New £55 million investment into The Amex?

[Joe Gatting's Dad]

The Premier League wage structure is unsustainable.

No well run business should ever allow its wage costs to exceed 50% of its income. It is a sure route to bankruptcy. This is why with our income of £20M our playing budget will not exceed £10M.

 

[Creaky]

The Premier League wage structure is unsustainable.

No well run business should ever allow its wage costs to exceed 50% of its income. It is a sure route to bankruptcy. This is why with our income of £20M our playing budget will not exceed £10M.

Many service industries more than survive with a wage bill greater than 50% of income!

 

[symyjym]

Haven't got the Argus yet but if all goes well, when do they realistically hope to start building this? Does anyone know?

Planning application doesn't go in until early next year.

They hope it will be finished before the rugby world cup if that helps.

Sorry missed these posts, thanks.

 

[El Presidente]

OK, I will bite on this.

Ok , let's have a sensible and as you call it a "Valid" debate without going down the route of the childish comments you made, which really does not help your argument.

Fair enough.

First off, having been involved in running a football club which was built from scratch upto the point that I've secured over £17000 of external funding over 5 years to invest in new initiatives AND have with others made it into one of the largest and most succesful youth soccer clubs in Sussex within 7 years, I think that I'm in probably a better position to comment on "running a club" than most on here.

First of all, well done on your achievement, it is impressive and it's great to see someone committed to youth football.

Secondly. Running a youth team has no relevance to running a £20 million plus business.

You've alluded to the incorrect assumption that "all the infrastructure costs" and the "playing budget" come from separate sources although which in a sense is correct from the club's internal accounting perspective, but it is not on the whole accurate.

The overall costs for running the club will be decided annually and at this point, the Club's board decide on the money it allocates to various departments responsible for the running and administration of the club. At this point, you are correct that the funds are separated into "pots". However, the overall budget for the club comes from one central repository of funds.

That would be true if it were not for FFP, or that TB is unhappy with the level of losses that the club are currently making.

I'm not an accountant and I'm guessing that you're not either

I am though.

In the same week that the club announce a £55 Million pound commercial venture, the CEO then comes out to say "we are struggling to afford a loan player"

Can you show me where he has said that, as I have not read it anywhere. He has said that we have a budget, which simply means that we are unlikely to be signing Adebayor on £85,000 a week for the next two months.

it says to me and I'm sure others, that the overall administation of the clubs finances seem to be contradictive of each other, especially when the Chairman and the Director of football says effectively says "we are going to sign someone".

Capital and operational expenditure are significantly different though. You would not take out a mortgage to pay for your groceries, for example. Long term funding, for something such as the hotel, comes from different sources to short term borrowings, such as may be needed to cover wages for a loan player.

In all fairness, it's not Paul Barber's responsibility to be talking about the playing side of things. His job is to run the club as a company.I would say that the "playing budget" as you have mentioned seems to go up and down depending on who is telling the story that the club want to tell us...Again, I will not only use the Van Dijk saga as an example, but also Tony Bloom's post Gus/pre Oscar interview when he said we would have a squad capable of challenging in the play off positions.

Fair enough, but as we signed Upson and Ulloa instead of Van Dijk I personally think we came out better from that issue.

Regarding my initial point...The club MUST have known about the hotel plans at the end of the season when they decided upon their funding for the 2013/14 season, the Board would have allocated a budget to the "playing side" and also the "commercial development" side and so my point is that why are BHA FC, as a company, looking to invest such a vast sum of money into a project which is peripheral to the success of the club (without also saying where the money is coming from) and which will take a number of years to become profitable, when there are clearly other areas at the club which require funding and financial support, such as the "playing budget" which in itself and once a team has achieved Premier League status can become more cost effective at that point compared to the same at a Championship / League 1 club.

That may be the case, but TB can spend as much money as he wishes on a hotel and it has zero impact on FFP, unlike player costs.

One final point I would mention is a possible theory I have and is something which would explain the manner in which the club is being run and that is this...Is the club being turned into a marketable & saleable oppurtunity for possible financial investors.

There is no evidence to support that, either anecdotally or financially.

I would not be surprised if, looking at the likes of Reading, Cardiff & Man City that BHA FC will be sold to foreign investors over the next 5 - 10 years and that the processes which are being streamlines behind the scenes now are being done so to make the club a more commercially viable business oppurtunity for external investors.

Manchester City were sold to Mansoor for £150 million, and have a much bigger stadium and fan base than the Albion. They have also made losses of about £1 billion since Mansoor took over, so are not an investment, more of a marketing tool.

TB has said on a number of occasions that he wants to hand the club down to his kids in due course, there is nothing to support your 'business plan' as TB has already spent £150 million, and the hotel will take that spending to over £200 million.

If I was a rich investor I could buy any one of many other clubs far cheaper than that sum, so why not them instead of the Albion? GFH Capital paid £52 million for Leeds, Forest were bought by the Al-Hasawi's for about £10 million, and both clubs have greater heritage and a bigger historical fanbase than the Albion.

 

[Creaky]

Isn't the biggest argument against any suggestion that the budget for site development and that for investing in the football club are interchangeable the fact that it is not the club who will be developing the site.

