[Archived] Your John Williams

[Exiled in Toronto]

Rev, the asking price has nothing to do with it. BRFC could be sold for a quid, but the new owners would then be duty bound to sink tens of millions of pounds in to make any difference, for absolutely no return.

There is no such buyer out there.

I know it's one of your favourite hobby horses, but you really are flogging a dead one.

Surely its the Trustees who are flogging a dead horse rather than Rev? And at least Rev's occasional post does no harm, whereas the club having been publicly up for sale for the last 2 years must be a negative factor for anyone in 2 minds about joining us as no-one at the club can point to a forward strategy with any certainty.

[Tris]

Surely its the Trustees who are flogging a dead horse rather than Rev? And at least Rev's occasional post does no harm, whereas the club having been publicly up for sale for the last 2 years must be a negative factor for anyone in 2 minds about joining us as no-one at the club can point to a forward strategy with any certainty.

The Trustees are flogging a dead duck. That's why nobody is buying it. And how the hell are they ever going to sell it, if it's not public knowledge that it's up for sale???

[broadsword]

Looking at it from the buyer's perspective, unless he was a fan with millions he could afford to lose, why on Earth would he want to buy BRFC?

Imagine John Williams going onto Dragons' Den, what would his pitch be?

[Bazzanotsogreat]

I don’t really get the line, where people illicit the opinion that no prospective buyer would buy Rovers: as we could never be a profitable club. Well outside of probably Man U, Arsenal, Real & Barca - no club is truly profitable currently.

In any case, if a buyer was after an organisation to make a quick buck- then football clubs would be a near the bottom of the list, due to comparatively small profit margins, in comparison to mainstream business.

[philipl]

elicit.

illicit means something totally different!

All we can all be grateful for is the Trust did not sell to either Dan Williams or Chris Ronnie- both of whom would have put Rovers into administration about now given the content of their publicly announced plans at the time they were looking.

[John]

What is Dan Williams up to these days? Presumably being a "lifelong fan" he has been to Ewood a few times this season.....?

[philipl]

For such a "high-powered" chap, Dan Williams generates fewer google hits than most people I know!

The most recent coverage I found is this which is now two years old:

Sunday, January 13, 2008

All about Daniel Williams

Local football Web sites and blogs are currently (as of this weekend) abuzz with rumors that an announcement of Daniel Williams as the Rhinos' new investor is imminent, as in sometime this week. Some observers believe that it's actually going to happen this time, that it's the real deal. We'll have to see. I prefer to wait until the press conference is actually held and completed before I believe it.

Daniel Williams reportedly has very deep pockets, thanks to several ventures: EliteGraduateJobs.com, a Philly-based, high-level recruiting and placement service; QBFL, a New Jersey-based investment company focusing on early-stage companies and real estate; and OxbridgeJobs.com, a recruiting and placement firm for graduates of Oxford and Cambridge Universities (though I wouldn't think that Oxford and Cambridge grads would need any help finding jobs).

The native of Lytham St. Annes, UK, got his start in 1999 by launching OxbridgeJobs (he has two degrees from Cambridge himself), then apparently relocated to Joizee with QBFL. He also serves as an advisor to numerous companies, investment groups and other organizations, and he has a philanthropic side: He's president of Princeton Global Housing, which strives to provide housing to developing nations across the globe. (The group's Web site sates that the group "believes housing is a basic human right that should be afforded to everyone.")

Williams is also a big football fan, which is why many Rhinos supporters are keen on the guy. They cite his bid to purchase the Blackburn Rovers, a club in the English Premier League, as proof of both his devotion to the sport and his deep pockets. He's been a lifelong Rovers fan, so much so that he named another of his NJ-based companies, Nuttall Investments, after a street on which one of the Rovers' stadium is built. (I haven't been able to find out much about Nuttall Investments with a cursory Web search, but some sources say he created the firm specifically to purchase the Rovers.)

However, it doesn't look like the Rovers deal has actually gone through yet. There was flurry of coverage in the UK press in June, when Williams announced that he was putting together an investment group to buy the Rovers for a reported 67 million pounds. (That's roughly $131 million American, which would seem to prove that he certainly has deep enough pockets to help the Rhinos.)

In June it appeared as though Williams' purchase of the Rovers would go through pretty quickly. But it hasn't. According to a Sept. 13 report in the Lancashire Telegraph, the deal was initially pegged for completion by August, but Williams' other business ventures — including a proposal to build 300,000 new houses in Nigeria — had distracted him.

Those distractions became so heavy that several British tabloids speculated that his Rovers deal was on the verge of collapse. But in the September Telegraph report, Williams stated: "We are definitely still interested. We are still working behind the scenes to put everything together, and when we have done that, we will get back in touch with the club again."

He said his new goal was to have the Rovers deal completed this month.

So Williams isn't actually a football tycoon yet. While he's reportedly been negotiating with the Rhinos, he's also been trying to close the Rovers deal, as well as work on other business projects, including third-world housing.

The Telegraph article also clearly stated that Williams has "American-based partners" in the Rovers deal, which might indicate that he doesn't have enough funding by himself to buy the English team. Or it could just mean that he's found a bunch of other football-mad folks who want to own Blackburn as well. (However, those people are Americans, and how many American businesspeople other than Malcolm Glazer really care enough about British football to buy a team for any reason other than profit?)

There's been absolutely no reporting at all in the British press about Williams' possible interest in the Rochester Rhinos.

