Torquay United Fans Forum

[quote="merse btpir" post_id=215379 time=1510062784 user_id=23969]

Did you know that a greyhound track was constructed in Kingskerswell in 1932 on the east side of the Great Western Railway Torquay branch line and the west side of the Torquay Road. The name The Halfway Racetrack derived from the Half Way Cottages and Half Way Inn that were located on its east side. The track opened during February 1933 and traded through the war. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the National Greyhound Racing Club) or a 'flapping track' as they were colloquially known....I spent a few evenings there unknown to my parents as a boy!

The venue was listed as being able to hold 500 spectators and in 1947 had a totalisator turnover of £157,233 which was a large turnover for a small track. In the 1960s the track was all-grass and raced five dog races over 220 and 530 yards and had an inside rail hare system.
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I remember The Halfway Race track well! Did you know that following the closure of the Halfway Greyhound Track in Kingskerswell, a greyhound racing track was constructed on the final turn inside Newton Abbot racecourse and was an all-sand circuit. The opening night was 2 May 1974 and races featured regularly until 2005 with the main events being the Newton Abbot Derby and Newton Abbot St Leger. They had five on-course bookmakers there for those that fancied a bet.

[i]"....I spent a few evenings there unknown to my parents as a boy!" [/i] I expect young boys could get away with murder back in 1933, Merse !

[quote=Yorkieandy post_id=215398 time=1510093607 user_id=23508]
No. I only eat game animals and fish. Game animals live a natural life and allowed to eat a natural diet before they are shot. Eating farmed animals is madness. Growth hormones, antibiotics, contaminants introduced into the animal from manuactured feed and that's before we get into the morals of farm animal welfare. Fish are also allowed to live a natural life until landed which essentially is just like being caught by a gull and although our seas are polluted as sin and bioaccumulation of heavy metals and toxins in fish is a growing problem, they are a better option than farmed fish. If you eat farmed fish you're insane.
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Andy, I think supporting Torquayunited in previous years has resulted in the above post. You've lost the plot man. More of us will follow soon. However back to topic, what's is GI game, your somehow right on topic. Osborne favourite game is probably venison.

I expect living with you drove them all mad ........
re Higgins bit unfair to single him out but yes he has been at fault for a few goals, but cant knock his effort
running and commitment but as you say the first priority of the full back is to stop the cross

I've lived with a few mad cows, I don't need any more! :}

BSE and clogged arteries.

They get their own back in the end anyway. ;-)

I plead guilty to being insane and not really concerned enough about my own wellbeing then.........it's all too much inconvenience to me I'm afraid.

Pie and mash tonight and a Cornish pasty for lunch ~ although I'm quite a skilled chef when the mood (and time) allows ~ shocking I know, but that's life for the majority of us. Some people are guilty of voting Tory and for Brexit you know; it takes all sorts!

No. I only eat game animals and fish. Game animals live a natural life and allowed to eat a natural diet before they are shot. Eating farmed animals is madness. Growth hormones, antibiotics, contaminants introduced into the animal from manuactured feed and that's before we get into the morals of farm animal welfare. Fish are also allowed to live a natural life until landed which essentially is just like being caught by a gull and although our seas are polluted as sin and bioaccumulation of heavy metals and toxins in fish is a growing problem, they are a better option than farmed fish. If you eat farmed fish you're insane.

[quote=Yorkieandy post_id=215394 time=1510092412 user_id=23508]
[i][b]I'm talking about greyhound racing here. If you want to race a greyhound and try to win money with it then i don't have a problem with that so long as when it's finished racing it curls up in front of your fire at home. If you want to race a greyhound and try and win money with it then when it can't run anymore try to pass it on or even dispose of it (which happens almost exclusively) then i'm 100% behind Clarke Osborne turning the tracks into housing[/b][/i][/quote]

'Disposing' of greyhounds doesn't occur 'almost exclusively' but it does occur far too often.

I had a share in a greyhound that was retired at the age of three due to arthritis and ~ despite best effort ~ couldn't adapt to being a house pet which is a shame because it ended up being destroyed. Greyhounds make great pets and contrary to popular myth, do not need miles and miles of walking as they are by nature quite lazy and docile beasts.

I was offered another share in a greyhound about a year ago but declined ~ more for economic reasons than any other ~ now that dog has been retired due to fitness issues and the owners are bending over backwards to have it re-habilitated as a pet at great cost to themselves as it happens.

