Smurthwaite-Norman

[midtable]

The freehold should never be given away. The standard practice is that the freehold is sold on to a parent company who then charge the club rent. It might be only 1000 quid a year to start with. However, if the club do well the rent always go up and if the club is sold on then parent company is split off so that the original owner can keep making money. In this case there is no evidence of Norman Smurthwaite trying to make money from Port Vale and there is precious little at Torquay. He can only invest if he sells Port Vale when he is likely to retire to South Devon. Hence, the interest in the club. Port Vale have loaned us 2 players. Devon rivals Exeter and Argyle have done nothing to help in terms of loaning players.