Source: Bournemouth_Echo
Cherries: Early purchase plea to help end embargo
PROMOTION-chasing Cherries are urging supporters to buy their season tickets early in an attempt to help the club rid itself of its transfer embargo.[LNB] The scheme, which could bring in between £300,000 and £400,000, was ratified by club directors at a board meeting on Thursday and is being launched today.[LNB] Under the initiative, fans who buy their tickets before February 14 will be able to get them at the current price, while a new family ticket (two adults, two children) is priced at £500.[LNB] Chairman Eddie Mitchell told the Daily Echo last night: What has been achieved during the first half of the season has been fantastic.[LNB] We have got one opportunity to try to reinforce the second half of the season and the board and the management have looked at things realistically.[LNB] We know supporters have been asking whether there is anything they can do to help. We will be selling season tickets between now and February 14 with an incentive to those who purchase early.[LNB] If we could sell 80 to 90 per cent prior to February 14, we would have enough funds to try to clear the embargo. We are not asking people to give us something for nothing.[LNB] As a club, we feel we have got to grasp this opportunity and give it every bit of support. We need to raise as much as we can to pay off the debts. I think we would achieve that if we were to sell 80 to 90 per cent.[LNB] Every one of our supporters would like to see the embargo lifted and we are asking them to buy their season tickets three or four months earlier than normal. Those three or four months could be a crucial time for our club to try to gain promotion.[LNB] Asked how other supporters could help, Mitchell replied: I have always maintained that we would welcome donations to the club but we are not going to suggest or ask people to do that.[LNB] We are not going out with the begging bowls. We are not too proud to accept donations, but we are too proud to walk around with a bucket, as has happened in the past.[LNB] The funds will be spent on clearing the debt and will go some way, if not all the way, to clearing the embargo.[LNB] Mitchell again emphasised his stance on ensuring the club would stand on its own two feet rather than rely on the directors ploughing in their own funds.[LNB] None of the directors are going to put money into the club and split the board, he said. The way the club is going to survive under my stewardship is to raise funds.[LNB] We are not going to risk the future of the club by overspending and we are not going to risk the board being spilt by any individual trying to prop up the club. It has got to run like any other business and it will be.[LNB]
