Gaming International have taken our club hostage

portugull · Post by **portugull** » 18 Dec 2016, 15:50

Gaming International Ltd was founded in 1932 and its CEO, Clarke Osborne, has been a Director since 1991.

The Company through its subsidiary Stadia UK Ltd founded in 2000 operates greyhound tracks in Swindon, Poole, Reading and Milton Keynes. The stadiums are multi functional with Swindon being home to the Robins Speedway Team and Poole to the Poole Pirates. It also manages stadiums and greyhound tracks in Japan. GIL is a subsidiary of Toklon Ltd founded in 2004.

Mr Osborne has 16 Directorships one of which is Riviera Stadium Ltd incorporated on the 22 March 2016 for the purpose of acquiring Torquay United.

A new stadium is currently under construction in Swindon with a target date of April 2017.

GIL also owns a bookmakers in Bristol. Mr Osborne lives at Pensford near Bristol.

GIL is clearly a very long standing company operating in the gaming and leisure industry and while the majority of fans, myself included, are deeply concerned about their plans for Torquay United I think it will nonetheless be very interesting to see how they conduct themselves at tomorrows press conference and how open and honest they are in setting out their plans for the Club.

I would also hope that the Chairman, David Phillips, makes a clear statement to the media and the fans about the important Conditions that are incorporated in the Sale Agreement. If these Conditions are not make clear we must hope that the press will ask the pertinent questions which need answering.

I stand to be corrected but from what I have read it has taken GIL over 10 years at Swindon to actually achieve a new stadium, the original Abbey Stadium having been built in 1949.

I sincerely hope that all parties involved tomorrow put on a professional and competent performance because I think all would agree that the negotiations over the last nine months have been an absolute shambles, at least to the outsider looking in.

budegull1954 · Post by **budegull1954** » 18 Dec 2016, 16:41

Excellent posting and very informative – just what is needed after all the anguish and gnashing of teeth on this site over the past couple of days. I have been a follower of this Forum for a couple of years now but only recently joined as a contributing member, feeling that these are momentous times for our club. I have supported the Gulls since 1972 when I moved down to the Bay from Manchester with my family as a teenager. I now live in Bude but regularly make the 150 mile round trip to Plainmoor, usually with a depressing drive back these days following another frustrating performance..

Like others on the Forum I have lived through the bad and good times of supporting the Gulls, the worst being the Chris Roberts era but closely rivalled by the Paul Cox debacle of last year. I remember sitting in Bristow's Bench last year watching a dismal defeat by Boreham Wood shortly after Cox's departure, thinking that this was the end of our club. Only the fantastic support offered by Argyle supporters that night lifted the atmosphere of gloom and despondency.

The club has actually come a long way since then, helped by the appointment of a bright young manager in Kevin Nicholson and – yes – a cash injection by GI to help us stay up. The standard of football is not great, but I have yet to see a good footballing side at Plainmoor this season – the Gulls are certainly not the only side playing mediocre football in the National League.

My point is that we are genuinly at a watershed moment in the history of our club and we need to take on board what has happened in a calm and measured way. I find the personal attacks on David Phillips unwarranted and distasteful. He seems to be a decent chap and he would be the last person to claim he was an expert chairman. The veiled threats about what might happen if he turns up on Boxing Day are quite appalling. I would like to personally thank him for doing the best job he can in very difficult circumstances.

Our club clearly cannot go on the way it has for the last few years. No other serious investors have come forward, even though our club has the potential to be another Bournemouth. GI are no fools and we may even find in a couple of years that they were the best thing to happen to our club for a long time. The probable alternative was administration – do we really want to go down that route?We await tomorrow's press conference with interest and anticipation.

IanGull01 · Post by **IanGull01** » 18 Dec 2016, 16:53

Agree with everything you've said. Until they make a statement of what their plans are, who are we to comment.

Let's not take away that we haven't been communicated to very well and there are a lot of unanswered questions.

I would hope that a fans forum will soon be arranged so again we can put questions to the new board.

Let's wait and see what tomorrow brings before we start firing the bullets.

PhilGull · Post by **PhilGull** » 18 Dec 2016, 17:08

Important to note that according to the OS GI have taken a "controlling shareholding". My guess is that Philips will remain as Chairman, at least until the end of the season and we will see little to no change, with the exception of being financially sound for a while.

Whats done is done and although we may not like it, for the good of the club we need to hold our noses and support the new regime.
My hope is that Osbourne will have seen what has been happening, will have perused these boards and will kick the current board to touch and come in with a new broom and actually be open and honest with the fans (like actually as opposed to paying lip-service to it like Philips et al). Come tomorrow evening the OS, Official Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages should be full of new news, they need to hit the ground running, get the word out that there is a new sheriff in town and get a big crowd in on Boxing Day.

