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Post by Al on May 7, 2020 17:04:20 GMT
Stuart Murphy has approached the board to take control of the club.
Briefing to be sent out to CFU members shortly.
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Post by bonecrusher on May 7, 2020 17:09:08 GMT
Hmm...
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Post by bb93 on May 7, 2020 17:13:42 GMT
Interesting times. Might be the only way through this crisis.
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Post by Deva Chanter on May 7, 2020 17:18:03 GMT
No thank you
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MMc
Junior Member
Posts: 58
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Post by MMc on May 7, 2020 17:18:45 GMT
I trust that Stuart will run the club well, and is doing this as a fan of the club. This is great. Only problem is what happens in future, when it comes to the next owner who may not be as genuine. Is there any way future crooks can be dodged and given back to the fans if necessary?
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Post by avfo on May 7, 2020 17:19:48 GMT
"I will never see this money again," he said. "It is a substantial amount of money and I have bequeathed it to them because of my desire to help the club and the city. It is not a profit-making business (for me). I will take no control of the club, no ownership, no shares, nothing. It's just there to bring Chester back to where it was and that is the goal". Stuart Murphy - May 2018
“We don’t want to own a football club, we don’t want to run a football club, we want to provide an amazing sporting village that benefits the football club". Stuart Murphy - November 2019
Begs a couple of question, Why the change of mind and how are the plans for the sporting village progressing?
'Full settlement of outstanding financial commitments which remain outstanding for the 2019/20 season'
What exactly does that mean?
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Post by gezzer on May 7, 2020 17:19:57 GMT
Link: cityfansunited.com/notification-to-members-thursday-7th-may-2020/Appears that the approach must have been made a while ago given the paragraph about the board already consulted with various stakeholders. Given the change of ownership rules (EGM attended by 50% of owners with 75% voting in favour), this could be a long drawn out affair in the current climate or, as memberships run out end of May how many will renew? Anyone know what the current membership total is?
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Post by waggoner on May 7, 2020 17:23:00 GMT
Not for me. Unless it is at least 51% fan owned
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Post by Matt on May 7, 2020 17:25:55 GMT
Can't help but be sceptical given our luck with owners in the past. You have to ask why us? Plus they need a 75% majority and at least 50% of the members vote to make it go through, I do wonder given what the statement says about social distancing etc that they're taking the opportunity for us to maybe panic and sign everything over under all these uncertain times.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2020 17:27:27 GMT
I can't see a chance in Hell he gets a 75% vote to take ownership, his plans for the 1885 Village are at best a touch unrealistic. Feels like he's making a very opportunistic grab for the club amidst a nationwide pandemic, ruthless and opportunistic to say the least. If he believes in the club there's no need for him to take ownership like he's stated numerous times previously.
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Post by Al on May 7, 2020 17:28:29 GMT
I fear for the future of our club if we accept and if we reject it.
Rejection, Murphy pulls his money out. We have no backup plan and the club ultimately goes under/severe budget cuts resulting ultimately in relegation to the Evo Stik leagues, from which we never recover.
If Murphy takes control we lose fan ownership (despite him being a supporter) but have chance to realise the infrastructure development and community hub through injection of capital.
We are living in unprecedented times. I hope all members weigh up the pros and cons accordingly before making a decision. This should not be about retaining control in spite of the short and long term future of the club as a whole.
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Post by South Wirral Blue on May 7, 2020 17:34:13 GMT
Very difficult to see us becoming a competitive conference side again, nevermind a football league side, without serious outside investment.
Then again, if anybody other than the fans are in charge I think many will fear history repeating itself - justifiably so too.
Personally I'd rather we stayed fan owned, even if it meant kicking around this kind of level for the forseeable.
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Post by Al on May 7, 2020 17:38:02 GMT
Very difficult to see us becoming a competitive conference side again, nevermind a football league side, without serious outside investment. Then again, if anybody other than the fans are in charge I think many will fear history repeating itself - justifiably so too. Personally I'd rather we stayed fan owned, even if it meant kicking around this kind of level for the forseeable. What if its the level or 2 below? Is this our 'Duke of Westminster' moment?
