Clubs in trouble

[Chris Smith]

I should have posted here then the Genera's thread but it was put there to try and see if/why clubs refuse to take an active role in this.

The hardship fund concept should be explored more though.

I'm not really in favour. Portsmouth are in trouble because they borrowed money to try to live beyond their means. The banks wanted their money back and they couldn't pay it. Why should other clubs help them out so that they can compete with us again?

[Hookeysmith]

Is it just a coincidence that 3 clubs in serious financial issues have been managed by the same man? (twice in Portsmouths case)

Pompey
Southampton*
West Ham

* How bad must they have been to actually think having Rupert Lowe back as their saviour!

No wonder the fraud squad are all over him

[peter w]

I should have posted here then the Genera's thread but it was put there to try and see if/why clubs refuse to take an active role in this.

The hardship fund concept should be explored more though.

I'm not really in favour. Portsmouth are in trouble because they borrowed money to try to live beyond their means. The banks wanted their money back and they couldn't pay it. Why should other clubs help them out so that they can compete with us again?

You didn't read my post then?

[Chris Smith]

I should have posted here then the Genera's thread but it was put there to try and see if/why clubs refuse to take an active role in this.

The hardship fund concept should be explored more though.

I'm not really in favour. Portsmouth are in trouble because they borrowed money to try to live beyond their means. The banks wanted their money back and they couldn't pay it. Why should other clubs help them out so that they can compete with us again?

You didn't read my post then?

No, I didn't but I'm still not sure it's a good idea. It will encourage clubs to take risks if there's a safety blanket to help them out. It's much better to have the game better regulated so that the type of scenario you describe doesn't happen in the first place.

[sendō WHU]

Is it just a coincidence that 3 clubs in serious financial issues have been managed by the same man? (twice in Portsmouths case)

Pompey
Southampton*
West Ham

* How bad must they have been to actually think having Rupert Lowe back as their saviour!

No wonder the fraud squad are all over him

Yes but our current financial plight has nothing to do with saggy chops.

[Dave Cooper please]

I'm not really in favour. Portsmouth are in trouble because they borrowed money to try to live beyond their means. The banks wanted their money back and they couldn't pay it. Why should other clubs help them out so that they can compete with us again?

That wouldn't happen under the type of scheme Peter is proposing, Portsmouth would have to be stripped back to basics, the top earners released, assets sold off to pay creditors etc. I would then go further by looking at their finances after all this has occurred and placing the club in a league they could then realistically compete in, probably at least two or three divisions lower, with relegation reprieves in the divisions they bypass (this is similar to what happens to clubs that go into administration in non-league and it avoids the farce of having clubs sitting bottom of a division on -25 points with no hope of staying up anyway).

 Football clubs aren't like other businesses, what other business has hundreds or thousands of dedicated followers willing to pay them cash for nothing tangible in return? They are also usually (especially in the case of many lower league clubs) a focal part of the communities they exist in.
 Kings Lynn went under because their previous owners neglected to pay a £64,000 tax bill to the Inland Revenue, the fans raised nearly half of it, but still they went, 130 years of history gone for Sidwell's weekly wage.

[Concrete John]

Kings Lynn went under because their previous owners neglected to pay a £64,000 tax bill to the Inland Revenue, the fans raised nearly half of it, but still they went, 130 years of history gone for Sidwell's weekly wage.

Which shows the gulf that now exists in the game and why Peter's idea has some moral fibre behind it!

Morality in football - what a novel thought!

[lovejoy]

If the premiership is the richest in the world how come teams are going under?

I also find it adhorent that the players are super creditors and so get paid in preference to other crediotrs. This means its usually other creditors (the tax man) who is left unpaid and being shown as the bad guy for issuing high court orders. The tax man here is you and I the tax payers of this country. Why should clubs be able to pay players countless millions and renege on paying tax like you and I.

As for Pompey I have very limited sympathy for them. Living beyond their means is a for a cheating and the chickens have come home to roost. Their FA cup win was on the never never.

[dave.woodhall]

If the premiership is the richest in the world how come teams are going under?

Premier League teams don't. It's only the little clubs who suffer.

[lovejoy]

If the premiership is the richest in the world how come teams are going under?

Premier League teams don't. It's only the little clubs who suffer.

Portsmouth, West Ham, Leeds, Sheff Weds, Soton, Palace, Spurs (sorry just wishful thinking)

[Rip Van We Go Again]

If the premiership is the richest in the world how come teams are going under?

Premier League teams don't. It's only the little clubs who suffer.

True, but what about shady owners who buy small clubs in the hope of attaching it to a casino/shopping park/hotel, or some other hare brained scheme.

When it all goes tits up they walk, so why have my club got to help bail them out?

[dave.woodhall]

If the premiership is the richest in the world how come teams are going under?

Premier League teams don't. It's only the little clubs who suffer.

True, but what about shady owners who buy small clubs in the hope of attaching it to a casino/shopping park/hotel, or some other hare brained scheme.

When it all goes tits up they walk, so why have my club got to help bail them out?

That sort of situation rarely happens and wouldn't be the type of scenario Peter talked about. The Premier League were instrumental in widening the gap, so they should be the ones who narrow it.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

If the premiership is the richest in the world how come teams are going under?

Premier League teams don't. It's only the little clubs who suffer.

True, but what about shady owners who buy small clubs in the hope of attaching it to a casino/shopping park/hotel, or some other hare brained scheme.

When it all goes tits up they walk, so why have my club got to help bail them out?

That sort of situation rarely happens and wouldn't be the type of scenario Peter talked about. The Premier League were instrumental in widening the gap, so they should be the ones who narrow it.

I wouldn't say rare Dave, there have been more than enough chancers running lower league clubs.

[dave.woodhall]

I wouldn't say rare Dave, there have been more than enough chancers running lower league clubs.

Pleny, but usually for other reasons than redevelopment.

[Coopers Injury]

Remind me, how much are we in the red now ?