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There may or may not be a new owner appears but the reason the club is in this position is that Osborne had no intention of running it as a successful football club.He saw an opportunity for housing as he does in Swindon and Bristol and thought if he strings it along to it's current position the council would weaken and give him what he wanted.Luckily they didn't his recent meetings with the council bore this out so he realised it was time to leave.7 m to him no doubt was loose change for what he thought he would get but I for one am pleased he's wasted a few years and some finance he certainly was no saviour happy to keep the club going.Compare him to Mike Bateson and it's light and day he knew the clubs limitations but put the money he could where his mouth was and sustained a reasonable then fourth division side.He regularly updated supporters on what was going on.Osborne has been as elusive as the Marie Celeste so please don't think he was doing it for the good of the club ,he's put us where we are now intentionally.

You may well be correct with most of this but you are so wrong about Osbourne. You seriously think that was Osbournes money? Osbourne was never going to build houses if he got the ground. He was no doubt the front man for a property development company and 5 million would have been pin money once they started building houses had he got the freehold.

Osbourne has shown his true colours by putting the club straight into adminstration. Dont for one minute make him out as some sort of benefactor.

You are completely delluded if you think otherwise - this was always going to happen.

Dav99 wrote: ↑23 Feb 2024, 11:08 Koh Wee Meng, owner of fragrance group is a Singapore billionaire who has a passion for football .
Clarke is a pauper compared to Koh Wee Meng .
I will email his UK representative myself and please , if you have further input , please try a more positive and “ hands on “ approach as the clock is ticking .

Did you hear anything back?

There are a few rumours doing the rounds. Peter Masters of course and predictably Norman Smurthwaite has been mentioned.

Load of old tosh probably but he was quoted in 2015 as saying he was unable to get involved in a purchase of the club due to his Port Vale involvement. Gone quiet on the football front since his retirement from work but was apparently trying to purchase a club later than 2020 (Notts Co, Bury and Wigan have been mentioned)

I thought he would be 100 by now looking at him but hes only 59. He's also got some serious financial clout behind him.

I'd suggest that Smurthwaite is another businessman who would only purchase the club if he believed his investment would generate a profit.

I wouldn't touch him with the proverbial barge pole.

He also banned the local paper from Port Vale's ground for criticising him. Osborne clone!!

When was the last time our club made an operating profit?
Do we have to go back to the days of Bateson and the sale of David Graham to see black and not red on our P&L reports?

With 90% of clubs currently operating at a loss I would be happy to have an owner / consortium that buys into the club for their love of football even if we have to cut our cloth to suit our budget.

Colorado wrote: ↑24 Feb 2024, 19:16 Did you hear anything back?

Nope .

Amen to that brother.

You cannot compare Smurthwaite to Osbourne. So he banned the local paper so what? Whatever he might be he is nothing like Osbourne.

No, he's worse! He tried everything that Osbourne tried but it didn't cost him a penny. He sold out and made a huge profit. If he buys it, then you'll think Osbourne was a saint!

wbw wrote: ↑25 Feb 2024, 19:06 No, he's worse! He tried everything that Osbourne tried but it didn't cost him a penny. He sold out and made a huge profit. If he buys it, then you'll think Osbourne was a saint!

Is there no end to the nonsense you'll post to support that charlatan?


The Devil would be worried about his reputation if he went into business with Osborne. Smurthwaite is a football man through and through. He must also be a genius if he left a football club with a profit. He can come and make as much money at Torquay United as he wants, as long as he puts the club on a sound financial footing.

Osborne didn't give a rats arse about the football side of the business and cared even less about the fans, his henchman Edwards was and always will be an odious individual. His contempt for the fans was obvious from day 1 and is still there for all to see. As for Hayman, I wouldn't trust her to look after my youngest grandchild's piggy bank, let alone the finances of a professional football club. She knows where the door is.

I know that you shouldn't rely on it as a medium, but anyone who things that Norman Smurthwaite is a knight in shining armour should read his profile on Wikipedia.

I stand by my contention that he is an Osborne clone and would be bad news for Torquay United.

To coin a cliche - 'better the devil you know'.

You do know anyone can write on Wiki right? Nobody besides his detractors are calling him a Knight in shining armour but he would definitely be preferable to Osborne.

This exchange of views - I disagree with you, but defend your right to express them - could be infinite.

I would suggest we wait and see if he purchases the club and then see how events pan out.

I don't have a problem with a difference of views or opinions but I challenge the validity of your referral to Wikipedia as I could go there right now and edit what you've read. His track record bears no resemblance to Osborne whatsoever. Is he preferable to Osborne, in your opinion he isn't and in my opinion he is. I'm fine with that.

There's also no chance of him getting involved with Osborne, that's why he didn't follow up on his previous interest years ago.