The Gaming International Files

[tomogull]

Almost makes you want Smurthwaithe back.

There are also persistent rumours that Peter Masters, current owner of Truro City, is still lurking in the shadows .......

[Dawlish Warren]

Here's a Hereford Times article from 2014:

http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/11334 ... nd_leases/

The important bit isn't about Jed McCrory. It's the section below. The BS Group is the old name of Gaming International and Clarke Osborne was a director of Formsole:

“Assigning the Edgar Street leases – one for 75 years on the ground and terracing to the west, the other for 33 years for the stand and parking area to the east and both dating from 1982 - was one of the last big deals done by the former Hereford City Council.

During the late 1990s, with United facing severe financial problems, the leases were reassigned to property developers in return for a £1m capital injection into the club.

The money was made available through two companies, the BS (Bristol Stadium) Group and Chelverton.

BS and Chelverton took equal ownership of a special purpose company called Formsole Ltd which made the investment and held the leases – as the tenant under both – with the club holding sub-leases.

By August 2001, BS had sold its “loan” to Chelverton which ran into trouble little over a year later when control of the leases passed to Carillion Richardson.

United still owed £1m plus interest to Formsole which stayed solvent when Chelverton went into liquidation.

The reassignment of the leases was supported by Herefordshire Council when it took control of the former city council’s affairs.

Getting the leases back was pitched as a political priority when the news broke in April 2010 that then United chairman Graham Turner and vice chairman Joan Fennessy were ready to sell their majority shareholding in the club.”

There's also another Clarke Osborne "stadium development" to consider. This was at Dewsbury. Look at the final paragraph of this:

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/BS+Group+ ... a060712053

This dates from 1998. Kirklees Council gave approval in 2002 but it’s unclear whether GI was still involved by then. There’s no greyhound stadium to be seen on Owl Lane, Dewsbury on current aerial photography.

[tomogull]

I have always had a nasty feeling that this whole Gaming International scenario had shades of Hereford United about it. Now for the first time as far as I know, we learn that the invisible and silent Clarke Osborne was a director of Formsole Ltd which was involved in the shafting of a good footbal club, Hereford United, very much like our own. Why are David Phillips and the Board even continuing discussions with these people? Are they so naive that they aren't aware of their past activities?

We are told there is a Plan B which presumably is Peter Masters. Surely he would be a preferred option than Clarke Osborne and his cohorts ? Steve Breed worked a minor miracle to save TUFC last season but it looks as if the club is in greater peril than ever. Kevin Nicholson has worked hard and made some good signings on a limited budget, but even he must be concerned about what is going on behind the scenes.

[Dawlish Warren]

Gaming International news from Poole.

Or, to be more accurate, Stadia UK as GI trades at the Poole Stadium where a revamp is on the cards:

http://m.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/146 ... e_Stadium/

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/ ... _football/

Poole Stadium is owned by Poole Borough Council and is leased by Stadia UK as a greyhound and speedway venue. Poole Town played at the stadium from its inception in 1933 until 1994. Speedway arrived in 1948; dog racing in 1961. Greyhounds ran until the track was removed in 1990. Then, after several years without racing, the greyhound company from Bristol – the BS Group (later to become Gaming International) – secured a long-term lease and re-commenced racing in 1994. Football ceased at the stadium soon afterwards. Part of the reason was the new dog track made the football pitch too small.

That led to a long and sorry decline for Poole Town as it played at various venues. It now plays close to the old stadium but, with promotion to National League South, the club's current facilities have become inadequate. Whilst there has been an on-off proposal to move to a site north of the town, the Stadium remains something of a “spiritual home” albeit one where a pitch would lie in the middle of dog and speedway tracks. Read the Bournemouth Echo reports and you'll see Clarke Osborne is adamant that football isn’t part of his plans for the stadium.

[Dawlish Warren]

Gaming International news from Swindon where the company has been working on the idea of a new greyhound and speedway track for the best part of ten years.

Here’s the latest from the Swindon Advertiser of 8 July 2016:

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news ... ety_fears/

The parish council is supportive but the fire service has raised a number of concerns. There has been a new track design submitted as recently as May 2016 together with other proposals regarding traffic flow. Gaming International runs the dogs at Swindon with the speedway team being independently operated. The speedway promoter sounds optimistic enough if slightly cautious:

“Basically it’s been a moving target for some time and it is in their [Gaming International] hands and not my call. I know building work is imminent and I’m confident next season we will be in it. I can’t wait for building work to start so we can get all the speculation out the way.”

[Dawlish Warren]

There are one or two misleading statements in the article below regarding ownership of Torquay United between 2007 and 2015. Nor does Gaming International still have stadiums in Reading and Milton Keynes (as actually becomes apparent later in the article). Yet it's an excellent read and a compelling overview:

http://twohundredpercent.net/torquay-united-going-dogs/

[tomogull]

As you are a new member to the Fans Forum, I don't know what your motives are for bringing all this information about Gaming International to our notice, but I thank you for doing so. Surely, surely David Richards and the Board members have thoroughly reseached Clarke Osborne and his shady (allegedly) business activities? Surely Mr Richards or a Board member has a sneaky look at what is being posted on the Fans Forums? Isn't it high time the now rather toothless Herald Express aka Dave Thomas put together an article about Clarke Osborne?

