Eddie Hitler

Errr... Banter is great and Henbury Gas is clearly a total belter but I'm really not happy with his picture being shown on this thread. And not just for aesthetic reasons! To be open about this I am going to message the mods to suggest that it be taken down.

No it's true; I have been provided with photographic evidence. Here is a picture of Henbury Gas with said disabled fan, Donny Oddlegs.

It's the careless cruelty to apostrophes that offends me more; as well as the wanton capitalisation of improper nouns.

I get the impression that these inventions appear real to Henbury because he has cut out and painted little cardboard figures of the mythical disabled fan and his helper and has conversations with them late at night. "Do you hate the shit Mr Disabled Fan?" "Yes, I hate the shit Mr Henbury sir." "And do you also hate the shit Mr Helper of Disabled Fan?" "Yes, I also hate the shit Mr Henbury sir." "Excellent, Smarties all round!"

Marvellous, isn't it Ollie Clarke picked up an early booking for a challenge on Southend captain John White, and continued to throw himself into tackles. Just before the half time whistle, the midfielder was penalised again, this time for a tackle on Sam Mantom. Referee Anthony Coggins had no hesitation in showing Clarke a second booking, but then proceeded to walk away from the Rovers No.8. However after an apparent reminder from Southend forward Simon Cox, Coggins marched back over to Clarke to show him the red card.

Head of Business Development I presume he stops strangers in the street and tries to get them to invest in a new stand at the Mem. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:DJJqrLG99IIJ:https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Karim-Mardam-Bey/-1629143055+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

Bristol Rovers away support are voted League 1 Hide and Seek Champions for the second successive season.

In the spirit of co-operation with our neighbours I thought I should share this revenue raising tip thought up by the owner of North Ferriby United. https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/football/travellers-site-north-ferriby-ground-1483382 Come on Wael, you know it makes sense. £125k a year buys a lot of plastic chairs.

A clown falling down is funny; but in order to make you laugh by falling down again they first have to get up and start walking properly for a bit. It will be many years before they can repeat the hilarity of a last day exit from the league, made all the sweeter by their OH YESSSS thread about our potentially getting relegated and the "Barcelona of the fourth division" boasts, so regard this as the clown walking normally for a while before their next tumble.

Ah, you're outside my experience there as I've only had a small vote. Well they're certainly very likely to have >75%.

Yes you'd get more of a vote when it comes to a voting on a creditors' arrangement but by that point you'd be another £5m down so that would be an unusual way to look at it. All that I can think is that they have a plan to get a new ground or substantially improve the current one and they think that this will then substantially improve the selling price of the club so they will get their money back with profit that way. I suppose it's possible - spend a few quid get a shiny new stadium and promotion to the championship and then try to sell for £20m - £30m and recoup their debt with a small profit. At £2m annual operating loss before spending anything on the new or renovated ground it all seems wildly optimistic to me. Still, the can has been kicked down the road for two years so the excitement's over. For now.

Okay, finally gone through the accounts. Apologies if repeating previous posts. Loss for year: £3m less £0.9m write off of all the UWE stuff = £2.1m of which £0.3m interest. Closing debt (note 23) £8.6m up from £7.2m. Lots of other creditors up which will unwind into the debt when paid off. The facility Dwane Sports has provided was £10m, secured against the ground, but this is now raised to £15m. This is all at 30 June 2017. So roll it forward to the edn of this season; another loss of £2.1m so debt at 30 June 2018 is £10.7m of which only £10m is secured (tallies with the out of secured money by March which we thought). The raising of the RCF to £15m suggests the owners will now fund, at risk as there's no further security, two more seasons taking the debt to £15m of which they are £5m at risk. The pre-emption rights waiver suggests that there will also be capital injections which is effectvely money written off. So it looks like they are risking another £5m to fund the next two seasons. I struggle to see the point of that if they intend to sell (far better just to sell now) so it's watch this space. I can understand why Sir Steve funds City because he has a vision for the club and Bristol sport in general. Why they wish to set fire to £5m does escape me.

