The Falkirk FC Thread

[ShaggerG]

26 minutes ago, Branch Ton said:

Normally businessesmen out to impress but a private jet or an Aston Martin. Buying Falkirk would be the equivalent of buying a hang glider and a push bike. 

Or, in Morton's case, a bus station.

[Shadwell Dog]

23 minutes ago, JulioBairn said:

Are we not in danger of over thinking this. Business man buys a business at it lowest point in 40 years knowing the likelihood is the only way is up. 

Businessman with experience in real estate uses this experience to complete the stadium, improve infrastructure and build hotel. 

Businessman employs person with a great football reputation to oversee football matters. 

Objectives - team improve, facilities improve, more people come to watch, hotel generates income. 

End result - businessman and football club both benefit from achieving objectives. 

But whats he getting out of it if he as he says is not taking any money out? All profits he says are going back into the club.

Edited July 30, 2019 by Shadwell Dog

[FalkirkLad]

Not having a go at folk here but what information are they looking to actually find out about him? He has came out and said the bulk of his money was made in selling buildings etc, are folk thinking you just type in his name and its gonna say 'Mark Campbell sold X building and made Y amount'? I'm still cautious about the whole thing however I don't think he would of been in advanced talks with a club worth about 150 mil+ without some evidence to back his offer up. Stewarts issue with Campbell seemed to be that he wasn't willing to heavily invest in back to back promotions and that's it.

[tubbybairn]

2 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

Well certainly the area where the 4th stand was to be built was always ours after the change ownership setup a few years back. Not sure whether that covers the whole of the new 4g pitch or a certain amount of it.

I suspect that will be limited to the section of land which was within the boundary fence for the last few years.  Either way, I think some fans are getting carried away with the idea that we somehow have large areas of land within our ownership which are ripe for development. 

[Shadwell Dog]

15 minutes ago, drs said:

The issue is that there doesn't seem to be any verifiable information around him being a businessman, never mind a successful businessman.

This whole proposed takeover should at this point in time have massive alarm bells going off for everyone - the MSG, fans, the council, the SFA, the SPFL and Uncle Tom Cobbley n aw.

I haven't seen any meat on any bones that would make me confident this is going to end well for Falkirk FC.

Thats what due dilligence by the club and the sfa is all about . Campbell  has already passed the fit and proper persons check down south so will be interesting to see if thsat is the case up here.

[Shadwell Dog]

3 minutes ago, tubbybairn said:

I suspect that will be limited to the section of land which was within the boundary fence for the last few years.  Either way, I think some fans are getting carried away with the idea that we somehow have large areas of land within our ownership which are ripe for development. 

You'd never fit a stand in there ffs. We dont have piles of land but we've always had land in that area as agreed when the ownership changed hands.

[Shadwell Dog]

3 minutes ago, Estragon IS NOT a fud said:

Falkirk's just another run-of-the-mill shite town in Scotland, very like Greenock actually. It hasn't "got" anything going for it. A fucking statue of a horse isn't going to entice anyone to come support Falkirk.

Feck sake theres some real cretins on this board.

[JulioBairn]

25 minutes ago, drs said:

The issue is that there doesn't seem to be any verifiable information around him being a businessman, never mind a successful businessman.

This whole proposed takeover should at this point in time have massive alarm bells going off for everyone - the MSG, fans, the council, the SFA, the SPFL and Uncle Tom Cobbley n aw.

I haven't seen any meat on any bones that would make me confident this is going to end well for Falkirk FC.

What are you expecting to see?

Also, my understanding is that in a lot of cases with bigger clubs you buy the club for a nominal fee (£1, £10) but agree to take on the millions of pounds of debt. Therefore Craig Whyte et al can tell all the stories they want about how much money they’ve got and gain control of the club. 

In this instance he is attempting to buy out 6 people who won’t go anywhere until they have had their pockets lined. Without any money this is dead in the water in a fortnight. Why bother?

