Will we exist as a club 1 year from now?

[Snowflake Royal]

Agree. Frustrating that they managed to purchase us when they were rejected of Hull in the Premier League not long before that, but then again you can't stop someone from passing the owners and directors test if they've managed to get themselves into a situation where they can now pass it. What I don't understand is why it was different between the EFL and PL, why you wouldn't just have a standard owners & directors test for all divisions? Certainly needs a look at in terms of regulation.

It's utterly ******* ludicrous that the PL have different F&PP tests to the FL, both should be synchronised to the exact same set of criteria - and perhaps all such tests should be conducted by one independent organisation that would specialise in such things (and likewise could be the "go to" organisation when clubs need or want to find new owners).

Interestingly* what would have happened had we gotten promoted?

A flying pig would have cleared us of all charges.

[Snowflake Royal]

It's almost like the full league structure should be administered by one organisation for the good of the whole thing isn’t it.

[tmesis]

Administration would be terrible for the club. Not just the points deduction, but administrators are absolute vultures, and will sell any asset to get their fees.

Administrators simply perform a legal function. Without them in place the club would definitely fold.

They do, but they charge an absolute fortune.

[Sutekh]

It's almost like the full league structure should be administered by one organisation for the good of the whole thing isn’t it.

Hey, that's a good idea, why didn't they think of that

[Sutekh]

It's utterly ******* ludicrous that the PL have different F&PP tests to the FL, both should be synchronised to the exact same set of criteria - and perhaps all such tests should be conducted by one independent organisation that would specialise in such things (and likewise could be the "go to" organisation when clubs need or want to find new owners).

The PL have almost unlimited funds, and use a team of forensic financial investigators who manage to get information that's hidden in various overseas jurisdictions - and their methods of obtaining information could sometimes be called slightly dodgy - certainly, they manage to get access to a lot of financial information that people have tried to hide. There are always ways and means if you throw enough resources at it.

The FL are broke and their resources are a fraction of what the PL has - they just can't do the same level of financial investigations.

And the PL can't share their info with the Fl because of the way much of it has been obtained.

So the FL can't do proper checks, and they're forever scared of being sued by someone they've turned down when they don't have the evidence to show why they've turned them down. "The PL said so..." isn't a defence that'll stand up in court.

So, in that case you set up an independent organisation to take the time to action all the research crap on behalf of the PL, FL or FA (or whoever else needs to know such things) and provide a report.

Of course it's much better if the PL was just disbanded and all 4 leagues were consistently run by one authority.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Asked me a week ago, I would say there was a stronger chance than this.

It may get worse before it gets better but there will still be a Reading FC next year.

I am getting more and more worried every time something new happens

Hi Jimmy

[YorkshireRoyal99]

The Chinese govt have scrapped their football directives and have been trying to get out of it for a while now.

Yep. No real coincidence that ourselves, West Brom, Birmingham (previously) and now seemingly Wolves are struggling with poor ownership. Not sure how many other English clubs are run by Chinese owners, Villa I think? Even they were one game away from potentially being what us, Sheff Wednesday or Derby were/are like as well.

This is the biggest problem regarding owners from authoritarian states - their leaders could decide to change rules on capital controls on a flick of a switch. A lot of clubs are/were in financial difficulties primarily due to the decisions taken by a foreign government - how do you account for that?

In our case, the very fact Dai was rejected for ownership of Hull when they were in the Premier League should've been enough to disqualify him from purchasing us.

I think club ownership is the biggest area which should be regulated once the government's football review is concluded and the rules should apply in the same way to all professional clubs.

Barnsley now the latest club with Chinese ownership to be in breach of EFL regulations over a long period of time. Another to add to the list by the sounds of it.

[Green]

This is taking a bit of a racist turn, lads.

[The Green Programme]

We’ve got through some nasty stuff - not unscathed but category one status for the academy - overpaid deadwood gone - we can sign players for fees!
Wonderful set up and hopefully a bright young modern manager - a new season - it’s exciting - let’s get real and stop believing the negative hysteria and the clueless media rumour traders desperate for click bait

[Orion1871]

We’ve got through some nasty stuff - not unscathed but category one status for the academy - overpaid deadwood gone - we can sign players for fees!
Wonderful set up and hopefully a bright young modern manager - a new season - it’s exciting - let’s get real and stop believing the negative hysteria and the clueless media rumour traders desperate for click bait

Agreed.

Can't wait for the reality to hit home at 17:00 on 5th August.

[The Green Programme]

I think the club will still be here in a years time with the current owners.

In 2 or 3 years time, things may change if we don't get promotion but the owner will likely still get more money selling the club as a whole, even at a massive loss than he would selling the assets individually and folding the club, particularly if the new owners take on some of the debt still owed to the current owner and he therefore gets this repaid over time instead of having to write it off.

Good post.

I think this is close to the likely outcome.