I'm also curious — not necessarily in a pessimistic way — why Williams would choose Rochester, of all places, and how he connected with Frank DuRoss and Steve Donner.

Is any of this cause for concern? Probably not. But before I buy into the notion that Williams' is the Rhinos' savior, I'd want absolute proof that he can provide enough money, time and interest to save the team.

Putting the businesses into Google he is linked with produced-

elitegraduatejobs.com expired on 11/20/2009 and is pending renewal or deletion. Popular Categories: Job Openings · Staffing Solutions ...

Rochester Rhinos: The team was declared insolvent in 2008 after defaulting on their stadium agreement, and PAETEC Park was seized by the city of Rochester. On March 20, 2008, it was announced that Utica businessman Rob Clark was purchasing the team, which would then be known as the "Rochester Rhinos," and that the 2008 Rhinos season would commence as scheduled.

The only hit for "QBFL, a New Jersey-based investment company" is the article copied here and I doubt even the most secretive of offshore investment companies would leave an internet trail as non-existant as QBFL.

OxbridgeJobs.com doesn't exist unless somebody has more luck than I had when you type in that URL.

Frank DuRoss and Steve Donner certainly exist but Dan Williams' name doesn't appear linked with theirs'.

...and the only reference to anybody from anywhere building 300,000 new houses in Nigeria is in the LT article about Dan Williams and the article copied above which quotes the LT. Perhaps not surprising when the web site of Princeton Global Housing www.princetonglobal.com yields... Bad Request (Invalid Hostname)

[RevidgeBlue]

A quick search on Google shows up Dan Williams Recruitment Consultancy which supposedly has various UK branches. He was supposed to be in this field at the time.

However I also suggested at the time that a site showing evidence of billion dollar housing contracts in the third world might be bogus - and there's ben no news since about these alleged developments to disabuse me of that notion.

[USABlue]

Easy that, if you mean I am, as in You are John Williams. If you mean your JW I can't help I don't have one. I know you've heard enough. Anyway. Like I said easy. "Sam, come in, sit down. Right, more entertainment, more goals, win some games or I'll have you replaced at the summer. Oh and in the meantime, cut back on the gum, we can't afford it and the trustees say it makes you look slutty on telly"

EAsy really, shape up or ship out.

[philipl]

A quick search on Google shows up Dan Williams Recruitment Consultancy which supposedly has various UK branches. He was supposed to be in this field at the time.

However I also suggested at the time that a site showing evidence of billion dollar housing contracts in the third world might be bogus - and there's ben no news since about these alleged developments to disabuse me of that notion.

He was a precocious kid wasn't he?

Probably a different Dan Williams the one we are talking about was 14 years old when Daniel Williams founded that sales recruitment agency in Exeter.

I could not see any evidence of the house building business two years ago and I still cannot now.

[RevidgeBlue]

Question for our American chums:

Did Dan Williams ever take over the American football team that he was rumoured to be doing? (Was it Rochester Rhimos?)

Even if he didn't, does he exist? Is he the ginger haired bloke in THAT photo?

[philipl]

Rochester Rhinos: The team was declared insolvent in 2008 after defaulting on their stadium agreement, and PAETEC Park was seized by the city of Rochester. On March 20, 2008, it was announced that Utica businessman Rob Clark was purchasing the team, which would then be known as the "Rochester Rhinos," and that the 2008 Rhinos season would commence as scheduled.

see the post 5 before your's

[cn174]

Question for our American chums:

Did Dan Williams ever take over the American football team that he was rumoured to be doing? (Was it Rochester Rhimos?)

Even if he didn't, does he exist? Is he the ginger haired bloke in THAT photo?

I've just had a look at the Rochester Rhinos website and he doesn't appear on the contact list. The CEO is someone called Rob Clark.

[RevidgeBlue]

Rochester Rhinos: The team was declared insolvent in 2008 after defaulting on their stadium agreement, and PAETEC Park was seized by the city of Rochester. On March 20, 2008, it was announced that Utica businessman Rob Clark was purchasing the team, which would then be known as the "Rochester Rhinos," and that the 2008 Rhinos season would commence as scheduled.

see the post 5 before your's

Yeah thanks I saw that.

I couldn't remember when DW was rumoured to be interested in that. I wondered if he had maybe taken them over and been the owner when they were declared insolvent before the new guy took over.

Back to your earlier post, if there is another earlier Dan Williams who is successful in the recruitment field that's a rather huge coincidence isn't it?

Further evidence our Dan was not who he claimed he was?

[PAFELL]

Rochester Rhinos: The team was declared insolvent in 2008 after defaulting on their stadium agreement, and PAETEC Park was seized by the city of Rochester. On March 20, 2008, it was announced that Utica businessman Rob Clark was purchasing the team, which would then be known as the "Rochester Rhinos," and that the 2008 Rhinos season would commence as scheduled.

see the post 5 before your's

Forgetting Dan williams, was there also a bloke called chaoudry (spelling) of who reportedly was interested in buying Rovers. What ever became of him.

[mellison24]

Forgetting Dan williams, was there also a bloke called chaoudry (spelling) of who reportedly was interested in buying Rovers. What ever became of him.

Aye, I know who you mean. His cousin was that lad Noorul Choudary who was @#/? on the Apprentice. I think that was just a passing rumour, like the sports bloke (was it Chris Ronnie or something?)