I’ve offered my season ticket to friends/neighbours in the (admittedly fairly distant) past but, in general, their mostly “thanks but no thanks” type responses suggested that they thought the entertainment was unlikely to justify the effort! And more often than not they were absolutely right.
Trevor Stroud, in his Trust statement that DJ links to, writes:
The potential for growth is exciting, and our due diligence to date leads us to have every faith that the values that make us proud of our club will continue to be upheld under new ownership, which would also include supporter representation on the make-up of the board of directors
What due diligence to date has been conducted, exactly?
And what supporter representation on the board of directors have the Americans promised? I hope it's not simply that they've promised Stroud and one or two others in the current set-up that they can stay on. If that's the case yet another conflict of interest has emerged.
Just shows how an honest misunderstanding can turn into an outburst of indignation on social media. The same could be true of the various conspiracy theories and wild assumptions surrounding the proposed American investment. Let’s just wait until we hear all the facts before jumping to conclusions.
@Wendoverman this statement from Trevor Stroud - and Steve Peart's call from the club - show that they all read this forum, as well they should. I'm simply giving notice that I want those points addressed when they release details of the offer, which Stroud said in his statement is imminent.
@glasshalffull I hope we do hear "all the facts" pertaining to the proposed investment and aren't deprived of the full details due to confidentiality clauses.
I'm one of the 810 Legacy Members who will be called upon to vote on the takeover proposal in a couple of weeks time and I need some convincing that this is actually all going to end well, which I fear it probably won't! It also goes against the grain and the underlying ethos of the The Club, as one of the very last of the fan owned clubs, to allow The Club to fall into the hands of a couple of very wealthy businessmen and entrepreneurs, who are clearly not going to be investing in The Club "just for fun" to quote one of them at an earlier presentation meeting.
I've also just read Trevor Stroud's open letter to Trust Members and I regret that I fail to be either convinced or impressed by the nice, but slightly patronising language and the re-assuring words that the letter attempts to mollify us all with.
It is all well and good to downplay and trivialise the fact that the prospective investors have taken out a legal charge on Adams Park as being "standard practice to guarantee some security" for these two very wealthy guys, however let's be totally clear about what this means in reality for The Club and its fans i.e. the takeover and sale of Adams Park in the event that the club can't repay its loan to these guys. Furthermore let's not forget what we've all been led to believe i.e. that the ownership of the land on which Adams Park sits was sacrosanct and was not negotiable. I'm afraid therefore that Trevor Stroud's letter cuts no ice with me whatsoever and the credibility of The Trust in general has been severely damaged as a consequence of this and the lamentable failure of the Club and The Trust to keep the fans and Trust members informed of what was planned and going on behind the scenes.
Surely Trevor Stroud’s position as chairman of both trust and football club is now untenable. And surely the boards of both organisations should resign too? If not I think an extraordinary general meeting of the trust needs to be called by members at earliest opportunity.
@Midlander said:
Surely Trevor Stroud’s position as chairman of both trust and football club is now untenable. And surely the boards of both organisations should resign too? If not I think an extraordinary general meeting of the trust needs to be called by members at earliest opportunity.
Yes, I think so too. I assume you know the old saying about how power corrupts!
@DefactoFan said:
I'm one of the 810 Legacy Members who will be called upon to vote on the takeover proposal in a couple of weeks time and I need some convincing that this is actually all going to end well, which I fear it probably won't! It also goes against the grain and the underlying ethos of the The Club, as one of the very last of the fan owned clubs, to allow The Club to fall into the hands of a couple of very wealthy businessmen and entrepreneurs, who are clearly not going to be investing in The Club "just for fun" to quote one of them at an earlier presentation meeting.
I've also just read Trevor Stroud's open letter to Trust Members and I regret that I fail to be either convinced or impressed by the nice, but slightly patronising language and the re-assuring words that the letter attempts to mollify us all with.
It is all well and good to downplay and trivialise the fact that the prospective investors have taken out a legal charge on Adams Park as being "standard practice to guarantee some security" for these two very wealthy guys, however let's be totally clear about what this means in reality for The Club and its fans i.e. the takeover and sale of Adams Park in the event that the club can't repay its loan to these guys. Furthermore let's not forget what we've all been led to believe i.e. that the ownership of the land on which Adams Park sits was sacrosanct and was not negotiable. I'm afraid therefore that Trevor Stroud's letter cuts no ice with me whatsoever and the credibility of The Trust in general has been severely damaged as a consequence of this and the lamentable failure of the Club and The Trust to keep the fans and Trust members informed of what was planned and going on behind the scenes.
I am too a legacy member and feel completely the same about this, its been very underhand. If things were really that bad we should have been told and consulted before the loan was agreed and the charge placed against the stadium. The statement has only been made because they read the gas room and felt they had no choice. We ALL want what is best for the football club but I am very concerned for the future of our club given we appear to be stuck in almighty pile of sh*t.
@marlowchair clearly said sometime ago he was not happy with things going on in the back ground and we now know why.
Yes I will wait for the offer details but its where we are now and how we got here that is so frustrating to say the least.
