Eddie Hitler

That's also my take on it. I recall John Hall lecturing us in the early 90s on how the Bristol clubs should merge and so would then emulate the success of Newcastle as the only club in the city. Well Newcastle is hardly lighting up the league these days but Liverpool with the constant pressure from Everton continues to thrive as do the Manchester clubs. I think two club cities produce stronger footballing teams and that historically (though I'm not flogging through the stats) we have alway done better with Rovers snapping at our heels. Rovers have been hilarious these last few years but as a result have put zero pressure on us so we're now content to float around mid table Championship which we wouldn't be content doing if Rovers were top of L1 or in the Championship with us and occasionally being higher than us. As it is we have zero competition because I'm not counting the faux rivalry with Cardiff or Swindon.

Come on, we're above the "superfan" stuff surely. Everybody on here supports the same club or we wouldn't be on here in the first place. My only self-applied rule is that if I haven't actually seen a game then I don't disagree with the opinion of someone who has; ditto if I haven't seen a run of games and then don't disagree with the assessment of a player's recent form with someone who has.

If that was happening at City we would have "Sack the Board" protests to force a change of ownership. It doesn't happen there because they are too cowed yet mistake that for loyalty and take pride in it. Pillocks. Fans get the club they deserve shaped in their own image. Weak, accepting and capitulating is about the size of it for Rovers these days. On the pitch and on the stands.

I think my speakers must be playing up. The loyal cheer from the massed ranks of gasheads at the end sounded to me like "What a load of rubbish".

In his defence he was forced to sign for them at gunpoint.

Maybe the Al Qadis have sold it to UWE.

One red and three yellow cards to Barnet's zero bookings. What a nice club they are and grace any stadium with their artistry and gentlemanly sense of fair play.

Official Wales FA site, tremendous stuff! WALES SQUAD: Wayne Hennessey (Crystal Palace), Danny Ward (Leicester City), Adam Davies (Barnsley), Connor Roberts (Swansea City), Chris Gunter (Reading), James Chester (Aston Villa), Chris Mepham (Brentford), Ethan Ampadu (Chelsea), Tom Lockyer (Bristol City), James Lawrence (Anderlecht), Paul Dummett (Newcastle United), Neil Taylor (Aston Villa), Joe Allen (Stoke City), Matthew Smith (FC Twente, on load from Manchester City), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), Andy King (Leicester City), George Thomas (Scunthorpe United, on loan from Leicester City), Harry Wilson (Derby County), David Brooks (Bournemouth), Dan James (Swansea City), Ben Woodburn (Sheffield United, on loan from Liverpool), Tom Lawrence (Derby County), Tyler Roberts (Leeds United), Sam Vokes (Burnley), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid).

@Tomarseedit: I'm talking nonsense (again!)

Well it appears that Henbury Gas is considerably richer than yowse. http://gaschat.co.uk/thread/13206/82ers-debt?page=2 I expect he's a billionaire as well.

Apparently his original quote before their media department reworded it was: "I don't trust any of our lot with a football"

A quick perusal of related companies: DWANE DEVELOPMENTS UK LIMITED Not a lot going on here; first required accounts filing 30 September 2019. WIZTEK LIMITED Now this is odd. The company is 100% owned by Hani Al Qadi but without apparently trading it now has losses of £1.0m which are covered by a debt to to Hani Al Qadi. There is nothing dodgy about this, it's just odd and why would you want to do it? My guess is that an asset valued at £1m and currently owned by a AQ company will be transferred into it. The land, or part of the land, for the "training ground" is the obvious candidate.

Definitely - all good ex league clubs not burdened by massive debt. Torquay don't own their own ground but it's on long term lease from the council; this has the advantage that nobody can run up a huge debt against it. You'd pay a tenth of the price for any of those that you would have to pay for Rovers and spend a bit more and you'll be in L1 in five years with your own ground and no debt. The one advanatge of Rovers over these is that they currently have a 6,000 crowd but you can grow that.

Not that I want a football club but if I did then I would want something with, as you say, decent crowd, own ground and little debt. As when Vince bought FGR. Aldershot is averaging just under 2k crowds in the National League, own their own ground, have a decent amount of league history and as they've been in admin won't have much debt. If you have £20m burning a hole in your pocket buy them and take them back into the league with the £12m you save not refunding the Al Qadis debt in order to get the stadium back. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldershot_Town_F.C. Where clubs are as debt ridden as Rovers then the usual approach by a potential purchaser is to drag out the negotiations until the club finally tips into administration and then can be bought cheaply as Mike Ashley did with House of Fraser. I can believe that there are interested parties at the right price but I would be very surprised if they wanted to buy them as is.

It actually looks like that visit from the real world in the form of the police has served to curb his usual liar liar pants on fire tendencies of late.

It's strange how quickly your idols fall. To me this man was a legend for his note perfect rendition of "Thank You Matty Taylor" but now he has revealed himself as being unable to spell, punctuate, or use words for numbers when they are twenty or below. The arch buffoon.

I'm rather more amused by his claiming that "BRFC has minimum debt"; £10m - £12m is the current estimate. Asset value against which this is charged: £10m. This is on a par with Henbury Idiot claiming that the way the Al Qadis are running the club is "sustainable". Losing £2m a year is "sustainable". Either these people are incredibly stupid or they are incredibly wealthy.

That genuinely looks like nothing so much as my local tip. I particularly like the way that they have reused the sign from somewhere else (see slots for fittings) and not even bothered to attempt to mount it on what looks like a Portakabin, as I hesitate to call it a building, but just stood it on the floor instead. I would call it amateurish but its plumbing new depths below that. Shambolic maybe.

Simebody else did a few years later. But they were the first.

I think you have it there. The £12m that went into Dwane Sports may be Al Qadi family money or another bank loan that they're guaranteeing. We don't know that one.

That's better than my last lot of homebrew!

This thread needs some culture; from A Shropshire Lad: Why, if 'tis dancing you would be, There's brisker pipes than poetry. Say, for what were hop-yards meant, Or why was Burton built on Trent? Oh many a peer of England brews Livelier liquor than the Muse, And malt does more than Milton can To justify God's ways to man. Ale, man, ale's the stuff to drink For fellows whom it hurts to think: Look into the pewter pot To see the world as the world's not. And faith, 'tis pleasant till 'tis past: The mischief is that 'twill not last. Oh I have been to Ludlow fair And left my necktie God knows where, And carried half way home, or near, Pints and quarts of Ludlow beer: Then the world seemed none so bad, And I myself a sterling lad; And down in lovely muck I've lain, Happy till I woke again. Then I saw the morning sky: Heigho, the tale was all a lie; The world, it was the old world yet, I was I, my things were wet, And nothing now remained to do But begin the game anew.

Oh. I will very carefully sit corrected.

Nobody can. It's not unique to the Rovers; I would be saying the same about Swindon. But there are several local people who support the club who will want to come in, put their hand in their pocket to keep it going and run a tight ship like the Dunfords did. The Al Qadis made a big mistake in buying it and they are now on the cusp of having to put their own money in unsecured. If I was them I would be desperate to get a quick sale whilst they can still get their money back before the £2m a year losses inevitably drive the club into administration in two years' time. Tick tick tick.

Was it the Dolman that used to give out clouds of concrete dust when people did the bounce around the ground? I'm very glad that was demolished and rebuilt. History shows us time and again that you compromise on safety at football grounds at your peril and I really hope that they haven't.