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Author Topic: The "it could actually be worse" thread ....  (Read 444263 times)
pauld
Aaron Aardvark

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« Reply #570 on: Wednesday, June 19, 2019, 09:06:50 »

40%?

Plus interest?

Blimey
Quite. The company that arranged the loan, Capital, justified the fee on the basis that they got a "relatively low" interest rate of 7.5% so "it's swings and roundabouts". Sounds more like "Head I win, tails you lose"
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« Reply #571 on: Wednesday, June 19, 2019, 09:13:26 »

They are royally fucked by chancers and con men, looks like Bury are the same!

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« Reply #572 on: Wednesday, June 19, 2019, 09:20:47 »

http://www.ciderspace.co.uk/ASP/news/news.asp?NewsItemId=30004&fbclid=IwAR20a1uynQvZS4v1xKA2TxbN1LAypqgTFGEPIWvdEQzNWt5sCl0PqiTpWeE

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Last week saw the name of Jed McCrory pop up on the rumourmill in connection with the ownership takeover at Yeovil Town. Friday night's statement by the club did not name the group that they believed had reached an agreement with, but he was one of a number of names that had been circulating at that time. McCrory's name has now been firmly linked with the club by the local media - he's got past experience of owning Swindon Town and Banbury United, was on the Board at Solihull Moors and is the current owner of Stratford Town. He was also briefly the owner of Worcester Warriors.

Jed McCrory comes from Alcester in Warwickshire and is 49 years old. He's had involvement with a number of clubs over the years, with the first one one involving Southern League Premier Division side Banbury United. He had to relinquish his shares to take over Swindon Town in 2013, after he was part of a consortium to purchase the County Ground club. He worked under the name of Seebeck 87 as a group of four that included Steve Murrall, Gary Hooper and Callum Rice. Murrall is no longer involved in football, having been jailed in November 2017 for eight years for his part in a fraud whilst he was trying to buy Hartlepool United - McCrory was not involved in this scam. Hooper and Rice bowed out of Swindon after just three months, with both reported at the time as stepping down to concentrate on their non-football businesses.

At the time McCrory's group took over, Swindon were top of League One under Paolo Di Canio, but had been massively overspending under the previous ownership, suffering the fate of becoming the first Football League side to be put under a transfer embargo, due to breaches of the League's SCMP spending limits. McCrory's takeover coincided with the January transfer window and it led to an immediate row with Di Canio due to one player being sold off, and the manager being unable to make signings as a result of the transfer embargo. Di Canio then resigned and the Robins slipped from first to sixth, losing in the play-offs at the end of the 2012-13 season.

In December 2013, with Swindon sat in seventh place in the League One table, McCrory bowed out of the County Ground, with his right hand man Steve Murrall having resigned a month earlier. They'd brought in Lee Power as an investor, and he bought out the McCrory/Seebeck87 shares to give himself full ownership. At the time of the departure everything seemed amicable with Swindon's statement praising him saying: "He has instilled pride back into Swindon and the town. He leaves the club having established a robust, proven business model".

However, by 2014 all of that had turned sour as McCrory and Power went to Court in a dispute over the sale of McCrory's shares. McCrory's claim was that an option for Power to purchase the Seebeck 87 shares had expired when the December 2013 handover had taken place, but Power produced evidence of a three year extension on the agreement that allowed him to complete his takeover. It took until July 2014 for a High Court to find in favour of Power, with McCrory ordered to pay in the region of £50,000 in costs. That wasn't the end of it, with McCrory taking the issue to the Court Of Appeal, with that case running until January 2015 until it was closed, with some mixed reports over whether he had withdrawn his case or whether the Court had rejected it.

Whilst the two court cases were going through, McCrory also involved himself in talks with Kidderminster Harriers, Bristol Rovers and Hereford United. Just after he left Swindon in December 2013, he claims that he had a verbal agreement with Kidderminster for a takeover that would have gone through in January 2014. McCrory claimed that he was backed by a £5 million investment from Quest Capital Ltd but this ultimately did not go through.

In February 2014 he is reported to have met Herefordshire Council to explore the detail behind Hereford United's lease agreements relating to their Edgar Street ground. The Bulls were in financial trouble and although it was reported that McCrory had been approached by former Chairman David Keyte, his involvement also had been influenced by the arrival of Tommy Agombar as Hereford's prospective owner, with Agombar having been part of the Seebeck 87 set-up. That all collapsed when Agombar failed the FA's Fit and Proper Person's Test in August 2014 due to a prison sentence that he had served, with the Bulls later being liquidated in December 2014 due to their financial problems. There's no suggestion that McCrory held an executive position at the club during that period, with his role appearing to be an attempt to deal with the club's ongoing financial problems. It was later reported that in September 2014 he aided Bristol Rovers in a restructuring of the club, although does not appear to have held a firm position.