[Reggie Perrin]

1 minute ago, Estragon IS NOT a fud said:

Falkirk's just another run-of-the-mill shite town in Scotland, very like Greenock actually. It hasn't "got" anything going for it. A fucking statue of a horse isn't going to entice anyone to come support Falkirk.

Falkirk is certainly a run of the mill town but to say we are "very much like Greenock"is a fucking outrage.

The only other places in Scotland that are very much like Greenock are Port Glasgow and the whole of North Lanarkshire.

[tubbybairn]

2 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

You'd never fit a stand in there ffs. We dont have piles of land but we've always had land in that area as agreed when the ownership changed hands.

The plans submitted for the 4g pitch would suggest otherwise.  We also had the old gazebo in that space with room to spare.  I reckon there is plenty room to accommodate a safe standing area or a few rows of seats with some sort of commercial area behind it.  Granted not the same size as the other three sides but plenty big enough for our purposes. 

[Guest]

I am fed up with this.

Why can my club not just so things sensibly without a drama, the Hibs takeover a month or so ago as an example.

By all means appoint the guy as PB, do the DD and only then let him lose on the supporters once it is completed.

 

The beauty parade of yesterday will go down like the Michael Knighton keepy up as being up there if this goes wrong.

 

Have we not been made a c**t of enough?

 

 

[Branch Ton]

52 minutes ago, Rocco said:

1 hour ago, Branch Ton said:

Normally businessesmen out to impress but a private jet or an Aston Martin. Buying Falkirk would be the equivalent of buying a hang glider and a push bike. 

Buying an Aston Martin or private jet wouldn't introduce him to other businessmen and women in Scotland would it? Owning a football club would get him invites to circles he wouldn't have mingled in before.

Come on get real. If he was a Falkirk lad a bid on sentimental grounds would be understandable. To make a bid for Falkirk in its current asset position suggests the guy has no business acumen whatsoever which then begs the question of where on earth he is getting the capital from. Loans need to be secured on assets, are interest bearing and need to be repaid. Just imagine you are landed with a big debt to a Singapore company and charged management and finance fees by a US company, all on league 1 income 

[JulioBairn]

22 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

But whats he getting out of it if he as he says is not taking any money out? All profits he says are going back into the club.

Ok I present to you 2 businesses. 

Business 1 is in the 3rd tier of Scottish football, has a half finished stadium that it doesn’t fully own, boycotting fans and no functioning youth academy to generate income. 

Business 2 is the 6th best club in the country, owns a fully finished stadium with hotel attached and a successful academy. 

Which business is more valuable? 

I appreciate there’s a lot of big IF’s and a massive amount to be done to get anywhere near where he’s talking about but if he’s successful his business is surely now much more valuable?

[tubbybairn]

Ok I present to you 2 businesses. 
Business 1 is in the 3rd tier of Scottish football, has a half finished stadium that it doesn’t fully own, boycotting fans and no functioning youth academy to generate income. 
Business 2 is the 6th best club in the country, owns a fully finished stadium with hotel attached and a successful academy. 
Which business is more valuable? 
I appreciate there’s a lot of big IF’s and a massive amount to be done to get anywhere near where he’s talking about but if he’s successful his business is surely now much more valuable?

Only if there isn't a big steaming pile of debt to go along with it.

[MrDust]

2 hours ago, AL-FFC said:

Just seen someone on twitter has offered to add him onto the COYB fb page, he's going to regret that one.

Can be car crash but if it was One F, which was a car, train and plane crash in one, Id be more concerned !!!

2 hours ago, Shadwell Dog said:

I doubt its still on anyway after his 15 mins with Brian Stewart after the meeting yesterday.

Didnt even reach 40% of Brian yesterday

42 minutes ago, Senator Frimpton said:

There's a bit of chat about this Campbell character on a Sunderland message board. They seem equally nonplussed, some suggestion he's a Michael Knighton, others more of a Craig Whyte type:

https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/mark-campbell.1480632/

https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/dons-talkin-video.1480974/#post-30156530

For a benefit of doubt view, everyone has to start somewhere and he's relatively young at 46 to get into the sports ownership game.

