Echo News Southend United chairman Ron Martin explains how club would be boosted by new ground

[flangejackrabbit]

How much do a few bat mizvahs bring in then? Maybe enough to buy egbri some new boots....

In my view we could probably expect once it is up and running to provide wages for between one and two first teamers at L1/2 level. Not huge but not to be sniffed at.

 

[flangejackrabbit]

Yep, that seems to be it, from what they've gleaned so far. I think we assume this, unless RM informs us otherwise.

Why not ask about adding a deed of covenant for the new ground in a future meeting? That is the only thing we have now that is not really guaranteed for the new ground. The heritage is a bit of a red herring as RH is at end of life we need to either redevelop it into a new ground or move and I don't see any other suggestions as to where the money comes from to do this.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

1.What assets ? the mere £1.6m of Tangible Fixed Assets in the 31/7/18 accounts or the ones that are probably in RM's other co.s ?

2.Surely the biggest asset is our EFL status ?

1-Knew I should have put that in inverted commas.Think we all know that the Chairman now owns what were SUFC's main assets.Clearly that's why he bought in in the first place.

2.Agreed.

 

[londonblue]

Can I just clarify what peoples expectations are from Ron? He's bankrolled the club for 20+ years through good times and bad, far longer than someone would if they were after a quick buck.

As it stands the club has no external loans which is a very good situation to be in for 2021.

Yes he stands to make money from the housing development but that's good for the club if he sticks around.

Are people actually expecting someone to give away a multi-million pound football stadium?

Given the tens of millions he stands to make on the residential apsect, why not?

As for non-matchday revenue what are people expecting there to be? If it's not event space or meeting rooms what else would you expect at a football stadium?

The stadium itself has a hotel and flats built into it. Why shouldn't SUFC be able to benefit from them? If RM still owns the stadium he'll be the one to benefit...on top of the tens of millions he's going to make already.

Personally I think he's being greedy since it's probably a relatively small amount compared to the amount he already stands to make.

 

[rigsby]

Surely the relevant point here is that when Roots Hall was built in 1955 it was built and owned by the supporters'club.Unfortunately they gifted it to the then Chairman Bill Ruben for nothing.

I have covered that in the very section you highlighted..."Us fans never owned the club when Ron arrived" So its not relevant.

That boat sailed along time ago and debt mounted with each subsequent owner after that.

If £4.5m was such a good deal in 1998 for a run down stadium on a plot of land with a covenant stopping anyone building on it.......The why didn't you or any other fans buy it. Or how about these mystery investors who would happily come on board.. Where were than in 1998 when we were going out the league.

Ron never stole it off the fans which is why he owes us nothing.... absolutely nothing. Ron will get his payday and the council will get their houses. Once fans can accept these two unchangeable facts, then we can decide what best for us fans and the town.

The last two points are the ones we can have a say in. Thats our area of influence. That chance will be taken away if we go down the road of "I want to see Ron fail because i've never liked him". That means the club fails, us fans and the town also lose out.

 

[united we stand]

Yeah, I picked up on that too. Shame one of the attendees didn’t respond with “isn’t that what a chairman is meant to do?” As guardian of the club, he shouldn’t feel the need to inflate his ego by pronouncing this at the first opportunity. A little bit of humility will go a long way, Ron...

I don’t know if I’m in a minority or not but i really didn’t have a problem with his comment.

 

[flangejackrabbit]

The stadium itself has a hotel and flats built into it. Why shouldn't SUFC be able to benefit from them? If RM still owns the stadium he'll be the one to benefit...on top of the tens of millions he's going to make already.

Personally I think he's being greedy since it's probably a relatively small amount compared to the amount he already stands to make.

There's no hotel now, that's been taken out, but my understanding is that everything built into the stadium itself, as opposed to the rest of the development, will be for the benefit of the club - i.e. flats part of stadium building, hospitality facilities

 

[united we stand]

Reading this thread and the zoom meeting thread and watching the zoom meeting a couple of points jumped up at me.

