Derby County supporter Sean Daniel gives his thoughts on the direct debit debate.
Over the last week Derby County Football Club have once again found themselves back in the news due to a tweet from Rams Trust, where fans were encouraged not to use a pay day lender for season tickets, but it they were going to use a lender, they have one for you. That lender was a whooping 42% APR (I refuse to repeat the name of them out of principle).
I am personally against finance in football clubs, I don’t think hobbies should be coming at the cost of needing finance, and I say that as someone who has used the direct debit option for all but one of the last five years. In David Clowes response to the recent Rams Trust suggestion, he said “Ultimately I cannot tell fans what to do, but I would urge people not to put themselves in to debt to buy a season ticket” this should bring a welcome sigh of relief to the fan base, especially for a club that a couple of months ago couldn’t see past debt.
One of Mel Morris’s few positives was the direct debit option, yes you paid a little more (very small amount), but I didn’t need to obtain credit, and in the event, you didn’t pay, your season ticket and fan ID were frozen, so you weren’t getting into the ground anyway. This was a way of encouraging people to spread the cost, but not threatening their ability to obtain finance in the future if their personal situation changed. I think Derby bucked a trend, I see a few clubs in the Premier League offer this, but not many.
For those not familiar with them V12 are a credit agency who offer season ticket loans at 0% APR, they take an upfront cost of around £25/£30 for the credit they work with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, Spurs, Millwall, Scunthorpe, etc., (the list is long), however, you are entering into a credit agreement, you are effectively loaning the value of a season ticket, and the money is sent straight to the club on your behalf. This removes any risk to the club, which I do understand, however I would suggest that the risk of a fan not completing the direct debit payments is minimal, in fact I would go as far as saying it falls below 5%, which I would expect any accountant to account for (please note this is an estimate and not a figure I have been given). So I would hope a football club (especially Premier League sized clubs) would be able to take on that risk for themselves, and remove fans from a potential black whole of debt.
The idea that football clubs encourage people to take out finance, no matter how low the APR worries me, especially in a time when so much is changing for so many people. Many will point to the fact that we all have an individual responsibility for ourselves, and we do, but I would argue football clubs have a moral responsibility to the communities it serves, and I personally find it lacking in morals when we encourage people to enter financial agreements that can impact your abilities in 5/10 years to obtain something like a mortgage...just to watch football.
At the beginning I said that Rams Trust had suggested of using a high interest loan over a payday loan. The problem full stop here is I don’t think any self-respecting fan group should be suggesting a loan of any kind. In fact, I want the opposite, fan groups should be fighting to remove all finance from football, we should be fighting for clubs not to put their fans in to debt, so the likes of V12 should cease to exist in football. Allow fans to spread the cost, yes, but not via 3rd party financing, this just feel immoral.
The one thing I’m proud of my club for is we don’t encourage needless financial agreements, we’ve an owner that actively discourages it. The backlash Rams Trust received thankfully shows that fans were appalled by their suggestion, and sadly for Rams Trust has likely done them some irreparable damage. Fan groups need to be about bringing out communities together, about finding ways to get more fans in to the ground in a responsible way (look at the funds raised for tickets last season for those who couldn’t afford it).
To those not able to afford a season ticket outright, I really do hope you get the direct debit option soon, I do believe the club are working hard. I would urge you not to take out a loan, rather follow the advice of the club, book your first two games in your seats, and see what happens after, your seat is effectively yours still until the end of September.
To all fans who will be in the ground on Saturday, Oxford have a full crowd coming, so we need to make it a loud one, we need to drown out the songs, as always…COYR!!!!!
You can listen to the season preview episode of the Rams Review podcast here:
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