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It’s worth checking as if he defaulted on the mortgage then the bank or whoever loaned him the money would probably have the right to seize it so I don’t think he should be able to legally take a mortgage on it without informing the council as effectively it’s tantamount to a sale. What’s to stop him otherwise transferring it to another company and mortgaging it up to the eyeballs.
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With the stadium being an asset of community value. If anyone knows someone with legal expertise, it would be worth finding out if it was even legal for Swann to take a mortgage on it. A mortgage puts a claim on it and that doesn’t seem to me as something that would be. It’s important to be pragmatic. If the club went into administration but owned its own stadium they would almost certainly find a very good solution to get out of this mess. The last thing administrators want to do is liquidate. Look at how long they gave Derby etc. The key is to have assets. Usually non secured creditors get a rough deal of 20 p on the £ or something similar but Swann caused that and then suddenly you have a 600k debt to find instead of 3m and if the stadium mortgage was illegal a much more valuable asset than the debt. Then it’s off to the races.
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If they’ve managed to do this deal, which can’t have been easy at all, then there’s no telling where this could lead. Thanks, and well done.
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How much empathy would Swann show to someone who wanted to knock a few million off the asking price because of Covid, cost of living crisis, and rising energy prices? None. Plus the fact we are non-league, and unless by some miracle, we get promoted before the end of next season back to L2 then the parachute payments are gone and the new owner has to find even more money to plug that gap.
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It’s as good as saying it’s not for sale.
So, does it trundle on until administration knocks on the front door?
I really hope not, but it does look like it’s headed that way. The only other viable solution I can see is a deal for a token pound with someone with enough money and ready to support the club and invest in it to get free again and take on all debt except any owed to coolsilk/Swann. Let Swann keep the stadium as that’s all he’s interested in and either lease for a peppercorn rent for a couple of years on the basis that the club will be looking for a new ground or groundshare until the new one is ready. It’s not ideal but in the short term it gets a breakaway from him and in the long term building a new stadium and surrounding area even if its in stages would be like a fresh start but whilst keeping identity
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I think he wants to sell but at something like 6m, which is a delusional price. Just a guess though so who really knows. I also think he probably just sees the club as a hindrance now to an exit with the stadium and the land built on it. His interest in the club has long gone.
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True. Buyers or sellers market though I’ve no doubt he is looking for a sellers market price in what is a buyers market. He will be trying to recoup losses from when the club was leagues above by means of selling the stadium for development or try to find someone with so much money that they will actually buy it to keep as a stadium. The chances seem slim to none in the National League and God forbid NLN if the worse happens. I think the earlier suggestion of someone buying the club for a token pound but with enough money behind them to invest in the club and then ground share until a new one can be built is the only way of change happening. Swann will then sell the ground to a developer. Hope I’m wrong but it seems the only way of parting company at the moment barring administration, which will basically have the same result but with a points deduction and changes enforced to the club name etc.
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The liverpool owners have done it the right way and shown how owners serious about selling a club would go about it. The club is for sale and the asking price is 4bn. It’s that simple, announce that the club is up for sale and the price it is for sale at. That weeds out any people that aren’t serious or don’t have the money required, then all the nonsense about potential buyers not being able to provide proof of funds etc is nipped in the bud before any time is wasted. The only reason for him not to announce the price is if something said before would then be proven to be false relating to the stadium or whatever. Otherwise, it makes no sense.
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If he’s serious about selling the club he needs to give an indication of price and a contact email at the club for prospective buyers to contact. That immediately gets rid of anybody being interested but not having enough funds or entering negotiations and the price changing because he moves the goalposts. If you’re selling your house and you want to save time then you put a price up with it then anyone that is interested and it’s something they can afford enters advanced negotiations. The only reason not to is he’s not serious or he has something to hide that will look really greedy to supporters and contradict previous commitments.
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I’ve been watching that Wrexham docuseries on Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mcelhenney taking over there. One of the latest episodes has a whole bit on a previous owner who was a disbarred lawyer due to mortgage fraud who put a puppet in, took over the club and transferred out the stadium and land into another company then racked up debts on the club to try and put it into administration. I sincerely hope that I am wrong but it was the exact modus operandi that seems to be happening here. I think all fans should watch that episode. Thankfully their fans managed to gather together and saw him off but it was eerily similar to what is happening. He has played it very cleverly by running up debts that he incurred then transferring the assets to himself essentially to cover his own debts. Those with the least amount of scruples tend to be the most devious. Don’t let him demoralise you though as there are people from afar who love football and can’t stand the way you are being treated as fans and will be considering ways to protect the proud club for the fans, the community and the town.
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Regardless of whatever someone says, especially someone know to be dishonest, whatever their actions result in at the end is what they intended all along. Swann’s only care was separating the club from the stadium and land that it owned and getting his hands on that. The land will make him money and the club costs money. If the club is put into administration or sold for a token amount to someone who detests this kind of thing happening to football clubs, their fans and their communities, one thing seems certain and that is he is keeping the stadium and land. If someone buys it now as a lover of football but with enough money to keep the club afloat, stabalize, try and invest in the club to get it moving back up the pyramid and find a new ground then I very much doubt that they being businessmen themselves would want Swann getting another penny over a token pound purchase, they would rather the money go into the club as it’s going to need plenty, especially if a new stadium is going to be needed in a few years. Presumably for a period of time it would negotiable to lease the ground until a new site is sorted and built. He claims the club is up for sale and he’s looking for buyers but how would anyone make contact anyway?
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