Latest update from TUST:
The Spirite Of Percy Baker
History teaches us lessons and Torquay United is no exception to this.
Delve into the history of Plainmoor itself and you’ll find a sports ground that was coveted by building companies as soon as games were first played there in Victorian times.
A further threat came in 1910 prompting the Rev Percy Baker, vicar of Ellacombe, to take action. The Borough of Torquay was unable to meet the Cary Estate’s valuation of the land on which the council wished to build a school alongside the sports ground. The Rev Baker organised a fundraising drive amongst local residents that met the £500 shortfall. The rest is history. Football has been played at Plainmoor ever since.
A century later and Gaming International, as much a property developer as stadium operator, is casting its eyes over Torquay United. Not for the love of football, not for the love of Torquay United. This is a land grab.
Question: Why would the club board be prepared to give up the security of the current landlord Torbay Council and put the club at the mercy of a private landlord?
In June 2015 the club, reportedly debt free, was purchased for a nominal sum. This is believed to have been as little as £1. From discussions held at the time TUST was given the impression that the original ten new directors were to invest a total of £300,000. This alone was considerably less than the sum Kelvin Thomas dictated TUST needed to have a chance of securing club for the community. It has since been suggested the board has actually invested considerably less and has become disproportionately reliant on gate revenue (the "break even" figure was reached), season ticket sales (apparently running at over a thousand) and the players' fund (estimated at over £15,000). Costs have been cut but the club still appears to be under-funded and unable to repair a badly-damaged pitch.
Question: Why has the club accepted funds (loans?) from Gaming International BEFORE the takeover was complete?
Question: Can David Phillips guarantee that upon completion of the proposed takeover, Riviera Stadiums Ltd will not assume full control of the club and move it away from Plainmoor before a new stadium is built/available?
The survival of Torquay United is not just the responsibility of the club. It is also the urgent task of Torbay Borough Council. The future of the club is just as much in the hands of the town’s elected representatives as it was when their predecessors used Percy Baker’s money to secure ownership of Plainmoor all those years ago. That’s not just getting it right for Torquay United but for the town and its people.
History might not record exactly how many townspeople have ever passed through the gates of Plainmoor, or just how many have even shown a passing interest in the club’s fortunes, but we know the club is now an integral part of the area’s heritage, culture and social history. How many generations have now been absorbed by Torquay United in the way we are? How many to come?
The time for private meetings has passed and I hereby publicly call upon David Phillips and the board to honour the broken promise made to TUST throughout the autumn of 2015, and give serious consideration to the possibility of supporter/community ownership achieved through a community share issue.
This club is at the crossroads. We’ve been here before but this is as serious as it ever gets. I make an impassioned plea to the board not to let this be the final chapter where it is recorded that David Phillips, Jill and Harry Kerswell, Val and Mervyn Balson and Angela Richards sold Torquay United into the hands of property developers.
If you feel strongly that Plainmoor or Torquay United should be owned by supporters and the wider community contact your local councillor or the Mayor.
You can find full contacts details here:
www.torbay.gov.uk/DemocraticServices/mgMemberIndex.aspx?FN=ALPHA&VW=LIST&PIC=0Gaming International - A Potted History
1. Gaming International started life as the Bristol Stadium Company in 1932. After various name changes it did not become Gaming International until 2001 when it acquired interests in the Japanese pachinko market.
2. From 1932 to 1997 the company operated Eastville Stadium in Bristol. The company bought the stadium from Bristol Rovers in 1940 and acted as the football club’s landlord until its departure in 1986. Clarke Osborne, current chairman of Gaming International, served as secretary of the stadium company when Bristol Rovers were forced to vacate Eastville.
3. The Bristol stadium company also operated the dog track at Oxford between 1952 and 1975. Early in his career Clarke Osborne was general manager at Oxford between 1973 and 1975. The track was sold to the local council for housing but was later revived by other greyhound racing operators.
