35 million owed to Mr Lansdown. Hardly know what to say apart from thank you to him . please log in to view this image David Lloyd, Supporters Liaison Officer There is no escaping the fact that the last few months have been a difficult time for everyone at Bristol City Football Club. The heady days of the two wins against table-topping Cardiff City and Crystal Palace, and the crucial win at Peterborough United seem like a distant memory. After the spirited performance at home to Blackpool and the brilliant win at Middlesbrough, it seemed as if we had turned a corner, but we were all brought crashing back to earth by last Saturdayâs performance and result against Wolves. Itâs no wonder fans get despondent after a run of results like we've had recently, and my inbox and twitter feed over the weekend certainly bore testimony to how downhearted everyone is feeling at the moment. I also spent some time immediately after the game on Saturday listening to the grievances of a variety of disgruntled fans, and I promise you those views are passed on. At times like this, it can be very difficult to see positives. As a fan myself, I have only truly enjoyed one Saturday night since August 25th, and it makes coming in to work at the start of the week all the more challenging. There have been murmurings of the club being âlike a rudderless shipâ, and of a âgrowing disconnect between club and fansâ. As your supporter liaison I have to take this very seriously, as does everyone who works at our club. Although it may not seem like it, there are some very important things happening behind the scenes at the moment, and I thought it might be useful to consider the bigger picture. The last couple of years have seen a period of massive change at the football club. We have seen a new chairman and board of directors, a new manager, the launch of the Community Trust, a substantial revamp of the Academy and significant changes in both the structure and staff on both the football and non-football side. A while ago there was some criticism that there was a âjobs for the boysâ mentality behind the scenes at Ashton Gate. I think that such talk has now gone away. Why have these changes happened? Our latest annual accounts show an annual loss of over £14 million. They also show a debt of £41m, £35m of which is owed to Steve Lansdown. He has repeatedly reiterated that he has no intention of calling in that debt, and with his son on the board of directors it seems clear that he has no intention of walking away and given his financial commitment has certainly not âlost interestâ either. Steve remains fully committed to supporting the board in developing this club and helping us realise our ambitions to be the west of Englandâs prime sporting club, playing at the highest possible level in the best possible surroundings, as well as pushing for the club to stand on its own two feet. But we clearly canât carry on recording annual losses like this, thanks in no short measure to the impending implementation of the Football Leagueâs Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations. The rules are fairly complex, but essentially they will seriously restrict the amount of turnover which clubs can spend on players. The idea is to make sure all clubs compete on a more level financial playing field. In my view, if properly implemented, they can only be good for the game as a whole â and hence why Bristol City voted in favour of the proposals some time ago. http://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/article/051212-dlblog-527304.aspx
You can tell how **** this season is by all the club officials pointing out 2 games that we won. We did turn the corner against blackpool and Middlesbrough and found out its an even bigger road infront of us. There's 4 below average/**** teams in the league. Us Peterborough, Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday. 3 of these teams will go down and I fully expect Sheffield Wednesday to survive. As for the £14,000,000 thanks to Lansdown but what good is it having 35 million pound debt only to end back up in league 1 next season. Long season ahead and cant see it getting better
Not sure what you could say to him. Bigger picture. wage bill has gone up x 7/8 since 2005. the club is losing money hand over fist. if relegated city will be in a far far worse position than 2006 and it now owes thirty five million which it was not close to in 2007. that is disasterous in anybodys world.
I started following BCFC back in 2001 when i moved to the west country i didnt have a grey hair back then and now i have lol but nevertheless some may say im a sucker for misery and punishment but boll*x to that i feel emotion of a wanting to do well kind mixed in with frustration and slight despair at where we sit in the Championship with a potential relegation dog fight in the pipeline............................. Just read Dave L's thread ( nice one Dave) of the website and it chokes me up to think City behind the scene are doing so much for this City, Bristols been really good to and for me, i wanna do my bit regardless of the outcome because thats what people when in the same corner they stick together and give my all on Saturday down at the gate to spur the lads on to better things and most obviously Championship status and survival........... "Together we can" ole ole ole ole Bristol Citttty
Just get behind your club guys and support them come what may -you've got a good chairman who has supported you through the good and the bad times - give him your backing and I'm sure you will come through it - got a similar situation at Millwall where £11.5m is owed to the chairman and he has just committed another £8.5m and like yourselves his son is on the board - I think thats real commitment from both chairman. They are not like Bates at Leeds. Good luck for the future
Glad FFP is stopping that sort of rampant financial doping in a vain attempt to get Bristol City to a league they have no place being in.
