The Serious Torquay Thread

[DB9]

Personally I believe the TUST should work against the owner and not try and work with him. You can't work with some people because they have other motives and reasons why they don't wish to engage. With Osborn it's been obvious for a number of years now. Repeatedly trying to engage with an owner who just simply ignores these requests is pointless. They're flogging a dead horse. Osborn clearly isn't interested in the club or the interests of the fans so f*** him I say.

The thing is Lego, He is the OWNER whether the TUST like it or not that is a fact, Yep he's a untrustworthy person and doesn't engage with the fans but that was very similar to us pre 2003, The owners then didn't want to know us and in the R&L era were positively against any fan inclusion even if it was our Trust. I think the only way for the TUST to end up owning and running the club would be if it was in our 2003 position when no one else would touch us and the Trust stood up and the rest is history

 

[Martin Lawrence]

Personally I believe the TUST should work against the owner and not try and work with him. You can't work with some people because they have other motives and reasons why they don't wish to engage. With Osborn it's been obvious for a number of years now. Repeatedly trying to engage with an owner who just simply ignores these requests is pointless. They're flogging a dead horse. Osborn clearly isn't interested in the club or the interests of the fans so f*** him I say.

They are damned if they do, and damned if they don't. In truth, the best they can hope for is that they can affect a serious groundswell against the owner. However, that doesn't seem likely unless they literally implode and go back down.

 

[Legohead]

I have massive sympathy for a lot of Gulls fans regarding their situation. A situation that they didn't ask for. For the majority though I don't have any sympathy because they don't take things like this below seriously and acknowledge the fact that their owner is a complete ballsack and has no interest in their football club. Something sensible Gulls fans have known even before he took over and something that incredibly dense Gulls fans still can't grasp and they still think it's all about the football and they are in safe hands.

Short Statement Following New Year’s Day Match

A TUST spokesman confirmed, ' A group of TUST directors were at the ground prior to the New Year's Day match versus Yeovil in order to distribute, free of charge, the newest TUST brochure, but all were moved on by stewards and police, under orders from the club. At all times TUST representatives...

www.tust.co.uk

Their owner is a parasite in the game and this particular tick needs removing from football asap. Hopefully he'll decide to sell up soon and p**s off.

 

[Legohead]

The thing is Lego, He is the OWNER whether the TUST like it or not that is a fact, Yep he's a untrustworthy person and doesn't engage with the fans but that was very similar to us pre 2003, The owners then didn't want to know us and in the R&L era were positively against any fan inclusion even if it was our Trust. I think the only way for the TUST to end up owning and running the club would be if it was in our 2003 position when no one else would touch us and the Trust stood up and the rest is history

All the TUST can do is recruit members and raise funds and awareness and hope for the day when they may be in a position to run or part run the football club. Personally I feel they are wasting their time trying to engage with the owner and instead they should ignore him and do what they need to do and go about what they need to go about without any input from the football club. Which could be incredibly difficult but such an approach might make more fans get on side with them and go against the owner which is probably the way to go IMO.

 

[dontpassback]

I have massive sympathy for a lot of Gulls fans regarding their situation. A situation that they didn't ask for. For the majority though I don't have any sympathy because they don't take things like this below seriously and acknowledge the fact that their owner is a complete ballsack and has no interest in their football club. Something sensible Gulls fans have known even before he took over and something that incredibly dense Gulls fans still can't grasp and they still think it's all about the football and they are in safe hands.

Short Statement Following New Year’s Day Match

A TUST spokesman confirmed, ' A group of TUST directors were at the ground prior to the New Year's Day match versus Yeovil in order to distribute, free of charge, the newest TUST brochure, but all were moved on by stewards and police, under orders from the club. At all times TUST representatives...

www.tust.co.uk

Their owner is a parasite in the game and this particular tick needs removing from football asap. Hopefully he'll decide to sell up soon and p**s off.

Sounds like he is from the same school as the two chancers we were saddled with,I hope the Torquay trust take him to the cleaners,and I gather the local MP isn’t a fan of this character either ,

 

[DB9]

All the TUST can do is recruit members and raise funds and awareness and hope for the day when they may be in a position to run or part run the football club. Personally I feel they are wasting their time trying to engage with the owner and instead they should ignore him and do what they need to do and go about what they need to go about without any input from the football club. Which could be incredibly difficult but such an approach might make more fans get on side with them and go against the owner which is probably the way to go IMO.

Its a very noble thing to say Lego my friend but while he's there in charge he could even ban the TUST from Plainmore, By all accounts he has done. They are a smaller club than ours with an even smaller fanbase and to raise a decent wedge to get control i think is way beyond the TUST unless like last time someone comes in with a lottery win and takes over it but then they become the owner and the TUST would still be on the outside, Mind after the last lottery winner (RIP) got involved I think it was a real eye opener just how much it costs to run a club day to day and any win would soon be eaten up and that is why the widow decided to get out while she still had a few quid. We were lucky after the Trust took over here we had the Man U games that saved our arse and we were able to keep and improve the Academy because we realised how an important money stream this could be and look how successful we have been so far, With a far reaching reputation that others even in higher leagues look at with envy. Torquay decided to close theres, A stupid, short sighted thing IMHO and to try and re-build that to a level where it can generate the money needed to help run a club is near on impossible, Their Trust is not that big, How many subs would they need and at what level moneywise that would really help? I dread to think.