Like all threads on here , you can never please everyone, and people will always have an opinion every if it is factually incorrectly.

Why are people mentioning a 2/3 sided stadium. When did a two sided stadium ever come in not it? These are the sort and f comments that start stupid rumours.

Fans want better communication from Ron but can’t be bothered to watch the zoom meetings

Ron’s communication will not improve IMO. It was clear from the call that he didn’t understand why we needed it to improve and why it actually helped him. Until he understands these points he won’t change. His answers to the physio, and “it’s just a phone call” illustrate this. I will lay money on it now that the biweekly calls drop in off very quickly.
I think he is genuine when In the moment he makes these promises, but he doesn’t have the time ( no CEO).

People says no why do we need a stadium in non league. This is (I hope)a great example of fans just expressing their frustration. Everyone must realise ( as Ron said himself) that this is just a point in time, the stadium will be around for decades.

How to go forward?
Rigs by has made some very good comments on here regarding questions for Ron .

To me the next zoom call should be purely on the finances - today and going forward .

The questions should be from one non emotional/ non confrontational **person who is able to challenge Ron’s answers and ask relevant follow up questions depending on Ron’s answers.
**you don’t have to be confrontational to get answers, piers Morgan- massively confrontational, but never actually gets an answer( people forgot that point)


We should set out why we are worried.
This season has Been defined by how long it took to sort out the embargo. We assume The reason for this talking so long was simply to n did not have the money ( can we ask him).

We will get far more from him (IMO) if we ask questions in a manner not to put him on the defensive. No one likes to admit they don’t have enough money, Ron will be no different.

We should explain why we are so concerned, he won’t be our chairman for ever.
We can add that it “appeared to many” that the Larson deal involved investment/ selling the club. Therefore there is a legitimate concern that he will sell sooner rather than later. We then have a chairman who may/ may not be good for the club , and no covenant.

 

[londonblue]

There's no hotel now, that's been taken out, but my understanding is that everything built into the stadium itself, as opposed to the rest of the development, will be for the benefit of the club - i.e. flats part of stadium building, hospitality facilities

I learnt a very long time ago that with Ron if he doesn't explicitly say something then you can be sure the opposite is the case. Has he explicitly included the flats (for example) as benefitting SUFC? I don't believe he has, and from that I glean that it isn't the case.

 

[Strykr]

I learnt a very long time ago that with Ron if he doesn't explicitly say something then you can be sure the opposite is the case. Has he explicitly included the flats (for example) as benefitting SUFC? I don't believe he has, and from that I glean that it isn't the case.

Exactly the sort of issue that needs hammering home in these meetings.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

1.I have covered that in the very section you highlighted..."Us fans never owned the club when Ron arrived" So its not relevant.

That boat sailed along time ago and debt mounted with each subsequent owner after that.

2.If £4.5m was such a good deal in 1998 for a run down stadium on a plot of land with a covenant stopping anyone building on it.......The why didn't you or any other fans buy it. Or how about these mystery investors who would happily come on board.. Where were than in 1998 when we were going out the league.

3.Ron never stole it off the fans which is why he owes us nothing.... absolutely nothing. 4.Ron will get his payday and the council will get their houses. Once fans can accept these two unchangeable facts, then we can decide what best for us fans and the town.

The last two points are the ones we can have a say in. Thats our area of influence. That chance will be taken away if we go down the road of "I want to see Ron fail because i've never liked him". That means the club fails, us fans and the town also lose out.

I.It's absolutly relevant and explains why VJ and then Martin were interested in becoming Chairmen of SUFC.

2.There was a time before VJ and the current chairman when chairmen were interested in running football clubs for the benefit of the local community not what they could make from development of the football club's assets.BTW I've never had 4,5 m. of my own money in my life.I rather doubt the chairman has either.

3.No he bought the club from VJ,who in turn bought it from the Ruben family.Whether the Chairman "owes" the fans anything is clearly a matter of opinion.Obviously he doen't legally speaking but there is such a thing as a moral debt.

