Fans forum

[Kernow Yellow]

Just seen the (pretty comprehensive) tweets by OUFC and the Oxford Mail from the fans forum tonight. I have to say some of the answers seem impressive. As far as I can tell:

Eales will write off debt to him if he ever wants out;
The directors are being paid by ENSCO - no cost to the club;

I do worry that they're all getting a bit ahead of themselves planning for the Chamionship when we're 90th in the football league. And the stadium ownership excitement seems to have died down a bit and/or been a complete red herring.

Would be interested to hear the view of anyone who was there - especially if anything was said that hasn't been covered by the official tweets!

[neilw]

All was very positive and encouraging in terms of wanting to do the right things in the right way. However, Eales is a man without a plan. There really has been no consideration as to how the ( or, a) ground will be purchased. It doesn't appear a priority, if on the agenda at all. It's clearly an expensive hobby for Eales, who certainly didn't take well to the more challenging questions regarding his intent and motive. He hasn't a robust plan to turn the losses around anytime soon, so the question remains regarding the depth of his pockets and appetite for throwing money away. Good intent, albeit I'm not convinced he really knows what he's got himself in to, much like the previous owner.

Eales: not very impressive, albeit genuine. Ashton: a little too polished and rather corporate, but credible. Appleton: Genuine, straight forward bloke.

[Snake]

“I'm happy for the council to own the stadium, I'm not looking for a property deal.”

That’s the solution. Thing is, is it just talk? The as yet undisclosed part of the Land Deal with Uncle Firoz tried to do that in terms of shared usage, but failed.

[GodalmingYellow]

“I'm happy for the council to own the stadium, I'm not looking for a property deal.”

That’s the solution. Thing is, is it just talk? The as yet undisclosed part of the Land Deal with Uncle Firoz tried to do that in terms of shared usage, but failed.

That won't work. The city and county councils have spent decades refusing to subsidise anything to do with Oxford United (some might even say they've been deliberately obstructive), so I can't see them build a new stadium and offering it at cheap rent.

[slappy]

They also said the lease at the Kassam was up to 2026. (presumably this is a new one signed for 20 years from the Merry takeover), and that there were no rental uplifts for promotions.

Is this correct? I've never seen either the original license when we first moved in, or any new one, but thought there were inflationary increases, the cock-up over the gas/electric overhead, and possibly an increase if in the Championship, but no reduction for relegation to the conference.

[Snake]

Slappy, WPL signed a licence on March 26th 2006. The land deal with the council was signed in 2001 ensuring football can be played there for 25 years but there is nothing in there about costs regarding promotion or relegation, obviously. Are you sure he said “lease” and not “licence”?

GY, agree with you that it's very unlikely to happen. But it does work with some clubs. Big time.

[slappy]

He said lease, but presumably this was to help the fans who would get confused if he'd said license.

Ensco are now giving out the line of "stadium ownership is not needed", and as part of a line of questioning regarding their ambition of playing in the Championship, people asked about higher costs in salaries and rent, when we weren't getting stadium revenues.

Eales said that there weren't promotion linked rent increases, and Ashton would know as chief executive, so presumably that is now a fact.

The answer to higher player costs was that we would recruit them at a younger age on lower wages, bring them through the ranks, and with the Appleton style of play, convert them into decent players worthy of good transfer fees if they are in a position to move upwards, and the club would already have the next two fighting for the vacancy.

[Radley Rambler]

Just seen the (pretty comprehensive) tweets by OUFC and the Oxford Mail from the fans forum tonight. I have to say some of the answers seem impressive. As far as I can tell:

Eales will write off debt to him if he ever wants out;
The directors are being paid by ENSCO - no cost to the club;

I do worry that they're all getting a bit ahead of themselves planning for the Chamionship when we're 90th in the football league. And the stadium ownership excitement seems to have died down a bit and/or been a complete red herring.

Would be interested to hear the view of anyone who was there - especially if anything was said that hasn't been covered by the official tweets!

Question to GY, does the corporate finance structure put in place by Eales since he arrived support this statement - or is it impossible to tell?

[GodalmingYellow]

Slappy, WPL signed a licence on March 26th 2006. The land deal with the council was signed in 2001 ensuring football can be played there for 25 years but there is nothing in there about costs regarding promotion or relegation, obviously. Are you sure he said “lease” and not “licence”?

GY, agree with you that it's very unlikely to happen. But it does work with some clubs. Big time.

I agree Snake. Its a fab model for the very long term if councils can be persuaded to help preserve community assets like football clubs.

[GodalmingYellow]

Just seen the (pretty comprehensive) tweets by OUFC and the Oxford Mail from the fans forum tonight. I have to say some of the answers seem impressive. As far as I can tell:

Eales will write off debt to him if he ever wants out;
The directors are being paid by ENSCO - no cost to the club;

I do worry that they're all getting a bit ahead of themselves planning for the Chamionship when we're 90th in the football league. And the stadium ownership excitement seems to have died down a bit and/or been a complete red herring.

