Shouldn't be much of an issue to a Louisiana corporate lawyer should it? I mean he's used to wrestling gators in the Bayou's so the wilds of Sindlesham and a few Reading councillors would hold no fear for him surely.
The morality of the purchase aside... and it may indeed be a coup/bargain etc etc but I am more concerned about us struggling for so long suddenly being able to spend 10-25 million (depending on who you believe) on a training ground considered too expensive to run by the people buying a whole club!
Deadpool & co (if reports are to be trusted) have only wasted £10 million on Wrexham (club, freehold of stadium, rebuilding of stand) so far.
(No idea if Ivor owns their training ground)
I hope this may be the beginning of a great era for the club but I remain a tad confused.
Indeed. And this, at risk of repeating my previous post, is why I am much more worried about Wycombe wanderers and its supporters than Reading and theirs.
We could just be putting ourselves in the same position reading are in with Dai.
I know this could be one hell of a theory but please hear me out....
Since hearing the news about the 'American Consortium' that's interested in Reading, could Rob et al. but looking to move across the border to Berkshire to takeover Reading at a rediced rate while our secret/silent Georgian moneymaker taking over our club? Rob would be able to claim quite an increase in the club's worth compared to when he took over and might be able to draw in money from other sources (loans) from the States? With Missy & Pete not on the board, they could front the company until everything has been finalised?
If it was a more obscure nation, with a tiny handful of big money people then maybe, but there's vast amounts of Americans interested in our football, so wouldn't think it's that.
The Couhigs have recognised the limitations of what they can do here, let alone trying to do it at a bigger club?
Would make way more sense for the new fella to bypass us and go straight to Reading though!
Seems very unlikely to me, I don’t think RC has anywhere near the kind of wealth to try and fix Reading.
My timeline based on the few facts we have is:
WWFC were approached around September by RFC regarding potentially purchasing Bearwood.
At that point, knowing he couldn’t afford it, but that it was a rare opportunity, RC went looking for external funding and through some mutual connection linked up with Lomtadze.
They viewed the ground shortly after, around the time Lomtadze put some cash into WWFC as per Companies House to show he was serious.
I think the consortium now eyeing up Reading being American is probably just a coincidence. Maybe Rob has played a part in brokering that deal too but I think it’s a red herring.
Best case scenario is that Lomtadze wants to be a silent sugar daddy partner with a long term vision to turning Wycombe into stable Championship club by churning out high quality youth talent. This aligns with Rob’s initial vision, it’s just been achieved via a huge injection of capital to save us building everything from scratch.
If we can increase our revenues through sales and sell on fees from youngsters, and by sharing Bearwood with Reading or perhaps other local (potentially women’s or rugby) football teams it could increase our spending power under FFP.
Strikes me that once we strip away all the rhetoric from both sides (hand-wringing, pearl clutching & bed-wetting optional) we are left with the following that we know:
A) Both clubs have publicly stated they are in exclusive negotiations regarding the sale of Reading FCs training ground
B) It appears from the original planning approval that it was approved on the basis of its sole use by Reading FC
C) Dai Yonge & his sister have a track record of running down & bankrupting football clubs
What we do not know
A) Where WWFC are getting the money
B) The terms that money is being obtained on (mortgage, loan, equity injection or a combination of them)
C) Whether WWFC are “fronting” for an associated party
D) The actual price as it has not & may never be disclosed
E) Where the sale proceeds will go (RFC or Dai Yonge - though a fair assumption is the latter)
F) Whether as successful purchasers WWFC et al will agree to RFC remaining "our" tenants at Bearwood for the remainder of this season
G) Whether the local authority are prepared to waive the planning condition in our favour
H) Whether the rumours about an American consortium are true
I) Who is in the consortium
J) Whether their inclination to buy has increased with the sale of Bearwood
So we know an awful lot less than we know, but due to commercial confidentiality/NDAs we will continue to know very little until a deal is done or not...
