Eddie Hitler

Think what a state they'd be in if they weren't owned by one of the world's richest families

Um, yes. (feels not entirely innocent in this case)

Everything's up for sale including the white plastic chairs as that's the only way they can finish the season without Dwane Sports actually putting some cash in unsecured. They are being taken to the cleaners and applauding the people doing it; I did actually read one lone voice calling for a pitch invasion and protest today. There's one fan who can see the truth. It's tipping from funny into tragic. I speak as one who wants Bristol to have two professional football clubs.

Yes. That was hard to watch; he looks a broken man. I was going to post some witty quip but it doesn't seem appropriate. I actually feel sorry for him. Crikey

Very good!

Ditto. I am sure Bob is entirely correct as he's a longstanding respected poster but as I don't recall it then I think it highly likely that people, including myself, didn't realise it at the time.

That looks to be about the size of it. They just need to somehow prevent any potential investors who, on the strength of that article, think that they are buying the next Man City from ever visiting the ground.

I was having a quick browse of gaschat, or "slumming it" as I believe it to be known, and the mood has very much changed. It seems to be yesterday's DC interview that has passed around the collective coffee which most of them have now smelt and woken up. Little steps I know but you need that realisation phase as a first foot on the road to becoming a normal fan base that holds "Sack the Board" demos when they're being taken for a ride. Has their fan base genuinely woken up though; or will a couple of decent wins see them drifting off again?

Worry ye not gasheads because I have checked and, since leaving Chesterfield in glory in 2015, one of the best managers in the country, Dean Saunders, remains available. Actually I suggest you sack Daryl now and get Deano appointed before Arsenal comes in for him.

I had assumed that the Fred West one was a photoshop to make the gas look bad. I am astounded that one of their fans genuinely did that.

Their companies' house site will be worth a regular visit for filings, SJ. https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/04501223/filing-history Accounts (to June 2017) are due end of March but there could be other charges as they scout around to secure any more money they may have to put in to complete the season. Maybe a further £1.1m charge on the ground as it's valued in the accounts at £11.1m.

Yes they could just pull the plug though it is a faff that they would presumably rather avoid; though the £10m includes the interest. So they would would be getting their money back plus interest rather than £10m plus interest. If you see what I mean!

If I was the AQs I'd put in sufficient extra funds to take them to the end of the season ?£300k - £500k and then aim for a sale as a going concern with a Div 3 place. They'll get far more for that than for a Div 4 club in administration. This strategy does require a buyer coming in in the summer.

I think this is indeed what the future holds for them; I await the comedy hour when Geoff interviews the new Chairman on "Having a Gas". "Well Mr Henbury; I understand that the ground has been sold so the council can build an incinerator, Stu Sinclair is back to begging in the precinct again, you're renting at Twerton again, the club never owned the training ground in the first place because it was bought directly by Dwane Sports, and you're bottom of the fourth division. It's not looking good is it?" "You been listening to them gurt Teds, Geoff; it's all going really well. I have total faith in myself as owner and anybody who doesn't isn't a proper gashead. We have lots of assets but they just don't show up in the accounts and our league position is in no way reflective of the way that we have played in those games, all the referees are secret Teds who just want us to lose."

Methinks that's a red having fun.

Gateshead has a cracking ground and they're level six or seven so somewhere below that. Cherry Red Records Hellenic League would be my guess.

I would guess for residential development it would be £30k a plot so if you're correct with the sizing then 2 x 15 x £30k = £9m if selling to a developer so the £10m is about right IMO with another £1m for the white plastic chair mountain.

I know a fan who told me that their combined distance of all away games (and he goes to pretty much all of them) would actually be lower in Conference North than their current in Conference South; with all those trips to Kent, London and East Anglia.

The thing is nobody ever goes under as in disappeared and gone. Accrington Stanley, Bradford Park Avenue, Aldershot all still going. So even if they imploded financially with a massive "whump": ground seized, players released from contracts, Santa's Grotto auctioned off to the highest bidder, Sinclair reclaiming his begging patch etc. then with their crowds they would get a berth in something like the Southern League Premier Division or only two leagues below where they were a couple of years' ago. All they need to do is rally behind a reformed club founded by the Supporters Club; put some financial guarnatees in place, recruit some semi-pro players and they're off again. There is no "end" for clubs as long as they have supporters.

I can practically hear Hamer's answer now: a twenty minute ramble bringing in some dated cultural references talking about football finance in general terms, parachute payments, how small clubs can't compete, problems at other clubs, how he found his lost sock under the bed that morning. Everything but answer the question. And to give him his credit he is a decent and avuncular speaker who has over many years mastered the art of saying nothing at great length but in an entertaining way.

Or I suppose they could take the ground for the debt and then sell the club without either it or the debt; and then rent the ground to the club until they want to sell it to developers. I would guess they'd want something like £600k a year rent to match the interest lost; and we can dust off the "rent boys" monciker for them again. You couldn't see an outside investor wanting to buy the club on these terms so it would probably be a fans' consortium. The one at Exeter has run that club decently but they have the huge advantage of owning their own ground and have recently pulled down a stand to redevelop it. There probably are enough wealthy Rovers' fans to pull this off short term but they would need to build a new ground or arrnage a groundshare pretty soon as £1.2m of losses plus £0.6m of rent will empty a lot of pockets in short order.

If you have legitimate and perfectly legal ways to avoid paying tax why wouldn't you use them? Though those IoM aircraft VAT deals do not look legal, but I digress. I don't actually think that there's anything dodgy or shady about the dealings and ownership of the club. That £10m facility, secured by a charge on the ground, is close (by my calculations) to being fully used with the drawings from it being used to fund clearing the past debts, the failed stadium costs, the annual operating losses of ?£1.2m and the interest of c. £0.6m payable on the loan. I don't think there's anything particularly to see here other than the obvious: loss-making club exhausts its line of secured credit sometime this season ? March. At that point either there is an immediate sale of a loss-making club with no net assets, or Dwane Sports puts more money in to either continue funding the losses or tide it over until sale, or DS can just call in the security on the ground and sell it, then wind up the club (to avoid being prosecuted for trading when insolvent) and walk away only having lost their initial purchase cost. With the obvious exception of that arch-belter Henbury there is a widespread realisation amongst Rovers' fans that they are very much drinking in the last chance saloon. I am very surprised that the BEP has not done a financial analysis of their position and started asking some questions. A good journalist should be spotting a crisis before it happens not waiting until it happens and claiming "Nobody saw this coming". Here's a simple question for them to put to the Rovers' Chairman: "When do you expect the £10m secured loan facility upon the Memorial Ground to be fully drawn and how will you fund the club's operating loss and the payment of interest upon that drawn loan thereafter?". It's a simple question.

It's been merged with a similar one into this one: http://gaschat.co.uk/thread/10985/mem-bod-etc-merged

I got that; I was reacting to the outrageous lie by Wael.