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Let’s put this deal between the two egotists into perspective.
Please correct me if I’ve misunderstood what’s been happening.
The deal to buy GP and the surrounding land.
Hilton agreed to a deal for the full asking price in January and Swann accepted that offer giving him 4 months to complete the “legals”.
Hilton waited those 4 months without doing so and then used a “loophole” that his solicitor allegedly found enabling Hilton to squat at the stadium whilst paying the land owner nothing.
Does that come across as the actions of an honest and astute businessman that should be allowed to be the custodian of a community asset such as a professional football club?
A further 2 months later (now 6 months on from agreeing a deal) “legals” have either not been completed or not started, I assume Hilton has been paying these lawyers for their time.
Swann, none of us can possibly forget or ever forgive him for his shambolic tenure at our club, he has a lot to answer for.
He turned what was once described as the best run small club in England to the absolute car crash on the brink of extinction that we are now witnessing.
Hilton, comes across as a spiv type wide boy looking for “loopholes” to avoid paying for a deal he agreed to 6 months ago and has so far despite claiming he has the funds, has not honoured the deal.
I never trusted Swann and I don’t trust Hilton.7 users thanked author for this post.
For balance: you are omitting Hilton’s claim on the ransom strip, the land valuation difference, the planning permission expiration and alleged farmers access issues.
I didn’t purposely omit them.
Could you expand on the three points please?
The three points that Hilton says exist but only he knows about, the planning permission was granted years ago but has now expired because the work wasn’t started, the ransom strip that nobody has ever proved the existence of, the farmers access that no farmer has ever claimed, it didn’t stop the planning permission for housing years ago so why should it now?
As for the land valuation, Hilton agreed on the price.1 user thanked author for this post.
Didn’t someone (maybe Jordan Zakarin) state that it’s the club’s responsibility to sort the ransom stip out now Hilton has bought the club?
Yet Hilton has stated it is the responsibility of the owner of the land and ground to register the ransom strip before a sale can proceed. Who do we believe?,well neither have a great track record so we need the courts to decide as no one on here ever comes up with a legally qualified answer, which is fully understandable as we aren’t lawyer’s.
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We don’t, but I don’t doubt Zakarin’s commitment to the club or honesty when stating what he believes to be true. I would with Swann and I am sceptical of Hilton. Though, the latter may be true, I cannot fully place my trust in their best intentions as I would a fan.
Though, I think this strip of land would be sorted by either Swann or Hilton if they weren’t looking for an excuse.
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I’ve got to a point where I don’t know what to think with any confidence. We know that DH is a property developer purchasing and developing to sell on. He will have the services of legal specialists in that field of business. I believe the current land/property situation will be bread and butter to his legal advisers. PS is a businessman that seems to be more of entertainment management. We do know that PS has a thin skin or so it appears to me. He has if I recollect correctly more than once threatened legal letters to individuals and banned the former Scunthorpe Telegraph now Grimsby Telegraph from GP. He had an on going issue with the North Lincs Council regarding a new stadium and it always seemed to not be his fault, much the same as now with the current debacle. Has he found some specialist legal team on property purchases to guide him? Sadly by his own admission he has a gambling problem – forthcoming court case. Is he once more taking unwisely, a gamble? I’m hoping the issue can be resolved out of court and end this misery for all of us.
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That’s very kind of you to say. The problem we face is that neither of these guys is particularly likable or trustworthy. There’s no good guy here, though general incompetence is not the same as malice.
With regard to the stadium deal and how it fell apart, it was a pretty simple sequence of events that began in early April (this is based on conversations with a number of parties)
1. Hilton asked Swann for an adjustment to the deal, which I think was about payment schedule.
2. Swann said no, unless Hilton agreed to some conditions, which I believe included proving he had the income.
3. Hilton then came back with a list of problems he suddenly found with the ground. The ransom strip was one of them, and he wanted Swann to get it registered, which would have taken months.
4. Swann said instead of that, he would pay for insurance against any problems that could be caused by the unregistered land while Hilton took care of registering it.
5. Fighting, squabbling, negotiations break downHilton, as he keeps flogging, just offered to do the £3m deal “after legals,” which kicks the can further down the road til at least the fall. Given his business history, and the fact that he broke up the last deal and then took the ground hostage, it only makes sense for Swann to ask for a fair amount of money upfront.
I hope nobody takes this as me defending Swann — I got invovled with the club to drive the guy out. He’s miserable and let greed fool him into believing Hilton from the jump. Had he taken the consortium’s deal, he’d be home free with a profit eight months ago and far fewer legal bills.
That said, dealing purely with facts about this deal and case, he’s the one who has the truth on his side.
We don’t, but I don’t doubt Zakarin’s commitment to the club or honesty when stating what he believes to be true. I would with Swann and I am sceptical of Hilton. Though, the latter may be true, I cannot fully place my trust in their best intentions as I would a fan.
Though, I think this strip of land would be sorted by either Swann or Hilton if they weren’t looking for an excuse.
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