Leicester City Phoenix Club

[OntarioFox]

Bump. I'd like to do whatever small part I can to make this a reality.

[Sly]

11 minutes ago, OntarioFox said:

Bump. I'd like to do whatever small part I can to make this a reality.

Reality is we are going to need:

 

Stadium - Where are we playing? 

Finance - How are we being funded? 

Supporters - Would we have a fan base outside of Foxestalk that care? 

 

FA connections - To even get us in at a decent level in the football league.

 

If we are in at National League North / South, we are going to need around £2.5m per season. I don’t have that down the back of the sofa to splurge on a pipe dream team.

[Blue.Fox84]

5 hours ago, Sly said:

Reality is we are going to need:

 

Stadium - Where are we playing? 

Finance - How are we being funded? 

Supporters - Would we have a fan base outside of Foxestalk that care? 

 

FA connections - To even get us in at a decent level in the football league.

 

If we are in at National League North / South, we are going to need around £2.5m per season. I don’t have that down the back of the sofa to splurge on a pipe dream team.

Stadium -

There is a few grounds floating around or even like some clubs maybe be open to the idea of ground sharing etc. Personally think it needs to remain within the city boundaries to maintain its roots 

 

Finances - 

I think you are potentially looking at around £30k to run a side mainly of overheads as a minimum. Obviously sponsorships, supporters backing etc can help a lot of that 

 

Supporters - 

Obviously the more the better when it comes to hopefully seeing quicker success. Personally believe an incentive like the 50 +1 rule like in the German Leagues could be an option to get some backing and fans bought into the project. Majority of Non-League clubs struggle to get 50 supporters through the door - even anywhere between 100-300 as a starting point would be a great position 

 

Connections - 

Always helpful but not essential, as a project builds connections are always made. Im sure there would be a few with non league experience and connections that would be interested to be apart of building a new club 

 

NLN/NLS - 

It’s likely that the club will need to begin in step 6 so this sort of conversation is a lot further down the line. A lot of requirements are still needed from ground regulations and a solid proposal to get the club entered in to step 6 as starters too 

[Officer Doofy]

I would actually be up for this now. 

 

I'm done with modern league football. 

[Sly]

49 minutes ago, Blue.Fox84 said:

Stadium -

There is a few grounds floating around or even like some clubs maybe be open to the idea of ground sharing etc. Personally think it needs to remain within the city boundaries to maintain its roots 

 

Finances - 

I think you are potentially looking at around £30k to run a side mainly of overheads as a minimum. Obviously sponsorships, supporters backing etc can help a lot of that 

 

Supporters - 

Obviously the more the better when it comes to hopefully seeing quicker success. Personally believe an incentive like the 50 +1 rule like in the German Leagues could be an option to get some backing and fans bought into the project. Majority of Non-League clubs struggle to get 50 supporters through the door - even anywhere between 100-300 as a starting point would be a great position 

 

Connections - 

Always helpful but not essential, as a project builds connections are always made. Im sure there would be a few with non league experience and connections that would be interested to be apart of building a new club 

 

NLN/NLS - 

It’s likely that the club will need to begin in step 6 so this sort of conversation is a lot further down the line. A lot of requirements are still needed from ground regulations and a solid proposal to get the club entered in to step 6 as starters too 

In reality though, aren’t we better all just supporting our local non league club? 
 

A Step 6 club needs between £80k a £250k. 
 

Would we not be better off supporting the growth of Loughborough, Shepshed, Hinckley, Harborough, Melton, Quorn, Heather etc 

 

If we are back in at Step 6, we may as rebrand it groud share with the likes of Aylestone Park if we are looking at being in the City.

 

I think if the club folded tomorrow, you’d find most of our fan base choosing a Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal etc 

[stevostadium]

Attend Quorn regular. Step 3. 

[Kitchandro]

14 minutes ago, Sly said:

In reality though, aren’t we better all just supporting our local non league club? 
 

A Step 6 club needs between £80k a £250k. 
 

Would we not be better off supporting the growth of Loughborough, Shepshed, Hinckley, Harborough, Melton, Quorn, Heather etc 

 

If we are back in at Step 6, we may as rebrand it groud share with the likes of Aylestone Park if we are looking at being in the City.

 

I think if the club folded tomorrow, you’d find most of our fan base choosing a Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal etc 

I don’t care about Loughborough or Hinckley. I’ve never supported them and I never will. My dad supports Leicester, his dad went to the 61 cup final, for all I know I had a relative who watched Leicester Fosse. 

 

It’s never been about just watching the football for something to do. It’s this specific club and the history passed down through the generations of fans that means something. It’s having the same memories, identifying with something that’s always been there. You don’t need the same companies house entry, but you do need the same identity to relate to.