Well possibly Bert! Usually it is used, as it has been by Steve Lansdown at City, to "disapply pre-emption rights". The standard procedure for a new share issue is to offer it to existing shareholders in proportion to their existing shareholding. What this does is allow a block of shares to be issued to an existing shareholder (or possibly new, not sure) without offering any to the rest. Steve uses it as a convenient way of putting new money into the club to pay off debts (due to himself!). It is possible that this is also what the Al-Qs intend, if so that is good news for Rovers as that is money in that isn't debt so doesn't need to be paid back. Or it could be for an issue to a new investor. Or it could be what Bert said. Good news rather than bad for Rovers IMHO.

Absolutely brilliant! Well done @cheeseleysmate.

Work calls so I can't look at them now but to flag that their June 2017 accounts are now available for (free) download at Companies' House. Ladies and Gentlemen: sharpen your pencils! https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/04501223/filing-history

It does happen here, I remember it happening for Lloyd's syndicates about 2005. You can only however use these losses to offset profits in a similar business; so Steve Lansdown couldn't use Bristol Sport losses to offset Hargreaves Lansdown profits. So that then restricts the buyer to being a profitable football club or maybe a profitable other sports club. I can't really see that working so the accumulated losses have little value.

Thanks, I had missed that.

Brian Seymour Smith has ceased to be a director of the gas; is that news or already well known?

Just working some numbers: £30m in a 20 year secured bond is going to earn about 3.5% so £1.05m per year. Unless the Al Qadis are going to release their security on the Memorial Ground then this would be unsecured and so would need to pay higher than this, without some kind of guarantee the interest would be up to 7% plus but offer some security (other family assets?) and maybe 4.5% would attract an investor so £1.35m a year so the new ground facilities will need to generate an additional £26k per week plus the £30m would require repayment at the end. Maybe £10m is more realistic and would allow events to be held so requiring £9k a week additional income to pay the interest and then more than that again to cover existing losses and build up enough reserves to repay at the end. It still at root doesn't work for me. That refurbishment in isolation may stand up but the ongoing losses of £2m, I know there are write-offs there so say £1m at least, means that there is no prospect of the club doing anything other than swallowing money on that scale for many years to come. This has the whiff of shit or bust about it and maybe the true purpose of that London office is finding a greater fool new owner.

I agree with your summary of the position Mr Junkie. It's not been explicitly stated but as I read it from what happened with the UWE deal the family, not having the enormously deep pockets of our own Lansdown family, are trying to set up a side deal for a stadium which will attract external funding. So someone without a Rovers or family connection would provide the money for the rebuild and upgrade of facilities so that it would provide a regular income rather than just gate money (conferences at sports grounds are good, there are a decent number of these and events held at Ashton Gate) and in return they would get the profit from these events for ?20, 30 years or an agreed inflating rental stream. That IMO is the reason for the repeated "these things take time" messages, they are trying to come up with a redesign and funding package that will attract an investor and then have to find the investor. They do not intend just rebuilding a few stands because they would have to fund that themselves and there would be minimal return on that funding. Ordinary debt funding packages are out because the security on the Memorial Ground has already been taken by the Al Qadis to secure their money so there is no physical security available meaning that they have to find someone prepared to lend money based upon the future additional income stream of the redeveloped ground. That is a fairly hard sell but there may be someone interested if they can package it well and seek them out. The idea of a search for an outside investor is also the only way that I can make sense of that otherwise baffling £250k a year London office for which Rovers shelling out. If the two staff are debt market specialists then that will be its purpose and they don't come cheap.

Family Club

What an amusing thread!

Rivers should win this one, Plymouth has an injury crisis with nine first teamers out. It would be great to see Zak notch another goal though.

As Elton John has ceased touring that there Bernie Taupin may be free and could be persuaded to help him with his lyrics; because I don't think the massed ranks of hundreds of thousands of gasheads will be able to get that "unfortunately" right.

Thanks, although for a company owned by investment bankers who have a reputation to protect I think it does matter. Fred Smith scaffolder down the road much less so.