Torquay in crisis?

[DT-the-gull]

Looks like brighter news for TUFC, this deal could be done by early June, whilst it will not bring anything more than stability to our club, at least it will buy the club time to sort it's medium to long term future out.
http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co....Dean-Edwards/story-26568272-detail/story.html

 

[genesimmons]

Nice one now yous can look forward to new season

 

[yellow]

Hmm, I'm unconvinced. Three groups of bidders now in the running, with one heavily rumoured to involve Jed McGrory. He was involved in the Hereford scenario I believe.

I honestly still have no idea what is going on, but on the field we have about 7 players.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Nice one now yous can look forward to new season

Please speak properly!

 

[Semi-skimmed Silk]

I honestly still have no idea what is going on, but on the field we have about 7 players.

That's 7 more than we have.

 

[yellow]

Now internet rumours that the takeover involving Dean Edwards (linked above) has fallen through. If the McCrory bid does get in, I will not be attending a home match until they are gone.

The club is an utter shambles - and it would not be a surprise at all if the current directors sold it to a group of people with a background like McCrory's, such is their ineptitude.

Sell it to the Trust, we might have no money and we might get relegated again, but at least we'll have people who care about the club. It's the only way.

 

[DT-the-gull]

Rumours regarding the collapse of the Dean Edwards taker over are incorrect, as it stands they are the only ones to make an official bid and still very much on, there are two other interested parties.

 

[Gulliball]

They have an exclusivity period until 4th June, to have things ready for the Conference AGM on 6th June, at which all clubs have to show they have the ability to fulfil fixtures.

 

[yellow]

Indeed, there has been confirmation that the rumours I allude to earlier are incorrect. I still remain unconvinced by the Edwards consortium to be totally honest, but I am pleased that it looks like we're going to be run by another group of people who have the club in their hearts, and I'm sure will work with the TUST. The period of exclusivity was asked for by the new consortium, not the clubs directors, so I wonder if it's down to them trying to get the money to pay the bond to ensure Conference football next season?

Also pleased to receive confirmation that the Jed McCrory rumour is also bollocks. Definitely do not want anyone like that near the club.

 

[DT-the-gull]

Yes, it has been confirmed in an e-mail sent out by TUFC supporters trust that McCrory is not in the bidding process and has never been, good old internet rumours.

Not sure why you remain unconvinced by the Edwards consortium, Yellow, we do not want a potential out side group ending up with ownership , then finding ourselves victims of a land grab, what other alternatives are there but the Edwards consortium, if we want local people with that connection to the club, east answer, none, there's no alternative.

These people are not multi-millionaires, they are not going to bank roll us back to the football league overnight, the situation behind the scenes had become dire, with out further generosity from Thea Bristow we were days away from losing the whole thing, the club could not continue the wrack up plus £500k losses, it might mean a few seasons of struggle before things get better, however, the people behind the Edwards consortium will run the club the right way, we will live with in our means, and the club will survive.

 

[yellow]

I'm not entirely sure. I just wonder if they actually have the financial footing to cover the running costs of the club, I guess. The fee that Thea was covering for the club is absolutely ludicrous, and although that'll be lessened with a lot of high earners going, we will still need a competitive wage bill next year to ensure we survive in the division.

 

[GEORGE]

I'm not entirely sure. I just wonder if they actually have the financial footing to cover the running costs of the club, I guess. The fee that Thea was covering for the club is absolutely ludicrous, and although that'll be lessened with a lot of high earners going, we will still need a competitive wage bill next year to ensure we survive in the division.

And Torquay supporters need to support their team. By that I mean paying at the gate. Always had a soft spot for your club going back to the Tony Boyce / Robin Stubbs era. It would be a crying shame if they dropped further down the pyramid.

 

[Luke Imp]

What's Thea done then? Wrote off all her debts but there still needs to be a big injection of cash because of further losses being run up? Or is it a completely clean slate?

 

[Gulliball]

Well, the slate is currently clean, but in the last few years we've lost quite a lot of money (which she covered). Without her, we'll need to run at a level the new people can sustain or else we'll rack up losses that won't be covered.

 

[Luke Imp]

So there are no silly on-going costs that need covering by the new guys i.e. players on FL money etc

 

[Gulliball]

No, there's only 7 players under contract, all signed since relegation. A competitive budget will require someone to put their hands in their pocket though. Not to the same extent we've had with Thea, but we'll need to be taken over by someone competent, with good intentions, and who is willing to fund a reasonable budget.

There's a consortium of 10 local people in pole position at the moment, who will have good intentions - but so do all the current board (not including Thea). Competence and funding will have to be judged in due course.

 

[The_Boss]

All sounds very similar to the situation we found ourselves in last summer. We had a consortium ready to take over the club for just £1 but couldn't finalise the funds in time to satisfy the Conference at the AGM so the owner just pulled the plug on the deal and put the money in again himself. The consortium then disbanded but members of it then took over the day to day running of the club.

As far as anyone knows the club is in a better position 12 month down the line, but still requires very tight restraints on spend.

