Athletic Article: League One and Two Seasons to be abandoned next week

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

He's successfully conned the footballing world into thinking Peterborough are some kind of sleeping giant who belong in the Championship.

Educated scholars of the lower league game will remember their 3000 gates in League Two, embarassing home defeats to the mighty Boston United in a "local derby", Steve Bleasdale resigning an hour before kickoff and Ron Atkinson's legendary troubleshooting.

 

[shoddycollins]

Educated scholars of the lower league game will remember their 3000 gates in League Two, embarassing home defeats to the mighty Boston United in a "local derby", Steve Bleasdale resigning an hour before kickoff and Ron Atkinson's legendary troubleshooting.

The Ron Atkinson debacle was probably the first step in Peterborough getting across that they were a big club, and I know that was pre-MacAnthony but according to Wikipedia it was that which attracted MacAnthony's attention and he's been trying to turn them into what he thought they were when he took over ever since.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

The Ron Atkinson debacle was probably the first step in Peterborough getting across that they were a big club, and I know that was pre-MacAnthony but according to Wikipedia it was that which attracted MacAnthony's attention and he's been trying to turn them into what he thought they were when he took over ever since.

I've always said many get confused between big clubs underachieving (e.g Leeds who probably have one of the biggest national fanbases in the country) and big city clubs (I class these as any city with over 200,000 people but with a lack of major success and a more regional fanbase so Peterborough would just make the cut).

I believe Peterborough have been in the league for 60 years and they've only spent 5 seasons above League One...

 

[shoddycollins]

I've always said many get confused between big clubs underachieving (e.g Leeds who probably have one of the biggest national fanbases in the country) and big city clubs (I class these as any city with over 200,000 people but with a lack of major success and a more regional fanbase so Peterborough would just make the cut).

I believe Peterborough have been in the league for 60 years and they've only spent 5 seasons above League One...

Plymouth of course, never been in the top flight, decent following unlike Peterborough though still fits your criteria of them being regionally rather than nationally supported. I've known a few Derby fans not from Derby meanwhile, so presume they have a broader following.

Peterborough was a designated new town in the 70s, don't know what the population of the place was before that, obviously not Milton Keynes' level of development from nothing, but I'd imagine a decent percentage of the current population are either first or second generation Londoners with loyalties remaining mostly around London teams.

 

[Boletus Edulis]

Plymouth of course, never been in the top flight, decent following unlike Peterborough though still fits your criteria of them being regionally rather than nationally supported. I've known a few Derby fans not from Derby meanwhile, so presume they have a broader following.

Peterborough was a designated new town in the 70s, don't know what the population of the place was before that, obviously not Milton Keynes' level of development from nothing, but I'd imagine a decent percentage of the current population are either first or second generation Londoners with loyalties remaining mostly around London teams.

This might be heresy, but I am not convinced I particularly want us to get to the hallowed level. I grew up watching top flight football, and I actually prefer watching Argo at our lower level. My boys would obviously disagree, as would those janners who have been watching us boy and man.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Plymouth of course, never been in the top flight, decent following unlike Peterborough though still fits your criteria of them being regionally rather than nationally supported. I've known a few Derby fans not from Derby meanwhile, so presume they have a broader following.

Peterborough was a designated new town in the 70s, don't know what the population of the place was before that, obviously not Milton Keynes' level of development from nothing, but I'd imagine a decent percentage of the current population are either first or second generation Londoners with loyalties remaining mostly around London teams.

Peterborough has been a city for a very very long time, so it was definitely already well populated compared to most of the new towns which were also designated for expansion. But many towns within an hour from London on the train became expanded post WW2. The likes of Reading, Swindon, MK, Colchester and Peterborough being prime examples.

As a poster said about them on one of the threads, Peterborough Station is full of people going to London to support Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs or West Ham. Probably get some fans of the East Anglian teams as well, I've seen a lot of Ipswich fans in Cambridgeshire for a start.

Big club is a term that's overused. When DMAC makes out Peterborough are a sleeping giant you have to laugh. Derby and Forest are strong examples of big city clubs. Both wildly successful in the 70s, with Forest a top flight fixture for many years, but they never really got the national fanbase Leeds did. You could argue they're big clubs because of the success, but they very much have regional fanbases. Though I went school with two Forest fans, you wouldn't find many outside the East Midlands. I'd say those two and Leicester would be at the top end for big city clubs but there are loads of them.

 

[Devon_Lad]

If we got prem I'd go support Exmouth Town. No point of getting to that crap. Championship is going the same way. Started supporting ecfc in 2002 and the best days were without a doubt the conference. League two is alright now more dives have been promoted. Random shithole in the middle of nowhere with a group of lads pissed up is what its all about. The footy is just an excuse, in many ways its 2 hours of the trip that ruin it.

