Club Ownership

[PhilGull]

I Liked him

I liked him in so much as he would regularly be on the old forum talking to us and engaging in conversation with the fans...
And that he kept the club afloat for all those years.

[kevgull]

We had one, he was called Mike Bateson. He was a very shrewd businessman and Torquay often finished off the season in profit.

No one liked him.

Bring back Bateson (or someone with a head for figures).

[happytorq]

people didn't like him because his running the club well (as a business) meant that ambition had to be curtailed. I think I heard a quote from him stating that the best thing for him would be for Torquay to lose in the playoff final every year (i don't know if this is true, but it would fit what I know of him).

At our level, turning a consistent profit and challenging for promotion is extremely difficult. He came in a time when we needed somebody to steady the ship but the years of 'just doing enough to survive' became very wearing, and I'd argue that this contributed to the local decline of the club. I know several people who stopped going because they just didn't see any point. (this is anecdotal, but still valid).

Somebody with a head for figures is required, of course, but just as important is somebody with passion and positivity, and a belief that we can be more than a struggling non-league/lower league 2 side, that our limited budget and resources don't have to limit our potential.

[superwilf]

A good business man like Mr Bateson would not be concerned with winning popularity polls but only with running a business or football club successfully.

[happytorq]

A good business man like Mr Bateson would not be concerned with winning popularity polls but only with running a business or football club successfully.

Absolutely. And while that's fine for, oh, I dunno, let me pick a business randomly, a windows company, football clubs are different. They don't exist simply as money-making endeavours. Being profitable is helpful in that it (theoretically) increases you future chance of sporting success, but it isn't the *point* of the exercise.

[RoadGull]

FYI ... knowing one of the existing directors (longest serving now!) .. for at least the last 3 years of his ownership Mr Bateson put no money into the club and took no money out of the club ... it survived on generated income.
You may dispute that, but if you look at the actual number of full time staff employed to run the club at the time it is possible!
Compare that with the number of full time people employed now .. and you can see how the costs (wages) soon mount up.

[happytorq]

right. And, 'survived on generated income' is a great place to start, but for a football club, which needs to strive to be of any relevance, it's arguably not enough. I'm sure Bateson did put in quite a lot of money at the beginning of his tenure, and that's to his credit, but the point I'm gamely trying to make is that even though it's helpful to run the club as a business, at its heart is a different animal, one that requires a certain amount of investment. The measure of success for a football shouldn't be a P/L report, at least not as the only measure.

[chunkygull]

We had one, he was called Mike Bateson. He was a very shrewd businessman and Torquay often finished off the season in profit.

No one liked him.

by bringbackthecowshed » Today, 11:11

I Liked him

I quite liked him. Most of his tenure we were pretty solid financially and kept our head above water, we had some real low moments but a couple of promotions, some near misses and a few good times also. He could be a bit arrogant, but a lot of successful businessmen are.

by PhilGull » Today, 13:39

I liked him in so much as he would regularly be on the old forum talking to us and engaging in conversation with the fans...
And that he kept the club afloat for all those years.

I remember those days and had a bit of chat a few times with him. One night in particular we were talking about Elvis as Mr B said he is a fan as well, I tried to persuade him to use "A Little Less Conversation" as the teams run out tune, he was intrigued but felt it might cost. If I remember rightly he gave up using the forum after a while because of a lot of abuse he started to get. Likewise he was quite accessible on matchdays and often stood by the mini/family stand so supporters who wished to chat with him about issues etc could, I remember some people giving him quite a bit of stick and eventually he had to knock this practice on the head also. Also there was the time he strolled across the pitch and addressed an angry mob of us on the pop after the Scunthorpe 1-8 whipping. That took some bottle and front, although everybody behaved quite well in the circumstances.

by happytorq » Today, 14:59

people didn't like him because his running the club well (as a business) meant that ambition had to be curtailed. I think I heard a quote from him stating that the best thing for him would be for Torquay to lose in the playoff final every year (i don't know if this is true, but it would fit what I know of him).

