Potential Buyers

[Dav99]

Koh Wee Meng, owner of fragrance group is a Singapore billionaire who has a passion for football .
Clarke is a pauper compared to Koh Wee Meng .
I will email his UK representative myself and please , if you have further input , please try a more positive and “ hands on “ approach as the clock is ticking .

[Southampton Gull]

The fact is the man Hector and Southampton refer to actually prevented Truro City going bust and they survive to this day, that is a lot more than Clarke Osborne ever achieved.
This guy is a football person and that is what we need right now and he would genuinely like to own this club, it was his ownership of Truro that prevented him buying the club off Thea Bristow.
From my point of view as things stand currently he is our best hope.
BTW my username in no way relates to said individual

That's exactly how I see it. Him owning the club is a far better proposition than those exiting the building and I'll happily take that after spending 6 years thinking of nothing but the impending doom surrounding the club. I would love nothing more than to be able to say 'We've just had a lucky escape'

[culmstockgull]

The fact is the man Hector and Southampton refer to actually prevented Truro City going bust and they survive to this day, that is a lot more than Clarke Osborne ever achieved.
This guy is a football person and that is what we need right now and he would genuinely like to own this club, it was his ownership of Truro that prevented him buying the club off Thea Bristow.
From my point of view as things stand currently he is our best hope.
BTW my username in no way relates to said individual

Lets not have too many rose tinted comments on this man, take an honest look at his business history,his dealings are as grey as osborne. He closed all his local cornish newspapers overnight and sacked the staff without paying their salaries or pensions they were owed, found to have been untruthful at the subsequent high court hearing about not knowing the subsquent owner who bought these newspapers for a pound when they had business dealings for a long time before, One of the primary reasons he may like to buy Torquay before administration is that the rules of fit and proper persons owning a club are far weaker than the rules the administrator would require that he had sufficent funds and where those funds would come from, Speak to any truro fan and they will tell you the money man at truro was always Perryman his co owner and not masters.

[Southampton Gull]

He is nothing like Osborne at all. For a start he's a football man. I'll take that over Osborne every day of the week.

[MellowYellow]

How about The Fragrance Group ?
They have built / are building several new hotels in the bay .

The Fragrance Group? The group that purchased the Palace Hotel and land in Babbacombe Road back in 2017 which later changed its plans from creating a new luxury five-star Palace Hotel plus homes to instead building luxury three and four-bedroom homes collectively known as Palace Gardens. The council's most recent clarification is "The Fragrance Group are revising their plans because they have said that the original hotel proposal is “no longer economically viable” and as a consequence they are now developing an alternative proposal for a further 67 homes on the former hotel site".

Sounds like Osborne V2.

[North Curry House]

The Fragrance Group? The group that purchased the Palace Hotel and land in Babbacombe Road back in 2017 which later changed its plans from creating a new luxury five-star Palace Hotel plus homes to instead building luxury three and four-bedroom homes collectively known as Palace Gardens. The council's most recent clarification is "The Fragrance Group are revising their plans because they have said that the original hotel proposal is “no longer economically viable” and as a consequence they are now developing an alternative proposal for a further 67 homes on the former hotel site".

Sounds like Osborne V2.

. Have we contacted John Wayne ? He is in the same line of business as the mob from FG.

[Peter Masters]

Good afternoon Gentlemen, firstly very sorry to learn of the current situation, however never waste a good crisis, few untrue comments on here, but that's to be expected. if I can help I will.

[happytorq]

Administrators.
Pick up the phone and call Ryan Reynolds or Rob McElaney.

I’m sure they have NO INTEREST in buying the team but they DO KNOW a whole lot of wealthy Americans who might actually like to make a similar name for themselves….Will Ferrell comes to mind but I’m guessing there’s a whole lot more

Torbay has some unique features that could make it attractive with its capacity for tourism, natural beauty, proximity to ocean sports etc.