Now I'm quite partial to watching and betting on horses and dogs run but am not stupid enough to believe that their world is squeaky clean and without distress to some of these animals, but there we are this is the real world; in which many human beings too are mistreated and not accorded the respect and dignity they are due and that's life...........eaten any nice cows lately?

wtf are you on about?

I'm talking about greyhound racing here. If you want to race a greyhound and try to win money with it then i don't have a problem with that so long as when it's finished racing it curls up in front of your fire at home. If you want to race a greyhound and try and win money with it then when it can't run anymore try to pass it on or even dispose of it (which happens almost exclusively) then i'm 100% behind Clarke Osborne turning the tracks into housing.

[quote=Yorkieandy post_id=215378 time=1510061238 user_id=23508]
I'm all in favour of demolishing greyhound stadia so in that respect i like Osborne. If you want to race greyhounds then fine, just make sure once they can't earn you anymore money that you look after them and don't pass them on. As nobody does this then yes, go Clarke! Right behind you man! I'd rather make money out of property than animals and there's me thinking Clarke has no conscience.

There is one charity that shouldn't need to exist and it's called the Retired Greyhound Trust.
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If greyhounds, or any other domesticated animal, was not exploitable by human means, then they would never of been born in the first place.

[quote="merse btpir" post_id=215379 time=1510062784 user_id=23969]

Did you know that a greyhound track was constructed in Kingskerswell in 1932 on the east side of the Great Western Railway Torquay branch line and the west side of the Torquay Road. The name The Halfway Racetrack derived from the Half Way Cottages and Half Way Inn that were located on its east side. The track opened during February 1933 and traded through the war. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the National Greyhound Racing Club) or a 'flapping track' as they were colloquially known....I spent a few evenings there unknown to my parents as a boy!

The venue was listed as being able to hold 500 spectators and in 1947 had a totalisator turnover of £157,233 which was a large turnover for a small track. In the 1960s the track was all-grass and raced five dog races over 220 and 530 yards and had an inside rail hare system.

The track raced until November 1971 with the land being sold for redevelopment. The housing on the site today is called Stadium Drive and the Halfway Inn is now a private house and has been superseded by the much more spacious and modern pub called the Hare and Hounds right across the road from where it was.
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That's interesting. My Grandparents used to live up Fluder Hill in Kingskerswell and we'd look down on the floodlit greyhound track in the evenings. I wondered what happened to it.

Sadly if GI get their way there might be a Pop Side Drive in Plainmoor - and perhaps a Derek Dawkins Terrace and Kenny Allen Gardens too.

Be very careful for what you wish........the announcement of a board of directors for the club will more than likely herald it being cast adrift from it's GI funding in exactly same manner that Dulwich Hamlet have!

[quote=budegull1954 post_id=215381 time=1510074348 user_id=23934]
Now that this G.I. thread has been revived, it's worth pointing out that there is still no 'local board' at TUFC as promised. By September! Maybe they were thinking September 2018, 2019...zzzzzz
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Probably more likely September 2020 to co-incide with the opening of the new stadium!!

[b]Therefore it is essential that the freehold remains in the public domain![/b]

The original owners of the freehold was Kings College London who developed a sporting complex there in 1912 and the Hamlet started paying there immediately. When the football club suffered financial problems in the nineteen eighties, much of the land they owned was sold for development of a Sainsbury's supermarket. As a result, a new stadium was built on the site of the old Champion Hill stadium, and the Sainsburys supermarket was built on what had been the training pitch before the 1980s. The 'new' stadium was opened in 1992. The club's record attendance at the new ground is 3,000, set for an Isthmian League Premier Division game against Maidstone United on 18 April 2015.

The ground was also used by Corinthian-Casuals from 1963 until 1968, Fisher Athletic from 2004 until they folded in 2009, and then by the new Fisher club between their formation in 2009 and 2016 when they moved to their own ground on Salter Road back in Rotherhithe where their spiritual home is. The Champion Hill ground It is listed by Southwark London Borough Council as an asset of community value

The Supporters’ Trust’s long term aim has been for the club to have stable ownership with healthy, transparent finances leading to success on the pitch. When the Trust was first formed it’s objective was to raise money which would be invested in the club for the benefit of supporters, whilst also at the same time acquiring a significant shareholding that would enable it to have a meaningful influence on behalf of supporters in the way the club was run.  Since Hadley Property Group (HPG) took over control of the club in February 2014 the Trust’s objectives have evolved to include an ownership model that fully involves supporters.

