Thames Sports Investment

[Svlad Cjelli]

I thought that the land was actually owned by RBC not the Football Club, and that the Football club had it on a very long lease at a very small rent. JM was able to free up land that was sold for the retail park, which was able to be put into the stadium project. Very sensible moves by SJM, he keeps the hotel, but does that include the conference facilities?

Nope, he was sold all the land by RBC, on the condition that he decontaminated it, which cost £10M to do.

[SWLR]

51% represents the economic interest (i.e.floor area of the flat), but more importantly it gives Anton control. So the question you should be asking is what will Anton control:
- Remote control and choice of TV
- Heating controls
- Who gets to use the bathroom first in the morning

Any others?

[Uke]

51% represents the economic interest (i.e.floor area of the flat), but more importantly it gives Anton control. So the question you should be asking is what will Anton control:
- Remote control and choice of TV
- Heating controls
- Who gets to use the bathroom first in the morning

Any others?

More important is who owns the front door?

If SJM doesn't own the front door, will he allow Anton free usage of his back entrance? (assuming SJM will have some control of his movements)

[RoyalBlue]

Gave £40M?

As you say 51% for £25M so more to come. Plus the level of fame he got, honours etc. do not come cheap. Have you seen how much it costs to buy airtime on Sky and National TV?

And the value of the hotel? What's more that hotel probably would not have ended up in that location and at that cost but for the deal the council did for the ground it stands on, on the basis that it was going to be used by the football club.

And I think you will find the correct spelling is 'paid'.

Still I'm happy with the fact that we now have new investors, so won't moan too much, albeit that it concerns me that ownership of the hotel is not part of the deal.

Mind you, I guess if the owner(s) of the hotel was ever to cause problems for the football club, a few thousand football supporters could do a great deal to deter customers!

How much interest could he have earned on £40m? How much quicker would he have got his peerage and recognition by putting that money into high profile charities etc?

The ingratitude of some of the cnuts on here astounds me. SJM wasn't justing giving us free money and being 100% altruistic when he saved our arses and handed us the best times the club has ever seeen?

Boo fcuking hoo.

And the dumb admiration displayed by some of his devout followers beggars belief! Makes North Korean's look casual in their affections.

Have you conveniently forgotten all the philanthropic soundbites that he came out with in the early days? The numerous mentions of just how much money it was costing him and how he didn't expect to see it back? Talks of gifts? Or do you just not have a memory?

I bet you still hold to the belief that he really didn't want to have the stadium named after him and argued for some time with the person who did supposedly come up with the idea!

This may have been a symbiotic relationship and may continue to be so. However, to suggest there was never any consideration of personal advancement is, in my mind, just dumb. Incidentally, just for completeness, I believe there were other people expressing interest in the club at the time Madejski came in. Maybe he was by far the best on offer but that doesn't mean only he would have saved the club.

I would suggest that even this latest turn, despite being good for the club, also holds benefits for the chairman. I do thank him for taking this step but I will still not break out into applause on demand next time he does the parade.

Oh and do continue to display your ignorance by calling others who don't hold to your views cnuts.

[Royal Lady]

But Royalblue, didn't SJM tell us he paid the £1 million for Lita "out of his own pocket"? Not sure how that appeared on the accounts.

SJM has helped to put this club where it is and we should be very thankful, but for people to say he did it out of the kindness of his heart, with no eye on improving his own social standing or whatever is plain wrong. If he was just doing it for "Reading", why did he always insist on being up the front in interviews, garnering his rounds of applause at home and away games? He loves it! You don't see many chairmen doing that at games!

[Woodcote Royal]

How much interest could he have earned on £40m? How much quicker would he have got his peerage and recognition by putting that money into high profile charities etc?

The ingratitude of some of the cnuts on here astounds me.

Also, I'm not aware of any salary he's taken whilst being our Chairman for the last 21 years...........................would someone like to put a value on that

[Mr Cinema]

Oh look it's RoyalBlue accusing anyone who happens to think JM might have done a decent job for us as brainwashed North Koreans.

Which when you consider how much he hangs on every word of that sage Mick Gooding its pretty laughable really. I'm still laughing at the assertion from him that we "traditionally" cash in on players in the January transfer window despite it NEVER actually happening with or without Russian intervention.

BTW if he or anyone else would care to name the obviously long list of chairman who have transformed football clubs in the way JM has Reading, followed the job through for over 20 years without getting anything out of it for themselves then feel free to do so.

[Royal With Cheese]

A RoyalBlue said - its a symbiotic relationship.

Madejski will make a tidy profit from RFC and has always looked to do so. That sets him apart from a true fan. That irks me incredibly but there's nothing I can do about it.

However he has put over 20 years of effort into getting Reading into the position they now hold.

Anyone who thinks this is a bad realtionship is clearly demented.

[Woodcote Royal]

I for one hope he does make a tidy profit because he deserves to.

However, I would be interested to know in what form this will manifest itself and how it is likely to exceed anything he would have gained by placing the same money in low risk deposit accounts, peps, ISA's etc whilst being paid to do a similar job elsewhere.

[Ian Royal]

And the dumb admiration displayed by some of his devout followers beggars belief! Makes North Korean's look casual in their affections.

