The board

[1985CTFC]

Any chance of a podcast interview with DB at season end with a discussion about future CTFC plans whether we are in Lg1 or Lg2. Get him booked in so he can be well briefed as to where we are going.

[longmover]

Their joint owners are worth $1.5bn and $1.2bn. I suspect that might be something to do with it.

Isn't one of our owners a billionaire?
Wonder if the Oxford owners are life long Oxford supporters. If not are they building this stadium out of the goodness of their heart?
Just annoying seeing other clubs manage these things.

agree, its interesting that no really big money (that I know of) has been pumped into the club, but clubs much smaller, similar size and marginally bigger seem to attract people that are willing to sink very large sums of money into them.

[Si Robin]

At one point SImon Keswick was the 9th richest man in English football. He apparently has an net worth of $1.75bn (net worth not necessarily a guarantee of liquidity of course). He's still one of the top 3 shareholders of the club of course.

There are rumours he was driven off the board by comments made by Martin Allen about being nothing more than a "wallet", but these are probably untrue.

If I remember correctly though, we wouldn't have the Colin Farmer and Hazelwoods stands without his input.

[asl]

IIRC, there were a lot of fans saying he should invest more, instead of being grateful for everything he did.

It's a bit like that old story about the four college friends who used to meet up once a month. One had a good job and the other three were unemployed. The one with the job used to buy the drinks until, one day, he had to leave early so only stayed for one round. The others were incensed as they couldn't afford to continue drinking without him and abused him to the point that he never turned up for their monthly get-together, again.

[Robin]

At one point SImon Keswick was the 9th richest man in English football. He apparently has an net worth of $1.75bn (net worth not necessarily a guarantee of liquidity of course). He's still one of the top 3 shareholders of the club of course.

There are rumours he was driven off the board by comments made by Martin Allen about being nothing more than a "wallet", but these are probably untrue.

If I remember correctly though, we wouldn't have the Colin Farmer and Hazelwoods stands without his input.

It may have changed recently but I believe he was or is still our largest shareholder and does still help financially. That said, I recall reading an interview with his daughter in one of the national newspapers who basically said he Dad is not the type to throw money around and barely helped her finance her business start up as an example. You'd imagine the Cayman island based investors also have some decent money behind them as they put £500k into the playing budget in the past.

Either way a sugar daddy who spends loads on the team only ever leads to short term success, far better if they invest in the infrastructure of the club as that leads to longer term sustainable success. The only issue is if they pay say £5million towards the new stand it might not have the same allure to them or fans.

[plymrob]

Seen this a couple of times... "IIRC"?
No idea of what it means... so I am going with "Instantly - Inland Revenue Coming"?

If it is just "If I recall...?" That's surely IFR? Either way, please just type it... If something else, please educate but do not assume.

[CTFCfan99]

Seen this a couple of times... "IIRC"?
No idea of what it means... so I am going with "Instantly - Inland Revenue Coming"?

If it is just "If I recall...?" That's surely IFR? Either way, please just type it... If something else, please educate but do not assume.

'If I recall correctly'

[ctfc-fan]

Seen this a couple of times... "IIRC"?
No idea of what it means... so I am going with "Instantly - Inland Revenue Coming"?

If it is just "If I recall...?" That's surely IFR? Either way, please just type it... If something else, please educate but do not assume.

If I Remember Correctly.

Not sure how you make IFR more sensible?

[asl]

BTW, would you prefer AFAIK? Both those are, I think, radio operator slang dating from the days of text-only operator terminals and 'IIRC' may well date from the same time. I think they probably pre-date the Internet by a decade or two, if not more - even if kids these days think they invented texting.

[Shade]

AFK BRB. GFAP.

[asl]

DILLIGAF?

[Ihearye]

DILLIGAF?

am guessing no ?

[horlickfanclub]

Rochdale are trying to stay afloat after dropping out of the league. The Chairman's statement to the upcoming EGM shows how hard it is to get new owners in to a club. Simply "investing" a sum of money does not come easy. It is an interesting read and may help explain the process and pitfalls of being on a Board of a small club.

https://www.rochdaleafc.co.uk/siteasset ... tement.pdf

[Jerry St Clair]

If I remember correctly though, we wouldn't have the Colin Farmer and Hazelwoods stands without his input.

