Was there really no alternative to handing it all over to a gambler?

[Icy Gull]

One question. And the alternative is?? The banks would never have funded a project of this size without some guarantees, so the end result would have been the same except we'd be paying interest. Unless of course you know of someone else who could have guaranteed the loan for the stadium.

 

[Rich Suvner]

Well that is just ridiculous. A man who is a lifelong Albion fan comes in and effectively gives the club a significant amount of money and you compare them to a man from Blackburn who bought the club for £56.25!!

Unbelievable!!!

What is he going to do asset strip away the portakabins at Withdean in return for his £90million??

Get a sense of proportion people. This is good news.

like giraffe said

and for those expressing concern at the wholesale change at the club, i don't really see it that way. bloom has been bankrolling us for ages, so much so he converted £18m of loan capital into shares. surely this level of investment in the club prior to him gaining controlling interest is a fairly decent indication of intent.

 

[Giraffe]

like giraffe said

and for those expressing concern at the wholesale change at the club, i don't really see it that way. bloom has been bankrolling us for ages, so much so he converted £18m of loan capital into shares. surely this level of investment in the club prior to him gaining controlling interest is a fairly decent indication of intent.

Exactly, what more intent can you show than completely financing a new stadium, covering all losses of the running of the football club and basically saving the day. The man is a modern day Robin Hood and I for one love him.

My only concern is he is rather short.

 

[algie]

Well that is just ridiculous. A man who is a lifelong Albion fan comes in and effectively gives the club a significant amount of money and you compare them to a man from Blackburn who bought the club for £56.25!!

Unbelievable!!!

What is he going to do asset strip away the portakabins at Withdean in return for his £90million??

Get a sense of proportion people. This is good news.

Your best post to date.

 

[Rich Suvner]

and another thing that people seem to be overlooking - if the the invested millions are paid back in 15 yrs time (if he takes it back in cash not shares) at 0% interest presumably this will not account for inflation either?

just assuming that inflation averaged at 2.5% per annum the culmulative effect of inflation over the 15 years would turn a figure of £90m (for example) into £127m in real terms.

so if all we do is pay back his millions then we're actually getting the loan capital at a significant loss to the man

 

[imissworthing2]

I don't think anyone has any problems with the fact that he is footing the bill for Falmer. It's great news.

how he intends to run the club, and what that means for the fans. These are legitimate questions.

TLO I'm not having a go at all, but could u expand on ur last comment!!!as I thought that the main problem could be,similarly to chelski, bloom getting bored of it all, taking his money out and leaving us with a 90m debt to repay him

As I said I just want abit of clarification on this as I dropped business studies in yr9.

 

[Silent Bob]

People have every right to have concerns, to be cautious, but I think this whole "professional gambler" thing is a complete red herring. We haven't known THAT much about Bloom's businesses and his money before now but anyone that really thinks our future is going to be decided on the turn of a card or the nose of a horse needs to get a grip.

 

[The Large One]

TLO I'm not having a go at all, but could u expand on ur last comment!!!as I thought that the main problem could be,similarly to chelski, bloom getting bored of it all, taking his money out and leaving us with a 90m debt to repay him

As I said I just want abit of clarification on this as I dropped business studies in yr9.

The prospect of him 'packing up and pissing off' the moment he gets bored or agitated is not really something that concerns me. He is a full-blown bona-fide fan, and is in this for the long-haul.

I meant things like the ongoing relative openness with the fans, the concept of the club being a Community Club with its excellent education programmes, Seagulls Specials etc, Friends of the Albion, the ongoing misery of high prices at Withdean - all these things which people grumble about now are things he has inherited. That sort of stuff.

Investing finances in the club is great and much-needed. But how is that finance going to be used, and what is that finance going to bring in both the short-term, and at Falmer?

I still want a fans' bar at Falmer, ya know.

 

[pork pie]

The prospect of him 'packing up and pissing off' the moment he gets bored or agitated is not really something that concerns me. He is a full-blown bona-fide fan, and is in this for the long-haul.

