Bloom "is a criminal"

[Collar Feeler]

 

[beorhthelm]

it might be heads in the sand, but if he has commited a criminal act, why has he not been brought before a court? Thats from Oct 2007, seems plenty of time to have arranged a case. but its the opinion of someone with a grudge.

 

[Pondicherry]

The people who wrote the original article look like nutters to me. They believe the entire premiership is fixed and even come up with an altenative table without the fixed results. Obviously the Chelsea Barca game was fixed as well.

http://footballisfixed.blogspot.com/

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Evidence? - great positive thread Bozza will really help the cause..

Well, I for one am not excited by this takeover news. I don't trust the man one bit and am desperately looking forward to being proved wrong...

.

 

[sten_super]

The people who wrote the original article look like nutters to me. They believe the entire premiership is fixed and even come up with an altenative table without the fixed results. Obviously the Chelsea Barca game was fixed as well.

http://footballisfixed.blogspot.com/

Hahaha I've just tried to read that. The most recent articles read like the mutterings of a derranged psychopath! I notice he charges for full access to his blog. Do you think he is really crazy or just peddles all these lines to try and garner some attention and some paying customers?

 

[wrx]

Mr Bloom has never been convicted so the thread is factually incorrect and libellous. What's more the whole Cyprus thing just reads like a bunch of barmy sour grapes to me and cannot be taken seriously.

I think this is exciting as it is certainly news; but thinking about it during the day I doubt it is the cut and dried great deal everyone seems to long for;

The fact is that that Albion have had a tough time in the past and despite this second coming the smart money would be on a potentially rocky road ahead.

If Mr Bloom is a good business man and he is committed to the Albion then, all things being equal, that's a great start.

It appears that Mr Bloom is providing a cashflow guarantee. Now, a guarantor is often described as "a fool with a pen in his hand"...but...Mr Bloom is no fool; he is, from what I can gather (and, as I don't know him personally, is from media and news...and you should NEVER believe anything you read in the papers or on message boards and websites) a very smart man, as well as a gambler who not only plays the odds but also takes a chance as well as being business savvy.

The obvious first question behind all the hype and misdirection is what level guarantee does the club have to maintain cashflow commitements...e.g. if Mr Bloom deafults on his personal guarantee? This may occur for any number of reasons if the odds turn against Mr Bloom in either this deal or in others. I doubt sincerely that the Directors will have been able to insist on/secure the club any liens on Mr Bloom's assets to really secure the future of the club, given that the terms of the "loan" are "interest free".

Anyway - as the Albion know from bitter experience, nothing in life is free.

I suspect Mr Bloom, who almost certainly doesn't have anything like £93m of his own to spare in either cash or assets, has thought all this through and that he will continue to trade in his other businesses and will make payments and even raise personal debt if necessary, as and when the time comes, to find the cash for the Club to pay the bills as and when they fall due.

Essentially he is a gambler and true to his nature he is gambling. I don't know what he is gambling on...probably upon an upswing in the commercial property market and/or the arrival of a (probably Australsia based or backed) investor buying a majority stake in the club from him at some future date, attracted by the value of the clubs newly developed real estate and its further evelopment potential as well as the premium for the "UK football brand"

From Mr Bloom's business savvy side, and if the assumption is correct, the gamble here is probably twofold; that the investor will part with much more cash than Mr Bloom has had to shell out either from capital or in interest or in lost opportunity in the interim and that even after selling a majority stake Mr Bloom will be left with as many shares as had before which, due to the investment by the investor, are worth much more more than they are now.

Anyway, provided the fundamentals all go generally in the right direction the club should do well enough as a footballing entity in this scenario and so I'm pretty sure everyone will be happy.