As I see it there are 3 ways he can make a return on any investment. Firstly reinstating the academy setup and resultant player sales. Park being a key part of this model. A longer game but naturally sustainable and profitable if done right.

Secondly acquiring the club and planning and development rights to the land adjacent to the stadium for leisure/retail facilities to generate non match day income. Potentially very lucrative but requiring significant development capital. He may be gambling on securing third party finance for this model, plus football operations would be very much secondary in this case. Not even necessarily a bad thing but not without risk fair to say.

Thirdly, and this is where the parallel with us and Sunderland becomes more apparent, he buys us on the cheap as an underperforming club invests as required and establishes us as competitive in the premiership and sells at a profit.

There may be some other angle so horrific I can't even countenance it, but John Park's involvement would suggest the football side is taken seriously (was it not him responsible for that batch of good Hibs players Brown, Fletcher et al that were sold for top dough?)

In conclusion therefore, dinno

 

 

We would be worth more in the top league for sure, Its hard to find a buyer for a football club never mind a Scottish one. The value if he had got Sunderland back to the top league is fkin massive.

I hope and think option 1 and 2 is where he is at, his hint on two ideas of building which he couldnt say owt about gave me that opinion

19 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

Thats what due dilligence by the club and the sfa is all about . Campbell  has already passed the fit and proper persons check down south so will be interesting to see if thsat is the case up here.

I wouldnt hold my breath putting faith in due diligence both in England and Scotland, the fact our own SFA were helping him in how to get around dual ownership tells its own story.

The DD test in England doesnt work where owners change at a much higher rate than Scotland, so I cant see it being any different in Scotland

[Shadwell Dog]

6 minutes ago, JulioBairn said:

Ok I present to you 2 businesses. 

Business 1 is in the 3rd tier of Scottish football, has a half finished stadium that it doesn’t fully own, boycotting fans and no functioning youth academy to generate income. 

Business 2 is the 6th best club in the country, owns a fully finished stadium with hotel attached and a successful academy. 

Which business is more valuable? 

I appreciate there’s a lot of big IF’s and a massive amount to be done to get anywhere near where he’s talking about but if he’s successful his business is surely now much more valuable?

Might be much more valuable but thats only if anyone else is interested in buying it.  Until that point there's millions of pounds that need to be invested to get us there and he's only going to get any money back if someone else is willing to buy a club which has already reached its full potential.

[MrDust]

13 minutes ago, Branch Ton said:

Come on get real. If he was a Falkirk lad a bid on sentimental grounds would be understandable. To make a bid for Falkirk in its current asset position suggests the guy has no business acumen whatsoever which then begs the question of where on earth he is getting the capital from. Loans need to be secured on assets, are interest bearing and need to be repaid. Just imagine you are landed with a big debt to a Singapore company and charged management and finance fees by a US company, all on league 1 income 

Ah the Morton millions

[brokeville]

The more people are digging and basically getting nowhere would suggest that this guy ‘could’ be the real deal. It’s now time for the supporters that haven’t renewed to get down and back the club. The money will supplement the squad. We need to get out this league in 1 season to allow all the plans to kick in. You know who you are and the shops open.

[FalkirkLad]

4 minutes ago, brokeville said:

The more people are digging and basically getting nowhere would suggest that this guy ‘could’ be the real deal. It’s now time for the supporters that haven’t renewed to get down and back the club. The money will supplement the squad. We need to get out this league in 1 season to allow all the plans to kick in. You know who you are and the shops open.

When he's in and the MSG are out I'll buy mine thanks.

[Bairn Necessities]

9 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

Might be much more valuable but thats only if anyone else is interested in buying it.  Until that point there's millions of pounds that need to be invested to get us there and he's only going to get any money back if someone else is willing to buy a club which has already reached its full potential.

And that profit has to be something greater than "current purchase price plus investment in playing side plus investment in developing locale of the ground".

So you are looking at an outlay of 10-15 million minimum which you need to recoup plus a profit at the end. Unless you are looking at a massively long term view and want to say have a hotel and facilities that generate 1m a year for many years. 

The RoR on this project has to be extremely high risk.