Adver News: SWINDON TOWN: Patey wants a bidding war

[Arriba]

There is a difference between being in the black and making profit-being self sustaining. Lets not kid ourselves STFC will not make people money without a sideline development and i'm doubtful we made any profit for as long as i can remember. We can be someones plaything that they throw money at or maybe a self sustaining stuggling team going nowhere.

[Flashheart]

Other clubs ARE making profit. It can't be said it can't be done because it is being done.

[Flashheart]

It's not just about running profits and losses either though.

Look at Mandaric.... Wednesday were over 40m+ debt when he took over, how much of the debt he actually acquired I don't know. While it will be unreasonable to expect Wednesday to make 15M profit, or even any profit, every year there is definitely real potential for him to break even overall.

Not only will he have got his money back...... he will also still own the football club.

I know I've probably over simplified it but there's not a lot to go by.

[kerry red]

Blackpool made a nice tidy profit and Oyston pocketed the lot!

[Batch]

Wednesday are a bit different given their fanbase size.

Barnsley are more comparable. As I said earlier I'd be interested in how they arrived at sustained near-profitability. Obviously they are struggling on the pitch, just like Bristol City who have spunked > £40M in 4 years (which shows pumping in money isn't the be all and end all).

Although debt has increased and profitability was achieved through player sales/wage reduction:

http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/yorkshire/82535-player-sales-help-barnsley-fc-score-small-profit

[RedRag]

The Championship        :    75% of the clubs are significantly bigger than us in terms of support and branding (or history if you prefer) or in terms of massive 5 year parachute payments from the PL.  Not sure how we will attract players of the right calibre or how much long-term fascination a relegation dogfight with Posh and Barnsley and one or two basket case bigger clubs will hold for us.

New owners       :       will probably pay lip service to the Championship dream and a new stadium and sustainability but will be interested, on the back of STFC's status within the town, in planning gain for themselves, building work for their building companies, profits for their player agency companies before plonking us back into admin.

As far as I am aware, AB has done none of this so fair play to him!

[Flashheart]

Wednesday are a bit different given their fanbase size.

Barnsley are more comparable. As I said earlier I'd be interested in how they arrived at sustained near-profitability. Obviously they are struggling on the pitch, just like Bristol City who have spunked > £40M in 4 years (which shows pumping in money isn't the be all and end all).

Although debt has increased and profitability was achieved through player sales/wage reduction:

http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/yorkshire/82535-player-sales-help-barnsley-fc-score-small-profit

It's interesting they have other parties interested in buying the club, there was interest back in October also. I wonder how much a debt free club the size of Barnsley would for for? Quite a bit I would imagine, no doubt the exit strategy would be a strong motive for many investors.

[Reg Smeeton]

Wednesday are a bit different given their fanbase size.

Barnsley are more comparable. As I said earlier I'd be interested in how they arrived at sustained near-profitability. Obviously they are struggling on the pitch, just like Bristol City who have spunked > £40M in 4 years (which shows pumping in money isn't the be all and end all).

Although debt has increased and profitability was achieved through player sales/wage reduction:

http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/yorkshire/82535-player-sales-help-barnsley-fc-score-small-profit

Nice to see in that article that buying a football club is like buying a house 

[Power to people]

As long as the new owners / investors are here for the good of the club, ok we all know that most will see the potential of a ground redevelopment or a move away and see that they can make money but we will hopefully not just be sold to the first person that waves a few quid in the air.

We also dont want any new owners splitting the football club and the ground into seperate companies so profits from a new ground can help the football club and not line investors pockets.

I also hope we can keep away the likes of Ken Bates and people like the Venky's that obviously have no clue about football and should have stuck to their chickens

[jonny72]

Whilst I understand the concerns regarding the potential motives of the future owners, you could argue they couldn't be much worse than the Black consortium who have; increased our debts by £5m, failed to redevelop the stadium and then pulled the plug mid season and threatened administration.

Unless we find someone who is rich and mad that wants to piss away their money on the club, the chances are it will be someone else looking to make a quick buck, failing and then leaving the club in even deeper shit.

[Ardiles]

On the face of it, we're in the same division we were at the time of the takeover in 2007 - and I am sure that, at that time, the consortium fronted by Andrew Fitton would have envisaged that by 2013 we would be a Championship level club playing in a redeveloped/relocated stadium.  But that is simplistic in the extreme, because it ignores that:

• we were on our way out of business in 2007;
• crowds/engagement with the local community are well up on what they were in 2007;
• the football is better than it was in 2007; and
• importantly, the debt - which I agree has increased - is soft debt.  We do not owe the taxman, or any other external bodies, a penny.

The task of selling the club in 2013 should be somewhat easier than it was 6 years ago.

[corner]

@SamMorshead_SA: It's my understanding that one of the parties who originally discussed taking over at Town has withdrawn interest #stfcadver

[stfcinbmth]

Sam Morshead @SamMorshead_SA

It's my understanding that one of the parties who originally discussed taking over at Town has withdrawn interest

[Ardiles]

...and then there were 6.

[pauld]

Whilst I understand the concerns regarding the potential motives of the future owners, you could argue they couldn't be much worse than the Black consortium who have; increased our debts by £5m, failed to redevelop the stadium and then pulled the plug mid season and threatened administration.

Yes, you could characterise the Fitton/Wray/Black consortium that way, but you'd have to be a bit of a dick or have a massive axe to grind - that's the most incredibly one-eyed summary I've ever read.