The Board. Really good thread, highly recommended.

Discuss everything TUFC with fans across the globe.
ferrarilover
Legend
Legend
Posts: 7759
Joined: 02 May 2018, 19:20
Favourite player: You'll find out ;-)

The Board. Really good thread, highly recommended.

Post by ferrarilover »

Hi all,

It seems to me that, perhaps, our board are not quite the knights in shining armour they once appeared.

Since taking over, we have, as a body of fans, been hugely supportive of what the board have done for the club, but what exactly is that?
We know that Thea Bristow has a load of cash and that she is willing to continue the excellent work of her late husband Paul in bankrolling the club, but only to the point of financial prudence, we are not the Manchester City of L2.
Our other board members don't really seem to have invested a great deal recently, money wise. Simon Baker is the nicest man I've ever met, but he owns a hardware store with no customers, so he's harldy an ideal investor. The remainder of the board are just normal, middle class professionals, accountants, lawyers etc. How much longer will Thea be willing to prop up the finances of the club all on her own? How much more money will she be willing to give to one notbale former employee who's dealings with the club may not be as done and dusted as we thought ( :rofl: )?

My very real concern for TUFC is that Thea Bristow decides she's had enough or, God forbid, suffers the same fate in the near future as Paul, then what?

Creek, Paddle, Up anyone?

Matt.
J5 said, "ferrarilover is 100% correct"
yellow
Vice Captain
Vice Captain
Posts: 524
Joined: 05 Sep 2010, 08:22
Favourite player: Situation Vacant
Location: Popside Heaven

Post by yellow »

Mmmm

Controversial topic that seems to divide those that believe that after Bateson they were the second coming and those of us that believe that MikeB wasn t all bad.

I for one cannot reconcile the joy of automatic promotion in 2004 with the belief that Mike Bateson was a bad un.

I also believe that the new board did seem to instil a new professionalism into TUFC during our Conference years.

However our return to the promised land of league football seems to have been a mixed bag. That being said when you look at the ex-league teams plying their trade in the Conference we are blinkin lucky to be out of it.

On the whole they seem to be doing OK to me.

As for the thoughts of Thea. Who knows?

It might be shite creek, but I am grateful to be in it....
"A day without football is a day lost" (Ernst Happel)
"Look at the (Plainmoor) stars, Look how they shine for you, And everything you do, Yeah they were all yellow" (C. Martin)
Steve23
Reserve Player
Reserve Player
Posts: 21
Joined: 18 Nov 2010, 18:46

Post by Steve23 »

Seems a little harsh... The saved the club and brought us back to where we wanted to be and if they are just normal middle class people with not much money then i think we should be giving them even more credit for what they are doing. Perhaps you can suggest a suitable replacement?
Stoke_Gull
On the Bench
On the Bench
Posts: 134
Joined: 17 Nov 2010, 18:41
Favourite player: Rodney Jack
Location: The Potteries

Post by Stoke_Gull »

I think what we all want at Torquay is for a Middle Eastern oil sheikh to take over and pump in loads of cash and then leave with the club in huge amounts of debt, might get a new ground though. ;-)
knh316
Reserve Player
Reserve Player
Posts: 29
Joined: 23 Oct 2010, 12:39
Favourite player: dont have one

Post by knh316 »

considering we need to average 2900 fans at home games to break even i guess we must have a money tree to pay our players.if our supporters could bring a mate and get the attendences up,maybe there would be more funds available for pb to improve the team
Dave_Pougher
Plays for Country
Plays for Country
Posts: 2033
Joined: 05 Sep 2010, 14:16
Favourite player: Mansell

Post by Dave_Pougher »

Classic case of not knowing when your well off.

We have no nepotism we have no talk of subjects like "supporters will have to accept a semi-professional set up" we have a board that are local, accontable, always, and more importantly bleed the yellow and blue of Torquay, their words on taking over. We've HAD people removed that were only their to serve their own ends and don't even get me started on the Hancoxes.

