Alleged takeover chat

[Bazooka Joe]

On 12/01/2023 at 16:22, Clutton Caveman said:

I know that I am in a tiny minority but I wish that somebody would buy both Bristol clubs and put them together.

Only then would we really have the fan base to make it to the prem. Helmuts on...........

You've totally lost me.

Bristol City FC is the only club in Bristol.

Am I missing something?

Please explain.

[richwwtk]

1 hour ago, REDOXO said:

I would be in favor of this provided the new club were 

1 named Bristol City

2Played at Ashton Gate

3 played in Red and White

4 Had Nigel Pearson as manager 

5 Had the rights to build a sainsbury at The memorial gates stadium and expunge any thing associated with Bristol Rovers. 
 

Then I could be persuaded!

If there were to be a merger, then the only fair way to decide such things would be via a democratic vote. To ensure its not open to chicanery I would suggest that the only people allowed to vote should be the Season Ticket holders of each club, that way nobody would have anything to complain about.

[BCFC Rich]

I think there is a rule about this and you have to take the position of the lowest placed side. So even if we merged and followed @REDOXO's sensible and agreeable 5 point plan we'd be automatically relegated to League 1. 

[Bristol Oil Services]

If we merged with them, we gain one of the biggest most massive away supports in the country, overnight. Then none of us would have to bother with all the effort and inconvenience of going to bleedin away games. 

[archie andrews]

3 minutes ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

If we merged with them, we gain one of the biggest most massive away supports in the country, overnight. Then none of us would have to bother with all the effort and inconvenience of going to bleedin away games. 

if we ever merged with those belters thats me done.....

[sglosbcfc]

We'd never get a ticket for any Wembley finals, Rovers take 50,000 every time they go, don't you know!

[Sir Geoff]

5 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Okay this could be kind of relevant.

Sheffield United subject to approval and ratification, takeover sale price a reported £90m.

A) What would be part of the package here and B) What would SL be looking for?

Sheffield United like us own their ground, unsure what their training set-up is like but both will now be part of club ownership.

Otoh our ground is more recently redeveloped, has more off field revenue and the HPC is very new.

Like us, they have a Category 2 academy.

Plus PL x 2 and again in 2006-07, looking a decent bet to return this season- what would we go for once our books cleared somewhat ie what would SL be looking for?

That sounds like too much of a bargain to be true, especially as they just turned down £25 million for Ndiaye. The whole club, ground and playing staff, plus guaranteed Premier League money next year for £90 million, no way. Bournemouth cost over £100 million.

As a stand alone, as a Championship club  we would cost low £20 millions. With the stadium and HPC probably £60 million at a guess.

[Ska Junkie]

12 minutes ago, sglosbcfc said:

We'd never get a ticket for any Wembley finals, Rovers take 50,000 every time they go, don't you know!

We'd be okay, they clearly share seats so 50000 only use 25000 seats.

[exAtyeoMax]

24 minutes ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

If we merged with them, we gain one of the biggest most massive away supports in the country, overnight. Then none of us would have to bother with all the effort and inconvenience of going to bleedin away games. 

they'd be locked out though…

[Bristol Oil Services]

44 minutes ago, archie andrews said:

if we ever merged with those belters thats me done.....

It's ok mate, go to bed. It's not going to happen.

[archie andrews]

9 hours ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

It's ok mate, go to bed. It's not going to happen.

I repeat.... If we ever merged with those belters thats me done and ive been to bed..... 

[Mike Hunt-Hertz]

On 12/01/2023 at 16:22, Clutton Caveman said:

I know that I am in a tiny minority but I wish that somebody would buy both Bristol clubs and put them together.

Only then would we really have the fan base to make it to the prem. Helmuts on...........

Nein! Nein! Nein!

[Port Said Red]

12 hours ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

If we merged with them, we gain one of the biggest most massive away supports in the country, overnight. Then none of us would have to bother with all the effort and inconvenience of going to bleedin away games. 

But they would hate it because they calculate their away support as percentage of their home support, and that would plummet rapidly.

[BetterRedthanBlue]

17 hours ago, Bazooka Joe said:

You've totally lost me.

Bristol City FC is the only club in Bristol.

Am I missing something?

Please explain.

Only professional club. You're forgetting about Bristol Manor Farm

[Phileas Fogg]

On 12/01/2023 at 16:22, Clutton Caveman said:

I know that I am in a tiny minority but I wish that somebody would buy both Bristol clubs and put them together.

Only then would we really have the fan base to make it to the prem. Helmuts on...........

Don't think this is true. A good barometer for latent support is Wembley attendance. 

We'd sell out a Wembley allocation and so would Rovers now they're back in L1. 

Both clubs have an enormous catchment area, inclusive of Bristol, South Glos, Somerset, Wiltshire, North Dorset and London (given the amount of people that have moved there). I know so many people that support one of the Bristol clubs as a second team for example. 

The flip side to this is our support is mainly present only within this catchment area. Clubs who have been historically successful but not always in the Prem (ie Leeds, Forest, Derby, Sheffield Wednesday) have wider spread of support around the country in addition to just their catchment area. This is shown in our away attendance, we travel really well to games as far north as Birmingham and as far east as London, but pretty badly north/further east of that. The clubs I've mentioned will tend to travel well everywhere, and that's helped by wider national spread of support.

I digress a bit, but I think we absolutely have the fan base to sustain the Prem. Until we get there though, lots of them will support without actually attending or see us as a second side.

I actually like this situation. I look at Brentford; regardless what they do - they will have a ceiling in terms of club size and support simply down to the sheer quantity of well supported London clubs. We're in a fairly unique situation in that our catchment area is massive without having experienced sustained Premier League football.

