New board press conference thread

[Ardiles]

It'll never happen here, but a German-style rule that insists on a minimum 51% share of all league clubs being owned by supporters or supporter bodies would prevent all of this from happening.  Regardless of whether it is or not, this feels shady as fuck.  The board really now needs to come clean - and quickly - about their backers and their business model.  It will not take a lot longer before they're in 'wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them' territory with a lot of the fanbase.  The lack of communication (other than sporadically via the Chairman's twitter account) is shoddy.

[Power to people]

Is there any way we can find out if this really is a FL imposed embargo ? I'm assuming the FL would not hand that information over to just any old Journo

[BruceChatwin]

Maybe they're becoming more cautious of possibly dodgy money coming into football? It would make sense.

Doesn't mean our money is dodgy of course, just that they are being careful.

Would surely be too absurd a level of hypocrisy, even by the standards of the FL, to allow the new owners to pass a fit and proper persons test a few weeks ago, only to hold up lifting the embargo a few weeks later for fear the source of funding might not be fit and proper?

My hunch is still that there are issues relating to the 1.2 million the league demanded be ring-fenced to lift the embargo.

[kerry red]

Fucks sake, jesus christ, whatever happened to giving these people a chance?!

They have had plenty of chances to give the fans a heads up. Nothing more than a statement would have been something. The longer it goes on, the dodgier it all seems and they only have themselves to blame.
People can only form an opinion from whatever information they can dredge up, and what is coming up does not smell to good.

[horlock07]

Good work Si,but i can't help but feel a bit disappointed that the Adver have known about off the field issues,
but failed to report these concerns to the wider fanbase.

Hopefully,at the Trust AGM,these issues can be discussed and brought to the attention of fans.

Whilst I have criticised Sam in the past he has done well on this takeover business.

But the 'I knew that but didn't say' does seem to be his default response when things come out that I suspect he didn't actually know, he said the same when he was scooped by the mail on the PdC office story.

[horlock07]

His business history seems to be in textiles with a bit of property developing and software. Fuck knows how he got involved with Brazilian land banking, but I don't like it one bit.

Brazil, so thats where the new ground is going to be?

[PetsWinPrizes]

It'll never happen here, but a German-style rule that insists on a minimum 51% share of all league clubs being owned by supporters or supporter bodies would prevent all of this from happening.  

At the risk of preaching to the choir, the only way that we'll get any sort of fan influence in the club is if more people join the Trust and get involved. Ideally starting with the AGM next week http://www.truststfc.com/2013/03/trust-stfc-agm-27th-march-2013/

[Munichred]

Having done a bit of Googling over lunch, Hall appears a very shady character.

As has been alluded, Carvier Ltd appears to be a phoenix of Tullett Brown and it looks as though Hall is fronting that for the original con-men.

His business history seems to be in textiles with a bit of property developing and software. Fuck knows how he got involved with Brazilian land banking, but I don't like it one bit.
[/quote

Just read this on Adver thread, just copied and pasted.


I am an avid reader of the forums on this site but a first time poster. This article has prompted me to register as a contributor as I am concerned by the stories emanating from our club. I have supported the team since I was 8 and have watched Swindon on a regular basis from that point onwards. During this time we have seen a number of irresponsible owners becoming involved in the club for their own obvious gain. Whilst I can't support how Andrew Black exited the club you have to acknowledge that he put a lot of his own money into it and actively supported one of the most exciting and interesting periods I have known. Without this cash we would potentially not have survived and would probably not be in the play off positions in League 1. However, the rush job that has ensued to get new owners in has created the potential for people to access a well established asset and exploit it for their own gain.

I do not believe our current set of investors have got involved for the 'love of football'. They have surely got into it to make a return. What is unclear is whether it is a short term gain of being paid large amounts for their involvement with STFC or a long term one where they benefit through the move away from the County Ground and a new ground. Jed's judgement must be questioned whether he should be running a multi-million pound community asset given the appointment of this particular Director. As other posters have mentioned the Carbon company Gregory Hall is a director of is associated with dubious characters that have had other companies shut down by the High Court (in the public interest) and City Property has just issued a dissolution notice - www.duedil.com list a summary as 'City Project Limited was incorporated on 28 Oct 2008. The company's status is 'Dissolution Notice Issued', with one director. Gregory Hall is City Project Limited's sole shareholder. They have no known group companies. City Project Limited have total assets of £0 plus total liabilities of £164,889. Their book value is £-28,322, and the value of their shareholders' fund is £-28,322'. I really wanted this to work out so we could focus on the players not back room issues but I am really concerned. Apologies for the lengthy post but I hope it is useful.

[horlock07]

Due to early arrival of first born I have missed much of the last fortnight on here and only really dipped in when I could. So just to confirm...

We are still under a transfer embargo, but no one actually knows why and we have no idea how and when this is likley to be released?

Looking like unlikely to be sorted by next Thursday either? Why the hell isn't the media jumping up and down on this?

[Simon Pieman]

Fucks sake, jesus christ, whatever happened to giving these people a chance?!

Personally speaking, I'm not writing them off but this latest development raises a lot more questions - to add to those which have not been addressed. It seems like someone has something to hide.

Rather than getting our knickers knotted up about summer concerts or stadium plans, there are a lot more pressing issues. The takeover was completed nearly 2 months ago now.

As long as the club doesn't look like it will get shafted, the board will have my backing - lack of stadium plans and summer concerts included.

[pauld]

Which may be why new bloke isn't a director or on the board of the football club. Just the holding company. Or is that subject to FPP also?

No don't think so and of course you're right, my mistake. Oh bugger.

[london_red]

No don't think so and of course you're right, my mistake. Oh bugger.

Still, whether or not he's subject to FPP - as you and others have pointed out - his presence around the football club and its directors is worthy of querying.

I've been on the side of 'innocent until proven guilty' with regard to the new owners and remain so, but it must be admitted that the lack of information is troubling as more little snippets like this come out.

[Stegenfreud]

Clarity from Morsehead at what he deemed 'really bad news' and clarity from Jed/murral/hooper/rice/curly on what 'unforeseen issues' there are would be lovely.

I like many just want stability and for me part of stability is open lines of communication from our owners. I'm not writing them off but the radio silence on an issue that will hamper our promotion chances if not resolved is frustrating.

[ghanimah]

Tweeted by Sam

Had communication from the Football League - their stance doesn't change on commenting on embargoes...

FL: "We never confirm or deny the existence of an embargo. You’ll need to be guided by the club on this issue."

https://twitter.com/SamMorshead_SA/status/314008441410699264

https://twitter.com/SamMorshead_SA/status/314008311802511362

[Red Frog]

So far the board have had no price to pay for not investing in the squad or engaging with the fans. But it will be interesting to see if their approach remains the same if attendances and season ticket renewals drift through poor results and loss of trust. Time goes on, and nothing I see inspires confidence.