Club Loan - Trust Statement - 1st July 2010

[Shrimperstrust]

The Shrimpers Trust regrets to inform both its members and supporters of Southend United Football Club that the Trust's £60,000 loan to the Club, originally agreed in December, has not been repaid, despite an extension to the end of June 2010.

The Statement in full can be found by clicking here.

 

[Medway Blue]

Surprise, surprise.....

 

[pickledseal]

This bit worries me:

"having been informed by the Club that the repayment was not likely to be met, Chairman Ron Martin has chosen not to discuss the matter personally with representatives of the organisation."

 

[Cricko]

No real surprise is it with what is going on all around at the moment.

 

[number11]

No surprise there. However, as Ive said elsewhere, if this loan is backed by a personal guarantee against Ron, the trust have inadvertently put themselves into a decent petition...... They have the option to issue a Stat Demand against Ron requiring payment within 21 days. If it's paid then all well and good......if it's not paid then they can petition for Ron's bankruptcy.

What the Trust have to decide is whether Ron's bankruptcy would benefit the club. Having lost faith in the Trust in giving this loan without telling their members, I do hope they have been spending the last year deciding what the best outcomes will be in various scenario's and whether this is a course of action they want to take and are not merely groping in the dark.....

 

[The Late One]

merely groping in the dark.....

Think you may need to edit that bit

 

[Mick]

The Shrimpers Trust regrets to inform both its members and supporters of Southend United Football Club that the Trust's £60,000 loan to the Club, originally agreed in December, has not been repaid, despite an extension to the end of June 2010.

The Statement in full can be found by clicking here.

Numbers dropped lately then. Not surprised,

 

[seany t]

This saddens me greatly.

As someone who has been a member for a few years now, the Trust does admirable work and - whilst I desperately don't wish to see the end of SUFC - this sickens me. In the grand scheme of things, football has totally lost it's way and is fast becoming a past time I despise.

I want to see the club survive, and the players stay, but they shouldn't be taking loans they cannot repay from a foundation who would otherwise be using it for the good of the wider community (hopefully!).

I sometimes wonder if it'd just be easier to put our hands up and admit defeat.

Shame on you SUFC.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

This saddens me greatly.

As someone who has been a member for a few years now, the Trust does admirable work and - whilst I desperately don't wish to see the end of SUFC - this sickens me. In the grand scheme of things, football has totally lost it's way and is fast becoming a past time I despise.

I want to see the club survive, and the players stay, but they shouldn't be taking loans they cannot repay from a foundation who would otherwise be using it for the good of the wider community (hopefully!).

I sometimes wonder if it'd just be easier to put our hands up and admit defeat.

Shame on you SUFC.

Keeping SUFC going is for the good of the community and it's certainly why I became a life member.

To be honest, I think the Trust have been pretty astute with this loan so long as it isn't their entire fighting fund. It's given them a stake in the proceedings and a bargaining chip with RM. If it came off RM would be grateful for their assistance, if it didn't that's what they were there to try and prevent anyway.

 

[Cricko]

Keeping SUFC going is for the good of the community and it's certainly why I became a life member.

To be honest, I think the Trust have been pretty astute with this loan so long as it isn't their entire fighting fund. It's given them a stake in the proceedings and a bargaining chip with RM. If it came off RM would be grateful for their assistance, if it didn't that's what they were there to try and prevent anyway.

Are you on the funny pills today or something?

We did a collection for The Trust when the club had problems last year..RM stated at the time...he didn't like the idea and did not want the money....a few months later he takes 60k from The Trust promising to pay them back in Feb...some 4 months later he still has not and the time for repayment has passed without as much as a single returned call..In hindsight The Trust made a grave error in lending him that money but I am sure they did it with the clubs interest at heart... it now seems in fact he has not just taken The Trust for a ride but all of the fans that put money into them .It was the fans money. Therefore he does not give a toss about anybody but his megalomaniac ego.

My blame does not rest at the feet of The Trust in this.

 

[number11]

Are you on the funny pills today or something?

We did a collection for The Trust when the club had problems last year..RM stated at the time...he didn't like the idea and did not want the money....a few months later he takes 60k from The Trust promising to pay them back in Feb...some 4 months later he still has not and the time for repayment has passed without as much as a single returned call..In hindsight The Trust made a grave error in lending him that money but I am sure they did it with the clubs interest at heart... it now seems in fact he has not just taken The Trust for a ride but all of the fans that put money into them .It was the fans money. Therefore he does not give a toss about anybody but his megalomaniac ego.

My blame does not rest at the feet of The Trust in this.[/QUOTE]

Im not sure I entirely agree with you......certainly the Trust committee who I presume actioned this loan whilst deciding not to canvass opinion or even tell their members can't exactly avoid scrutiny in this decision. Ron explicitly said not to bother collecting. I remember at the time of the collection my Dad saying he wouldnt be putting any money in the buckets as it would just be going to Ron. I explained to him how it was actually the Trust, an independent body raising money to safeguard SUFC etc etc and it was not going to Ron. Looks like I was very wrong.