 

[Indian Dan]

Were you one of those Exeter louts in the pub in Swindon who started getting lairy and got put on your arse by a shirter?

 

[Devon_Lad]

Were you one of those Exeter louts in the pub in Swindon who started getting lairy and got put on your arse by a shirter?

Was there (and that's not quite how it went lol) but no..

Were you one of those nutters with the swindon / Oxford coach banging on the windows hiding giving it large from inside? Lmao

 

[Devon_Lad]

The Paul Merson of this forum, sorry, Indie boy Dan.. your club may be in trouble after all haha

https://twitter.com/x/status/1262833326894788608

 

[valefan16]

The Paul Merson of this forum, sorry, Indie boy Dan.. your club may be in trouble after all haha

https://twitter.com/x/status/1262833326894788608

Seen this doing the rounds on social media, worrying for Swindon fans and hope this gets sorted for the better. Seems a right mess!

 

[Indian Dan]

Mess isn’t the word. How the fuck can people do business, supposedly, on a purely verbal basis. Beggars belief.

The big problem here isn’t going bust or anything like that but if it is in fact true that Standing - or his only client, Gareth Barry - do, indeed, own 50% of STFC then they are in breach of FA guidelines on football agents/players having an interest in a football club.

Going back to the end of di Canio’s reign, he left because we sold Matt Richie to Bournemouth. At that time the fee was an unbelievably low figure of £400,000. Unbeknown to all was a decent sell in clause which saw us get £1.85m when he was sold to Newcastle. This money, allegedly, was used to pay back our previous owner, Andrew Black, a loan he made whilst still owner. Apparently, Power trousered the lot and says Black would get his money back upon any subsequent sale of the club. Obviously, Standing/Barry say they should have got 50% of this £1.85m.

It’s all very murky he said, she said sort of thing. My own view is that Power isn’t particularly honourable and has right royally stitched up people.

Power is crying wolf that an injunction placed on him preventing any sale of the club has caused him substantive losses and said that about £750,000 was needed to keep the club afloat until August and that he was either unwilling or unable to finance this and would force the club into administration. The judge, basically, said this was bollocks as no financial evidence was put forward to substantiate this and it would be in nobody’s interest as they all would lose their money.

Standing/Barry said they were willing to carry on financing their 50% of the club.

Just shows what shenanigans go on at football clubs and we wonder how/why clubs get in the shit.

 

[chipmunx]

Mess isn’t the word. How the fuck can people do business, supposedly, on a purely verbal basis. Beggars belief.

The big problem here isn’t going bust or anything like that but if it is in fact true that Standing - or his only client, Gareth Barry - do, indeed, own 50% of STFC then they are in breach of FA guidelines on football agents/players having an interest in a football club.

Going back to the end of di Canio’s reign, he left because we sold Matt Richie to Bournemouth. At that time the fee was an unbelievably low figure of £400,000. Unbeknown to all was a decent sell in clause which saw us get £1.85m when he was sold to Newcastle. This money, allegedly, was used to pay back our previous owner, Andrew Black, a loan he made whilst still owner. Apparently, Power trousered the lot and says Black would get his money back upon any subsequent sale of the club. Obviously, Standing/Barry say they should have got 50% of this £1.85m.

It’s all very murky he said, she said sort of thing. My own view is that Power isn’t particularly honourable and has right royally stitched up people.

Power is crying wolf that an injunction placed on him preventing any sale of the club has caused him substantive losses and said that about £750,000 was needed to keep the club afloat until August and that he was either unwilling or unable to finance this and would force the club into administration. The judge, basically, said this was bollocks as no financial evidence was put forward to substantiate this and it would be in nobody’s interest as they all would lose their money.

Standing/Barry said they were willing to carry on financing their 50% of the club.

Just shows what shenanigans go on at football clubs and we wonder how/why clubs get in the shit.

I'd be just as worried about case 2 - isn't it an offence not list the major shareholders/owners as surely they'd have to pass the fit and proper test?

 

[Indian Dan]

That applies to a lot of clubs I reckon. People in the shadows with the money and someone just a face running a club.

There is an injunction in place now preventing Power selling the club without fully informing the other parties and also from him putting the club into admin or dissolving it altogether - although I can’t see why he’d do that as he’d lose everything.

Whichever way you look at it, Power is a c***

 

[PuB]

I'd be just as worried about case 2 - isn't it an offence not list the major shareholders/owners as surely they'd have to pass the fit and proper test?

‘Fit and proper test’ don’t make me laugh.

Wasn’t Power involved in another club before this?

 

[Indian Dan]

Think he was involved with Cambridge when they went into the Conference. He has a very chequered financial history with various businesses being closed and people getting shafted. There’s always been the usual rumblings amongst Swindon fans along the lines of ‘where’s the money gone’ from various player sales. But a little bit of success this season, as usual, diverts people’s attention.

He’s seriously shafted people with this, though.

