Slough Town and Alan Thorne

[BFR]

Intriguing stuff in the Observer today!

[Guest]

Oh tease why don't you, what is this about, I don't get the local rag up here....

[Guest]

I think, and have always yhought, we'd be better off with the Thornes (well Alan at least).I can still see a role for them and us in a new development at/near Wexham Pk. in the next 2-3 years.

 

Keep believing!

[BFR]

Go to the This is Slough website

 

Thisisslough

 

You may have to refresh the page but you want the story 'Thorne to Play Ball'

 

Don't reproduce it on here because the paper tends to get the [****!!****]

[GarySTFC]

Anony, don't say that! Roge will have a fit! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

[Guest]

Well stranger things have happened....

Alan Thorne was said to be very sick when Byron Thorne pulled the plug on STFC but somehow he has recovered against the odds over past 5 years,

STFC had Alan Thorne 'sponsoring' players in the programme, presumably in a bid to offset part of the debt Deaner owes. Now it looks like Thorne wants revenge on Deaner for the £70K owed.

For all his own ways, if Thorne senior has been subjected to a dose of Deaner bull**** he wont take it lightly.

The devil and the deep blue sea?

Yes, but Deaner is definitely NOT the answer. If Thorne came up with some support for STFC and the Trust it's a better gamble.

As for running STFC at a profit, that's hard but a three year rolling plan might do it. Year 1 would definitely be a loss on paper. The plan would be to commit funds to break even in Year 2 and make a small profit year 3.

The plan itself would only work if business and community links were strengthened and then maintained from Day 1.

This means free entry for 'guest spectators' ie kiddies and families from across Slough's community who do not attend at present, and hospitality for business leaders, a strong relationship with press and joint promotional packages with council to strengthen links there.

To pay the rent to Thorne, STFC would have to host fund raisers, eg corporate 5 asides days, get all the junior cup competitions now held at Windsor or Maidenhead back (including The Slough Town Cup!) etc so people used The Park bar and catering.

The spin off for the Thornes here is that some of the people attending STFC functions may book their own events, receptions, company training, parties etc at The Park.

There has to be no nonsense from Slough or south Bucks councils. The reality is that the 'green belt' protection on the Park is very fragile. Government guidelines for development in the South East mean that although South Bucks might refuse a Thorne planning application, they could well win permission on appeal to the Department for the Environment.

Better for the councils to meet in the middle perhaps and given the Thornes a bit of what they want in return for STFC's security.

What is vital is that STFC have autonomy and the club's survival does not depend on how well Alan Thorne's heart is beating. It needs to be an equal partner in any deal, not carry over the £70K Deaner debt, and hopefully, this is where the Trust comes in.

Accept a year at Windsor, ditch Deaner along the way, and work behind the scenes for a re-launch in 2004-5.

 

 

[Roger Rebel]

For God sake don't you lot realize it was the Thornes Thornes Thornes who s*** on us 5 years ago, and they will do nothing for us unless there is something in it for them. And please do not keep on saying it was not Allan it F****** was, the Council will have to make a deal that is water tight so it is impossible for them or anyone else to do it again.

[Guest]

"the Council will have to make a deal that is water tight so it is impossible for them or anyone else to do it again. "

 

Exactly - it will only work if the councils give Thorne something he wants and the club itself has protected status on part of the land with a decent lease.

 

Question to STSA - should the poor club - the fans that it - enter into ANY deal with the Thornes?

Why are Thornes know coming forward with ideas to rescue STFC? Can you read between the lines?

[Roger Rebel]

Deaner will need to be quick to beat the thornes

[Burnham Lad]

Quote:

Roger Rebel said:
Deaner will need to be quick to beat the thornes

I would have thought that owing £70K to them will slow him up, especially when his last posted accounts at Companies House showed FRUS over half a million in the red - that was to the end of Financial year for 2002 - of course things may have improved since then........

[Roger Rebel]

One reason why we won't get out of the Ryman.

[PJ-STFC]

Hi BFR

I can appreciate that the Observer do not want their report reproduced on the forum (copyright, and all that) but this is not helpful for anyone reading this thread at a later date.

 

I have been catching up with the forum activity after a week's hols and the report is no longer visible on the Observer site (after only 3 days! <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> )

 

Could someone please post a summary of the story for me?

 

PJ <img src="/images/graemlins/bounce.gif" alt="" />

 

 

 

Come on Slough Town!!

[BFR]

Sorry about that PJ. Basically the story is that Alan and Byron Thorne have sent a 12 page letter to the council detailing how to make Slough Town FC profitable and that to do so requires commercial development.

It also says that he would be prepared to put forward the capital to do this. Deaner would not be part of it, due to having not paid a penny for the Thorne's for five years. etc.

The details of the letter have not been released (now there is a surprise) so we'll have to wait and see if anything comes from this.