As I said above though, at least it has now given them Trust inadvertantly a position of strength to some degree as they can petition for Ron's bankruptcy and bring the whole thing down....... or is there really not a Personal Guarantee in place????

 

[Berrichonne shrimper]

Would never have happened on my watch.

 

[McNasty]

I have thought about the Trust Loan long and hard and still struggle to understand anyone criticising the Trust trying to help in times of need.

The Trust have supported the club with donations to support the Youth set-up for a few years, sponsoring shirts and purchasing equipment when asked by the Youth bosses. I seem to remember, but I may be wrong , that the Trust paid money towards the European Tour / Tournament in the near past. No-one can question the good intentions of the Trust in financially supporting the club over the last few years.

I am not party to the whys and wherefores of the £60,00 loan, I do not know whether the Trust offered the money or if RM asked to borrow it or how the decision was made as none of this was revealed at the time but I could understand the Trust lending the Club money, especially if RM gave a guarantee for the repayment at a later date.
I do not know what conditions were placed by the Trust but they were not to know they were not going to be repaid on time, other companies appear to have been convinced to "invest" larger sums than the £60,000.

The problem now is that some people may feel , as the likelihood of getting the money back seems slim (RM ,I think, hasn't made contact with the Trust on or since repayment date) that the Trust shouldn't have lent the money in the first place -- others may think by getting the money back ( if and when ) that the Trust are depriving the club of valuable financial help.

Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

 

[Pak66]

Trust loan

Having watched my first game from the North Bank in 1966, I feel I have some understanding of Southend United and have seen many strange and sometimes very good things happen in the 44 years of following the Shrimpers.
I am also a life member of SUSCT.

SUSCT were totally wrong in not approaching the membership via an extraordinary meeting to discuss the possibility of the loan to the club.

Having previously worked with Ron I am sure my opinion may have assisted The SUSCT committee and members on whether to proceed with the loan.

There be others within SUSCT with experience of Ron outside of and prior to his new found love of football who could have voiced opinions to make a decision.

Unfortunately we will never know whether that meeting would have agreed or declined the offer of a loan to the club.

That is the main reason why I feel the SUST committee were wrong in proceeding with the loan.

 

[McNasty]

Having watched my first game from the North Bank in 1966, I feel I have some understanding of Southend United and have seen many strange and sometimes very good things happen in the 44 years of following the Shrimpers.
I am also a life member of SUSCT.

SUSCT were totally wrong in not approaching the membership via an extraordinary meeting to discuss the possibility of the loan to the club.

Having previously worked with Ron I am sure my opinion may have assisted The SUSCT committee and members on whether to proceed with the loan.

There be others within SUSCT with experience of Ron outside of and prior to his new found love of football who could have voiced opinions to make a decision.

Unfortunately we will never know whether that meeting would have agreed or declined the offer of a loan to the club.

That is the main reason why I feel the SUST committee were wrong in proceeding with the loan.

The only point I would add is that no-one has made any complaint regarding the various sums ( the total of which I have no idea ) that the Trust have donated to the club in the past without consulting the members.

 

[ldnfatso]

Having watched my first game from the North Bank in 1966, I feel I have some understanding of Southend United and have seen many strange and sometimes very good things happen in the 44 years of following the Shrimpers.
I am also a life member of SUSCT.

SUSCT were totally wrong in not approaching the membership via an extraordinary meeting to discuss the possibility of the loan to the club.

Having previously worked with Ron I am sure my opinion may have assisted The SUSCT committee and members on whether to proceed with the loan.

There be others within SUSCT with experience of Ron outside of and prior to his new found love of football who could have voiced opinions to make a decision.

Unfortunately we will never know whether that meeting would have agreed or declined the offer of a loan to the club.

That is the main reason why I feel the SUST committee were wrong in proceeding with the loan.

oh how hind sight is a wonderful thing. Could you tell me which horse is gonna win the 3.20 at Kempton next week too?

 

[Shrimper]

Not surprised it hasn't been paid off.

 

[Pak66]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing

Nothing to do with hindsight, just hard facts.
You have no idea who I am or what I know of individuals within the club.
I have been around a lot longer than most of the SUSCT committee, lived all my life in Southend and have knowledge that may have been very helpful in assisting SUSCT in making a very important financial decision

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

The only point I would add is that no-one has made any complaint regarding the various sums ( the total of which I have no idea ) that the Trust have donated to the club in the past without consulting the members.

Why would they?
Those sums were donated for physio equiment etc and I doubt they ever reached anywhere near the sum of 60k.
The 60k loan(to the Chairman/SUFC)howver is a rather different matter.
It was advanced without full consultation of the membership and in circumstances where its repayment was always likely to be problematic.A poor judgement call IMO(as I said on SZ last year).

 

[Xàbia Shrimper]

A life member: I have to admit that I was also a bit peeved that the membership as a whole were not consulted before this "loan" was made to the club and was really only aware of it when the first late payment issue was made public a couple of months ago. I don't want a personal visit from the board to explain an issue but an email might have been appropriate before the "loan" was made? As it is, it seems that this is 60K thrown down the drain - I can't see Calamity Ron paying it back soon, no?