Would you support a chairman that would invest £20 million in the club in return...

[northstandnorth]

I have no hidden agenda. I do not think that DK was the best thing to happen to this club as I believe others could have done better.

I have , however, moved on as that is all now water under the bridge. It is a great pity that others cannot..

stop attacking the board and dick and i will have no need to remind people of the REAL reason for your discontent.

threaten me with the law again.

just make sure YOU dont give me the evidence to bury you.i have the means and the intent to ensure you regret taking me on.

 

[BensGrandad]

OK who else at that time in the club's history was willing to take us on? If we had got relegated by Hereford we would not have been allowed in the Conference with a ground share, we woul be history !

The match at Hereford had nothing to do with DK other than the fact that it was his first match as chairman. I think he took over on Thursday prior to the game.

Since then he has brought a limited amount of both success and failure to the club so he can never be ignored in BHA history. As has been said many times Managers come and go, players come and go, Chairmen and directors come and go the only lifers are the fans. I am in my 60th year so I think I qualify as a lifer.

Just one final point on this subject at the time of DK taking over Archer had at least 3 offers on the table that I know of and he chose the one that suited him best, for whatever reason.

 

[Icy Gull]

Beacause many people invest with either with debt (ie a loan) or an agenda for real estate (eg Archer and the prosepetcive buyers of WHaM). Once Falmer is approved we could be back to our, "yes", paranoia days. many other clubs e.g Wolves. Leeds etc have pissed away more than £20 million. All investors in football clubs are after money, so dont think it is a cahrity donation! IMO

Whoever takes over would logically and obviously be vetted by the club but this insistance of no one man owing the club is no longer as relevant as it was when we were sitting on a prime site worth many millions with a relatively small 6 million debt.

There is nothing at Falmer and even in an Archer's wildest dreams he would not get away with building anything but a football stadium, if it ever gets approval.

Pissing away 20 million and dramatically more at Leeds and Wolves is a completely different scenario as it was trying to buy success rather than rape the club, although the end result may have been the same I admit. Why would anyone come here and do that with our set up and facilities?

Bamber's legacy was a couple of decades of abuse, having given us our best ever years, for the overspend but at least he had a dream for the Albion on the pitch. The way the club went into decline after that probably paved the way for Archer to believe he could run us into the ground. I can't ever see anyone trying that again down here after the Archer years. I believe we really need to encourage investors and if it means handing control to one man again to get it I think it should be considered at least. Reading this board you wouldn't believe we even want to encourage anyone but an Albion fan or a football fanatic and if the same attitude permeates the club no wonder nobody has stepped up, as it must be obvious by now that there is no Albion fan with that sort of money that wants to just invest, not without total control anyway.

A majority of our more lucid and intelligent posters seem to agree with your viewpoint but I still haven't heard an argument that stands up in our current predicament. maybe I'm just too thick to see it of course.

 

[attila]

Brian, you most certainly are a fan.
But if we'd followed your path I don't think we'd have had a club anymore.
Looks as though I'm going to have to put a bit of time into NSC...
OK. I just heard about the BNP stuff too. Some advert for our club.
ANTI FASCIST ACTION!!!!
Attila

 

[The Large One]

I am seriously grateful beyond belief that Bens Grandad has nothing to do with the running of the club.

 

[Ernest]

Brian, you most certainly are a fan.
But if we'd followed your path I don't think we'd have had a club anymore.
Looks as though I'm going to have to put a bit of time into NSC...
OK. I just heard about the BNP stuff too. Some advert for our club.
ANTI FASCIST ACTION!!!!
Attila

Who was that young lad who was going to put millions into the club ?

Someone must remember him

 

[ROSM]

I'm trying to remember that young lad who was going to invest millions in the club but it all turned out to be bullshit.
I think this was about the time Bellendotti took charge.
Does anyone remember him ?

simon chamberlain

 

[ROSM]

Whoever takes over would logically and obviously be vetted by the club but this insistance of no one man owing the club is no longer as relevant as it was when we were sitting on a prime site worth many millions with a relatively small 6 million debt.