And I think the external funding situation was much more favourable. CF took full advantage of football foundation grants to help build the stands. Those have now pretty much gone and small scale funding for ground improvements is only available for National League and below.

[Fuller]

I think it’s wrong that smaller, well run clubs like us, who want and need to grow their facilities are not given more assistance by the FA or EFL, or even our own town council.
Wish something would change.

[1985CTFC]

Mentioned somewhere on this forum that Paul Baker said unless a hotel group come up with plans to build a hotel with stand attached, then he can't see a stand being built.
Just checked which clubs have hotel and stands.
UK
DoubleTree By Hilton Milton Keynes – Stadium MK
Holiday Inn Norwich City – Carrow Road
Bolton Whites Hotel – University Of Bolton Stadium
DoubleTree by Hilton at the Ricoh Arena – Ricoh Arena Coventry
Blackpool FC Hotel – Bloomfield Road, Blackpool

Not that many,
I would have thought Cheltenham is quite a good tourist pull. With Horse racing and various Festivals with a ctfc hotel fairly close to Race course and Town with parking would be a goer.
Not sure how many rooms you would get running along a biggish main stand, and how many stories high but should imagine it could be quite a few. Got to be at least 4 stories high. Only 23 days plus cup matches to interfere with daily running of hotel.

A visit to Bolton or MK or Coventry for a mid week break or Cheltenham....mmmmmmmmmmmmm let me think...!!!

[1985CTFC]

Other countries hotel / stands. Not all massive clubs

Other Countries
Tulip Inn Düsseldorf Arena Superior – Düsseldorf Arena, Germany
Lindner Hotel BayArena – BayArena, Leverkusen Germany
1872 Stadium Hotel – Le Stade Océane, Le Havre France
Hotel Stayen – Stayen, Sint-Truiden Belgium
Fletcher Hotel-Restaurant Parkstad Zuid Limburg – Parkstad Limburg Stadion, Kerkrade The Netherlands
Hotel Lumen Zwolle – MAC³PARK Stadion, Zwolle The Netherlands
Iris Hotel Eden – Sinobo Stadium, Prague Czech Republic
B&B Hotel Jerez – Chapin Stadium, Jerez Spain
ETO Park Hotel Business & Stadium – ETO Park, Gyor Hungary
Exe Isla Cartuja – Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville Spain

[1985CTFC]

lie in bed to watch the action!!!!

https://www.boltonstadiumhotel.co.uk/ac ... room/53-3/

[Shade]

lie in bed to watch the action!!!!

https://www.boltonstadiumhotel.co.uk/ac ... room/53-3/

Go on then agent 1985CTFC, send you proposals to all the hotel chains and see if any bite!

[Fuller]

lie in bed to watch the action!!!!

https://www.boltonstadiumhotel.co.uk/ac ... room/53-3/

Go on then agent 1985CTFC, send you proposals to all the hotel chains and see if any bite!

I’d expect the board to have explored all options and to have engaged consultants to look at the feasibility and sell the idea to potential clients.
But maybe not…..

[Shade]

lie in bed to watch the action!!!!

https://www.boltonstadiumhotel.co.uk/ac ... room/53-3/

Go on then agent 1985CTFC, send you proposals to all the hotel chains and see if any bite!

I’d expect the board to have explored all options and to have engaged consultants to look at the feasibility and sell the idea to potential clients.
But maybe not…..

That's one way to throw away a few grand pretty quickly!

[1985CTFC]

lie in bed to watch the action!!!!

https://www.boltonstadiumhotel.co.uk/ac ... room/53-3/

Go on then agent 1985CTFC, send you proposals to all the hotel chains and see if any bite!

I’d expect the board to have explored all options and to have engaged consultants to look at the feasibility and sell the idea to potential clients.
But maybe not…..

That is why it would be good to get some feedback from the board about what avenues have been explored.Maybe they have maybe they haven't but things can change over time.
Any signs in accounts that payments to consultants taken place?

[1985CTFC]

Go on then agent 1985CTFC, send you proposals to all the hotel chains and see if any bite!

I’d expect the board to have explored all options and to have engaged consultants to look at the feasibility and sell the idea to potential clients.
But maybe not…..

That's one way to throw away a few grand pretty quickly!

Any other way? A hotel chain spotting an opportunity? Don't really know how these things happen, but they do sometimes.
Not sure we have the skills at board level to progress a project like this.

