[Archived] Rovers Might Have Been Sold?

[PAFELL]

I admit that I know nothing at all about legal matters, but some time ago now I was persudaded by a MB member on here to do a bit of research into how Trusts work and in particular Trusts made under Jersey Law (which is what Jack Walker did).

The results that I found were as you would expect very complex and (to me) virtually incomprehensible, but one thing I did learn was fairly clear, and that is that a Trust made under Jersey Law CAN NOT be changed or broken by any of the trustees. They are legally and duty bound to observe the tennants of the Trust, and if Jack did indeed stipulate that the club can only be sold to a new owner who is willing to meet ALL the criteria in the Trust Deed, then NOBODY can change that however much they may want to do so. Also under Jersey Law nobody except the Trustees and the Courts are allowed to know exactly what is in the Trust Deed. That is my understanding of a Trust made under Jersey Law. Can anyone confirm this or enlarge on it?

Does jersey law have any bearing in England. Jersey is part of the uk so is there a difference with law in Jersey and England. What takes precedent?

[Seggie]

No, which makes all this speculation pointless. A takeover could / would be disastrous for the club. Those welcoming it should be careful what they wish for.

The whole situation scares me shitless tbh, what we have now may not be the best but looking at Pompey and other clubs Id certainly prefer what we have. Also I bet we the supporters will no longer be treated as well by the club if it does change hands(Cheap season tickets etc).

I'd agree den I think Jack wanted more but I also don't believe he would have wanted the club taken over by the type of people who currently own / run PL clubs, Villa and Wigan being the exception.

Definatly, Lerner at Villa imo is the benchmark for what an owner should be. No fuss, lets his football manager do his job and funds the club.

[chaddyrovers]

Any updates nicko? Also any Russians or yanks interest in rovers? Would Dan Williams not be interest again at the price?

i would prefer a america owner somebody like Paul Allen.

[John]

How many games has the lifelong fan, Dan Williams, been to this season?

[chaddyrovers]

How many games has the lifelong fan, Dan Williams, been to this season?

Who knows????

I was just asking would he been interest now the price has drop alot now.

[incy wincy little spider]

yeah reading the newspaper article is interesting reading but reading certain comments on maple leaf some things really scare me

# The asking price has dropped to £25m.

# The Trustees are utterly disinterested and are now eager sellers.

seems as though they want rid at whatever price we have to make sure we make sure these guys who take on the club actually have enough money for transfers in the summer if they come in

The most interested party was not from Dubai, but Abu Dhabi. They have a long term philosophy of developing a club based on a core of experienced players, but also nurturing young players who could be sold on at a good profit.

the above statement says to me they want to do exactley what the trust have been doing so where's the gain in changing owners?

There is a bizarre thread on the Lancashire Telegraph messageboard referring to a plan to get 100 people to stump up £500K each. I'm sorry, I think I'm reasonably well connected amongst well-heeled Rovers fans and I can say with some certainty that is an absolute non-starter.

if all else fails amongst rovers fans that could be a good idea if there are 100 people willing to spend that much but I doubt there is

I wrote a new topic on a fans buyout and it got shot down pretty quickly.... Wonder if people still think it is such a bad idea now?

[Hughesy]

If the club have been offered to the Arabs as 2nd choice, then im not happy with that - sounds like we are just a toy, and Roschilds are simply trying to find which toy the arabs want.

If he's a genuine guy who just wants to be a success then fair enough...but no rash decisions please!

[47er]

If the sale price is as low as £25m as suggested I wonder if senior officials at the club have considered some sort of buy-out ?

After all, they are multimillionaires and presumably have the business contacts to raise the cash.

Its not the selling price thats the problem. If that were all there was to it I'm sure a collective number of Rovers fans could find that money. But then you have to find new money for transfers and wages. That's the killer.

On another point, why do people say" we're better off staying where we are, the trustees are doing a good job?' All the information points to the Walker family seeking to sever their financial connections with the club, apart from earning income as employees possibly. It simply isn't an option open to us. We are going to be sold and that's it.

Just out of interest. Why would they give us a penny? No seriously? Why should they? If you were a trustee of a major fund would you give money to Haiti, the Red Cross, tsunami victims, UK homeless, the Samaritans, or... er... Rovers with a $50m wage bill (?)

I presume what you are saying is they should give us a penny or a million or a billion pennies as this mythical Investment. Which, by the way, has precisely NO chance of ever returning without an asset strip. So who would Donate (er..none unless you are a bonkers millionaire rover) and who would Invest (er..none unless you are a ..oh.. I see).

There is such a concept as a "moral imperative" as opposed to a legal one. Its a concept that 90% of the British population fail to recognise, the Walker Trust among them. They inherited their wealth from Jack. Jack wouldn't want to see us down the drain.

[Blue n White Rover]

Nothing will happen. We are Blackburn Rovers, we will continue to buy cheap and sell big. We may not have the power of the Chelsea's and the City's but what we do have right now is a properly run club. A club that was built by Uncle Jack and a club that still lives long in the memories that was bought to us by him.

Just leave the club how it is!

[modes98]

Is the any interest in buying the club from the United States or Russia????

Here a couple of people who might be interest in buying the club? ( not saying they will be but might be interest at the right price)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen

Any updates nicko? Also any Russians or yanks interest in rovers?

i would prefer a america owner somebody like Paul Allen.

If your post isn't replied to straight away there is no need to ask again a few hours later making exactly the same point.

I think there was an interest from america at one point but any takeover is along way off, relax and enjoy the ride. Then complain when we have got an owner who doesn't care.

[Blue n White Rover]

If your post isn't replied to straight away there is no need to ask again a few hours later making exactly the same point.

I think there was an interest from america at one point but any takeover is along way off, relax and enjoy the ride. Then complain when we have got an owner who doesn't care.