There is nothing at Falmer and even in an Archer's wildest dreams he would not get away with building anything but a football stadium, if it ever gets approval.

Pissing away 20 million and dramatically more at Leeds and Wolves is a completely different scenario as it was trying to buy success rather than rape the club, although the end result may have been the same I admit. Why would anyone come here and do that with our set up and facilities?

Bamber's legacy was a couple of decades of abuse, having given us our best ever years, for the overspend but at least he had a dream for the Albion on the pitch. The way the club went into decline after that probably paved the way for Archer to believe he could run us into the ground. I can't ever see anyone trying that again down here after the Archer years. I believe we really need to encourage investors and if it means handing control to one man again to get it I think it should be considered at least. Reading this board you wouldn't believe we even want to encourage anyone but an Albion fan or a football fanatic and if the same attitude permeates the club no wonder nobody has stepped up, as it must be obvious by now that there is no Albion fan with that sort of money that wants to just invest, not without total control anyway.

A majority of our more lucid and intelligent posters seem to agree with your viewpoint but I still haven't heard an argument that stands up in our current predicament. maybe I'm just too thick to see it of course.

the whole issue is that 20m wouldn't leave a lot after paying off the existing directors shares and some investor loans.

We can put in place safeguards for the new stadium that prevent people selling it. In effect they would buy the football club but not the ground. However until we get to that stage the risks are greater.

also, the current board coneverted their loans into shares. Loans can be recalled whilst shares cannot - they only have a value if someone is prepared to buy them.

So in short - there are too many variables on this to give a yes or no answer and anybody who does is deceiving themselves.

For example if I won 20m on the lottery I would love to invest in the club. would I want a say comensurate to my investment? most likely yes - would I want to get rid of the exisiting board? No!

I would have concerns about anybody that would want to remove who and what we have in order to steamroller through their views - working together makes people stronger. It's all about synergy.

 

[Ernest]

simon chamberlain

Thats him, he's like that dreamer who was going to buy Crawley.

 

[BensGrandad]

Brian, you most certainly are a fan.
But if we'd followed your path I don't think we'd have had a club anymore.
Attila

I am glad that, although I have always, wrongly it appears, for which I unreservedly apologise, accused you of being one that has jumped on the band wagon of freebies etc you do at least reognise the fact that I am a genuine fan who would do whatever, whenever he could to make this club of ours even greater.

The path that people take in any business is down to what they consider to be the best at the time hence you get one business that thrives and another doing the same fails.

What really grates with me is that fact that people will not move on. At the time of DK taking over the club, through people I had spoken to, who were in a position to know, I didnt think that he was the right man with the required amount of money needed to take this club forward. I know, and you probably do to, that at that time Archer had at least 3 options to purchase the club on the table and for whatever reason he chose to accept DK.

Neither I nor anybody else can take away from DK what he has achieved at this club and for that he will go down as a legend but we must move forward and as Dean Wilkins has said in todays Argus his plan is for the Premiership in 5 - 6 years whether or not that is with DK as Chairman only time will tell.

My hope for the future, apart from Falmer obviously, is that having given the job to Dean Wilkins he is fully supported in all aspects not only by DK but by the entire board and given the opportunity to achieve his ambitions.

 

[The Large One]

So what happened to these other 3? They never made themselves known.

And Archer did not 'choose to accept' anything. He was bundled into it by the CEDR. If Archer had had his way, we'd have carried along the same path - into oblivion. You are re-writing history here. Archer wanted nothing to do with Dick Knight, and he went up to and beyond the wire and ultimately lied to DK about the state of the club's affairs.

 

[BensGrandad]

So what happened to these other 3? They never made themselves known.

ultimately lied to DK about the state of the club's affairs.

As he did with all of those interested.

1. A chap who was recently quoted as wanting to buy Crawley (cant remember his name) he owned Romford FC and his son owned Colliers wood. Romford had a fire and merged with Colliers Wood and I think eventually built a new ground for Romford. His plan was to buya local football club for his son, I think it was Southwick, develope the land and let that team play at the Goldstone to help fund building a a new Stadium, he had earmarked Toads Hole and Beeding then sell the Goldstone and both teams play at the new ground. I think but I am not 100% sure his offer was to take over the debts and pay a nominal sum for the shares like Archer did.

