[Archived] where are the Walker family/trust?

[koi]

I don't think it's fair to lay too much of the blame at the Walker family, as said above apart from Jack the rest didn't really have an interest, and as for Howard, well I won't go on about it. It's those who ran the trust that anger me. I looked into who they were and they've all made serious money on the back of Jack Walker and what do they do..sell us down the river because to make a few quid. I've no doubt that if Jack would be absolutely furious at what's happened to the club he loved- built in fact. It all about the Benjamin's though and fk the rest.

[chaddyrovers]

does Dan Williams still attend Rovers games???

he was very close to buying rovers in 2007/2008

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

SG, I think you're correct re HW quote.

He still didn't give enough of a stuff to do owt though, did he?

The comment he made was odd and totally out of the blue..almost apologetic.

[RevidgeBlue]

does Dan Williams still attend Rovers games???

he was very close to buying rovers in 2007/2008

Did anyone ever ascertain whether or not Dan Williams actually exists?

I'm still not convinced it wasn't a wind up courtesy of a Burnley supporting acne faced computer geek school kid.

[darrenrover]

Did anyone ever ascertain whether or not Dan Williams actually exists?

I'm still not convinced it wasn't a wind up courtesy of a Burnley supporting acne faced computer geek school kid.

I think you're spot on with that Rev.

Father was a Burnley based solicitor if memory serves me correct.

[chaddyrovers]

Did anyone ever ascertain whether or not Dan Williams actually exists?

I'm still not convinced it wasn't a wind up courtesy of a Burnley supporting acne faced computer geek school kid.

both Andy Neill the LT reporter meet him and Alan Nixon did several articles on him.

plus surely JW/TF did confirm they had meetings with him and his meeting in 2007/8

[RevidgeBlue]

I agree with that Bryan, they've got their 30 pieces of silver and now they're looking the other way.

Re the motor car analogy, no you wouldn't take the car back if you had a flat tyre but if the engine blew up, the gear-box dropped out and the exhaust fell off you would.

You would take it back if you were the buyer.

If you were the seller I'd imagine the champagne corks would be popping at the thought you'd managed to offload a pup. You certainly wouldn't be going back round to the buyer offering them their money back because you felt sorry for them.

[perthblue02]

Hopefully all will come out one day regarding the process pre and post sale but wouldn't be surprised if there were certain parties making sure in various ways that this particular deal went through before anybody else stepped in for a piece of the cake. A hell of a lot of money to be made brokering deals with a future income stream in the offing.

Dan Williams also attempted to purchase some American sports team , rounders or whatever the dressing up in padding and bumping into each other game is called. Don't think that came off either think he disapeared shortly after that

Edit The American Team was Rochester Rhinos , a "soccer " team http://theoffsiderules.blogspot.com.au/2008/01/potential-blackburn-buyer-ided-as.html

[broadsword]

Whatever we feel is neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things. What's done is done, and nary a squeak was heard from the Walker Trust as we slipped down the leagues.

There's not really anything to discuss.

[RevidgeBlue]

both Andy Neill the LT reporter meet him and Alan Nixon did several articles on him.

plus surely JW/TF did confirm they had meetings with him and his meeting in 2007/8

There was an interview with someone purporting to be Dan Williams in the LT. I stand to be corrected but I assume it was done over the phone rather than in person.

I'm also trying to think back to what Tom Finn said at the FF about it. I got the impression there was quite a bit of contact but again I'm assuming it was over the phone not face to face.

[chaddyrovers]

There was an interview with someone purporting to be Dan Williams in the LT. I stand to be corrected but I assume it was done over the phone rather than in person.

I'm also trying to think back to what Tom Finn said at the FF about it. I got the impression there was quite a bit of contact but again I'm assuming it was over the phone not face to face.

no I think DW and his group came over and meet with Williams, Finn and Brown(walker;s trust rep on rovers board)

[Exiled in Toronto]

The point that has been missed in all this to my mind also relates to the Rovers Trust issue. We used to be a community owned club until Jack pitched in and made us a 99% one-man owned club, which we were all ecstatic about. Would we have been ecstatic or even happy if the Rao's had bowled up in the early nineties and bought out Bill Fox et al? I'm not so sure.

