stripe.ncfc wrote:

Caerleon Exile wrote:Did they do the same for us?

Agree with this.
Hope nobody put money in

Seems one of "the old gits" has escaped.

SJG99 wrote:

Amberexile wrote:Hartlepool are a basket case financially.

3 years ago the previous owners wrote off £14 Million of debt when offloading the club.
two and a half years ago the then owners were declaring the club debt free.
now it seems they are up to £1.8 Million in debt.
looks like they need a radical shake up in how the club is run.
I also believe their Trust tried to take over 3 years ago.

Geographically isolated and competing with 4 much bigger neighbours in Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Leeds, can't be easy for them. Also relegation to a level they've never been at and probably don't know what to budget for. Not to mention being stuck with some L2 contracts on Conference crowds.

Leeds? But notwithstanding that, none of that would have prevented the club from being run on a financially stable basis in the past. It just limits the expenditure capability but the owners over the last ten years or so have failed to accept this and their trust has been frustrated in their attempts at stopping it.
I genuinely feel for the fans, during my playing days I roomed with a Pools supporter while we had three Boro fans in the team. My point is what can the supporters do about it when successive owners run the club beyond its means and rack up debt?
To bring this back to County, this is what concerns me when I constantly hear people say that what we need is "investment" from businessmen. Hartlepools got plenty of that.

Caerleon Exile wrote:Did they do the same for us?

Did they do anything directly contributing to us having a significantly lower income?

Amberexile wrote:

SJG99 wrote:

Amberexile wrote:Hartlepool are a basket case financially.

3 years ago the previous owners wrote off £14 Million of debt when offloading the club.
two and a half years ago the then owners were declaring the club debt free.
now it seems they are up to £1.8 Million in debt.
looks like they need a radical shake up in how the club is run.
I also believe their Trust tried to take over 3 years ago.

Geographically isolated and competing with 4 much bigger neighbours in Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Leeds, can't be easy for them. Also relegation to a level they've never been at and probably don't know what to budget for. Not to mention being stuck with some L2 contracts on Conference crowds.

Leeds?

A bit of a reach admittedly, but when all of the others were second tier sides in the 70s some Hartlepool fans would have gone to Leeds.

Amberexile wrote: To bring this back to County, this is what concerns me when I constantly hear people say that what we need is "investment" from businessmen. Hartlepool got plenty of that.

No way of growing without investment, and investment from someone without business-driven thinking gets you Les-style "investment" which leaves a legacy of no improvement to infrastructure and struggling to cope with the pre-existing financial commitments.

As with all investment, it depends on motives, commitment and business sense/decision-making. Having sat through Southampton's fall and resurgence I've seen the perfect model for growth when you have business people able to back up their decisions with appropriate spending, but I'm not deluded enough to think that County will be as attractive or as lucky, a 32,000 capacity stadium, training ground and patches of land owned by Saints was a significant asset when they were bought from administration, and the rise through L1 and Championship came from outspending at that level (£1m for Rickie Lambert in L1 in 2009) and better scouting and youth development than their rivals - the number of Saints League One players from 2010 now in the Premier League is ridiculous, but you have to build that reputation, and it's more difficult with bigger nearby rivals for young players for a start.

SJG99 wrote:

Amberexile wrote: To bring this back to County, this is what concerns me when I constantly hear people say that what we need is "investment" from businessmen. Hartlepool got plenty of that.

No way of growing without investment, and investment from someone without business-driven thinking gets you Les-style "investment" which leaves a legacy of no improvement to infrastructure and struggling to cope with the pre-existing financial commitments.

As with all investment, it depends on motives, commitment and business sense/decision-making. Having sat through Southampton's fall and resurgence I've seen the perfect model for growth when you have business people able to back up their decisions with appropriate spending, but I'm not deluded enough to think that County will be as attractive or as lucky, a 32,000 capacity stadium, training ground and patches of land owned by Saints was a significant asset when they were bought from administration, and the rise through L1 and Championship came from outspending at that level (£1m for Rickie Lambert in L1 in 2009) and better scouting and youth development than their rivals - the number of Saints League One players from 2010 now in the Premier League is ridiculous, but you have to build that reputation, and it's more difficult with bigger nearby rivals for young players for a start.

The issue as I see it is that from the Trust's point of view is that under FFP rules, investment spent on players can only be achieved by buying shares in the club. Eventually the Trust would lose their control as the investors percentage of the issued shares increased.

Did anyone see these buckets

UPTHEPORT wrote:Did anyone see these buckets

Nope

By the way Hartlepools to Leeds is 77 miles and 90 minutes in a car (google)

Got my doubts about that one.