[The Tank]

Such a project in the UK would take ten years to come to fruition.  Can we wait that long ?

Hopefully in China they get on with things a bit quicker.

[BigFrank20]

I'm assured this is a correct stat and that;
In the last 3 years China has poured as much concrete as the USA did in the entire 20th century! (That's 100 years folks)
That's a lot of buildings and now they even 3D Print 'em!
 https://3dprint.com/138664/huashang-tengda-3d-print-house/
So knocking out a new football town every few months should come easy to them

[B_H_Baggie]

Such a project in the UK would take ten years to come to fruition.  Can we wait that long ?

Hopefully in China they get on with things a bit quicker.

I'm certain they will. With that said for them to use our name to help secure the contracts in the first place I would like to think we have already earned a little from it. One thing is for sure it is a must for us and Palm for the club to remain a Premier League side now we are linked to such a project.

[paulosull]

We could get the pick of Chinese youth players with this project. Just imagine crouching tiger flying down the wing tees up hidden dragon who dummies the ball and jet Lia scores ah wax on wax off

[overseas baggie]

One thing is certain - it won't take China long to produce some works class players

[tuamigos]

One thing is certain - it won't take China long to produce some works class players

We've got enough of those already

[Cantello]

How on earth do these so called soccer towns benefit us?  Am I alone in thinking WTF?

[WBAinDEVON]

How on earth do these so called soccer towns benefit us?  Am I alone in thinking WTF?

pick of the crop possibly

[Hunnington Baggie]

How on earth do these so called soccer towns benefit us?  Am I alone in thinking WTF?

Gets our name in a massive market in a unique way, we apparently get a cut of the profits and suggests to me that Palm will be a guaranteed sponsor for a significant amount of time (rather than being just a minority owner)

Might also breed loyalty to our brand, rather than just a shirt like so many other teams, the selected people will get homes, jobs and communities with our name attached to it.

[Jeremy Roland Peace]

How on earth do these so called soccer towns benefit us?  Am I alone in thinking WTF?

it could provide a source of income for the club without costing us any money to set them up.

also would give us first choice on any player I guess, although like any academy that could 10-15 years before you start to see anything like that come through.

raises the profile of the club which also opens up more sponsorship opportunities and possibility of more income.

[darbolina]

For me the whole benefit of Lai taking over was that in say  5 or 10 years time, if/ when Chinese football really takes off, we'd be very well placed to make the most of it. Yes, it's likely a longer term game to play but you'd hope we'll eventually be making serious income from those connections which would feed back into the club in terms of players, ground, success- that's my hope anyway?

[FallOutBoy]

We could get the pick of Chinese youth players with this project.

So could Wolves. Or Villa. Or Blues. Or Northampton.

All Chinese owned, all will have their fingers in that pie.

That would be long-term though, because the best Chinese players now are Championship / League 1 level.

[tommcneill]

So could Wolves. Or Villa. Or Blues. Or Northampton.

All Chinese owned, all will have their fingers in that pie.

That would be long-term though, because the best Chinese players now are Championship / League 1 level.

Not if our owner and his company are the ones building the towns and running them

The other owners of the clubs mentioned are not the ones leading this development, ours is

[TheBrom]

So could Wolves. Or Villa. Or Blues. Or Northampton.

All Chinese owned, all will have their fingers in that pie.

That would be long-term though, because the best Chinese players now are Championship / League 1 level.

I'd also argue that it wouldn't really matter anyway. If there's anyone half decent in China that emerges you've got at least 6-7 clubs above us in the table who can outprice us anyway. Money talks ultimately.

We don't use our own English academy at the moment anyway, with only field really looking to break through into the first team regularly. Why would some random Chinese kid get given a chance?

[WBAinDEVON]

Fingers in Pies

http://c.newsnow.co.uk/A/892544814?-11200:789:0

[barnestormer]

So could Wolves. Or Villa. Or Blues. Or Northampton.

All Chinese owned, all will have their fingers in that pie.

That would be long-term though, because the best Chinese players now are Championship / League 1 level.

Aren't we the only mainland Chinese owned club?

[Morany]

Seen that Albion fans over in Hong Kong are being given the opportunity to meet owner and chairman tomorrow for drinks and discussions.

Good idea, hopefully they get some points over.

[paulosull]

Seen that Albion fans over in Hong Kong are being given the opportunity to meet owner and chairman tomorrow for drinks and discussions.

Good idea, hopefully they get some points over.

why are we shopping in Aldis when majority of clubs are shopping in Tesco's . Believe if my maths are correct  that in the one and half Windows  they have overseen  they are in the red by 9.5 million and this is prem club. What's the Chinese word for invest some money

[baggie82]

The new owners have no money to invest and have confirmed the are running the club under the same break-even / bank small profit model used by Peace year-in-year-out. Pulis has confirmed that several times. So we are left we scraps to invest in the team. Throw in an ultra defensive set up and unimaginative ticket pricing for good measure. It's miserable and stale off and on the pitch.