Have you conveniently forgotten all the philanthropic soundbites that he came out with in the early days? The numerous mentions of just how much money it was costing him and how he didn't expect to see it back? Talks of gifts? Or do you just not have a memory?

I bet you still hold to the belief that he really didn't want to have the stadium named after him and argued for some time with the person who did supposedly come up with the idea!

This may have been a symbiotic relationship and may continue to be so. However, to suggest there was never any consideration of personal advancement is, in my mind, just dumb. Incidentally, just for completeness, I believe there were other people expressing interest in the club at the time Madejski came in. Maybe he was by far the best on offer but that doesn't mean only he would have saved the club.

I would suggest that even this latest turn, despite being good for the club, also holds benefits for the chairman. I do thank him for taking this step but I will still not break out into applause on demand next time he does the parade.

Oh and do continue to display your ignorance by calling others who don't hold to your views cnuts.

Who's talking about Dumb admiration? I'm not. You don't put money into a third rate football club expecting it back. The only reason he is getting it is because he has been such an astoundingly successful Chairman.

I'm quite happy for SJM to have got plenty out of the deal. And I'm quite happy to recognise all the good he's done us when he didn't have to, could have put his money to better use and safer returns, and hasn't sold us down the river when things got tough for him.

If you were too stupid to understand the comments he's come out with over the years, that's your problem, nothing else.

[Royal Rother]

Just when I think ignorance levels have reached an all time high, up pops Royal Blue to raise the bar.

He leaves me speechless these days.

[Royal With Cheese]

Just when I think ignorance levels have reached an all time high, up pops Royal Blue to raise the bar.

He leaves me speechless these days.

He clearly doesn't.

[Royal Monk]

For Royal blue ...

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

I think SJM could clearly have out the money to better use, could have pumped a further £40mill into his printing business, or the traffic signal group, or he could have bought property and made a load.

SJM has been fantastic for the football club there is no doubt about that, the main thing has been that for 20 years there has been someone to back up loans when money was needed, wasnt it SJM that backed all the Stadium loans when no one else would come in and help?

But did the Stadium actually cost £50Million, I seem to recall figures of £23m being spoken about way back when it was constructed, and recall that meaning about £1000 per seat, which for a bit of plastic on a concrete base and a sheet steel roof seemed more than enough.

Could someone with the original info from the time, ParaHandy??? have a look and come back with the actual costs originally quoted.

As for costing £10m to make the site safe I thought that was the cost, which was basically covered by the sale of the land for the retail park, could be wrong but it does ring a bell. ANd I still seem to think RFC only have a 1000 year lease on the land.


Good luck SJm if you make a few bob, most fans wont really care .

[Svlad Cjelli]

The price usually quoted is £37M, but that ignores incoms items.

The full breakdown was specified in a blog a few months ago :

The land for the MadStad was purchased for just £1, of course, with the condition attached that it be decontaminated as it was an old toxic waste site. This process cost £6M, and another £6M was made as a contribution towards the construction of the A33 Relief Road, another condition from Reading Borough Council. These outgoings, together with the actual costs construction of the Stadium and hotel, make up the total cost of £37M, but there are a couple of significant income items. Firstly, the Elm Park site was sold for housing development, for which the sum of £3.25M was received. (As an interesting side-note, the instant that Reading FC relocated, property prices in the immediate vicinity of Elm Park reportedly rose by 25-30%). Sales of land surrounding the stadium for business use also substantially recued the overall cost, and in 1998 it was well-publicised that the overall shortfall was £10M, which John Madejski would guarantee himself.

So if we add this £10M to the total investments so far, we’re talking about a total investment in the club of approximately £18.6M up to 1998 when the MadStad opened.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Thats more how I recall it, about £18mill overall after all ins and outs, not really £50Mill as often quoted elsewhere.

[Friday's Legacy]

Asked if he expects any movement, Brian said after the Bristol City game, "Maybe, it's a possibility. There's an opportunity [for us to do that].

"But what I would say is, the players we've got here have done so well for me, that's not to be overlooked as far as I'm concerned."

He continued, "If we can add one or two to help the guys then we'll do it. Something would happen only if we feel it's right."

Brian paid tribute to TSI and Anton Zingarevich, commenting, "Anton, the owner, if it wasn't for him we wouldn't be bringing Jason in and Tomasz in, I have to thank him for that.

"We couldn't get anyone in before this, now we've had to look at our targets. It's a new way of working which will evolve over time. The club's in a new era, when you're in this period it's important to focus on football.

"There's a good buzz, things are happening here. I've met the owner, he's a really good guy. Hopefully he's coming next week so it would be good to see him.

"It's completely different for me as manager. To have the opportunity to sign players is good for me, the club and the squad. I've got no problem with having money!

"Nick Hammond will discuss things with the owner and the owner's people. It's been such a busy week, I've barely been home, concentrating on getting players in and everything else, the next few days won't be much different I don't think."

[PieEater]

What I think is slightly worrying is that Anton as made this investment without ever having seen the club, the stadium or the majority of the staff.

He's trusting his advisors, I just hope when he does turn up he's happy with their decision.

[Rex]

The flip side to that coin is if the deal falls down at some point - who pays for and takes up the additional costs incurred. (i do not think it will btw).

[Snowball]

Did you notice he said, "The owner, Anton."