Another chance to bang the drum for a supporters buy out of at least 50% + 1 shares (The German round ball League model).
If we envisage the club ever buying the stadium the last thing we want is a Sugar Daddy buying it with loans that can be withdrawn in a heartbeat, bankrupting the club (sound familiar?).
If the supporters own the majority voting rights we would at least have a say in whether a purchase should go ahead and under what conditions (payback over x years and such).
In the meantime we could make use of the many micro-sugar Daddies in Widnes and, who knows, we might be able to fund a full time team ourselves.
We don't have enough supporters for a credible 50+1% buy out.
That's why we are where we are.
Yet the club wouldn't exist without the fans contribution / fundraising during administration.
Correct.
Unfortunately, there's a big difference between simply just surviving and showing ambition.
We have more than enough money to survive, but Championship Rugby is all we can realistically hope for without further significant investment.
Another chance to bang the drum for a supporters buy out of at least 50% + 1 shares (The German round ball League model).
If we envisage the club ever buying the stadium the last thing we want is a Sugar Daddy buying it with loans that can be withdrawn in a heartbeat, bankrupting the club (sound familiar?).
If the supporters own the majority voting rights we would at least have a say in whether a purchase should go ahead and under what conditions (payback over x years and such).
In the meantime we could make use of the many micro-sugar Daddies in Widnes and, who knows, we might be able to fund a full time team ourselves.
We don't have enough supporters for a credible 50+1% buy out.
That's why we are where we are.
Who says we don't have enough supporters? From what I've read, on here I think, the club was rescued from oblivion by three die hard supporters who do not have the funds to take the club to the next level. If their hearts and heads are behind Widnes progressing they might give a supporters organisation the shares at no cost, to protect the club from the sorts of sharks we've been owned by before. Alternatively, they may allow that body to buy the shares for the price they paid for the whole club, thus getting their money back and leaving them with 50%-1 votes to sell to a sugar daddy, should one ever appear.
Also on here it was suggested that VIQI is sitting on £200,000 to £250,000, and that would be well more than I'd imagine the owners paid for the club. We couldn't use that money, but it shows what us supporters can do when we put our minds to it. I would certainly be willing to transfer my monthly VIQI contribution to a supporters trust.
If we had enough supporters, we wouldn't be running the club with a skeleton staff & playing with a part time squad.
Going part time may well save the club a lot of money, but it effectively kills any ambition we have.
Unless we get a significant financial injection, we're stuck where we are.
One final point...
A lot of sugar daddies don't want Supporter Trust involvement, the 50+1% scheme might actually put buyers off.
I’m just thinking back in time and wonder if someone might be able to clarify how and when the council ended up owning the stadium anyway?
I’m pretty sure it was at one period of administration or another but unsure which. Was it after the development of Naughton Park, but before 4G?
I think it was sold to the council in 2 stages, some in 1995 the rest in 1999. Both times to pay bills/debts off. It was re-developed in 1997, a joint effort of club and council. I don't think we ever actually entered administration during the lean periods in the 90s.
The fake pitch is a 2010s thing isn't it?
@gpo1971 I think the official line was that the first phase was described as a ‘partnership’ but that was scrapped in ‘99 because it wasn’t working so the club sold out to the council. As you say GPO in reality it was us getting rid of our debts and also running costs we couldn’t meet.
When it was rumoured that Luke Backhouse and/or Marwan Koukash looked at buying the club the 2 things that put them off were the debt at the time which no longer exists and the Stadium rent/ money making possibilities. HBC cannot be in a very string negotiating position. We are there only viable tenant and basically without Widnes Vikings the stadium is worthless.
Yes they could dell the land off but its not exactly Upton Rocks so would most likely attract social housing and the prices that attracts. If there is ever a money man wanting to take over a club with passionate but fickle fans the time is now at Widnes. Clear out the CEO etc and put in someone who knows how to run a business rather than an ex school teacher who seems totally out of his depth if we are to progress.
When it was rumoured that Luke Backhouse and/or Marwan Koukash looked at buying the club the 2 things that put them off were the debt at the time which no longer exists and the Stadium rent/ money making possibilities. HBC cannot be in a very string negotiating position. We are there only viable tenant and basically without Widnes Vikings the stadium is worthless.