 

[JOHN.P]

There's a podcast suggesting the new regime has a chairman and chief executive in place ready to go, I think just looking at the players is missing the point about the total costs of running a football club, a lot of the clubs losses over the last 5 years have come from infrastructure spending, things like the Gulls nest bar, no10's restaurant, the new grandstand, which the club had to fund part of, not all, as it had grants.
One of the biggest costs has been the training ground, the club does not own it and it's believe to have spent in the region of £400k levelling it and upgrades, there are drainage problems it can't be used through the thick of winter, so the club has been renting a 3g pitch at the local college.
Those costs are on going, we also have a EPPP cat 3 youth set up which costs the club in the region of £2,000 a week to run, this could be down graded to a cat 4 set up possibly, what I know of this consortium and that is little bit, is they will look at Boots/Laces which the stadium pub, currently franchised out, they will have a top down review of management and the operations of the club, it is all about our club living with it's means as said above.

 

[DarkSithLord]

There's a podcast suggesting the new regime has a chairman and chief executive in place ready to go, I think just looking at the players is missing the point about the total costs of running a football club, a lot of the clubs losses over the last 5 years have come from infrastructure spending, things like the Gulls nest bar, no10's restaurant, the new grandstand, which the club had to fund part of, not all, as it had grants.
One of the biggest costs has been the training ground, the club does not own it and it's believe to have spent in the region of £400k levelling it and upgrades, there are drainage problems it can't be used through the thick of winter, so the club has been renting a 3g pitch at the local college.
Those costs are on going, we also have a EPPP cat 3 youth set up which costs the club in the region of £2,000 a week to run, this could be down graded to a cat 4 set up possibly, what I know of this consortium and that is little bit, is they will look at Boots/Laces which the stadium pub, currently franchised out, they will have a top down review of management and the operations of the club, it is all about our club living with it's means as said above.

Welcome to the forum

 

[yellow]

Yep, the training ground has been a fiasco - a rather fitting situation that aligns itself perfectly with the last three years. It's depressing to think that three years ago we were 90 minutes from League One - and now we're facing a struggle to retain our Conference status.

 

[yellow]

Ok, so one of the biggest weeks in our recent history begins then. With the Conference AGM on Saturday, the prospective new owners have until Thursday to complete the deal.

Hopefully this time next week we can start work on building a team capable of surviving in this division.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Ok, so one of the biggest weeks in our recent history begins then. With the Conference AGM on Saturday, the prospective new owners have until Thursday to complete the deal.

Hopefully this time next week we can start work on building a team capable of surviving in this division.

Any update on the take over situation. Your forum seems extremely quiet to say what a crucial time this is for the club?

 

[yellow]

Not really. They're working hard to get it done, as you'd expect, but no more concrete news.

 

[DT-the-gull]

http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co....sortium-make/story-26612407-detail/story.html

http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co....ney-takeover/story-26620454-detail/story.html

In the latest supporters trust newsletter they are now saying this feels like a rescue mission, the acting chairman and the Edwards consortium were due to meet this morning, as of yet the usual wheels that leak things in the public domain, have remained silent, so no real early indication on how things are really progressing, past the spin and bluster.

 

[DarkSithLord]

http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co....sortium-make/story-26612407-detail/story.html

http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co....ney-takeover/story-26620454-detail/story.html

In the latest supporters trust newsletter they are now saying this feels like a rescue mission, the acting chairman and the Edwards consortium were due to meet this morning, as of yet the usual wheels that leak things in the public domain, have remained silent, so no real early indication on how things are really progressing, past the spin and bluster.

So what happens then if they dont reach a deal before the exclusivity period ends? I was under the impression that was in force until Thursday but on the article posted above it says "tomorrow teatime"?

 

[DT-the-gull]

In all honesty I do not know what happens should this take over not go through, I do not think it's a case of the Edwards consortium not having the funds, it does give that impression in the article, I think the paragraph that talks of a problematic due diligence report on the clubs finances is key, it may be the case the club has financial liabilities greater than what the Edwards consortium even knew, and possibly greater than any on going finances they have to put into the club, it could be negotiations are centred around who pays what, before they agree to take control of the club.

There supposedly two other interested parties, not sure who they are, or what the strength of their interest is, should this take over, or any for that matter fail, I think we will have a next season, it's believed the club will post another + £500k in next years accounts, to go with last years +£500k loss, it's believed that Thea Bristow left funds to cover part or all of this, but not sure on that.

Should the ownership situation remain unresolved, I would suggest we'll see massive budget cuts, we've currently got 7 players signed up, 4-5 of them are 17 year olds promoted up from the youth team, I can see us struggling to remain in this division with out new ownership, but the clubs survival to me is more important than being that concerned about slipping into the South Division, which after being in the league 2 play-off final just a few short seasons ago will be hard to take.

 

[Grecian O'Grecian]

See Torquay have only sold 57 season tickets so far.

Very sad to see the situation down there. It's looking incredibly bleak.

 

[yellow]

The silence so far this week is absolutely deafening.

Years of complete and utter mismanagement right from the top have led to this. I just pray we can get through this weekend remaining a Conference club. Three years ago we were 90 minutes from League One, now we're potentially a matter of days away from the Southern Premier, or worse.

 

[genesimmons]

Yeah pity about torquay especially with confrence agm days away

 

[Sledge FGR]

AGM Cup! Anyone else being entered for it?