4. Land adjoining the Eastville Stadium was sold to Tesco in 1985; the rest of the site to IKEA in 1997. With the closure of Eastville the stadium’s greyhound licence switched to the newly-acquired Swindon site. This soon became the company’s operating base. Despite many promises greyhound racing was never re-introduced in Bristol.
5. During the mid 1990s the company started to run the greyhound and speedway stadium at Poole together with the dog track at Milton Keynes. It also became involved in the Milton Keynes Bowl at this time.
6. Gaming International continues to own and operate the Swindon track whilst leasing Poole stadium from the local council.
Gaming International remains involved in the Milton Keynes Bowl, chiefly
7.
an open-air concert venue, but greyhound racing no longer exists in Milton Keynes. Plans to build a new facility next to the Bowl did not come to fruition and the dog track closed in 2005. A fire destroyed the stadium shortly afterwards and the land is now used for housing.
8. The Milton Keynes Bowl has been subject to a string of redevelopment proposals none of which have come to fruition. The site is basic and has not always been used to its full potential.
Gaming International purchased the greyhound and speedway stadium at
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Reading in 2002. This was operated by Stadia UK, a subsidiary business, until the cessation of greyhound racing in 2008. The company’s plans to move to an adjacent site did not materialise and the stadium has since been demolished without being replaced. Proposals at Reading also involved a “racino”, a combined race track/casino concept.
10. The Swindon site was identified as inadequate and suitable for re-development as early as 2003. Active efforts to build a new stadium commenced in 2007 but so far work has not started on a new track. A revised planning application has been made as recently as May 2016.
11. Football ceased at the Poole Stadium when Gaming International (which operates at Poole as Stadia UK) constructed a new dog track. Since this time there have been a number of proposals either to rejuvenate Poole Stadium or move the operation to a new site. A further proposal is expected shortly.
12. Gaming International moved into Japanese pachinko gaming (a form of pinball) in 2001 following the purchase of Miyadera Gaming Center. This necessitated refocusing and restructuring of the business under a reconstituted board. The venture was unsuccessful and had been concluded by 2005. After this time Gaming International returned to its core business of operating greyhound and speedway venues in the UK.
13. The Bristol stadium company participated in the Centre for Sport project in 1985 which would have seen a joint greyhound and football venue built at Stoke Gifford near Bristol. Plans did not progress after initial discussions and proposals.
14. In 2003 Gaming International joined forces with Steve Lansdown (Bristol City) and Geoff Dunford (Bristol Rovers) in a venture known as South Gloucestershire Arenas. This proposed a 30,000 capacity stadium for both clubs on the Severnside marshes. The project was abandoned after a few months.
15. Between 1996 and 2001 the company (then known as the BS Group) had a stake in the leasehold of Hereford United’s Edgar Street ground. This was in partnership with Chelverton Properties with the plan to sell the ground to a supermarket chain. BS Group was able to secure a stake by making a loan to an ailing Hereford United that was heading for relegation from the Football League in 1997. BS Group withdrew from Edgar Street in 2001.
16. Other company operations have included Knightstone Island (Weston-super-Mare) and Eastville Market (Bristol). The company was also briefly involved in an unsuccessful bid to build a greyhound track at the rugby league ground in Dewsbury.
17. According to Companies House Clarke Osborne’s latest business venture is the incorporation of Riviera Stadium Ltd on 22 March 2016. On 20 July 2016 this company was announced as the main vehicle for the purchase of Torquay United.
18. Clarke Osborne and Gaming International worked in partnership with Moirai Capital Investments on proposed schemes at the Milton Keynes Bowl and North Star (Swindon), neither of which have been seen through to conclusion . In 2014 Moirai was named as the “preferred bidder” for a £45 million project at Clennon Valley, Paignton. This status was withdrawn several months later. As of July 2016 it is being reported that Moirai is likely to also lose preferred bidder status for an £18 million development on Exmouth sea front.
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