 

[PJ-STFC]

Thanks, BFR

The above replies now make rather more sense!

 

This could be regarded as very good news, but as ever it is probably too good to be true. I guess we'll have to wait and see what comes of it. (No change there then!)

 

PJ

[Guest]

After the Aldershot match I took the opportunity to speak to Martyn Deaner. As far as I know he has attended all of the friendly matches so he hasn't shied away from the fans, and he could have told me to go away but didn't, so here is what he said:

 

- the £70K not paid to the Thorne is by agreement.

- he is flying to Spain this week to have face-to-face discussions with him.

- Thorne WILL take up the option to buy Wexham Park but Deaner doesn't know what he plans to do with the site which can't be used for any other purpose (unless South Bucks Council change the rules).

- there is something coming up later this month involving Slough Council. We will find out about it in detail at the Supporter's meeting which is pencilled in for AUGUST 28TH and may be held at Wexham Park.

- the Council will make a formal announcement on the 29th.

- it would appear that this will be the offer to buy a piece of land for 'urban renewal' at a fair price, and this will provide the space for a complex that STFC will be part of, as we can't stand alone financially. This will cost big money to do.

- Deaner has made good on his other promises made at the 1 May meeting about securing a groundshare and getting a team. The next meeting will also fulfil his promise of 'regular' meetings with supporters. Until now he hasn't had anything concrete to say.

- he doesn't like talking to the press as he gets misrepresented so much.

 

Make of it what you will, and I know people have differing views on the man. However, he is still here and he is still working for the future of the club (and yes, I guess he does want to get something out of it). Unless anyone has a better plan, let's see what comes up at the meeting. In the meantime let the season commence !

[Guest]

I have no idea if you just made all that up-but I would like to say that at least Mr Deaner looks like getting us another seasons of reasonable class football.And I reiterate that all our troubles stem from the Thornes,and they see that they have a piece of worthless land and are trying to muscle back in.

[Burnham Lad]

Thanks for that Automan and for taking the time to post it.

 

The one thing that still concerns me over this is that there is clearly a problem over FRUS Limited which owns the Club and of which MD is the Chairman. This development as you say will cost big money and the last accounts of FRUS show them well into the red and they seem apparently unable to pay bills. For example, Roy said that MD footed the bill for the groundshare personally, and the season ticket monies are being paid to the supporters association, not FRUS. Whatever you may think of the Thornes, they have been very public about the £70K and there has been no suggestion of an agreement as far as they arre concerned - to say what they have publicly, looks dnagerous to me, to accuse non payment of bills when you agreed it would not be - another example of the the total confusion between truth and fiction which we have all the time!

 

So, I still do not understand where the money is going to come from, given that sooner or later the FRUS issue must be faced. It is the accounts of FRUS which will dictate if we are able to rise to higher points in the new pyramid, unless someone else steps in and buys it and its probable debts. Again, we have no idea how much these are currently.

 

Having said that, as 30 years service pointed out, there is a team, we have a ground of sorts (shared I mean, not being rude to Windsor & Eton to whom we are grateful) and some new players joining apparently on contract, although again with whom is an interesting question - all questions and no answers, again.

 

I await the meeting on the 28th and the council announcement on the 29th with interest and if 30 years is right and the Thornes realise that having boought the land they need a decent class of football on it as they can't do anything else with it, then times should get interesting!

 

 

So whatever happens, the Owners of the club have got a long hard ride to

[Guest]

Fascinating stuff and although there's still a lot to unravel, thank god fans are still battling to get information from many sources.

What Andrew S raises about FRUS is important - a lot of questions unanswered.

 

Re the person who was told by Deaner "the £70K not paid to the Thorne is by agreement."

It would be interesting to know what this agreement was, and who it was between, verbal or in writing.

The Park has been muttering about the unpaid money for some time and there have been rumours about alan Thorne hopping over the unpaid bill. Then Alan tells the paper about the bill and that his plan to council doesn't include Mr Deaner apparently. That sounds like a deliberate well aimed Thorne dig, knowing that Deaner hates that sort of thing reaching the press, his achilles heel. Not the stuff of a happy, easy agreement.

Anyway, TWO WEEKS and we might all know a lot more.....

 

[GarySTFC]

Also, if it was an agreement, why are 'footballing personnel' now locked out at STFC? Doesn't seem very agreeable to me.

 

One more point. If the rent of Wexham Park totalled at £70,000 for five years, this equates to £14,000 a year, which is £11,000 a season cheaper than Windsor. Why couldn't something have been formulated there? Over the three seasons, that's £30,000 we would have saved on ground sharing alone, let alone the extra money from gate receipts, burger bar etc.

[Roger Rebel]

Thank God at last i'm not the only one that thinks we should not trust the Thornes.