No the only way their Trust could get their hands on Torquay would be if it were on its knees and like us no one else came in to help but if they did i don't think their Trust alone would be able to support a league club and then you go into the question if they needed help to run the club what % would each partner have? Anyone who put in a decent wedge would not want a minority share and that itself disspells the Trust run eithic of a club

 

[Spoonz Red E]

A big factor in the comparative story of the trusts at City, Torquay & Plymouth is who owns or who owned the ground.

Russell & Lewis had sussed out that clubs losing money hand over fist could very quickly lose even more money in their direction and were in it for short term advantage.
Torquay & Plymouth were both taken over by owners with property development very much in mind.

Plymouth, in particular, settled for an owner who stalled for years and despite the fact that they had their equivalent of our Man Utd cash injection when they took Liverpool to a replay and had a unitary council who have shown willingness to be cooperative in terms of Home Park ownership they have no real trust representation to speak of. They have put a lot of faith in their current owner who, to be fair, has picked up the pace considerably but, bottom line is, it's his club and he is owed a lot of money.

The disappointing thing for me with Plymouth & Torquay is that they had, and still have, people involved at both those clubs who actively manoeuvred to prevent the Trust idea taking hold when it could have. I think a real chance was missed for both clubs.

Torquay, IMHO, is still very much about what happens with Plainmoor going forward and I think they have got some battles ahead in terms of the Club's future.

 

[DB9]

A big factor in the comparative story of the trusts at City, Torquay & Plymouth is who owns or who owned the ground.

Russell & Lewis had sussed out that clubs losing money hand over fist could very quickly lose even more money in their direction and were in it for short term advantage.
Torquay & Plymouth were both taken over by owners with property development very much in mind.

Plymouth, in particular, settled for an owner who stalled for years and despite the fact that they had their equivalent of our Man Utd cash injection when they took Liverpool to a replay and had a unitary council who have shown willingness to be cooperative in terms of Home Park ownership they have no real trust representation to speak of. They have put a lot of faith in their current owner who, to be fair, has picked up the pace considerably but, bottom line is, it's his club and he is owed a lot of money.

The disappointing thing for me with Plymouth & Torquay is that they had, and still have, people involved at both those clubs who actively manoeuvred to prevent the Trust idea taking hold when it could have. I think a real chance was missed for both clubs.

Torquay, IMHO, is still very much about what happens with Plainmoor going forward and I think they have got some battles ahead in terms of the Club's future.

Decent summary there Spoonz, Plymouth was a bit like Animal Farm where some fans "Were more equal than others" and Brent took total advantage of this, He took over that club and during his tenure it never moved forward and pitted one fan against another and never would they entertain a Trust of any sort. Torquay again taken over by a well meaning lottery winner (RIP) totally taken advantage of, Well his cheque book was, When he passed away at least someone told his widow she needed to get out before the club breaks her. Gave it to the directors for nowt then this Osborne takes over having failed at other clubs and starts running it like a dictarship again not involving the TUST, Bad mouthing them, This will only end in tears

 

[Legohead]

And half the Torquay fans still don't see a problem and are happy to amble on as usual. They don't deserve a club and for them I hope the club dies. Because they are contributing to it through their own ignorance and apathy.

 

[Gary Edward Nelson]

Decent summary there Spoonz...

I concur.
When you read the contents of the Gull's mission statement in TUST Brochure "Uniting Torbay" what can the owner possibly be concerned about?...

Our Mission Statement
TUST promotes good governance and seeks to ensure the long-term sustainability of our club for the benefit of current and future supporters and the wider community.
Our Objectives
REPRESENTING SUPPORTERS: Being the democratic and representative voice of supporters and strengthening the bonds between the Club and the communities which it serves.
PROMOTING SUPPORTER INFLUENCE: Achieving the greatest possible supporter and community influence in the running and ownership of the Club.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: Promoting responsible and constructive community engagement and encouraging the Club to do the same.
GOOD GOVERNANCE: Operating democratically, fairly, sustainably, transparently and with financial responsibility and encouraging the Club to do the same.
BEING INCLUSIVE: Being a positive, inclusive and representative organisation, open and accessible to all supporters of the Club regardless of their age, income, location, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexuality or religious or moral beliefs. And finally, in summary: We want long term sustainability and good governance for our football club so that we and our successors can enjoy supporting it for generations to come. It is that simple.

I can only surmise that the t0ssp0t is categorically anti-good governance

What has the beautiful game become?