The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[third lanark]

18 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

Scott Brown at Peterhead.

I see a couple of Raith fans saying they are linked with him too

[Frosty]

Propped up the club beyond its means, signed players on £2k-£3k a week with no sustainable business. Left Ayr with a (if I recall correctly) £450k tax bill the next financial year meaning Cameron Sr had the tax bill from the Cup run season to pay plus the wages of some of the most expensive players in the clubs history. 
The club came to an arrangement to pay in instalments, leased the car park, the shop and the catering/hospitality to keep the club running which screwed us for about 10 years. 
We didn't screw the tax payer like another team not to far away. 

I’ve always seen the tax bill issue as being down to Cameron. It was nothing to do with a Rangers type arrangement and there was never any suggestion anything was hidden when the club changed hands. It’s difficult to see that it wasn’t a failure at the due diligence stage or that the ball was dropped regarding paying the tax bill afterwards.

Not sure how bankrolling the best Ayr team we’ve seen since the mid Seventies and taking us to our first major Final was shafting the Club.

Barr’s obsession with AUFC and also the Ayr Scottish Eagles along with what in hindsight was actually a far too lenient approach to debts from the likes of Airdrie were factors in his business getting into trouble and Barr losing control of it. As the club was a Barr subsidiary at that point it was fortunate that Barr ensured the club was passed to Cameron rather than the banks being allowed to maximise a return from the asset by potentially looking to sell the ground for housing which might have been a possibility.

I think we’d have all liked to see a more tangible legacy from the Barr years but we shouldn’t forget the entry rules to the top division that applied at that time and the focus on a new ground that not unreasonably seemed be an essential requirement to meet that criteria and provide an income stream for it. Barr certainly spent a huge amount of money but it was his/Barr Construction’s money and while we may have wanted him to spend it on different things when you are the one doing the spending you are the one who decides what it goes on.

Anyway it’s all ancient history now and in respect of Airdrie it was a David Murray company not Barr that started the insolvency process which was the catalyst for everything that followed for that now dead club.

[GaryMc93]

6 hours ago, ayrunitedfw said:

There should be no reason why it’s one or the other. They play completely different positions? 

Yeah I’m still hopeful both sign. More meaning if we have to prioritise one if both have other offers and it comes down to money as I’m not sure we’d push the boat out for both.

[diegomarahenry]

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

I’ve always seen the tax bill issue as being down to Cameron. It was nothing to do with a Rangers type arrangement and there was never any suggestion anything was hidden when the club changed hands. It’s difficult to see that it wasn’t a failure at the due diligence stage or that the ball was dropped regarding paying the tax bill afterwards.

Not sure how bankrolling the best Ayr team we’ve seen since the mid Seventies and taking us to our first major Final was shafting the Club.

Barr’s obsession with AUFC and also the Ayr Scottish Eagles along with what in hindsight was actually a far too lenient approach to debts from the likes of Airdrie were factors in his business getting into trouble and Barr losing control of it. As the club was a Barr subsidiary at that point it was fortunate that Barr ensured the club was passed to Cameron rather than the banks being allowed to maximise a return from the asset by potentially looking to sell the ground for housing which might have been a possibility.

I think we’d have all liked to see a more tangible legacy from the Barr years but we shouldn’t forget the entry rules to the top division that applied at that time and the focus on a new ground that not unreasonably seemed be an essential requirement to meet that criteria and provide an income stream for it. Barr certainly spent a huge amount of money but it was his/Barr Construction’s money and while we may have wanted him to spend it on different things when you are the one doing the spending you are the one who decides what it goes on.

Anyway it’s all ancient history now and in respect of Airdrie it was a David Murray company not Barr that started the insolvency process which was the catalyst for everything that followed for that now dead club.

I am not saying Barrs time as chairman as a failure. He put a lot of his money in to a lot of projects that benefited Ayrshire, not just Ayr United.

His philanthropy came at a cost though and it is fortunate that Ayr didn’t go the same way as Centrum or Ayr Eagles. He put a lot of money in to projects but seemingly had no issue with metaphorically burning them to the ground. None had an exit plan to continue operating once he pulled his funding. 

Cameron bought the club for a pound and therefore assumed the debt in what amounted to a fire sale of Barrs assets. 
The unsustainable business model he had created meant that regardless of who took over, the clubs cashflow was greatly reduced with the loss of the sponsorship and hospitality money he was paying over the odds for as well as paying excessive wages. 
 

The club was for sale almost from The point the Cameron’s took over and was eventually sold over a decade later so if Cameron hadn’t taken over we may have struggled even more to survive. 

[AyrExile]

9 hours ago, diegomarahenry said:

Propped up the club beyond its means, signed players on £2k-£3k a week with no sustainable business. Left Ayr with a (if I recall correctly) £450k tax bill the next financial year meaning Cameron Sr had the tax bill from the Cup run season to pay plus the wages of some of the most expensive players in the clubs history. 

The club came to an arrangement to pay in instalments, leased the car park, the shop and the catering/hospitality to keep the club running which screwed us for about 10 years. 

We didn't screw the tax payer like another team not to far away. 