It's like they don't think we've noticed how tricky football ownership can be...and strange that even if they put recent shark-based history aside they did not realise football fans are a dreary bunch who trust no-one, will question every statement, research facts independently and make a lot of noise if they don't like what they find. The loan taken from the only investors they were championing against the stadium before any plan was public - normal practice or innocent as it may be - cannot help but raise concerns about being bulldozed. They can't just keep saying....oh yes we've made a few missteps, but forget how bad we were about that...THIS is great! Cack-handed.
If a lack of confidence in the current Trust/ Stroud is a genuine reason for a significant number of voters being deterred from voting yes, something needs to be done, the future of the club shouldn't come down to something like that.
You could argue that Stroud and Beeks have been very clever (albeit underhand) to steer the club in to a position where we all have no option but to vote for the takeover.
Unless someone comes along with a spare £500k by around the beginning of November we won't be able to repay the loan so the Americans will be able to take possession of Adams Park.
I just hope that Stroud has no active role in the running of the club post the takeover.
I'm no business man, like you lot, but it seems utterly incredible that you can take a £500k loan off some guys who "might" take you over.
Imagine in a few weeks, yeah sorry guys, fans said no.
Can we have a few weeks to pay the money back as we've (somehow) already spent it, despite us seemingly being in a decent position a few months ago.
In fairness to the American guys, we do not know if they are trying to use it as leverage. We know nothing of their aims or motivations. However.... There are plenty of similarities to Hayes here
If you negative Nedra live in the past we are screwd. I bet your all fun at a party. With these guys we may, you never know, be in the championship in a few seasons
I actually think Stroud is telling the truth and just not great at PR or communication. I am though of the opinion his involvement will lead to a No vote of not just over 25% but nearer 50%. If you don't trust him I am not sure what he can say or do to turn that around.
I can't see how a 75% threshold will ever be met. The only real chance was to keep the number of voters low and amongst the older voters. Adding nearly 200 new voters will have destroyed the mix they needed.
@Right_in_the_Middle said:
I actually think Stroud is telling the truth and just not great at PR or communication. I am though of the opinion his involvement will lead to a No vote of not just over 25% but nearer 50%. If you don't trust him I am not sure what he can say or do to turn that around.
I can't see how a 75% threshold will ever be met. The only real chance was to keep the number of voters low and amongst the older voters. Adding nearly 200 new voters will have destroyed the mix they needed.
I actually think younger voters are more likely to vote yes... Especially ones who didn't really understand what happened during the Hayes period.
Whatever people feel about how the Trust board has handled this situation-and some very harsh and unsubstantiated accusations have been made-this should not reflect on the suitability or otherwise of the Americans seeking to invest in the club. Even if you believe that the Trust board could have done better, there’s not a shred of evidence to suggest that their intentions have been anything other than honourable. They are, after all, fans like the rest of us.
I would implore Legacy members to put aside any reservations they may have about the Trust board and treat the Americans’ offer purely on merit.
Comments
Thanks for clarifying Steve on the Photo ID. I'm glad that is a non-starter.
A somewhat overdue, but welcome, Trust statement here:
http://www.wycombewandererstrust.com/2019/01/open-letter-from-trevor-stroud
I’ve offered my season ticket to friends/neighbours in the (admittedly fairly distant) past but, in general, their mostly “thanks but no thanks” type responses suggested that they thought the entertainment was unlikely to justify the effort! And more often than not they were absolutely right.
Trevor Stroud, in his Trust statement that DJ links to, writes:
What due diligence to date has been conducted, exactly?
And what supporter representation on the board of directors have the Americans promised? I hope it's not simply that they've promised Stroud and one or two others in the current set-up that they can stay on. If that's the case yet another conflict of interest has emerged.
photos of a dead cat? This is just getting stupid. Any more conjecture on what the investment offer will be?
Just shows how an honest misunderstanding can turn into an outburst of indignation on social media. The same could be true of the various conspiracy theories and wild assumptions surrounding the proposed American investment. Let’s just wait until we hear all the facts before jumping to conclusions.
@Steve_Peart , you could work for a tabloid with that tweaking of what was said! LOL.
Well played clearing it up though, and we all move on!!
Come on @aloysius a bit harsh he's making a statement for fans not outlining the detailed plan!
@Wendoverman this statement from Trevor Stroud - and Steve Peart's call from the club - show that they all read this forum, as well they should. I'm simply giving notice that I want those points addressed when they release details of the offer, which Stroud said in his statement is imminent.
@glasshalffull I hope we do hear "all the facts" pertaining to the proposed investment and aren't deprived of the full details due to confidentiality clauses.
Surely we can't possibly find out the full facts, as if we can, rival clubs, agents etc can, meaning we're compromised in future dealings?
@Malone Well I won't be voting for something I don't fully understand.
I am assuming once the report is released there will be a period before the actual vote for questions to be raised.
@drcongo said: "Falling for it"?
MEHOW?