The risks are those of an uncertain future...these are infinite...but here's a few of the obviuous ones

a) The Football League object to Mr Bloom on the basis of Section 9 of their Regulations as per http://www.football-league.co.uk/staticFiles/78/3/0,,10794~888,00.pdf

b) Mr Bloom having insufficient funds (from either raised debt or realiseable equity) to provide the liquidity under the terms of his personal guarantees when called to do so by the Club and the Club goes into administration

c) That the size of the commitment (£93m), the terms of the guarantee (nil interest) and Mr Bloom's history (start ups/gambling/betting and Australasia/Far East) will excite unwonted interest from external agencies.

d) That the global recession undermines commercial property values over a longer period than Mr Bloom can stand

e) That the Albion crash and burn on the playing side.

f) That the recession undermines professional football in the UK, reducing the number of full-time, professional clubs.

One conclusion is that Life, like Football, is uncertain and because of this it is exciting and to be enjoyed. We should thank Mr Bloom for making it moreso today and enjoy the consequences which are neither good or bad, but merely consequences.

 

[foul old ron]

Great first post wrx.

 

[CheeseRolls]

Have I missed something here ?

2005 premierbet acquired by IGH from T Bloom

2007 premierbet hit severe financial difficulties due to a legislative change on offshore banking in the US

ergo T Bloom is somehow responsible.

As for the character assassination, this one has movie script written all over it... James Bond in "The Lizard who loved football"

 

[Whitterz]

Mr Bloom has never been convicted so the thread is factually incorrect and libellous. What's more the whole Cyprus thing just reads like a bunch of barmy sour grapes to me and cannot be taken seriously.

I think this is exciting as it is certainly news; but thinking about it during the day I doubt it is the cut and dried great deal everyone seems to long for;

The fact is that that Albion have had a tough time in the past and despite this second coming the smart money would be on a potentially rocky road ahead.

If Mr Bloom is a good business man and he is committed to the Albion then, all things being equal, that's a great start.

It appears that Mr Bloom is providing a cashflow guarantee. Now, a guarantor is often described as "a fool with a pen in his hand"...but...Mr Bloom is no fool; he is, from what I can gather (and, as I don't know him personally, is from media and news...and you should NEVER believe anything you read in the papers or on message boards and websites) a very smart man, as well as a gambler who not only plays the odds but also takes a chance as well as being business savvy.

The obvious first question behind all the hype and misdirection is what level guarantee does the club have to maintain cashflow commitements...e.g. if Mr Bloom deafults on his personal guarantee? This may occur for any number of reasons if the odds turn against Mr Bloom in either this deal or in others. I doubt sincerely that the Directors will have been able to insist on/secure the club any liens on Mr Bloom's assets to really secure the future of the club, given that the terms of the "loan" are "interest free".

Anyway - as the Albion know from bitter experience, nothing in life is free.

I suspect Mr Bloom, who almost certainly doesn't have anything like £93m of his own to spare in either cash or assets, has thought all this through and that he will continue to trade in his other businesses and will make payments and even raise personal debt if necessary, as and when the time comes, to find the cash for the Club to pay the bills as and when they fall due.

Essentially he is a gambler and true to his nature he is gambling. I don't know what he is gambling on...probably upon an upswing in the commercial property market and/or the arrival of a (probably Australsia based or backed) investor buying a majority stake in the club from him at some future date, attracted by the value of the clubs newly developed real estate and its further evelopment potential as well as the premium for the "UK football brand"

From Mr Bloom's business savvy side, and if the assumption is correct, the gamble here is probably twofold; that the investor will part with much more cash than Mr Bloom has had to shell out either from capital or in interest or in lost opportunity in the interim and that even after selling a majority stake Mr Bloom will be left with as many shares as had before which, due to the investment by the investor, are worth much more more than they are now.

Anyway, provided the fundamentals all go generally in the right direction the club should do well enough as a footballing entity in this scenario and so I'm pretty sure everyone will be happy.

