Thetownend.com

Just searching for some transfer news and came across this rather odd Portuguese story with an odd connection to Town.

Boavista the Portuguese club were recently bailed out by a chap called Sergio Silva who through a London company called Castleshore Investments got bragging rights to name the stadium and ownership of 10 players.

The bloke was recently arrested although the translation is sketchy to say the least and my grasp of Portuguse doesn't go beyond a hand pump.   Bob Holt and Diamands both get a mention through some hooky company called CastleShore.


http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=http://algarvefarense.blogspot.com/2008/04/afinal-o-salvador-axadrezada-era-um.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=3&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522sergio%2Bsilva%2522%2Bmike%2Bdiamandis%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff

 Interesting Dazzza, though perhaps a little more substance is needed before a conspiracy theory can be developed....

    PS what is the Portuguese for hand pump... ;)

The words "Diamandis-Holt-Portuguese-Football-Business" all on one page - I'll be having nightmares tonight.

  My heart sank on seeing the D word on a thread heading....it's easy to see how the Diamond Geezer may have picked up a few ideas from the Portugeezers.

im scared

18th April, and the article still thinks that Diamandis is in charge at STFC. 

http://come.to/castleshore/

Oh my God, Boavista have been taken over by a company of 20 painters and decorators. Something tells me that Boavista fans are about to find out that Castleshore Ltd are not quite as loaded as they first thought.  :o

Looks like yr Castleshore is a painter and decorator Spencer...

What's the betting it's a subsidary (sp??) of Kingswood?

Shame they're not sponsors anymore, I'm sure they would have done us a good deal to paint the seats in the Arkell's stand.

HAHAHA that's the wrong Castleshore! That was my Father in Laws Painter and Decorators. They shut down 3 years ago when he retired. Definately not related to any of the sheisters mentioned in this thread thank fuck!!

EDIT: They did paint the Intel Stand about ten years ago though! He had to wait in their offices all day just to get the money for the job out of em!

Castleshore is a dissolved 'painting and glazing' company from what I could see. It has no connection to Kingswood from what I could see either.

It was based where Spencer has linked to.

Your father in law is Leo Clements then, who is mentioned in the article. Looks liek the most random link ever though, can't see how it's linked to STFC at all. Unless you're JPC and the company was trafficing youth players, then it would make sense.

Jon, If you read the article at the top of the page it clearly mentions Leo Clements. Who is also boss of this firm of
painters.

So has the portugese journalist made a cock up or has someone fed him a load of bullshit?

That was the only Castleshore I could find that has anything to do with Swindon.

Wait until the AGM, when Fitton takes off his corset and his mask and unveils himself to be Mike Diamandis. He would have got away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids.

That link is mental! No idea where they got any of that from unless they just looked up castleshore on the internet and picked his name etc off the website. Quality journalism in action there!

he's hiding the chins and bellies well.

Where did they get a link to Bob Holt and Mike Diamandis then?

Isn't it just a blog. Is it actually affiliated with any form of journalism whatsoever, or is it the inane ramblings of the Portuguese inequivalent of a "thisis" poster?

Plucked out of their Potugese arses i'd imagine! :) He isn't even a football fan so wouldn't know who the hell they were!

Diamandis isn't a football fan either though, he just bought some shares for a laugh

What is the initial of Samdy Gray's real second name?

That's brilliant on closer inspection it appears to be a thisis blog rant like Batch mentions but it's trailing in loads of the comments sections on the Portuguese footy sites.


You'll have to tell your father in law of his international notoriety as a millionaire fraudster that brought down one of the biggest clubs in Portugal!

not M if that helps.

haha, i'm sure he'll love that! I've deleted the website now, crazy bastards!

This really is messing with my head now.

I think this Sergio Silva was arrested 3 days after making an announcement that Castleshore were about to take over Boavista.

Theres something in this.

It would seem it's a blog quoting from an "email" posted on another blog. Hardly rock solid, but interesting those two names crop up. I'd guess most likely it's down to a Portuguese fan looking up Castleshore on Companies House and finding only one company listed - a dissolved company in Swindon, then putting two and two together to make quinto. "Dodgy investment front company apparently based in  Swindon but gone bust? Football connections? I make that Pimms O'Clock".

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=http://ww1.rtp.pt/noticias/index.php%3Farticle%3D351537%26visual%3D26%26rss%3D0&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=5&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsergio%2Bsilva%2Bboavista%26hl%3Den

mental.

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=http://futebolar.portugalmail.pt/artigo/20080418/conheca-castleshore&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=5&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsergio%2Bsilva%2Bboavista%2Bswindon%26hl%3Den

Read the final post.

