Generic clubs in financial crisis Thread

[TheMaraudingDog]

Lived less than half a mile from Fratton Park and can confirm its a big no driving anywhere when a match is on. Can't beat wking up though to the sound of Millwall's mob charging down the street.

[buzzby]

Lived on the Eastern Road, the main road into the ground, what a nightmare on matchdays.

[PlasticRoyale]

Lived less than half a mile from Fratton Park and can confirm its a big no driving anywhere when a match is on. Can't beat wanking, though to the sound of Millwall's mob charging down the street.

[Dirk Gently]

Just a quick contribution to the debate about football gounds in urban areas - in 1998 when Reading left Elm Park, the market value of houses on Norfolk Road and the surrounding raods closest to the ground went up by over 20% - literally an overnight increase.

So local residents always hate having a ground nearby - unless they go to the games themselves.

[Terminal Boardom]

Just a quick contribution to the debate about football gounds in urban areas - in 1998 when Reading left Elm Park, the market value of houses on Norfolk Road and the surrounding raods closest to the ground went up by over 20% - literally an overnight increase.

So local residents always hate having a ground nearby - unless they go to the games themselves.

Which is all well and good if they moved to an area where no football ground existed. Anyone who chosses to live near an existing football ground gets little if any sympathy from me.

[Dirk Gently]

A very good article from Patrick Collins : http://tinyurl.com/ycku6p7

..........Personally, I believe the Premier League long ago gave up on Pompey. They saw the people who were running the place and they decided that the cause was hopeless. And I further believe that any attempt by the chief executive to reschedule payments is no more than sleight of hand, an attempt to paint a caring face on free-market realism.
The reason I say that is contained in a single sentence, spoken by a powerful man and curtly dismissing the notion of equity in the national sport.
‘Nobody ever said that football was fair,’ said Richard Scudamore

[Royal With Cheese]

A very good article from Patrick Collins : http://tinyurl.com/ycku6p7

..........Personally, I believe the Premier League long ago gave up on Pompey. They saw the people who were running the place and they decided that the cause was hopeless. And I further believe that any attempt by the chief executive to reschedule payments is no more than sleight of hand, an attempt to paint a caring face on free-market realism.
The reason I say that is contained in a single sentence, spoken by a powerful man and curtly dismissing the notion of equity in the national sport.
‘Nobody ever said that football was fair,’ said Richard Scudamore

But surely these are the same people that carried out the "Fit and Proper" test for ownership of Portsmouth?

[Terminal Boardom]

Maybe the football authorities will have a rethink and refer to the "Unfit and Improper" test for potential owners.

[Dirk Gently]

A very good article from Patrick Collins : http://tinyurl.com/ycku6p7

..........Personally, I believe the Premier League long ago gave up on Pompey. They saw the people who were running the place and they decided that the cause was hopeless. And I further believe that any attempt by the chief executive to reschedule payments is no more than sleight of hand, an attempt to paint a caring face on free-market realism.
The reason I say that is contained in a single sentence, spoken by a powerful man and curtly dismissing the notion of equity in the national sport.
‘Nobody ever said that football was fair,’ said Richard Scudamore

But surely these are the same people that carried out the "Fit and Proper" test for ownership of Portsmouth?

Nope- amazingly it's done retrospectively - and it's also a self-declaration. "Are you a trustworthy person? Yes or No"

Several people have failed it and nothingf has been done - what can you do when someone already owns a club and there's no-one else wanting to buy it?

[exileinleeds]

Had an interesting conversation with a (Pompey supporting) lawyer recently. We discussed the idea of someone with a financial interest in the club (st holders are effectively creditors) taking a class action against the EPL for not carrying out sufficient "fit and proper" person tests.

It would be...interesting.

[Terminal Boardom]

I think what we areseeing is a clear result of how football has managed to collectively shoot tself in the feet - with both barrels. The tv revenue sloshing around has only added to the greed of football to the extent that when a club gets relegated there have to be parachute payments to soften the blow. This sort of backhander did not exist before Sky. Plenty of clubs got relegated from the top flight andvery few went to the wall. Because clubs hideously overspend and chase the impossible dream, no wonder we see the headlines that we do.

Unfortunately, the armchair and real supporter DEMANDS success.

Will a big club going to the wall change anythng? I doubt it. All that will happen wll be the clamour for even more money to be spent unrealistically on third rate cloggers who are only in it for the money.

Because of this, I expect non-league football to have some kind of renaissance with more and more football fans deserting the upper echelons of the game in order to reconnect with the game that we fell in love with. When was the last time any of you were able to identify yourselves with a Hummer-driving low brow professional footballer?

[Uke]

Nope- amazingly it's done retrospectively - and it's also a self-declaration. "Are you a trustworthy person? Yes or No"

Several people have failed it and nothingf has been done - what can you do when someone already owns a club and there's no-one else wanting to buy it?

How do they fail the Self Declaration?

Are you a crook?

