Bromley chairman Robin Stanton-Gleaves: I want to increase the quality of player and make the football club break even and eventually make money
BROMLEY chairman Robin Stanton-Gleaves says he wants to lead the club to League Two.
The Lillywhites are unbeaten in second-place in the Vanarama National League table with 23 points from their opening 11 games and are just a point adrift of Woking.
Thirteenth-placed Notts County visit Hayes Lane on Saturday with a crowd of over 2,500 expected, while Woking visit next Tuesday, 24 September (19:45).
“My vision is to create Bromley as a sustainable club with our without RSG but I hope it’s always with me,” said Stanton-Gleaves when interviewed on the club’s website www.bromleyfc.tv.
“My vision is to always plan and operate as if I wasn’t here so that means as a football club today it loses money so my first job is to find a way of it breaking even but maintain the standard of quality on the pitch. You can breakeven tomorrow but you can have a lesser player, that’s not what I’m about.
“In fact I want to increase the quality of player and make the football club break even and eventually make money but I don’t believe you can do that through football.
“If I look at other businesses across the world there is no business that operates on a Saturday afternoon and a Tuesday night every other week and that’s when the income of football club’s come from.
“I’m involved in a number of business that I own, we are 24-7 or we are nine to five, five days a week yet football club’s are trying to pretend that they can operate on those few hours on a Saturday and those few hours on a Tuesday night.
“So for me at Bromley, we’ve got to create an environment where there is enough income opportunities that feeds the football club then feeds the football and an example, supporters can see the new stand.
“There is an area on two floors that will be rented out commercially. The rental income from that will increase the revenue in the football club by about 28-29% so the revenue in the football club increases by that value.
“The football club own the land, yes I funded the build but the rental income comes as the football club. That’s just one end of the football pitch. We’re lucky as a football club, we own the freehold, we’ve got another end and we’ve got two sides of the main stand.
“My vision, is that using the land and using some business acumen, we think of ideas that produce commercial opportunities that feed revenues and income into the football club so it’s sustainable outside of football as we increase those revenues and profits we can supply more money to Neil Smith as a budget for players, the quality of player goes up and continue to improve and increase our quality on the pitch as well as our revenues off the pitch, that’s my vision.”
Bromley built a new South Stand, which replaced the iconic Benches End of their Hayes Lane ground and next on the cards will be a covered terrace stand, where the current Playzone tent is.
“We’re not finished, there’s another stand to go and I have a meeting with my planning man and a builder and we’re looking at the next project which will be exposed in due course,” said Stanton-Gleaves.
“I’m 51-years-old and I’m a little bit ancient in my view point. I actually think you should stand and watch football so don’t worry, I don’t think it’s until the Championship that we have to worry about an all-seater stadium so the next development, I hope planning allow, will certainly be to improve the stadium but it will be a modern style of terracing.”
Visit Bromley’s website: www.bromleyfc.tv
Bromley v Notts County
Vanarama National League
Saturday 21 September 2019
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Hayes Lane, Bromley, Kent BR2 9EF