 

I live in London now and am skint but this is the only thing that would potentially get me involved ever again. 

[Sol thewall Bamba]

13 minutes ago, stevostadium said:

Attend Quorn regular. Step 3. 

What about the tens or thousands of people that have no connection with Quorn? If it's a phoenix club it needs to be exactly that, not just people latching onto a club that's already going to skip the hard bit.

[Langston]

29 minutes ago, Sly said:

In reality though, aren’t we better all just supporting our local non league club? 
 

A Step 6 club needs between £80k a £250k. 
 

Would we not be better off supporting the growth of Loughborough, Shepshed, Hinckley, Harborough, Melton, Quorn, Heather etc 

 

If we are back in at Step 6, we may as rebrand it groud share with the likes of Aylestone Park if we are looking at being in the City.

 

I think if the club folded tomorrow, you’d find most of our fan base choosing a Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal etc 

 

Missing the point of a phoenix club here..

[JonnyBoy]

yep would be well on board for this 

[Sly]

2 hours ago, Langston said:

 

Missing the point of a phoenix club here..

Not really, I get the concept, I personally just don’t think I’d associate with it. I know it’s about adopting something people perceive as being theirs and history around it, rather than adopting something new. Everyone with look at this differently. 
 

Phoenix clubs largely don’t get the history transferred etc, so no cups, no league, no memories etc. AFC Wimbledon and Wimbledon FC have been going at this for years.

 

Maybe it’s because I’ve become desensitised to a large part from football itself, as it’s not the game it once was. 
 

Foxestalk I’d say if not a good demographic of the average fan base of the football club. Leicester go pop tomorrow and a Phoenix club for Leicester, I think would struggle to get off the ground and be stuck in the lower echelons of football. It’s the same reason many other Phoenix clubs fail. 

[Corky]

Make Nigel Pearson the Life President.

[beepee1984]

2 hours ago, Sly said:

Not really, I get the concept, I personally just don’t think I’d associate with it. I know it’s about adopting something people perceive as being theirs and history around it, rather than adopting something new. Everyone with look at this differently. 
 

Phoenix clubs largely don’t get the history transferred etc, so no cups, no league, no memories etc. AFC Wimbledon and Wimbledon FC have been going at this for years.

 

Maybe it’s because I’ve become desensitised to a large part from football itself, as it’s not the game it once was. 
 

Foxestalk I’d say if not a good demographic of the average fan base of the football club. Leicester go pop tomorrow and a Phoenix club for Leicester, I think would struggle to get off the ground and be stuck in the lower echelons of football. It’s the same reason many other Phoenix clubs fail. 

I agree with you.

 

As a Leicester Fan that moved away, I support the club from where I was brought up.
I support the team that were the first team I supported

I heard my first swear words in the Kop at Filbert Street

I queued up around filbert street for Wembley

I witnessed my parents and school fall out over me having the afternoon off to travel to Old Trafford to watch us get thrashed in the cup and still loved every minute of it

 

A new club would just be a new club, if I was going to adopt a new club I could just move my support to a local team, but my History is with Leicester City regardless of the turmoil we are currently in and unfortunately it always will be


I also feel that the players don't have the passion they use to which is why we are being desensitised to football, even Rowett said relegation hits the fans harder than the players - I just don't think many modern footballers have the fight in them

[Kitchandro]

2 hours ago, Sly said:

Not really, I get the concept, I personally just don’t think I’d associate with it. I know it’s about adopting something people perceive as being theirs and history around it, rather than adopting something new. Everyone with look at this differently. 
 

Phoenix clubs largely don’t get the history transferred etc, so no cups, no league, no memories etc. AFC Wimbledon and Wimbledon FC have been going at this for years.

 

Maybe it’s because I’ve become desensitised to a large part from football itself, as it’s not the game it once was. 
 

Foxestalk I’d say if not a good demographic of the average fan base of the football club. Leicester go pop tomorrow and a Phoenix club for Leicester, I think would struggle to get off the ground and be stuck in the lower echelons of football. It’s the same reason many other Phoenix clubs fail. 

I agree with some of this but…no memories? This doesn’t include a Men in Black procedure.

 

AFC Wimbledon is the only Wimbledon and is recognised as such. Everyone accepts they are the same club that won the cup in 1988. Did you know Rangers technically started again and none of their trophies count? Well, they do count, because nobody cares what a piece of paper says. Like most institutions, football clubs are make believe. They’re just a collection of people enforcing a narrative and if they stopped doing that they would cease to exist. Everything that counts is in your head.