That's very much as I see it @OxfordBlue, although the existence of the clause in the planning permission for Barewood pertaining to Reading is certainly something which any potential purchaser - be it WWFC, ML Holdings or whatever - must be aware of and consider.
It worries me immensely that WWFC might be left on the hook for covering the running costs of Barewood, but again you've got to hope someone has done their sums correctly?
We wouldn't even have the staff to do that at the moment unless we took over the contracts of the existing staff from Reading, and of course any youth/academy players will be registered with Reading not Wycombe.
It sure will be interesting to see how this plays out in reality. I can't wait for our first £10m player sale, 😁.
I think there’s probably quite a few legitimate concerns about the whole thing, but all the sackcloth and ashes about how terrible we are was like a magician telling us which hand to look at. Those concerns are lost in amongst the hand wringing.
I think it was perfectly reasonable to speculate in depth, as it is a major and fascinating piece of newswl with far reaching implications for two clubs, but it was definitely not time to act in any way.
Those figures are crazy. What also amazes me is how many staff they had. 59 players; 69 admin and 99 football management and coaching staff. True that was 4 years ago so hopefully there are far fewer now especially if they’re not getting regular pay
Comments
Shouldn't be much of an issue to a Louisiana corporate lawyer should it? I mean he's used to wrestling gators in the Bayou's so the wilds of Sindlesham and a few Reading councillors would hold no fear for him surely.
Would you rather wrestle a gator or Bayo?
We could just rebrand ourselves as Reading for training purposes
The morality of the purchase aside... and it may indeed be a coup/bargain etc etc but I am more concerned about us struggling for so long suddenly being able to spend 10-25 million (depending on who you believe) on a training ground considered too expensive to run by the people buying a whole club!
Deadpool & co (if reports are to be trusted) have only wasted £10 million on Wrexham (club, freehold of stadium, rebuilding of stand) so far.
(No idea if Ivor owns their training ground)
I hope this may be the beginning of a great era for the club but I remain a tad confused.
Tad is probably an understatement for me. I am totally confused and just want to wait for the clarity we will get in time.
Owning and running that training ground only works if we are in the championship.
RC wrestling Bayo in gaiters could be quite a draw though, might bump up the crowd numbers a bit.
This is when we start having slightly worrying de ja vu about the doomed Booker project and prospect of paying rent at our own stadium.
Indeed. And this, at risk of repeating my previous post, is why I am much more worried about Wycombe wanderers and its supporters than Reading and theirs.
We could just be putting ourselves in the same position reading are in with Dai.
The club definitely need to tell us what the heck is going on soon.
I know this could be one hell of a theory but please hear me out....
Since hearing the news about the 'American Consortium' that's interested in Reading, could Rob et al. but looking to move across the border to Berkshire to takeover Reading at a rediced rate while our secret/silent Georgian moneymaker taking over our club? Rob would be able to claim quite an increase in the club's worth compared to when he took over and might be able to draw in money from other sources (loans) from the States? With Missy & Pete not on the board, they could front the company until everything has been finalised?
If it was a more obscure nation, with a tiny handful of big money people then maybe, but there's vast amounts of Americans interested in our football, so wouldn't think it's that.
The Couhigs have recognised the limitations of what they can do here, let alone trying to do it at a bigger club?
Would make way more sense for the new fella to bypass us and go straight to Reading though!
From everything Rob has said he’s looking to retire from football club ownership.
Seems very unlikely to me, I don’t think RC has anywhere near the kind of wealth to try and fix Reading.
My timeline based on the few facts we have is:
WWFC were approached around September by RFC regarding potentially purchasing Bearwood.
At that point, knowing he couldn’t afford it, but that it was a rare opportunity, RC went looking for external funding and through some mutual connection linked up with Lomtadze.
They viewed the ground shortly after, around the time Lomtadze put some cash into WWFC as per Companies House to show he was serious.
