| Archive for everythingleeds.myfastforum.org |
| raveydavey |
Leeds want city council to help buy back Thorp Archhttp://www.yorkshireeveningpost.c...ited-want-city-council.5564718.jpLeeds United have asked for cash from the city council to help buy back the club's training ground for £5m. United sold the Thorp Arch training facility in 2004 and an option to repurchase it expires on October 10. The club has rented its training ground since the sale to Scumchester property developer Jacob Adler by the Leeds board fronted by former chairman Gerald Krasner. While the club is keen to buy Thorp Arch, it has – according to a Leeds City Council report – been unable to borrow enough money because of the recession and its poor credit rating after administration in 2007. United bosses have asked the council for help and senior councillors will next week consider two options: l Give the club a loan with the council taking a charge over Thorp Arch to insure itself against the risk of the club defaulting on payments; l Buy Thorp Arch and lease it back to the club. United would buy the training ground from the council once it had enough money. The report to be considered by the council's executive board next Wednesday says the cost of buying the land and building a similar training facility has been estimated at more £15m – thre times the option buyback cost. It adds: "While this would not, in itself, protect the council's financial position, it is important in reassuring members about the scale and quality of the facilities under discussion." The report, which recommends the council start discussions with the club, says there is much due diligence to be done before an agreement could be struck. The council would have to satisfy itself that the club had no other means of funding the option to buy and had the means to pay the annual rent. Councillors could choose to do nothing in which case, says the report, Leeds United could continue to occupy Thorp Arch until 2029 "at an increasingly penalistic rent" which could slow the club's recovery. The report suggests there are a number of good reasons for supporting the club including its value to Leeds in its quest to be viewed as a major European city, a successful Leeds United means more television exposure for the city and the risk that, without council help, Thorp Arch could be lost to the city. Thorp Arch has eight full-size grass pitches, two all-weather pitches, reception, cafe, changing rooms, indoor swimming pool, hydrotherapy and physiotherapy facilities and gym. In February 2007, a few months before the club went into administration, it was revealed the council had granted United "hardship relief" against its business rates – saving the club £134,000 during the financial year. Three-quarters of the sum was reimbursed to the council by the Government and council taxpayers met the rest. The council has already provided cash help to Yorkshire County Cricket Club. It used its prudential borrowing powers to lend it money to buy its Headingley ground. Hmmmm....where has the Delph money gone then??? |
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| Tanhilltimmy |
hmmm wonder where they got that 
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| HarryofOz |
Surprise surprise, Bates asking someone else to pay for real estate he will benefit from.
As RD has said - where is the Delph money? I suppose if the council don't kowtow to Bates he will as usual use the program notes and Radio Bates to spread the propaganda portraying himself as hard done by and the council members as the devil incarnate and will get the usual support. |
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| cardboardbox?Youwerelucky |
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| raveydavey |
Bit in tonights YEP where Shaun Harvey is interviewed and won't say where the £4.5 million profit declared for last year, or the Delph money have gone.
http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.c...nited-Why-Leeds-United.5571655.jp Leeds United chief executive Shaun Harvey said today the club's appeal to Leeds City Council for the money to buy Thorp Arch had been made in response to a rapidly approaching deadline and to allow "progress on other fronts". Harvey insisted the use of public funds to repurchase United's training ground was one of the few remaining avenues open to Leeds with the deadline for activating the buy-back clause due to pass in seven weeks' time. The club have applied to the council for assistance in regaining ownership of Thorp Arch, which was sold to private property developers in 2004 at a time when United were deeply in debt, and the council will decide next week whether to provide up to £6m to prevent the buy-back option from elapsing. The clause expires on October 10, 2009, after which point the club would have no right to purchase the property near Wetherby. It was widely anticipated the recent sale of young midfielder Fabian Delph to Aston Villa, allied with the £4.5m profit posted by Leeds in the last financial year, would provide sufficient income to acquire Thorp Arch, but the plea to the council indicates the club do not expect to be able to raise the necessary amount before October 10. Asked why, on the back of Delph's sale, Leeds were unable to finance the deal, Harvey told the YEP: "The club made the approach to the council having taken into consideration all the options and felt that, if this option (council funding) would be allowed, it would assist us whilst allowing the club to progress on other fronts." Hmmmmm..? 
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| BillH |
Translation: the money's been absorbed elsewhere - presumably in off-shore investments as impossible to track as the financial arrangements in the months before administration turned out to be.