Yes

As an honest crook you're clearly fit and proper. The fee for this test can be paid in used notes if you wish.

[Uke]

When was the last time any of you were able to identify yourselves with a Hummer-driving low brow professional footballer?

[Jimmy the Tree]

When was the last time any of you were able to identify yourselves with a Hummer-driving low brow professional footballer?

Is that because you regularly film yourself banging some old slapper and uploading it to the internet?

[Jimmy the Tree]

Another non-story about Portsmouth over the weekend,

Yours for a pound, oh and £77m debt re-payment.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/158069/Portsmouth-FC-could-be-yours-for-1



CRISIS-Club Portsmouth could be flogged off for as little as £1 – the latest bizarre twist in their desperate fight for survival.

New owner Balram Chainrai is so desperate to offload the club he seized control of earlier this month that he is prepared to let it go for a pittance. But on top of the £1 potential asking price, Chainrai would want the £17million he is owed, and other debts totalling more than £60m would have to be met.

Chief executive Peter Storrie is hoping to strike a deal with one of two potential buyers before a court considers the club’s solvency on Wednesday and the High Court hears a final winding-up order by the taxman on March 1.

The incentive he is dangling to prospective buyers is that they could collect more than £30m in TV money in the autumn if Pompey keep their Premier League status, and a minimum of £11m in parachute payments if they are relegated.

The Premier League, who have sent in an ‘observer’ to try to prevent a potentially chaotic collapse, are also working on ways to save Pompey from becoming the first top flight club to go out of business.

[Dirk Gently]

Nope- amazingly it's done retrospectively - and it's also a self-declaration. "Are you a trustworthy person? Yes or No"

Several people have failed it and nothingf has been done - what can you do when someone already owns a club and there's no-one else wanting to buy it?

How do they fail the Self Declaration?

They tell porkies on it . I was over-simplifying but the end-result is the same.

There are a set of questions (e.g. have you ever been bankrupt, have you ever run a company that's gone bankrupt, etc, etc?). So they either lie, don't disclose something or just tell the truth and ignore the consequences.

Chas, one of Majeed brothers who run Crawley, for instance, failed the test because he was an undiclosed bankrupt - he promptly put the shares into his brother's name and carried on as chairman exactly the same.

Incidentally, if you';re ever bored, google some of the antics of the Majeed brother. This includes getting their goons to put a supporter through a plate glass window when he turned up to protest the way they were running the club, and then sending a lacky to do the resulting community service on their behalf. Now banged up for massive tax fraud. And one of the passed the F&PPT! The other didn't, but that made no difference.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Unfortunately, the armchair and real supporter DEMANDS success.

Will a big club going to the wall change anythng? I doubt it. All that will happen wll be the clamour for even more money to be spent unrealistically on third rate cloggers who are only in it for the money.

I think we can all recall a number of fans on this site demanding Madejski "goes for broke" in the summer of 2005, as there's no point just following an average championship club.

Because of this, I expect non-league football to have some kind of renaissance with more and more football fans deserting the upper echelons of the game in order to reconnect with the game that we fell in love with. When was the last time any of you were able to identify yourselves with a Hummer-driving low brow professional footballer?

Non-league football is hardly free of this nonsense. Look at Maidstone, Sittingbourne, Hornchurch, Canvey Island, etc etc. Plenty of idealistic dreamers in the non-league game too, who turn out to have less money than they thought when it comes to the crunch.

[Wax Jacket]

TB's point wasn't really that weirdos and crooks don't go into non-league, more that people will want to go back to watching football for the sake of watching it I think

[Silver Fox]

Without going off topic people have been saying that forever, whenever something at a pro game upsets them (no singing, no standing, no fighting, it cost too much etc etc) but I've yet to hear of a Reading Town game where they've had to shut the gates 15 minutes before kick off

New owner Balram Chainrai is so desperate to offload the club he seized control of earlier this month that he is prepared to let it go for a pittance. But on top of the £1 potential asking price, Chainrai would want the £17million he is owed, and other debts totalling more than £60m would have to be met.

The incentive he is dangling to prospective buyers is that they could collect more than £30m in TV money in the autumn if Pompey keep their Premier League status, and a minimum of £11m in parachute payments if they are relegated.

So invest 77 million pfr the chance to win 30 million? Roll up, roll up

At least this story clarifies the suspected reasoning behind Chainrai's purchase of the club

[Terminal Boardom]

TB's point wasn't really that weirdos and crooks don't go into non-league, more that people will want to go back to watching football for the sake of watching it I think

Indeed! And for the banter and general fun to be had. there is something strange about seeing lots of young children scampering around terraces. For anyone who complains about all seater stadia, get back to the roots and enjoy a traditional game in traditional environs - even if the coffee is decidedly suspect! Where else would you get substitutes warming up at half time excahnging banter with spectators? Where else does the bench chat to the supporters behind? It really is football for the purist!

Sure, there are examples of decidedly dodgy characters in non-league football. The same can be said about any business type! I recommend anyone to discuss this with Royal Rother!