Personally I think, having taken us for the ride of our lives, the Walker Tust had a moral duty to return us to the pre-Jack kind of ownership, local fans, rather than pitch us into the unknown, using a highly questionable agent to conjour up buyers from the back of beyond. Jack Hayward, to his credit, didn't seek the biggest wedge possible when his ride was over, he sold them for a quid I believe to a fan.

Rovers had always been owned by fans until the Trust sold us to strangers from faraway with no love or knowledge of the game, let alone the club. And they did it for money they didn't even need or could p[ossibly spend in their lifetimes while thousands of fans are left heartbroken.

[John]

does Dan Williams still attend Rovers games???

he was very close to buying rovers in 2007/2008

Don't think he ever got close - seemed like a PR stunt at the time - typical Nixon sensationalised the story.

Think his African property projects, along with others, went bust did they not and he disappeared - there was something fairly suspicious about his so called interest, another 'life long fan'.

[Stuart]

The point that has been missed in all this to my mind also relates to the Rovers Trust issue. We used to be a community owned club until Jack pitched in and made us a 99% one-man owned club, which we were all ecstatic about. Would we have been ecstatic or even happy if the Rao's had bowled up in the early nineties and bought out Bill Fox et al? I'm not so sure.

Personally I think, having taken us for the ride of our lives, the Walker Tust had a moral duty to return us to the pre-Jack kind of ownership, local fans, rather than pitch us into the unknown, using a highly questionable agent to conjour up buyers from the back of beyond. Jack Hayward, to his credit, didn't seek the biggest wedge possible when his ride was over, he sold them for a quid I believe to a fan.

Rovers had always been owned by fans until the Trust sold us to strangers from faraway with no love or knowledge of the game, let alone the club. And they did it for money they didn't even need or could p[ossibly spend in their lifetimes while thousands of fans are left heartbroken.

+1

[DE.]

The point that has been missed in all this to my mind also relates to the Rovers Trust issue. We used to be a community owned club until Jack pitched in and made us a 99% one-man owned club, which we were all ecstatic about. Would we have been ecstatic or even happy if the Rao's had bowled up in the early nineties and bought out Bill Fox et al? I'm not so sure.

Personally I think, having taken us for the ride of our lives, the Walker Tust had a moral duty to return us to the pre-Jack kind of ownership, local fans, rather than pitch us into the unknown, using a highly questionable agent to conjour up buyers from the back of beyond. Jack Hayward, to his credit, didn't seek the biggest wedge possible when his ride was over, he sold them for a quid I believe to a fan.

Rovers had always been owned by fans until the Trust sold us to strangers from faraway with no love or knowledge of the game, let alone the club. And they did it for money they didn't even need or could p[ossibly spend in their lifetimes while thousands of fans are left heartbroken.

Can't argue with any of that.

The Walker family are financially set on the back of Jack's business. The least they should have done was protect the one thing he truly loved - Rovers. Instead they sold it to Indian chicken farmers and watched the club burn whilst they hide in the shadows counting their money.

IMO they're a disgrace and should be utterly ashamed of themselves.

[dave birch]

The point that has been missed in all this to my mind also relates to the Rovers Trust issue. We used to be a community owned club until Jack pitched in and made us a 99% one-man owned club, which we were all ecstatic about. Would we have been ecstatic or even happy if the Rao's had bowled up in the early nineties and bought out Bill Fox et al? I'm not so sure.

Personally I think, having taken us for the ride of our lives, the Walker Tust had a moral duty to return us to the pre-Jack kind of ownership, local fans, rather than pitch us into the unknown, using a highly questionable agent to conjour up buyers from the back of beyond. Jack Hayward, to his credit, didn't seek the biggest wedge possible when his ride was over, he sold them for a quid I believe to a fan.

Rovers had always been owned by fans until the Trust sold us to strangers from faraway with no love or knowledge of the game, let alone the club. And they did it for money they didn't even need or could p[ossibly spend in their lifetimes while thousands of fans are left heartbroken.

Without disagreeing with anything you say:

What are you going to do about it?

What can you do about it?

