bobgull
TFF member
We've got our club back!
Posts: 104
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Post by bobgull on Nov 2, 2023 8:03:07 GMT
Much has been made of the club’s decline since losing the play off final on 20 June 2021. However, two months later on 17th August, another significant event took place when it was announced on DevonLive that a solar farm was to be built at Nightingale Park therefore depriving Clarke Osborne of the best, possibly the only, site in Torbay for his proposed new stadium. Was this the event that triggered the beginnings of our decline when it was no longer worth his while putting money into TUFC?
Clarke Osborne acquired the club on a punt by offering the previous board (made up of a consortium of fans) a loan to keep it afloat. When this could not be repaid on the date due he took control of the club in exchange for cancelling the debt.
Is he taking another punt now? Is he hoping to reduce the club into an unsustainable position through relegations and thereby get the freehold of Plainmoor from the council? He has nothing to lose by giving it a go. After all, in his businessman’s mind his “Torquay project” probably owes him around £5 million. And he thought nothing of evicting his boyhood club Bristol Rovers from their Eastville Stadium so he certainly wouldn’t give a jot if Torquay United bit the dust.
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Post by stig123 on Nov 2, 2023 18:50:16 GMT
If this is indeed the plan..it seems to be going swimmingly.
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Rob
TFF member
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Favourite Player: Asa Hall
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Post by Rob on Nov 3, 2023 13:53:47 GMT
If he ever got the freehold of Plainmoor that would be the beginning of the end for TUFC in my opinion, albeit with promises of jam tomorrow, prior to our demise. I base this on the numerous examples we all know already.
Many can get sucked in to promises of jam tomorrow and advocate eg: the necessity of moving away from Council ownership; current home and the need for land to be bequeathed to fund new stadia builds, and this has been seen elsewhere where a sport ceased to be. Swindon under GI’s watch just the latest. It is always painted as ‘nothing we could do about it’ by the developer while the sport ceases in that area. Previous promises of ‘don’t worry you’ll move into the new better one before losing your old one” don’t materialise for whatever unfortunate reason the developer or representative then announces with a soundbite or two marking the end of that sport there.
The combination of new and improved promised stadia not getting built but other profitable development for the property developer getting built has happened way too often. If blind to that, read up. We can’t exist beyond such a thing happening to us. Any fan advocating this or splitting fans into two factions - and I read rumour elsewhere our ownership fancy another stab at setting up a supporters club as an aside - would be advocating our end in my view. Some people like feeling important or on the inside (you won’t be even if you felt you were) and might let their vanity get in the way of doing what is really right for the Club’s continued existence long term. I hope there are not enough of those types - and there’s one or two, for sure - and that common sense among fans prevails as it did before.
Join TUST or don’t. They can do all that a supporter club does and more if you as a member want that. I’m not currently a member having cancelled a load of direct debits in one hit a while back. But I will be again fairly soon and can only applaud those who have continued to be throughout this depressingly unsuccessful period in our history under this ownership.
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Post by tustgull on Nov 4, 2023 9:27:44 GMT
Well said, Rob. Look forward to you rejoining and hopefully attending Forum next Wednesday.
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Post by plainmoorpete on Nov 4, 2023 15:45:44 GMT
Is he taking another punt now? Is he hoping to reduce the club into an unsustainable position through relegations and thereby get the freehold of Plainmoor from the council? He has nothing to lose by giving it a go. Osborne still needs the club as a going concern. If Torbay Council decide to sell the freehold then it has to go for sale in the open market; there will be other bidders so no guarantee that Osborne can secure it. |
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bobgull
TFF member
We've got our club back!
Posts: 104
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Post by bobgull on Nov 5, 2023 8:13:30 GMT
Is he taking another punt now? Is he hoping to reduce the club into an unsustainable position through relegations and thereby get the freehold of Plainmoor from the council? He has nothing to lose by giving it a go. Osborne still needs the club as a going concern. If Torbay Council decide to sell the freehold then it has to go for sale in the open market; there will be other bidders so no guarantee that Osborne can secure it. I don’t think Osborne does need the club to be a going concern. If he runs the club down into an unsustainable position and it folds he’ll be thinking there’s a chance that Plainmoor will be available to buy and develop. That could quite well be his exit strategy. He has always played the long game when it comes to buying and subsequently closing speedway clubs and greyhound tracks. I’d prefer that he sold the club as a going concern to someone that would put it on an upward trajectory but in the absence of any communication whatsoever, we are all free to speculate on his intentions. TUST hopes for the best while planning for the worst. Let’s hope our plans are not needed. |
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Post by plainmoorpete on Nov 5, 2023 14:31:42 GMT
I don’t think Osborne does need the club to be a going concern. If he runs the club down into an unsustainable position and it folds he’ll be thinking there’s a chance that Plainmoor will be available to buy and develop. But if that happens Osborne will be up against other bidders and if he loses he also loses all the money he's pumped into the club. That seems an unrealistic gamble to me. He needs to still have the club to be able to persuade the council to sell the lease hold to him without the inconvenience other interested parties. |
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bobgull
TFF member
We've got our club back!
Posts: 104
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Post by bobgull on Nov 5, 2023 16:01:40 GMT
I don’t think Osborne does need the club to be a going concern. If he runs the club down into an unsustainable position and it folds he’ll be thinking there’s a chance that Plainmoor will be available to buy and develop. But if that happens Osborne will be up against other bidders and if he loses he also loses all the money he's pumped into the club. That seems an unrealistic gamble to me. He needs to still have the club to be able to persuade the council to sell the lease hold to him without the inconvenience other interested parties. It’s the freehold that he would be after but I take your point. With zero communication from the owner we’re all speculating. You say, “That seems an unrealistic gamble to me.” I would say, he is a gambler and betting is part of Gaming International’s business. Given that he has played the long game at Reading and Swindon speedway tracks I think it’s possibly a gamble he’s prepared to take. |
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