Royal Elm Park

[Jagermesiter1871]

I'm also confused by the logic of 'building stuff around the stadium will be the end of the club'....

[Nameless]

Even if this person doesn't have a clue. I see no reason to not believe it.

Good logic

My thinking was completely independent of this person's story. I have no basis in fact of what i think. But i think it far more likely that our owners would want to sell than not sell.

If someone who thinks they will stay can explain why they would stay i'd love to hear.

1. Nothing wrong with them wanting to sell at some point. I doubt anyone ever thought they would be owners for ever
2. If they sold then it's them who need to find a buyer, not 'us'. They cannot walk away as such, unlike Anton.
3. So far they have demonstrated a pretty good commitment to the footballing side

So thinking they would sell one day is just a statement of the obvious, like saying that players will move on. The question is whether they will asset strip, leave us in a mess and flog us off to some dodgy criminal. No one has given any reason why that is likely (other than football clubs do attract that sort).
I see no reason for anyone assuming the worst, currently things look pretty good. Worrying about the debt is meaningless, worrying about who might be the next owner of the club in 10 years time is equally pointless.

[Greatwesternline]

Good logic

My thinking was completely independent of this person's story. I have no basis in fact of what i think. But i think it far more likely that our owners would want to sell than not sell.

If someone who thinks they will stay can explain why they would stay i'd love to hear.

1. Nothing wrong with them wanting to sell at some point. I doubt anyone ever thought they would be owners for ever
2. If they sold then it's them who need to find a buyer, not 'us'. They cannot walk away as such, unlike Anton.
3. So far they have demonstrated a pretty good commitment to the footballing side

So thinking they would sell one day is just a statement of the obvious, like saying that players will move on. The question is whether they will asset strip, leave us in a mess and flog us off to some dodgy criminal. No one has given any reason why that is likely (other than football clubs do attract that sort).
I see no reason for anyone assuming the worst, currently things look pretty good. Worrying about the debt is meaningless, worrying about who might be the next owner of the club in 10 years time is equally pointless.

I think people are reading too much into what i'm saying. I'm not passing judgement on our owners. I like them. They are doing well for us.
1. I'm very happy with the development.
2. I'd be happy for them to sell once they've done it
3. The whole project is a good idea.
4. Selling would be better than not selling and just doing nothing, there are plenty of owners who are disinterested, thats far worse.

I'm loving it all, and i dont worry about the future, becuase its only football and it would be dumb to worry about something that you have no power over.

I just make the observation that i'm sure they have no intention of holding on to a football club once they have sold off their lovely buidlings they've built.

[Nameless]

Whilst they may sell the housing to generate cash isn't it just as likely they will retain the rest to provide an ongoing revenue stream ?
And bear in mind REP is a joint venture with the football club owning a significant part of it.

[royalp-we]

Liking the stadium expansion pics.

Would you mind attaching screenshots? Work block this and I never log in from home.

Basically... Think along these lines but with a single tier kop main stand

[One8Seven1*]

People are welcome to believe what they choose. Life would be very boring if we all agreed on things. I don't post on Twitter, but do use it for notifications on Reading Football Club and Football in general (I don't follow anyone, nor am I followed by anyone). The chap I spoke to does indeed work for the club. My assumption was he was perhaps the events manager as he stuck around for the entirity of the wake, but having enquired further I was told he was asked to be there to represent the club who had been very supportive of the family during this time. He was also, as he suggested, a former player of ours diring the 80's. Take it for what it is - someones opinion, but he was confident the he and many others at the club know what the Thai's intentions are. Whether you believe it or not is of no revelence to me, I'm simply putting it out there. We'll all know in a few years in any case. If when they go we are bought by a very genuine and ambitious owner, then no harm is done and everything is great, but the point I was trying to make is that the club becomes a lot less attractive to sell when we lose all that land, and it has a growing debt in the region of £80m. The next accounts will show the debt has increased. The concern is that we wont find that type of owner, and instead we will find an asset-stripper. Of the properties built, we wait and see if RFC receive a % of the sales profits. I'm lead to believe we wont see a penny. What we allegedly gain from the build is the conference centre. I gain nothing from passing this on, nor do I post regulary enough to care for receiving a reaction from it. Let's just see what happens!

[MeganDavis]

Of course they can't share the policy in a proper way Maybe someone could briefly explain what is it about?