We are, slowly, granted, moving towards a new grandstand and I wouldn't be suprised if the ground purchase wasn't too many years away. All of which would bode us well if we were fortunate enough to again be promoted. Contrast that with Bateson, printing in the match day programme a few games after promotion "what is the point of us being in this league" then I am more than happy with our current position.
TUST MEMBER No. 166

JOHNSON HAD A DREAM
TO BUILD FOOTBALL TEAM
HE HAD NO JOB SO HE CAME TO THE GULLS
WITH CAMERON AT THE BACK
AND REIDY IN ATTACK
WE'RE TORQUAY UNITED
WE'RE ON OUR WAY BACK !!
westbaygull
Top Scorer
Top Scorer
Posts: 1510
Joined: 05 Sep 2010, 11:11

Post by westbaygull »

Matt,

Behave yourself. It is vulgar to discuss other people's finances, unless it's the Queen or Bill Gates. People may appear 'middle class' but have a secret stash. It's not for us to query their levels of income (a hardware store? Don't see many of those about now. Have visions of 'fork handles...no, four candles')

I personally think that we, as in the Club, are building slowly on and off the pitch. Heavens knows how long it can be sustained whilst the attendances are so low, but all the signs to me seem good. I am grateful to the Board now, and will always be grateful to them for saving us from the clutches of a bad 'un.

Take a peek at the ongoing saga at Weymouth, poor souls, and think that could be us.
BlueYellow
On the Bench
On the Bench
Posts: 101
Joined: 11 Sep 2010, 17:17
Location: Torquay

Post by BlueYellow »

I know Paul and Thea quite well as I am member of there scout group. Paul would have wanted Thea to carry on whatever happens, they are massive supporters and Thea will carry on with us, not for just the near but the long future as well.
westbaygull
Top Scorer
Top Scorer
Posts: 1510
Joined: 05 Sep 2010, 11:11

Post by westbaygull »

ferrarilover wrote: How much more money will she be willing to give to one notbale former employee who's dealings with the club may not be as done and dusted as we thought ( :rofl: )?

My very real concern for TUFC is that Thea Bristow decides she's had enough
Matt, now my sugar rush has subsided - are you able to expand on this at all? I thought about this while I was doing the ironing and can't decide which of 2 people this could be. It's not vulgar to discuss finances of Liz, Bill or these 2, I've just changed the rules...
User avatar
Southampton Gull
TorquayFans Admin
TorquayFans Admin
Posts: 7675
Joined: 05 Sep 2010, 01:35
Location: Southampton

Post by Southampton Gull »

I've read this thread with a lot of interest and have similar thoughts to Matt. I don't for one moment think he is forgetting what the Board have done for us over the last few seasons.

Nobody expects them to blindly throw money into the Club but in my opinion the current financial constraints imposed on the Manager and his playing budget are a direct result of the majority of the Board sitting with their heads in the sand and failing to deal properly with a previous Executive of the Club.

Nobody can deny or fault the commitment of the Bristow family, without their more than generous input into our finances we would surely be languishing in the Conference Premier at best.

At long last they seem to be trying to address the critical attendance figures but I'm of the belief that it would be best dealt with by aiding the Manager to give them a better more successful product to entice fans to Plainmoor than by cutting his budget to pay a former employee.

There are enough members of the Board to spread the cost of paying off what was their mistake, if it was indeed a mistake to extend the contract of said former employee.

My own belief is that yes we should all be grateful for what they've done so far, could they have done better? Most definitely yes for me. I find it such a shame that when we finally have a squad capable of succeeding in this division, we're not capitalising on that position by stripping the Manager of the ability to add that little bit extra that's needed to really go for it this season. Yes we've turned down some bids for players but were any of those bids worth serious consideration? No, I don't believe so. Would I take it if we were offered a 6 figure amount for Benyon? Yes, most definitely. Would I take the same for Ellis? Yes, again most definitely. We'll lose these players anyway due to our lack of ambition but just how far could these very players take us with just a little bit of quality help brought in?

I might be seen to be greedy, but ultimately a successful side will be easier to use to tempt back those stayaways and improve the strength of the Club than ticket offers that will most likely just result in the same numbers of fans attending, just getting in for less.

So, thanks to the Board for getting us back in the League, but don't rest on your laurels and be blind to the fact that we do have the makings of a team that could get us out of this division. The clubs currently operating in League One would automatically swell the size of the crowd at Plainmoor and more than likely to help build a larger fanbase. Stay where we are for much longer and it will just get harder and harder to remain a League club.
Dave




Friend of TorquayFans.com
ferrarilover
Legend
Legend
Posts: 7759
Joined: 02 May 2018, 19:20
Favourite player: You'll find out ;-)

Post by ferrarilover »

westbaygull wrote: Matt, now my sugar rush has subsided - are you able to expand on this at all? I thought about this while I was doing the ironing and can't decide which of 2 people this could be. It's not vulgar to discuss finances of Liz, Bill or these 2, I've just changed the rules...
The former club executive may, or may not have a name which sounds a bit like Brolin Fee. He (or she) may, or may not be about to cause financial havoc at the club.