I think the consortium now eyeing up Reading being American is probably just a coincidence. Maybe Rob has played a part in brokering that deal too but I think it’s a red herring.
Best case scenario is that Lomtadze wants to be a silent sugar daddy partner with a long term vision to turning Wycombe into stable Championship club by churning out high quality youth talent. This aligns with Rob’s initial vision, it’s just been achieved via a huge injection of capital to save us building everything from scratch.
If we can increase our revenues through sales and sell on fees from youngsters, and by sharing Bearwood with Reading or perhaps other local (potentially women’s or rugby) football teams it could increase our spending power under FFP.
How could anyone be so foolish as to risk incurring the wrath of Wokingham Liberal Democrats
Strikes me that once we strip away all the rhetoric from both sides (hand-wringing, pearl clutching & bed-wetting optional) we are left with the following that we know:
A) Both clubs have publicly stated they are in exclusive negotiations regarding the sale of Reading FCs training ground
B) It appears from the original planning approval that it was approved on the basis of its sole use by Reading FC
C) Dai Yonge & his sister have a track record of running down & bankrupting football clubs
What we do not know
A) Where WWFC are getting the money
B) The terms that money is being obtained on (mortgage, loan, equity injection or a combination of them)
C) Whether WWFC are “fronting” for an associated party
D) The actual price as it has not & may never be disclosed
E) Where the sale proceeds will go (RFC or Dai Yonge - though a fair assumption is the latter)
F) Whether as successful purchasers WWFC et al will agree to RFC remaining "our" tenants at Bearwood for the remainder of this season
G) Whether the local authority are prepared to waive the planning condition in our favour
H) Whether the rumours about an American consortium are true
I) Who is in the consortium
J) Whether their inclination to buy has increased with the sale of Bearwood
So we know an awful lot less than we know, but due to commercial confidentiality/NDAs we will continue to know very little until a deal is done or not...
That's very much as I see it @OxfordBlue, although the existence of the clause in the planning permission for Barewood pertaining to Reading is certainly something which any potential purchaser - be it WWFC, ML Holdings or whatever - must be aware of and consider.
It worries me immensely that WWFC might be left on the hook for covering the running costs of Barewood, but again you've got to hope someone has done their sums correctly?
We wouldn't even have the staff to do that at the moment unless we took over the contracts of the existing staff from Reading, and of course any youth/academy players will be registered with Reading not Wycombe.
It sure will be interesting to see how this plays out in reality. I can't wait for our first £10m player sale, 😁.
I can't wait for our first £10m player sale, 😁.
Mason Greenwood
Seems I know less today than I did yesterday, just think how little I'll know tomorrow.
Oh Mr Kim you are a card. Thames Valley Wanderers sign ex-man U striker looking to fall in love with the game again.
https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/sport/24190344.wycombe-manager-matt-bloomfield-training-ground-news/?fbclid=IwAR0xO52TLCgPagRDRKUq28hXRfO1WfxX6rO97tUBILEcilNu_OxIZ-tZLs8
This thread has gone a bit quiet.
Good
Understandable. Sorry we all disappointed you doc. 😉
The momentum for the takeover of Reading seems to be gathering. Whether that is linked to the training ground being sold or not only time will tell.
I think there’s probably quite a few legitimate concerns about the whole thing, but all the sackcloth and ashes about how terrible we are was like a magician telling us which hand to look at. Those concerns are lost in amongst the hand wringing.
I think it was perfectly reasonable to speculate in depth, as it is a major and fascinating piece of newswl with far reaching implications for two clubs, but it was definitely not time to act in any way.
Some further interesting reading.
https://star-reading.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Reading-FC-Notes-from-the-accounts-FINAL.pdf
The money invested and lost is absolutely staggering and these figures are only up until June 2019.
Those figures are crazy. What also amazes me is how many staff they had. 59 players; 69 admin and 99 football management and coaching staff. True that was 4 years ago so hopefully there are far fewer now especially if they’re not getting regular pay