Takeover 50/50 ?

[hector]

I suspect we are in serious trouble. The deal that was supposed to be concluded by the end of this week - perhaps depending on who was elected mayor - appears to be dead (according to Merse) and The funding required to demonstrate that we are a going concern, to satisfy the notoriously fussy Conference board, may be difficult to come by, which may mean we are playing against Bideford.

[gullintwoplaces]

Our club appears to be stumbling towards a precipice, in the absence of any obvious leadership from the Board.

I have seen it suggested that Thea might just give her shares to the remaining directors if the proposed deal fails. That is absolutely the last thing that she should do in those circumstances. If the deal fails and Thea is determined to unload her shares quickly then she should give them to TUST. At least there will then be a chance of saving something from our club. Desperate times I fear.

[zoomed]

https://x.com/goulbourne58/status/597153009924190209

[wodger of awabia]

I suspect we are in serious trouble. The deal that was supposed to be concluded by the end of this week - perhaps depending on who was elected mayor - appears to be dead (according to Merse) and The funding required to demonstrate that we are a going concern, to satisfy the notoriously fussy Conference board, may be difficult to come by, which may mean we are playing against Bideford.

Surely all that is required is to present a business plan based on modest sales of season tickets, gates of say 1,000 & other non football income. It may of course mean drastic trimming of staffing levels & other cuts to achieve this budget. It is certainly not in the Conference boards interest to get rid of TQY as I would think that we are perceived to be one of the more prestigious clubs in the Conference.

[hector]

Surely all that is required is to present a business plan based on modest sales of season tickets, gates of say 1,000 & other non football income. It may of course mean drastic trimming of staffing levels & other cuts to achieve this budget. It is certainly not in the Conference boards interest to get rid of TQY as I would think that we are perceived to be one of the more prestigious clubs in the Conference.

I suspect Hereford were as well.

[frenchgull]

Please can somebody explains to my why anybody would be a Torquay United Benefacture.Because that is what you would have to be,not an investor because there is no way that you would make any money out of the football club ,honestly,so you would just have to keep putting money into the club.I firmly believe that the only way forward is via the Tust.We are what we are,let's get together and support our club.

[Bomber]

The Conference Board have a notoriously inconsistent decision making process when it comes to this. When Boston United were relegated in 2007, after entering Administration, they were ejected straight into Conference North.
Two years ago, when Aldershot Town entered Administration following relegation from the Football League, they started the season with a ten-point penalty.
Any decision as to whether we would carry on or not would be through a vote from member clubs, which is what happened with Chester City and that allowed them to carry on up until they were wound up.

If anyone can fill in any gaps to add to what I've just said, feel free to do so.

[Burnhamgull]

You missed out the phrase "We're f***ed"......

[Gulliball]

We have no external debt and have commitments to 6 players (for one year each, maybe £150k combined, on gates of 2000). There is 0% chance that we are in any danger of not making next season unless we (Thea) choose to.

Our budget next season may well be much reduced, it might be slightly reduced or it might stay the same, depending on who we are owned by, but there is no basis for all the posts suggesting we will be thrown out by the AGM. We don't owe anyone (other than Thea), anything.

[Jeff]

We have no external debt and have commitments to 6 players (for one year each, maybe £150k combined, on gates of 2000). There is 0% chance that we are in any danger of not making next season unless we (Thea) choose to.

Our budget next season may well be much reduced, it might be slightly reduced or it might stay the same, depending on who we are owned by, but there is no basis for all the posts suggesting we will be thrown out by the AGM. We don't owe anyone (other than Thea), anything.

Oh thank god, there are still some people who talk sense on here and don't just doom-monger for the sake of it

[yeovilgull]

The Conference Board have a notoriously inconsistent decision making process when it comes to this. When Boston United were relegated in 2007, after entering Administration, they were ejected straight into Conference North.
Two years ago, when Aldershot Town entered Administration following relegation from the Football League, they started the season with a ten-point penalty.
Any decision as to whether we would carry on or not would be through a vote from member clubs, which is what happened with Chester City and that allowed them to carry on up until they were wound up.