McCrory's presence in football then seems to have gone quiet for a couple of years. He was named as being part of one of four separate consortiums that were attempting to purchase Northampton Town in November 2015, but his group did not make the final cut. His next role came in August 2016 when he became a Director at Solihull Moors, lasting a year with the National League club before stepping down. During that period there had been reports that McCrory was attempting a full takeover but these never materialised.

Instead he turned up at Southern League Premier Division Central side Stratford Town, close to his own home town, where he has maintained a position on their Board since July 2018. If he is to takeover Yeovil Town he will need to relinquish this role under FA rules concerning dual ownership. In parallel with his Stratford role, McCrory also moved into Rugby Union as part of a group that took over Premiership side Worcester Warriors. At that time in October 2018, his financial backing came from London and Miami-based financier Errol Pope, who is a property and commodity trader, along with Scott Priestnall and former Saracens and Sale Sharks player David Seymour. Pope was to provide the financial backing, whilst McCrory would run the club on a day-to-day basis.

However, this arrangement did not last long, with Morecambe FC owners Colin Goldring and Jason Whittingham coming in during December 2018 as investors. On June 12th 2019, McCrory left the rugby club entirely, leaving Goldring and Whittingham in charge after just eight and a half months. Instead he was reported as having taken a sports development role with Redditch Borough Council, and so is no longer involved with rugby union. Whittingham said of McCrory's departure:

"Jed has brought tremendous energy and enthusiasm to the executive board and has helped to shape the vision of a club with strong links to the local community. We respect Jed's decision to take up a new post working to develop sports and leisure opportunities in his local community and wish him the very best in his new venture."

At present, Yeovil Town have not confirmed McCrory's involvement in the takeover process currently going on at Huish Park, with his involvement at Stratford Town presumably having been a significant reason why he had asked not to be named at the point that the club reached last Friday's agreement.

Jed McCrory Timeline:
August 2012 - March 2013 - Banbury United
February 2013 - December 2013 - Swindon Town (owner)
February 2014 - Attempted takeover of Kidderminster Harriers but this fell through
July 2014 - Held some discussions with Herefordshire Council regarding the Edgar Street ground leases
September 2014 - Appears to have had some involvement with Bristol Rovers but this doesn't amount to much
November 2015 - Was named as one of four separate bidders for Northampton Town, but was not selected
August 2016 - August 2017 - Solihull Moors (Director only)
July 2018 - Present - Stratford Town
October 2018 - June 2019 - Worcester Warriors Rugby Club (co-owner)
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« Reply #573 on: Wednesday, June 19, 2019, 09:25:43 »

And from the comments on their FB page it sdounds like they deserve each other.

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Thanks for that. I was expecting to see a lot more sinister stuff after reading some of the comments about him if I am totally honest. I tend to take things said by people on here and other grouos/forums with a giant pinch of salt, especially when no substance is offered other than a whinge or a bit of hysteria but I'm struggling to see why there is an uproar and hoping that somebody can inform me, as I still feel quite in the dark. A link to... A forum with Swindon fans bleating doesn't cut it for me as far as evidence or justification goes so hoping that people could enlighten us all as to why the are so upset, because although not my first choice, I'm a little bit confused.


Let's hope he can turn our fortunes around and we get out of that league sooner rather than later. Let's give him a chance and make our own minds up


Don't know much about him if I'm honest but he doesn't seem to hang around long!


Have to agree with Dan, unless I’m being naive I fail to see the reason for the hysteria I’ve seen posted.
I’ll give this guy a chance to prove himself, after all I was amongst those calling for change....


I wonder what the Swindon fans would say if rolls were reversed and Fry and Haywood were going to Swindon? Would you say take no notice of our forum ?


He does flit around a lot and doesn't seem very interested in "football" although one of those testimonies mentioned "community". He is obviously the figurehead for the real money men.
So, we will have to wait and see.


I think until we know everything, we are still completely in the dark. We still need some open and frank disclosures on our future but i cant see where the hysteria is coming from just yet.


from a Swindon Town fan's point of view, if your club had been wrapped up in a 14 month (end to end) court case and a battle over who actually owned the club (the article above is the tip of the iceberg on that) then clearly you're not going to see that level of disruption in a kindly light. I didn't bother to mention it, as it was Power's problem rather than McCrory's but in 2015 the whole process led to a winding up order against Swindon because of the legal bills they'd spent in fighting the case - the legal firm that represented Swindon brought the action. So it's not hard to see why they saw McCrory as harming their club.
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« Reply #574 on: Wednesday, June 19, 2019, 10:01:41 »

Thing is with Jed, throughout these saga's I don't really see where he has actually made a great deal of cash for all the effort?
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The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey

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« Reply #575 on: Wednesday, June 19, 2019, 10:05:45 »

Bury’s WUP adjourned for 6 weeks- though I can’t see what difference that’ll make.
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« Reply #576 on: Wednesday, June 19, 2019, 10:16:13 »

Thing is with Jed, throughout these saga's I don't really see where he has actually made a great deal of cash for all the effort?

