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Guardian Article - The troubled past of Charlton Athletic's decisive new owners

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Comments

  • I'm actually sort of with AFKA on this one. Although as Henry points out there is no evidence to support Cash being involved I believe given that there is real doubt that either Slater and Jimenez carry the necessary necessary financial clout to be in control without a backer then certainly Kevin Has emerged as a frontrunner or at the very least a credible candidate if only by the fact that it is now very clear that there are close business and personal links between the parties. No other candidates have come close to emerging as being involved and I believe the fact that the holding company is registered in the Virgin Islands is very telling. Only time will tell but in the absence of concrete evidence I think KC is at the moment the most likely source of money.
  • Can someone just explain to me the point of someone owning a football club, of which you're never going to make any money out of and not wanting anyone to know you own it?

    Surely the only reason people buy a club, unless it's one they've supported since a child, is for the status?
  • I'll be slightly nervous up until the point where they've spent more money on the team than they could possibly recoup from redeveloping The Valley.
  • He might be the money man behind the club but it doesn't mean that he will spend his own money, he can just guarantee the money borrowed can't he? If this is the case I can see why there is the concern.

    He could spend/gamble £10m on assembling a decent team, whilst losing large sums in operating costs a la Portsmouth/Cardiff. Not many chairmen/owners out there that spend their own money is there? He could just have the clubs assets as the guarantee to borrow money to 'invest' and he's got a 'no-lose' gamble.

    The team could still stuck in L1/Championship and meanwhile the debts could rack up into £20m+. Cash could walk away from the club with all debts guaranteed to The Valley (and former directors) etc and he's only spent £2 and leaves without losing any credibility because he hasn't declared himself a director.

    I know little about business and running a football club but am I right to be a bit concerned or am I talking nonsense???

    Of course if this money gets us into the Premier League I'm sure that all the shareholders will come out of the woodwork to take the acclaim and everything is rosey!.
  • [cite]Posted By: BigRedEvil[/cite]I believe there is some backer there (just a hunch no inside info)

    And Kevin Cash has been mentioned as being the man. From what I've read about him he likes to keep himself out of the spotlight.
    CAFC Holdings Limited, "a company managed and controlled in Switzerland", though its registration is held in the offshore tax haven of the British Virgin Islands.

    I would say its FACT that there is a mystery backer as we don't know who owns 40% of the club.
  • Not sure either Murray or Varney would be involved if the whole investment was as much of a gamble financially as that. One thing is certain and that someone owns it and If it is solely Slater and JImenez then it could well be a very long term project involving reliance on an awful lot of luck. We don't seem to get much luck these days.
  • I reckon the finance is there. My concern is more about whether we spend it correctly this time.
  • I reckon a consortium consisting of AFKA, nolly and Charlie Block are the finance behind all of this.
  • Or perhaps SHG they are only involved as they no it is a gamble financially and the new owners need as much experience as possible in order for it to work?
  • Whatever happened to Block?
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  • [cite]Posted By: nolly[/cite]Whatever happened to Block?

    You tell us - he's in your consortium.
  • lets hope his a silent partner
  • [cite]Posted By: Stig[/cite]I'll be slightly nervous up until the point where they've spent more money on the team than they could possibly recoup from redeveloping The Valley.
    This
  • [cite]Posted By: Plaaayer[/cite]Can someone just explain to me the point of someone owning a football club, of which you're never going to make any money out of and not wanting anyone to know you own it?

    Surely the only reason people buy a club, unless it's one they've supported since a child, is for the status?

    Exactly my thoughts
  • edited April 2011
    [cite]Posted By: carly burn[/cite]Take a look at some of these pictures of Kevin Cash's wedding back in February I believe.

    Nuptials

    Now i've spotted Slater.I think Dennis Wise can be seen cutting up the tiles and i do believe Jiminez is in the background of a couple of them. Cash's missus aint bad either.

    The point of this? I have no idea. Just interesting to see our two directors and a bloke who visited the Valley regularaly just before the takeover,at a £1/2 billionaires wedding.That is all.

    That does look like Michael Slater right at the top, 3rd from the left.
  • Extract from Wikipedia (so must be true!)

    Kevin Cash is an English businessman, who manages his families property interests in the United Kingdom.[1]

    The son of businessman Barry and his teacher wife Sheila, he and his sister were born in Birmingham. Cash took over the running of his father's property business, which is held from a trust in the British Virgin Islands and managed via a company in Geneva, Switzerland. The holdings of the various operations are estimated to be worth in excess of £500million.


    Interesting. Now, where have I heard of that sort of structure recently?
  • Seems to be a few court cases with him.

    Kevin Cash is a great name btw.
  • [cite]Posted By: Off_it[/cite]I reckon a consortium consisting of AFKA, nolly and Charlie Block are the finance behind all of this.

    Heaven preserve us - ;-)
  • [cite]Posted By: Plaaayer[/cite]Can someone just explain to me the point of someone owning a football club, of which you're never going to make any money out of and not wanting anyone to know you own it?

    Surely the only reason people buy a club, unless it's one they've supported since a child, is for the status?
    who says you won't make a penny out of it if you take the club to the premier league? The price of football clubs has exploded in the last 10 years and with tv money likely to get bigger, will continue to grow.
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  • edited April 2011
    [cite]Posted By: Plaaayer[/cite]Can someone just explain to me the point of someone owning a football club, of which you're never going to make any money out of and not wanting anyone to know you own it?

    Surely the only reason people buy a club, unless it's one they've supported since a child, is for the status?


    That's a good point... Even Abramovich who has a few blemishes on his character gets kudos from owning Chelsea, and that status isn't going to hurt him in any business deals he may want to line up in the future...

    Mr Slater said in his last broadcast interview that he came here for "clear reasons". That maybe so, but does any fan really know what they are?
    I find the secrecy of ownership frustrating because it offers no clues as to whether we'll break the damaging status quo that has become Charlton...
    Groundhog day Charlton... Unearth talent, which we always sell on, then go spend part of that money on lower league gambles who don't come up to scratch, and unsurprisingly land us with a low status... Which now is mediocre third division!

    I think there is money to be made from running a football club. Building it up and selling it on at the right time is more than feasible. It maybe what the new owners have planned, but we don't have a clue...

    Time will tell, and the summer transfer dealings will only be a start.
  • The 40% ers are either keeping anonymous so we don't get asked inflated transfer prices in the summer or, as indicated on a few posts above, the valley will be sold off and we'll be sharing with west ham at the athletics track. After all, if west ham can be mugged into it, why can't we they might be thinking. I reckon it's the former.
  • What's the relevance of that. MOG - am I missing something?
  • I thought for a moment that more rumours are popping up who the other investors might be. Instead we get a link of some insurance company hiring the Valley pitch.

    Or as Weegie says, are we missing something?
  • I suppose the thinking was that whoever our owners are may be well connected in City circles to set up that event. No idea.
  • Read it and didn't know where to post it !
    As ISLS says, maybe a connection......Hey, lets start a thread about......
    Sorry.
  • No, you could be right MOG
  • If your companies are making large profits and you want to indulge yourself buy a share of a football club and write off your losses against the successful bits.
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