Takeover of the club at an advanced stage

Gullscorer · Post by **Gullscorer** » 18 Apr 2016, 20:51

The only people entitled to hold a football club (or any other organisation) to account are its shareholders.

Post by **Southampton Gull** » 18 Apr 2016, 22:37

Yes quite. The Football Club is a business that is not bound to be held to account by any supporters organisation. I can't imagine Tesco laying out its plans to the Clubcard holders when taking over the local garage and turning it into a convenience store. Some football fans are funny in the rights they think they have over what is afterall a local business with one single outlet.

Post by **Gulliball** » 19 Apr 2016, 00:32

Not sure I would agree with those last two posts at all. Football clubs are a part of their community, and the only reason they attract owners, investors, TV deals, sponsorship deals etc is the fanbases of the Cubs. Take away the fans and it's ultimately the same game as you see in any school playground.

If you ran Tesco like we'd been run for the last few years you would have gone out of business a long time ago. You certainly wouldn't have 526 people travelling 450 miles to shop at your store at the end of it. The loyalty and commitment of the fanbase is the strength of the Club, as it is with almost every other Club in existence. Look at the Fortune 500 list from 1955 and 88% of the largest businesses of 60 years no longer even exist today. Look at the football league table from 100 years ago and what, four teams have been lost, and even they were re-incarnated. That's the difference between and business and a football club. That's why you're here and not on the Tesco website right now.

It was supporters who first cottoned on to Chris Roberts 10 years ago. By then it was too late to save our league status but he never had time to achieve his ambitions with the ownership of the ground. Of course that doesn't mean that our new owners will be anything like him, but with the recent noises around land deals and the like, our fans have every reason to be wary, even if it turns out to be groundless in the long run. Communication with the fans cannot be a bad thing and I am looking forward to their statement this week. Get the fans united, build on the momentum of the great escape and we have great cause for optimism for the future.

Post by **Southampton Gull** » 19 Apr 2016, 06:28

The point is we see things differently as fans but they really aren't. We didn't go out of business we became a Happy Shopper

Fans think they can demand answers when in reality they are just customers. Emotional attachment doesn't guarantee any rights over what is a business, end of.

BobBobBob · Post by **BobBobBob** » 19 Apr 2016, 08:37

Gullscorer wrote:The only people entitled to hold a football club (or any other organisation) to account are its shareholders.

That is incredibly blinkered, and not just for football clubs.

Southampton Gull wrote:Yes quite. The Football Club is a business that is not bound to be held to account by any supporters organisation. I can't imagine Tesco laying out its plans to the Clubcard holders when taking over the local garage and turning it into a convenience store. Some football fans are funny in the rights they think they have over what is afterall a local business with one single outlet.

And this is a silly analogy. My support of Torquay United is not the equivalent of holding a Tesco Clubcard. I have supported the club since I was a little boy and have seen my fair share of relegation battles and 7-3 and 8-1 defeats. I'm not going to suddenly start shopping at Plymouth Argyle if I one day don't like the service at Torquay. I didn't stop support Torquay when things were bad before and I'm never going to no matter how bad it gets. My love of football, and going to football matches, begins and ends at Torquay United. Put simply, what ever happens at Torquay United is extremely important to me.

I've had full faith in the current board since it took over and I feel rewarded by our escape from certain relegation. I want to feel confident about the new owners too and I believe it is in their interest, as much as it is in mine, to make that happen. Being accountable is fundamentally important to the continued survival of this football club. You use the nebulous term "rights" as if that somehow dismisses the need for accountability. I consider it a privilege to support my football club and I want to ensure that privilege is there for all time. This has almost been taken away from us before on a number of occasions in our history. It is essential we remain vigilant about who runs our club and why.

That all said, I'm not currently worried about the incoming owners because I know nothing about them, and I'm more than willing to wait for information at this moment in time.

Post by **Dave** » 19 Apr 2016, 09:00

This getting beyond boring now, and the lack of general understanding a real concern. Where's the communication, the accountability, what are the board doing, well I repeat.

What communication do we want or think we're going to get here.

It appears to have escaped some people's notice there is takeover talks going on, the board can't tell us next seasons admission prices, or season ticket prices, they can't confirm anything on Kevin Nicholson's future, player budgets for next season, nothing, there's nothing they can tell us right now.

If the potential new owners have asked the current board to keep all takeover discussions quiet and away from the public eye, then there is nothing they can tell us about that either. What part of the above two paragraphs do some not get or understand.

As soon as there's something to report, something our current board are allowed to make public, they'll come and speak us, really they will trust me.

Until then, the best thing us fans can do is, get down to the match Saturday, join the survival party, give our team the support, and more importantly the send off from the home fans, they deserve and have earned.

wivelgull · Post by **wivelgull** » 19 Apr 2016, 09:00

I'm a shareholder. What rights do I have? Please explain.

gateman49 · Post by **gateman49** » 19 Apr 2016, 09:32

Wivel, You and I have AGM voting rights for each share we hold and we do get to see the annual accounts. However, as I only have 200, they won't come to much in the big scheme of things.

