elliott bennett to norwich?

[mike79]

Pretty sure abramovic had no historical ties to Chelsea, whereas Tony Bloom is from Brighton, his family have history being on the board at Brighton and he a lifelong Brighton supporter. He's not in it to turn a fast profit, he's trying to put us on a sound financial footing for the future by not strapping the club up with massive interest payments or an over inflated wage structure within.

So overall, no - nothing like it.

i meant the financial arrangement...

 

[dreaming spires]

Yeh but to be fair at the fact that he built all FOUR stands suggests to me his intentions are far more honourable than some other Chairman.

Couldn't agree more with you, glad he went years ago!

 

[Mellotron]

=What most of these Brighton fans fail to understand is that a huge slice of OUR debt is also owned to Delia and Michael Wynn Jones.

Is he related to Ken Wynn Jones?

 

[mike79]

You say that like any of 'these Brighton fans' give a shit about your club.

woah chillax!

 

[mike79]

Is he related to Ken Wynn Jones?

yep his dad

 

[Lord Bamber]

Couldn't agree more with you, glad he went years ago!

Out of mild curiosity why are you on a fans forum for Brighton & Hove Albion?

 

[nawtygully]

why are norwich and an oxford fan discussing shite on a brighton forum

 

[Curious Orange]

So it is still going to take the club 12 years to repay a loan taken out to pay for its new stadium? And you don't know how much you are going to be repaying each year?

Yet you will have more financial muscle than poor little Norwich who have to sell a car park, despite Norwich not having £8.3m a year for 12 years to stump up? Is there anybody here who can help me get my head around this? That is a mammoth debt, how can you be sure that this man (a gambler and property developer) has your best interests at heart? Other than the fact that he was born in Brighton?

I mean, the current Ipswich Town owner is screwing them, and happened to grow up in Norfolk as a Norwich City fan. What is the minimum that Brighton have to pay back each year? Can you be certain that there isn't a minimum payment? And what if you default? Tony Bloom takes 10 years worth of payments, and then turns it into houses?

I will settle for our little super cook and our small scale land deals, thanks We already own our ground, and it already holds way over 22,500, with potential to extend to 35,000.

I don't think we've said that we've got more financial muscle than Norwich? In fact I think I said exactly the opposite in my last post, but things have the potential to be very different next season... all the corporate boxes have gone, most of the prawn sandwich seats sold, and the remaining season ticket sales going very well by all accounts.

As for us being sure of Tony, how can anybody be sure of anyone? Lets just say that his Grandfather was the Vice-Chairman of the club in the 70s, and his Uncle has been a director for about 25 years, he grew up supporting the Albion... he could still screw us over...

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

And we made a profit!!

Not in 2008/9 (£4.48M loss), the shareholder(s) might if the Stadium was sold though.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Not in 2008/9 (£4.48M loss), the shareholder(s) might if the Stadium was sold though.

sorry 07/08 we made £877,000

 

[NorwichLeJuge]

Our current turnover has nothing at all to do with the future, we have already exceeded that before the next starts so afraid no comparison. We do not pay a penny for our stadium until 2023/5 and then and only then we either begin to pay for it or the loan is to be transferred into shares, which the chairman has stated he expects to be.

The point I'm making is whilst you may be able to raise capital to purchase a player, we are also in that position, and if we wanted we could also pay a large salary but as the club is run on a prudent basis and does not wish to carry the burden of debt we do not, unlike many clubs who exploit the rules and are therefore in false positions.

I do question though, some Norwich fans are quick to say how many season tickets you sell and that you are close to capacity etc etc but you are still running at a debt, therefore you are living beyond your means. Is this a gamble for promotion and if you fail, here comes administration?

Sure I will answer that. We have actually posted a net profit more years than we haven't for the past ten years but had a clueless Chief Executive who appointed three awful managers in a row and simply didn't know how to run a football club. The result was plenty of investment into the playing side but plenty of extremely expensive flops.

We now have a new board of directors and a new Chief Executive, the former Celtic and Fulham chief executive McNally. Last year we reached an agreement with banks to suspend loan repayments and instead invested that into the playing squad, the result was promotion, living within our means would have been a false economy, we would have been stuck in League One.

Our revenues are expected to reach £22m this year, £5m increase. Our net debt was paid down to £20.8m (Was £22.9m in 2009). This season we expect to make our biggest profit since 2007, and that will be used to further pay down debt by £1m.

We are sitting at 3rd in The Championship, making an operating profit, with the countries most talented young manager and with debt falling. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the way that this club is currently run. It should be noted that this is a football club who have NEVER taken the easy way out of debt, Administration. We have never missed a HMRC payment either.

There are plenty of football clubs which are not run properly, Norwich City are not one of them. Clubs that settle HMRC debts at 10 pence for every £1, they cost society money. Clubs that settle supplier debts at 1p in the £1, they lose people jobs, make local firms bankrupt. From no stretch of the imagination could anybody claim that this club is run poorly.

You only have to look at Charlton and Southampton, who were relegated with us, to see that we are run the smart way. Relegation to League One, investing in playing squad, and promotion at first attempt, all whilst paying down our debt? That sounds like a fairytale in football terms, but we did it. And all without a sugar daddy.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

I'm not going to begrudge you it, but without your chairman where exactly would you be? I think most clubs would be able to do something pretty special with an injection of nigh-on £100m, alas we're not all in such a privileged position.

I would have hoped that, coming from a club in the currently lower leagues and starved of success for a number of years, you'd be a bit more humble about what you've had bestown upon you!

Our debt is there from expanding our own stadium throughout the years, along with a relatively poor business model under the last regime, which thankfully is being addressed by our new board and chief executive. FWIW, our chairman has predicted a profit in our next set of accounts so we won't actually be living beyond our means...

Why be humble, perhaps its the fact that a few Norwich fans have come on here and belittled us and its a polite way of telling you to foxtrot oscar, and go count your toes or something.

 

[upthealbion1970]

You don't have the most talented young manager, and as for the sugar daddy comment - get your hands on a copy of build a bonfire for an explanation as to why we are where we are fella.

 

[NorwichLeJuge]

The principle part of the plan being, one presumes, Norwich City's entry and stay in the Premiership.

What's Plan B?

Well actually we will be profitable this year, without promotion, revenues will increase by £5m. The 5 year plan includes 3 years in The Championship. Debt will be paid down by £1m this year irrespective of promotion, potentially £3.5m as per the recent car park sale.

 

[mike79]

You don't have the most talented young manager

ok maybe guardiola is better

 

[NorwichLeJuge]

You don't have the most talented young manager

We will see. Will two successive promotions change your mind about that? Or not? Sounds Martin O'neill-esque to me.

 

[Da Man Clay]

Roll on the end of February.

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

sorry 07/08 we made £877,000

Largely because the Stadium development costs to date (£3.6M ish) were included as an asset on the books, instead of as an annual charge.

 

[NorwichLeJuge]

I thought the stadium wasn't costing the club anything until 2023, now you are saying that it has already cost you £3.6m?

 

[NorwichLeJuge]

ok maybe guardiola is better

Only just.