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by Phileas Fogg

[Barrs Court Red]

I’ve always thought that the chances of a merger were remote, bordering on realms of fantasy stuff.  And guess what, it still is. There is no plausible scenario where it would make sense.

[Galley is our king]

2 minutes ago, Barrs Court Red said:

I’ve always thought that the chances of a merger were remote, bordering on realms of fantasy stuff.  And guess what, it still is. There is no plausible scenario where it would make sense.

And neither set of supporters would welcome it.

Would take many generations to recover, if ever.

[Major Isewater]

1 hour ago, Barrs Court Red said:

I’ve always thought that the chances of a merger were remote, bordering on realms of fantasy stuff.  And guess what, it still is. There is no plausible scenario where it would make sense.

I’ve done this before and it’s not original but…

If we were to merge the Gas can keep the ‘ Bristol ‘ part of their name and we keep ‘ City ‘, the new club would be known as ‘ Bristol City ‘ .

[handsofclay]

15 hours ago, BCFC Rich said:

I think there is a rule about this and you have to take the position of the lowest placed side. So even if we merged and followed @REDOXO's sensible and agreeable 5 point plan we'd be automatically relegated to League 1. 

You are correct about that rule.

[Steve Watts]

On 12/01/2023 at 16:22, Clutton Caveman said:

I know that I am in a tiny minority but I wish that somebody would buy both Bristol clubs and put them together.

Only then would we really have the fan base to make it to the prem. Helmuts on...........

Fans don't win promotion, players and managers do. Even if both sets of supporters accepted it 100% (they won't) we can only add 4k to our average attendance.  That simply wouldn't change a bloody thing!

[Red-Robbo]

Forest, both Sheffield teams, both Liverpool teams prove that you can be a PL club from a two-team mid-size city. 

[BCFCinNW6]

1 hour ago, Red-Robbo said:

Forest, both Sheffield teams, both Liverpool teams prove that you can be a PL club from a two-team mid-size city. 

Yeah but both are football loving cities. Bristol is most definitely not unfortunately.  

[Red-Robbo]

16 minutes ago, BCFCinNW6 said:

Yeah but both are football loving cities. Bristol is most definitely not unfortunately.  

 

I'm not sure you can say that. Bristol, as it's thriving, probably has a higher percentage of incomers from elsewhere in the UK, whereas Liverpool for example is declining. However even non-Bristolians can and have been, attracted to watch our club.

Nottingham is quite similar: same sort of size, big student population. Yet they have one very well attracted club: despite another (older) club in the same city and other league clubs nearby. Why Forest gets better crowds than City is down to historical success, not some unique make up in the Nottingham population. 

[Porto Red]

On 12/01/2023 at 16:58, ExiledAjax said:

You've quoted me so I'll respond.

I'm not entirely against it.

But, it would have to be a complete buyout by us of them. Essentially an eradication of them, and a final full-stop on their history. I'm also not really sure I would be happy at us setting a precedent like that. Football should be an industry where you can't just buy your rivals/competitors. I don't want Sheff Utd to buy Wednesday, I don't want Forest to buy County, I don't want Stoke to buy Port Vale. Note as well that I'm sure FIFA, UEFA, the FA (plus any future regulator) would have something to say about it - you're straying near to multi-club ownership territory.

Even if it could be done it would take a generation or two to get the entirety of Bristol supporting one club. Partly due to past loyalties, and partly due to the time taken to educate the few about maps, roofs, fixed seating, sell by dates, 7-figure transfer fees, and general human etiquette.

Not to mention basic hygiene, and that incest is taboo 

[sh1t_ref_again]

A merger would have to be combining the best bits of each club to make something stronger or better, I cannot think of 1 single thing the gas could offer us as the clubs have moved miles apart over recent years

Players - no

ground - no

owner - no

or perhaps I am missing something that could make it worth our while

 

 

[beaverface]

2 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

I’ve done this before and it’s not original but…

If we were to merge the Gas can keep the ‘ Bristol ‘ part of their name and we keep ‘ City ‘, the new club would be known as ‘ Bristol City ‘ .

Nooooooooooooooooo!!! :laugh:

You just need to state, take the Red from our kit, the White from their kit....and also rename the South Stand after Mickey Bell, and you've got a Full House!

Agggggggghhhhhh

[SDBS36]

7 minutes ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

A merger would have to be combining the best bits of each club to make something stronger or better, I cannot think of 1 single thing the gas could offer us as the clubs have moved miles apart over recent years

Players - no

ground - no

owner - no

or perhaps I am missing something that could make it worth our while

 

 

Manage - no

[GrahamC]

7 minutes ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

A merger would have to be combining the best bits of each club to make something stronger or better, I cannot think of 1 single thing the gas could offer us as the clubs have moved miles apart over recent years

Players - no

ground - no

owner - no

or perhaps I am missing something that could make it worth our while

 

 

Expert legal advice?

High end timepieces?

It will never happen (thank ****) but the only thing we would presumably gain would be uncritical coverage from the local media, (ironically with the sole exception of Geoff Twentyman) because they certainly get that.

[cider hoss rules]

19 minutes ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

A merger would have to be combining the best bits of each club to make something stronger or better, I cannot think of 1 single thing the gas could offer us as the clubs have moved miles apart over recent years

Players - no

ground - no

owner - no

or perhaps I am missing something that could make it worth our while

 

 

don't forget they have a nice watch

[Steve Watts]

50 minutes ago, Porto Red said:

Not to mention basic hygiene, and that incest is taboo 

You raise a good point.  It'd never work....my sister is a munter.