The Watford Observer have a piece which makes very interesting reading, which I feel needs its own thread. . http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sp...ve_invested_around___20_million_into_Watford/ The Pozzo family have invested around £20 million into Watford since taking over the Hornets three years ago The Pozzo family have invested around £20 million into the Hornets since their takeover three years ago, the Watford Observer understands. The Italians, who also own Serie A side Udinese and La Liga’s Granada, bought the club from Laurence Bassini for around £500,000 in 2012. We understand they had to commit to spending £10 million immediately on purchasing the Hertfordshire team to clear debt which needed resolving imminently. It included a winding up petition from HM Revenue & Customs for the non-payment of tax that could have placed the club in administration. We understand the Pozzos have invested a further £5 million as working capital in the last three years and have also loaned the club £5.63 million, with £4.9 million of that being spent on the new SirElton JohnStand. However, we have been told the Pozzos are unlikely to request repayment of the money. The circa £20 million figure also does not include the playing assets introduced into the squad through the Pozzos’ other teams. The majority of players who have joined from Udinese and Granada have arrived for nominal fees in deals which have promotion-based sell-on clauses attached. It is unclear how much Watford will have to pay Udinese and Granada following their promotion to the Premier League. It is almost impossible to calculate the Pozzos’ true investment into the Hornets as the likes of Almen Abdi, Odion Ighalo and Ikechi Anya – who all arrived from Udinese or Granada – would command seven-figure sums and they are not alone in the Golden Boys squad. So if you take away the money spent resolving debt issues from the Bassini reign and ground improvements, then it appears chief executive Scott Duxbury and owner Gino Pozzo have managed to build a squad capable of securing promotion to the Premier League by only needing to invest an additional £5 million over the course of three years. The transfer policy and relationship with Udinese and Granada may not sit well with some away fromVicarage Roadbut being able to all-but balance the books while securing a top-two finish is an impressive feat considering the huge losses accrued by most teams chasing promotion out of the Championship. And if the Pozzos continue the model employed at Udinese and Granada then Watford should be debt free within two years as promotion to the Premier League will also see the club finally pay off all of the loans to Lord Ashcroft and the other bondholders. Lord Ashcroft used to control 37.16 per cent of the Hornets through his Fordwat company and was one of several people who loaned the Golden Boys money over a number of years to help keep the club in business. The former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party is currently owed almost £5.5m by Watford and when the Pozzos took over the club it was agreed that the repayment schedule forLord Ashcroft– and the other bondholders – would be activated once the club were promoted to the Premier League. The Hornets have this week confirmed to the Watford Observer the money owed to Lord Ashcroft, former chairman Graham Simpson and non-executive director David Fransen – which equals a total of around £7.34m – will not be paid in one lump sum immediately, instead it will be payable over two years. We understand Lord Ashcroft is owed almost £5.5m, Fransen is due £1.59m and Simpson is entitled to less than £400,000. Lord Ashcroft was the major shareholder of Watford prior to Bassini taking control of the Hertfordshire club in 2011. He had underwritten a £10.14 million bond issue a year before and when the club was taken over by the controversial Bassini, Lord Ashcroft was owed £7.5 million, with Simpson due £592,000 and Watford fan and director Fransen owed more than £2 million. Bassini’s takeover agreement included deals of covenants to protect the club and the bondholders’ money and it was with the help of one of those that the controversial businessman was steered out of Vicarage Road in 2012 and the Pozzos arrived. The desire to see Bassini leave the club resulted in Lord Ashcroft and the other men agreeing to the remaining money owed being repaid once Watford were promoted, with Duxbury describing the bondholders as “partners rather than creditors” in 2013. Watford were taken over by ‘the Pozzo family’ in 2012 before Gino Pozzo, who had been running the club from the start, became the sole owner last summer. The Hornets are technically independent of Udinese and Granada but the three clubs do share the family’s scouting network and some centralised staff when it comes to analysis. What can be inferred is that Lord Ashcroft, Graham Simpson and David Frantsen are not the people some painted them as, driven by different reasons they all had the clubs best interest at heart - even if it wasn't always immediately apparent. Ans a big thank you to the three of them for a) wresting the control of the club away from Laurence Basini and b) waiting on monies owed until the club was in a position to repay them without jeopardising their investments or endangering the club further.
