The start of a slippery slope to a mortgage and large debt ,all against the Club , well done Jerkins you prick
When these Yanks saddle a huge debt against the club to buy it, can they then 'evict' the Ospreys too?
Playing devil's advocate, haven't we always said that owning the Stadium is a good move? The one thing that the Yanks have is a solid reputation on is stadium development. Won't this give them more of a free rein to achieve that?
Some odd words being used in the media '.....releasing ownership' releasing? what does that mean, '......lease the stadium', why lease it, does this mean a renegotiation of the peppercorn rent? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-39010869 '.....take control of the Liberty Stadium......' is the Swansea Stadium Management Company going to be disbanded in favour of the new owners and consortium? '....deal that might include naming rights and a possible expansion...' someone's guessing, heard all this all before when the council blocked previous applications to buy. '......owners looking to renegotiate their relationship with the stadium's owners Swansea Council...' renegotiate? so they're not looking to buy then? http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/swansea-city-talks-take-control-12621985 Liberty's owned by Swansea Council and the Swansea Stadium Management Company and in the media these two entities have always been mentioned as a partnership, especially when conspiring to block previous applications for purchase and expansion of the stadium. Now, there seems to be a split between them with Council leader Rob Stewart describing the SSMC as 'not fit for purpose any more, following the success and growth of both clubs'??? What's happened there then, until recently the council were saying what a great job the SSMC was doing Does this mean the council are looking to disband the Swansea Stadium Management Company in favour of the consortium of unknown business men who just happen to own Swansea City FC? Using the success and growth of the club(s) as a reason to beat up the SSMC is a bit rich especially when you consider that was the exact same argument used by previous owners to buy and expand the stadium, but was rejected by both Council and SSMC who countered that the Liberty was an asset belonging to the City, they also used the argument that the stadium was a community asset also used by the Ospreys and the council also made excuses about the negative impact an expansion would have on local businesses, all these arguments were used to rebuff the growth argument used by the old board. So what's changed to make the council appear to make a complete u-turn and to use the arguments they previously rejected to support their change in heart? I've no problem with the council selling the Liberty, or our new owners buying it but what is actually being negotiated? Are the council selling the Liberty? or are they simply relinquishing control? or are they disbanding the SSMC and moving in with the new owners? or are they simply renegotiating with the new owners so they can charge them a fair and proper rent? Its all a little vague to me and in my suspicious mind negotiations of this magnitude nature are kept vague so that things can remain hidden.
Sale or no sale .... but no to a lease . If the Americans want to take advantage of commercial advantages of owning and expanding then buy it at a fair price and fill your boots . Then it can't help them in a fire sale setting , but they can use it for making money whatever way they want . A lease might bring to much fine print .
But not if they buy it and saddle the club with a load of debt like the Glazers did with Utd. If they buy the stadium out of their own money then all well and good, but if they take out a huge loan against the club to do so........
I hope you're right Dai, but Taff has previously said, these weasels looked at kicking out the Ospreys almost as soon as the ink dried on the takeover contracts.
The council have been trying to off load the liberty for the past 6 years......But the baggage that comes with it is expensive as the stadium can be bought for a song.....
The stadium itself is far too small for a club that wants to stay at the top and even go further. We need another 10,000 seats to bring it up to date and adequate parking space for the fans and if the Americans do buy then they have obviously got plans worked out already. Any plans would mean having to play our games away from the liberty for a season so the transformation can take place properly and there is only one place we can go and that is ST Helens and that alone brings up problems as it will have to meet premiership minimum standards and fit for purpose and one of the biggest problem would be that the majority of fans would have no shelter whatsoever but as long as the pitch is perfect it will be a small price to pay for a season.....All these problems can be over come with the right plans in place and will be worth it in the long run for a 30,000 stadium with ample parking...
Why not play at the Millennium stadium , it's a lot closer for our fans based in the South east of Wales
No. We already own the stadium ( Unless the council is a private business) every club that has had owners who control the stadium ends in trouble. Remember the Vetch back in the day when owner after owner came in and borrowed on the ground. The council had to come in and bail the club out and rent it back to the Swans. The only reason to own the stadium for the new owners is to borrow against it. One thing you can be sure of is the owners will not risk a penny of their own money which is fine if it all works out but if not we are screwed. Look at Coventry city, Darlington etc.
I honestly believe for at least half of our games we would have loads of empty seats and wouldn't sell out and for the big games like Man utd, they would be sold to local Man Utd fans. I know it is only my opinion, but just don't think we have the fan base to fill a 30,000 seater stadium on a regular basis.
Come on then Big shot you make a suggestion where we can play that will be close enough for the fans instead of trying to be a clever school boy
Another 10,000 seat tickets should bring in an extra £4 Million at least annually, that's without catering profits, so it should cover any commercial mortgage undertaken, I'm happy that we are at last expanding the stadium, it was a poor decision originally to have built just a 20,000 seater stadium anyway........
The original plans were for a 25,000 stadium but it was changed because nobody thought we would be so successful.....Little did we know we could fill a 30,000 stadium just a few years later.....
