An open invitation to Leicester City Football Club

[Fez of Mahrez]

So we're sitting here as the transfer window has slammed shut and the vast majority of us are relieved that our search for a striker is over. But spare a thought for those clubs that have less wealth than our own. While money is not the be all and end all, it certainly helps - just look at Plymouth Argyle at the moment.

One way that lower league and non-league clubs can gain revenue during transfer windows is through sell-on clauses. We were/are hoping for one ourselves from Max Gradel's move yesterday. I've seen one or two Lincoln fans on Twitter wondering whether they would get anything from Dany N'Guessan's transfer to Millwall.

What I also saw on Twitter was a remark from the chairman of Beckford's former club Wealdstone FC - Twitter account here - stating that it was a shame they missed out on sell-on money when he moved from Leeds to Everton on a free transfer.

To a club that size, even an amount equivalent to Beckford's weekly wage would make a difference I'm sure. They will produce very few players, if any more, in our lifetimes that will play in the Premier League (and score a brilliant solo goal against Chelsea), so how gutting must it be to miss out on a few quid as you watch your former player on Match of the Day? Pretty irritating, I'll bet.

Wouldn't it be nice if LCFC could do something to raise a few quid for Wealdstone by way of a thank you for helping, in a round about kind of way, to provide us with the striker we've been after in this window?

I'm not necessarily suggesting a direct payment because, despite our money and the positive PR that such a move would bring, I understand the Thais aren't a charity.

But it would be nice if the club approached Wealdstone to arrange a friendly at the very least. I think Leeds had a friendly down there to help raise some money for them a year or two ago - any ideas welcome though. Perhaps someone has a better idea?

What do you all think?

[Ashley]

Fez, I miss reading your posts shame you hardly post any more.

This however is a great idea. Get it done Leicester City.

[kam6]

good call chap!

Friendly would be good or send them a couple of our youngers on loan for a bit!

[Austin]

Cracking idea

not sure who you'd go about getting in touch with but it'd be a fantastic gesture!

[leicesterisme]

Cracking idea, I love Non league football, infact I probably am more interested in non league football than Football league and the Premiership atm.

Would be great if Leicester arrange a friendly with Wealdstone.

[21st Century Fox]

Its a good idea but it would set a weird precedent. That sort of thing needs to (should) be brought in by the FA instead of individual clubs being left to pick and choose who they financially help.

[Fez of Mahrez]

Its a good idea but it would set a weird precedent. That sort of thing needs to be brought in by the FA instead of individual clubs being left to pick and choose who they financially help.

I take your point but I don't think a friendly would hurt. There's no direct link between the two clubs but it'd be a nice gesture.

[thybluefox]

Yeah, cracking idea. Can see the Thais going for it too tbh.

[Babylon]

I'm sure our whole squad has played for a minnow at some point. Nice gesture but where do you draw the line?

[21st Century Fox]

I take your point but I don't think a friendly would hurt. There's no direct link between the two clubs but it'd be a nice gesture.

The only problem being would every non-league club we've had a player from then expect it everytime and would it affect us adversly if we didn't.

I'm not saying its a good idea though, its brilliant, I just think the actual governing body of the sport should implement this sort of change.

[Houdini Logic]

No

[Fez of Mahrez]

re: previous two replies, I think you're overthinking it. It's only a friendly or one-off gesture of some kind. Maybe I shouldn't have even mentioned a direct payment, even to say it's not about that.

Other clubs can want whatever they like, it's up to them to produce players who go on to play at a higher level so they have a chance of sell-on clauses too.

[Jordan]

We still haven't done anything nice for (Hayes &) Yeading, whom DJ Campbell played for three teams before his Leicester days, so let's take care of that first before worrying about whom Jermaine Beckford played for three clubs ago himself.

Either the FA changes its laws to make sell-on clauses mandatory for non-league to league transfers, or the Wealdstones of the world use the Beckford case as a lesson learned.

[John Matrix]

Terrible idea

i would like to see more transparency with regards to sell on clauses and undisclosed fees, however.

[Fez of Mahrez]

If you take it as a friendly with them, how on earth is that a terrible idea? It might not be a spectacularly good idea, but how is it negative?

[accessory]

I'm sure Ken Bates would have felt the same way last night as the Wealdstone chairman, especially as Leeds actually ended up making a loss on Beckford, signing him for £45k and then seeing him walk away on a free.

In fact it could be argued that since Leeds had a bigger part to play in Beckford's development, they should be the ones to receive recompense.