Rjc70 · Post by **Rjc70** » 18 Dec 2016, 17:17

Re initial post on the subject of Reading. They do not operate a speedway and greyhound track in Reading. The combined ground was bulldozed in 2008 with promises of a new stadium the following season and despite a number of statements from Clarke Osbourne over the years, the Club, which I supported from my youth for over 30 years, has ceased to be and the sports have not returned to the town.

portugull · Post by **portugull** » 18 Dec 2016, 17:22

It just goes to show that even Bloomberg get their facts wrong! I thought this would be a trusted source but obviously not as far as Reading is concerned.

Rjc70 · Post by **Rjc70** » 18 Dec 2016, 18:06

No worries. As a fan, I have heard and read a lot of news from Clarke Osbourne over the years but the stadium did not happen and the Club died.

A trust was recently set up by a small number of fans and has acquired the Reading Racers naming rights for 2017. Their aim for 2017 is to have a side that rides after the main event at a few away stadiums.

The so called 'second half' of Speedway meetings is largely equivalent to having a friendly 5 a side juniors kick around at half time in a football match and is only four races, not the usual 15, and doesn't contain senior team riders, usually youngsters.

I would imagine the land the former site is on is worth a fair bit. It's near the Madejski Stadium.

Post by **Southampton Gull** » 18 Dec 2016, 18:53

Rob, that land is used for Madejski staff parking most matchdays. I was quite surprised to see the barren wasteland it's become.

Bobbytanz63 · Post by **Bobbytanz63** » 18 Dec 2016, 18:54

Why the doom and gloom ? we could have had a club in Administration !!! You never know GI may come up with a positive statement looking to support the current manager and flash the cash !!!

Hmmmmm we shall see BUT i think there may be a twist in the tail to come .......

Bobbytanz63 · Post by **Bobbytanz63** » 18 Dec 2016, 19:05

Chinese group .... rubbish, you don't just come in at the last moment to do a deal to acquire a business !! due diligence takes a while so all that this poster is saying is rubbish !!! If the Chinese are still interested then they can stil talk to GI surely ?? They could make a quick buck or three here ?

So watch masters become chairman, then some movement involving Truro's ground !! Think that 70's tv programme Swap Shop !!!!

Glostergull · Post by **Glostergull** » 18 Dec 2016, 19:09

Hi all
I did a quick check on the Swindon Project and it appears it might actually be under construction now. But on looking at a web site the statemant was made that they had also built a new Stadium in 1997 for Poole Pirates Speedway as well. This doesn't seem to be true. They have not had a new stadium and indeed are only talking about one now sharing possibly with Poole Town football club.
As I said before. I was involved with Bristol Rovers way back when Barry Bradshaw and Martin Flooke were at the helm and Con Stevens was in charge. they well and truly shafted Rovers who had no choice but to move out of the Stadium and City.
A serious Fire destroyed the south stand and the stadium company did nothing to try and recompense the club for loss of amenity or replace the stand either. indeed they even put up the rent. so Rovers having had the ground capacity slashed had to move out. I am not hopeful. any statements made will be just that, statements, I would await the proof of the pudding before we all crow about progress. and if they pump money in what happens when they pull the plug. I see another Possible Hereford and oxford United situation brewing.

lucy6lucy · Post by **lucy6lucy** » 18 Dec 2016, 19:22

Bobbytanz63 wrote:Chinese group .... rubbish, you don't just come in at the last moment to do a deal to acquire a business !! due diligence takes a while so all that this poster is saying is rubbish !!! If the Chinese are still interested then they can stil talk to GI surely ?? They could make a quick buck or three here ?

So watch masters become chairman, then some movement involving Truro's ground !! Think that 70's tv programme Swap Shop !!!!

This alleged Chinese group could not release funds until after the new year, ? Strange I can transfer funds from my bank at a push of a button on my iPad.

Thegulls1981 · Post by **Thegulls1981** » 18 Dec 2016, 19:30

It will all come out in the next few days I'm sure. A lot did happen on Friday and at one stage we were not selling to GI but then things changed, I'm still not sure what the reason was for the last minute change but Phillips has said he will be explaining the events in due course.

ferrarilover · Post by **ferrarilover** » 18 Dec 2016, 19:30

Suppose GI do make a statement, will any of us believe what it says?

Matt.

Thegulls1981 · Post by **Thegulls1981** » 18 Dec 2016, 19:48

I think we all fear the worse and should of course be on our guard but likewise now this has happened we need to be open to change as it's certainly coming.

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