snorbens_caleyman

At the back of my mind all through this has been the thought that the club's failure to engage more with the local community - especially in recent years - may have the consequence that few people in a position to do anything about this will actually lift a hand to do so. Yes I know that there are women's and youth teams, the Community Trust, and so on. But we've also upset local businesses with the concert company shambles, we're at loggerheads with the Council over the battery park, we were going to move the first team to Kelty.... Just how many would be bothered - would even notice - if the club disappeared?

Great number on the Ford beside the Capri - "R60 World Rally Championship". Across the pond again today. The number plate tells us that it's a 1955 Chevy Bel Air. The bloke in the purple top in the second photo reminded me of the ageing Jimmy Greaves

That's basically how I feel about it, too. But, regardless of whether the ground is in the freeport area or not, I still have a nagging question. If that's what he (or his backers) want to do, why take over a loss-making football club with a stadium that would have to be rebuilt or bulldozed? There's plenty of empty land to the south-east with the same geographical advantages, apart from not having such a nice view of the bridge. Surely he could persuade the Council to make some of that available. Would it cost that much to instal new infrastructure - roads, water/sewage, power, etc? Would it really be cheaper to redevelop the stadium than start from scratch? I note that Hayes and Yeading FC is in west London, very close to the M4 running east-west, and very close to Heathrow airport. Extremely useful if you wanted to develop a new business other than the football club. Anyone know which other clubs - there should be five more - he has (supposedly) failed to take over?

That's more or less what I was thinking. What was the status of the land before the stadium was built? Apart from having a traveller camp on it. That reminds me, does Makwana know that his club comes with a curse on it?

How often will we see you at matches?

With a surgeon and a vet there, the question remains - why do we always have so many injuries? And, as I said earlier, what do they know about running businesses of the scale of Caley Thistle? I also note that Thomas is "Interim" Chairman, which probably means that he - and the others? - will be offski once Mr Phygital takes over.

How many of them ran/run businesses of the scale of Caley Thistle?

I wouldn't want to be sitting next to him when he gets phygital

Last of the Fords for now - a Ford Coupe from 1935 or 1936, and then a 1937 Ford Cabriolet.

Utterly brilliant takedown, but really just saying what we are all saying. Can we co-opt Zealand onto the board of the Supporters Trust? My wife tell me that to set up an equity fund, Makwana has to obtain a licence. He needs to pass exams to show that he has the knowledge to run such a fund. And he presumably also has to show a past record of financial success and probity - which might be a bit difficult!

Must get new specs. I read that as "Buckie up"!

Another classic Ford - a Consul Capri from the early 60s. And then an old Vauxhall Velox from the late 40s or early 50s. We used to have a 1953 one in black, and I'm guessing that the one below isn't in its original colour.

Last week saw the annual Classics on the Common event in Harpenden, just up the road from me. https://www.classicsonthecommon.com/ - have a look at their gallery of pictures from last year - they are great! The usual mixture this year - everything from old Bentleys to Fiat 500s to modern day McLarens. This year there seemed to be more cars and more attendees than usual, which can only be a good thing. We'll start off with the familar - a Cortina which must be owned by a Jags supporter, and a beautifully-presented Anglia.

"We were obviously much stronger in the second half. Sets us up well for the league.".

If only we played with a blockchain.

Half-baked?

4-0 after 29. What's our worst ever defeat?

That'll convince Mr Makwana's investors

I'm not disputing any of this. But if that's the intention, then I don't understand why it has to be based around the football club. There is plenty of unused land to the south-east, on the sea side of the A9 all the way to the A96 junction. Admittedly, a lot of this is land that was reclaimed in my lifetime. It used to be the tip, so I don't know if it's useable, or if there are toxic chemicals and/or methane in the ground. But it would offer the same geographical advantages as the stadium side - proximity to the A9, A96, the town centre, and not far from the airport. So why not just build there? Unless the Council has said "We'll let you do that if you rescue the football club."?

And here's what I wrote on the 5th of June https://caleythistleonline.com/topic/36262-kelty-is-this-a-joke-merged-thread/page/33/#comment-566433 "Turn ourselves into a global soap opera on the internet. "See the plucky Highlanders' fight for survival!". Regular update episodes, and global pay-per-view of matches. Spin-offs and merchandising. Prequels covering the past 30 years. Everyone's heard of the Loch Ness Monster, so feature Lionel Nessie heavily. Get written into the Outlander TV series. Only need to hook 1 person in a million to get 8,000 subscribers. Yes, I know, we'd need to finance a production company, scriptwriters, marketing.... I'll stop now before I start believing this stuff "

Without going back to check the quote, I would assume that he means the people whom he has lined up - or hopes to line up - to invest in his "venture". That's his business model, isn't it? Get others to invest - presumably they get tax relief for investing in a venture capital scheme - build up a company, and then get out, with everybody, including him, recovering their original investments together with handsome profits. In theory this should leave a healthy company - ICTFC in this case - but, as Scotty pointed out yesterday, this isn't always the case. And removing the investments could finish off the business. Interesting that he is looking to set up a venture capital fund this year or next. These are generally regarded as high risk/high return, and often make relatively small investments in many new businesses, on the assumption that most of them will tank but one or two will bring in massive profits. One interesting point is that ICTFC is not, by any definition, a "new" company. I don't know what the rules are around venture capital investing, but it does tend to be associated with new companies. This would suggest to me that he intends to set up a new company associated with the club - either by liquidating the current private limited company and transferring its assets to a new company, or by setting up a new company of which the football club is a subsidiary. We live in interesting times....

"A few months" and "8 weeks" are not, in my book, the same thing

Well, if the "new owner" has made a considered decision to keep Gardiner on, that'll get you off to a good start But the truth has to be smoked out, somehow.

I had looked it up too. To be fair, that photo is over 12 years old, and tells us nothing.

So they are selling the club to a venture capitalist? And what's the first thing that a venture capitalist does when they invest in something? Why, of course, they start planning their exit strategy - how they are going to get out and extract as much money as possible whilst doing so. Like others here, I have had a quick look at Companies House and at their (very minimal) website, and I'm not impressed. I'm not a financial person, but doesn't the most recent thing at Companies House - 28th June, Registration of a Charge - mean that they are receiving a loan from a company based in Jersey (so forget any investigation of that!) and putting up a lot of their assets (what are they?) as security for the loan? Of course, this might be nothing to do with ICTFC - but it makes me very nervous. I look forward to the new owner explaining to the other shareholders where his money is coming from. And I just can't understand why he should be interested in a small football club in a remote part of the country. We shall see.....