[1985CTFC]

lie in bed to watch the action!!!!

https://www.boltonstadiumhotel.co.uk/ac ... room/53-3/

Go on then agent 1985CTFC, send you proposals to all the hotel chains and see if any bite!

If I had the skills I would. But I promise if I won 150million on the Euro lottery I would build us a stand!!
Not literally but with contractors!

[Wellwisher]

Re this hotel suggestion, as an outsider looking in, I have to say that even if Cheltenham doesn't already have enough* hotels, I really cannot see how Whaddon would be a good location (no harm to the good people of the locality).

It's a bit far out for business customers, and away from the usual attractions for tourists. While 25 games a season isn't likely to provide enough custom from visiting fans. Nor is public transport convenient, meaning guests would be confined to using their own cars.

While for weddings, conferences and other events etc, Cheltenham (town) is already well served - and that's before you look to the racecourse, a big counter-attraction.

Nor does CTFC have the visibility, never mind profile in itself to attract people (again, no harm meant).

Btw, I reserve the right to deny I ever posted anything of the sort ("My account was hacked") should someone open a hotel at WR!

P.S. Hearts have just opened what they claim will be "the UK’s first club-owned and operated hotel inside a football stadium": https://www.heartsfc.co.uk/blogs/news/t ... r-bookings

* - No idea whether it does or not.

[ctfc-fan]

It’s a sore subject I know but if you’re looking at adding a hotel and conferencing etc. then the best place really would be the Golden Valley/GCHQ area with the new cyber area. Plenty of visitors to that area who could use it and do an offer to watch a match.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Re this hotel suggestion, as an outsider looking in, I have to say that even if Cheltenham doesn't already have enough* hotels, I really cannot see how Whaddon would be a good location (no harm to the good people of the locality).

It's a bit far out for business customers, and away from the usual attractions for tourists. While 25 games a season isn't likely to provide enough custom from visiting fans. Nor is public transport convenient, meaning guests would be confined to using their own cars.

While for weddings, conferences and other events etc, Cheltenham (town) is already well served - and that's before you look to the racecourse, a big counter-attraction.

Nor does CTFC have the visibility, never mind profile in itself to attract people (again, no harm meant).

Btw, I reserve the right to deny I ever posted anything of the sort ("My account was hacked") should someone open a hotel at WR!

P.S. Hearts have just opened what they claim will be "the UK’s first club-owned and operated hotel inside a football stadium": https://www.heartsfc.co.uk/blogs/news/t ... r-bookings

* - No idea whether it does or not.

We’d really need one of the chain hotels to invest as they are the ones backed by institutional finance.

However their model is to buy land and build on it, which means it’s the Council and not the Club.

But, I agree with your concerns. There must be a reason why apart from the Hilton Doubletree in Charlton Kings there is no mid-range chain Cheltenham.

I suspect that the availability and price of land is the issue.

One could see an Ibis-Novotel-Mercure complex on Portland Street and North Place car parks, but not really anywhere else. Certainly not a small site on a residential street in Whaddon.

Prestbury Road - i.e Cakebridge Place would be better for a Premier Inn or similar. But it wouldn’t get planning permission due to blocking the light of 119 Prestbury Road.

I think that house will be a barrier to a few development proposals to be honest.

[asl]

When it was first mentioned, I thought the hotel idea was some sort of joke. In Whaddon?? Now, a couple of HMO's, sure - I could see that. But it's not really the same thing.

What about a development where the car park side is a row of shops and maybe a gym? A franchised food outlet, bookies that doesn't look like it's stepped out of the 70s, bar... Things that could be open 7 days per week and generate rental income all year round. Corporate space for hire, above.

It's just a pipe-dream, I know...

[longmover]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68361025

Ratcliffe added the potential project could be a "catalyst for regeneration" in south Manchester and would therefore warrant a "conversation" with the government about using taxpayers' money.

typical toff billionaire, "why should I use all my money to build what I want"

this will happen though.


we want help with the £10m to build a new main stand, jog on plebs.

[asl]

We could build a Wembley of the West.

[Ihearye]

Re this hotel suggestion, as an outsider looking in, I have to say that even if Cheltenham doesn't already have enough* hotels, I really cannot see how Whaddon would be a good location (no harm to the good people of the locality).

