The Takeover Thread - Recon Group - NOW WITH NEW POLL

[Californian Villain]

You somehow get the money to buy the shares. You're now the club's owners(s). Where does the "Spend some money" money come from every year?

TV

[dave.woodhall]

You somehow get the money to buy the shares. You're now the club's owners(s). Where does the "Spend some money" money come from every year?

TV

Which as we all know will go the same way as every other bit of TV money, meaning you're still having to compete with clubs who get bankrolled. Now, there's another question elsewhere you might like to answer.

[cheltenhamlion]

The 2 stock answers we get for the Trust when pushing for an elected fan on the board, or supporter ownership, contradict one another.

A fan on the board would not be listened to by other board members.  Or, if you want representation on the board, buy your way in.

There has been talk of a crowd funding effort to buy a chunk of the club but, frankly, what you get in return doesn't make it look viable to me.

[Holte L2]

You somehow get the money to buy the shares. You're now the club's owners(s). Where does the "Spend some money" money come from every year?

TV, Sponsorship (not just Kit, but sponsor the training ground, maybe even the North Stand. Have sponsorship partners. Commercial  Revenue and how about investing further in the Acadamy, put a bigger emphasis into developing your own and giving homegrown players an opportunity?

[dave.woodhall]

You somehow get the money to buy the shares. You're now the club's owners(s). Where does the "Spend some money" money come from every year?

TV, Sponsorship (not just Kit, but sponsor the training ground, maybe even the North Stand. Have sponsorship partners.   Revenue and how about investing further in the Acadamy, put a bigger emphasis into developing your own and giving homegrown players an opportunity?

As Paulie W said about the Buy 'em Cheap and Wish Really Hard plan of the early Lambert years, if it was that easy everyone would do it. Fan ownership is a nice idea but it just isn't going to work in the Premier League.

[Legion]

The Keep Our Fingers Crossed plan in his later days wasn't much better.

[Ads]

Fan ownership works if it's in conjunction with a 49% holding shared out amongst a number of billionaires or blue chip 10 figure firms. You're passing in the wind otherwise.

[IFWaters]

The only way you would get enough fans to pony up the necessary cash would be to get a finance package in place and convince people they would get some benefit from ownership.

For example , a loan of £5,000 over 5 years at 4.5% (I got the rate from Nationwide) would cost you £93 a month.
Lets say ownership gives you 20% off a season ticket thats a £100 benefit per year.
If you default on the loan, the bank gets your shares.

People need to be reassured that they are buying an ASSET not just throwing their money away. People wouldnt baulk at the loan above for a house extension, a car , a holiday or a new kitchen. Why do they see that as ok but not on their (probably) main interest in life , their passion ?

It would need a finance arrangement with a bank of some kind, although Randy might be useful there with his finance connections.

I'm sure there would be some richer people who might pony up a few thousand but to be genuinely fan-owned you would have to have something like the above, it is the way the world works these days. I think its a shame that to many people they are prepared to spend say over a thousand pounds a year watching Villa with their families, but the idea of actually owning part of it, of electing a board to responsibly run the club seems too much.

There are genuine questions to be answered as to how the day to day expenditure would be financed, and I respect those who have been here before and seen the idea fall at the first hurdle when people are asked to pay, but to me, if this forum is for anything then surely it should constructively discuss a change which would end the abuse of OUR great institution at the hands of the inept, disinterested or egotisitical current and previous owners.

[ChicagoLion]

Do you think that you could get 10,000 people to cough up £5,000.00 each.
If you could raise £50,million you might be able to do something.
If you can not, then forget it.

[Villa in Denmark]

Just one thing about Real Madrid's fan ownership (and Barcelona's for that matter), they might be owned by the fans in name, but they're actually owned by the 3 biggest banks in Spain as their combined debt is in the region of 1 Billion Euros.  When the Spanish banks got into trouble in 2008 both clubs shat bricks that the debt would at least be partially called in.  Instead the Spanish government came to the rescue whilst implementing an austerity package that makes the UK's look like Brewster's Millions.

So next time someone is cheering on Ronaldo or Messi or whoever, just think how many people got thrown on the scrapheap to keep their clubs solvent enough to continue to pay their £200,000 per week wages.

[Chris Harte]

It's an idea I really wish could work but in truth it is complete fantasy.

Anyone know any Villa-supporting Euromillions jackpot winners who are daft enough to buy a football club...?

[dave.woodhall]

Just one thing about Real Madrid's fan ownership (and Barcelona's for that matter), they might be owned by the fans in name, but they're actually owned by the 3 biggest banks in Spain as their combined debt is in the region of 1 Billion Euros.  When the Spanish banks got into trouble in 2008 both clubs shat bricks that the debt would at least be partially called in.  Instead the Spanish government came to the rescue whilst implementing an austerity package that makes the UK's look like Brewster's Millions.

So next time someone is cheering on Ronaldo or Messi or whoever, just think how many people got thrown on the scrapheap to keep their clubs solvent enough to continue to pay their £200,000 per week wages.

I may be wrong, but I read that some years ago when Real owed the best part of £250 millon and that size of debt back then was starting to worry even their bankers, King Juan Carlos said something to the effect that his club would not be allowed to go out of business, they suddenly found they owned a piece of land they'd forgotten about and to everyone's surprise the Spanish government realised they just HAD to have it. It was independently valued at £200 million. 

[IFWaters]

I couldnt but I think AVST could  be fronted by Sir Mervyn King, Sir Graham Taylor and other respected Villa types.

But as I said it would be a challenge to persuade 10 or 20,000 to cough up or borrow an average of £5,000 each. Yet every year in the West Midlands ten times that number will do exactly that to finance all sorts of things. I'm interested as to why it seems people see owning part of a football club as throwing money away yet will freelyvthrow away thousands a year in say car depreciation.

[PeterWithe]

Wasn't it their training ground?

[garyfouroaks]

No-one has presented a credible fan ownership option which would work here, guess we will just have to keep waiting.

Meanwhile I can't see Randy cutting his losses and selling now - why would he? And those that are looking to buy us at a bargain are unlikely to be those best placed to invest in our future, they would be investing in themselves.