The risks are those of an uncertain future...these are infinite...but here's a few of the obviuous ones

a) The Football League object to Mr Bloom on the basis of Section 9 of their Regulations as per http://www.football-league.co.uk/staticFiles/78/3/0,,10794~888,00.pdf

b) Mr Bloom having insufficient funds (from either raised debt or realiseable equity) to provide the liquidity under the terms of his personal guarantees when called to do so by the Club and the Club goes into administration

c) That the size of the commitment (£93m), the terms of the guarantee (nil interest) and Mr Bloom's history (start ups/gambling/betting and Australasia/Far East) will excite unwonted interest from external agencies.

d) That the global recession undermines commercial property values over a longer period than Mr Bloom can stand

e) That the Albion crash and burn on the playing side.

f) That the recession undermines professional football in the UK, reducing the number of full-time, professional clubs.

One conclusion is that Life, like Football, is uncertain and because of this it is exciting and to be enjoyed. We should thank Mr Bloom for making it moreso today and enjoy the consequences which are neither good or bad, but merely consequences.

great post, shame it took 2.5 years!!!

 

[1066gull]

Don Corleone was a criminal but his dealings were business. I don't care what Bloom does to make money, thats up to him and how he spends it.

 

[Jamie_Smith]

yeah the bit u r missing is the fact he started the company and sold it in 2004, problems of 2009 he is not responsible for!

 

[Silent Bob]

Thursday, 21 May 2009
Brighton In Bloom? #
Behind every great fortune is a forgotten crime.
And, behind every small fortune are a whole array of smaller forgotten criminal indiscretions.
But crimes they remain.

Anthony Grant Bloom is the new chairperson of Brighton And Hove Albion FC.
Bloom demanded the role in return for his financial commitment to the continuation of the Falmer Stadium Project (FSP).
Bloom effectively ousted Dick Knight, the man who in Bloom's own words "saved the club from almost certain extinction at a time when no one else was willing to come forward" in a poker powerplay.
Bloom, apparently, has the best interests of the club at heart.

A brilliant mathematician.
An internet gambling entrepreneur.
A property magnate.
A League One Roman Abramovich.
A former professional poker player.
An industry mogul.
A professional gambler.

Anthony Grant Bloom claims to be all these things and more.
Ah! The psycho-psychology of the silver spoon.

Anthony Grant Bloom likes a big gamble and his £80 million interest-free loan to the south-coast club is certainly that.
As his eminence himself decreed to the gathered masses (sic) on Tuesday: "The credit crisis hit as we were going to the banks. We just got unlucky, so I've had to make a bigger commitment than I would have envisaged."
How philanthropic can one get?

Now a scenario analyst of even moderate talent was able to demonstrate that the bottom was about to fall out of free market capitalism a decade ago. But to be actively involved in a commercial infrastructural project on the cusps of the Depression is non-strategic, to put it politely.
In fact, setting up a property development company on any level is just a tad myopic in a Depression.

#################################################################################
################################################################################
########################################################################
###########################################################
#############################################################################
###########################################################################
############################################################################

Banks pull on projects at times of market failure.
The banks know something that our gambling genius is unable to grasp - the Big Picture.

But the idiocy of the venture is only one reason why Brighton fans should be concerned as to this takeover of their club by #################, via little Anthony.
Below we reproduce abridged versions of some earlier posts on the business practices of our heroic and fearless post-Mensa hyperbrain.

"Anthony Grant Bloom was the founder of Premierbet and he used to act as an ######## ############## for the underground Asian betting markets for numerous European clients.
Bloom was my second broker. No computerised accounts were kept by Bloom for private trading activities and transactions, everything was scribbled on paper and kept away from prying and taxing eyes.
Premierbet became financially compromised once they were confronted by the larger European and Asian firms, and was eventually sold for a couple of used condoms and a fiver to Interactive Gaming Holdings plc (IGH), who proceeded to do a runner with all of their clients monies.
Somewhere in this financial hotchpotch, Bloom was able to set aside enough money to establish a property empire, a private box at Chelsea FC and numerous other business operations occupying #################################################"

