Financial challenges

Dear Mr. Akhmetov.

We are writing you on behalf of the oldest football club in the Faroe Islands, Tvøroyrar Bóltfelag (TB), founded in 1892. The reason for this letter is that we are hoping to secure a modest cooperation between our club and yourself through one of your companies/organizations. Everybody in Scandinavia has heard about the fine footballing institution, FC Shakhtar Donetsk, and the level of recent success at home and abroad has impressed the wider public. Your accomplishments – both on and off the field – have impressed us very much, and that is why we come to you for assistance in raising our once glorious club back to prominence. Of course you may ask what you could possibly gain from such a partnership, but let us first tell you a little bit about our club, TB.

The club

After six long years in the second best division, we have finally secured our place in the best division in the Faroe Islands, The Vodafone League. TB is one of the clubs in the Faroe Islands with the richest history (it is actually the 9^th oldest team in the kingdom of Denmark), and that is why we feel that the club has now returned to its rightful place.

Since the very beginning the club has been playing its matches at the ground called Sevmýri. This ground has seen many great triumphs, and TB has managed to bring home 7 championship trophies as well as 5 cup wins since the inception of the Faroese league championship in 1942. Especially great were the late 1970’s and 1980’s, and many matches have gone down in Faroese folklore, as TB had many of the greatest footballers to ever have graced these islands. However, TB players and fans will wish to forget the past six years as soon as possible, as we have seen one failure replace another in the pursuit of former glories. However, things are now looking up for us. The reasons are as follow:

- After a long and bitter team struggle, our team showed what they are capable of, winning the last game of the season 11-0 away from home, the very last goal securing our promotion to the Vodafone League on goal difference.

- The team is a good blend of very young players and a few older players, all hungry for success.

- The ground where we have played for more than a hundred years, now deemed dilapidated by the local football association (FSF), will be replaced by a brand new arena that will heed all demands put forward by the national association.

- An ambitious boardroom, eager to secure success for its players and fans.

Financial challenges

On the whole things are looking positive for our club. However, there are various factors – not within our control – that are working against us. As previously mentioned, we are in the process of building a new stadium for the town and its football club, but this comes at a cost: we are a club without the vast – by Faroese standards – economic capabilities of clubs as e.g. HB Tórshavn, FC Tórshavn, EB/Streymur and NSÍ Runavík, clubs all profiting from the ever increasing centralization that our country is currently undergoing. This centralization affects many layers of society, and while the economies are thriving in the central islands, connected by tunnels and bridges, we are not so fortunate. Tvøroyri, the home of TB, lies on the southernmost island of the Faroes, and is only connected to the Faroese ‘mainland’ by ferry. Compared to the so-called mainland, the outer regions of the Faroe Islands’ infrastructure are also hopelessly underdeveloped, making it hard for the local industries to compete with the central region. Thus this regional disadvantage is a natural stumbling block, as strong economies often go hand in hand with sporting successes. Due to these factors, we simply cannot attract the same amount of lucrative sponsorship deals from the local community as other teams.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29