Yes they could dell the land off but its not exactly Upton Rocks so would most likely attract social housing and the prices that attracts. If there is ever a money man wanting to take over a club with passionate but fickle fans the time is now at Widnes. Clear out the CEO etc and put in someone who knows how to run a business rather than an ex school teacher who seems totally out of his depth if we are to progress.
ignoring the attempted belittling of one of the present board, and school teachers everywhere, who would be the person or persons to replace the current management ? Isn’t the fact that there is nobody willing or even interested in taking it on the problem ?
If the land was redeveloped perhaps it could be turned into a shopping centre, or retail park or an entertainment centre entertainment - building houses is only one option.
The time may well come in the not too distant future when the rent that we pay to the council can’t be met or the level of revenue generated for the council from match days etc doesn’t meet their running costs. Who knows, that might well have happened a couple of years ago without the current board. So, having shown there is a problem, what would your proposed solution be and how would we implement the solution ?
The stadium is far from worthless its very busy six days a week.
Time to move on and bore yourself with another ridiculous idea 💡
No belittling of any board member or school teachers intended.....just not a natural job route into the day to day running of a multi million pound business.
If I had the answers I wouldn't be working 37 hours a week in an office.
I think some form of fan involvement is needed in conjunction with business experience. The fans through VIQI and the campaign led by a young female fan put more into the club than any director and deserves recognition in the decision making. I know VIQI through Jason have a member on the board but surely as the biggest investor it should carry more weight in the decision making process. I don't know much about the chairman but have been trained by Roger Harrison and met Rod Steele through friends. All genuine Widnes fans who risked their own money to save the club so I wouldn't put their efforts down. I just hope there is somebody else wanting to step on board to help out as well to add a bit more cash.
We all want the best for this club but I feel we haven't reached the bottom yet. Our past success makes fans greedy and having watched the best of the 70s and 80s I can't get exited or enthusiastic about terrible performances away at Newcastle and York. I do feel without a rich benefactor the best we will ever achieve is a mid table Championship team and that prospect doesn't excite me.
To quote James "If I hadn't seen such riches I could live with being poor"
When it was rumoured that Luke Backhouse and/or Marwan Koukash looked at buying the club the 2 things that put them off were the debt at the time which no longer exists and the Stadium rent/ money making possibilities. HBC cannot be in a very string negotiating position. [b]We are there only viable tenant and basically without Widnes Vikings the stadium is worthless.[/b]
Yes they could dell the land off but its not exactly Upton Rocks so would most likely attract social housing and the prices that attracts. If there is ever a money man wanting to take over a club with passionate but fickle fans the time is now at Widnes. Clear out the CEO etc and put in someone who knows how to run a business rather than an ex school teacher who seems totally out of his depth if we are to progress.
Likewise, the stadium is the only viable home for the rugby club.
Council are in a strong position. They own the stadium. They can make money off it if Widnes don't play there, whereas Widnes have got nowhere else to play if they don't play there.
What the council don't want to do is sell to an individual who might then sell the ground off in the future or hold the club to ransom and threaten its survival in the future; something that's happened in football particularly.
Ultimately, think it looks like we'll be staring at the similar path forged by Halifax over the past decade or so - half decent Championship team but next to no chance of returning to SL.
@jdgsport that’s why a temporary ownership of the stadium with a buy back agreement would be a good idea
purchase stadium for 15 years for £1m and maybe an agreement to allow the council to purchase back for same price plus 10% to allow for inflation
I'm sure our mad French passionate baguette banging Pascal could save up some of his punting tokens to put a bid in 🤣 🤣🤣 🤣
I'm sure our mad French passionate baguette banging Pascal could save up some of his punting tokens to put a bid in 🤣 🤣🤣 🤣
Working on the exclusive Pinkies to help out. Done enough porn sets lately just working on my boss to invest in Widnes. Rather than Gold seats a box hired with hot women to bring more fans to the game. 😛🔥👍🥖🥖🥖
I'm sure our mad French passionate baguette banging Pascal could save up some of his punting tokens to put a bid in 🤣 🤣🤣 🤣
Working on the exclusive Pinkies to help out. Done enough porn sets lately just working on my boss to invest in Widnes. Rather than Gold seats a box hired with hot women to bring more fans to the game. 😛🔥👍🥖🥖🥖
Rock on our horny Frenchman 🤘send finningan to pinkies will ya
We need an only fans account