Matt

Number one supporter? Fuck you. It's the same point. 'The club's money'. It's his money. I'm not defending the tosser, but that's just the truth. The PL TV money, transfer fees, every ticket the second its paid for. Read what I actually posted.

That makes zero sense. Why would he need to loan the club money to outsource a function? Anyway, as said many times before, the 'debt' to Ashley is meaningless as a number.

Wasn't this place in Ponteland?

It's a dangerous notion to think he's stealing anything. You can't steal from yourself. I know we hold a view that our affinnity for the club confers some kind of moral ownership but the reality is this is his property. He's lied about 'every penny' and much of this is testament to this lie, but it's still not stealing. And when he sells, the next people will have the same rights to do as they wish. Ashley can take every spare penny out of the club and he is legally entitled do so. All fans can do is make life as uncomfortable as possible or better, when the time comes, push for some kind of element of ownership. The problem is not simply down to the nature of the owner but the nature of his ownership.

.... No, I think it's more a case of that the club shops are operated by SD, so they buy the stuff and sell it. NUFC at no point owns the stock, takes the revenue or pays the costs. NUFC gets a cut from the overall arrangement, however fair or otherwise that % may be.

Edinburgh Woolen Mill is owned by the other guy who tried to buy HoF and then went on a publicity attack after a deal was done with SD, so no surprise they have parted ways.

The MASH entities own NUFC so even without the loan they would be able to pay a dividend as they see fit. NUFC isn't a cash cow and no-one sane would lend any meaningful amount of money against it as a business. He'd be far better off selling if that's what he wanted. More likely he would just leverage up the SD business to provide funds for the take-private, its a far more stable propostion than a football club with its PL status under permanent threat.

SD bought the assets of HoF (including the brand) with the money paid divided up among secured creditors- the legal entity you originally dealt with remains in administration. It's like you are trying to return it to Argos. https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/what-can-i-do-if-a-retailer-goes-into-administration

Yeah, the sort of purchase you make at SD is pretty dispassionate whereas HOF is stuff people want to make their homes look nice or a smart outfit. You can't compare it to cheap socks or a pair of trainers.

While it's true he doesn't owe those customers a bean, it's hardly the way to go about fostering a customer base.

KPMG is a massive organisation though, they can't run everything past everybody. Not sure why you are surprised some firms won't deal with him. They will have a customer screening process and if it's anything like what is done in banking, that includes a trawl for negative press coverage. SD will get a boatload of hits which usually elevates it up to top management for approval.

A lot of people refuse to deal with him and have refused to do so for a long time, predating all the public exposure. He's in deep with Debenhams / HOF- he might need to simplify things soon.

The NE needs clubs at the different levels of the pyramid- it keeps players in the area who want to progress and also attracts those coming home after pro / youth stints elsewhere. It's good to see them all doing well in the Evo prem / east.

I don't think too many top PR operations are jointly owned by a sock peddler.

Versus the last 20 years or so the crowds are good- but it's clearly not enough to keep a side at the upper end of that level of football. Geography plays a part as well as the fact there are more ex-FL sides at that level than ever before.

What does that ambition look like though, apart from more money on players which the club doesn't have? When I see the revival at some of the other local clubs, I do scratch my head as to how Blyth seem to have only put an extra couple of hundred on the gate over the last decade.

Blyth lost £150k last year which was filled by the chairman. The gates are just not high enough to go up- in fact they are towards the bottom of the NLN. There is certainly more the club could do to boost gates, but I always get riled up when the guys who have footed the bill with their own cash are accused of not spending because they are unambitious. Until a lot more people start turning up every week (not just after a couple of good wins or on sunny days) then NLN is as far as the club can go.

It's nothing like a championship budget- each time we've gone down the club has run out of cash during the season. OK we might have some cash sitting spare this time but promotion isn't assured.

How much ground advertising can you get for £300m? I reckon it's a fair whack.

NUFC is no cash cow, mind. Milk it slightly too much and most of the udders fall off. The club has made a chunky surplus over the last 12-24 months, but everyone knows that to ensure the PL cash keeps coming that money needs to be used on improving the squad and the facilities.

Not really. The alleged money was to no more than a value of £5m, and their are suggestions that NUFC arn’t the purpotrators in it. The FA have said the club will face no action against them in terms of points deduction or such. It won’t be much of a obsitcle for anyone who’s willing to buy the club. When did the FA say that? Even if a sporting sanction is unlikely, even a few points could make a huge difference given the PL-Champ financial chasm. Staveley wanted a warranty on it and clearly Ashley wasn't willing to give it.

I wonder how much the HMRC case is weighing on this. Once that is out of the way, it removes a lot of the unknowns for a bidder.

He's good at flogging cheap sports kit. Everything else he's invested in- be it chunks of HBOS, Debenhams, HoF and a football club - have all turned to shit.

I think people should be worrying about a buyer. It's arguably more important than any anti-Ashley work, because although those efforts may or may not hasten a sale, there can only ever be a sale with a buyer attached. A lot of people (and I can probably include myself) were just glad in 2007 to be rid of ShepHall at any cost. It's actually really important that fans groups open discuss what they think is a sensible route forward for the club which the supporters could get alongside fully from day 1 of any new era.

KPMG: light on analysis, big on glib soundbites