The Ultimate Mickey Mouse Club

[K-Win]

So a proposed takeover at Pompey is in the works. The Trust et al are likely to be asked to vote on a takeover by the company run/owned by one Michael Eisner - head of the Walt Disney company between 1984 and 2005.

If nothing else, the half-time entertainment is likely to step up a notch. Under-threat club mascot Nelson the Dog was unavailable for comment.

 

[Bucket_]

But what will happen to the famous Dizzy Stick?

It's Paramount we check this guy out in as much detail as possible.

I don't really know what to think. Apparently he wants 100% and I'm not keen on the idea of that at all. But if the Trust were to maintain a sizeable share in the club it might work out I suppose.. and we're going to need investment at some point. It just gives me nightmare-ish flashbacks seeing the headline "**** billionaire interested in Pompey"

 

[Bar Carousel]

Kind of feels like a moral dilemma this one.

Do we take the money and hand over control, or decline.

For me, the money potentially available to increase playing budget doesn't interest me in the slightest. Been there and done it, and still have the bitter taste in my mouth to prove it.

What does interest me though is the thought of a genuine owner investing in the infrastructure of the club. Namely a new ground.

The Trust have done a sterling job to steady the ship and put us back on an even keel again. But without significant investment, Fratton Park will continue to decay, and our capacity continue to be cut by the authorities. There is no way that the current ownership model can raise the improvement funds, so we risk going backwards in the long term.

Let's hear what the guy has to say. His credentials aren't in question.

Always thought this day would come. Just surprised that it has happened so soon in to our journey.

I would be genuinely interested to hear what fans of other clubs think about this, and what they would do in our position.

It took a lot of hard work to win back control of our club, and don't think anyone is keen to relinquish it, at the first sight of a buy out, however impressive and ambitious the guy and his investment company appear to be.

 

[T.A]

I would only allow him to control a maximum 49% and keep the trust with the majority just in case he's another bad owner. Maybe have a clause that allows negotiations to reopen when he's been there 5 years?

 

[K-Win]

The 49% maximum is a laudable goal, but very few investors would be happy with that, sadly.

I agree with Carousel above that this has come around much sooner than expected. I always thought (probably naively) that we would have the setup and resources to sustain a club in the lower reaches of the Championship without the Trust losing too much control. However, it does sound as if even that would be difficult, financially.

Timing was always going to be a problem. You never know when a potentially 'good fit' is going to come along. The dangers are obvious though. Even with the best intentions of the current shareholders and a 'robust' takeover process with a strong supporter representation on the board, there is always the possibility that somewhere down the line the rug will get pulled from under us. This happened at Swansea recently - the fan representatives were suddenly excluded from the decision making. There is no turning back from that (until the next period in administration comes around).

 

[Boletus Edulis]

I suspect that Saints fans will have a field day over this.

Sitting on the sidelines I think you should stay a trust, wealthy private ownership got you in a heap of trouble - twice.

 

[Bucket_]

I also wasn't expecting it so soon. I thought maybe if we got promoted we might hear some talk of interest, but certainly not whilst we were still in League 2..

It's incredibly conflicting actually - on the one hand, there's the pride, relief and feeling of safety of being fan owned after the multiple debacles we went through, but on the other, every club has ambition and we're no different. Whilst we're solidly a League 2 club currently no matter what recent history there is, that history means that most fans tend to view us as a potential Championship club with Premier League aspirations. But it seems that that ambition isn't sustainable under the current model. So what do we do? I don't want to just hand the club over to the first bidder because he's got money and promises.

I wonder if the current ownership setup is finding it harder financially than they've been letting on.. I've heard rumours of certain staff being laid off, and the fact they've been searching for investment since September might suggest that too.

It's a bit of a catch 22; we're going to need investment to get where we want to be, but no private investor (unless they're a fan themselves) is realistically going to be willing to keep the Trust as the majority shareholder.

 

[GodsGift]

From the outside looking in, I find it incredibly strange that Portsmouth fans are even considering this. Seriously, the former chairman of Walt Disney, does not that set off any alarm bells? What possible motivation would an American billionaire have for taking over Portsmouth?

I find the narrative that "trust owned = stability" and "mysterious rich owner = ambition" absolute nonsense as well, by the way. I thought the Portsmouth fans would be the first to recognise that given the absolute helmets you've had to put up with. If sides like Burton Albion and Yeovil can get to the Championship then I'm sure a trust-owned Portsmouth can get promoted from League Two and have a good shot at getting out of League One as well. The achievement would mean a whole lot more as well.

 

[Bucket_]

Money turns heads, I guess.

And when I mentioned ambition in the same breath as outside investment, I only really meant from the top half of the Championship up. We can get to the Championship as we are, and I'd much prefer to do it that way, but once we're there we'll stall without investment. FP is slowly falling to bits, for one thing!

 

[GodsGift]

Be careful what you wish for. Fratton Park is a wonderful ground and the atmosphere when I went to cover your game against Blackpool is one of the best I've ever witnessed at this level.

