0
Where has this come from? Is it legit?
Great news BUT we haven't even been able to collect 2000 signatures on the petition so getting hold of 5000x$1000 maybe a tad harder!
I'm in.
May the FORCE be with you!
Fan-ownership plan to rescue the Force
EXCLUSIVE: Tim Clarke and Nick Taylor - The West Australian on October 29, 2016, 12:40 am
Western Force bosses have revealed a radical plan to stave off the threat of extinction — by becoming Australian sport’s premier fan-owned club.
The WA club fears being kicked out of the Super Rugby competition as speculation mounts one of the five Australian franchises could disappear.
The Weekend West can reveal the club is on the verge of an initial issue of 5000 certificates of ownership, costing about $1000 each, which would turn fans into the owners of the professional sporting franchise.
The campaign, tagged Own the Force, borrows from a model used by the Green Bay Packers in the NFL and English soccer side Portsmouth. Fans will be invited to buy in, not only to secure the club’s future but to have a say in how it is run.
A new board is set to be created, on which three certificate holders will be elected to sit with representatives from RugbyWA and the Australian Rugby Union.
“We are going to set up this model. We are going to do this,” Force general manager Mark Sinderberry said.
“All we can do is say to the ARU, ‘We’ve got this pot of money here, we’ve proposed how it should work, it ticks every box you’ve mentioned; if you are going to throw us out now you are going to throw away all of this’.”
More here
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa...e-force/#page1
It's legit. But it says to me that all the chatter from the east about us being for the chop must be true. RugbyWA wouldn't be going public with this otherwise.
I'm definitely in.
Think it's also time for me to pen a letter to the Premier, Sports Minister and my MP, Julie Bishop.
Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby
I think it's the club getting on the front foot and saying to the ARU we're not going anywhere.
And check this link out it looks like the Brumbies are getting worried..
All of that has been going on while rumours circulate in the background about proposed changes to Super Rugby and the shaky ground the Brumbies are on.
SANZAAR – Super Rugby's governing body – is sharpening the axe to cut an Australian team from the competition and the Australian Rugby Union will have to deliver the silver bullet to one of its five franchises if changes go ahead.
NSW and Queensland will avoid the fight for survival, while the Melbourne Rebels have a private financial backer.
Assuming those three teams are safe, that leaves the Brumbies – Australia's most successful team – and the financially stricken Western Force in a battle to stay away from the chopping block.
It's easy to assume the Brumbies' rich history and Wallaby production line will win against a Force organisation that needed to be bailed out by the ARU this year.
Having all Australian rugby teams based on the eastern seaboard would save the ARU a significant financial chunk and it is widely believed the Force is the team in the most danger.
But, there is an underlying fear in Canberra rugby circles that a complacent approach will end in disaster and rallying support "in 2018 will be too late" to save the Brumbies.
The Force have already started to garner support by launching a "join us on the journey to becoming a better Super Rugby team" this week.
The Perth rugby community can see the writing on the wall and they know they're going to have to fight for their future if, as expected, Super Rugby changes its format.
The same urgency isn't being felt in Canberra. Yet.
The threat of the axe falling on the Brumbies is very real if the rugby community doesn't stand as one behind the club on and off the field.
PS. I'm in
More here
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/rugb...28-gscszj.html
Oh wow. So we are definitely in the cross hairs. Not much information there and is really open ended. Also I think in the early days both the dockers and eagles had ownership schemes where people purchased a peice of the club. Not sure on the details I think it was some kind of special membership.
Generally speaking you aren’t learning much if your lips are moving!!!
Me too!
$1k is a lot of cash but I can't just sit back and become a victim - plus I'll be more than $1k pissed off if we get dropped, so I may as well try and do something about it.
Here's another story. Guess I can't complain about The Worst coverage - at least for today anyway!
May the Force be with the fans
Tim Clarke and Nick Taylor - The West Australian on October 29, 2016, 8:03 am
When Western Force first formed, it was all about the fans.
It was a vision to take rugby union to the people - and it became impossible to ignore the noise from Perth.
That noise was generated by 9000 people voting with their feet at a rally organised by two “rugby mum’s” and a 25,000-signature petition demanding Super Rugby for Perth.
And, 12 years ago, when the fight against Victoria was won, and the fourth Australian Super Rugby team was handed to WA, it translated to tens of thousands of memberships, and for a time the “Sea of Blue” became the biggest support of any of the Australian rugby union franchises.
That seems a long time ago now.
More here
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa...survive/#page1
I'm in.
Wonder if this is a Rugby WA initiative. If it's Mark Sinderberry, and he works for the ARU now (right?), it would seem to be a "put up or shut up."
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
To register your expression of interest.
http://owntheforce.com.au/
Registered my interest so I'll be interested to see what the more detailed information will entail.
This reminds me of the joke about the three men running away from a bear - we don't have to be the fastest, just faster than the slowest.