22A Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Not City, but football related. On a speedway forum I read; "I've been reading the Swindon Speedway Stadium thread. I've not been able to check the entire forum but is it known that Gaming International (stadium operators at Poole and Swindon) has an offer on the table for Torquay United FC? In March 2016 Gaming International signed a memorandum of understanding with Torquay United's present owners for the purchase of the club. It's now July and neither party appears to be keen on discussing the progress of the deal. The speculation is that Gaming International has little interest in the affairs of the football club but plenty of enthusiasm for the construction of a new stadium. To this effect Clarke Osborne, chair of Gaming International, has incorporated a company called Riviera Stadium Limited. Any deal would be subject to the approval of Torbay Council, owners of the Plainmoor football ground as well as the most likely site for a new stadium. Without this permission it is suspected Gaming International would have no interest in the football club alone. Then on a Torquay United forum; The man behind this company Clarke Osborne has now set up a new company "Riviera Stadium Limited". Gaming International Limited was once known as Bristol Stadium PLC. Clarke Osborne was a director of Bristol Stadium PLC when Bristol Rovers could no longer afford to pay them the rent in 1986. Rovers were forced to play in exile in Bath for ten years. Osborne was Chief Executive of Bristol Stadium PLC when Eastville was sold to Ikea for £19m. There were promises that a new greyhound site would be found in Bristol - but it did not happen. I think Reading has suffered a similar fate. I am sure that the new owners will lend the football club enough money to keep those fans who don't look beyond the end of their nose happy for a couple of years. My fear is that the day will come when they will want everything they lend back plus a return on investment. They are not fans and they are not a charity. The parallels with Reading and what could happen to us are stark. Basically, they wanted to move the Greyhound/Speedway to another site (right next door). It seems Gaming International negotiated a reduced-term lease on the stadium so they could pay yearly... then they shut the club down. The thing the company was interested in was developing a super casino as part of the stadium but, once that was turned down, they just feigned interest for several years and, to this day, the sports have been in exile from Reading. Land adjoining the Eastville Stadium was sold to Tesco in 1985; the rest of the site to IKEA in 1997. With the closure of Eastville the stadium’s greyhound licence switched to the newly-acquired Swindon site. This soon became the company’s operating base. Between 1995 and 1997 the company started to run the greyhound and speedway stadium at Poole and the dog track at Milton Keynes. It also became involved in the Milton Keynes Bowl at this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roylegalatyeo Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Clarke Osborne was also responsible for Hereford going bankrupt through Bristol stadium Ltd.The man was no good for gas 35.years ago ,as much as I hate the gas .The man is a parasite where football clubs are concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 2 minutes ago, roylegalatyeo said: Clarke Osborne was also responsible for Hereford going bankrupt through Bristol stadium Ltd.The man was no good for gas 35.years ago ,as much as I hate the gas .The man is a parasite where football clubs are concerned. Fit and proper person? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slartibartfast Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Clarke Osborne is a lying**** (from one who knows) ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BS15_RED Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Didn't this guy try and buy City back in around 1996? The time when Scott Davidson took over as chairman? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted July 8, 2016 Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 17 hours ago, BS15_RED said: Didn't this guy try and buy City back in around 1996? The time when Scott Davidson took over as chairman? If he did it sounds liked we dodged a bullet there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawlishWarren Posted July 11, 2016 Report Share Posted July 11, 2016 Ha! It's easy to get confused between Osborne Clarke - flash legal building on Temple Way - and Clarke Osborne, Bristol's Mr Greyhound. Since the demise of Eastville the old stadium company has had a busy time. It briefly got into Japanese electronic gaming fifteen years ago and became Gaming International in the process. It still runs the speedway and dog tracks in Poole and Swindon but has been in and out of similar venues in Milton Keynes and Reading. Clarke Osborne was also involved with South Gloucestershire Arenas' bid to build the Severnside Stadium in 2003. Whether it's still a player for Torquay United remains to be seen. Nothing much doing at today's AGM at Plainmoor: http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co.uk/torquay-united-david-phillips-frustrated-by-lack-of-progress-on-gaming-international-takeover/story-29498775-detail/story.html Read