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Post by dmcnally on May 7, 2020 17:39:20 GMT
Crucial that Stuart comes out ASAP and tells us what has prompted this offer. As AVFO posts above he’s previously made it clear he doesn’t want to own or run a football club.
Why the change?
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Post by jedthehumanoid on May 7, 2020 17:39:57 GMT
The timing of the approach rings alarm bells for me, seems like a predatory move on a club in a difficult position. I hope that isn't the case but after the previous statements he's made saying he doesn't want to own/run the club I just wonder what's changed?
Fan ownership is a big plus for me so I'm a 'no' for now, but it'll be interesting to see how this progresses.
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Post by South Wirral Blue on May 7, 2020 17:40:05 GMT
Very difficult to see us becoming a competitive conference side again, nevermind a football league side, without serious outside investment. Then again, if anybody other than the fans are in charge I think many will fear history repeating itself - justifiably so too. Personally I'd rather we stayed fan owned, even if it meant kicking around this kind of level for the forseeable. What if its the level or 2 below? Is this our 'Duke of Westminster' moment? Why should it be the level or 2 below? You don't get many clubs with an average of 1,500 to 2,000 crowds permanently stuck in the Evo-Stik do you.
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Post by gezzer on May 7, 2020 17:43:29 GMT
Crucial that Stuart comes out ASAP and tells us what has prompted this offer. As AVFO posts above he’s previously made it clear he doesn’t want to own or run a football club. Why the change? He also stated that it would be easier to get investors for the sporting village if he owned the club.
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Post by hbomb on May 7, 2020 17:48:38 GMT
What if its the level or 2 below? Is this our 'Duke of Westminster' moment? Why should it be the level or 2 below? You don't get many clubs with an average of 1,500 to 2,000 crowds permanently stuck in the Evo-Stik do you. But would those crowds dwindle further if people saw no chance of progress. It could become a slippery slope. Would kids start to follow. I’m not sure either way yet. Haven’t seen enough detail or plans.
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Post by dmcnally on May 7, 2020 17:48:48 GMT
The timing of the approach rings alarm bells for me, seems like a predatory move on a club in a difficult position. I hope that isn't the case but after the previous statements he's made saying he doesn't want to own/run the club I just wonder what's changed? Fan ownership is a big plus for me so I'm a 'no' for now, but it'll be interesting to see how this progresses. We are in a difficult position just like every other football club. This isn’t Murphy or bust.
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Post by sealking on May 7, 2020 17:51:32 GMT
Fan owned was never going to be financially easy but surely a 50/50 ownership can be a option? I feel he wants the club so he can get the land to do this 'sports village and theatre project' all for himself. He gave us a million but he is telling us how to spend it and what on. And he lied as it came out previously that he wanted to buy the club before his donation. I dont want to make him out as a bad person but feels like he has been buttering us up for this with his generosity previously. Or is this our chance at making to the the promise land of the football league!
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Post by onetrevorstorton on May 7, 2020 17:56:33 GMT
Or is this our chance at making to the the promise land of the football league!
My thoughts exactly
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2020 17:58:06 GMT
Club could well go tits up if we don't do a deal. Let him have it for me.
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Post by sirdave on May 7, 2020 18:02:13 GMT
Gut says this is a bad idea
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Post by Al on May 7, 2020 18:06:47 GMT
For me I feel we've taken it as far as we can under fan ownership.
We had a great first few years, made quite a few mistakes that have ultimately been our downfall though. Biggest was the consistent price increases year on year which was not befitting of a community club if your community can't afford to fork out the admission every other week.
Should have hit the Conference when we were ready for it, we frittered money away on playing budgets for Neil Young imo instead of building for the future.
Club have been treading water ever since we won promotion to the conference and once that feel good factor is lost its almost always going to be impossible to get it back.