The club is small time from start to finish and free bar in Hong Kong doesn't change that. With the limited reliance on ticket revenue we could realistically charge £250 and £200 for season tickets and £20.00 & £12.00 for match day tickets (adult / concessions) and sell out every match, with a limited loss given the extra match day takings on food / drink / programmes / sponsorship. We could then look to expand the stadium, increasing the revenue all round but there is no agenda whatsoever so show any ambition to grow the club. That would bring a level of excitement and a challenge which is sorely missing.

We're fine for now drifting nowhere but how long until we have a bad season and drop. When we do we won't be able to compete to get back as we'll have the small stadium and limited pockets and I fear we will become another one of those championship clubs, unable to compete financially with our rivals.

In the ideal world Lai sells out to someone who actually has some cash to invest but we've missed our chance as Peace was wanted to maximise his own personal profit even if that meant selling to owners who don't have the capital to raise the club up.

[WBAinDEVON]

The new owners have no money to invest and have confirmed the are running the club under the same break-even / bank small profit model used by Peace year-in-year-out. Pulis has confirmed that several times. So we are left we scraps to invest in the team. Throw in an ultra defensive set up and unimaginative ticket pricing for good measure. It's miserable and stale off and on the pitch.

The club is small time from start to finish and free bar in Hong Kong doesn't change that. With the limited reliance on ticket revenue we could realistically charge £250 and £200 for season tickets and £20.00 & £12.00 for match day tickets (adult / concessions) and sell out every match, with a limited loss given the extra match day takings on food / drink / programmes / sponsorship. We could then look to expand the stadium, increasing the revenue all round but there is no agenda whatsoever so show any ambition to grow the club. That would bring a level of excitement and a challenge which is sorely missing.

We're fine for now drifting nowhere but how long until we have a bad season and drop. When we do we won't be able to compete to get back as we'll have the small stadium and limited pockets and I fear we will become another one of those championship clubs, unable to compete financially with our rivals.

In the ideal world Lai sells out to someone who actually has some cash to invest but we've missed our chance as Peace was wanted to maximise his own personal profit even if that meant selling to owners who don't have the capital to raise the club up.

Oh so depressing that .

[TheJacko2000]

Oh so depressing that .

Also complete pie in the sky stuff.

[TheBrom]

The new owners have no money to invest and have confirmed the are running the club under the same break-even / bank small profit model used by Peace year-in-year-out. Pulis has confirmed that several times. So we are left we scraps to invest in the team. Throw in an ultra defensive set up and unimaginative ticket pricing for good measure. It's miserable and stale off and on the pitch.

The club is small time from start to finish and free bar in Hong Kong doesn't change that. With the limited reliance on ticket revenue we could realistically charge £250 and £200 for season tickets and £20.00 & £12.00 for match day tickets (adult / concessions) and sell out every match, with a limited loss given the extra match day takings on food / drink / programmes / sponsorship. We could then look to expand the stadium, increasing the revenue all round but there is no agenda whatsoever so show any ambition to grow the club. That would bring a level of excitement and a challenge which is sorely missing.

We're fine for now drifting nowhere but how long until we have a bad season and drop. When we do we won't be able to compete to get back as we'll have the small stadium and limited pockets and I fear we will become another one of those championship clubs, unable to compete financially with our rivals.

In the ideal world Lai sells out to someone who actually has some cash to invest but we've missed our chance as Peace was wanted to maximise his own personal profit even if that meant selling to owners who don't have the capital to raise the club up.

Where has this been confirmed?

[costa blanca baggie]

Where has this been confirmed?

Earlier on. Did you not see it? Some chap calling himself Baggie82. It's the tinternet, so it must be true. Or maybe it was a pessimistic point of view. It's all very confusing. 

[TheBrom]

Earlier on. Did you not see it? Some chap calling himself Baggie82. It's the tinternet, so it must be true. Or maybe it was a pessimistic point of view. It's all very confusing. 

Oh of course. Must have that. Also must have missed when we spent 12 million on a new striker and 10 million on a midfielder in January

[kirk]

The new owners have no money to invest and have confirmed the are running the club under the same break-even / bank small profit model used by Peace year-in-year-out. Pulis has confirmed that several times. So we are left we scraps to invest in the team. Throw in an ultra defensive set up and unimaginative ticket pricing for good measure. It's miserable and stale off and on the pitch.

The club is small time from start to finish and free bar in Hong Kong doesn't change that. With the limited reliance on ticket revenue we could realistically charge £250 and £200 for season tickets and £20.00 & £12.00 for match day tickets (adult / concessions) and sell out every match, with a limited loss given the extra match day takings on food / drink / programmes / sponsorship. We could then look to expand the stadium, increasing the revenue all round but there is no agenda whatsoever so show any ambition to grow the club. That would bring a level of excitement and a challenge which is sorely missing.

We're fine for now drifting nowhere but how long until we have a bad season and drop. When we do we won't be able to compete to get back as we'll have the small stadium and limited pockets and I fear we will become another one of those championship clubs, unable to compete financially with our rivals.

In the ideal world Lai sells out to someone who actually has some cash to invest but we've missed our chance as Peace was wanted to maximise his own personal profit even if that meant selling to owners who don't have the capital to raise the club up.

100% agree the money's gone on buying the club. Which is why we need our scouting etc more than ever