2. A well known boxing promoter who was going to be funded by Sky. He told me he had offered £7m total with taking over no debts, obviously that was a non runner because the debts were more than that.

3. The consortium that I was party to, whose plan was a straight purchase and develope Beeding.

I do not know the terms of DK purchase of the shares but c an only assume that it was more advantageous to Archer than the others.

None the less that is now history and we must forget what might have been and look to the future and give our suopport to the Deans, whether we agree with the appointment or not.

I have deliberately avoided casting aspertions upon DK or questioning his finances for some considerable time now in the hope that we can all move on. He has always maintained that money was available for MM during trhe transfer window and not an issue so we must believe that and hope that the same is available for DW in the next one.

 

[London Irish]

Find it hard to ge worked up about an academic question. People obsess about Mandaric but the reality is that there aren't many people like that out there, even accounting for the biggest theft in history that created the post-Soviet oligarchs of billionaire thieves.

People can dream about a £20m investor but the reality is we are going to have to crawl and fight our way up the league by more convential means. Sound business plans that make the most of the revenues of Falmer, which, if the corporate income market is properly tapped, could triple or quadruple the income of the club.

This is the only chance we will have of reaching Wilkins' ambitious target of being an upper-table Championship club in 5 or 6 years. The target is possible because some spending on half a dozen Championship level players allied with our youth product could turn us into such a team.

But of course we are years away from this.

Ben's Grandad has fantisised for years about the sugar daddy and I'm surprised so many have now joined him in this now. The reality is that, even with Falmer, we will not make any money if we have to pay good Championship level wages, which surely fans will demand. This will not be an attractive prospect for any investor, only those with money to burn. Sorry, there are not many of these people, Portsmouth just got lucky. More usual is the wideboy fantasists that have been gathered round Crawley's life support machine in recent months.

So it will still have to be a labour of love, or grand folly, for the owner of the Albion, whoever he is.

Organic growth from within the business I think would suit us given our recent history, so I do not mourn the lack of a huge investor. Although Dick Knight has abused the word community club in recent weeks, an organic growth model would allow the club to remain closer to the fans, it would allow a greater role for a supporters trust. This is a precious thing that money should not be allowed to buy.

 

[The Large One]

3. The consortium that I was party to, whose plan was a straight purchase and develope Beeding.

Good f***ing grief.

 

[Icy Gull]

Find it hard to ge worked up about an academic question. People obsess about Mandaric but the reality is that there aren't many people like that out there, even accounting for the biggest theft in history that created the post-Soviet oligarchs of billionaire thieves.

People can dream about a £20m investor but the reality is we are going to have to crawl and fight our way up the league by more convential means. Sound business plans that make the most of the revenues of Falmer, which, if the corporate income market is properly tapped, could triple or quadruple the income of the club.

This is the only chance we will have of reaching Wilkins' ambitious target of being an upper-table Championship club in 5 or 6 years. The target is possible because some spending on half a dozen Championship level players allied with our youth product could turn us into such a team.

But of course we are years away from this.

Ben's Grandad has fantisised for years about the sugar daddy and I'm surprised so many have now joined him in this now. The reality is that, even with Falmer, we will not make any money if we have to pay good Championship level wages, which surely fans will demand. This will not be an attractive prospect for any investor, only those with money to burn. Sorry, there are not many of these people, Portsmouth just got lucky. More usual is the wideboy fantasists that have been gathered round Crawley's life support machine in recent months.

So it will still have to be a labour of love, or grand folly, for the owner of the Albion, whoever he is.

Organic growth from within the business I think would suit us given our recent history, so I do not mourn the lack of a huge investor. Although Dick Knight has abused the word community club in recent weeks, an organic growth model would allow the club to remain closer to the fans, it would allow a greater role for a supporters trust. This is a precious thing that money should not be allowed to buy.

But the question was would you support a man who wanted complete control for 20 million. We all know he's not out there but would you support him if he was and threw his hat in the ring LI?

Or at least consider it before dismissing it out of hand as so many have on this thread.