To be fair when he first took over he was very enthusiastic and put investment in, there were many quotes from him about ambition and how we were going for promotion, how he would eat his hat if we didnt go up, we made a record signing that year in Wes Saunders, also added Tommy Tynan among others, we had a record breaking start to the season and were top for a while, it tailed off but we were promoted via the play-offs. Big Mike never seemed so enthusiastic after that.

Funny you mention the losing play-off thing because there were a few conspiracies about 97/98 how we threw promotion and then the play-off final on purpose as the team were "held back" by the club (Bateson). Mind you I had heard that before in 88 and it had apparently happened about 20 years previously.

Some good points about Batesons tenure on this thread, I cant help feeling though that someone like him is what we need right now, putting a bit of investment in to get us going and then trying to run the club in the correct manner and trying to live within its means and generate income to run itself. Whats wrong with that? That is what all football clubs should be doing, I for one would feel better about the game in general if that is the way it is! As others have said though, how have we continued to incur such big losses each year, where has the money gone, even with a few high earners in the team all that sort of money hasnt really been blown on players wages, which is what you would think would be our biggest expenditure.

[taxilady]

ummm, paying off 'crap' managers & their assistants ?

[nickbrod]

I recall Mike Bateson always being available to have a chat with before and after matches, his wife, Sue, too. For me they made it feel like a real family club something which has been seriously lacking for a long time now.
One stand out moment summed up Mike's leadership for me: long before forums, texts, emails because I was living some way away from Torbay I wrote to him about my concerns when Kevin Hodges left as manager. I didn't really expect a reply but blow me down Mike phoned me up on a Sunday evening to chat through the points I'd written.
That's what I call engaging with supporters. His gesture made a big impression on me. It's probably fanciful to hope that the new owner could emulate Mike's running of the club.

[eddyh]

There is of course the argument that Mike Bateson stripped the club down to the bare bones and ending up leaving a shell of a professional football club which has cost this board (well Paul and Thea Bristow) a small fortune to repair. I'm all for having a self sustaining football club but a league 2 club with no training facilities or youth set up is not the way to go in my opinion. People forget that we SHOULD have been relegated under his tenure barring a technicality so let's not try to change history please. With crowds of 2500-3000 which we have achieved fairly regularly, it has to be possible to not lose money like we have been. However sacking the manager every time we have a bad run is not going to help so maybe a little more patience from the fan base would help.

[cambgull]

Also there was the time he strolled across the pitch and addressed an angry mob of us on the pop after the Scunthorpe 1-8 whipping. That took some bottle and front, although everybody behaved quite well in the circumstances.

I remember that day, Andy McFarlane destroyed us with 4 goals, so MB went and signed him.

Unfortunately, he was bloody useless and invented the "duck-jump" where despite being 6 foot 45 inches tall, he still managed to jump for a header and then duck at the last second so the ball flies over his head. He then turns around and gesticulates to his team mates that he had no idea how the ball went over his head and the cross should be better next time. Better, because it needs to be arrowed directly at his forehead giving him absolutely no chance to get out the way of it.

[brucie]

Eddyh - you are the only one trying to change history - we were never relegated from the football league under Bateson. Thats happened under Chris Roberts and Thea Bristow - probably the two most incompetent chair persons we have ever had.
Like it or lump it Bateson always managed to pull something out of the bag when we were in the mire, under Thea Bristow we have gone from bad to worse.
Christ look at us now, the season has finished and we havn't got an owner or a budget for next season. Its a shambles. Yes it should be possible not to lose money on the crowds you mention but we have done. Thats Mrs Bristows fault though not Mike Batesons.

[Yorkieandy]

Amended post. Thea is an amazingly generous woman and should ignore people's poison.

[PhilGull]

I remember that day, Andy McFarlane destroyed us with 4 goals, so MB went and signed him.

Unfortunately, he was bloody useless and invented the "duck-jump" where despite being 6 foot 45 inches tall, he still managed to jump for a header and then duck at the last second so the ball flies over his head. He then turns around and gesticulates to his team mates that he had no idea how the ball went over his head and the cross should be better next time. Better, because it needs to be arrowed directly at his forehead giving him absolutely no chance to get out the way of it.

Oh Big Andy Mac I loved that man but god he was crap at football!