Potential Buyers

[wbw]

Peter Masters, Norman Smurthwaite or a consortium led by George Edwards!!!
Wow, just wow!!
Who was it who said, be careful what you wish for?

[UnitedinDevon]

Peter Masters, Norman Smurthwaite or a consortium led by George Edwards!!!
Wow, just wow!!
Who was it who said, be careful what you wish for?

Bore off, you need some professional help if you think the CO staying would work out without the demise of the club

[wbw]

And you don't believe he is involved in the consortium??

[Admiral]

I’m told the third party is a local wealthy individual who also happens to be a Torquay season ticket holder. Look at TUST’s recent statement about bidders, I can’t see any of the ones mentioned by this troll generating any excitement.

[UnitedinDevon]

And you don't believe he is involved in the consortium??

wbw - Wollens is much better suggest btw

[culmstockgull]

Just ask the Kettering fans about Smurthwaite. Ask the Vale fans about him as well. He has one of the worst reputations in football.

Likewise Masters, ask any truro supporter what they think about him, the comments would be very similar to what we think of Osborne, look at his business profile and companies house checks, he is not what we need at this time. But and its a big but, he may be the only one to pass the financial checks.

[UnitedinDevon]

I’m told the third party is a local wealthy individual who also happens to be a Torquay season ticket holder. Look at TUST’s recent statement about bidders, I can’t see any of the ones mentioned by this troll generating any excitement.

if there is involvement with a Torquay fan & TUST then i would be minded to hear the proposal, CO has shown he doesnt give a toss about the club

We need people who know how to run a football club, its disgraceful how little the club is connected, our catchment area is huge and its an untapped

[JimNichol'sdog]

If Smurthwaite and Masters are the answer to the question, then Torquay United is deep in the s**t.

[zebgull]

Hard to lnow what's going on behind the scenes so all we can do is hope that a consortium (possibly involving the 'wealthy fan' mentioned) can put together a serious proposal.

In the meantime we have to get behind the team - it's the only constructive thing we can do - however frustating our awful form is. Every point may count. Having said that, i think a few changes and a team based around 100% commitment would help...wonder if Tom Lapslie is fit to start?

Ps wbw - i know you are only trying to wind people up so no hard feelings, but most of your posts seem to have come in the last couple of weeks?

Just sayin....

[The Great Muta!]

Smurthwaite or Masters?, bloody hell, we need to pray for devine intervention, you've got Clarke Osborne mark II with those two ...it's a shame Mike Bateson isn't 20years younger and up for it.... surely someone out there has got to be interested, who hasn't got "baggage" if you know what I'm saying.

[Colorado]

Gloomy Gull wrote: ↑Today, 12:06
I have tried to take a rational and dispassionate view of the circumstances and please be aware I am not an advocate for Osborne or his track record.

Osborne was "gifted" the club by the financial ineptitude of the previous directors who failed/did not have the requisite skills to keep the finances in sufficient shape resulting in a possible Administration being perilously close with no other viable option.

Osborne, absolutely rightly, was called out on his sporting club history by many of the posters on this and other sites and almost immediately his ownership was met, understandably correctly, with significant suspicion and was believed to be a path to problems. These views were made quite vociferously at times.

The underlying burning desire to see him relinquish his ownership has continued throughout his tenure.

Osborne was clear from the get go that he had no interest in football and his desire to do to TUFC what he had done to numerous other sporting clubs regarding the premises they operate from was evident at an early stage. i.e. take control of Plainmoor. He has attempted to bring that to a conclusion that met with his plans on a number of occasions and has been thwarted by the council (thankfully).

BUT despite all the vitriol sent his way over that last few years he was still prepared to "gamble" monies, which may or may not be recovered, on achieving that goal. The offshoot of that action was to sustain TUFC as an operating club during those years - remember the impending Administration at the start.

He has now taken the business decision to cut his losses and step away from a potentially (in his strategy) profitable venture and supporters who did not want him to be the owner anyway, and in recent months have made that view heard louder and louder. The subject of whether he is able to recover any of the loan monies is unclear at this stage, but if Administration is the outcome, it is highly unlikely any repayment of those loans will be made.

Whilst I am devastated that the club I have supported for 60 years is now in a perilous position because of Osborne's actions I do, as someone who has been in the business environment for 40 years, understand why he has chosen to leave.

Perhaps, if he had not been vilified so hard for so long, he may have been more inclined to try to find a buyer rather than walk away from somewhere it was very clear didn't want him. Now we are wringing our hands at the outcome of the "campaign" to oust Osborne. The old adage of "be careful what you wish for" springs to mind here.

Even now he is being pilloried for doing exactly what has been called for by many for the last 5 years! I do not recall Thea receiving such responses when she too decided that she had put enough of her money into the club and walked away - and she loved the club - leaving us back at my opening point, impending Administration.

I do have faith that something recoverable will rise like a phoenix from the ashes and hope to God that the next incumbent to take on the club has only good intentions and believe that we, the supporters, should be focusing on a future rather than continuing to moan about what has happened


“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana



Thank you for posting a reasoned response and reminding of us the reality that in January 2017. Had there been a better owner out there at the time, wouldn't Mr Phillips have sold the club to them?

Quoting Mr Phillips, there wasn't. I believe he said to the local press at some point the club was running him dry and was taking a toll on his health.


And why might that have been?

-an intransigence to the thought of ever leaving Plainmoor among the fanbase despite it being a money pit

-Torbay Council intransigence to any thought of working with new ownership

-competition for players from Exeter and Taunton

-the majority of better players residing far away from Torquay and they and there families not wanting to move here.

-the local talented players not wanting to go full time as they would end up probably bringing home a smaller pay check than they would working part-time

-a fanbase that expects more than can be reasonably delivered given the aforementioned constraints



These are but a few of the reasons (not mine, rather culled from the comments of others on this forum) we are in the position

Quite frankly, I don't see that anything has changed from January 2017. . Torquay United as a currently stands is a money losing proposition and without a seismic change in the culture and mindset of the community I doubt there will be many intelligent businessmen/businesswoman out there who would see it as a viable option.

It's time to change the community mindset.

[wbw]

If Smurthwaite and Masters are the answer to the question, then Torquay United is deep in the s**t.

Never has there been a truer post.

[Colorado]

If Smurthwaite and Masters are the answer to the question, then Torquay United is deep in the s**t.

I'm confused.
Did you not think that TUFC was not in deep s**t until this point.

I think they have been in deep s**t for quite some time irrespective of potential future owners.

[CornishGull]

If Smurthwaite and Masters are the answer to the question, then Torquay United is deep in the s**t.

I doubt Smurthwaite is involved, he's never owned a football club that didn't own it's ground. Masters is far more preferable than Osborne and he actually saved Truro City along with his business partner.

[Nick Potkins]

It's all gone very quiet. Let's hope for news soon.