Getting 5000 fans in Plainmoor would be a good way to spark their interest

I would very much imagine that they're already aware of it. Humphrey Ker is their man at Wrexham and he knows Charlie Baker (appeared on their podcast, think they knew each other before that). I'm certain Charlie and John would have texted him at the very least.

[culmstockgull]

He is nothing like Osborne at all. For a start he's a football man. I'll take that over Osborne every day of the week.

He may be a totally different perosn to Osborne but his business dealings in other spheres are as transparent as Osborne's, they do not stand up to scrutiny, yes, he may have a love of football, but that is not a pre requisite for owning a football club, I would rather have an accountant running the club with his head than someone who runs it from their heart but not necessarily in the best long term interests of the club.
We have had many owners, those that supposedly love the club but have no money/property developers that have money but no love for football, none of which have had any long term obvious benefit to the club other than the latest owner keeping us in business six years after our sell by date..
We need a new model, totally different to what has gone before, a self sustaining model. Look at our crowds alone, even in out lowly position we regularly beat a good percentage of clubs in the NL and at least three division 2 sides on a regular basis and that is with our admission costs being probably the most expensive in the league. Do they all have rich owners or more likely an effective business model.
If we accept the average for our league as quoted by others. where the majority of clubs lose up to 20K a week another short term owner until the money runs out is not the answer.
I do not care who becomes the next owner but we do not need another chancer, I am personally against the principle of fan owned clubs, they have a glass ceiling for very obvious reasons but if thats what it takes to ensure the survival of the club, long term and in situe, I will be 100 per cent behind it.

[Southampton Gull]

Good afternoon Gentlemen, firstly very sorry to learn of the current situation, however never waste a good crisis, few untrue comments on here, but that's to be expected. if I can help I will.

I wouldn't worry about it. If you find anything defamatory please let me know.

[happytorq]

Do they all have rich owners or more likely an effective business model.

the most successful (from a business side) clubs in our current division or the one above do so by having lower costs and higher revenue

You lower costs by paying the players less (e.g. being part time). You have fewer overheads - you don't pay the non-playing a staff a fortune, and you rely on volunteers wherever possible.
Higher revenue comes from either a cup run (e.g. Maidstone, who'll probably be set fair for a few years now), getting more through the gate (we could do a whole lot more to make the matchday experience a positive one) or by finding sources outside of matchday; for a lot of clubs that means having a 3g pitch that you can rent out during the week. Osborne is a complete charlatan, of course, but he's not wrong to say that the clubs needs addditional revenue outside of football if it's ever going to be sustainable. I would be against ever building a new ground with a 3G surface until such time as they're allowed in the EFL, but with some investment, they could build a training ground that they own that can be rented out during the week.

I don't know the individual who is apparently interested in the club but I hope that whoever makes an offer has the best of intentions, and understands the need to create a little bit of off-field positivity after the regime that demonstrated a complete lack of care for the supporters.

[Peter Masters]

Thanks Dave, if we can keep to the Football more importantly address the current Torquay position that will be positive. My understanding is that the Club is not in Administration but has filed for protection in the court which I believe has an initial seven day window which can be renewed by the Directors. so there is a window of opportunity here to stop the 10pt deduction and transfer ownership, appoint a new Manager and push forward with the support of the fan base.

[Southampton Gull]

Aside from a few bitter individuals I'm sure that's what we all want.

[Taelee73]

Thanks Mr Masters for posting on here.
May as well ask, are you interested in owning Torquay United?

[Colorado]

I would very much imagine that they're already aware of it. Humphrey Ker is their man at Wrexham and he knows Charlie Baker (appeared on their podcast, think they knew each other before that). I'm certain Charlie and John would have texted him at the very least.

Welcome to Wrexham is massive in the US. People had no idea where Wrexham was. They sure as hell do now.

Many of them have previously had no interest in soccer. Even my American wife previously had no interest in soccer has now become very interested.

Could this energy be harnessed by Torquay?

Who are John and Charlie?