Good piece on Bolton's plight

[Surf's Up]

That actually sounds quite inviting! In a bizarre way.

I guess the Bolton issue, for me, just highlights the potential danger of flying too close to the sun. This bit near the end of the article sums it up:

You should all be watching us as we die. Because there’s no chance that we’ll be the last club to go like this. The way in which English football, especially in the Championship, is currently structured is completely unsustainable. Clubs piling millions into the transfer market in the hope that they’ll reach the promised land of the Premier League. Those who make it are absolutely golden right up until the moment that they’re not. And they’re punished; a vicious cycle that will continue to spin until the Championship finally implodes on its self.

Exactly this - I was going to highlight that paragraph but you beat me to it.

 

[Surf's Up]

Except the rewards are that much greater now for being in the PL

As are the costs!!!

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

An interesting view; I'd not really seen the parallels before, but you're right, they're there. I have one question (possibly more for [MENTION=31]El Presidente[/MENTION] than you?). The great bulk of TB's money has gone into fixed assets (AMEX and training ground). I'm not dismissing in any way the (roughly) £10m pa he's been ploughing in to fund operating losses (principally players' wages and transfer fees), but in totals they amount to ~£45m of the ~£220m (so, 20%) of the total injected. Can the same be said for Bolton?

The relevance is that, in our case, if TB were to fall under a bus or otherwise disappear, firstly, there'd be underlying fixed assets of real value to a new sugar daddy and, secondly, the scale of fix needed to the operating cost structure to get to b/even (if that was what any new owner wanted) would be much less than if the whole debt had been incurred to fund the playing side. All assuming that Bolton's debt is not asset-backed, which I have absolutely no idea about...

Bolton Wanderers FC (or more accurately The Bolton Wanderers Football and Athletic Club Limited) is a member of the FL and was incorporated in 1895; it owns the Macron Stadium and the on-site Bolton Whites Hotel is a wholly owned subsidiary since De Vere pulled out of a joint holding (ie sold BWFAC its shares for £1) in 2013/14. The new stadium looks to have cost around £45.5 million and its current net book value (as at 30 June 2014) is £32.5 million.
In comparison, The Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club Ltd is the FL member and was incorporated in 1904. As of 30 June 2014 it has tangible fixed assets of £1.4 million but owns neither the Amex Stadium nor the Lancing training ground. These are owned by The Community Stadium Ltd and both BHAFC and CSL are wholly owned subsidiaries of Brighton and Hove Albion Holdings Ltd in which the majority shareholder (>92%) is Tony Bloom.

 

[Notters]

Portsmouth fans are currently... free of ... big egos,

There's something I never thought I would see

 

[Hamilton]

We are all playing Russian roulette with our football clubs today. I feel for Bolton fans. Nobody is immune to this type of total failure given the sums involved in bankrolling football. Football is a game of skill and chance, and the chances are that sooner or later you'll have a little fall. If you are Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool you can afford it, but for the rest of us it can be like dallying with death.

 

[perseus]

Bolton Wanderers FC (or more accurately The Bolton Wanderers Football and Athletic Club Limited) is a member of the FL and was incorporated in 1895; it owns the Macron Stadium and the on-site Bolton Whites Hotel is a wholly owned subsidiary since De Vere pulled out of a joint holding (ie sold BWFAC its shares for £1) in 2013/14. The new stadium looks to have cost around £45.5 million and its current net book value (as at 30 June 2014) is £32.5 million.
In comparison, The Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club Ltd is the FL member and was incorporated in 1904. As of 30 June 2014 it has tangible fixed assets of £1.4 million but owns neither the Amex Stadium nor the Lancing training ground. These are owned by The Community Stadium Ltd and both BHAFC and CSL are wholly owned subsidiaries of Brighton and Hove Albion Holdings Ltd in which the majority shareholder (>92%) is Tony Bloom.

Except Bolton have not sent in their accounts. Their OTHER income (not football related?) has fallen dramatically. Why?

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

Except Bolton have not sent in their accounts. Their OTHER income (not football related?) has fallen dramatically. Why?

BWFAC's financial year ends on 30 June so, like all other limited companies, their annual accounts have to be lodged at Companies House within nine months of the end of the financial period, ie by 31 March of the following year. Thus, their accounts for 2014/15 have to be submitted by 31 March 2016.
True, this has not yet been done but then neither have the accounts for BHAFC Ltd, CSL or BHA Holdings Ltd, despite the latter being made available to the Argus, NSC etc some time ago.
BWAFC's accounts for 2013/14, to which I was referred to in my earlier post on asset holding/company structure etc, are recorded as being lodged with Companies House on 15 April 2015; six-seven weeks after the deadline, for which they will probably have been fined.

 

[SAC]

http://thesetpieces.com/features/the-column-where-did-it-go-wrong-for-bolton/

I've not really spent much time sympathising with Bolton and their woes this season. In my mind they'd been very much reaping what they'd sown. Overspending and being over reliant on a man who they thought would never stop bankrolling the club. It was a recipe for disaster.