From selling off the catering at the CG maybe?
Around about the time of the court case or just after Power mentioned the possibility of also going after Jed for some "missing" money. Something like £200k if memory serves.

With Jed, deep down, it's possibly more about this than the money.

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« Reply #577 on: Wednesday, June 19, 2019, 10:42:51 »

And from the comments on their FB page it sdounds like they deserve each other.

I guess it's only natural that football fans will look for positives in a takeover, especially in the lower tiers, as they see the person or group in question as a new beginning and chance of recovery.

I feel sorry for the ones burying their heads in the sand. To dismiss it as Swindon fans being hysterical is incredibly naive. Hope they're not in too bad of a state when inevitably gets found out to be the chancer he is and legs it.
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pauld
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« Reply #578 on: Wednesday, June 19, 2019, 10:52:13 »

Thing is with Jed, throughout these saga's I don't really see where he has actually made a great deal of cash for all the effort?
Catering sell-off would be the main one. Much like the Yeovil FB posters with their "why the hysteria?" there was plenty of "don't be daft" stuff from Town fans when people suggested Jed was a dodgy asset stripper, because "we don't have any assets to strip". I and others pointed out at the time that forward selling is one way you asset strip a business with no apparent assets, as pioneered various dodgy Rangers owners prior to their collapse, when they forward sole season ticket sales in return for cash they then claimed to use as "investments" in the club. TBF, the asset stripping didn't get as literal as it did at Hereford where his sometime collaborator Agombar was apparently ordering TVs and other removable items be literally ripped off the walls in the hours before the receivers came in.

Remember he and his fellow directors also did very nicely with "in kind" niceties like leased Bentleys etc. Might not have made cash on that directly, but it certainly took money out of the club and into private hands.
« Last Edit: Wednesday, June 19, 2019, 10:53:57 by pauld » Logged
suttonred

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« Reply #579 on: Wednesday, June 19, 2019, 10:56:34 »

Not forgetting hookey bars and concerts...
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« Reply #580 on: Wednesday, June 19, 2019, 10:57:51 »

Catering sell-off would be the main one. Much like the Yeovil FB posters with their "why the hysteria?" there was plenty of "don't be daft" stuff from Town fans when people suggested Jed was a dodgy asset stripper, because "we don't have any assets to strip". I and others pointed out at the time that forward selling is one way you asset strip a business with no apparent assets, as pioneered various dodgy Rangers owners prior to their collapse, when they forward sole season ticket sales in return for cash they then claimed to use as "investments" in the club. TBF, the asset stripping didn't get as literal as it did at Hereford where his sometime collaborator Agombar was apparently ordering TVs and other removable items be literally ripped off the walls in the hours before the receivers came in.

Remember he and his fellow directors also did very nicely with "in kind" niceties like leased Bentleys etc. Might not have made cash on that directly, but it certainly took money out of the club and into private hands.

In effect mortgaging the business and putting a charge over it.
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« Reply #581 on: Wednesday, June 19, 2019, 11:09:38 »

Probably only natural they'd turn a bit sour about us badmouthing Jed. Some of us would do the same I imagine...

It'll be a couple of months time when reality kicks in and we smugly say "We told you so". Although I hope he doesn't fuck them up too bad, they've suffered enough recently.

Wonder how many new cars his buddies will get?
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« Reply #582 on: Wednesday, June 19, 2019, 11:17:05 »

Probably only natural they'd turn a bit sour about us badmouthing Jed. Some of us would do the same I imagine...

It'll be a couple of months time when reality kicks in and we smugly say "We told you so". Although I hope he doesn't fuck them up too bad, they've suffered enough recently.

Wonder how many new cars his buddies will get?

In fairness it won’t be the fans making the decision as who the successful purchasers are. Though it will be hard to hold back from saying WTYS. Looking at this individuals dealings with so many clubs it is hard to take his interest seriously, that would be a mistake though if they don’t. Kind of looks like Yeovil are caught between a rock and a hard place either way.
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pauld
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« Reply #583 on: Wednesday, June 19, 2019, 11:20:31 »

Not forgetting hookey bars and concerts...
Indeed, always a handy way of tidying up any cash you may need "cleaning up" a bit, too.
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« Reply #584 on: Wednesday, June 19, 2019, 11:22:20 »

Thing is with Jed, throughout these saga's I don't really see where he has actually made a great deal of cash for all the effort?

Yet at the time you could see he could take say 200K for consultancy and cars and were quite happy about it, as long as it brought "stability"

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The £200k consultancy fees and cars is almost to be expected with regards to the above, if the transaction is merely business you are goping to want something for the risk and time, to be honest I won't lose too much sleep over that if in the long run we get some stability.

The sale of catering still make it pretty pointless for the club to put on events at the CG as even the beer money goes elsewhere.
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