[Albionic]

I haven't got a "continually junk bordering upon toxic" folder

[darbolina]

I completed a questionnaire and was quite scathing about the ownership simply because it's how I feel. Lai and his appointments are ruining this club.

[Standaman]

Breaking news Sheffield United subject £115m bid which is now referred to the EFL. I think this is the absolute maximum a Championship club can go for. Obviously every club is different but there is one very significant difference that Sheffield's owner is probably selling at a profit ours is not.

I still can't see why anybody would pay this much for any Championship club but there it is another rich fool suckered into the 2nd hand glamour of football*


(*Not really that much glamour on offer on a wet Tuesday night at your typical Championship game but ...)

[SmethDan]

I completed a questionnaire and was quite scathing about the ownership simply because it's how I feel. Lai and his appointments are ruining this club.

I'd love the job of reading through those questionnaire responses. I can imagine some of the answers would make for epic entertainment  .

[NJS]

Burnley FC seems to be in big trouble following relegation.  The £65M that the new US owners put in has come with strings attached; they have the right to recover (by any means?) the loan back by earlier repayments in the event of relegation.  Owners making large loans can produce a perilous situation for any club. 
I think it shows that however bad we think our owners are  - there could be worse.  I wouldn't want Guochuan and Co injecting more money into our club by way of a loan.   

[gazberg]

Burnley contract says they can repay interest only.on the 65m loan until 2025 at which point capital must start to be repaid.

In the event of relegation however the capital must start to be repaid by a significant amount each season they remain outside the PL.

No actual figures are given but would imagine they are going to need to pay 20m back this season at least or 1 Nick Pope sale etc

[BB74]

Burnley contract says they can repay interest only.on the 65m loan until 2025 at which point capital must start to be repaid.

In the event of relegation however the capital must start to be repaid by a significant amount each season they remain outside the PL.

No actual figures are given but would imagine they are going to need to pay 20m back this season at least or 1 Nick Pope sale etc

The could just refinance away from that deal and onto another interest only deal or at least part amortisation.

[gazberg]

The could just refinance away from that deal and onto another interest only deal or at least part amortisation.

I only saw a part of it on Twitter. Think it was on Lepkowskis somewhere. Maybe now they are relegated there is some clause forbidding it. I don't know though.

[NJS]

The could just refinance away from that deal and onto another interest only deal or at least part amortisation.

I guess they could but they would probably have to put up something as collateral.  I don't know how attractive an EFL outfit is to financiers these days - that would maybe determine the interest rate.

[colinmax]

 I wouldn't necessarily criticise the owner over money provided we paid about 15M for Burke and 30M plus for Grant and Diagana.
What worries me about the sale of Rondon and Pereira under seemingly strange circumstances and the fact he employs people who take the easy option of renewing contracts of current players rather than studying the market for hopefully quick young players who are likely to provide the skills needed to have a good team.
The top  teams such as Man City and Liverpool can virtually sign who they want and as we we are one of the bigger clubs we should have the pick of players at a level capable of playing at championship and hopefully premiership level.

[Ronnie Allen]

Burnley contract says they can repay interest only.on the 65m loan until 2025 at which point capital must start to be repaid.

In the event of relegation however the capital must start to be repaid by a significant amount each season they remain outside the PL.

No actual figures are given but would imagine they are going to need to pay 20m back this season at least or 1 Nick Pope sale etc

Or to put it even more starkly, imagine being relegated and having to still pay for that £65m striker you splashed out on just before relegation! Except in this case you can’t sell the player on - you’re stuck with the debt. And there never was a player.

A big wedge of Burnley’s parachute money is going to go on repaying this debt, meaning their ability to be competitive enough to bounce straight back will be compromised. If the creditors enforce this repayment too robustly, I fear for Burnley’s future.

This is why I get the chills when people keep calling for Lai to go. For all his faults, he didn’t load the club with debt when he bought. Of course, he might now wish he had! But if/when he sells, it’s not stretching imagination to see him selling to some private equity outfit who do secure the purchase price against the club’s assets and future earnings.

[gazberg]

Or to put it even more starkly, imagine being relegated and having to still pay for that £65m striker you splashed out on just before relegation! Except in this case you can’t sell the player on - you’re stuck with the debt. And there never was a player.