Or in the most likely case...Complain when we have the same owners

[Hughesy]

Its about time a rich 'fan' stepped forward....any rovers fans out there with money?

If not, get buying your Euro lotto tickets!

[TimmyJimmy]

Its about time a rich 'fan' stepped forward....any rovers fans out there with money?

I imagine that was firmly tongue in cheek Hughesy nevertheless it is an interesting thought.

a] It's not going to happen because whilst there are a number of rich'ish Rovers fans out there I doubt you'd find one with the concentration of wealth required to do this.

b] The alternative suggestion of several moderately well off supporters banding together to do the job - this wouldn't work, full stop. I'm a man with a few quid in the bank so I might qualify, yet I know from running a number of businesses that you don't get anywhere trying to run things by committee. In my experience successful firms have one driven powerful decision maker at the helm. Several smaller investors would all want their say and that would be unworkable. The only exception would be finding people who have sufficient wealth to see it as some sort of 'donation' and not want to play a part in running the club ... but then that falls into camp a] above, so we end up with a circular argument.

c] Clearly the Trustees don't want us (I think this is an understatement). A natural reaction might be - hey it's not your money it's Jacks, you did nothing to earn it so wind your necks in and honour the spirit of the great man's vision - but that's not the way it works is it. The folks who now have their hands on the money want out, all further commentary is irrelevant.

d] Is it better to fight tooth and nail to hang on to a partner who hates the sight of us and is desperate to move on to something new, or is it better to move on ourselves and accept that the new situation is not of our making and whilst we would wish it otherwise it's the way it is and a new path awaits us - for better or worse.

As I see it, it's time for everyone to move on, what we have is not working. There is no one with enough cash (locally) to buy us and our current 'partners' hate us and have turned off the taps. We are left with a choice of one from one because staying as we are is not really an option. Time to accept that we are going to be bought as someone's business opportunity - which is in itself a tough sell - so the price has to be reduced to near zero to make it attractive. Some guy who is totally disinterested in the club will buy us to pad out his portfolio.

Is this a bad thing, well I guess no one seeks out or looks forward to these kinds of situation but we're here so let's get on with. AS LONG AS THE NEW GUY BUYS US WITH HIS OWN CASH and doesn't borrow secured on OUR assets then we cannot be any worse off. At the very least he will have made a positive decision to buy us as opposed to the Tust who had us forced upon them.

[Craigman]

I wonder if there was a clause that after 10 years the club could go for pittance and that is why they are desperately looking for a new owner ?

[Bobby G]

Two years ago I was desperate for a takeover. Now having seen some of the disaster stories, I am leaning towards no takeover. Ideally you want a British group taking over rather than a foreign one, even if they arent fans.

People are talking about Villa but you should know that they have huge debts too, and there are mumblings of sell before buying for this coming summer.

I wish there had been some sort of local interest in the club, but with a town like ours, how many billionaire Rovers fans are there out there? Not a single on I would hazard a guess.

Its a bit of a critical juncture and I hope that the board and JW in particular do the right thing for the club and dont let us go into oblivion like so many other clubs before us.

Its very obvious that there wont be any money to be made out of our club, so someone has to want the "joy" of owning a club, someone like Abramovich.

[Hughesy]

Id rather we continued our natural progression under Sam & the current owners (at least they dont get involved) than have some half-arsed dodgy arab who is only interested for 12 months like the guys who have been involved at Pompey.

[Billy Castell]

I doubt we'll be taken over. Our strict critera frightens off most people, which is probably a good thing after seeing Pompey, and those who do fit the criteria are probably the sort who want to make money out of a club than be a Walker/Abramovich style of owner.

I'll believe this UAE nonsense when Sheikh Djibouti Al-Green is at Ewood watching the game.

[ABBEY]

more chance of getting a milk shake

[47er]

Id rather we continued our natural progression under Sam & the current owners (at least they dont get involved) than have some half-arsed dodgy arab who is only interested for 12 months like the guys who have been involved at Pompey.

You would but they wouldn't.

[MeanGreenMachine]

IF the Trust want rid of the club how about making a gesture of Jack Walker magnitude and offering the club to the fans, their ties get totally cut and they can continue knowing the fans would be eternally grateful?

Each fans receives one share per season ticket purchased, and the fans vote for a ‘president’ to work alongside John Williams (who should also receive a bulk share imo).

I have no idea how to work it but it’s a nice thought!

[LeChuck]

IF the Trust want rid of the club how about making a gesture of Jack Walker magnitude and offering the club to the fans, their ties get totally cut and they can continue knowing the fans would be eternally grateful?

Each fans receives one share per season ticket purchased, and the fans vote for a ‘president’ to work alongside John Williams (who should also receive a bulk share imo).

I have no idea how to work it but it’s a nice thought!

And the money for investment comes from where? What happens if we get relegated?

[T4E]

And then we fund the club how, exactly? You're basically suggesting that the only people with any sort of money to invest in the club walk away, giving it over to..........no-one.

Yeah, thats a really nice thought. See you in the conference.

[MeanGreenMachine]

Fan owned clubs work on the continent, its an option.

[LeChuck]

Fan owned clubs work on the continent, its an option.

That really doesn't answer any of the questions raised. It would be suicide.

[BlueWhiteDynamite]

MGMs theory is how every football club should be run. Just like all other businesses.

The theory of you can only spend what you have and investments come from profits. unfortunatly the players take such a huge chunk of the income that most clubs lose money (how many businesses in the world do that!) leading every football club needing a rich 'investor'. Using the term investor does not seem right as an investment should make money though.

so in a perfect world, yes its the way forward, unfortunatly the people currently playing the game are taking away the sustainability part of the business and the 'sector' and are putting the game at risk.