Would be interested to hear the view of anyone who was there - especially if anything was said that hasn't been covered by the official tweets!

Question to GY, does the corporate finance structure put in place by Eales since he arrived support this statement - or is it impossible to tell?

Impossible to tell unless the directors of Ensco are stupid enough to file unabbreviated accounts with a p&l schedule.

The important question is how is Ensco funded.

The set up is bizarre and unnecessarily complex, and I am struggling to work out why they have done this. I imagine there must be some linked but unpublished documents regarding repayment of Lenagan to make the loan notes necessary.

I am entirely unconvinced about the statements that Eales is prepared to write off his debts. If he was really honest in that statement, he would simply donate the money to OUFC to allow a much higher playing budget, and therefore much higher likelihood of achieving success through a bigger and better playing squad. The complex set up does not support the notion of writing off debts. Loan notes are exactly what the name suggests - a form of borrowing requiring repayment at a set future date. "requiring repayment" is the important bit in that. Someone who is happy to write off debts does not also require repayment.

Slappy, I would be grateful for a resume of the information you have unearthed so far.

Also if anyone has a précis of the q&a's from last night that would be interesting as well as I couldn't get there last night.

[Radley Rambler]

Just seen the (pretty comprehensive) tweets by OUFC and the Oxford Mail from the fans forum tonight. I have to say some of the answers seem impressive. As far as I can tell:

Eales will write off debt to him if he ever wants out;
The directors are being paid by ENSCO - no cost to the club;

I do worry that they're all getting a bit ahead of themselves planning for the Chamionship when we're 90th in the football league. And the stadium ownership excitement seems to have died down a bit and/or been a complete red herring.

Would be interested to hear the view of anyone who was there - especially if anything was said that hasn't been covered by the official tweets!

Question to GY, does the corporate finance structure put in place by Eales since he arrived support this statement - or is it impossible to tell?

Impossible to tell unless the directors of Ensco are stupid enough to file unabbreviated accounts with a p&l schedule.

The important question is how is Ensco funded.

The set up is bizarre and unnecessarily complex, and I am struggling to work out why they have done this. I imagine there must be some linked but unpublished documents regarding repayment of Lenagan to make the loan notes necessary.

I am entirely unconvinced about the statements that Eales is prepared to write off his debts. If he was really honest in that statement, he would simply donate the money to OUFC to allow a much higher playing budget, and therefore much higher likelihood of achieving success through a bigger and better playing squad. The complex set up does not support the notion of writing off debts. Loan notes are exactly what the name suggests - a form of borrowing requiring repayment at a set future date. "requiring repayment" is the important bit in that. Someone who is happy to write off debts does not also require repayment.

Slappy, I would be grateful for a resume of the information you have unearthed so far.

Also if anyone has a précis of the q&a's from last night that would be interesting as well as I couldn't get there last night.

Thanks GY, once you've seen Slappy's info, it will be interesting to know if there is a simple way that Mr Eales could restructure the arrangements such that there could be no doubt about his willingness to write off any debts.

I'd like to take him at his word but......

If there is a straightforward way of him proving it, then wouldn't that be grand.

[tomoufc]

There's something extremely suspicious about all of this. I just can't put my finger on it. I just can't work out how. It's interesting that Eales apparently became really defensive when asked whether he was in it for a property deal - a reasonable question given our experience with Kassam. It's also interesting to note that Birmingham City, which Eales wanted, is owned by a company based in the Cayman Islands (http://www.christianaid.org.uk/images/b ... report.pdf, p. 10).

[Snake]

A Facebook group called “Aplerton Out”. Is this a joke with the spelling? Don’t get it. ('cos I'm well out of touch)

And WTF has the latest manager got to do with Us being in 91st place in the pyramid?

[YellowHoods]

A Facebook group called “Aplerton Out”. Is this a joke with the spelling? Don’t get it. ('cos I'm well out of touch)

Slappy - as you're a member, is this a joke? (I mean the spelling as much as the group's apparent aim).

I'm wondering if the "Wilder Out" FB crew will transfer en masse.

[Snake]

A Facebook group called “Aplerton Out”. Is this a joke with the spelling? Don’t get it. ('cos I'm well out of touch)

Slappy - as you're a member, is this a joke? (I mean the spelling as much as the group's apparent aim).

I'm wondering if the "Wilder Out" FB crew will transfer en masse.

Some fans just don’t get it. 2 wins on the trot and he’ll be a hero again, and that person over on the other side will be gloating about his sign off of “BELIEVE” which I’m sick of seeing.

The problem is not on the pitch, FFS.