this and you'll see it's being denied that Peter Masters, chair and joint-owner of Truro City, is Plan B. A man originally from the Wells area I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted July 20, 2016 Report Share Posted July 20, 2016 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36836784 Reading between the lines, the club are trying to get out of the `deal`. They may have concerns about their long term future perhaps? It reminds me a bit of our friends in the north v Sainsburys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vespa Red Posted July 20, 2016 Report Share Posted July 20, 2016 Ah, Plainmoor... I was substitute there 2 years on the trot, 1978 and 1979 for the Beulieu Cup Final. Didn't get on the pitch for either game. Lost em both. Wonder why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickle Rick Posted July 20, 2016 Report Share Posted July 20, 2016 On 7 July 2016 at 20:21, roylegalatyeo said: Clarke Osborne was also responsible for Hereford going bankrupt through Bristol stadium Ltd.The man was no good for gas 35.years ago ,as much as I hate the gas .The man is a parasite where football clubs are concerned. You'll probably find he's associated with Tommy Agombar (former Hereford owner) and Lee Power (Swindon owner). Both are utter crooks and close pals. Illegitimate frauds ensembled amongst convicts and 'dodgy money'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephenkibby. Posted July 20, 2016 Report Share Posted July 20, 2016 4 hours ago, Vespa Red said: Ah, Plainmoor... I was substitute there 2 years on the trot, 1978 and 1979 for the Beulieu Cup Final. Didn't get on the pitch for either game. Lost em both. Wonder why? Don't remember that one Vespa only the Beli cup south devon premier league? Who were you playing for Hele Rovers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vespa Red Posted July 21, 2016 Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 15 hours ago, stephenkibby. said: Don't remember that one Vespa only the Beli cup south devon premier league? Who were you playing for Hele Rovers? It was the under 11s Cup Final that always got played at Plainmoor at the end of the season. I went to Oldway Primary (Paignton) who didn't win it until 1980 after I left Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawlishWarren Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 We're still in a state of flux regarding Clarke Osborne and the former Eastville greyhound company's bid to buy Torquay United. The memorandum of understanding, technically made with a recently-incorporated company called Riviera Stadium Ltd (registered address in Beaconsfield Road, Clifton) runs out on Sunday. The assumption is that "it's off". Getting hold of the freehold of Plainmoor (in the hands of the council since 1910) might not have been as straightforward as Clarke Osborne anticipated. The local paper reports the club's owners are working on a "Plan B". The supporters trust is making noises about community ownership. Supporters have been writing to Torbay's elected mayor. Today, in response to the "numerous emails" received by the mayor, Torbay Council has made this statement: “We can confirm we have met with members of the Torquay United board, at their request. The board is currently having discussions with potential investors to develop proposals. Only once the Club have decided how they wish to progress matters, will the Council be able to consider the same and ultimately make any decision." That appears to rule out an agreement by Sunday. The memorandum could yet, of course, be extended again. For the moment the hare is still just about running. With luck it may soon come off the rails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorquayRobin Posted July 31, 2016 Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 Confirmed today from the Tufc chairman that this deal has fallen through thankfully, much to the relief of a majority of people down here. Gaming International clearly had no interest in the club or football and we're just using it as an opportunity to obtain land in the town for their own benefit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawlishWarren Posted July 31, 2016 Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 TorquayRobin beat me to it. Good man. Announcement from Torquay United today:http://www.torquayunited.com/news/article/2016-17/statement-from-the-chairman-3217186.aspx A major stumbling block whereby Gaming International went outside of the Memorandum to explore purchase of the freehold of Plainmoor? Hmm. Who knows? Attention now on the bloke who owns Truro City and, possibly, the supporters trust. Thank you all for your interest. As for Vespa Red, I'd rather like to think Oldway lost to Barton in those Bewley Cup finals. Can't have Paignton teams winning it, can we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vespa Red Posted July 31, 2016 Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 46 minutes ago, DawlishWarren said: Thank you all for your interest. As for Vespa Red, I'd rather like to think Oldway lost to Barton in those Bewley Cup finals. Can't have Paignton teams winning it, can we? I think Oldway lost to Barton in 78. Damn Torquay and their 1970s dominance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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