"Leisure punters should be aware that leading London-based bookmaker Premierbet is no longer in business and, although visitors to their website are being told that the site is "unavailable for essential maintenance work", the truth is that the company is not available for the essential payment of its debt obligations to clients.
Premierbet's parent company is IGH who are listed on the AIM in London. The company stock was suspended on August 17th and yet the bookmaker continued accepting bets over last weekend in the full knowledge that any trades enacted and any monies deposited were to disappear into the black hole of IGH's illiquid bank accounts. IGH were seeking interim funding from General Capital Venture Finance Limited but the venture people pulled the plug on August 15th and, despite company claims, there is no other saviour waiting in the wings.
Premierbet were previously in financial uproar in 2005 when IGH bought it for a nominal fee after the bookmaker had been mismanaged for years by self-styled industry mogul, Tony Bloom. From day one, there was no coordinated decision on whether the new operation was going to trade at the cutting edge of the gambling sector by offering accounts to winning professional traders or whether the concern was merely going to cream slices of profit off the leisure betting punter. By gyrating between these two options, Premierbet ended up offering inappropriate levels of service to both pros and amateurs. Furthermore, the company was heavily dependent on accepting bets illegally from American clients and, when the Bush administration started arresting British executives for such behaviour, Premierbet's profits and shareprice plummeted. ############################################
#############################################################################
#############################################################################
###########################################################################
#########################################################################
###########################################################################
Now lets make this clear, the system is so tilted in favour of bookmaking operations that only incompetence of the highest degree may explain an inability to retain market presence and Premierbet were astounding in their degree of unprofessionalism. This culture dated back to Bloom's megalomaniacal style when in charge of the company and, as all buyout merchants understand, a company culture is the most difficult aspect to adjust after takeover (Bloom remained as a consultant).
In a competitive capitalist system, companies obviously must suffer the consequences of a lack of financial rigour but it is only the gambling sector and the illegal black and grey market sectors that provide no comeback for customers who are financially compromised by bankruptcy. There will be no assessment of creditors losses or needs and the directors of this shoddy operation will be able to walk away prior to reinventing themselves in some other form to be able to fleece the uninformed all over again. This is something that Britain's new Gambling Act ostentatiously fails to address - gambling winnings and banked money are not recoverable under law. The upshot of this tawdry state of affairs is that the sector will continue to attract the most abusive type of business charlatan."

There are numerous other people who we could quote on ###########################
############################################################################
############################################################################
For example, how about the despair of a former Premierbet punter on the SportsBook Review site: "I can't understand how they are allowed to go on trading. My account is still open, and I have £1500 credit still showing. Can you advise me on anything I can do? They are ignoring my emails, and phone calls are directed to a London number which is constantly on answer machine."

And Brighton fans remain unconvinced if the blog responses are anything to go by at the Brighton Argus website.
One wisely selecting to be "a little wary of Bloom in any case", while another fears correctly that "I am not sure that I like the sound of one person having such a vast controlling interest in the club", and yet another wonders "how much is being loaned in unsecured loans?".

So apart from a satisfaction of his rampant narcissism and the development of another business template in which to unravel his antisocial short-termism, what else does the chairpersonship offer to our own little Abramovich?

Well 90% ownership of the club once the ground is completed, for starters...
Additionally, a close contact of Bloom informs me that our hero would not have "saved" the club if they had been relegated this year (they survived by three points).
That doesn't sound too solid a commitment to me.

There are some aspects of Bloom's current business activities that we are unable to print in this place ##########################################################
##############################################################################
##############################################################################
#############################################################################
##############################################################################
##########################################################################
#############################################################################

Bloom's gamble will only pay off if i) Brighton reach the Premier League, and ii) the Depression proves to be a myth.

There are ways in which the former agenda may be facilitated avoiding mainstream sporting competitiveness, but there is no way to avoid the impacts of the Depression.

