Swindon Town vs Wigan - Official Matchday Thread

[Flashheart]

And to put this in context our illustious backers have a combined net worth of approx £550m.

I thought it was closer to 1bn

[pericarp]

I thought it was closer to 1bn

Who are these exactly?

[london_red]

Who are these exactly?

Wray, Fitton, Andrew Black and Sir Martyn Arbib.

Don't think it's as high as £1bn Flashheart, Arbib is worth around £325m and Black £125m.

[Peter Venkman]

27. Sir Martyn Arbib £325m

Swindon Town (Last year £325m, 29th)

When Sir Martyn Arbib joined the consortium taking over the Robins in January 2008, some said he was backing the wrong horse. That would make a change for Arbib, whose horse Snurge won the 1990 St Leger. A former City financier, Arbib set up the Perpetual fund management group in Henley-on-Thames in 1974. He sold it for £1.05 billion in 2000, collecting £113m in cash and shares in the purchasing group, Amvescap, worth around £300m at the time. He became Amvescap's second largest shareholder. With previous share sales and other assets, the Arbib family should be worth £325m after tax.

47. Andrew Black £100m

Swindon Town (Last year £185m, 37th)   

A Swindon Town director and member of the consortium that took over the club in 2008, Andrew Black used to make a decent living as a professional gambler backing horses or playing bridge. But he resented the money that traditional bookmakers were making and thought that there had to be a better way of betting.
It was when he met former investment banker, Ed Wray, at a 1999 garden party that he found the better way. Black described his idea for a different kind of bookmaking where punters would post bets of their own online and wait for others to take them on. Betfair was born the next year when the pair raised over £1m in venture capital funding. Its site is working 24 hours a day, seven days a week thanks to a huge investment in technology. Betfair floated on the stock market in October 2010 valued at nearly £1.4 billion. But initial euphoria quickly wore off and the shares have fallen sharply since. The group is currently worth just £788m. Black's stake is now worth £80m. Share sales at the float and other assets add around £20m after tax.

Plus the much smaller backing of Jeremy Wray and Andrew Fitton then it is much nearer the £550m mark than £1,000m

[Peter Venkman]

But then if you read the Pox forums then its a very different story, we are hugely in debt and about to go under!

Last year Swindon made a profit of £415k but that was after profits of £983k on player sales and a £3m loss the previous year. They had debts of £8.7M.

Sir Martin Arbib lent the club £1M and he is an investor in the company that owns the Scum:

Sir Martyn Arbib (born 1939) is a British businessman who led the Perpetual fund management company very successfully during the late 20th century, unusually based in Henley-on-Thames, England rather than London.

He sold the company to the fund manager AMVESCAP in 2001 for more than £1 billion, receiving £113m together with AMVESCAP shares worth £300m, and the company became known as Invesco Perpetual.

Read more: http://www.yellowsforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=fldiscussion&action=display&thread=1875#ixzz1iyeTnciR

With over £13M of cumulative losses then its hardly surprising that they sold their crown jewels though.

Read more: http://www.yellowsforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=fldiscussion&action=display&thread=1875#ixzz1iyeccCfP

They really are obsessed by us over there. I often read it for a laugh.

[Nemo]

Impressive how they can turn being one of very few league clubs to turn a profit into a negative thing.

[Batch]

All these "worth xxx million" things from papers/rich lists are a bit pointless though aren't they.

Mainly because
   a) This figure is speculative
   b) This is generally not a liquid figure, but in "assets".
   c) Even if it is liquid it doesn't mean its going to be invested in a football club.

That said, I'd rather we have someone on the rich list than not.

[Peter Venkman]

All these "worth xxx million" things from papers/rich lists are a bit pointless though aren't they.

Mainly because
   a) This figure is speculative
   b) This is generally not a liquid figure, but in "assets".
   c) Even if it is liquid it doesn't mean its going to be invested in a football club.

That said, I'd rather we have someone on the rich list than not.

Most important of all those statements.

[Hammer]

In the long run we'd have a better chance of progress back towards the championship having made a large amount of extra revenue from big pay days in the cup competitions.

In recent years after big pay days at Old Trafford - Exeter, Burton and Crawley have all progressed their clubs. Two of them currently above us in the pyramid as well.

Apologies for the delay DV, but history suggests otherwise.

Since 1990 twelve teams from the 3rd tier and downwards have played at Old Trafford in Cup matches. You conveniently selected the 3 from non-league who have progressed in the pyramid. You also conveniently omitted Halifax Town, York City and Wrexham who, despite their "Old Trafford payday" have since slipped down into non-league football.
Let's add Bury, Wallsall and Barnet who have made no progress at all.

Which leaves another 3........Bolton, Leeds and Fulham. Enough said about them.

I conclude that an "Old Trafford payday" does not seem to provide the added impetus that you seem to imagine.

Yes, two of your teams currently stand above us in the pyramid; actually all three were until Paolo's Northamptathon. I'd be inclined to put that down to our relegation rather than a sudden upturn in their fortunes.

Finally, and with reference to my mention of Southampton, I do feel that you missed my point: which was, that even teams seemingly deep in the shit can achieve without having to play at Old Trafford. Even if they have been bankrolled, like wot we are.

[Processed Beats]

Ritchie nominated for player of the round.

http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/2012/Player-of-the-Round-3RP

[Gnasher]

Ritchie nominated for player of the round.

http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/2012/Player-of-the-Round-3RP

I'm just surprised that it wasn't Jim Rosenthal who voted for him.

[Phil_S]

Hammer, if it wasn't for the fans worrying about the finances of out club we would still have Diamandis knocking around.

Disagree, we wouldn't exist. A day longer & we'd have been given a winding up order by the revenue

[fuzzy]

My take on the day-

A great performance from all the players for the majority of the game. A couple of them had shaky moments but pulled it together.

I think Bam may have got it together now. His contribution for the short period he was on was very important- disrupting Wigan and playing excellent keep ball in the corner.

As for the draw? Looking at the FA site, a win in the next round nets 90k so a share of the gate at a bigger club than we are with a possibility of a win as well is not something to sneeze at. I think winning against Forest or Leicester is doable.

What are the chances of us winning? A million to one? Someone somewhere said the problem with million to one chances are they tend to happen

Folk at work I haven't seen since the weekend keep saying what a result it was- COME ON YOU REDS!

[SuggWillSugg MBE]

We're currently 750/1 on William Hill to win it outright..

[Langers]

We're currently 750/1 on William Hill to win it outright..

Gotta be worth a quid