[Forbury Lion]

Even if this person doesn't have a clue. I see no reason to not believe it. If you are a property developer why the f*** would you want to hold onto a football club for a moment longer than necessary.

Because your a local business man and you care about the local community...... oh

[Nameless]

Ok, the concern is that the Thai's are loading the club up with debt, flogging off the assets and siphoning off all the money.
And you think that they will then sell the shell of the club off to an asset stripper.
Spot the problem.....

I'd also feel pretty sorry for the easily identifiable person who has apparently been dishing the dirt. If his comments are genuine then he's going to be severely embarrassed to find them spread all over the Internet. If they haven't been reported accurately then he's going to be even more embarrassed ! Not sure it's a good idea to be so obvious about who you are saying told you stuff.

Finally I'd argue the actual evidence isn't really in favour of your worst case scenario. So far the club have had alargish injection of cash asa result of the REP project. The Thai's have been supportive of the playing side, they could have saved a bundle of cash by flogging Tish, Blackman and Norwood and then not signing Moore, Swift and Blackett (no doubt we are up on the deals, but they could have been even more up !)

We can agree that we won't know for maybe 5 years what the Thai's ultimate legacy will be, but they have said that a major part of REP is about creating a way of making the club self financing. If REP can generate enough income to support the club and give the Thai's a return then we all win. Remember they haven't sold off the land, they are developing it as a joint venture.

[WAZZOCK]

People are welcome to believe what they choose. Life would be very boring if we all agreed on things. I don't post on Twitter, but do use it for notifications on Reading Football Club and Football in general (I don't follow anyone, nor am I followed by anyone). The chap I spoke to does indeed work for the club. My assumption was he was perhaps the events manager as he stuck around for the entirity of the wake, but having enquired further I was told he was asked to be there to represent the club who had been very supportive of the family during this time. He was also, as he suggested, a former player of ours diring the 80's. Take it for what it is - someones opinion, but he was confident the he and many others at the club know what the Thai's intentions are. Whether you believe it or not is of no revelence to me, I'm simply putting it out there. We'll all know in a few years in any case. If when they go we are bought by a very genuine and ambitious owner, then no harm is done and everything is great, but the point I was trying to make is that the club becomes a lot less attractive to sell when we lose all that land, and it has a growing debt in the region of £80m. The next accounts will show the debt has increased. The concern is that we wont find that type of owner, and instead we will find an asset-stripper. Of the properties built, we wait and see if RFC receive a % of the sales profits. I'm lead to believe we wont see a penny. What we allegedly gain from the build is the conference centre. I gain nothing from passing this on, nor do I post regulary enough to care for receiving a reaction from it. Let's just see what happens!

Ok I believe you that you spoke to someone who 'claims' to be a former player, however I think they must be having you on.

No one fitting that description works for the club. The only former player working for the club who played during that time is Gilksey, and he's in the academy.

[Sutekh]

People are welcome to believe what they choose. Life would be very boring if we all agreed on things. I don't post on Twitter, but do use it for notifications on Reading Football Club and Football in general (I don't follow anyone, nor am I followed by anyone). The chap I spoke to does indeed work for the club. My assumption was he was perhaps the events manager as he stuck around for the entirity of the wake, but having enquired further I was told he was asked to be there to represent the club who had been very supportive of the family during this time. He was also, as he suggested, a former player of ours diring the 80's. Take it for what it is - someones opinion, but he was confident the he and many others at the club know what the Thai's intentions are. Whether you believe it or not is of no revelence to me, I'm simply putting it out there. We'll all know in a few years in any case. If when they go we are bought by a very genuine and ambitious owner, then no harm is done and everything is great, but the point I was trying to make is that the club becomes a lot less attractive to sell when we lose all that land, and it has a growing debt in the region of £80m. The next accounts will show the debt has increased. The concern is that we wont find that type of owner, and instead we will find an asset-stripper. Of the properties built, we wait and see if RFC receive a % of the sales profits. I'm lead to believe we wont see a penny. What we allegedly gain from the build is the conference centre. I gain nothing from passing this on, nor do I post regulary enough to care for receiving a reaction from it. Let's just see what happens!

Ok I believe you that you spoke to someone who 'claims' to be a former player, however I think they must be having you on.

No one fitting that description works for the club. The only former player working for the club who played during that time is Gilksey, and he's in the academy.

