Team Dick or Team Tony?

[hans kraay fan club]

It's a business deal for him If not why didn't he buy in when dk did ?

Because he was barely out of short trousers. He didn't have the funds then that he does now. Nor was he living in the UK at the time. He did however, (along with FBS and others) bankroll the Albion's survival during the Withdean years.

 

[Bwian]

What I was saying Bloom will someday want his money back so the money wasn't out of his pocket like some on here are saying
it's a business deal for him

So where did it come from exactly?

TB would love to get his money back, the way that he has set up the club and stadium finances suggests that he knows he is very unlikely to get a penny back. If, in a few years, he has made The Albion a sale-able football club and somebody else offers to pump in the required millions to keep us moving forward then I won't begrudge him getting his money back.

 

[Goldstone1976]

Anyway, only one way to sort this out.

?

 

[Dover]

Thank heavens for the third route. Players, Managers, Staff and Chairmen all come and go, but it's the fans that count.

 

[Bwian]

TB is a very rich man, but legend? That title needs to be earned.

You are priceless and clearly TB firing your idol is still affecting your thought processes.

Without TB we would be struggling at the ass end of L1 or in L2, playing at Withdean with no hope for the future. He also plowed MILLIONS in to the club to keep it going during the Withdean years.

I (and 24,000 others) have season tickets in one of the finest stadiums in the country, watching a very competitive Championship side that has a promising future.

What more does he have to do to be considered an Albion legend in your mind?

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I wonder how much truth there is in that, I remember when buckets were being passed amongst the fans at Withdean to keep the Albion afloat, or the forty note fund just to raise enough money for a new signing. Or of course when the club was at its most desperate, when it was DK who saved the club rather than TB and his billions. I remember Fatboy Slim making significant donations to the club when we were desperately "skint" but I wonder why TB didn't do more throughout these times, it seems to me that he only really showed an interest once there was an asset in the form of a state of the art stadium involved.

Don't get me wrong, we are incredibly lucky that we have a mega rich fan to help us finance these things, but calling him a legend just for investing in the club is ridiculous - any of us would have done the same in his position.

Perhaps El pres will appraise you of the figures.

TB has been the man keeping the Albion afloat for a lot longer than you are crediting him with.

 

[Bwian]

Perhaps El pres will appraise you of the figures.

TB has been the man keeping the Albion afloat for a lot longer than you are crediting him with.

TB fired his idol-you're wasting your time.

 

[father_and_son]

Show me a club in the premiership that does well as a result of having many many fan shareholders.

It's a lovely theory to think fan ownership is good, but in reality, you're much better of having a billionaire chairman than a bunch of penniless fans.

Personally, I'm not arguing for fan ownership and I don't think Dick is too (though his statement in the Argus might make me very wrong), just that football clubs should not be "playthings" of a rich individual with no respect or responsibility for what comes with it. I also was very specific that it is about "control", not ownership - not always the same thing.

 

[geniarse]

Hmmm for what it's worth -

TB - Don't see many owners of clubs travelling to away games on train with fans.

DK - Don't see many life Chairman sitting in stadium bar most days willing to have photo taken with all and sundry who ask and be smiling and pleasant whilst doing it.

PS - Both these situations have occurred whilst my son and I have been faithfully following the Albion.

As it's been said before they are BOTH as important as each other to the history of our club and have BOTH demonstrated a love of our club many others would envy...

 

[Creaky]

So where did it come from exactly?

TB would love to get his money back, the way that he has set up the club and stadium finances suggests that he knows he is very unlikely to get a penny back. If, in a few years, he has made The Albion a sale-able football club and somebody else offers to pump in the required millions to keep us moving forward then I won't begrudge him getting his money back.

Hmmm

Not sure about that - the way he has set up the club and stadium finances better protects the investment side of the deal and allows for further devlopment without the proceeds belonging to the club.

There is so much of what has gone on behind the scenes that we don't know about which makes it difficult to make a fair judgement on the question asked in the poll.

Of course, like I'm sure most fans, I am grateful for the comfort and security that TB's millions have apparently given us - far more than DK was able to do with his finances. On the other hand I am incredibly grateful to DK for not only risking far more in terms of his personal financial security but even more importantly all the time and effort he put into ensuring that there was a club for TB to invest in.

 

[c0lz]

It's a business deal for him If not why didn't he buy in when dk did ?

DK I would presume was not selling at the time, the club was hoping other investments would cover most of the stadium cost and with the banks loaning the short fall.

but then came the credit crunch and that's where TB stepped in.

 

[macky]

TB isn't an idiot. If his investment in the Albion was a 'business deal', it would be the worst, most ill-advised business deal of his life. Bloom has thrown that money away, for the love of the club. He might one day see SOME of it back, but he's well aware that equally, he might not.

Same as any business deal If there was no risks then we would all be business men Like you said he's not a fool

 

[macky]

So where did it come from exactly?

TB would love to get his money back, the way that he has set up the club and stadium finances suggests that he knows he is very unlikely to get a penny back. If, in a few years, he has made The Albion a sale-able football club and somebody else offers to pump in the required millions to keep us moving forward then I won't begrudge him getting his money back.

so you think the club has no value at this moment ?? we all know he's a business man He has taken a gamble I hope it pays off for him if he sold now I'm sure he would get a good chunk of it back

 

[c0lz]

Being mischievous, you could argue , where was blooms millions when dick and the rest of us were trying to get rid of archer...old man bloom was on the board at the time, but didn't put himself up as a dk / saviour character?

Just a thought at 6:15 am in Houston struggling to sleep!

That is not to say I am at all ungrateful of what th has done, however this anti knight revisionist history is very distasteful....a bit like eating alligator.

Because it was DK hoping to lead us to the promise land ...

 

[c0lz]

Because it was DK hoping to lead us to the promise land ...

EDIT

And as explained above the banks were not forth coming with any loans to pay off any balance owing on the stadium.

 

[sparkie]

I wonder how much truth there is in that, I remember when buckets were being passed amongst the fans at Withdean to keep the Albion afloat, or the forty note fund just to raise enough money for a new signing. Or of course when the club was at its most desperate, when it was DK who saved the club rather than TB and his billions. I remember Fatboy Slim making significant donations to the club when we were desperately "skint" but I wonder why TB didn't do more throughout these times, it seems to me that he only really showed an interest once there was an asset in the form of a state of the art stadium involved.

Don't get me wrong, we are incredibly lucky that we have a mega rich fan to help us finance these things, but calling him a legend just for investing in the club is ridiculous - any of us would have done the same in his position.

Did Tony not settle the bill that had us locked out of Withdean at one point

 

[Hamilton]

This is the crux of the issue as far as I can see, but I've bolded the only piece I disagree with. It's not really moot - there is now nothing to stop Bloom selling to some wealthy Arab who was prepared to pay 3 times the value of the club only to drop the club right in the shit when he gets bored.

When Knight took over, he probably decided he was going to bankroll it's existence on the proviso that it was to become a genuine community asset, recognising the club's value to the city, and safeguarding it from potential chancers in the future. Now whilst Bloom appears to be a modern day philanthropist in this regard, there is now nothing that says he has to be. It's a slippery slope. Season ticket prices could double overnight if we got promoted and there would be a rump of people on here justifying it by saying "well Bloom has to get his money back somehow!".

I think you have summed it up there.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

Dick is great, Tony is great. Three is the only option. Here is the alternative.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01lggmb

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

Did Tony not settle the bill that had us locked out of Withdean at one point

Could be wrong but I believe it was Fatboy.

 

[London Irish]

Booooo- the fence option ruined what could have been an amusing poll