If anyone can fill in any gaps to add to what I've just said, feel free to do so.

The common denominator in that is "Administration" . We are not at the current time in that position so I see no reason the Conference should have any reason to consider expelling us. I have no idea what if anything we have to submit each season to show our ability to fulfil our fixtures but as Gulliball says, with us carrying no debt it would at worst be a case of providing a business plan showing we can make ends meet next season.

To achieve the above would probably require a fair cut in budget. It may be the case that the only option in the short term is for some of the squad to be part time combined with a nucleus of full timers. We found to our cost last season that there are a few decent part time players around at our level. Getting them to come down here and find employment as well as part time football may prove difficult for some.

It would then be a case of probably trying to survive in the league next season but balancing the books and giving us some breathing space to seek further backers be that the TUST or outside backers to try and push forward again in the future.

[Dave]

Oh this is a struggle. We've just released accounts showing a £542k loss, accounts are done for the previous year, so those accounts apply for our last season in the football league, the accounts figure that will be released this time next year will be for this season already gone, our first back in the conference, the club will have a projection on what those accounting figures are likely to be, and all the reduced budgets for next season will not change those figures, they will only impact on the following years accounts.

On to the next point, yes the club has no debts, the reasons for that is Thea Bristow was covering those losses out of her own money, she is no longer going to do that, if the club was to have projection that they'll will show another £500,000k loss, with out new owners prepared to pump cash into the club where does anyone think the money is going to come from, remember we're talking about accounts for the season just gone and the club can now do nothing about, if it's loss, it's a loss and it will need covering.

Has anyone considered it might be the constitution of the conference for our club to have a £500,000 bond in place by the AGM and failure to do so can result on expulsion from the league.

I know nothing about any proposed takeover, other than it is being suggested that these so called mystery buyers aren't going to buy the club, therefore ownership will likely to be passed on to Baker/Phillips and the current board, any need to worry, I'll leave that to you to decide.

[lucy6lucy]

Oh this is a struggle. We've just released accounts showing a £542k loss, accounts are done for the previous year, so those accounts apply for our last season in the football league, the accounts figure that will be released this time next year will be for this season already gone, our first back in the conference, the club will have a projection on what those accounting figures are likely to be, and all the reduced budgets for next season will not change those figures, they will only impact on the following years accounts.

On to the next point, yes the club has no debts, the reasons for that is Thea Bristow was covering those losses out of her own money, she is no longer going to do that, if the club was to have projection that they'll will show another £500,000k loss, with out new owners prepared to pump cash into the club where does anyone think the money is going to come from, remember we're talking about accounts for the season just gone and the club can now do nothing about, if it's loss, it's a loss and it will need covering.

Has anyone considered it might be the constitution of the conference for our club to have a £500,000 bond in place by the AGM and failure to do so can result on expulsion from the league.

However, has the takeover failed. Nobody knows. The negativity is worrying. However, we need someone or somebody's to run this club, and if nobody is prepared to do this for free taking the club on, we are indeed in the brown stuff
I know nothing about any proposed takeover, other than it is being suggested that these so called mystery buyers aren't going to buy the club, therefore ownership will likely to be passed on to Baker/Phillips and the current board, any need to worry, I'll leave that to you to decide.

[tommyg]

So does anybody have an idea what the accounts figures will be for this season? I know it's not released to the public until next year but how close do we think it will be to the £542k losses we've recently reported for the season before last?

Although Thea is kindly clearing that £542k debt, am I right in saying she will not be covering this season's losses which means the new owners will not really be taking on a debt-free club?

[Dave]

I don't know how any of us would be able to find out such information. Lucy is right, at the moment all of this, is currently suggestions and speculation, there maybe new owners about to buy the club, there may not be, the club may well have no problem in meeting all it's obligations with the conference board.

What we all should know is the club will not be able to cover any further losses with out new cash, or drastic re-structuring, if no news about any potential takeover comes through in the next few days, I would not treat it as no news is good news, and if you haven't already join the trust or the forever yellow fund.