But this write-up made me remember that its they're fans, and non-playing staff, who are suffering. The men, women and children who've spent countless hours and a lot of money to support their club are being let down massively and that truly is a shame.

It leaves me with a strange comfort; our chairman seems to have his hand well and truly on the gear stick, knowing when to shift up and, crucially, when not to. But what if he leaves? What if he and his money go the same way of Eddie Davies? Would we be in any better a position compared to Bolton?

The same as Brighton and (probably) every other club in the Championship.

 

[Ernest]

I wonder how much Candy Crush the owner of Derby has and how much has Gibson at Boro ? They have gone all in this season and if they don't go up how long can they sustain that kind of expenditure ?

 

[BBassic]

The same as Brighton and (probably) every other club in the Championship.

Quite. Apart from the 'reaping' which many of us have yet to go through. Maybe we'll be one of the lucky ones.

 

[Ecosse Exile]

There, but for the grace of God, go I

It could happen to any of us.
You didn't here Bolton fans complaining about the wealth of stars that were parading on the Reebok turf a few years back, now they are suffering.
You didn't hear Portsmouth fans complaining either as they marched happily on to Wembley.
And to a lesser extent you didn't hear Brighton fans complaining, while we tried to compete in the Championship by paying a multitude of fantastic players a kings ransom to wear the stripes, I mean Vicente, Bridge, Upson, Lopez players who had all played at the very top echelons of the game recently don't come cheap, and before anyone says but we only paid blah blah blah.... We paid more than we could afford, we were losing money to the extent that Tony Bloom or more accurately Paul Barber, until recently were making cuts left right and centre to try and make the books look satisfactory for ffp.
OK so it's Blooms money, its his club, he can pay star players whatever he wants, he can gamble all he wants to try and reach the Premier league, but so could Eddie Davies at Bolton, and when the house of cards comes crashing down its us the fans that are left to pick up the pieces, I actually do feel for Bolton's fans, we've been there and very recently too.
I think Blooms model is a better more sustainable one, at least I hope so, but time will tell, actually reaching the Premier could be the worst thing to ever happen to the Albion if we can't stay there.

 

[SAC]

There, but for the grace of God, go I

It could happen to any of us.
You didn't here Bolton fans complaining about the wealth of stars that were parading on the Reebok turf a few years back, now they are suffering.
You didn't hear Portsmouth fans complaining either as they marched happily on to Wembley.
And to a lesser extent you didn't hear Brighton fans complaining, while we tried to compete in the Championship by paying a multitude of fantastic players a kings ransom to wear the stripes, I mean Vicente, Bridge, Upson, Lopez players who had all played at the very top echelons of the game recently don't come cheap, and before anyone says but we only paid blah blah blah.... We paid more than we could afford, we were losing money to the extent that Tony Bloom or more accurately Paul Barber, until recently were making cuts left right and centre to try and make the books look satisfactory for ffp.
OK so it's Blooms money, its his club, he can pay star players whatever he wants, he can gamble all he wants to try and reach the Premier league, but so could Eddie Davies at Bolton, and when the house of cards comes crashing down its us the fans that are left to pick up the pieces, I actually do feel for Bolton's fans, we've been there and very recently too.
I think Blooms model is a better more sustainable one, at least I hope so, but time will tell, actually reaching the Premier could be the worst thing to ever happen to the Albion if we can't stay there.

Agree with all aside from the last line. Blooms model is only sustainable if he is happy to spunk a load of cash each season AND can persuade enough punters to pay the amongst the highest ticket prices in the league. Reaching the PL is the only way to make a dent in the debts, it will only be the worst thing if Bloom agrees to stupid spending, which I don't think he will.

 

[Ecosse Exile]

Agree with all aside from the last line. Blooms model is only sustainable if he is happy to spunk a load of cash each season AND can persuade enough punters to pay the amongst the highest ticket prices in the league. Reaching the PL is the only way to make a dent in the debts, it will only be the worst thing if Bloom agrees to stupid spending, which I don't think he will.

I agree, and I hope he won't, but when you hear that we are prepared to spend £7.5 million on untried south Americans, you start to wonder.
Then you look at Bournemouth along the coast, some of their signings this season are just stupidity in my eyes, in not even talking about Afobe either, £4 million on Glenn Murray, seriously that is tragic, I rate Glenn, but his best days are behind him.

Others have gone up and used the Premier league windfall to secure their clubs financially, then if they come back down, they are in a position to have a very good go at it again, a bit like Burnley I suppose, or if they can stay up for a few seasons, then they are in as position to look to strengthen and try and become a top half of the table team, like Palace are currently.
But if Bournemouth don't stay up this season, they are in huge trouble in my eyes, they will face a transfer embargo and their wage bill must now be massive. Again they are a club reliant on a billionaire owner who could pull the plug at anytime, as are we, as are Bolton, their are so many clubs in this situation its scary, the Bolton fan is right, Championship clubs are taking massive gambles to get to the promised land, and only 3 can make it each year!