Imps agree deal for Gavin McCallum but look set for Mustapha Carayol tribunal
LINCOLN CITY are thought to have paid League Two rivals Hereford around £5,000 for striker Gavin McCallum.
Both the Imps and the Bulls are refusing to disclose the exact fee, but last Thursday, speaking at a Hereford United fans' forum, Bulls chairman David Keyte told fans he would be surprised if his club received more than £5,000 for the Canadian international.
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Gavin McCallum, left, and Mustapha Carayol.
A Hereford spokesman insisted the fee would remain undisclosed, while Lincoln, in a statement yesterday, also confirmed the two clubs had struck a deal.
"Regarding Gavin McCallum, that deal is all done and dusted and we have reached an agreement with Hereford to pay an undisclosed fee, which we are both fairly happy with," Lincoln City chief executive Dave Roberts told the Echo.
While McCallum's fee has been settled, Lincoln have yet to come to an agreement with Torquay United over winger Mustapha Carayol, who cannot yet be registered as an Imps player.
Roberts revealed that the Imps and Torquay were likely to meet at a tribunal to determine the 21-year-old's worth, meaning the issue could still be outstanding when the two sides meet at Sincil Bank on August 14.
While the fee remains yet to be resolved, providing the Imps and Torquay inform the Football League that they wish to take the matter to a tribunal before the season begins, the player will then be registered as an Imps player and be available to manager Chris Sutton.
Torquay believe they are entitled to a fee for developing the player but Lincoln have opposed that, instead offering the Gulls a share of any future transfer fee they may receive for the youngster, who began his youth career at Swindon Town and joined the Devon club two years ago.
"As for the Carayol fee, Torquay are disappointed to have lost the player, who from our point of view was out of contract and a free agent," said Roberts.
"From their point of view, they are looking at a fee for training and development but I struggle to understand that as he was only at the club for a relatively short period of time.
"That is likely to go to a tribunal which is likely to take place well into August."
Meanwhile Roberts has hailed Saturday's friendly game with Celtic as a success but did express his disappointment at a gate of just 3,780.
Norwich City come to town on Wednesday night (7.30pm) for the Imps' penultimate game of pre-season and the Imps' chief executive is hoping that more people pass through the turnstiles for the Canaries' clash.
"I thought it was a success against Celtic and I was quite pleased with the atmosphere inside and outside the ground," he said.
"I was disappointed more people did not turn up and the final attendance was lower than anticipated.
"We are hoping that more people will turn up for the Norwich game, which is only £10 for an adult and £5 for concessions.
"It looks like being a very competitive game with Norwich likely to send a very strong team, so it should be a good evening.
"To be fair to Celtic, while they sent a lot of reserve players, from a footballing perspective, their quality showed."
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by Vulcan Imp, North Hykeham
Tuesday, July 27 2010, 6:05PM
“I cannot think why Dave Roberts was so disappointed with the attendance against Celtic, has he not heard that money is tight for most supporters these days?
I Cannot understand the logic in charging £15 for a friendly match, even against a Celtic team made up of 2nd/3rd choice players. Yes they were much better players than we will meet in our league matches and I dare say CS got a better understanding of where we are in a team building sense rather than playing another non-league team but charge that amount of money was a poor decision.
As for the behaviour of the Celtic fans they were let down by just a mindless few, who seem to enjoy falling out with each other at the drop of a hat. Saying that, Lincoln has its own so called supporters who would rather cause trouble than watch the match.
As far as an indicator for the coming season I will wait a couple of weeks to gauge what sort of season we are going to have.”
by Uncle Bob's Barber, Lincoln
Tuesday, July 27 2010, 5:15PM
“An interesting debate on matchday pricing and food price/quality.
I think the club need to avoid being seen to rip customers off. I wouldn't pay £1.80 for a cup of tea at a smart hotel in a china cup. At the Bank, it's a tea bag, plastic cup and boiling water (with milk/sugar to taste) and the cost of facilities/staff. 50p or 60p would be reasonable and if this could be served quickly with small queues the take up might be greater. I'm guessing that the coffee is instant so a similar price would be appropriate.
I occassionally attend non league games or youth football and the tea bars sell a similar product for 50 or 60p. On cold days I might have 2 or 3 cups but I wouldn't buy any at £1.80. At that price I'd think about bringing a flask!
As for the food, I wouldn't expect anything too brilliant but
I'd pay £1.50 to £2 for a burger meat pie or hot dog with the expectation that it was hot and edible.
The problem with many grounds is that you have to queue for a long time for food and drink. The key is to be able to serve quickly and efficiently. Maybe an option would be to to sell pre-pay voucher before the match to collect at half time. That way the order can be prepared ahead of time.
As for the match entry price against Celtic, I'm guessing that it was aimed at taking £20K to £30K + off the travelling support. Gate receipts might have been close to £50K and thus depending on how much if anything we had to pay Celtic then this might have been a useful cash generator.
Generally speaking, ways to encourage people to come together to the match (dad's and kids, groups of friends etc0 should be promoted.
Football is a better shared experience whatever the result
Up the Imps”
by MacImp, Branston
Tuesday, July 27 2010, 4:38PM
“I still can't believe the attendance figure is correct, there seemed many more people to me. Food is expensive an not nice so I only buy it when my son is really insistent! They tried lowering the prices but it didn't work. It's a vicious circle. We have to improve performances to get more people wanting to come. Perhaps then we could get even more in by lowering the prices.”
by Jonathan Ricketts, London
Tuesday, July 27 2010, 3:56PM
“Well we will agree to differ. I think it is a contributing factor and I have only spoken to an admittedly small sample but people are put off coming to Lincoln as they think it is a rip off compared to other places they could go. The price on the gate is the main factor but the price of bad food certainly helped my friend's decision to attend less Lincoln matches.”
by Luke W, Lincoln
Tuesday, July 27 2010, 3:14PM
“I don't attendances are going to drop because of food prices inside the stadium. If people don't want to pay it, then they won't.
I go in the centre spot when we're at home and I'm prepared to spend £3 on a beef or pork roll because it's much better quality and better than paying, now, £3.30 for a cheeseburger.”