It's a bit far out for business customers, and away from the usual attractions for tourists. While 25 games a season isn't likely to provide enough custom from visiting fans. Nor is public transport convenient, meaning guests would be confined to using their own cars.

While for weddings, conferences and other events etc, Cheltenham (town) is already well served - and that's before you look to the racecourse, a big counter-attraction.

Nor does CTFC have the visibility, never mind profile in itself to attract people (again, no harm meant).

Btw, I reserve the right to deny I ever posted anything of the sort ("My account was hacked") should someone open a hotel at WR!

P.S. Hearts have just opened what they claim will be "the UK’s first club-owned and operated hotel inside a football stadium": https://www.heartsfc.co.uk/blogs/news/t ... r-bookings

* - No idea whether it does or not.

We’d really need one of the chain hotels to invest as they are the ones backed by institutional finance.

However their model is to buy land and build on it, which means it’s the Council and not the Club.

But, I agree with your concerns. There must be a reason why apart from the Hilton Doubletree in Charlton Kings there is no mid-range chain Cheltenham.

I suspect that the availability and price of land is the issue.

One could see an Ibis-Novotel-Mercure complex on Portland Street and North Place car parks, but not really anywhere else. Certainly not a small site on a residential street in Whaddon.

Prestbury Road - i.e Cakebridge Place would be better for a Premier Inn or similar. But it wouldn’t get planning permission due to blocking the light of 119 Prestbury Road.

I think that house will be a barrier to a few development proposals to be honest.

include the purchase of 119 in the overall plan? If it was even remotely feasible. I do agree that Prestbury Road access would enhance the 'pull' of any hotel.

[1985CTFC]

When it was first mentioned, I thought the hotel idea was some sort of joke. In Whaddon?? Now, a couple of HMO's, sure - I could see that. But it's not really the same thing.

What about a development where the car park side is a row of shops and maybe a gym? A franchised food outlet, bookies that doesn't look like it's stepped out of the 70s, bar... Things that could be open 7 days per week and generate rental income all year round. Corporate space for hire, above.

It's just a pipe-dream, I know...

Was all based about a supposed comment by Paul Baker that the only way to get a stand was if a hotel company got involved. Whether he said that I don't know.
Seen some hotel chains based in worst places than Whaddon!!

[1985CTFC]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68361025

Ratcliffe added the potential project could be a "catalyst for regeneration" in south Manchester and would therefore warrant a "conversation" with the government about using taxpayers' money.

typical toff billionaire, "why should I use all my money to build what I want"

this will happen though.


we want help with the £10m to build a new main stand, jog on plebs.

We could have their old stands!!!!!!! when they move

[Robin]

When it was first mentioned, I thought the hotel idea was some sort of joke. In Whaddon?? Now, a couple of HMO's, sure - I could see that. But it's not really the same thing.

What about a development where the car park side is a row of shops and maybe a gym? A franchised food outlet, bookies that doesn't look like it's stepped out of the 70s, bar... Things that could be open 7 days per week and generate rental income all year round. Corporate space for hire, above.

It's just a pipe-dream, I know...

Agree a hotel feels very misplaced as I just don't see the demand all year around. I thought Andy Wilcox wanted a floor of the new stand to be for his business, surely that is more realistic maybe a couple of companies can let a floor each (presuming any new stand is 3-4 stores high.

A gym is also a decent idea and could work in the location as there isn't anything local which would compete. A bookies could also work particularly popular in more working class areas but there is also one already just up the road.

[Robin]

When it was first mentioned, I thought the hotel idea was some sort of joke. In Whaddon?? Now, a couple of HMO's, sure - I could see that. But it's not really the same thing.

What about a development where the car park side is a row of shops and maybe a gym? A franchised food outlet, bookies that doesn't look like it's stepped out of the 70s, bar... Things that could be open 7 days per week and generate rental income all year round. Corporate space for hire, above.

It's just a pipe-dream, I know...

Was all based about a supposed comment by Paul Baker that the only way to get a stand was if a hotel company got involved. Whether he said that I don't know.
Seen some hotel chains based in worst places than Whaddon!!

Paul Baker despite being one of our major shareholders is not actively running the club, although the rumours do suggest he pulls David Bloxham's strings. I find it quite a curious comment for him to make though.