Dulwich Hamlet FC Limited is a private company, which changed ownership in the mid-2000’s when the vast majority of its 300,000 shares were acquired by Nick McCormack. As well as the Football Club itself there are related businesses of the Health Club and the five-a-side pitches on Greendales behind the ground. At the current time, Champion Hill Stadium and Dulwich Hamlet FC Ltd (DHFC Ltd) are separate legal entities.  Greendale Property Company Limited (Greendale) owns the freehold of the Champion Hill Stadium and surrounding locale, and has an exclusive option, through its associated company Hadley Property Group, to purchase the majority holding of the issued shares in DHFC Ltd (the legal entity that runs the football club) from the Football Club’s current owner, Nick McCormack.  Since obtaining the option Greendale, through HPG, has invested considerable financial resources in DHFC Ltd and effectively runs the Football Club.  If HPG obtains planning permission for its proposed new development of the site, then they have committed to exercise this option in full and purchase DHFC Ltd, with the ultimate aim of transferring ownership to the Trust.

The Trust has set up a fan-ownership sub-committee to engage with HPG and fans to develop a model for the Club to be fully fan-owned in the future. The Club’s present position means that they are in a unique position to plan, consult and prepare for a managed transition to a fan owned club.

In January 2015 they held an open “Ask the Experts” meeting with representatives from 4 fan-owned clubs to give fans an opportunity to ask questions of those who have a wealth of experience of both the transition to fan ownership and running a football club. They have established links with key personnel at fan owned clubs ~ Enfield Town, Portsmouth, Fisher, AFC Wimbledon and Lewes ~ who have all been very supportive and generous with their knowledge and advice.

They have worked closely with Supporters’ Direct, particularly with James Mathie, in relation to all aspects of fan ownership.  As well as advice and guidance on the process, they provide model documents for the transition to owning the club, carry out due diligence on the club prior to taking over, and provide training for board members in relation to running the club in the future.

They have had a series of meetings with HPG focusing on the issues surrounding the progression to fan ownership.  In April 2015 HPG issued a public statement confirming their intention to hand the club over to the fans [b]if their planning application is successful[/b].  Further they announced the appointment of Kevin Rye, formerly of SD, as a consultant to deal and the person who gave myself and the other three instigators of what became [b]TUST[/b] professional assistance and presentation assistance when we brought the concept of forming a Torquay United Supporters Trust down to Torquay all those years ago. 

The fan ownership model is to ensure the club is run sustainably and democratic control is retained.  It enables the maximum profit to be ploughed back into the club and prevents the shares being used as a vehicle for profit.  Given the value of the Champion Hill ground itself and the recent history of property speculation around the Club, protecting the Club from this in the future is one of the Trust’s main aims.  HPG’s plan is to hand the Club over as a sustainable operation with a business plan in place, without the need for large capital sums to be raised.  For these reasons the Trust has always been working towards the Club becoming a CBS which is 100% owned by DHFC Ltd. Now they are being used as a pawn in a game of poker between the developers and the local authority who are unwilling to reduce their demand for the percentage of social and affordable hosing within the development and quite rightly so in my opinion!

[b]Fan ownership of a professional football club is very desirable and ethical but so is sufficient affordable and social housing within any urban development and that is the conundrum![/b]
 

[quote=westyorkshiregull post_id=215376 time=1510055427 user_id=18627]
So merse in effect the situation is almost the same. I can't see what positive outcome we can have , if your pro plainmoor that is. Perhaps if we had the made the 3rd round fa cup away to man Utd or sold a player for 250000 upwards I wonder gi would then consider it a bad job and and least walk away with a minimum of money back. I do say minimum , they are a business but I can't work out if they regret this transaction or they know something we don't.
Really interesting post merse about Dulwich and there troubles. It's all sad state of affairs. [/quote]

The situation is similar, but there is a major difference. According to Merse's post, Meadow Residential (what a cynical name for a development company!) own the Dulwich Hamlet ground - G.I. (or Riviera International) don't own Plainmoor. We must all be vigilant and ready to lobby Torbay Council if ever we get a whiff of either Mayor Gordon Oliver or the Council buckling to G.I'. pressure. As Merse points out, G.I. are no doubt biding their time ...... Fortunately, both our MP, Kevin Foster, and his pre-decessor, Adrian Sanders, are well aware of G.I's 'interests'.