Potential Buyers

[midtable]

Smurthwaite has had a Devon holiday home for years so it is a possibility and he did turn up to plenty of games according to old copies of the Herald Express.
Vale fans have mixed views but they loved him at the beginning dressing up in Smurf outfits. Over the years changing managers, spending a fortune on players who did not work out made people very angry.
He put in the money but judgement on football matters not the best and a few too honest comments to the local press made some fans unable to forgive him.
In 2014 he was beaten up by 3 Vales fans losing a couple of teeth. After that he surprisingly did not care too much for the club.
Would he be better than plummeting down a few leagues? Probably.

[Wolborough]

Suspect it’s all going tits up?!

[aggrey_25]

deadline was yesterday

[The Great Muta!]

If Smurthwaite is the best we can come up with, we need devine intervention... There's no difference to him and Clarke Osborne.

[culmstockgull]

Could we please not villify any prospective owner before they have they have even got their name painted on the owners parking space, we do not have the luxury of being too picky, in fact not picky at all, I am sure no one believes that potential saviours who pass the sniff test are forming a long and orderly queue outside the family stand. We will end up if we are very lucky with the best of a bad bunch.

[Southampton Gull]

If Smurthwaite is the best we can come up with, we need devine intervention... There's no difference to him and Clarke Osborne.

There's a world of difference. Ask any Reading speedway fan..................

[The Great Muta!]

There's a world of difference. Ask any Reading speedway fan..................

Fully understand that, totally get where you're coming from, but do some research on Smurthwaite please, ask PV fans their opinion of him, look into him and do some background work, I'm sure you'll see sense, Smurthwaite is dodgy, I wouldn't touch him with a barge poll..

[Southampton Gull]

I know plenty about him as I did my own due diligence when he was interested in buying the club previously. I'm also close friends with someone who knows him personally. If you went purely on what fans say you'd come to the conclusion Mike Bateson was a charlatan when in fact he was the last person who had this club running sustainably at a much higher level than we find ourselves now. Angels don't make personal fortunes. People with questionable scruples do in abundance so we're not looking for an Angel, we're looking for someone with an interest in football and enough money to get us back to where we all think we should be. He's just the sort who could do that. He won't be everyone's cup of tea but I hate tea anyway

[brucie]

Agreed. I dont see the point of slagging prospective owners off on here. For starters we cant be too picky.

Noone really knows what impact a new owner will have but right now a couple of the names who have more than a passing interest in football would be a big improvement for me.

I'm just hoping there still are some potential investors. Saying there is no difference to our outgoing owner is quite frankly ludicrous.

[TommyGunn]

From the club website


Torquay United FC would like to provide its supporters with an update on the current situation at Plainmoor.

The significant number of goodwill messages and size of the donations received continues to astound everybody here at Plainmoor, and with every single Club employee directly affected by the recent events off the field, we cannot thank you all enough for all the support you have given us all.

Thanks to the continued support of the Yellow Army – and our friends from all across the local community and footballing world – the total donations received as of Monday 18th March had reached an astonishing £22, 455.69.

As a result of this, the Club can confirm that ALL player and staff wages have been secured and processed for the month of March, which obviously has come as a huge relief to all involved.

Every single penny raised has been, and will continue to be used, to help the club continue to function and fulfil its fixtures, and therefore we would like to wholeheartedly like to express our huge gratitude once more.

Thank you – each and every one of you.

[Taelee73]

So not quite all tits up.

£20k a month will see us able to pay all employees. We need as much money as possible from the last 3 home games to help us through to May. There must be someone who doesn't have the funds to buy us but could give us enough to keep going.

Also shows how much the snake Johnson (who I used to have a lot of time for) was on. Guy has no morals and should have taken a pay cut when we were relegated last season.

[CornishGull]

I know plenty about him as I did my own due diligence when he was interested in buying the club previously. I'm also close friends with someone who knows him personally. If you went purely on what fans say you'd come to the conclusion Mike Bateson was a charlatan when in fact he was the last person who had this club running sustainably at a much higher level than we find ourselves now. Angels don't make personal fortunes. People with questionable scruples do in abundance so we're not looking for an Angel, we're looking for someone with an interest in football and enough money to get us back to where we all think we should be. He's just the sort who could do that. He won't be everyone's cup of tea but I hate tea anyway

Totally agree with everything you say. Unfortunately Smurthwaite has walked away from buying a club because of negative comments from some fans (Wigan Athletic in 2020). We certainly don't need inane comments from some individuals sabotaging this club's future.

[gateman49]

From the club website


Torquay United FC would like to provide its supporters with an update on the current situation at Plainmoor.

The significant number of goodwill messages and size of the donations received continues to astound everybody here at Plainmoor, and with every single Club employee directly affected by the recent events off the field, we cannot thank you all enough for all the support you have given us all.

Thanks to the continued support of the Yellow Army – and our friends from all across the local community and footballing world – the total donations received as of Monday 18th March had reached an astonishing £22, 455.69.

As a result of this, the Club can confirm that ALL player and staff wages have been secured and processed for the month of March, which obviously has come as a huge relief to all involved.

Every single penny raised has been, and will continue to be used, to help the club continue to function and fulfil its fixtures, and therefore we would like to wholeheartedly like to express our huge gratitude once more.

Thank you – each and every one of you.

That is only part of the message, there is a lot more to read on the club website

https://torquayunited.com/supporter-update-20-03-24/

[The Great Muta!]

I know plenty about him as I did my own due diligence when he was interested in buying the club previously. I'm also close friends with someone who knows him personally. If you went purely on what fans say you'd come to the conclusion Mike Bateson was a charlatan when in fact he was the last person who had this club running sustainably at a much higher level than we find ourselves now. Angels don't make personal fortunes. People with questionable scruples do in abundance so we're not looking for an Angel, we're looking for someone with an interest in football and enough money to get us back to where we all think we should be. He's just the sort who could do that. He won't be everyone's cup of tea but I hate tea anyway

Interested to hear about your "due diligence" and the findings you found out?, what have you garnered from that?, being serious, I'd like to know...I did a bit of background research myself, and he sounds a nightmare, banning people,BS'ing his way whilst running PV, and accusing Vale fans of being racist....he sounds a complete numpty to be honest with you

[brucie]

I guess then you dont really know him at all so you are making assumptions. Maybe its best to see how the situation plays out.