It sounds to me like Bates is just playing Russian Roulette with the club's long term future. Again. |
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| 30 Mill |
Lets ignore the fact the club turned a profit last season shall we? | ||||||||||||||||
| raveydavey |
Turning a profit is clearly a good thing. But going cap in hand to the council claiming there is no money in the pot, when there should be at least £10.5 million (£4.5m profit plus £6m for Delph, or thereabouts) is mystifying at best. Where has that money gone? We've spent nowt on players over the summer have we? |
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| wewantourdarbyback |
Yes the club turned a profit.... but we're still asking the council for money? |
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| Tanhilltimmy |
http://clarkeonenil.co.uk/footbal...re/thorp-arch-a-little-more-light | ||||||||||||||||
| BillH |
...and what happened to that profit? It's not been re-invested in the team, and it is apparently not making much difference in buying back the training complex, so where is it? Seriously, how could we not show a profit on the books? Administration wiped out the debts, the crowds kept turning up, and no one could credibly claim huge amounts of money would be going into salaries or transfer fees. What happened to all those millions we supposedly borrowed from Astor which gave them the veto in the administration process? What happened to the money we supposedly got for Woods, Taiwo and Rose? Does anyone honestly think we'll see any of the money from Delph's sale being invested in the club? Just look at Bates' record - always scams wherever possible, and always speculation with other people's money. If Bates manages to scrounge the money from the taxpayer he'll use it to raise the value of the club for when he eventually sells it, if not he'll blame the council for the failure to secure the property. This is and has always been Bates' MO. Anyway, this is an old story and not likely to ever change. Nor will the difference of opinion between those who support Bates because he is in charge of the club and those who are thoroughly ashamed of the club's very association with one of his ilk. |
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| weasel |
The footballing debts didn't go away in the admin so I am guessing we are still paying some of those of still (or paying the amount back to whoever financed Bates's bid). | ||||||||||||||||
| 30 Mill |
Two things
1. I want to know where the profit on the cup of Bovril I bought went to!! I demand answers 2. Funny how when we are going well winning games its all down to Larry and the players - whenever we lose a game its Bates' fault And to those that slag off the transparency (or lack thereof..) of the clubs financials, please outline for us your P+L sheet for the last month |
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| 30 Mill |
The more I read this, the more it pisses me off - nearl;y everything you've said is either speculation or a point that can NOT be backed up by any facts whatsoever Heres the breakdown
Were you asleep in the Ridsdale O'leary era? Quite easily for clubs with huge fan bases to lose money - NUFC, Soton, Celtic any Spanish team. 1/2 the Serie A
Supposedly??? Again, do you know the finances of LUFC? No you dont - dont speculating as if what you say is fact - it isnt. And the money from the trio of prepubescent adolescents?? if it were performance or appearance based we'd have earned a fiver about now
Yes - categorically YES - Will it be a direct 1:1 return. No chance, but then again we aint buying potential PL players are we
Thats how investments are done for gods sake - unless your Abramavich or the sultan of Brunei, everybody borrows of investors. Dont actually see the Sheik bobbing up do you?
Well if its such an old story, stop repeating it - We know you dont like Bates - fine - just stop cramming it down our throats every second post (And btw - Im neither a Bates fan nor Bates-hater ... but he is our chairman, we are winning games and turning a profit... 90% of all Leagues clubs would die to be in that position!!) |
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| wewantourdarbyback |
Funding making more Bovril, improving the process of manufacturing Bovril and paying the wages of the staff and shareholders. |
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| BillH |
There's a difference: I don't want your money or your support. My success or failure doesn't depend on you in any way. Bates wants our support and our money. Without it he'd have nothing - so it's hardly unreasonable that we demand he earn our trust rather than just expect it because of his position. |
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| BillH |
You are a fan and supporter of whoever is in charge of the club - unconditionally and without question. At this time this makes you a Bates fan despite your protestations. I may not be entirely objective in my view of Bates, but you're no more objective either so hardly in a position to preach. If you don't like my views then don't read them. People who disagree with me I'm happy to debate with, but personal attacks from the holier-than-thou types I really don't have time for. |
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| 30 Mill |
Bill - If you thought that was personal ?????? wtf
Just argue the points. And as i said Im neither a Bates hater nor a Bates lovers - I dont know enough to be either. What do you KNOW ??!! |
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| raveydavey |
I doubt the council will have enough money to spend on TA now - they've blown it all on some gates...
http://www.secretleeds.co.uk/forum/Messages.aspx?ThreadID=1916 
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| weasel |
Bates is what Bates is. He is a businessman looking to make money. He no doubt earns a lot of money as chairman of Leeds and stands to earn more if he does his job well (i.e. getting us promoted to the Premier League or simply making the club an atrractive proposition for a takeover).
He is never going to be the most popular chairman due to his bluntness, ego, hiding of info etc etc but at the end of the day he is going to fight tooth and nail for every penny of Leeds/his money. He isn't flash and a media friendly chairman and does seem to want to rub everyone the wrong way but like 30M mentions the club is one of few making a profit (and yes out of those profits a lot will go to the investors etc rather than simply re-invested into buying players) and the club is hopefully heading in the right direction albeit after suffering a relegation during Bates's tenure (although don't forget that with luck in either play-offs we could be a prem or championship side). The decision to ask the council shows that Bates has his finger on the pulse and is always looking for a good deal. People can argue the rights and wrongs about the council spending money this way but that really is irrelevant as the important issue is the well being of the club. If we don't have to spend £6m on TA now then it will mean having more to spend elsewhere and hopefully in a few years we can buy back TA fully as a prem club (when £6m will be less of a dent in a season's expenses than it is to us a Div1 club). If saving money on TA now means we can turn down vulture bids for our players then it is definitely a good thing. |
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