Is there an alternative future for Torquay United?

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Jack
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Is there an alternative future for Torquay United?

Post by Jack »

As things stand it looks like we will be relegated to Natinal South for next season.

We are in the ownership of someone who has no interest in the future of the Club other than for his own gain, however that might be realised.
There are no potential buyers of the Club as far as I know.

The only alternative ownership would be a Community Trust provided that it could raise enough capital to persuade the current owner to sell and have some working capital as well.
This would be a massive task and would need someone at the helm with the time, drive and determination to see it through. In order to get the right person it would probably need to be a modestly paid job and it might not be a current fan especially if it was someone who had a track record of doing it somewhere else.
Fans would need to play their part by giving their time to raise money to keep the Club afloat.
F
The Club would need to operate on a part time basis and build slowly with the aim of one day returning to the Football League. This could take several seasons and fans would need to be patient.

I have kept this deliberately brief but it seems to be the only way forward if the Club is to survive at National League level.
Yorkieandy
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Post by Yorkieandy »

Said 5 years ago that a new club under fan ownership was the only other viable alternative but it doesn't appear to be a popular idea.

It will have to happen at some point IMO but for now all fans want to do is continue turning up, paying their money and watch the club slip further down the pyramid.

That's up to them as wanting a new club is up to me. Just opinions really but in the meantime things continue to get worse and regional non league football looks the best the club can hope for in the near future so ultimately fans will have a decision to make.
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Post by notnow »

Perhaps Someone like Nicho? who was prepared to do anything for the love of the club.

You are absolutely right though, I believe that if they don't throw a heap of money at it right now (still no guarantee) it will end up stripped and in the gutter, although I don't think we could raise enough money to buy the club, could we? I fully expect to be slated for this comment, it's just my opinion.
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Post by Yorkieandy »

Couldn't raise enough money to buy it or run it I'm afraid. Could raise enough money and support to start a new club though although it would have to start at the bottom with pub players and sharing a ground.

I appreciate it's not really an attractive proposition but its the other option available.

If GI pull out I'd doubt the trust have anywhere near the capital needed to keep the club afloat even temporarily and buyers for NLS clubs that are failing don't grow on trees so IMO if GI pull out the club is **** and likewise if GI succeed so new club for me every time.
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Post by merse btpir »

Yorkieandy wrote: 09 Jan 2018, 11:28 If GI pull out I'd doubt the trust have anywhere near the capital needed to keep the club afloat even temporarily and buyers for NLS clubs that are failing don't grow on trees so IMO if GI pull out the club is **** and likewise if GI succeed so new club for me every time.
Teams playing in the club's colours and name containing 'pub players' have existed before; they are those teams run by the Supporters' Club and that is where the concept belongs.....

If the owner decides to try to recover his injection of capital by disposing of his asset, then it is going to mean any prospective buyer will have to find something approaching half a million pounds just to recompence current investment in my estimation and as we saw when the Dave Phillips consortium went against due diligence and accepted the liabilities, that would be simply suicidal.

Any theoretical 'new' or phoenix club would have nowhere to play given that the football club are the tenants of the ground and if they cease to be or close; then the freehold and it's attendant covenants become invalid......so think on what you wish for.

Far better that the trust and the community at large concentrate on a feasible structure whereby they take on the ownership and running of the football club as it stands now which (to my mind) currently requires accepting and coping with a liability to the current owner (who would become the vendor) and that is a very serious scenario indeed when the limitations of income, cash flow and capacity to raise a mortgage are taken into consideration.

Only in the naive world of Thea Bristow and Dave Phillips did such a thing as a 'debt free football club change hands ~ 'debt free' never equated to liability free and that was the problem!
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Post by SatNav »

Your post’s bore me to tears sometimes Merse!! 😴😴😭
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Post by Lloyder5 »

SatNav wrote: 09 Jan 2018, 12:33 Your post’s bore me to tears sometimes Merse!! 😴😴😭
Odd reaction to that particular post, nothing controversial in it. Pretty much factual.
TUST number 080
merse btpir
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Post by merse btpir »

SatNav wrote: 09 Jan 2018, 12:33 Your post’s bore me to tears sometimes Merse!! 😴😴😭
Image
Try this one then :whistle:
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Post by Cruisinho »

Although I agree a trust ownership would be better, we haven’t heard a peep out of them for the past few months.

People are saying the community don’t know what is happening with the club, then the trust should be releasing statements, doing handouts, spreading the word. Is that happening enough?

For members of the tust, do you feel they are representing the fans enough? What is your money going on?
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Post by CraigUnder »

Didn’t the main guy from the TUST Michael Goldbourne (sp?) step down and ever since then the TUST has been pretty much at a standstill?

