Blues Trust
Birmingham City Supporters Trust - An Independent Voice
Blues Trust
Birmingham City Supporters Trust - An Independent Voice
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Blues Trust
Birmingham City Supporters Trust - An Independent Voice
BCFC: The Deal Is Off
Paul Richardson has confirmed that the long running saga of his agreement to take over Birmingham City has now collapsed. It seems the long‑stop date for approval by the EFL has passed and whilst it could have been extended it has not been. This is because Maxco say they wished to amend the agreement to recognise the reduced value of the club in the event that the EFL investigation into the current owners’ shadow director results in findings that bring points deductions leading to relegation or hefty fines.
We hope to have more of the Background story for fans as other facts emerge, however in the meantime we call for the owners to make a statement about who the ultimate owners are and what their plans are for Birmingham City FC.
Blues Trust
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Time for Sullivan to make his move.
Does not surprise me that no deal was forthcoming it was always suggested that maxco didn’t really have the finance to complete any sort of deal ,I personally didn’t like the idea of the club being bought in bits it never seemed to sit ok ,I now hope the owners whoever they are make a statement and inform the fans of the club what is the situation regarding the club and the efl ,not a very good early Xmas present but not really shocked by the news let’s all get behind the manager and the players kro
Sadly this is not surprising. Last week I made a special visit to the ground to see for myself what progress was being made. Admittedly I did not forewarn the club of my visit, but the best I can safely and respectfully describe my experience can best be summed up by one of our valued contributors to one of my articles: he said he always ‘felt he was an inconvenience to the club’. My thoughts entirely. We will survive but it may take a lowering of leagues and perhaps a move down the A45 towards a club well run and deserving of loyal supporters.
No surprise there then ! This club needs a straightforward buyout , no bits and pieces , ( this bit now , that bit in two years ) a complete takeover, there’s your money we’ve got the lot now clear off !! Of course the problem is where do we get a sugar daddy from ? Someone is out there I am sure , in the meantime we now have to show why we are the best fans in the country, loud and proud ! KRO
False dawn after another and we now go into another round of theatre don’t we. Straight talking and honesty please.
Agree with you Mick – Think it may be easier to find a sugar daddy than persuade current owners to sell without a complex deal over a period of time (due to needing to keep HKSE listing) that many prospective new owners would not get involved with.
Something has been found out that’s why Lopez and Richardson tried to get a reduction in the purchase price but why Sports Holdings have refused to lower the asking price is beyond logic.l see trouble on the horizon unfortunately.
Totally agree about straight talking and honesty smithy but it has to come from senior officials we need to hear from the organ grinder and not the monkey
You will never get straight talking off this mob
Where do we go from here ?
What did due diligence uncover ? What problems were uncovered? I don’t suppose the prospective new owners would have wanted to have spent the time, trouble and considerable expense for the acquisition to end in failure.
Bill. you raise a very key point . With this investigation going on by the footballing authorities and the end result is punishment (heavens forbid) then maybe renegotiation is what Maxco felt was necessary. Who wants to buy a commodity that has hidden cracks.
Like many of my fellow contributors, l’m not totally surprised at this outcome. But will we the loyal paying customers of our club ever discover the truth. There has been lots of chit chat amongst the stands that PR/ML were maybe struggling to raise the capital to complete the deal. But it now appears evident that at some stage a major problem has been highlighted by the EFL. Quite frankly we do not know what our current owners have done to our club, who actually owns what. It’s a complete shambles, and has been since day one. The big fear is whatever the EFL has uncovered that a points deduction, big fines ect will have a massive effect. Trying to find some positivity to finish in, John Eustace has us playing really well, and for any prospective new owners that is a positive.
On the assumption that the EFL have uncovered irregularities by the current owners, and PR/ML have been made aware of possible future sanctions. Why is it yet again the loyal supporters who will effectively be punished.
Don’t the EFL have a legal obligation to oversee the running of our club, there quick enough to hand out fines and point deductions. Surely if that is the case they have a duty to state exactly what if anything has gone wrong, and why if they do impose sanctions. It’s the very least we deserve.
Not sure EFL have uncovered problems, more that they have not had answers to the questions they have probably asked regarding evidence that Wang Yaohui is a shadow director. Until the investigation is complete there is a possibility of sanctions, however In the case at Rotherham they punished the wrongdoers personally and were quite lenient with the club.
Good! We were always going to need the nightmare scenario of administration and the threat of being wound up. It’s going to take that before we can make a clean break and be attractive for a future owner.
A full and total clean out of the Augean stable is needed from top to bottom.
What happens to the stadium repairs? It was reported that the prospective new owners were involved financially with them and they have also, reportedly, been involved in financing the club too so they will probably still have some influence on the club’s future.
2 words: ‘thoroughly depressing’
Nowt left to do but pray for a wealthy knight in shining armour to actually see the potential of BCFC and buy the club, and all its ‘cracks’, in its entirety.
David Aldridge is correct. Total clear out needed. First port of call is for clarity why we have been led up the proverbial garden path. Shabana Mahmoud needs to ask that question. Direct questions are the only way and not pussy footing around with ‘easily hoping things are progressing ‘ and no news is presumably good news- it invariably isn’t. Should we get punished again by this EFL investigation then there is little hope to having any future belief in anyone currently associated with the club, emphasising the word currently. Speaking on our behalf in Parliament needs revisiting and if any rules have been contravined by this proposed takeover then we demand to know. Politely asking gets us nowhere and bamboozling figures of barmy noughts of debt likewise. Start afresh if needs be as David Aldridge says- we cannot be fed any longer with ‘promised land candy.
I can’t even begin to imagine the spaghetti of a mess the lawyers and accountants will have trying to unravel the total car crash. Maybe Cliff is right and the EFL will personally peruse the people who’ve not answered thr questions. that’s great for us as a club if that happens, but it still doesn’t rid us of these terrible owners and the under handed way they conduct business to the detriment of OUR club.
Surely if they are aware of issues that might inflict fines or points deducted, why not front up at the start. Any person with sound business acumen will inevitably find out. So maybe administration is a realistic alternative to getting rid of the current owners. We have very little value, we don’t even own the frigging ground anymore, again how can the EFL let that happen?? They’ve undermined the name of our club and city, they’ve taken the supporters for fools, and they couldn’t care less where we end up. Time again to put the tin hats on in Club Class, will be an interesting live game against Reading.
Yet another tawdry chapter in the history of our football club, with a deal that never quite smelt right from the start falling short. What a shambles. Another one.
Nobody comes out of this mess with any credit. Not the invisible and suspicious owners who seemingly have so much to hide. Not the impotent and barely competent puppets running the club on a daily basis. Certainly not the EFL who are supposed to be overseeing the game but do so behind a wall of silence and mystery. And not Maxco for stringing us all along for so many months with nothing in their pockets but a bit of loose change, relatively speaking.
That the actors in this farce got away with it for so long is purely down to the performance of the team which has, so far, exceeded all of our expectations. What a convenient smoke screen that provided.
Where to from here? I have no idea. But I do know that unless Blues supporters mobilise and come together with one voice there is no chance whatsoever of influencing the push for change and improvement.
I sincerely hope Blues Trust will be all over the club like a rash in the coming weeks, attempting, on our behalf as ordinary supporters, to understand what is going on and calling out the continued mismanagement of our club. And I hope Blues supporters will rise up and make their voices heard loudly. If we don’t, we deserve whatever comes our way next.