Rage Online

What would be the $64,000 question ?

I will be. The £49,999 question is who has Woodstock Partners issued shares to last month, and why?

I am not particularly bothered about any statement saying the stadium purchase is &quotongoing&quot, as it seems the club is better off paying rent than owning the stadium and paying a mortgage off, unless something major is happening regarding a business partner to share the stadium.

Obviously also what the level of WPL debt is NOW, what external debt is NOW, if any one else has come in as &quotinvestors&quot, and whether WPL stand by their debt for the foreseeable future.

&quotslappy&quot wrote:I will be. The £49,999 question is who has Woodstock Partners issued shares to last month, and why?

I am not particularly bothered about any statement saying the stadium purchase is &quotongoing&quot, as it seems the club is better off paying rent than owning the stadium and paying a mortgage off, unless something major is happening regarding a business partner to share the stadium.

Obviously also what the level of WPL debt is NOW, what external debt is NOW, if any one else has come in as &quotinvestors&quot, and whether WPL stand by their debt for the foreseeable future.

These are the two questions I have asked OxVox to raise as I can't be there.

However I'm not sure they will get around to it after the interminable &quot I've supported the club for 40 years and when are you going to buy the stadium, build the fourth stand etc &quotquestions that will surely dominate proceedings.

I'm not sure questions regarding who the shares are issued to and who the external soft debt is with will get an answer of any value anyway. I have suggested they ask whether FK is involved in either of these scenarios which has to get a no or a no comment.

I bet there's one or two kit questions too!!

Well...how was it? Any major surprises for us ex-pats?

So, forum summary.

Finance : the numbers look good for the next season, the club is being cautious I'd say which is a very very good thing. Kelvin and the Lenagans must take credit for the health of the club. The Business plan made sense and highlights the craziness of the Merry years. Lenagan said he'd put in about £3m with £400k coming from other Oxford fans.

Board: The club now has a board of directors - Chairman -Kelvin, others are Ian Lenagan and sons and Jim Rosenthal.

Squad : 22-25 players, Kelvin said 22, Chris said 25.
No offers for any players during the close season.
The club are looking to hold on to it's playing assets. For example Battman is discussing an extension with the club.

Stadium: Project to buy stadium as planned, but still 2 years away from completion. Club seems to have very stable ideas on this, nothing pie in the sky. OxVox driving a plan to &quotOxfordify&quot the stadium with nice branding based on historical events of OUFC. These will be on the South Stand.

Kit: Kelvin said kit had split fans, but was happy with sales and the end result on the pitch. He did mention it was only going to last only a season, with potentially a new fancy kit for the 50th anniversary 11/12 season. Club is still synonymous with &quotYellow&quot and it's a key part of the OUFC brand.

Can't think of much else but it was very busy night with a decent presentation and also lots of Q's. I'm sure others will fill in the more important stuff I've forgotten!!!

Who claimed to have supported United the longest?

&quotHog&quot wrote:Who claimed to have supported United the longest?

I presume you mean in the audience as opposed to the panel!

&quotHog&quot wrote:Who claimed to have supported United the longest?

Curiously nobody mentioned their United longevity.



To correct Boris' report - I thought the Youth Development 'funding gap'
was £40k i.e they received £180k central grant funding but the cost is £220k for next season hence the need for the Special Match on 31/7/2010.

The Lenagan family have sunk £3m into United - £2.25m to repay FK and a further £750k in additional capital to effectively stop the thing from going into Administration under Merry's profligacy.

Also important to note that the Lenagan family have not taken a penny out of the club, transferred any cash to Wigan Warriers (tongue firmly in cheek) nor do they charge interest on their loans at present.

Lenagan senior is ambitious and a very polished orator too.

&quotOUFC4eva&quot wrote:
To correct Boris' report - I thought the Youth Development 'funding gap'
was £40k i.e they received £180k central grant funding but the cost is £220k for next season hence the need for the Special Match on 31/7/2010.

Yes, sorry that was a typo - it should have read £180,000 (and indeed it now does read £180,000).

To correct Swiss's comment, the 50th anniversary season referred to was since the club changed its name to Oxford United, which is this season. In two seasons time it will be the 50th anniversary of election to the Football League, which I would contend is equally important. Next season (2011-12) it's the 100th anniversary of the merger of Headington FC and Headngton Quarry and the name change to Headington United - also significant.

&quotboris&quot wrote:To correct Swiss's comment, the 50th anniversary season referred to was since the club changed its name to Oxford United, which is this season. In two seasons time it will be the 50th anniversary of election to the Football League, which I would contend is equally important. Next season (2011-12) it's the 100th anniversary of the merger of Headington FC and Headngton Quarry and the name change to Headington United - also significant.

In other words, the club could find an excuse for changing the kit and fleecing the fans every season for the forseeable future?!

&quotMyles Francis&quot wrote:

&quotboris&quot wrote:To correct Swiss's comment, the 50th anniversary season referred to was since the club changed its name to Oxford United, which is this season. In two seasons time it will be the 50th anniversary of election to the Football League, which I would contend is equally important. Next season (2011-12) it's the 100th anniversary of the merger of Headington FC and Headngton Quarry and the name change to Headington United - also significant.

In other words, the club could find an excuse for changing the kit and fleecing the fans every season for the forseeable future?!

Yes, that's the way football clubs and, ergo businesses work.

It really annoys me that people come on here and constantly complain about the club &quotfinding ways to fleece the supporters&quot. OUFC is a business, not a charity. Like any well run business they understand their product and the fact that people are willing to pay for certain services. As a result, they will look at ways of maximising the revenue from said services. I don't have a problem with this at all.

As a mate of mine who supports Derby County said to me recently, &quotAt least your ticket office is a local number. Ours is a premium 08... phone line, so it cost you money to even call up an ask about a ticket.&quot

I say, the quicker OUFC get a premium phone line put in for the ticket office the better as it means MORE REVENUE for our club. Despite the obvious &quotfleecing&quot complaints that will come from most people...

Looking at that summary of last night, it strikes me that, while things aren't perfect, we are in such a better position than many other clubs, and we do have to give KT and the Lenagans credit. It's very easy to criticise, but credit where credit is due - other clubs higher up the pyramid than us (for now) have no players, are in serious debt and may not last the season.

The best news for me that has come out of the forum is that KT has relocated his family back to the UK.

The one question everyone has been talking about, but WPL didn't even mention last night ... Have they something to hide?


Will vuvuzelas be banned from the stadium?