 

[chipmunx]

‘Fit and proper test’ don’t make me laugh.

Wasn’t Power involved in another club before this?

I know what you mean - but maybe now they will actually start implementing the rules that are there more than they do.

 

[Indian Dan]

This appears to be the degree of cnutishness of Power in this.

Clem Morfuni puts in £1.1m for 15% ownership - Power conveniently forgets to legally put him down as a shareholder

Standing/Barry put in excess of £6m in return for 50% of the club - all on a verbal agreement!

Power trousers the entire £1.85m from the Matt Ritchie sell on fee when Standing/Barry are entitled to half.

He was close to selling the club to an American company, Able, for £7.5m without disclosing the fact to the other interested parties.

 

[Luke Imp]

He's successfully conned the footballing world into thinking Peterborough are some kind of sleeping giant who belong in the Championship.

Anyway, it doesn't take dramatic levels of success to rank above Glenn Tamplin.

Also successfully con people into thinking their players are the best ones since sliced bread (no surprise given Fry and McAnthony careers have basically been about negotiating and selling things) and a conveyor belt of talent. The reality is they have a scatter-gun approach the they occasionally sell big from. They've created an aura around themselves, which realistically isn't really as strong as they like to think it is but the media lap it up.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Also successfully con people into thinking their players are the best ones since sliced bread (no surprise given Fry and McAnthony careers have basically been about negotiating and selling things) and a conveyor belt of talent. The reality is they have a scatter-gun approach the they occasionally sell big from. They've created an aura around themselves, which realistically isn't really as strong as they like to think it is but the media lap it up.

Rotherham were very much the same in the Evans era as well. Especially when the emergency loan market was a thing. Evans would effectively by two squads a season!

They're not building a club, they're playing football manager with real life footballers. That's why I've always maintained he's one of the worst owners in the league. Look at what sides like Shrewsbury have built over the last decade in comparison. They've shown teams how to increase revenue and go from a solid League Two to solid League One club in a sustainable manner. Peterborough have the facilities to do the same from L1 to the Championship, but they keep throwing shit at a wall in the hope it sticks.

 

[AdamStag]

Seen this doing the rounds on social media, worrying for Swindon fans and hope this gets sorted for the better. Seems a right mess!

Dan, That was the article I was referring to yesterday when mentioned to You about you struggling just couldn’t find it.

In reference to Devon lad, it’s not really a laughing matter though is it?

In general though lots of clubs are going to be in bother with how things are going

 

[dedwardp]

It is amber but your other colour's blue not black. OTOH, three ''southern'' clubs wear amber and black - us, Newport and Sutton United. And while not exactly amber there's Barnet as well, while Torquay wear yellow. Up north, there's only you Stags and Solihull in amber/yellow. You 'ard northerners probably reckon said colours are too soft for footy

Vanni, am I right in thinking I hear Cambridge fans sing a combination of both 'black and amber army' and 'yellows/yellow army'? It's something I've always found odd unless my hearing is off, as usually clubs tend to (weirdly) get a bit touchy about stuff like that.

 

[Boletus Edulis]

The Paul Merson of this forum, sorry, Indie boy Dan.. your club may be in trouble after all haha

https://twitter.com/x/status/1262833326894788608

What sort of mind finds other clubs/fans misfortune funny?

 

[chipmunx]

What sort of mind finds other clubs/fans misfortune funny?

one who seams to be about 12....

 

[AdamStag]

What sort of mind finds other clubs/fans misfortune funny?

A dick.

 

[Huntsman94]

What sort of mind finds other clubs/fans misfortune funny?

Not funny in the slightest. God knows what would have happened to us if we hadn't beaten Boreham Wood in the National League Final 2 years ago. I don't think we'd have a club to be honest.

Hope Swindon get out of all this quickly and as financially stable as possible. They need to start preparing for next season's long trip to the Wirral!

 

[chipmunx]

Not funny in the slightest. God knows what would have happened to us if we hadn't beaten Boreham Wood in the National League Final 2 years ago. I don't think we'd have a club to be honest.

Hope Swindon get out of all this quickly and as financially stable as possible. They need to start preparing for next season's long trip to the Wirral!

unless they draw you away in a cup won't they be a division above you?

 

[Indian Dan]

I don’t think the club, per se, is in any danger, but this shit show isn’t exactly showing us in a good light - again.

Surely the time for annual, independent audits of football clubs must come in. I doubt we are the only club with shady ownership shenanigans. Football attracts the quick buck, fiddle the accounts sort of owner.

 

[shoddycollins]

What sort of mind finds other clubs/fans misfortune funny?

One who is serving a stadium ban?

 

[AdamStag]

Maybe if the said poster was old enough to remember Exeter nearly going to the wall and the worry that would have caused the management, players but most importantly the fans, staff and local community you wouldn’t really then find it funny at all.