If this is the case then I think the TUST need to appoint someone with a voice who is willing to put the questions and concerns to the club... Merse? Dave? :lol:
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Post by Admiral »

If the TUST were to release some idea of their contingency planning BEFORE the club goes bust I will join. Chester already had thousands of City Fans United members and money in the bank before they went bust and started again just 4 months later.

Not enough is being done. Start Phoenix planning now!
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Post by merse btpir »

CraigUnder wrote: 09 Jan 2018, 14:04 Didn’t the main guy from the TUST Michael Goldbourne (sp?) step down and ever since then the TUST has been pretty much at a standstill?
If this is the case then I think the TUST need to appoint someone with a voice who is willing to put the questions and concerns to the club... Merse? Dave? :lol:
A new chair ~ Mike Thomas ~ is in place and has been evaluating and familiarising himself with the situation in his first month which makes sense really before opening his mouth.......

In the meantime, there has been a lot of activity behind the scenes, not least, the establishment of regular monthly meetings with TUFC representatives since the beginning of the season. This has been with a view to improving and maintaining a constructive and structured dialogue. If you were a member of the trust (and if not; why not?) then you would be party to this news as you would be in receipt of their monthly news email.

There are several initiatives that they have been discussing and planning with the joint aim of promoting Torquay United to the community in a positive light. Also, they are investigating possibilities for supporting TUFC and 'Torquay United Sports in the Community Trust', in their work in the community.

Furthermore, they are aiming to work more closely with Torquay United Official Supporters Club. The two bodies' aims may be slightly different, but they are all passionate about supporting the club.

We all want a sustainable, in the long term, well governed and successful club free of reliance on property developers or even benefactors don't we? We need a football club with a workable and sustainable business plan with suitable revenue streams and a business sense that has been severely lacking for the past five years.

You can catch up with TUST news releases on here:

http://thelondonmafia.proboards.com/thr ... ead?page=5
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Post by Yorkieandy »

Would it not improve TUST membership uptake if newsletters / info etc were distributed to every Torquay fan regardless of whether they are a member or not? Fans could take everything in and might decide that yes, it's the way to go. Excluding fans on the basis that they aren't members isn't likely to increase membership and furthermore could end up alienating people against the trust.

Just observations. I'm not criticizing anybody over it.
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Post by Cruisinho »

My thoughts exactly Yorkie. People are saying the community are not informed about what is going on, so why not inform everyone of what is happening? Then more people will buy in to the fact that a change is needed. Otherwise they might not have a team to support.

Also, I cancelled my membership a while back, simply because I didn’t feel enough was being done. A feeling I still have now. If this improves I will of course rejoin.
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Post by Matt Gorman »

Good Afternoon All

Given the comments on this and other forums over the past few days our new Chairman "Mike Thomas" has posted a quick note to update supporters in regard to the current actions of TUST to re-assure supporters that TUST is "still active" and working behind the scenes. However, I would also once again mention to the supporter base that we are a very small team of individuals (5 of us) who all work full-time and have families so anybody willing to become involved with TUST, we will gladly accept your help!! Please e-mail [email protected] or myself at [email protected] if you wish to get involved!!

I am posting this on Mike's behalf.

Matt Gorman
TUST Treasurer
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As newly elected TUST chairman, I have been busy during the first few weeks in the role talking to fellow directors and ensuring I am in the picture on all aspects of TUST business. Furthermore, we have been maintaining and developing our many contacts during the last few months in order to maximise our support network.

You may also be aware that we have now, together with TUFC, established monthly meetings using the Football Supporters' Federation and Supporters' Direct model, both of whom we are full members.This model is based on a structured and constructive(can be critical) dialogue between club and supporters.We have been working on many joint initiatives with positivity.

Since the AGM newsletter to members, I have resisted the urge to 'put pen to paper' on the various social media sites, (other than writing the couple of away reports for Torquay Talk over the Christmas period and the chairman's bulletin to members).This has become increasingly difficult during the past few weeks, due to the serious position the team has dropped into and the increasing concern being voiced by supporters as to the club's future (long and short term)..

I have also,over the last several months, been listening to the views of a wide range of supporters and of TUST members, as well as reading the many ranging comments on the main social media sites, such as this one.

We are having a TUST board meeting tonight (Tuesday 9th Jan) at which the main item on the agenda will now be to discuss the clear concerns mentioned above. We aim to prepare a co-ordinated statement and to revisit our current action plan.(There are, behind the scenes, many joint initiatives which are currently being developed to further our local club).

It is evident, from all I have heard and read, that often our views are naturally quite different, but one increasingly common thread is that we all want our lovely club to continue in the community and that the concern and the passion is there!

I feel we will need to be 'United' and involved, as supporters and as a community, towards achieving this end. Whichever way that might end up to be to best support our club.

Mike/Michel Thomas(Chairman of TUST)
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