Should councils sponsor football clubs?

[Christies Child]

Wiith Tranmere and Bury already having their local councils as main sponsors I have to say that I'm not in favour of council tax being spent in this way when there appears to be some many other areas that the money could be put to better use.

Bury hoped to get the apporoval for the council to continue with their sponsorship deal at a meeting last night. A deal worth over £160,000 for the 3 years that it is proposed to run.

[Keith]

what about interest free loans for ground improvements? Isn't that basically the same?

[durhamshrimp]

I wouldn't really want LANCASTER in big letters across the front of our shirts.

[Gnasher]

I'd rather have LANCASTER than BUNCH OF SELF-IMPORTANT PARISH COUNCILLORS THAT LIED TO US ABOUT THE COST WHEN THEY ASKED US IF WE WANTED A PARISH COUNCIL

[Mark S]

I'd rather have LANCASTER than BUNCH OF SELF-IMPORTANT PARISH COUNCILLORS THAT LIED TO US ABOUT THE COST WHEN THEY ASKED US IF WE WANTED A PARISH COUNCIL

I dont remember them asking. When was the vote? I must have missed it.

[Gnasher]

What vote? They went around town gathering signatures according to someone who was one of the few they seem to have asked. It will have been Dame Archer with her clipboard in the Arndale again

[Mark S]

What vote? They went around town gathering signatures according to someone who was one of the few they seem to have asked. It will have been Dame Archer with her clipboard in the Arndale again

When the majority of Council Tax payers are at work?

There should have been a vote and when the true cost of this ego trip hits the public, there will be a backlash.

[P/T Indie]

Was it Stevenage or Woking who used were sponsored by their council years ago I always thought it was strange and if i remb it right is was a nice sum of money they got for it.

With council tax rises above inflation and lots of service cuts it does seem strange although I would say a football team is one of the best adverts for a town.

I would argue that a intrest free loan is different as the council get their money back.

[Mark S]

Was it Stevenage or Woking who used were sponsored by their council years ago I always thought it was strange and if i remb it right is was a nice sum of money they got for it.

With council tax rises above inflation and lots of service cuts it does seem strange although I would say a football team is one of the best adverts for a town.

I would argue that a intrest free loan is different as the council get their money back.

Which is better than stuffing it in an Icelandic account.

[P/T Indie]

Slightly off topic but did anyone notice the lancaster city % rise in thsi years council tax bill 10.2%

[RedRedWine1]

Was it Stevenage or Woking who used were sponsored by their council years ago I always thought it was strange and if i remb it right is was a nice sum of money they got for it.

With council tax rises above inflation and lots of service cuts it does seem strange although I would say a football team is one of the best adverts for a town.

I would argue that a intrest free loan is different as the council get their money back.

Which is better than stuffing it in an Icelandic account.

Good point Mark. These sorts of stories really annoyed me for about 6 months when they were first breaking (I'm over it now). Am I right in thinking that Lancaster Council lost £1 million by putting it in an Icelandic bank? You've got to question why the council can afford to have £1 million sat in a bank account......shouldn't they be spending it and not saving?

The same thing happened in Nottingham, though the money they lost was substantially more. The irritating thing was some complete blancmange at the council coming out and justifying why they had such a large amount of money in a bank account, and then why they chose to put it in an Icelandic account. Basically they said that the Icelandic account offered a greater level of interest for the money.......I guess they don't understand the basics of risk and return, if they did then they would realise why the return was greater.

[RedRedWine1]

Also.....didn't Accrington Stanley used to be sponsored by their local council? Hyburn...or something daft?

[Keith]

The same thing happened in Nottingham, though the money they lost was substantially more. The irritating thing was some complete blancmange at the council coming out and justifying why they had such a large amount of money in a bank account, and then why they chose to put it in an Icelandic account. Basically they said that the Icelandic account offered a greater level of interest for the money.......I guess they don't understand the basics of risk and return, if they did then they would realise why the return was greater.

Might be worth pointing out that central government told councils that if they had money to invest, they had to get the best return. It wasn't 'simply' the council's fault. Would be nice if the UK government gave us our money back too that they "froze" in KS&F UK.

[durhamshrimp]

I wouldn't really want LANCASTER in big letters across the front of our shirts.

Oops, didn't mean to open that can of worms. It was a simple point about not having Lancaster on the front of a Morecambe shirt.

[Gnasher]

Bringing our council into a conversation as the council tax bills drop through Morecambe doors including extra money for the parish council we've had forced on us couldn't have been better timed

[campdave]

Basically they said that the Icelandic account offered a greater level of interest for the money.......I guess they don't understand the basics of risk and return, if they did then they would realise why the return was greater.

IIRC, the government produced a list of safe places to invest, and the Icelandic banks were on the list.

[P/T Indie]

Good point Mark. These sorts of stories really annoyed me for about 6 months when they were first breaking (I'm over it now). Am I right in thinking that Lancaster Council lost £1 million by putting it in an Icelandic bank? You've got to question why the council can afford to have £1 million sat in a bank account......shouldn't they be spending it and not saving?


If I understand it will be the money which they are due to spend in the 2nd half of the year which they will invest for the first 6 months.

[Keith]

The audit commission have reported on this, there are comments here that clarify things...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7965310.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lanc ... 965082.stm

[P/T Indie]

The extra money for the Parish council could sponsor the football club