THE REAL PROBLEM AT STAINES

By Cherseyboy6412/1/2020 23:02Sun Jan 12 23:02:19 2020

Views: 3939

Guys , I have been observing this situation from afar as a Chertsey Town fan with a background in the private equity game.(30 years)

I decided to dig a little bit deeper into the situation as I’ve been unable to understand such a dramatic turn in fortunes for such a large local club, It became obvious that there was an interest with the stadium, this first came to my attention when I read the Non League Paper last year SWANS IN STADIUM BATTLE I distinctly remember. I began to read about another party involved The Thames Club, who I decided to look into, I can tell you that it would be an interesting exercise for ALL of you concerned about the football club to check out The Thames Clubs last 10 years of accounts, since they bought the freehold down there. This information is all publicly available.

It makes for very worrying reading, if you don’t know how to do this I can give you a brief overview.

1. They have never turned a profit and lose literally millions every single year. (Despite recently being named one of the best businesses in Spelthorne)
2. Money is being transferred out of the business as management fees as related party transactions to people who also directly run the Thames Club.

What is so bad about this?? , after all if they want to continue to finance a failing business that’s up to them it’s their money right ?

Wrong.And here lies the problem, The Thames Club is financed by a venture Capital Company called Downing LLP. This means that it sits in a group an asset in a group alongside other assets that Downings Investors are directly investing in. Now who are Downings investors ? Unfortunately they are likely retail investors, normal working people, ploughing in their hard earned money, pensions and savings, and what are Downing and The Thames Club doing with it ? They appear to be continuing to finance a failing business in order for them to pull huge consultancy fees out of the other side for the very people that run the Thames Club. It might also be interesting for you guys to check the name of the guy who is chairman of the thames club and check the guy who is founder and owner of Downing. Is there a link????

Some of you might be able to see the Thames Club had a £3M loan outstanding on recent accounts and that it was recently satisfied- How are they servicing this debt when they are operating at such a loss. - A loan facility from Downings LLP unsuspecting investors once again most probably propping up their failing business year after year.

When we travelled down to you earlier in the season for our convincing 0-4 victory I was also told that The Thames Club run the bar. It got me into thinking how the hell does this club make any sort of money, the answer - it doesn’t. Your football club is a shell, with a great name, no bar, no fans((saw you got 72 last game)) and it appears attempted to being run out of business by an aggressive Venture Capital group who just want to continue what appears to be financing an operation that takes money from their investors pockets and puts it in their own.
You have to ask the question that if they are prepared to operate and make money from their investors in such a way what else are they prepared to do ?

Why was this not sorted years ago is my question , why was this not looked at , it looks like you’ve had well over a decade of papering over cracks , some relative level of success in the conference south and FA Cup but no foresight and ultimately no long term view on the club. Perhaps another case of an owner propping up not just a club but also his ego, before handing it over and watching the floor collapse beneath the next guys who took control. Looking into your previous owner the facts also state his other business Boon Building Services ltd recently when bankrupt, maybe a bit of a personality trend it would appear.

I have read through your platforms that the current owner is concentrating on spending funds on legal to rectify this, at the expense of the clubs current results, if this is true then this is something that is clearly desperately needed, I do not know the owner and have not heard of him outside of his interest at Staines, but from the ignorance displayed on here you might end up driving out the guy who is trying to save your club. You also have to understand that publicly talking about whatever they have going on might weaken the clubs position which I’m sure non of you want. These things take time and a lot of money. I would advise you guys to sit tight and look beyond the surface to get the answers that you need.

I hope you guys are able to recover and that the guys in control drive the club through this difficult patch, you might be our local rivals but I sincerely hope we will all be able to enjoy many years of derby days !

GOOD LUCK….