next year norwich will be debt free or close to it we have been told. will this make us one of the richest clubs in england? will this set us up in a great position in the long term?
I suppose in terms of new expressions being admitted to Dictionaries and Thesaurus then "not being in debt" def: Rich
I was going to say something similar to Redruth. While not having millions of £££££'s sitting in the bank, we will not be in debt either which would make us one of the richest clubs in the PL based on our debt of zero
true, that's fair enough. strange way of putting it because of course we are not 'cash rich' but in terms of being out of debt, we will be one of the few clubs who can say that.
Next year will see us more or less free only of "external debt", that is to say, what is owed to banks and other similar lenders on whom we have depended for our survival for far too long. However, the club will remain indebted to the tune of millions of pounds to the majority shareholders among others. Although they have said they are not currently seeking repayment, it remains a liability on the club and a restriction on future funding. It is also possible that this "internal" debt is secured against certain assets of the club, which is not desirable long term. So as superman says, while the financial situation has improved immeasurably in the last couple of years, and the threat of bankruptcy and administration no longer hangs over NCFC, the club will NOT in fact be debt free next year, and is far from "rich". Furthermore, for as long as it remains substantially indebted to a small number of people, its fate is bound up with theirs and not entirely in its own hands.
Assuming we stay up, with the debts paid, does anyone have any idea how much extra cash we'd have to invest in the squad?
robbie, i can't say for sure, but whispers are that delia does not want her money back. if that is the case, then we will almost be 100% debt free. we still owe money to one or two other individuals but again, they may waiver their right to receive that money. it certainly isn't that much whereas delia is owed around £12m.
What does "does not want her money back" mean? Until that debt is actually written off and this is confirmed by the audited accounts, I can only understand it as "is not currently seeking repayment".
I have actually seen her interviewed where she stated that she will never ask for that money back unless she decides to sell the club, which is unlikely at the moment.
its listed in the clubs accounts, so if someone wanted to buy the club, they'd have to pay for that debt as well, therefore paying her back the money owed. however, if nobody buys the club, effectively she doesn't want it back, so it just sits there. i think that's fair - if she publicly wrote it off it takes the value of the club down by £12m - that could make it a better prospect for potential owners but then it does seem a tad unfair on her for all she's done that she wouldn't be rewarded in some way for that help. as i say, this is merely hear'say edit* redruth beat me to it! as far as i'm concerned, that money is dead money and doesn't affect the club now.
I don't want to sound horrible here and I certainly don't mean it as I love Delia and would never wish it on anyone and apologies if anyone is offended... So, if she dies soon that would wipe away the internal debt?
why doesn't delia then convert that £12m from debt to shares then, simples. to answer DH canary, i understood that we were repaying £10m of debt / interest this season, so that goes away next season . i'm not sure how much we paid the last couple of years, as the £10m is more than we have been paying for sure
Precisely, which is why I said that as long as that debt remains on the books we are NOT debt free. Also if the club seeks finance, say for ground development, that debt will be taken into account by a bank or other source of finance considering an application for a loan. Any debt affects the credit-worthiness of the applicant, just as if I apply for a loan to buy a car, the finance company want to know whether I have a mortgage and overdraft etc. Re. your earlier post superman, I don't understand you saying that repaying the (supposed) £12m debt would reduce the value of the club. On the contrary it would increase the value of the club, since its current value is £x - 12m. And I don't understand your saying that writing off the debt would be unfair to Delia. "I don't want my money back" means just that. "I don't want my money back from NCFC, but I do want it back from any prospective buyer" is quite different. However, I revert to my point: until the debt is repaid or written off, NCFC remains substantially indebted.
Which leads to another point you have mentioned. Ground development. I don't think Prem survival depends on it other than reduced income, but would you want to increase the capacity of the ground to 30K? Personally, I don't see any need at the moment. On my tour of the ground I was told it will be the City stand and maybe soon. I assume they are the most expensive season tickets so there would be a income loss there. And where would those spectators sit? Some of them pay a hefty premium for their comfort and half time refreshments.
i don't see how it (ground expansion) could be justified without PL survival for 2-3 years, we'd be back with £20-25m debt to repay just as the slate is wiped clean (apart from the delia / mwj debt)
What if he dies as well? There is also whether the money given to the club is therefore considered as a donation rather than a loan if Delia's has said she doesn't want it back unless she was to sell the club which would then impose a debt on the buyer potentially. If its a loan then there are potentially far more legal restraints with what happens to the money than there would be if it was considered a donation.