"It involves the transaction of players from certain clubs of the 1 st League taking advantage of the financial weakness of these. Business commonly called by the people as "under the table". "

Sound fammiliar? Arrierta et al?

According to the mail, the club linked to CastleShore - which also is being investigated by British authorities - is the Swindon Town.

that's the bit that worries me.

Yeees, but these are all just people blogging on the same email the first blog cites. So it's multiple comments on one initial unverified source. Which as I speculated above is as likely to have made the "link" by making an unwarranted assumption from the sole listing of a company named Castleshore on CH as being in Swindon

Right heres how I see it. Boavista are in dire straights financially because of payments on their stadium. They were relegated last season for bribing referees.

A man called Sergio Silva tried to buy Boavista saying he had a 38.5million euro investment from a company called Castleshore. He was arrested 2 days later because his bank documents were false and was sentenced to two years in prison in June.

The connections to Swindon do seem more murky. It would be interesting to know what actually happened in this trial and who they mentioned. My guess is that Diamandis and Holt are involved through Jose Veiga somehow? That does seem to be what these Portugese fans are alleging?

didn't say it was a rational worry.

Well that seems to be the link they're making but there's no real substance given for it. The Cypriot link does concern me a little although there's so little of any substance in what is, after all, one email that's been echoed around a dozen or so Portuguese blogs that its impossible to tell if that has any substance either or is just another random connection

But they're saying the Castleshore is registered in Malta aren't they? It's blatantly not the same one.

Sounds like a flying saucer sighting short of a Knighton.

BEST and Diamandis didn't part on the best of terms though did they? The board at the time, gawd bless 'em, basically tried to rip them off in the small print.

I dunno, it might be more complicated than that. After all it always was a strange one, what was Jim Little doing with Jose Veiga?

They certainly didn't make it easy to spot the links did they. There was the whole Castro brothers thing too. And what was Little doing at Cork?

In a sick sort of way I wanted to see how thing unfolded at Tranmere if they went in. But I wouldn't wish that on any fans without knowing the whole story (which we  didn't).

Yes, but I'm guessing that's how they've come up with a Swindon connection. They also claim that this Castleshore was one of the companies contracted with redeveloping our stadium (which they weren't), that Bob Holt is listed as being connected with this Turkish/Cypriot bank Turquoise (which I'm pretty sure he isn't), that Diamandis' Dad holds some sort of position with HSBC, that Diamandis arranged for several of our youth players to play in the Cypriot Championship (I certainly don't remember any of our youth players being shipped out to Cyprus - Weymouth, yes, Cyrpus no) etc etc. Even allowing for the translation issues, it's riddled with non-sequiturs, half-connections and stuff which is just palpably untrue.

paul, I wondered if the junior thing referred to us being lower league? Quite often other countries refer to lower league football being junior?

Don't think so Spence. The original says
Which roughly translates as "transfers of youths from/of Swindon Town"

I know this is a hunch. But I think there is an international ring of agents and oportunisitic businessmen who are out to take over clubs when they a weak financially and then syphon out cash from transfers and wages. The Best thing always did look like a motley crew of people on the take.

When Fitton said about the wages that Arrieta and that were on, did anyone honestly think that the players were taking all of it? They must have been cutting in their pimp agents somehow.

These people should not be inflicted on football clubs. Not in the UK not anywhere.

I think you're pretty much bang on about all the above - look at how BEST circled around Coventry then Tranmere after they left us, and I certainly wouldn't be in the least surprised to find some of our former friends sniffing after a little of that kind of action, although I think they'd quickly find themselves badly out of their depth if they started to try taking a serious swim in those kind of waters. But I still think this blog posting is more wrong end of el sticko than anything, although that Cyprus thing does keep nagging

Sergio Silva was made out to be a bit of a fantasist in court and a complusive liar.

But I still think there are strange links to STFC. We all know Diamandis liked to open and close companies like a pack of cards. Castleshore is now a defunct company that had previously done contracting work for Swindon Town. Why would a Portugese con man use the name of a company from Swindon? Why was he interested in tring to buy Boavista fraudelently? Was it easier to forge their documents because someone this end was helping him? The only other Castleshore I found is a US management website that doesnt look that kosher either.

Just stinks.

Just to add phlegm to the fire does anyone remember the two Brazilian youth players last season that arrived during the BEST courtship and had a brief mention in the Adver?

Never heard of again.

I’d imagine the actual Castleshore investments is based offshore as mentioned above, which is where the Malta ties fit in although it’s all a bit spurious to say the least to then link it to Town.