I meant things like the ongoing relative openness with the fans, the concept of the club being a Community Club with its excellent education programmes, Seagulls Specials etc, Friends of the Albion, the ongoing misery of high prices at Withdean - all these things which people grumble about now are things he has inherited. That sort of stuff.

Investing finances in the club is great and much-needed. But how is that finance going to be used, and what is that finance going to bring in both the short-term, and at Falmer?

I still want a fans' bar at Falmer, ya know.

If the guy has any business sense (and it sounds like he has a lot), he will be looking for ways to engage with the community, as the Club desperately needs to re-build its fan base - particularly amongst the younger generation(s) who have grown up since we left The Goldstone. The things you mention assist in that. Hopefully, he will have some bigger ideas as well to get bums on seats.

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

TLO I'm not having a go at all, but could u expand on ur last comment!!!as I thought that the main problem could be,similarly to chelski, bloom getting bored of it all, taking his money out and leaving us with a 90m debt to repay him

As I said I just want abit of clarification on this as I dropped business studies in yr9.

First as TLO says the man is a fan so the chances of him getting bored and taking his money out are pretty remote.

And, even if he did, what can he do? Where can he take his money out from? It's not in the club's bank account, it's in bricks and mortar (and steel) in the stadium. What's he going to do, take it to bits and ship it out to OZ?

The more I think about this the more I become convinced it's a great deal for the Albion. A fan with lots of dosh willing to put it into the club without expecting any financial return. As he says in the Argus, most of us would do it if we had the money.

 

[The Large One]

If the guy has any business sense (and it sounds like he has a lot), he will be looking for ways to engage with the community, as the Club desperately needs to re-build its fan base - particularly amongst the younger generation(s) who have grown up since we left The Goldstone. The things you mention assist in that. Hopefully, he will have some bigger ideas as well to get bums on seats.

Agreed. Let's hope we see that.

The answers we get well come back as obvious, but that doesn't take away the legitimacy of asking them in the first place.

 

[Rookie]

Some people amaze me, by all accounts a lifelong Brighton fan who has made god knows how much money decides to pretty much build us a stadium and still people have a moan. What more do people want? He is a successful buisness man, not some poker addict who will put us on the table along with a few notes

 

[S'hampton Seagull]

And you can't work out that being one person's plaything isn't necessarily a better situation? "We" are effectively in debt to Tony Bloom; if he changes his mind - and there's a lot of rich people who aren't quite as rich as they were at the moment - we're not necessarily in a better position than having borrowed money from people who lend it out professionally.

I do agree though that it's infinitely better to have a club person doing this than an outsider looking for a quick return: better the dodgy spiv you know than the one you don't.

What apart from the 0% interest on the loans? Given his 'loans' aren't repayable for quote some time, he can't just decide to leave as his commitment won't allow him to do that.

Perhaps you should read the interview with him on the Argus website. You may not be as suspicious after that.

 

[Brovion]

I know, the credit crunch is called that for a reason. But that doesn't mean that money can't be borrowed at the moment, but merely that it takes more time and effort to do so. Everyone seems to be assuming that it was literally impossible to borrow the money for Falmer but at least one person I've spoken to whose views I respect suggested that it was possible but tougher.

If so, it seems a big risk to me. I can't pretend to be particularly delighted about all this this morning.

To answer your question: no there certainly didn't appear to be any alternative. Well, ok, there was one alternative by the sound of it - no Falmer. (Martin Perry's view, not necessarily mine).

Because of Archer we ARE understandably worried about "having all our eggs in one bastard" but Bloom IS different. He comes from a family of Albion supporters and he's invested considerably more than £56 to get control. It's a bit like being wary of every German Chancellor just because Hitler turned out to be a wrong 'un.

I just hope we don't come in one morning to find a big fat Texan at the gates of Falmer saying "This here's mine now, I won it off your Tony Bloom playin' poker last night. Welcome to the new home of the Brighton Blubbernuts, Europe's premier dodge-ball team!"