The Thea thing is purely my own personal feeling, but I cannot see her being happy at having to pay out a large sum to Brolin Fee as a result of a situation which arose from errors made by the other members of the board.

It's not a house of cards just yet, but I suspect, were Thea to leave, what with attendances getting worse every week, the board would be forced to accept peanuts for Benners/Mark just to pay the wage bill for another month.

Matt.
J5 said, "ferrarilover is 100% correct"
Dave
Legend
Legend
Posts: 7530
Joined: 05 Sep 2010, 07:57
Location: Newton abbot

Post by Dave »

Well i wish we would stop the pussey footing around and name the name,Colin Lee.

my view is mainly from the outside looking in so please forgive me if i get anything wrong,was it not the case that the club had a £400,000 black hole in its accounts,which was made good by non-repayable dircetors loans from the entire new board that took over the club.

Was it not the case that we had no manager,and just five players,and whilst there was plans in the offing for a new youth scheme nothing was acually in place when the new board took over.

Was it not the case that Tufc as a football club had no form of reconiseble infustructure you would expect from a professional football club,when poeple,or groups take over a football club there is normaly many if not all component parts of a proper football club in place,long and the short of it,the club had 3 walls no roof,and was built on quick sand,our current board have had the problems of not just re-buliding our club on the field but also off it at the same time a mamouth task at the best of times.

Compare that to the club we have today,the club carries a bigger playing squad than it has ever,when in the clubs history has it ever had a backroom coaching staff it does today,and a bigger youth scheme than previous,with the link up to paignton college,centre of exellence,and whilst the club does not fund the development squads,we do have devlopments squads covering from cornwall through devon and into somerset.

If this board had not stepped in when it did,we as a club would be struggerling to hold our heads above water in the conference,in fact i am fairly sure we would now be a conference south team,its clear that the entire board did invest money in the club at the first instance,to that we as fans do owe a debt of thanks,and to the bristow family who with out them it is also clear our club would not be back in the football league we as fans owe a massive debt of thanks.

As for Colin Lee i think the board brought him in ,in good faith the board may have felt they needed an experienced football man to help guide them in running a true professional football club ,something they may have lacked.Was this a mistake?,well it has become clear it was.Sadly a mistake that Tufc now have to pay for,the only hope is any finacial damage can be repaired quicly and the club can move on.

In all walks of life mistakes are made,some with greater costs than others,i do not believe than this has put our club at serious risk of going to the wall,it will recover and get back on track,and i do still hold the board in very high regard.
Formerly known as forevertufc
Helen Frisby
Reserve Player
Reserve Player
Posts: 13
Joined: 21 Nov 2010, 22:36
Favourite player: Branston (pickler)

Post by Helen Frisby »

Look where we are now (7th League 2) to when they took over (non-league and in freefall). Say no more.

Onwards & UPwards
ferrarilover
Legend
Legend
Posts: 7759
Joined: 02 May 2018, 19:20
Favourite player: You'll find out ;-)

Post by ferrarilover »

Helen,

Stop trying to set a record for greatest number of consecutive wholly pointless comments and think before you type.

Also, welcome to the board.

Matt.
J5 said, "ferrarilover is 100% correct"
PhilGull
Top Scorer
Top Scorer
Posts: 1941
Joined: 06 Sep 2010, 08:36

Post by PhilGull »

Sweet Jesus. Really?
How about we all put our hands in our pockets and give the club a couple of hundred quid each. That should help a little.

Expecting the board members to spend more of there own money running the club is a bit much! They are just a group of fans like any other, the only difference being that they got together and saved the club from oblivion.
Every football club in the land should be able to be run at cost. Sure, if a sugar daddy comes along and wants to pump a load of their cash in then great. Otherwise it should be possible to run a club without racking up huge debt.
If 2500 fans through the gates is what we can get then we need to budget accordingly. If that means not being able to compete at the top then so be it. If the future of the club is at stake I would rather have no debt than be Portsmouth.

We are lucky, very, very lucky that Paul Bristow was willing to step in and help. Without him we would have gone to the wall long ago. Like the majority of football clubs across the land, too many risks are being taken. People need to get their heads around the fact that football is a business now. The HMRC treat it as such and if you don't run it properly you will be taken down.

I say thank you to the board, thanks for saving us and keep up the good work but please remember where we were and don't lead us back there.
Gary Johnson's Yellow Army! Yellow Army! Yellow Army!

Your trust needs YOU!
TUST number 084
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Louis, Southampton Gull and 345 guests