gets something.

yer the sponsors get an extortionate price and the clubs get poor footballs, fair deal FOR THEM

I am amazed at this thread. I wonder why sponsors would leave too what with all the surplus cash everyone has burning holes in their pockets right now.

The reasons are obvious...! Let's not start blaming the league.

Best not forget the poor African kids that have to make them balls, for next to nothing.

This country sucks in lots of departments, maybe even your own, wake up smell the roses.

rocket ledge wrote:

Widds wrote:

not sure if that was the reason tommy, but even if it was, surely that's how sponsorship should work. clubs get something, sponsor gets something.

yer the sponsors get an extortionate price and the clubs get poor footballs, fair deal FOR THEM

i think i am correct in saying you didn't have to have a fifa approved ball, but it was suggested that teams should have, i may be wrong. anyway, the reason was so we didn't have to play with beach balls like some teams do.

you have a cynical way of looking at things mate, the balls were given for free and you could buy from anywhere, also, MDH offered to match any price offered by other kit suppliers, so by my reckoning, they were as cheap as anyone else

I think at times there are some very anti-establishment posts and member of this league, we have the sme thing at work people moaning about the bosses and rules etc feeling hard done by and that the company or league in this case are out to get them, my take on this is the same as at work, you applied to work a company/ be in this league, you CHOSE to be a part of this if you don't like it leave and try your luck elsewhere! There are reasons why in one thread on this forum we are talking about the strength of this league compared to others and there are reasons why some companies are handling the economic downturn better thn others its by being pro-active and reacting which I think the league is very good! If the league are so bad go else where but I'm sure you'd find more wrong in those leagues!! Can't stand negative pettyness, does my tree in!

dezza wrote:

I think at times there are some very anti-establishment posts and member of this league, we have the sme thing at work people moaning about the bosses and rules etc feeling hard done by and that the company or league in this case are out to get them, my take on this is the same as at work, you applied to work a company/ be in this league, you CHOSE to be a part of this if you don't like it leave and try your luck elsewhere! There are reasons why in one thread on this forum we are talking about the strength of this league compared to others and there are reasons why some companies are handling the economic downturn better thn others its by being pro-active and reacting which I think the league is very good! If the league are so bad go else where but I'm sure you'd find more wrong in those leagues!! Can't stand negative pettyness, does my tree in!

Dont think anyone couldve said it better alliance league is the way forward

Talbotleftback wrote:

dezza wrote:

I think at times there are some very anti-establishment posts and member of this league, we have the sme thing at work people moaning about the bosses and rules etc feeling hard done by and that the company or league in this case are out to get them, my take on this is the same as at work, you applied to work a company/ be in this league, you CHOSE to be a part of this if you don't like it leave and try your luck elsewhere! There are reasons why in one thread on this forum we are talking about the strength of this league compared to others and there are reasons why some companies are handling the economic downturn better thn others its by being pro-active and reacting which I think the league is very good! If the league are so bad go else where but I'm sure you'd find more wrong in those leagues!! Can't stand negative pettyness, does my tree in!

Dont think anyone couldve said it better alliance league is the way forward

He's spelt pettiness wrong.

Sorry helly!! As long as I don't get to widds' recent level of errors I can handle it haha

Haha you and pochin need to understand i am under a lot of stress

The pressure of running a club in the top divisons starting to take its toll widds'?? Or is it malc asking for bigger transfer budgets haha

We opened the cheque book this pre season, its put us in a precarious position, we need a good cup run and promotion to the prem to balance the books. otherwise players Will have to be sold next summer!

any truth in the rumour that Glasgow rangers have applied for the alliance league?

i thought that the other day! would be a great addition to the prem