 

[K-Win]

If this did go to the vote them I can see things turning a bit confrontational - we would see one set of fans labelled 'unambitious' and the other being told that they have 'short memories' (one quick check on our FansOnline site confirms that lines are already being drawn). That would be a real shame considering how harmonious the vast majority of fans have been during the dark days of fighting the various crooks and charlatans and the following rebirth of the Trust-led takeover.

Personally, I'm going to nail my colours to the mast and say 'Thanks, but No Thanks'. Until there comes a time when we have absolutely reached the limit of progress within the current model and a majority of fans cannot see a way forwards, I would stay as we are. If we did reach that point and we were in a higher division, then the 'investment without total control' option would surely be more viable anyway?

 

[Flaxman's Alibi]

I kinda view American owners with some level of suspicion. I can't think of one that's been good for any club, although most are only interested in the Hollywood end of the pyramid. The fact that Pompey are in the depths might flush this guy out as ambitious. Portsmouth is a wonderful city and the club has a wealth of possibilities; I can see why they would be top of the list for any billionaire wanting an exciting project.

Personally I'd be wanting to hear him out, listen to some ambitions and maybe get some promises set in stone. Billionaires don't come along every day; it just needs to be the right type of billionaire.

 

[Bucket_]

If this did go to the vote them I can see things turning a bit confrontational - we would see one set of fans labelled 'unambitious' and the other being told that they have 'short memories' (one quick check on our FansOnline site confirms that lines are already being drawn). That would be a real shame considering how harmonious the vast majority of fans have been during the dark days of fighting the various crooks and charlatans and the following rebirth of the Trust-led takeover.

Personally, I'm going to nail my colours to the mast and say 'Thanks, but No Thanks'. Until there comes a time when we have absolutely reached the limit of progress within the current model and a majority of fans cannot see a way forwards, I would stay as we are. If we did reach that point and we were in a higher division, then the 'investment without total control' option would surely be more viable anyway?

Agreed.

 

[LadyWomble]

Last time I looked (probably a year ago), Portsmouth's supporters trust owned 48% of the club, the rest being owned by HNWs (i.e. 11 rich Pompey fans + 1 rich property developer who did the deal with Tesco(?) for the car park land). If some outsider - in this case, an ageing Yank rich bloke - wants to take over, 2 questions:
(1) why? That's why would he want to own a club he has no connection to?
(2) why would he tolerate any 3rd party ownership? In this case, why would he want a minority ownership by fans - be that the trust or existing HNWs?

I've read ad nausem about the 51% fan ownership rule in Germany though never yet seen a rational explanation of how it actually works. We have this discussion/argument on occasion when some 'ambitious' type reckons we should sell out to a sugar daddy but the crucial question remains: why would any 'ambitious/go-getting' (i.e. more money than sense) prospective owner buy a club he didn't own outright?

 

[FarehamPompey]

I think Pompey need the money to be competitive. The board have said we'll have a mid table league 1 budget, max. Also, as said above, the ground is falling apart and north/south stand will be closed eventually without repairs.. which the trust simply can't afford.

As I also read somewhere.. if the trust owned 51% or whatever, we'd have to match any investment into the club.. which the trust probably can't afford. He seems a credible businessman, with some good investments, hoping to make some money.. fair enough. I'd take the investment and aim for a strong Championship side.

 

[Bar Carousel]

A lot more needs to come out and a lot of questions answered before I'm prepared to go one way or the other.

Interesting that other fans all feel that the current Trust model is the best way forward.

For me, the biggest challenge we face isn't what division we're playing in. It's how ground improvements can be financed. Barring a new roof on the Milton End, and a few upmarket seats added to the South Stand, the numerous owners overseeing 7 seasons of premier league riches didn't spend a penny on ground improvements. As a club we're paying for that, to the tune of £1m a season just to keep the safety certificate some 3000 seats short of true capacity.

If someone is prepared to address that (and realistically only a newly built stadium will offer a chance to recoup outlay in a sale further down the line) then I'm prepared to listen suspiciously.

What bothers me isn't that this guy isn't the real deal, it's if he is, who ends up with club ownership 3/4 owners down the line.

 

[Trapdoor]

It's been a topic of conversation at Exeter over the past decade. The consensus is that trust ownership at ECFC could sustain the club around mid table League 1 and if you got lucky one season you could get promoted to the Championship. So on that basis I would say Pompey could get to the championship with their current model. Maintaining that championship spot however would prove difficult without either negotiating some excellent commercial contracts or having outside investment. I imagine the trust ownership model would not be able to get you promoted out of the Championship under any circumstances.....

 

[Bar Carousel]

Eisner and his Tornate Group have this afternoon entered into a 70 day exclusivity agreement with the club.

This suddenly seems very real.

 

[TommoCUFC]

Are Pompey fans happy with another billionaire owner coming in given what happened before? Sort of thought the fan ownership thing was there to stay

 

[Boletus Edulis]

Just to check, he is not the billionaire interested in Carlisle a while back?

