[Darran]

Price is always going to be very prohibitive unfortunately.  What is the ground and club realistically worth, certainly not what it cost to build.  And this is the conundrum, if I built a ground for £1m (no idea what the actual figure is), and brought the team home, I'd be very reluctant to give that away to any new prospective owners, so I understand AP/EMGs reluctance to sell for less than that.  Equally I understand someone telling them to get lost if those are the sort of prices being quoted.  All of which makes you think we will continue to stumble along, with no real coherent plan, maybe do okay in the Southern League (I'm resigned to that being our fate now) if we have the right manager and group of players, but ultimately never really fulfill our potential.  Unless as you say someone comes in who doesn't mind paying over the odds, and to whom money is neither the motivation or a barrier, which does leave us to a Lottery/Hollywood type thing.  All a bit depressing when you consider coming home was meant to be the Phoenix rising from the flames and not a dead cat bounce.

This does seem to be the most likely scenario unless Alex and probably EMG actually do the decent thing. We had a possible chance with Patrick yet that was blown to pieces.

[Wilesy]

I feel like we're in a bit of a race to the bottom now. We're sliding into the Southern League with a whimper and there are no indications we'd get out of that league any time soon. I feel there are more questions than answers with regards to how the club is operating behind the scenes.

Yet there's increasing chatter from some individuals that we should be grateful we have a club to support. Is this what football is about? We all dug in when we were exiled in the hope of better days ahead. Last season's excitement is a distant memory.

Our survival at the level - all things considered - reflects superbly on the guile, passion and fight of the likes of Tim Harris, Boris Mehew, Mike Dunstan.. etc etc. and a conveyer belt of players who didn't give up.

In answer to the question - the club's level could be pretty much any level it wants to be. League One alongside teams with similar demographics like Exeter, Peterborough, Northampton, Lincoln? A few years ago there was an infamous post about how we should be grateful because we "could be Charlton FC".. yes please.

We're knocking on the door of averaging 1,000 and the spend behind the bar must be mind-blowing. Is the money being reinvested wisely? Bit of a rhetorical question but still.

It just needs to be allowed to happen. How wide was the message put out there that Gloucester City was up for grabs about a year ago? Our stadium is perfect to build up from. It's just right, we're back home, we're centrally located and it's a good day out. I am eternally grateful for the people that made the return to our city happen, but it feels like we're bumped into a glass ceiling without the benefit of more finance and some footballing wisdom.

Anyone have Colin Peake's number?

[Tigermatty 2.0]

Price is always going to be very prohibitive unfortunately.  What is the ground and club realistically worth, certainly not what it cost to build.  And this is the conundrum, if I built a ground for £1m (no idea what the actual figure is), and brought the team home, I'd be very reluctant to give that away to any new prospective owners, so I understand AP/EMGs reluctance to sell for less than that.  Equally I understand someone telling them to get lost if those are the sort of prices being quoted.  All of which makes you think we will continue to stumble along, with no real coherent plan, maybe do okay in the Southern League (I'm resigned to that being our fate now) if we have the right manager and group of players, but ultimately never really fulfill our potential.  Unless as you say someone comes in who doesn't mind paying over the odds, and to whom money is neither the motivation or a barrier, which does leave us to a Lottery/Hollywood type thing.  All a bit depressing when you consider coming home was meant to be the Phoenix rising from the flames and not a dead cat bounce.

There’s some truth in that, however don’t underestimate the attraction of getting something back for your investment rather than nothing - you never know what financial predicament people are in so whilst they may have to settle for not getting back what they put in, a cash sum might help them to alleviate short term cash flow problems.

[Andrew B]

I feel that, at a stretch, we could potentially be a League 2 Club. CTFC and FGR, were Southern League Premier / Midland Division Clubs, around the mid 1990's. Gloucester has a population of 110,000 - 150,000, (I think). Certainly have a catchment area to support a League 2 Club.
 At the least, we should try and remain to be a National League North Club. 
 You could say that Bath and Worcester, the same size of City (more or less than us). Could potentially be League 2 Clubs.

[Gladfans]

Our survival at the level - all things considered - reflects superbly on the guile, passion and fight of the likes of Tim Harris, Boris Mehew, Mike Dunstan.. etc etc. and a conveyer belt of players who didn't give up.

Anyone have Colin Peake's number?

As I posted in another thread all football men to a man. Understood the game -players - admin etc . It’s a bit like deciding to open a restaurant with absolutely no knowledge without time served chefs etc to guide you - you are doomed to failure. You can throw as much money at it as you like but……..

Imo that’s exactly what has happened to us.

[Mr.Magoo]

Potentially we could be a football league side, I'd like to think our level is at least NL. With the right management team top to bottom and gates of 1000 ISH we should have competitive in the league we look like leaving. My hope is in the SL, run as a sustainable club, we'll win more often than we lose and the gates won't be too affected. If we're winning they might even increase. That's my optimistic angle. Of course alternative scenarios are equally valid. Who knows?

[RJS]

Potentially we could be a football league side, I'd like to think our level is at least NL. With the right management team top to bottom and gates of 1000 ISH we should have competitive in the league we look like leaving.  My hope is in the SL, run as a sustainable club, we'll win more often than we lose and the gates won't be too affected. If we're winning they might even increase. That's my optimistic angle. Of course alternative scenarios are equally valid. Who knows?

Going down, regrouping, coming up with a coherent strategy, getting some success on the pitch could actually be the catalyst the club needs to finally engaging the local support.  Equally could be a death sentence from which we never recover.

[Andrew R]

I think the National League (either Step 1 or Step 2) is our level. As much as I’d love to see us do a FGR or C********m and get into the football league, we simply don’t have the right setup behind the scenes to ensure success.

[Paul]

Anyone have Colin Peake's number?

I had a chance conversation with Colin Peake some months ago shortly after MC was appointed. Without divulging too much of what he said, he did say that whilst City would certainly get the crowds for NL level, the issues at the root of City's predicament were to do with infrastructure and especially finance. As he said referring to NL  - "it's big money" up there. What is there for anyone to buy into? He also felt sorry for MC as a manager having to try to sort things out. As an elder statesman of county football, he'd be someone the club should seek out for advice.

As it is, we're SL-bound. It's just so frustrating that we represent a city and we're stuck playing small town clubs. Not that I'd knock any of them, our predicament is of our own circumstances. The only other comparative city club off the top of my head who were similar to us at the same level were Worcester City. And there is a lesson there, looking at where they are now.

[Neil]

I think the National League (either Step 1 or Step 2) is our level. As much as I’d love to see us do a FGR or C********m and get into the football league, we simply don’t have the right setup behind the scenes to ensure success.

Why though? I know football is about promotion and relegation but there's usually a reason why clubs have been at certain levels for their entire existence. I'm happy with us winning more than we lost and teasing us with a bit of excitement now and again, althiugh really we should probably want all of our clubs to win the Champions League. No. Retain the Champions League.