IMO it was the appointment of the laughing policeman that caused this. Whilst Barr left abruptly it was a relatively clean break. The one thing required was a business brain to try and balance the wage bill to avoid a heavy future loss 

[Superhursy7]

Think this is about where we are just now think 433 is Bullens favored formation hopefully we get to see some news and additions this week as most contracts will be up at the end od May.

[Frosty]

The club was for sale almost from The point the Cameron’s took over and was eventually sold over a decade later so if Cameron hadn’t taken over we may have struggled even more to survive. 

We were lucky to have Cameron around to take the club on from Barr at that time. He was a genuine fan and one with deep enough pockets to maintain and run the club if not deep enough to fund meaningful capital expenditure on the ground or a realistic challenge much beyond making the Championship play-offs.

Cameron was hardly inundated with bids to take the club off his hands during his ownership and he rightly batted away the occasional fantasist that did appear. The achievements on the park during McCall’s time were beyond what I believed could be achieved with Cameron’s resources and the revenue that our current attendance levels generate so for me his legacy is a positive one although not one that warrants our club bar being named after him - for me it should be McLeod’s Bar.

[Toepoker]

8 minutes ago, Frosty said:

 

We were lucky to have Cameron around to take the club on from Barr at that time. He was a genuine fan and one with deep enough pockets to maintain and run the club if not deep enough to fund meaningful capital expenditure on the ground or a realistic challenge much beyond making the Championship play-offs.

Cameron was hardly inundated with bids to take the club off his hands during his ownership and he rightly batted away the occasional fantasist that did appear. The achievements on the park during McCall’s time were beyond what I believed could be achieved with Cameron’s resources and the revenue that our current attendance levels generate so for me his legacy is a positive one although not one that warrants our club bar being named after him - for me it should be McLeod’s Bar.

 

The McLeod Stand gives Ally the status he deserves. Let Cameron have the bar.

[OnlyAyrfaninTarbolton]

Think we should all be concentrating on the club going forward.... Rather than blabbering on about the past eg Camerons etc..... 

 

What does it matter now??? 

[AllySloan]

Just watching the National League Play Off between Solihull and Chesterfield. Potential signing in Solihull striker Andy Dallas? Apparently a former Rangers youth player

[Superhursy7]

Just watching the National League Play Off between Solihull and Chesterfield. Potential signing in Solihull striker Andy Dallas? Apparently a former Rangers youth player

Did he not have a loan at Morton a few seasons back?

[AllySloan]

Did he not have a loan at Morton a few seasons back?

Yeah. Thought potentially similar to Adeloye but maybe more likely to suit him as he's from Glasgow

[Finlay21]

2 hours ago, Toepoker said:

The McLeod Stand gives Ally the status he deserves. Let Cameron have the bar.

We already have the Ally McLeod Hospitality Suite 

[D'Jaffo]

We already have the Ally McLeod Hospitality Suite 

Will it still be known as that if we knock it down and build a new one into a new stand?

[Finlay21]

13 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

Will it still be known as that if we knock it down and build a new one into a new stand?

I am led to believe so , might hear more at Vision night 

Edited May 29, 2022 by Finlay21

[ayrunitedfw]

[diegomarahenry]

3 hours ago, Frosty said:

 

We were lucky to have Cameron around to take the club on from Barr at that time. He was a genuine fan and one with deep enough pockets to maintain and run the club if not deep enough to fund meaningful capital expenditure on the ground or a realistic challenge much beyond making the Championship play-offs.

Cameron was hardly inundated with bids to take the club off his hands during his ownership and he rightly batted away the occasional fantasist that did appear. The achievements on the park during McCall’s time were beyond what I believed could be achieved with Cameron’s resources and the revenue that our current attendance levels generate so for me his legacy is a positive one although not one that warrants our club bar being named after him - for me it should be McLeod’s Bar.

 

I remember hearing a story about Bill Barr, don't know if it is true or not. 

He made a surprise visit to a site, when he got out his car he saw someone sitting in a digger reading a paper. He flung open the door and said to the guy "if you've time to read the paper you've time to use a shovel" and tried to hand the guy one. 

The guy refused and Barr told him to get to f**k off his site and not come back. 

When he came back out the office later on, everyone was hanging about. He asked what the hold up was. He had told a BT engineer that didn't work for him to f**k off and they couldn't do anything until they got him back. 

[1nickydevlin]

1 minute ago, diegomarahenry said:

I remember hearing a story about Bill Barr, don't know if it is true or not. 

He made a surprise visit to a site, when he got out his car he saw someone sitting in a digger reading a paper. He flung open the door and said to the guy "if you've time to read the paper you've time to use a shovel" and tried to hand the guy one. 

The guy refused and Barr told him to get to f**k off his site and not come back. 

When he came back out the office later on, everyone was hanging about. He asked what the hold up was. He had told a BT engineer that didn't work for him to f**k off and they couldn't do anything until they got him back. 

Sounds like him .

[THEHonestman1910]

Says a lot when we're talking about the Barr era for the millionth time, really feels stale right now. 

[1nickydevlin]

3 minutes ago, THEHonestman1910 said:

Says a lot when we're talking about the Barr era for the millionth time, really feels stale right now. 

That champions league final was shite last night .what you think ?