I don't think it's an exaggeration to say the Pozzos saved us. We looked to be going only one way under Bassini... he was a chancer, hoping to make some fast money out of the club. We were looking at administration and possibly worse until the Pozzos came in and god knows where we'd be without them... but certainly not in the Premiership! Yeah some fans (mainly outside of Watford) don't like the way we do things but give me htis model over someone like QPR, loading lots of debt, bringing in people on extortionate salaries! Also prefer an owner generally in the background then someone who likes the sound of his own voice, making promises he's struggling to keep! As for the previous owners, having worked for Simpson, I think he always had the club's best interest at heart but he was taken in by a smooth-talking Ashton and thought they could buy their way up. Simpson was never mega-rich but did put a lot of his own money in. I'd suggest it was Ashton more then Simpson that caused our problems before Bassini came in, and went from bad to worse when he did. The Pozzos have really bought into the whole Watford philosophy of being a family club, and think the players have been rather impressed by the fans - and the way we have had Roy and the 1881 really improve the atmosphere. At the moment we may not have as many home grown as we sometimes do (but most seem to drop through the leagues anyway), but the academy was one of the reasons why the Pozzos bought the club, and now we are Premiership, hopefully we can attract more local youngsters to the club and this will improve over time too - and going into the U21 league will surely help that too!
When the Pozzos took over I was thankful to get rid of Bassini as we all knew where he was taking us. However I was fearful that we would lose that something special we have associated with the club as a family club since the days of EJ and GT. That has not happened though and instead we appear to have converted the Pozzos (if they needed converting) so that they now too seem to like the kind of club we are. We will never be a big spending club in the likes of Man City and Liverpool - thank goodness - but we will try to achieve success by finding and developing players from around the world - and the more successful that is then hopefully the more it will help the Academy
I agree with all of that Leo but would add that not only do the Pozzos seem to like the club they appear to have used some of the best bits about our heritage and general attitude to full advantage. One example would be the naming of the stands - very positive for PR and also make us happy so it's all good.
For me Fransen has been the quiet unsung hero in all this. Successful businessman from a fantastic industry who loves the club and I believe had the contacts that made everything happen. He and Ashcroft made sure they kept the ability to monitor and control the club transition in the event that Bazzini, Bassini, Bazooki, Bazbalmy or whatever he calls himself stepped out of line with the best interests of the club and executed their right whilst taking a real hit in terms of interest sacrifice. The fact that they are not being paid off in a lump sum speaks volumes as well, not pushing for a settlement but allowing the club a chance at a self sufficient drive to stay in the prem.... Bravo....
Fully agree with all that has been said above and it is heart warming to see that we had 3 people that had our best interests at heart - should give Simpson a better reputation than he has. In terms of how it impacts me, this year is the first in many that I have not had to worry about our owners...we can focus on supporting the club
Seriously, what's not to like? A total triumph in the face of adversity. It becomes clear that Fransen and Simpson did not have the necessary money to sort the club out but fought tooth and nail to keep the club out of the hands of the vultures... I think we all might have forgotten that they were fans first. Lord Ashcroft is not a man I particularly care for but he emerges with credit too having helped steady the club and then having the grace to accept he was not going to make much on the deal (if anything) and then to defer settlement of his debt. Bloody marvellous!
Strange thing is they´ve been true to their word, not used to that from our owners. ¡Viva los Pozzos!
With the exception of the McKinley saga they have given us a club from top to bottom that we can be truely proud of again, nothing more to say.