Don't forget the holding company has the 'power' and that is what will change hands.

Of course, we are also able to puff up our chests on occasion but that's about it.

IanGull01 · Post by **IanGull01** » 19 Apr 2016, 12:37

Here you go.....

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36080590

Post by **Gulliball** » 19 Apr 2016, 13:42

Southampton Gull wrote:The point is we see things differently as fans but they really aren't. We didn't go out of business we became a Happy Shopper

Fans think they can demand answers when in reality they are just customers. Emotional attachment doesn't guarantee any rights over what is a business, end of.

I would hope that this isn't the attitude that our new owners will take. Fans may not be able to demand answers but the difference between a 1200 crowd and a 2400 crowd could very well depend on to what extent they can sell their vision for the club and gets the supporters onside. Nicholson has started this process on the pitch and in the community and it would be nice to see this built on.

People care about things that they love and want to protect them. We currently know nothing about our new owners because we have been told nothing, which leads to rumours, speculation and unrest. The previous two sets of owners have been poor at communicating with fans and since 2012 every season has been extremely negative years for us. People automatically fear change, so any reassurance can only benefit all parties.

In the past you have been critical of Bill Phillips, Simon Baker and others when you didn't think they were running the club in the right way (and since proved correct...) Supporters will always question owners of their clubs if they are concerned about the future.

Post by **Southampton Gull** » 19 Apr 2016, 13:50

Oh dear.

Some of you want to hear from a company that are buying another company before they've completed buying said company. It doesn't work like that whether you all throw your toys out of the pram or not.

Being critical of Phillips and Baker is a totally different thing altogether. They were in control albeit shambolic but in control nonetheless and were fecking it up royally.

Get real, you won't hear from them until the takeover is complete no matter how much whining you do. (Not aimed at you personally, Chris, just those sharing your views

)

Post by **Southampton Gull** » 19 Apr 2016, 13:54

BobBobBob wrote: And this is a silly analogy. My support of Torquay United is not the equivalent of holding a Tesco Clubcard. I have supported the club since I was a little boy and have seen my fair share of relegation battles and 7-3 and 8-1 defeats. I'm not going to suddenly start shopping at Plymouth Argyle if I one day don't like the service at Torquay. I didn't stop support Torquay when things were bad before and I'm never going to no matter how bad it gets. My love of football, and going to football matches, begins and ends at Torquay United. Put simply, what ever happens at Torquay United is extremely important to me.

I've had full faith in the current board since it took over and I feel rewarded by our escape from certain relegation. I want to feel confident about the new owners too and I believe it is in their interest, as much as it is in mine, to make that happen. Being accountable is fundamentally important to the continued survival of this football club. You use the nebulous term "rights" as if that somehow dismisses the need for accountability. I consider it a privilege to support my football club and I want to ensure that privilege is there for all time. This has almost been taken away from us before on a number of occasions in our history. It is essential we remain vigilant about who runs our club and why.

That all said, I'm not currently worried about the incoming owners because I know nothing about them, and I'm more than willing to wait for information at this moment in time.

No more silly than you thinking you have more rights because you supported them when you were a little boy, as if that makes any difference to anyone except you. The club is a business and in that sense the analogy is more appropriate than you thinking you have rights based on your length of time as a customer. You have no more rights than Auntie Gladys who has just moved to the Bay from London and wants to take in a game or two and maybe pull a bloke like Brucie. She is a customer just the same as you are.

PhilGull · Post by **PhilGull** » 19 Apr 2016, 14:02

SG, if the club is just a business then what are you doing on here? Are you spending your free time moderating Tesco message boards too?

Post by **Southampton Gull** » 19 Apr 2016, 14:08

Show me where I said it is "just a business".

I want to know as much as anyone else what the incoming people envisage for the club BUT I trust the current Board to do what is in the best interests of our club. We all have an emotional interest which is obviously what sets it apart from Tesco, I figured most would take that as read, obviously not. The point remains the same though, it is a business for those coming in and it has had to be run as a business by those who took over last summer. It baffles me why people don't grasp that and continue still to demand some answers.

Robin10 · Post by **Robin10** » 19 Apr 2016, 14:15

Southampton Gull wrote:The point is we see things differently as fans but they really aren't. We didn't go out of business we became a Happy Shopper

Fans think they can demand answers when in reality they are just customers. Emotional attachment doesn't guarantee any rights over what is a business, end of.

In reality we are supporters not customers.Supporters live and breathe their football clubs and usually follow their clubs until they die.
Customers shop around and switch allegiances,to better,more successful brands.We're being taken over by Gaming International not Fenway Sports Management!

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