Guy Fawkes
The voice of treason
- Sep 29, 2007
- 8,288
So, on balance, thank goodness for Bill Archer? (He did give us some breathing space....)
If the alternative was Bill Archer and all the stuff that went after than or absolutely no other alternative as an owner (including ruling out fans taking ownership, etc) and the club being wound up - meaning we'd lose the club and we wouldn't currently be playing Premier League football at the Amex with an owner who has put millions of their own money in - what would you think was the better of the 2 evils (Archer taking over when he did or having no club?)
If we had gone out of business, there may well have been a phoenix club, but it doesn't mean we'd have escaped non league by now, or have a ground any better than when we were renting Withdean at best, and we certainly would have struggled to convince any councils and the Government to build a new ground at somewhere like Falmer.
It was a very dark time whichever option we ended up with at the time, but at the immediate time of Archers take over, was he seen as an asset stripper or saviour? was he seen as a bad owner not to be trusted or someone to be welcomed (he was a money man brought in by Stanley to help the club pay it's debts) - What he turned into was unforeseen at the time and it was only came to light later into his time at the club.
The potential owner for Bolton didn't destroy Watford. Bolton are crippled by debt and have a very bleak future but who knows, this new owner could start to turn things around or keep the club afloat until their next version of Tony Bloom comes along, saving their club for future generations to enjoy watching and supporting