He wont go bankrupt, trust me.

And the club are hoping to be self sufficient within 4 years and this is based on their current average attendence. Wether this happens or not I dont know

Brooks Mileson never went bankrupt. Do you not understand that you are a club spending beyond your means like many non-league teams before you? Most teams who do this incur serious problems down the line. How does the team become self sufficient with the current attendances in a national professional competition when this guy is having to bail them out in a semi pro regional league?

The problem was that the basis that Gretna were run on sounds eerily similar to the way that Fleetwood are being run under Andy Piley.

Gretna's survival was based entirely on Brooks Mileson being able to underwrite the club's expenses. He had a family who had no interest in football and there was no plan B, or at least, not one sufficient enough to underwrite the club's eye watering cost base. There was a plan to make the club self sufficient in the long term, but that long term didn't factor in the unexpected. If, hypothetically, Mileson left his front door one morning and was hit by a bus, the club was finished.

In the end, that is effectively what happened. Mileson became extremely ill and his family had no interest in bankrolling the club. It had nothing to do with Mileson's fortune.

It's no bad thing that Fleetwood are investing, in fact it's encouraging. The concern is where the pay-back comes into it. It was the same problem that Farsley had - running up costs in the belief that those costs could be recouped from asset sales and investments that would make the business more profitable. Those asset sales never happened and the rest, as they say, is history.

Things may well come off for Fleetwood but it's a scenario that is all too common in non league football. If I were a fan, I'd be crossing everything I had that Andy Pilley looks both ways before crossing the road.

You do realise that a football club can also generate income from other activities dont you? Im not even talking about money generated from a stadium or anything at all to do with the club. Nor am I talking about asset sales or investments either. I dont want to get involved with specifics because I am privvy to the financial side of not just fleetwood, but Andy Piley too, but having seen the plans for how the club intends to be self sufficient, I can honestly say that its very probable. I would even say nailed on, but nothing is nailed on these days so id better not.

So Fleetwood are going to become self sufficient by gaining money from what? You say they don't need income from the stadium or the actual club. You don't want to get involved in details because it is nigh on impossible for a club in the lower leagues to make money from anything but their stadium. I would of thought they would balance the books by hiring out meeting rooms etc but you seem to think this wouldn't be needed. Seen as they won't be selling assets, investing or making any sort of money from the stadium i would love to know exactly how they will make enough money to be self sufficient?

There is hire of stadium facilities yes. I should have made myself clear. It is possible to generate money and good profit from activites other than those associated with football or stadium facilities. As I said, I have been involved in it all and its very probably that the club will be self sufficient. At the very worst, Piley will have a little bit of outlay to find.

House built on sand. Yet Fleetwood fans seem to be the only ones oblivious to it - your support barely broke through the 150 average up until 10 years ago, so that support can disappear just as quickly as it arrived, giving far less attention to Pilley's ego trip. Then what?

But how much of a market is there for stadium hire? I can't imagine that Fleetwood is a renowned centre for corporate events and trade exhibitions.

To fund what is apparently planned at Fleetwood, you either need some big-bucks events or a non-stop stream of smaller ones. Given that plenty of bigger clubs in much more suitable locations struggle to achieve that, I can't really see either emerging in a tiny North West outpost.

Why do you all keep trying to be negative? Fleetwood is here to stay wether you like it or not.

Football league here we come then I will be able to leave this thread

This from a club playing their first ever season at Blue Square North level. Can't put a price on class.

There's a huge difference between being negative and being cautiously realistic.

Exactly. We get around a 1000 more through the gates every game than Fleetwood currently do sand we generally run at a loss of around £200k every season. Only reason we have been able to make a push this season is due to our visit to Wembley and somehow getting £50k for Adam Boyes. If we don't make it there again this season we will have another season of BSP football with a reduced budget. We have already lost the youth team which is now funded by parents and supporters. Only the sale of Brodie, who is now bang out of form and has a value dropping by the day, will balance the books.