But research (OK, a glance at Wiki) shows Wealdstone have had quite a few players on their books over the years who went on to bigger and better things - Vinnie Jones and Stuart Pearce being notable examples. More recently, Derby's Theo Robinson and Watford's Marvin Sordell also appeared for the club in the early stages of their careers.

So I'd suggest we probably have no more responsibility towards the stones than Derby or Watford do. But if the club do decide to go down this route, then I hope that should Gelson Fernandes prove successful for us, we adopt a similar approach to his first team. The sights of Sion in Switzerland would be infinitely more alluring for a pre-season friendly than the soulless suburbs of north London.

[lcfcadam]

If you take it as a friendly with them, how on earth is that a terrible idea? It might not be a spectacularly good idea, but how is it negative?

Imagine having the audacity to suggest something well-considered and novel on these boards?! How very dare you?!

[Mack]

What on earth?

He is a good few clubs down the line since them, and they must have got a tidy sum from his last transfer if they got the right contact clauses when they flogged him.

If they want further reward I would suggest they invest in youth and producing players of good quality to sell on.

[iancognito]

It'd be a nice gesture but I think the onus would more be on us if we'd got him on a free transfer and not had to pay anything. As it is it's on Everton as they got him for buttons and made about 4 million profit in a year.

Going forward, maybe the FA should put a 1% sell on clause in all transfers where all previous clubs from league one downwards that the player spent one season or more at get 1% each of future transfer fees, or something similar to filter the crazy money back down the leagues.

And I agree with Ashley, this forum needs more Fez

[John Matrix]

If you take it as a friendly with them, how on earth is that a terrible idea? It might not be a spectacularly good idea, but how is it negative?

haha it's not really fez i was just niggling. it's a great idea for all of us romantics but i don't see it happening as much as i'd like it. a friendly would be a nice idea.

[Freeman's Wharfer]

I'm sure Ken Bates would have felt the same way last night as the Wealdstone chairman, especially as Leeds actually ended up making a loss on Beckford, signing him for £45k and then seeing him walk away on a free.

In fact it could be argued that since Leeds had a bigger part to play in Beckford's development, they should be the ones to receive recompense.

But research (OK, a glance at Wiki) shows Wealdstone have had quite a few players on their books over the years who went on to bigger and better things - Vinnie Jones and Stuart Pearce being notable examples. More recently, Derby's Theo Robinson and Watford's Marvin Sordell also appeared for the club in the early stages of their careers.

So I'd suggest we probably have no more responsibility towards the stones than Derby or Watford do. But if the club do decide to go down this route, then I hope that should Gelson Fernandes prove successful for us, we adopt a similar approach to his first team. The sights of Sion in Switzerland would be infinitely more alluring for a pre-season friendly than the soulless suburbs of north London.

This.

Wealdstone got their 45k for him when he was sold to Leeds, if they had a sell-on clause as part of that deal it's just tough luck that Beckford went on a free to Everton. If anyone is to be thinking of trying to help them financially then it should be JB himself, I'm sure he'll have raked in two pretty hefty signing on fees with his moves since.

Although it's not too much trouble for us to play a friendly against them, that they may consequently make a bit of dosh from, I just think the idea of helping out the little club who once owned a player we just signed five years ago is a little too tenuous. If LCFC is to be helping smaller clubs by playing friendlies then arguably it should be the smaller clubs within Leicestershire. Would it be right for us to play Wealdstone at the expense of Quorn FC, for example, one year? I would say not.

[nuttytimmy]

I love the idea, but I hear the more pragmatic side of the argument too. Something needs to be done to allow money to filter down the leagues, and I think a move from [some governing body] to introduce a mandatory percentage sell-on clause in every player's transfer would be a good - and popular - one for the future of football. Without the grassroots none of our superstars would have made it - it's long overdue that the big spenders (including us) gave something back.

[Guest MattP]

This.

Wealdstone got their 45k for him when he was sold to Leeds, if they had a sell-on clause as part of that deal it's just tough luck that Beckford went on a free to Everton. If anyone is to be thinking of trying to help them financially then it should be JB himself, I'm sure he'll have raked in two pretty hefty signing on fees with his moves since.Although

Can't argue with that.

Who knows? Maybe he has.

[Fez of Mahrez]

Getting really interesting now! The Quorn/Wealdstone question is a good one.

I wouldn't be surprised if the club are thinking out of the box to try to gain positive PR. They need things like that to expand the fanbase/profile of the club etc. That's a different debate altogether though.

[dave the caveman]

It's a cheerful idea, but too communistic for me. If our owners do feel in the mood to simply give away their hard earned money then there are far, far more people in need of assistance than some grubby non league football club in England.