###############################################################################
###########################################################################################################################################################
Although certain hyperowners and managers have familial links with the bookmaking fraternity, although leading agents play the markets on events under their control, although shirt sponsorship deals continue to provide exposure for Asian and European betting operations, although some players and referees are crooked, the Bloom takeover of Brighton is the first time that the fruits of gambling have been directly exposed at the pinnacle of an English club.

We will be analysing the markets on Brighton's matches in the future very closely indeed.
###########################################################################
#################################################################################
#############################################################################
############################################################################
###############################################################################
############################################################################
########################################################################

Many moons ago in a telephone conversation with Bloom, I stated that "money isn't everything."
There was a palpable silence thing going on at the other end of the line.
Plus ça change...

* All posts labelled # are only available fully by subscription.
* Annual fee is £15 for 150 posts.
* Contact us at footballisfixed@googlemail.com for further details.

THE FOOTBALL IS FIXED BLOG HAVE PRODUCED OVER 750 POSTS SINCE NOVEMBER 2006 DETAILING THE CORRUPTIONS THAT GOVERN THE HYPERREAL WORLDS OF FOOTBALL AND FINANCE.

EACH MONTH, WE REMOVE HISTORICAL POSTS FROM THIS BLOG, SO THE LIFE HACKERS AMONG YOU WILL UNDERSTAND THAT THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY OF PERUSING THE FOOTBALL IS FIXED BLOG IS TO CHECK IN ON THE LAST DAY OF EACH MONTH AND DOWNLOAD THE FREEBIE OFFERINGS (IF YOU SO WISH).
OR IF ANY OF THESE FAKE WORLDS ACTUALLY INTEREST YOU, YOU MIGHT CHECK IN MORE FREQUENTLY.

© Football Is Fixed/Dietrological

football is fixed: Brighton In Bloom? #

 

[Taybha]

Well, find me someone who is seriously rich who hasn't got anyone ready to blast them.

Fact of life, nice people don't usually make rich people. Get over it.

You must be loaded

 

[Gwylan]

Even Richard Branson has probably done a few things hes not proud of.

EVEN?


Branson by Tom Bower - TheBookbag.co.uk book review

 

[sten_super]

<snip>

What complete and total nonsense. What delusional world is this guy living in?

 

[chimneys]

Mr Bloom has never been convicted so the thread is factually incorrect and libellous. What's more the whole Cyprus thing just reads like a bunch of barmy sour grapes to me and cannot be taken seriously.

I think this is exciting as it is certainly news; but thinking about it during the day I doubt it is the cut and dried great deal everyone seems to long for;

The fact is that that Albion have had a tough time in the past and despite this second coming the smart money would be on a potentially rocky road ahead.

If Mr Bloom is a good business man and he is committed to the Albion then, all things being equal, that's a great start.

It appears that Mr Bloom is providing a cashflow guarantee. Now, a guarantor is often described as "a fool with a pen in his hand"...but...Mr Bloom is no fool; he is, from what I can gather (and, as I don't know him personally, is from media and news...and you should NEVER believe anything you read in the papers or on message boards and websites) a very smart man, as well as a gambler who not only plays the odds but also takes a chance as well as being business savvy.

The obvious first question behind all the hype and misdirection is what level guarantee does the club have to maintain cashflow commitements...e.g. if Mr Bloom deafults on his personal guarantee? This may occur for any number of reasons if the odds turn against Mr Bloom in either this deal or in others. I doubt sincerely that the Directors will have been able to insist on/secure the club any liens on Mr Bloom's assets to really secure the future of the club, given that the terms of the "loan" are "interest free".

Anyway - as the Albion know from bitter experience, nothing in life is free.

I suspect Mr Bloom, who almost certainly doesn't have anything like £93m of his own to spare in either cash or assets, has thought all this through and that he will continue to trade in his other businesses and will make payments and even raise personal debt if necessary, as and when the time comes, to find the cash for the Club to pay the bills as and when they fall due.