 

[Matt Richards]

I think it is worth noting that many people are getting it wrong in terms of Tony Bloom being a 'gambler'.

Bloom is widely regarded as the most successful person to bet on sporting on other events in the UK. He is revered by bookmakers across the country and this was behind Victor Chandler approaching him to work on the 'other side'. His success is not based on luck but rather on him and his team being able to develop algorythms that are more sophisticated and accurate in predicting results than those used by the bookmakers. In this sense he is not a 'gambler' as the work that he does is to minimise the risk of him losing and he uses probability to ensure that he wins.

If you look at other millionaires/billionaires then their fortunes will also be built on other industries. Someone who makes their money in the finance industry for example is facing exactly the same issues as Bloom but only in a different environment. Indeed someone like Richard Branson will face risks that his empire will be hit by the downturn and so could be labelled a 'gambler' simply by carrying on in business.

In short do not be too alarmed by what Bloom does but be reassured by the fact that he is bloddy successful at doing it!

 

[imissworthing2]

Cheers all, as on 1st look this seems like a dream come through, is it a concern of the few that the dangers might be who the nxt chairman will be!!!

additionally, if the worst case was to happen and TB wanted to leave, could he demand the 90m back over a shorter loan period or revoke the interest free. Would this possibly cause an administration like scenario, where TB needs to b repaid?

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

Cheers all, as on 1st look this seems like a dream come through, is it a concern of the few that the dangers might be who the nxt chairman will be!!!

additionally, if the worst case was to happen and TB wanted to leave, could he demand the 90m back over a shorter loan period or revoke the interest free. Would this possibly cause an administration like scenario, where TB needs to b repaid?

Answer: No

 

[:J)]

If that's the case, can he take over from Ferret and give us a few tips?

I think it is worth noting that many people are getting it wrong in terms of Tony Bloom being a 'gambler'.

Bloom is widely regarded as the most successful person to bet on sporting on other events in the UK. He is revered by bookmakers across the country and this was behind Victor Chandler approaching him to work on the 'other side'. His success is not based on luck but rather on him and his team being able to develop algorythms that are more sophisticated and accurate in predicting results than those used by the bookmakers. In this sense he is not a 'gambler' as the work that he does is to minimise the risk of him losing and he uses probability to ensure that he wins.

If you look at other millionaires/billionaires then their fortunes will also be built on other industries. Someone who makes their money in the finance industry for example is facing exactly the same issues as Bloom but only in a different environment. Indeed someone like Richard Branson will face risks that his empire will be hit by the downturn and so could be labelled a 'gambler' simply by carrying on in business.

In short do not be too alarmed by what Bloom does but be reassured by the fact that he is bloddy successful at doing it!

 

[Questions]

And you can't work out that being one person's plaything isn't necessarily a better situation? "We" are effectively in debt to Tony Bloom; if he changes his mind - and there's a lot of rich people who aren't quite as rich as they were at the moment - we're not necessarily in a better position than having borrowed money from people who lend it out professionally.

I do agree though that it's infinitely better to have a club person doing this than an outsider looking for a quick return: better the dodgy spiv you know than the one you don't.

What a prize prick you are. A man who`s family has supported and helped bankroll this club for over 30 years is called a dodgy spiv because he has realised that without him investing in it Falmer fails, is more akin to a angel in my opinion complete with golden halo than as the man you seem to see him as.
Tosser.

 

[Questions]

First as TLO says the man is a fan so the chances of him getting bored and taking his money out are pretty remote.

And, even if he did, what can he do? Where can he take his money out from? It's not in the club's bank account, it's in bricks and mortar (and steel) in the stadium. What's he going to do, take it to bits and ship it out to OZ?

The more I think about this the more I become convinced it's a great deal for the Albion. A fan with lots of dosh willing to put it into the club without expecting any financial return. As he says in the Argus, most of us would do it if we had the money.

If his loan is converted to shares then he can only sell those shares to a willing buyer. Better that than having those nasty banks involved in the deal I say.