Isn't Mike Kearney still about the place?

[WAZZOCK]

People are welcome to believe what they choose. Life would be very boring if we all agreed on things. I don't post on Twitter, but do use it for notifications on Reading Football Club and Football in general (I don't follow anyone, nor am I followed by anyone). The chap I spoke to does indeed work for the club. My assumption was he was perhaps the events manager as he stuck around for the entirity of the wake, but having enquired further I was told he was asked to be there to represent the club who had been very supportive of the family during this time. He was also, as he suggested, a former player of ours diring the 80's. Take it for what it is - someones opinion, but he was confident the he and many others at the club know what the Thai's intentions are. Whether you believe it or not is of no revelence to me, I'm simply putting it out there. We'll all know in a few years in any case. If when they go we are bought by a very genuine and ambitious owner, then no harm is done and everything is great, but the point I was trying to make is that the club becomes a lot less attractive to sell when we lose all that land, and it has a growing debt in the region of £80m. The next accounts will show the debt has increased. The concern is that we wont find that type of owner, and instead we will find an asset-stripper. Of the properties built, we wait and see if RFC receive a % of the sales profits. I'm lead to believe we wont see a penny. What we allegedly gain from the build is the conference centre. I gain nothing from passing this on, nor do I post regulary enough to care for receiving a reaction from it. Let's just see what happens!

Ok I believe you that you spoke to someone who 'claims' to be a former player, however I think they must be having you on.

No one fitting that description works for the club. The only former player working for the club who played during that time is Gilksey, and he's in the academy.

Isn't Mike Kearney still about the place?

No, I think he stopped working there a few years back. The last job he had there was at Hogwood, not in Commercial.

[Forbury Lion]

Sir John missed a trick here, he should have come up with his own Royal Elm Park model and developed the club land that he effectively already owned, instead he bought the station hill area right before the property market crashed and then had to sell it on at a loss.

[One8Seven1*]

Land around the stadium already sold, small amount of money made its way to the club. As I said a page back, we get very little from REP. The club now gets sold minus its land, and once again we hope for the best!

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=134912&start=40#p4413408

[tidus_mi2]

Land around the stadium already sold, small amount of money made its way to the club. As I said a page back, we get very little from REP. The club now gets sold minus its land, and once again we hope for the best!

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=134912&start=40#p4413408

So has the land actually been sold or are we all going on BR rant? Because unless there's something official to state the lands has been sold, I'm more likely to dismiss the claim.

[Nameless]

I was told many months ago that the club received a significant amount of money in return for change of ownership of the land. Significant being 8 figures.
Got no more proof of this than any other claims being posted but the person who said it was rather better connected than a waiter at a funeral....

[multisync1830]

Sir John missed a trick here, he should have come up with his own Royal Elm Park model and developed the club land that he effectively already owned, instead he bought the station hill area right before the property market crashed and then had to sell it on at a loss.

it was looked at by SJM but it was deemed a negative due to the state of the land. Once the recession hit the option was no longer available.

[Forbury Lion]

Sir John missed a trick here, he should have come up with his own Royal Elm Park model and developed the club land that he effectively already owned, instead he bought the station hill area right before the property market crashed and then had to sell it on at a loss.

it was looked at by SJM but it was deemed a negative due to the state of the land. Once the recession hit the option was no longer available.

Hmm, Have the Thai's underestimated the state of the land? - They do know it's an old rubbish dump don't they?

[One8Seven1*]

Sir John missed a trick here, he should have come up with his own Royal Elm Park model and developed the club land that he effectively already owned, instead he bought the station hill area right before the property market crashed and then had to sell it on at a loss.

it was looked at by SJM but it was deemed a negative due to the state of the land. Once the recession hit the option was no longer available.

Hmm, Have the Thai's underestimated the state of the land? - They do know it's an old rubbish dump don't they?

The Thai's haven't underestimated anything. RFC's share seems to be an appalling £15m. The accounts later will be very interesting indeed. The Thai's have the bulk of the share and will convert to property and make their hundreds of millions and get what they came here for. RFC at best get a conference centre as mentioned previously. No cut of the property etc.

[Greatwesternline]

The Reading accounts for anything happening at the moment or at least since the season began won't be available until 9 months after the end of this season.

If someone really wants to find out just give the Land Registry a call, see who owns the land, and how much was paid for it.