We need to weigh up the options here, if Stuart Murphy presents a solid business plan that keeps the club at the heart of the community and allows us to realise the King George V facility and improve our facilities at the ground then it's a yes from me. If it's just more of the same of throwing money at the playing budget in the hope of going up with nothing behind to support it, then he's just more of the same and it's a no.
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Post by Lobster on May 7, 2020 18:10:52 GMT
Not for me. 100% no.
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Post by Neil Hunt Nonsense Potter on May 7, 2020 18:11:01 GMT
This is a predatory takeover attempt during a time when the club least needs the instability. For those born too late, or for those who see Murphy as some kind of benevolent hippy who wants to lavish cash on us, please see the last 4 "businessmen" who owned Chester City FC resulted thus Barnes - club lost its spiritual home, land worth £m's and ended up in Macc for 2 years before moving to a lego box on an industrial estate in the middle of nowhere, with little or no money to its name Guterman - club ended up in administration which resulted in Terry Smith www.wsc.co.uk/the-archive/961-and-who-are-you-exactly/6176-mark-guterman Smith - club lost its Football League status Vaughan - club died www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/chester-fc-owner-stephen-vaughan-3487412 There may well be the odd good time to be had in the interim, but businessmen do not like to lose money. People who want to hand over the club to somebody who will use a pandemic to launch a predatory takeover move like this seriously need to sit down and watch / read the Smith/Vaughan/Guterman/Barnes stuff above. The next time there will not be enough willpower amongst the fans nor goodwill from the council to relaunch again. Next time it will be terminal.
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Post by bluejon on May 7, 2020 18:14:18 GMT
Well, it looks like I need to eat my own words from last year, this ain’t no takeover by stealth! This has been on the cards since the day he walked in to the club. Take a look back at the picture from that original press conference. SM and his cronies were centre stage, Dave was pushed out to the edge of the group, that was the point the fans lost control of our club.
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Post by onetrevorstorton on May 7, 2020 18:18:01 GMT
think we need to hear from the man himself and his ideas and also what financial position we are currently
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Post by Neil Hunt Nonsense Potter on May 7, 2020 18:19:06 GMT
Any truth in the rumour he is late in paying invoices owed to the club for five figures?
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Post by Rio Doherty on May 7, 2020 18:19:56 GMT
This is a difficult one to get around. There is a real sense of unity about being a supporter-owned club because as members of the CFU we get to have a say on key decisions, which is very unique to many other clubs. Also, the money raised through membership fees and our fundraising working groups make up a huge part of our income which is absolutely vital for us. If our status as a fan-owned club was relaxed then we wouldn’t be able to bring in income from the above.
However, on the pitch it is evident that we need a lot of support to reach our goal of EFL football, and I just cannot see us reaching that whilst being fan-owned. Many ‘smaller’ clubs such as Salford City, Fleetwood Town, and Forest Green Rovers have adapted well to the Football League whilst being backed with very wealthy owners, which has left historically ‘bigger’ clubs such as ourselves, Torquay United, Stockport County, and our friends from down the road to languish in non-league. It really is make or break for us now, and I can only see us reaching our goal of the Football League whilst being owned externally.
Stuart Murphy has been very generous for us so far, and perhaps it is the risk that is worth taking. I have two questions though, which are can we trust him, and if he does take over then would he be 100% committed to us even though he lives abroad? I certainly believe that he isn’t a Terry Smith/Stephen Vaughan-type person as he has shown plenty of ambition, and wants us to succeed. In my personal opinion though, I think Mr Murphy would walk away altogether if he loses the vote which would be a huge disaster. If that was to be the case then we’d be on our knees and just would not survive. The timing of this news isn’t too great to be honest because as a club we need to pull together to get out of this current predicament first in order to survive, rather than cause a large divide as many people have different opinions on this news. It is still very early days though, and we will definitely need to hear of his plans before jumping to conclusions. If Stuart does take over then we have a real potential to succeed, but we must be really, really careful in this process. This really is crunch time for us now.
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