We should have nothing further to do with Gaming International. I believe that if we do, the club is going to be shafted. David Richards says there is a Plan B in place. Good. Let's go for it. It can't be any worse than what's on the table at present. My worry is that the club is so far in hock to Gaming International via a loan to keep the club afloat last season that we can't escape from their clutches.

[nickbrod]

For "David Richards" read Dave Phillips?

[tomogull]

For "David Richards" read Dave Phillips?

Ah yes, thanks. A senile moment !!

[gullpower]

The litmus test for any person or organisation interested in the club is the ground.

If they are interested in developing the ground in any way shape or form (apart from improving the playing or watching of matches) they do not have the clubs best interests at heart. This applies to Clarke Osborne and Peter Masters. (Or should that be "especially Peter Masters.")The board should walk away from the GI deal - or at least be glad when the 'Memorandum of Understanding' expires on the 31 July.

The only way to secure the future of the club and create a sustainable future is through fan ownership. Only the fans have the club's best interests at heart.

[Dawlish Warren]

Thanks for the acknowledgement, tomogull. My motivation can really be read between the lines of your post: frustration with the Herald Express for hardly saying a "dickie bird" and a nagging suspicion people at the club don't ask the right questions and too easily believe what they are told. Consequently basic factual information wasn't getting anywhere near supporters.

Much of the information on this thread (including the opening post; I had to reinvent myself after a mishap) has been gathered from the Companies House Beta site - https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk - where you can search by company or director name. "Filing history" leads to downloadable documents and you'll quickly see a list of previous trading names on each company's lead page. You would hope someone at the club is taking the trouble to use the Companies House site whenever there's the prospect of a new investor, director, shirt sponsor or whatever.

I fully understand the Herald Express operates in a more complex environment than any of us. They'll normally talk of "running it past the legal team" whilst being fearful of ruining their relationship with the club. Saying this the Hetald Express's reporting of Gaming International has been rather tepid. Each time I listen to one of the podcasts DT is saying "we know Gaming International runs speedway and greyhound tracks and does so rather well".

The Herald Express also told us Gaming International "manages stadiums and greyhound tracks in Japan". I've found no evidence of this; others may have been more successful.

What Gaming International did in Japan, hence its rebranding in 2001, was to become involved in electronic gaming parlours. Reading annual reports from the time it probably now wishes it hadn't bothered. There was plenty of optimism and enthusiasm to start:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2001/0 ... 4Ufctm9Kc1

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/busin ... 72623.html

Little more than three years later Clarke Osborne led a management buyout of Gaming International/Stadia UK. The pachinko venture had returned disappointing results; the company was again focusing on greyhound racing in the UK:

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Greyhound ... 0121642088

http://www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/d ... odeID=8949

Toklon, the vehicle for the buyout, remains the ultimate parent company of Gaming International:

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/05041914

If the deal goes through Torquay United faces the possibility of being a subsidiary of Plainmoor Ltd which, in turn, would be a subsidiary of Gaming International, itself owned by Toklon.

What if Gaming International kept the current board in charge of Torquay United AFC but appointed its own people on the board of Plainmoor Ltd?

What then, if it's legally possible, Plainmoor Ltd sold its shares in Torquay United to the football club directors for a nominal sum?

You would then have two separate companies with, assuming there is no legal obstacle, the possibility of Torquay United becoming the tenant or sub-tenant of a company to which it has no legal association. This is basically the speedway model whereby stadium operation and speedway promotion are usually separate businesses. Is this all possible? I don't know.

That's the speculation. I have no other information at hand for the moment.

[timmax]

Has anyone actually emailed/phoned eitherTUFC or the Herald with regards to any of the findings of GI previous past? I find it unbelievable that we are dealing with these people.

[PhilGull]

The litmus test for any person or organisation interested in the club is the ground.

If they are interested in developing the ground in any way shape or form (apart from improving the playing or watching of matches) they do not have the clubs best interests at heart. This applies to Clarke Osborne and Peter Masters. (Or should that be "especially Peter Masters.")The board should walk away from the GI deal - or at least be glad when the 'Memorandum of Understanding' expires on the 31 July.

The only way to secure the future of the club and create a sustainable future is through fan ownership. Only the fans have the club's best interests at heart.

Eh?
Obviously the first team performances on the pitch have to be number one priority but there is much work that can be done regarding the ground and possible relocation that could have massive benefits for the club in the future.

[tomogull]

The only thing we have learned from the AGM, apart from the fact that the Memorandum of Understanding has been extended until 31st July, is that Gaming International loaned the club £50,000 towards the end of last season as reported in today's Herald Express. If the deal falls through, that money has to be repaid of course. So in other words, Clarke Osborne and his crew has the club by the short and curlies .......

[Gulliball]

£50k could be raised though. Eunan O'Kane might go this summer and we get a few hundred thousand, a wealthy fan may put their hand in their pocket or the fans could come together to raise the money if it meant getting rid of property developers once and for all. If the first never happens then we would surely combine these last two to raise £50k if the board asks for help. Judging by their choice of buyer and the silence though, they've chosen their route and don't want any help from the fans.

Lose control of our ground and that's a sum we'd never be able to raise.