Administration

The important thing is to still have a club, no matter what league the team plays in next season, and if the fans are the owners that should mean that Torquay United will never be in this position again. 

My current home town is Darlington, whose team would love to have a ground like Plainmoor instead of having to pay rent to a rugby club for the privilege of using their bumpy field and improving the stadium to make it suitable for the National League. The side has had a lousy season so far, and have just, this week, managed to scramble out of the bottom 4 but remain in peril of relegation to the Northern Premier League, but the fans turn up in good numbers home and away, and raised £30,000 to buy a new player in January to help kickstart the good run that might yet keep them up. 

When Darlo went bust and found themselves homeless they were allocated a place in the Northern League along with tiny village sides like Tow Law, West Allotment Celtic and Brandon United. Things looked far grimmer than they do for the Gulls at the moment. Winning their way back as far as the NL North has been great fun, met with much enthusiasm even when the fans had to go to Bishop Auckland to see "home" matches. In other words, after the horrors of the George Reynolds era and the white elephant super stadium that still sits - rusting and creaking - along the A67 hosting the occasional rugby match in front of three-figure attendances, the love is back. 

Support the Trust, everybody. Keep football at Plainmoor and make sure that all the folk visiting the English Riviera (like I did many times when living slightly closer) include a trip to see TUFC. Torquay just wouldn't be Torquay without the Gulls!

Thanks for your support kittiwake. I have studied Darlo's problems from afar.

Another set of fans dumped on from a great height, but fighting to keep football alive in their town.

I am sure no Darlo fan wanted to lose their club, but a phoenix is far better than no club. Same fans, same club in my book!

Over on the kiddies there is mention of Smurthwaite being involved. Whether it's Masters or Smurthwaite there are negative vibes coming from some posters but no way could any of them be worse than Osborne.
For the last eight years this has felt like a zombie club, even in the good seasons you couldn't help feeling it wasn't the football that mattered to the owner or his sidekick Edwards.

I'm playing the Devill's advocate here but who would have thought it?
From pre season favourites to win the division (I must admit I did laugh a bit at that suggestion) to potential relegation fodder and the threat of extinction in just a matter of a few weeks.

Hope we have a positive update soon the longer the uncertainty lingers on the harder it will be to motivate the players and fans.

My biggest fear is that Osbourne will want to re-coupe as much of his investment as possible and may turn down any reasonable offers that may be on the table out of spite as much as anything and to ruin the football club and get back at the council, supporters and local public for resisting his demands.
God forbid but if he does the unthinkable and the club folded Plainmoor would become burden for the Council with no rental income and likely left to rack and ruin.

I'm not sure what Osbourne's options are from his point of view.
What does he gain from selling the club for a nominal amount?
What does he gain by refusing any reasonable offer?
What if he flatly refuses to sell or demands a huge sum with no takers?

I just get the feeling he won't just walk away and accept that huge sum of money he invested is just lost.

Osborne isn't selling the club anymore: the administrators are and their job is to sell it as soon as possible for the best outcome.

To answer your questions:

What does he gain from selling the club for a nominal amount?
The club has lost £5m over the past five years, that's £20k per week. What he gains is that he stops losing money.

What does he gain by refusing any reasonable offer?
Nothing, and its not really his position to refuse any offer now that he has appointed administrators.

What if he flatly refuses to sell or demands a huge sum with no takers?
See the last answer.

Osborne won't get his investment back, that money has gone and won't be repaid. Nobody will pay very much for the club itself, it's more about who has the money to run it as a going concern. I would be very surprised if it is sold for more than £1. What is important is that whoever buys it can annually throw £500k at worst and £1m+ at best down the drain that is Torquay United FC (and any football club for that matter). Nobody who buys a football club is investing any money at all, they are simply throwing it away for altruistic or egotistical reasons.

We really have the worse of both worlds. Massive overspending and debt to produce a full time team regularly beaten by part time teams on the fraction of our budget.

I see the administrators as being more in standby mode at present but this could change later today if/when the current notice period is applied to be extended and could come down to the opinion of the judge acting.