The application has been made by The Community Stadium Limited and not The Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club Limited. Separate companies albeit the majority holding in each company held by Brighton and Hove Albion Holdings Limited.

The budgets and financing for each company are simply not interchangeable and what should be remembered is that the financial failure of one does not mean the collapse of the other nor that the good fortune of one means the well being of the other.

 

[Barnham Seagull]

Isn't the biggest argument against any suggestion that the budget for site development and that for investing in the football club are interchangeable the fact that it is not the club who will be developing the site.

The application has been made by The Community Stadium Limited and not The Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club Limited. Separate companies albeit the majority holding in each company held by Brighton and Hove Albion Holdings Limited.

The budgets and financing for each company are simply not interchangeable and what should be remembered is that the financial failure of one does not mean the collapse of the other nor that the good fortune of one means the well being of the other.

Could be seen as Mr Bloom increasing his property portfolio. Fair play to him.

 

[LamieRobertson]

There's an article in todays 'I' re the Cardiff owner...we are blessed!

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I might have missed something, but what are the similarities between a youth football club and a professional outfit? Other than buying equipment and arranging for the grass to be cut.

 

[AZ Gull]

I might have missed something, but what are the similarities between a youth football club and a professional outfit? Other than buying equipment and arranging for the grass to be cut.

Being involved in running the former, gives you the right to spout nonsensical financial gibberish about the latter.



Apparently.

 

[Titanic]

Probably won't use the hotel or the casino, but will use the brothel when it's built.

Is that another example of 'build it and they will come'?

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I might have missed something, but what are the similarities between a youth football club and a professional outfit? Other than buying equipment and arranging for the grass to be cut.

That wasn't intended to belittle efforts to create such a successful club. Apologies if it came across that way.

 

[Creaky]

I might have missed something, but what are the similarities between a youth football club and a professional outfit? Other than buying equipment and arranging for the grass to be cut.

I've not had experience of either but I would guess you could make the same comparison between a small local company and a multinational conglomerate. The owner of the small company has to understand totally and be involved directly in the workings of the company, from mundane tasks like organising cleaning, to negotiating directly with customers, suppliers as well as the financial aspects necessary to keep the company afloat.

The multi-national has experts in each discipline, the head of HR isn't directly involved with marketing and the production director isn't involved in the layout of the foyer - so whilst not of the same professional standard of any of those individuals in the carrying out of their specific tasks the small company owner is probably in a better position to take an overall view than any of them.

I would think that in many ways the person involved in the day to day running of all the aspects of a youth football club would be in a good position to make comments about the running of a professional club - certainly more so than I would be.

 

[scousefan]

One commercial advantage for the hotel is that it is close to the Universities. In my experience Universities bring a lot of visitors in midweek. I don't know where they go at the moment but this might get a fair bit of business. It might also help the planning argument.

 

[Notters]

Is that another example of 'build it and they will come'?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

One commercial advantage for the hotel is that it is close to the Universities. In my experience Universities bring a lot of visitors in midweek. I don't know where they go at the moment but this might get a fair bit of business. It might also help the planning argument.

With the stadium and Universities on the doorstep there will also be conference and training seminars to push up the occupancy rates.

 

[Mackenzie]

The only thing I disagree with in the hotel plan is that apparently the club want to call it the Damian Hilton.

 

[BensGrandad]

I heard an interesting theory today which apparently came from an ex player, not Kerry Mayo or any known joker. I am not sure whether to believe it or not and certain it has been mentioned before. The reason TB is not on any rich list is because her isnt as rich as people on here believe and the money for the stadium and the new hotel etc is coming from an Arab for whom TB is a front man and will sell out to eventually when it is all complete and we are established in the premier. If it is true I do not see it as a major problem providing the man has the money or access to the money that appears to be plentiful at the moment. Dont think that it would happen during my life time anyway.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I heard an interesting theory today which apparently came from an ex player, not Kerry Mayo or any known joker. I am not sure whether to believe it or not and certain it has been mentioned before. The reason TB is not on any rich list is because her isnt as rich as people on here believe and the money for the stadium and the new hotel etc is coming from an Arab for whom TB is a front man and will sell out to eventually when it is all complete and we are established in the premier. If it is true I do not see it as a major problem providing the man has the money or access to the money that appears to be plentiful at the moment. Dont think that it would happen during my life time anyway.

I think you've found out what happened to the Cup Final money. It all went to an Arab.

Good work by Adam El-Abd to discover THE TRUTH.

 

[BensGrandad]

It was a player long before El Abd and the Cup Final money was never a doubt. I do not know whether this story as any credence whatsoever but it is an interesting theory and as I said if true I have no worries with it. If not no harm is done by having an opinion which obviously somebody has right or wrong.

 

[The Merry Prankster]

I heard an interesting theory today which apparently came from an ex player, not Kerry Mayo or any known joker. I am not sure whether to believe it or not and certain it has been mentioned before. The reason TB is not on any rich list is because her isnt as rich as people on here believe and the money for the stadium and the new hotel etc is coming from an Arab for whom TB is a front man and will sell out to eventually when it is all complete and we are established in the premier. If it is true I do not see it as a major problem providing the man has the money or access to the money that appears to be plentiful at the moment. Dont think that it would happen during my life time anyway.

Words fail me. You've outdone yourself this time. A masterpiece of self parody.