 

Whether the phoenix club would actually succeed with LCFC still operating in its current guise is a different matter. It probably doesn’t have the numbers to be viable at the moment. But I’m putting my name forward as interested as I imagine it will become more and more popular as football drifts away from the things that gave it purpose.

[stevostadium]

6 hours ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

What about the tens or thousands of people that have no connection with Quorn? If it's a phoenix club it needs to be exactly that, not just people latching onto a club that's already going to skip the hard bit.

 

Just made a point that i watch Quorn, nothing more than that

 

 

wont happen in this current climate.

Unless you are a wealthy businessman with millions to throw at it, going through the pyramid becomes even more difficult.

Harborough Town for examples wage bill is far outweighs the gate receipts etc.

Brackley Town was another one where money was thrown at it.

 

I have played around that level and these days playing step 2, 3 and even 4 can be a full time job on its own wages wise.

[Paninistickers]

Thera an element of Brexit here and cutting nose off to spite face. 

 

The best way to reinvent Leicester city is to drive change at Leicester city..

 

Create a shadow cabinet football adminstration 

 

Create a business plan 

 

Seek funding 

 

Attempt a hostile takeover

 

Then make the match day experience and ticketing unappealing and hostile to the drongos

 

Almost all of that is incredibly difficult but far more doable than a phoenix club..

 

 

[Quorndon_Fox]

I’ve got a lot of experience in running community clubs and believe me football clubs at any level are an absolute money pit. Realistically you’d be able to get enough support to fly up the regional leagues but would need serious money to breakthrough into the league pyramid again, anyone backing it financially would have to do so out of love for the area rather than ever expecting to see their money back. 
 

Sadly I also think those that aren’t season ticket holders also have other interests outside of football so would likely pursue other hobbies.

[Trav Le Bleu]

9 hours ago, Sly said:

Foxestalk I’d say if not a good demographic of the average fan base of the football club.

As a whole, FT is very reactionary, with people becoming very vocal when either all is great or everything is crap.

[inckley fox]

10 hours ago, Sly said:

Not really, I get the concept, I personally just don’t think I’d associate with it. I know it’s about adopting something people perceive as being theirs and history around it, rather than adopting something new. Everyone with look at this differently. 
 

Phoenix clubs largely don’t get the history transferred etc, so no cups, no league, no memories etc. AFC Wimbledon and Wimbledon FC have been going at this for years.

 

Maybe it’s because I’ve become desensitised to a large part from football itself, as it’s not the game it once was. 
 

Foxestalk I’d say if not a good demographic of the average fan base of the football club. Leicester go pop tomorrow and a Phoenix club for Leicester, I think would struggle to get off the ground and be stuck in the lower echelons of football. It’s the same reason many other Phoenix clubs fail. 

Most phoenix clubs, if they"re recognised as a successor, get all of the trophies and history. I think there are some pretty specific guidelines on the time period (5 years, maybe?) and preconditions.

 

That's what the modern day Fiorentina are, I believe. And I think AFC Wimbledon now own the historical accolades rather than MK (edit: I've just seen that this is wrong, though AFC do include WFC's honours among their historical honours, and it's generally agreed that they are 'theirs' even though they're yet to regain the physical accolades). There are quite a few more examples of major phoenix clubs. Wouldn't that apply to Rangers too?

 

The phoenix club, in a matter of a decade, would to all intents and purposes be Leicester City. Unless of course we fans still can't agree on anything, and therefore can't have a single recognised successor, which to me would be the ultimate catastrophe.

 

The club folded back in 1919 and was reborn as Leicester City. Yes, I know they weren't entirely separate entities, but if we ignore the legal technicalities, it was still a case of a crisis-stricken club being reborn and re-elected to the league with a slightly new name. In time, this episode will be looked on in the same way.

 

Of course, if you decide you feel like more of a Quorn / Hinckley / Coalville / Leicester Nirvana fan these days (which would strike me as a wee bit odd) then yes, I suppose the club would be kind of dead for you. But that's a matter of choice.

 

I suspect some very big names and a good few club legends will rally behind a phoenix club. It'll be a long way back from the 10th, 11th or 12th tier, but we'll quickly get some momentum behind us. We may even see the Premier League again sooner that way than if King Power choose to bankroll us in the lower leagues till the End of Days.

 

I'd be fully behind it. I imagine many others will be a bit more optimistic than you about it too. I can't think of many phoenix clubs out there in the doldrums of football which were once of our stature, so I'm not sure why you think we'd go the same way as other failed phoenix clubs. There would be a huge amount of interest in resurrecting Leicester City. It won't be Hinckley Town Part Two.