For all the bleatings on here, there is little that can be done outside some illegal activities.

As someone said, what's done is done. It can't be changed.

All that can be done is to keep up the pressure to see a change of ownership, or a change in approach from our current owners.

Until then we have just got to go with the flow, lie back and think of England.

[jim mk2]

The point that has been missed in all this to my mind also relates to the Rovers Trust issue. We used to be a community owned club until Jack pitched in and made us a 99% one-man owned club, which we were all ecstatic about. Would we have been ecstatic or even happy if the Rao's had bowled up in the early nineties and bought out Bill Fox et al? I'm not so sure.

Personally I think, having taken us for the ride of our lives, the Walker Tust had a moral duty to return us to the pre-Jack kind of ownership, local fans, rather than pitch us into the unknown, using a highly questionable agent to conjour up buyers from the back of beyond. Jack Hayward, to his credit, didn't seek the biggest wedge possible when his ride was over, he sold them for a quid I believe to a fan.

Rovers had always been owned by fans until the Trust sold us to strangers from faraway with no love or knowledge of the game, let alone the club. And they did it for money they didn't even need or could p[ossibly spend in their lifetimes while thousands of fans are left heartbroken.

When has Rovers ever been "owned" by the fans ? Please enlighten me.

[Rover_Shaun]

Not fans........a fan

[rigger]

I think the walker trust have bigger problems to worry about than BRFC. The engineering side of FLYBE looks in worse shape than we are.

[Exiled in Toronto]

When has Rovers ever been "owned" by the fans ? Please enlighten me.

Who do you think owned us before Jack? It was the combination of the directors - all fans - and quite a spread of the fanbase who had bought shares that were put up for sale in the Rally Round The Rovers days.

[jim mk2]

Perhaps Jack Walker should have put a clause in his will stating the club should be offered to local fans first in the event of a sale. Perhaps the Trust tried to find a local buyer but no one was willing or had the means to put up the cash - who knows ? The problem now is because of the cash they have put in Venky's will probably demand a significantly higher price than the club was available for 3 years ago.

[thenodrog]

I don't hold the Walker family or the trust at all responsible for the current mess. Jack was Rovers daft, the rest of the family had a passing interest, nothing more.

The trust sold the club in good faith as per Jacks instructions, to lay blame at their doorstep in bunkum in my opinion.

Correct. Not only that but given the state of professional football, the influence of various agents etc and the completely unreasonable expectations of spoon fed supporters they are better off out of the asylum. Credit to them for following the correct path. Jack would certainly not have wanted them saddled with this burden until the money runs out. Anybody who disagrees needs to consider that we paid a British record for Alan Shearer which is now a similar amount to what Danny Murphy 'earns' every bloody year!!! Have St's gone up? Have they @#/?! The world of football is mad beyond belief.

It's not often I call for threads to be shut down but this is one of them.

[funny-old-game]

Correct. Not only that but given the state of professional football, the influence of various agents etc and the completely unreasonable expectations of spoon fed supporters they are better off out of the asylum. Credit to them for following the correct path. Jack would certainly not have wanted them saddled with this burden until the money runs out. Anybody who disagrees needs to consider that we paid a British record for Alan Shearer which is now a similar amount to what Danny Murphy 'earns' every bloody year!!! Have St's gone up? Have they @#/?! The world of football is mad beyond belief.

It's not often I call for threads to be shut down but this is one of them

Towards the back end when we were still owned by the Trust, we batted above

our average without to much money being injected from the trust, the reason

being:-

Excellent leadership in John Williams, Tom Finn ect

Excellent Management in Big Sam

This was achieved using the Money from outside the Trust, (Sky's Money ect) for

long periods as the Trust withheld money for nearly 2 years at one point.

I agree Football has gone mad, but with the money increase from Sky last

season, Rovers could and would have survived without to much money from the

Trust and that money would have had little if no impact on the overall wealth

of the Walker family and we would not be having these heartbreaking

conversations about the Club I care so much far!

[Amo]

Whatever happened to the Benni McCarthy money?

[ABBEY]

Whatever happened to the Benni McCarthy money?

Leavers got paid what he owed them