Blackpool | Oystons gone | under new ownership

freeurmind

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Sorry for bumping such an old thread but I thought it was worth mentioning that after years of boycotting the Blackpool ownership has been ousted and the club has been put into receivership.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/47229992

Blackpool have been put into receivership by the High Court, forcing owner Owen Oyston to pay ex-director Valeri Belokon the £25m he is owed.

The ruling could pave the way for a takeover, but the English Football League must now decide whether to dock the League One club 12 points
 

forevrared

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I missed this when it happened, but the lad invading the pitch on a mobility scooter is incredible. Glad the fans have finally got rid of the owners, even if at an extreme cost.
 

jojojo

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The Oystons have been removed from the board by the Receiver (bankruptcy administrator).

Michael Bolingbroke (ex-Manchester United/Inter Milan) has been appointed as a boardroom consultant. Ben Hatton (ex-United) is joining the board, along with a couple of Blackpool locals with previous football business backgrounds.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47360416

To celebrate, the fans who've been boycotting the club in protest against the Oystons decided to organise a work day at the club to (literally) give the stadium a bit of a spring clean.
https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/...ne-clean-at-bloomfield-road-stadium-1-9629360
 

Sylar

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Happy for the fans. This is the guy who was suing fans for complaining online right?
 

Tommy

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Bravo to everyone who put their money where their mouth is & properly supported the boycott. Let's see what happens next. Hopefully a full turnaround & some success, but I'm not enough of a fantasist to believe that's truly realistic.

They definitely deserve some luck, though!
 

Moriarty

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Give 'em a friendly at their place. Maybe a few PL clubs could do the same to help them out. Blackpool is an old and storied club and should be given help.
 

MUM

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Owen always looks as though he's in disguise?

Glad that it's getting sorted, hope things go the same way at Bolton, safety that is.
 

freeurmind

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Give 'em a friendly at their place. Maybe a few PL clubs could do the same to help them out. Blackpool is an old and storied club and should be given help.
Great idea would love to see this happen. Great to see them succeed after so many years of struggle. Football clubs are not simply businesses for owners to do whatever they want with. Supporters need to be treated with more respect.
 
New owner

jojojo

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They've got a new owner. Simon Sadler, a Blackpool born financier/hedge fund manager now living in Hong Kong has bought all the shares previously owned by the Oystons. He's also bought the stadium and training ground.

I've looked at the local press, the fans sound delighted. Obviously they're celebrating the Oystons going. Let's hope the new owner is still the fan he was as a kid, and is buying it to look after it.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jun/13/blackpool-sold-hong-kong-financier-simon-sadler-10m
 

freeurmind

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Great news for them. The article cited above says that one of the protest leaders has been appointed as an advisor to the board so they seem to be on the right track.
 

Rendezvous with Ronaldo

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Er, yeah this new owner.....is an owner. He's in it to make money primarily and secondarily to make money, like every owner. On-pitch success is a tertiary concern that only will be pushed for as long as money will be made.

Which makes sense, it is a business like any other, after all.
 

freeurmind

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Er, yeah this new owner.....is an owner. He's in it to make money primarily and secondarily to make money, like every owner. On-pitch success is a tertiary concern that only will be pushed for as long as money will be made.

Which makes sense, it is a business like any other, after all.
Bollocks. We know nothing yet as to how this owner will be and what his priorities will be. Football clubs aren't just like any other business and English football would be better off if we all moved towards the German ownership model.
 

jojojo

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Bollocks. We know nothing yet as to how this owner will be and what his priorities will be. Football clubs aren't just like any other business and English football would be better off if we all moved towards the German ownership model.
It's hard not to see this one through rose-tinted spectacles really - Sadler's about as close to a dream owner as Blackpool were likely to get. His investment company is called Segantii Capital Management - named after a pre-Roman Blackpool tribe and it's corporate logo is orange. He bought Stanley Matthews Cup Final medal (won with Blackpool) and put it on display at the National Football Museum.

That said, I'm not expecting to see him play sugar-daddy to the club - not the kind who gets you into the PL at any rate. The receivers had a couple of ex-United people (notably Michael Bolingbroke) on the interim board, and he'll keep them on the board initially. Doubtless he'll want the club to get back on its own two feet and find some financial stability. But that's probably all he'll be asking it to do for a while, which is probably what most Blackpool fans are asking for as well.
 

jojojo

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Having just written a doom and gloom report about Bury and Bolton, I'm happy to say it's a, "so far, so good," story for Blackpool with its new owner. The fans are back at the ground with over 11,000 at their opening match of the season (the crowds dropped to less than two thousand at the peak of the boycott).

Sadler (the new owner) hasn't said much about his plans, other than he thinks being in the Championship is a reasonable aim on the playing side and that the club needs a big investment in infrastructure.

In particular they need a new training ground - last year they had a muddy field and a portakabin to change in.

Of course, he's only owned the place for a few weeks but the fans say that they can see the money going in, just as they could see it going out. Basic stuff really, like getting the pitches looking good, sprucing up the players dressing rooms, doing the stadium repairs etc. A "stream of white vans" with decorators, electricians, plumbers etc as one of them described it.

There's an interview with Sadler on the BBC site, but this bit is especially nice to see:
"I am fortunate enough to be the custodian of this football club and I want to make sure it is around for future generations so other lads and lasses can come with their mums and dads, like I did with my dad."

Does he mean it? I think so. He's a businessman, he knows what money is, but he also knows what it can do.
"It is going to take time, dedication and hard work - and, above all else, it is going to take money.

"We need to build the infrastructure and build a squad to get us out of League One into the Championship, and to stay there.

"We have to think long term. It would be ridiculous of me to chuck £10m to £20m into the playing squad when we aren't ready for it. That sort of money needs to be invested in training facilities and the like."

The full article is at:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49176913