$ I accept the chairman will make a lot of money from our move to FF.Why any SUFC fan should be happy about that I've no idea.

 

[rigsby]

I.It's absolutly relevant and explains why VJ and then Martin were interested in becoming Chairmen of SUFC.

2.There was a time before VJ and the current chairman when chairmen were interested in running football clubs for the benefit of the local community not what they could make from development of the football club's assets.BTW I've never had 4,5 m. of my own money in my life.I rather doubt the chairman has either.

3.No he bought the club from VJ,who in turn bought it from the Ruben family.Whether the Chairman "owes" the fans anything is clearly a matter of opinion.Obviously he doen't legally speaking but there is such a thing as a moral debt.

$ I accept the chairman will make a lot of money from our move to FF.Why any SUFC fan should be happy about that I've no idea.

Haven't you missed the man with the fur coat, big la-di-da and Rolls Royce.

The idea that Chairman were made up of local philanthropists is a rose tinted myth. back then they pocketed plenty of money especially during the bung culture. Stadiums had minimal money spent on them and players were often ripped off.

People have had different reasons over the years but even if its not financial, there has usually been some sort of personal gain for 90% of owners.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

1.Haven't you missed the man with the fur coat, big la-di-da and Rolls Royce.

2.The idea that Chairman were made up of local philanthropists is a rose tinted myth. back then they pocketed plenty of money especially during the bung culture. Stadiums had minimal money spent on them and players were often ripped off.

3.People have had different reasons over the years but even if its not financial, there has usually been some sort of personal gain for 90% of owners.

!.Talking about Vic or Sol?If it's the latter I think we can agree that he was one of the chairman's worst appointments (if not the worst).If it's the former I thought I referred to him by his initials ie VJ.

2I was thinking of someone like Bob Lord,who as far as I know.although no saint did Ok by his local club and community.

3.You're 3rd point Is largely correct I suspect though 90% seems a bit high.

 

[rigsby]

!.Talking about Vic or Sol?If it's the latter I think we can agree that he was one of the chairman's worst appointments (if not the worst).If it's the former I thought I referred to him by his initials ie VJ.

2I was thinking of someone like Bob Lord,who as far as I know.although no saint did Ok by his local club and community.

3.You're 3rd point Is largely correct I suspect though 90% seems a bit high.

Read the bit of your own post I highlighted. Sol was a manager not an owner, if that helps.

 

[kaymac]

1. Think he means Anton Johnson

 

[pottster]

I'd like to know if the new stadium will have a covenant on it to protect the future of the club. Without doubt the existing covenant has protected the club so far from developers. How will it be protected in the future from Ron or another developer?

 

[SUBBlue]

1. Think he means Anton Johnson

The Butcher of Rotherham, an expert at allegedly raiding the Christmas club funds long before Arthur Fowler had the idea.

Many of our younger fans probably never heard of him.

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

The Butcher of Rotherham,
Many of our younger fans probably never heard of him.

When he was Rotherham chairman in 83, he got me 2 of their allocated FA Cup Final tickets!.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Read the bit of your own post I highlighted. Sol was a manager not an owner, if that helps.

Let me make it quite clear, I have no objection to Chairmen who pay themselves a salary or who use the contacts they make from running a football club to improve their own outside businesses.I certainly object to a crook like Anton Johnson (his autobiography proves he was a self -confessed wide boy) who embezzled funds from the Supporters club Xmas fund.The current Chairman is much cleverer than that.What he's done is to buy up the club's assets at a knockdown price and hang on to them knowing full well they'll be worth a fortune one day.What exactly a new stadium will be worth to SUFC if we lose our league status and can't generate any serious revenue streams from it in the future, is another matter entirely,of course.

 

[SUBBlue]

When he was Rotherham chairman in 83, he got me 2 of their allocated FA Cup Final tickets!.

You are one of the Rubin brothers & I claim my £5??