I'm one of the 810 Legacy Members who will be called upon to vote on the takeover proposal in a couple of weeks time and I need some convincing that this is actually all going to end well, which I fear it probably won't! It also goes against the grain and the underlying ethos of the The Club, as one of the very last of the fan owned clubs, to allow The Club to fall into the hands of a couple of very wealthy businessmen and entrepreneurs, who are clearly not going to be investing in The Club "just for fun" to quote one of them at an earlier presentation meeting.
I've also just read Trevor Stroud's open letter to Trust Members and I regret that I fail to be either convinced or impressed by the nice, but slightly patronising language and the re-assuring words that the letter attempts to mollify us all with.
It is all well and good to downplay and trivialise the fact that the prospective investors have taken out a legal charge on Adams Park as being "standard practice to guarantee some security" for these two very wealthy guys, however let's be totally clear about what this means in reality for The Club and its fans i.e. the takeover and sale of Adams Park in the event that the club can't repay its loan to these guys. Furthermore let's not forget what we've all been led to believe i.e. that the ownership of the land on which Adams Park sits was sacrosanct and was not negotiable. I'm afraid therefore that Trevor Stroud's letter cuts no ice with me whatsoever and the credibility of The Trust in general has been severely damaged as a consequence of this and the lamentable failure of the Club and The Trust to keep the fans and Trust members informed of what was planned and going on behind the scenes.
That's one way to make sure no-one turns up, @Wendoverman!
Surely Trevor Stroud’s position as chairman of both trust and football club is now untenable. And surely the boards of both organisations should resign too? If not I think an extraordinary general meeting of the trust needs to be called by members at earliest opportunity.
Yes, I think so too. I assume you know the old saying about how power corrupts!
I am too a legacy member and feel completely the same about this, its been very underhand. If things were really that bad we should have been told and consulted before the loan was agreed and the charge placed against the stadium. The statement has only been made because they read the gas room and felt they had no choice. We ALL want what is best for the football club but I am very concerned for the future of our club given we appear to be stuck in almighty pile of sh*t.
@marlowchair clearly said sometime ago he was not happy with things going on in the back ground and we now know why.
Yes I will wait for the offer details but its where we are now and how we got here that is so frustrating to say the least.
You do sense this statement has only come out because Mr Stroud has been caught with his Beechdeen logo adorned pants down.
It's like they don't think we've noticed how tricky football ownership can be...and strange that even if they put recent shark-based history aside they did not realise football fans are a dreary bunch who trust no-one, will question every statement, research facts independently and make a lot of noise if they don't like what they find. The loan taken from the only investors they were championing against the stadium before any plan was public - normal practice or innocent as it may be - cannot help but raise concerns about being bulldozed. They can't just keep saying....oh yes we've made a few missteps, but forget how bad we were about that...THIS is great! Cack-handed.
I agree, there is no trust now as far as I'm concerned.. no pun intended
I also agree Stroud days should be numbered.
It's all a bit shoddy, amateurish, and it all feels a bit underhand and shady
If a lack of confidence in the current Trust/ Stroud is a genuine reason for a significant number of voters being deterred from voting yes, something needs to be done, the future of the club shouldn't come down to something like that.
You could argue that Stroud and Beeks have been very clever (albeit underhand) to steer the club in to a position where we all have no option but to vote for the takeover.
Unless someone comes along with a spare £500k by around the beginning of November we won't be able to repay the loan so the Americans will be able to take possession of Adams Park.
I just hope that Stroud has no active role in the running of the club post the takeover.
I'm no business man, like you lot, but it seems utterly incredible that you can take a £500k loan off some guys who "might" take you over.
Imagine in a few weeks, yeah sorry guys, fans said no.
Can we have a few weeks to pay the money back as we've (somehow) already spent it, despite us seemingly being in a decent position a few months ago.
Well I never, a potential investor using large debt as leverage to force a takeover. Went well last time, why not try again...
In fairness to the American guys, we do not know if they are trying to use it as leverage. We know nothing of their aims or motivations. However.... There are plenty of similarities to Hayes here
If you negative Nedra live in the past we are screwd. I bet your all fun at a party. With these guys we may, you never know, be in the championship in a few seasons
I actually think Stroud is telling the truth and just not great at PR or communication. I am though of the opinion his involvement will lead to a No vote of not just over 25% but nearer 50%. If you don't trust him I am not sure what he can say or do to turn that around.
I can't see how a 75% threshold will ever be met. The only real chance was to keep the number of voters low and amongst the older voters. Adding nearly 200 new voters will have destroyed the mix they needed.
I actually think younger voters are more likely to vote yes... Especially ones who didn't really understand what happened during the Hayes period.
Whatever people feel about how the Trust board has handled this situation-and some very harsh and unsubstantiated accusations have been made-this should not reflect on the suitability or otherwise of the Americans seeking to invest in the club. Even if you believe that the Trust board could have done better, there’s not a shred of evidence to suggest that their intentions have been anything other than honourable. They are, after all, fans like the rest of us.
I would implore Legacy members to put aside any reservations they may have about the Trust board and treat the Americans’ offer purely on merit.