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Showing content with the highest reputation on 04/16/19 in all areas

  1. I've been out all day, but I see that you have received replies from a number of our posters who are better qualified than I to detail how our club's finances are structured. I would also add that our owner made his fortune in the financial services sector, so is experienced in working in a highly regulated world and it would be against all his instincts to operate the club financially in a way that breaks the rules ( and I suspect, the spirit ) of ffp. The way he has re-structured the club over the last few years is specifically to ensure that we operate within ffp requirements and with the aim of the club being self sustaining, i.e. it lives within it's financial means. Many of our own fans have expressed frustratiion that the owner/club has not pushed the boat out in successive January transfer windows in order to take advantage of our league position, and especially as they know his personal wealth, but most realise that the reason is that the owner will not compromise sound financial management. With this background, do you think he would indulge in some sort of "iffy" transaction involving the ground to give us a bit of a financial advantage, even it went against the EFL's financial rules? P.S. Improvements ( in our case a complete re-devlopment) the ground are allowable expenses for the purposes of ffp, so the owner could invest his his own money if he wished, with no adverse effect on our ffp position. Similarly with investment in the club's academy. That is completely different from a convoluted sale and leaseback transaction, with the ground being "valued" , for the purposes of the club's accounts, at well over market value, and merely as a device to address concerns that the club will breach the upcoming ffp assesement.
    7 points
  2. Christ, twerp in the light blue hoody.......I think we have found Lloyd Christmas's love child
    6 points
  3. But either way Bailey Wright will receive a three match ban.
    4 points
  4. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/04/15/middlesbrough-chairman-steve-gibson-pushes-efl-investigate-rivals/ Interesting if true - would be good for us if so.
    3 points
  5. I'm certain we report under Bristol City Holdings Ltd in order to capture every element of the football club. We are allowed to report the non-match day income as part of our FFP as it shows that a club can generate income without relying on handouts from the EFL. I don't doubt for a second that we are reporting things honestly and being transparent. That what makes the Derby debacle so infuriating.
    2 points
  6. And Diedhiou will get a six game ban, and Villa awarded a penalty.
    2 points
  7. @RIP (rams in peace) that is not strictly true Coppello. I’ve done a fair bit of looking into the accounts. Ultimately all under Steve Lansdown / Pula in some shape or form though. Bristol City Football Club Ltd and Ashton Gate Limited are two separate companies, brought together under Bristol City Holdings. BCH is purely a holding company, undertaking no trading itself. AGL own the Ground, and City (and Bears) pay AGL rent to use it. AGL have an operating profit, but ultimately made a loss last year because of depreciation of the asset and payment of interest on the loan for the ground to SL / Pula. It’s complicated. What SL / Pula / AGL have done is properly value the ground based on the “arms length’” agreement between companies with mutual ownership, e.g. must be done at market value and charge an appropriate rate of interest on the loan. Therein lies the difference between Bristol City / SL and Derby / Mel Morris....who has (allegedly) over-valued Pride Park to create a false profit figure to then offset significant losses on the football side, both companies he is interested in.... ....and Steve Gibson bloody knows it....and next Wednesday he will attempt to convince the other Championship owners of this. I very much suspect he has gained support from SL. I sense this is all about to come to a head....but no idea which side will end up winning.
    2 points
  8. It is however ironic to read, in that article, Tony Pulis discussing the adverse impact caused by the financial irregularities of others.
    2 points
  9. I suspect that anyone like that with a clear conflict of interest would have to remove themselves from the process as it would make any action taken open to appeal. Not that for one minute I would expect them to take any action that could deprive a BIG club of a play-off opportunity.
    2 points
  10. Could get interesting, particularly if a club, who may just miss out on the play-offs partly due to other clubs overspending, had someone on the EFL board...................
    2 points
  11. The bottom line is. These rules to protect the clubs from financial meltdown . The likes of villa think they’re too big for (fans anyway ) it to bother them. The reason they’re in the championship in the first place is because of being poorly ran. There will be no sanctions this season though , whatever happens.
    2 points
  12. Gibson is absolutely right. Why should Boro be penalised, by having to sell players in order to stay within ffp limits thereby affecting their competitiveness on the pitch, while other clubs unfairly juggle/manipulate/massage their figures, so as to avoid taking similar steps ? There is a real danger that in trying to address and asses clubs' financial situations, the EFL will prove as naive and easily fooled as, well, a referee at Villa Park.
    2 points
  13. They say that they have had the stadium independently valued by experts which is interesting. I'd struggle to see how the stadium valuation of £80m has been ascertained using the depreciated replacement cost method given that it's not brand new and it's in Derby, not the most expensive area of the country. I'm currently working on a stadium valuation at the moment in a more affluent area of the country and I'd be amazed if it comes out at 75% of the fee. I do wonder if we will see a wave of Championship and Premier League clubs following this method which would be absolutely ridiculous. It throws FFP rules into complete disrepute. The fact that it has been audited is a bit of an embarrassment to Smith Cooper (their audit firm) who has signed this off. As a side note, it is commonly stated that the football club do not own the stadium which is a little misleading. Yes, it's not held in the same legal entity as the footballing activity but it is held in a company that Bristol City Holdings Ltd own 100% of. It doesn't really change things in the grand scheme of things because if it was held in Bristol City Football Club Ltd, Lansdown could still asset strip the football club and sell off Ashton Gate. It's just slightly easier now it's in a separate entity as he could effectively sell shares in it but the Bristol City group still 100% own the stadium.