Edited 22 April by inckley fox

[Blue.Fox84]

13 hours ago, Sly said:

In reality though, aren’t we better all just supporting our local non league club? 
 

A Step 6 club needs between £80k a £250k. 
 

Would we not be better off supporting the growth of Loughborough, Shepshed, Hinckley, Harborough, Melton, Quorn, Heather etc 

 

If we are back in at Step 6, we may as rebrand it groud share with the likes of Aylestone Park if we are looking at being in the City.

 

I think if the club folded tomorrow, you’d find most of our fan base choosing a Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal etc 

I understand your stand point but as some have said, there can be connections and relevance to Leicester City as a phoenix club. Personally, I believe it’s a little too soon to be considering - it isn’t a knee jerk reaction to dropping into League One, it’s the disconnection fans feels from the club they grew up supporting and loving. We’ve lost the underdog, family ran club and seem to be selling our soul to dodgy marketing sponsorships, dismissing fans, failing to recognise and reward our history/players and ultimately have an owner who is running it into the ground with no understanding or respect to any one with the dangers it is becoming. If things don’t get better this season then a conversation to set something up should seriously be had which protects the clubs values and always provides the fans with a voice as to how the club is ran

 

£250k for a step 6 side is well off the mark, £80k is a possible figure but a lot ultimately depends on what you are willing to pay out as a club on players

 

There is a chance a percentage of the fan base could remain with Leicester or just move on picking a new team. I think it’s ultimately set up to find a reconnection to the club that you feel has been lost and be apart of building a club that you have a common connection with the rest of the fan base looking to continue the ‘Leicester City banner’ the way the club should be ran 

[Dan]

13 hours ago, Kitchandro said:

I don’t care about Loughborough or Hinckley. I’ve never supported them and I never will. My dad supports Leicester, his dad went to the 61 cup final, for all I know I had a relative who watched Leicester Fosse. 

 

It’s never been about just watching the football for something to do. It’s this specific club and the history passed down through the generations of fans that means something. It’s having the same memories, identifying with something that’s always been there. You don’t need the same companies house entry, but you do need the same identity to relate to.

 

I live in London now and am skint but this is the only thing that would potentially get me involved ever again. 

I agree with this. I wish every non-league club in Leicestershire well and I'd love to see one of them make the EFL (although at this bloody rate they'll pass us). But it could apply to any of them and that's in itself the problem. I have no particular allegiance to any one of them in particular.

[Corky]

Bury and AFC Wimbledon both average well into the thousands for attendance. A well orgainsed, marketed club related to Leicester City, should the original fold, would surely get at least that many at the start, then grow?

 

I don't expect 25-30k but if, somehow, it reached the National League you would hope to attract five figure crowds. Plenty have been driven away by the club and modern professional football, too.

[OntarioFox]

Always thought Friar Lane & Epworth would be a great shout for a location for something like this, for what it's worth. Tidy little ground to start out at within the city itself.

Edited 22 April by OntarioFox

[OntarioFox]

I also think people are missing the point of this sort of club being formed - it's not purely about rocketing back up the leagues, it's about having something that brings Leicester City, or a form of it, back to fans and gives them a say in how it's run. That could be either as a phoenix club if LCFC collapse (Macclesfield, Hereford, Bury all good examples), or a breakaway club if King Power choose to cling to the remains of our club (FC United spring to mind).

 

I personally would still be happy supporting a form of my club that was based in Leicester and which I felt connected, or directly involved in, even if it wasn't able to pull itself back to the same level of relevance as, say, Wimbledon have done. I also think it would be well-supported - the growth in demand at clubs like Anstey, Quorn, Coalville and Market Harborough isn't a problem for a start-up, it's proof that the hunger is there. I'd go as far as to say that Anstey Nomads are the de facto breakaway club at this point with all the ex-Leicester connections on the club side, but it's not ideal - it's just the closest thing geographically to a club in the city itself worth supporting. If the club is in the city itself, that's how you get the wider buy-in. As it is, it's a tough sell for folks in opposite parts of the county to gravitate to somewhere like Quorn or Market Harborough for LCFC 2: Fosse Boogaloo.

 

Anstey also shows there's interest from ex-pros and those involved in the club who would support something like this. With enough momentum I don't think it would be that hard to find some business / ex pro backing for a direct breakaway or phoenix club to get it into the pyramid at some sort of level that would generate support.

 

 

Edited 22 April by OntarioFox

[SemperEadem]

I don’t think the fanbase has either the fight or stomach for one. You look at how hard the Foxes Trust are having to bust balls to grow to 1000 members.

Edited 27 April by SemperEadem