Cod Almighty | Diary
News is like buses
19 November 2015
It's like waiting for a bus isn't it? We midweek diarists chunter about a lack of news for diaries – and then we get a week like this when there's nowt but Town news!
You'll have read about the launch of We Are Town and hopefully by now been persuaded to buy a copy of this quite remarkable book. We've also won a few games on the bounce – and, apart from both the team and manager seeming confident, there's not really much to report on footballing matters. I have at last broken my duck and seen Town win this season, too. Get in!
The big news is obviously the stadium and the arrival this week of a site survey report by some chap called Chilcot, I think. I don't know about you but the last 20 or so years since the idea of a new stadium was mooted have flown by for me. Here's Wicklow's take on it, in case you missed it yesterday.
Football finances are again in the news and Middle-Aged Diary covered Forest Green's accounts on Tuesday before Wicklow nodded at FGR and gave Bolton Wanderers a mention yesterday.
Now, I don't know about you but I hate owing anybody anything. I feel queasy at the thought of accepting a pint without knowing there's an opportunity to repay that by getting another round in within the next 20 minutes. The annual deficit at FGR is pretty huge for this league, but the figures being discussed at Bolton recently are truly eye-watering. I mean, really effing unbelievable. How can a club rack up £172million of debt?
To put that figure in terms we (OK, me then) can easily understand, it equates to 57 million pints of beer. Or 98 million pints in the Rutland Arms, where beer is considerably cheaper than pretty much anywhere else in the country.
Bolton called in one Trevor Birch, an expert in football's financial mire who rescued Chelsea back in the day by smoothing the way for Russian sugar daddy Roman Abramovich. He also has history at Leeds and Portsmouth. There was talk of debt restructuring – but what does that even mean when the numbers are that big? Debt restructuring? You could shoot that debt with an effing missile and there'd still be enough of it left to sink you!
What Birch has done at Bolton is persuade the current owner Eddie Davies to write off his loans to the club and sell his stake at a knockdown price to a consortium led by Amir Khan and Dean Holdsworth. This means Bolton won't be able to rely on Davies' millions in future or the guidance of chairman Phil Gartside, who sadly is reported as being seriously ill. Good luck Trotters fans and best wishes too Mr Gartside.
The simple need for a man like Trevor Birch says a lot about modern football. At all levels clubs are overstretching and spending money they don't have in order to gain success on the field. Money buys success and in turn that means more money. Simple isn't it? Just cross your fingers no other club is trying it.
Behind Town's new stadium ambitions is the need to increase revenues, to enable us to compete. I just hope that we don't overstretch, that the investment from the council and grants are used well and with transparency. I hope the new stadium site is chosen objectively and the adjoining commercial and community facilities make sense for the community and the club. Like all fans, I want to see us rise through the leagues but I dread to see Town go the way of, say Darlington or Northampton. Stay tuned, I guess.
Also in the news this week are two managerial dismissals in the Conference: Paul Carden has gone from Southport and Darren Kelly has left Halifax. Don't think we can claim either for the Grimmo Reaper, even though we are mentioned in the BBC Halifax report.
This weekend is massive game for the top teams – FGR play Cheltenham while we go to Eastleigh. Six-pointers? Already? Yeah, why not. Play our game and we can do this – but resort to playing Eastleigh's game and we will struggle. We don't have the presence of John-Lewis or Palmer to bully the bullies this year, so let's keep the ball on the deck and play them off the park. A week in training for young Alex Jones will have done wonders for his partnership with Podge. And Townsend is on fire. A goal for all three?
Safe travels to all who make the trip to the Silverlake, and of course up the Mariners!