    2 points
  14. As the inimitable Mark E Smith once famously said after seeing a picture of that week`s floppy haired boy band; `God help us if we have another war`
    1 point
  15. Scared of the dark too apparently..
    1 point
  16. I agree. I suspect too that we submit accounts to the EFL based on BCH level accounts. I was unsure initially, but the more I’ve read, the more I suspect it to be true. However for pure FFP, I do wonder whether certain things have to be excluded, e.g. non-football related stuff. It is complicated though. I do know that BCFC Ltd, receive nothing from Take That, Rod, Spice Girls, Muse gigs. The other thing is that overall BCH made a loss in 17/18, so as per DownendCity’s post, Lansdown is not trying to hide stuff...he is doing it all above board. He fully understands regulation. We will see next week whether Mel Morris is quite so transparent. As above I suspect Steve Gibson suspects not.
    1 point
  17. Looks like the proverbial coach & horses being driven through ffp if they are allowed to get away with that!
    1 point
  18. Took a quick read of Kieran Maguire's article on Derby... http://priceoffootball.com/derby-county-2017-18-say-youll-be-there/ A very interesting structure at that club I must say! Now the key question, key point is which results would you use for FFP calculations? If it is DCFC Limited then they would be probably within FFP for the past 3 seasons albeit not by much even without the 'profit' but if not...if it is Sevco 5112 then the equation may well change.
    1 point
  19. And still complained about the referee!
    1 point
  20. should be interesting and god help us if there is any over valuation. My understanding is that it has been professionally valued which is after all what we would all expect. I think Gibbo will be doing something similar next year now the unfair parachute payments have dried up. Good luck for the rest of the season and IMO you will bet us next week and get into the playoffs; hope not though!
    1 point
  21. Oh dear, never mind....you still just haven’t got a clue - I certainly was not ‘purposefully rude’ to someone for the ‘sole reason that he’s a Rovers fan’ - I know plenty of gasheads, indeed my Dad and Grandad were Rovers fans, I am not (and was not) ‘purposefully rude’ to any of them for the ‘sole reason’ that they are Rovers fans....you have been as rude as anyone on here to gas visitors....you just don’t get it...
    1 point
  22. I still maintain that Derby just within it-- selling it for fair market rate, questionable conduct but allowed...the profit however? Should simply be stripped from their calculations. It is or was an inflation of £39-40m but they probably are walking a tight line within £1m or £2m but that "profit" should be simply disallowed. Reckon once FFP deductions taken into account, their FFP losses for the 3 years to last June 30th were £37-38m once it is adjusted for true market rate. Very close therefore but not quite over the line. Aston Villa are so far over the line it's mad. Sheffield Wednesday are over, probably closer to Birmingham than Aston Villa in terms of how much they've exceeded by but a points deduction for the last 2 and maybe Derby should be in the offing all told. Not surprised Gibson is pushing this publicly or forcefully- as the articles rightly said Middlesbrough made big cutbacks in the summer. Hope all clubs near top and bottom indeed in the whole division regardless, who stuck within rules are going to apply some serious pressure...plus those who were penalised before under the rules old or new.
    1 point
  23. If true, this is the start of the end, one way or another....either proper professional control implemented by EFL, or a Wild West “do what you want”. I honestly think Gibson is well respected, and will have allies other than Lansdown. I’ve no idea about the true value of Derby’s ground, but it appears they have taken the piss, the EFL have passed it, and Gibson is about to remind them of their rules. Wednesday extending their annual reporting period - no smoke without fire. You can imzgine support from Brentford and Preston too.
    1 point
  24. Thing is, it shouldn't be left to us and Middlesbrough to make a stand about this, because then it will just look like sour grapes. Really, all 21 other clubs ought to be hammering on the EFL's door - even those who aren't competing for playoff places are still getting screwed over.
    1 point
  25. There has been a snag with this. The fundraising pot, set up for enabling the purchase of a first class stamp, has had to be used to help fun the tv bracket. The club are open to offers of investment, which would enable them to install WiFi and post the accounts online, but these things take time. They had arranged a carrier pigeon to deliver the accounts, but he is currently under going treatment for exhaustion, having been to Bath, Eastville & Ashton Gate, after being told to pick the documents up from Bristol Rovers’home ground, without being given a specific update on where this currently was.
    1 point
  26. I spoke to some Sags yesterday afternoon and let them know about their new TV being purchased from Steve Lansdown. A frantic search of Stadia Solutions on Google took place insinuating that I was a WUM Shithead Lady Garden, but when it was confirmed to be true the look on their faces was absolutely priceless. Heads were in hands. The best was when one lad said “We’re a ******* joke!”.....Yep, a massive one too ? The gift ? has given again. Oh, and they were ‘Singing The Blues’ again come 5 o’clock.
    1 point
  27. When you pretend it's league five Because you couldn't survive That's the rovers
    1 point
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