I think my view 'hardened', if that is the right phrase, when the season ticket system was announced with no encouragement/incentive for early payment other than bagging your existing seat which imho is not that strong in the current predicament given that about 5000-7000 season ticket holders havent turned up anyway.
I cant quite reconcile the need for working capital now under the Crown Jewels sell off with the fact that season ticket revenue could come in dribs and drabs at a time when the club is desperate for both maximising and establishing what the revenue is likely to be. Why this season of all have they deviated from the previous policy.
I may have missed something and clearly dont have all the facts of the business but it just seems odd.
Can't put my finger on why I find the training ground business unsettling: but as Han Solo said, 'I've got a bad feeling about this' . It didn't help being stuck in a traffic jam outside Wimbledon's old Plough Lane ground yesterday and seeing 3 or 4 large blocks of 'luxury apartments' standing there. An unfriendly Council, relaxed planning regs, a determined developer , and a piece of prime building land is a dangerous combination and a lot can change in 20/25 years. Where we live we see the constant erosion of the Green Belt and the development of land that at one time was sancrosanct so perhaps it's that making me feel uneasy. But it would appear to be money in the bank so I'll try and think positively about things, at least for now!
For me it's bad news but as I said earlier not unexpected. Why is it bad news? Well twofold really: -
1. It's a tangilble demostration of the extent of the lack of working capital in the club due to the huge revenue drop off
2. The money available from Murray and Hatton to put into the club is not cash from the back pocket of playboy millionaires but has had to be trawled out of money that they have stuck somewhere else, i.e trust funds or pension arrangements. This shows that they really do not have a bottomless well of money on which to draw. I wonder how much more might be available?
On the other hand they haven't sold them off to Rackmanesque property sharks. It is "in house" and the club has buy back options.
On balance, I think it's the least worst case scenario.
Comments
I cant quite reconcile the need for working capital now under the Crown Jewels sell off with the fact that season ticket revenue could come in dribs and drabs at a time when the club is desperate for both maximising and establishing what the revenue is likely to be. Why this season of all have they deviated from the previous policy.
I may have missed something and clearly dont have all the facts of the business but it just seems odd.
1. It's a tangilble demostration of the extent of the lack of working capital in the club due to the huge revenue drop off
2. The money available from Murray and Hatton to put into the club is not cash from the back pocket of playboy millionaires but has had to be trawled out of money that they have stuck somewhere else, i.e trust funds or pension arrangements. This shows that they really do not have a bottomless well of money on which to draw. I wonder how much more might be available?
On the other hand they haven't sold them off to Rackmanesque property sharks. It is "in house" and the club has buy back options.
On balance, I think it's the least worst case scenario.