Trust look to buy the CG

[Peter Venkman]

Sorry PV didn't mean to come across as snippy with you but this, along with the legend of the bloke on Shrivenham Rd that blocked planning permission for redeveloping the Stratton Bank (he didn't, there was no such bloke, the club got planning permission but didn't use it), really does have to be one of the hoariest old chestnuts about ground redevelopment and it comes up every single time it's discussed.

Not a problem but I genuinely had not heard that before and also I have not heard that version of the "old man with the sun been blocked in his garden" story, when I worked at the club that was always the line the hierarchy told the employees. This is the first time I have heard a different version.

It did always strike me at the time that it didn't sound right and we were told back in the late 80s that he was also in his 70s or 80s so would not be an issue now as he would have moved on probably.

[Reg Smeeton]

Dpon't they have to offer it to the Trust first, the whole ACV first dibs to the community malarky?

Yes, so in effect the Trust has to put up or shut up.  Failure would then mean a sale to the sharks and the lucre going towards the new art gallery. SBC need to find 5 mill. Not an easy sell whennyou've just raised Council Tax by 10%, but easier to swing by using funds from selling assets.

[theakston2k]

Whilst on paper owning the ground would be good this also has catastrophic potential for the clubs future. If the Trust don't 'put up' then in all likelihood we are going to be left without a ground as other parties are bound to be interested at such a knock down price.

It Power (the club) don't come to the table during these discussions then even I will start to question his intentions as would suggest he has other plans or doesn't really where we play.

[pauld]

It Power (the club) don't come to the table during these discussions then even I will start to question his intentions as would suggest he has other plans or doesn't really where we play.

I'd be more concerned if he did, some of his previous involvements in clubs where the ground has been in play, or the involvement of his partners in other clubs, are a big part of why I was initially very dubious about him being owner. Albeit they were a long time ago and he wasn't the main player in the property aspects. But none of them went well for the clubs concerned.

[theakston2k]

I'd be more concerned if he did, some of his previous involvements in clubs where the ground has been in play, or the involvement of his partners in other clubs, are a big part of why I was initially very dubious about him being owner. Albeit they were a long time ago and he wasn't the main player in the property aspects. But none of them went well for the clubs concerned.

I get what you are saying but you would expect the club to show some interest in a potential change in ground ownership as it will have a significant impact on them.

Doesn't the club own the DR Stand or something as well which I'm sure would need to factor into discussions.

[horlock07]

Just a plea to anyone within the hierarchy of the Trust, can you please sort your website and SEO out, if you google Truststfc you get .co.uk, .com and .tv, now I think its the .tv which is the up to date version but all the others still have live websites, could they not just automatically link to the most up to date URL?

[Reg Smeeton]

Whilst on paper owning the ground would be good this also has catastrophic potential for the clubs future. If the Trust don't 'put up' then in all likelihood we are going to be left without a ground as other parties are bound to be interested at such a knock down price.

It Power (the club) don't come to the table during these discussions then even I will start to question his intentions as would suggest he has other plans or doesn't really where we play.

A  decent non league club could easily operate out of a slightly upgraded Supermarine ground.... the likes of Burton and Fleetwood have shown a capacity of about 6,000 isn't necessarily a problem.

[horlock07]

I get what you are saying but you would expect the club to show some interest in a potential change in ground ownership as it will have a significant impact on them.

Doesn't the club own the DR Stand or something as well which I'm sure would need to factor into discussions.

Doesn't the piece suggest that Sangita has had some involvement with the Trust and these meetings?

[theakston2k]

Doesn't the piece suggest that Sangita has had some involvement with the Trust and these meetings?

Not with regards to the ground purchase it says Power has shown little interest.

[Peter Venkman]

A  decent non league club could easily operate out of a slightly upgraded Supermarine ground.... the likes of Burton and Fleetwood have shown a capacity of about 6,000 isn't necessarily a problem.

Well done Reg. Yesterday you had us relegated already from League 2 to the conference and now you have cut our core support to half of what it is at the moment only needing a capacity of 6k.

Burton and Fleetwood are both newish league clubs with not much history and very small crowds, Fleetwood averaging just over 3k and Burton averaging just under 5k in the Championship.

Both those clubs have several other large clubs around them vying for support whereas we don't, our fanbase is quite comfortably 2 or 3 times the size of both those teams.

If we were in Fleetwoods position in the table we would (and have) average 10k home crowds and possibly 12k if we were in the Championship as Burton are.

[Reg Smeeton]

Well done Reg. Yesterday you had us relegated already from League 2 to the conference and now you have cut our core support to half of what it is at the moment only needing a capacity of 6k.

Burton and Fleetwood are both newish league clubs with not much history and very small crowds, Fleetwood averaging just over 3k and Burton averaging just under 5k in the Championship.

Both those clubs have several other large clubs around them vying for support whereas we don't, our fanbase is quite comfortably 2 or 3 times the size of both those teams.

If we were in Fleetwoods position in the table we would (and have) average 10k home crowds and possibly 12k if we were in the Championship as Burton are.

I'm merely responding to Theakston's assertion that

It Power (the club) don't come to the table during these discussions then even I will start to question his intentions as would suggest he has other plans or doesn't really where we play.

The lack of any proper effort to stave off relegation this season, does raise valid questions of intent The acquisition of Waterford, does suggest Power is more interested in club collecting than being too bothered about the status of the club...increasingly it looks like a non league STFC wouldn't cause him much loss of sleep.

[ghanimah]

Which it can, it can be bought out from the Goddard estate. We go over this every time the covenant is discussed!

Sorry but I might have missed it, but are we looking at a similar option to Chelsea Pitch Owners Ltd? Can we buy the naming rights as well?

[RobertT]

This is exactly the sort of thing the Trust should be looking to do, stage one of a long term plan to secure the club.  With the possible yield on investment I would have a guess that funding would not be an issue here, at least externally that is.  The key will be to ensure a balance between loaning capital and obtaining member investments as well.

Given the Trust does not need to make a profit themselves, they can clearly divert efforts into developing the property and supporting the leaseholder as needed, so I think this actually does benefit the club longer term.  Given the trend in recent years it has confused me as to why nobody has sought to purchase the ground, the Council would sell their own office chairs right now.

PaulD - might need to go dust off that 2007 proposal :-)  Ad the Oasis is still looking unlikely to ever get developed................

[pauld]

This is exactly the sort of thing the Trust should be looking to do, stage one of a long term plan to secure the club.  With the possible yield on investment I would have a guess that funding would not be an issue here, at least externally that is.  The key will be to ensure a balance between loaning capital and obtaining member investments as well.

Given the Trust does not need to make a profit themselves, they can clearly divert efforts into developing the property and supporting the leaseholder as needed, so I think this actually does benefit the club longer term.  Given the trend in recent years it has confused me as to why nobody has sought to purchase the ground, the Council would sell their own office chairs right now.

Spot on, on all points Rob. Exactly what the Trust should be doing. That and sorting out their 48,000 websites as horlock said.

PaulD - might need to go dust off that 2007 proposal :-)  Ad the Oasis is still looking unlikely to ever get developed................

The current incumbents should still have copies. It's a sad indictment on the lack of progress in the Town over the past decade that much of that proposal and the surrounding arguments would still be directly relevant today.

[Summerof69]

Here's the AGM downloadable pack...

http://truststfc.tv/trust-stfc-agm-the-full-downloadable-information-pack/