Essentially he is a gambler and true to his nature he is gambling. I don't know what he is gambling on...probably upon an upswing in the commercial property market and/or the arrival of a (probably Australsia based or backed) investor buying a majority stake in the club from him at some future date, attracted by the value of the clubs newly developed real estate and its further evelopment potential as well as the premium for the "UK football brand"

From Mr Bloom's business savvy side, and if the assumption is correct, the gamble here is probably twofold; that the investor will part with much more cash than Mr Bloom has had to shell out either from capital or in interest or in lost opportunity in the interim and that even after selling a majority stake Mr Bloom will be left with as many shares as had before which, due to the investment by the investor, are worth much more more than they are now.

Anyway, provided the fundamentals all go generally in the right direction the club should do well enough as a footballing entity in this scenario and so I'm pretty sure everyone will be happy.

The risks are those of an uncertain future...these are infinite...but here's a few of the obviuous ones

a) The Football League object to Mr Bloom on the basis of Section 9 of their Regulations as per http://www.football-league.co.uk/staticFiles/78/3/0,,10794~888,00.pdf

b) Mr Bloom having insufficient funds (from either raised debt or realiseable equity) to provide the liquidity under the terms of his personal guarantees when called to do so by the Club and the Club goes into administration

c) That the size of the commitment (£93m), the terms of the guarantee (nil interest) and Mr Bloom's history (start ups/gambling/betting and Australasia/Far East) will excite unwonted interest from external agencies.

d) That the global recession undermines commercial property values over a longer period than Mr Bloom can stand

e) That the Albion crash and burn on the playing side.

f) That the recession undermines professional football in the UK, reducing the number of full-time, professional clubs.

One conclusion is that Life, like Football, is uncertain and because of this it is exciting and to be enjoyed. We should thank Mr Bloom for making it moreso today and enjoy the consequences which are neither good or bad, but merely consequences.

Interesting and rational thoughts WRX.

You mention Bloom's "guarentees" but bearing in mind the club cant raise debt from the banks, the only guarentees I guess Bloom is giving are to Buckingham (on the stage payments as they come about)and the Council (to implement the permission).Until the debt market improves he will have to fund the stadium building out of his own pocket as opposed to merely guarenteeing cashflows.

I dont know where you get your info that Bloom doesnt have major cash/assets in quickly liquifiable form, but this credit crunch, particularly for the likes of First Division football clubs, is likely to go on for some time, so he will need to have potentially very deep pockets in the short term.

 

[Billy the Fish]

football is fixed: Brighton In Bloom? #

Someone has a serious grudge against Tony Bloom. Hardly an objective bit of writing
There's also a few definite untruths that I can see, all I can say is

 

[sten_super]

Someone has a serious grudge against Tony Bloom. Hardly an objective bit of writing
There's also a few definite untruths that I can see, all I can say is

It's not just that though is it, there's classics like;

"Now a scenario analyst of even moderate talent was able to demonstrate that the bottom was about to fall out of free market capitalism a decade ago. "

Right, but the bottom didn't fall out of free market capitalism until (roughly) 12 months ago. So those predicting it a decade ago were wrong, weren't they? Besides which, how come nobody mentioned this beforehand if they knew it was coming?

Also;

"But to be actively involved in a commercial infrastructural project on the cusps of the Depression is non-strategic, to put it politely.
In fact, setting up a property development company on any level is just a tad myopic in a Depression."

So are we in a depression, or on the cusp? Why the capital letter? It also seems rather unlikely that we will enter a depression; there's very little evidence for it at this time.

"That doesn't sound too solid a commitment to me."

He cunningly forgets to mention that the Blooms have a history of investing in the club, and that in fact Tony has been supporting the club financially for at least 2 years.

And that's without looking too hard at his blabbering about all football being fixed and complete conjecture surrounding many many aspects of Tony Bloom's personal and professional life.

Great article

 

[algie]

private box at Chelsea FC?

 

[chimneys]

private box at Chelsea FC?

Surely that should be Spurs if we are going to stereotype?!