 

[Bar Carousel]

I'm warming to the idea of someone coming in to rebuild the ground and infrastructure.

As for spending obscene money on transfers and wages, I'm not in to that one little bit.

This guy and his Tornate group seem about as clean and transparent as anyone could hope for in an owner. From the outside at least, he appears the polar opposite from any of the recent 'wealthy' owners we've had the misfortune to own us since the late 80's under Jim Gregory. However, I'm fully aware that there are no ties to the area, and no apparent love of the game over here, nor an understanding of it. That makes me feel extremely uncomfortable.

Let's hear what he and his group have to say. Immediate investment in the club infrastructure, coupled with a low key organic growth on the field, and I could be swayed.

Recent noises coming from prominent Shareholders make one thing clear however. Trust ownership will not be capable of rebuilding the club to the level we all hoped for. If it's not these guys, then it'll be someone else taking us over at some point in the future.

 

[Bar Carousel]

Just to check, he is not the billionaire interested in Carlisle a while back?

Not that I'm aware of. He apparently also looked at Reading before deciding on a bid for us. No mention of Carlisle in any reports I've seen.

 

[cufc17]

This guy actually exists, so I doubt it.

 

[genesimmons]

I can see why fans own clubs after a frlew arcehole owners like at darlington. A well supported well ran fan owned club can pay decent wages on gate money and other revenue comeing into club but things hit the buffers when major ground improvents are required even in non league. If the new guy wants to build a new stadium surely its daft not to turn him down. Building a new ground means hes there for long haul

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[WAP]

Far too early to make a decision yet, looking forward to hearing what he has to say and what his plans would be. Interested to know why us and not a Championship, L1 or even Prem team he's looking at. I think the majority of us wouldn't welcome the move if his main priority was Premiership asap, we've all had enough of chasing players for obscene amounts of money and would much rather have a new stadium, money spent on youth etc. Of course I don't expect someone I hadn't heard of a week ago to just fly over and build us a 35k stadium without wanting something in return.

 

[Bar Carousel]

Far too early to make a decision yet, looking forward to hearing what he has to say and what his plans would be. Interested to know why us and not a Championship, L1 or even Prem team he's looking at. I think the majority of us wouldn't welcome the move if his main priority was Premiership asap, we've all had enough of chasing players for obscene amounts of money and would much rather have a new stadium, money spent on youth etc. Of course I don't expect someone I hadn't heard of a week ago to just fly over and build us a 35k stadium without wanting something in return.

According to Mark Catlin who was on the Football Hour radio program last night, numerous clubs upto premiership level have approached him and his investment company looking to sell over the past 3-4 years. Some he has carried out due diligence on and ultimately walked away. We never approached him, he approached us.

Apparently Catlin was interviewed on a couple of stateside radio stations whilst over there last summer looking to set up some pre-season friendlies. He spoke of the 'Pompey Story' pre and post administration, and Eisner's people got to hear of it and became interested. They were won over by the fact that the fans rallied together to not let the club die - Americans love all that kind of stuff. It is one of his sons who is a big part of the investment company, who is the most passionate about football and ourselves.

I guess as a profit making club at the bottom level, bringing in gates in excess of 16000 most weeks, he can see potential, without first taking on liability for millions of pounds worth of debt that would be the case at almost every other club higher up the leagues.

Although this guy is ridiculously minted, he does not have a reputation of frivolity, so i'm hopeful that were he to take over, it wouldn't become an obscene dash to the premiership spending sickening sums of money in an unsustainable way. He has donated well over $100m to charities and is seen as a philanthropist.

If an offer is made, Eisner and Tornate will come forward publicly detail their intentions.

....That's about as much as I gleaned from the show last night.

 

[ProfessorGreen]

If I was a Pompey fan I'd be doing everything to stop this from happening, unless I had a very short memory. You've been put through how many seasons of dross in this league?

It's not needed right now, you're starting to have success as a fan run club and momentum is extremely powerful and good at breeding confidence. You have all the income streams you need, you'd be able to get to the Championship stably and then the external investment should be looked at. Yes you need a bit of an update on the stadium but to risk the ownership lottery on it? It all smells so familiar to so many clubs. How many of these takeovers have worked?? Every one of them comes across 'transparent' in the beginning.

Once bitten twice shy and all that. Thanks but no thanks if it was Argyle. Come back in 5 or 6 years when you really know where you are.

 

[Tom_CUFC]

There are multiple examples of foreign ownership being a rousing success in the lower leagues, so this is definitely a wise move.*

*May have been said with a sarcastic tone.

 

[GTFCfish]

I can see why fans own clubs after a frlew arcehole owners like at darlington.

If the new guy wants to build a new stadium surely its daft not to turn him down. Building a new ground means hes there for long haul

Those 2 quotes totally contradict each other as Reynolds built Darlington a swanky new stadium before it all went tits up.

 

[genesimmons]

Those 2 quotes totally contradict each other as Reynolds built Darlington a swanky new stadium before it all went tits up.

But if the new guy had same ambitions to build portsmouth a 25,000 stadium they would go some way to filling it