A big wedge of Burnley’s parachute money is going to go on repaying this debt, meaning their ability to be competitive enough to bounce straight back will be compromised. If the creditors enforce this repayment too robustly, I fear for Burnley’s future.

This is why I get the chills when people keep calling for Lai to go. For all his faults, he didn’t load the club with debt when he bought. Of course, he might now wish he had! But if/when he sells, it’s not stretching imagination to see him selling to some private equity outfit who do secure the purchase price against the club’s assets and future earnings.

I dont think Burnley are doomed as such but i agree with what you say. Their parachute payments edge has basically been wiped out. Combined with 9 senior players out of contract soon although i believe Ben Mee they have a 1 year option on. They are going to have work hard and frugally.

Pope has 1 year left so i imagine he will be gone but they won't get as much as they'd like for him with 1 year left

[baggiejohn]

The could just refinance away from that deal and onto another interest only deal or at least part amortisation.

I don't think there will be any impact on the capital involved, but the repayment clause suggests that the original loan was relatively low cost.
Due to the risks involved, refinancing would likely be at much higher interest rates, (probably around 9%) so theres likely to be an interest charge of around £6 million.

[robnewbold]

Sounds complicated, it means we are screwed either way.

[mateinone]

We are a shadow of the club we were under Peace's ownership. I know a large percentage of people hated him and I hated that we seemed to lack ambition to become a regular top half of the prem club, but... the situation has been awful from the moment he walked away and I would rather it was him in control in a heartbeat.

The club has been a mess and I don't hold out particularly high hopes that we will win promotion this season either.

[gazberg]

We are a shadow of the club we were under Peace's ownership. I know a large percentage of people hated him and I hated that we seemed to lack ambition to become a regular top half of the prem club, but... the situation has been awful from the moment he walked away and I would rather it was him in control in a heartbeat.

The club has been a mess and I don't hold out particularly high hopes that we will win promotion this season either.

Amen. When Lai took over my concern was not that he said the club will be self-sufficient but the fact he was totally hands off.

Said it many times no one ever care about someone's else's investment other than the owner themselves.

What took nearly 20 years to build Lai oversaw the destruction of in 5

[baggiejohn]

Accounts for 20/21 season are due out this week.

[SmethDan]

Accounts for 20/21 season are due out this week.

Cue a stream of posts suggesting we don't spend anything, we've historically wasted what money we have spent and at least half a dozen to suggest we're being systematically run into the ground for the purpose of asset stripping. Can't wait......

[staticboy]

Here we go again, a further £2m...

https://www.westbromnews.co.uk/2022/07/08/west-brom-confirm-another-loan-as-financial-accounts-finally-made-public/

[SmethDan]

Here we go again, a further £2m...

https://www.westbromnews.co.uk/2022/07/08/west-brom-confirm-another-loan-as-financial-accounts-finally-made-public/

Is this the £2M that was reported on the other day being rehashed or is it another £2M on top of the other one taking us to £14M in total and not £12M? I'm losing track......

[staticboy]

Oh sorry dude, I didn't realise they had already reported the £2m, this is probably already reported then.

[AlbionFan]

West Brom fans bid to stop quick sale of The Hawthorns

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/sandwell/west-bromwich/2022/07/20/west-brom-fans-bid-to-stop-quick-sale-of-the-hawthorns/

As mentioned earlier in this thread, we have to take every measure available to protect “The Shrine”

[LiamTheBaggie]

I’ll post the link on Tuesday if I remember and we’ll able to watch the discussion

The ground sale is a big concern of mine at present. No football club should be selling their home.

[BB74]

Picking up a bit of traction now.

Politicians on all sides back plan to protect The Hawthorns from a quick sale

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/sandwell/2022/07/22/political-consensus-quickly-backs-plan-to-protect-the-hawthorns-from-a-quick-sale/

[zippyandbungle]

I’ll post the link on Tuesday if I remember and we’ll able to watch the discussion

The ground sale is a big concern of mine at present. No football club should be selling their home.

I am not unaware of the emotional attachment, but the truth is it’s not and never has been”our ground”, it will always be the owners/majority shareholders…
There are many a club that have sold there stadium ,moved and done ok since,Bournemouth,Brighton,Man City etc.
Many on here have spoken before about the need to expand if we want to actually become a big club,that’s without even mentioning the surround area…imagine being a Hertha Berlin fan tomorrow and having to endure either the waggon and horses or a lucozade from Greg’s.