Hertford Town reject mega bid

[Savagebee]

http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/Sport/Sport-headlines/Hertford-Town-reject-mega-bid-20130307110313.htm

[JamieSE]

Admiration to Hertford Town for rejecting the proposal. So many clubs would have bitten their hands off for an injection of £300k into their club, but with that money comes a lot of insecurities and all of a sudden puts so much pressure on each everyday decision. Then 2,5,10 years later the money runs out, the financial backers walk away and the club is left with huge bills and eventually has to fold. It's happened time and time again.

Well done to Hertford for seeing the bigger picture.

[A.nonymous]

Hats off to them. I don't mean to be silly but I would rejected it too, its too good to be true, and would they sustain it?

[HTFCew]

“We were willing to stay in the background, bringing some people onto the committee, with the caveat that the money would need to be repaid if the committee decided to vote us out.”

 

Think that would put anyone off.

[paddywack]

New manager than ?

[Septimus]

Admiration to Hertford Town for rejecting the proposal. So many clubs would have bitten their hands off for an injection of £300k into their club, but with that money comes a lot of insecurities and all of a sudden puts so much pressure on each everyday decision. Then 2,5,10 years later the money runs out, the financial backers walk away and the club is left with huge bills and eventually has to fold. It's happened time and time again.

Well done to Hertford for seeing the bigger picture.

 

I totally agree and if I were still on the committee would have fully supported what they did.

 

The club's statement:

 

http://www.hertfordtownfc.co.uk/News/7March2013.html

[tringarmy]

“We were willing to stay in the background, bringing some people onto the committee, with the caveat that the money would need to be repaid if the committee decided to vote us out.”

 

Think that would put anyone off.

 

Too right. No bank would lend against the asset of the short lease on a football ground such as Hertford's So it would meant the committee taking out mortgages on their own properties if these people decide to walk away. If the £300k was spent on the pitch & buildings it wouldn't be easy to recoup the money once spent in a short space of time.

 

The plan is probably a good one & I'm sure most SSML clubs have had thoughts along similar lines at some point, but the stumbling point at our level is always the initial capital outlay.

 

Would £1k a week be enough to get out of the SSML ?

[COYS]

I can understand why Hertford have rejected the offer it is a big gamble if the backers decide that it was no longer for them and want the money back then the club are in big trouble, also the fact we don't know if they just wanted their hands on the lease for other reasons leaving Hertford without a football club.

 

On the footballing side of things I can see why some fans will be wondering why the club didn't take the gamble get the money in and get the players In to get you out of the league. 1k a week should see you out of the SSML If it doesn't then your spending it in the wrong way.

 

Overall only time will tell if it was the right thing to do or not but I think it was the right thing to do. Shame though as Hertford FC is I think a sleeping giant just needs a big whack with a large stick

[Winslow Boy]

Well if these people are football people and see potential in the club they should take the gamble and come back with a better offer that holds far less risks for Hertford. Fair play to all at Hertford. I hope they win their relegation scrape and then move onwards and upwards.

[No13]

Think a lot of clubs would have grabbed at the opportunity instead of thinking about the clubs long term future which is what the HTFC committee have done.

Anyone who thinks investors at this level are gonna stump up £300k and then as they said take a back seat are in cloud cuckoo.

Ryman in two years was already a statement of intent, and what if the club had not achieved that, too much pressure I'd say and too much hassle, money can buy you a lot of things but it don't buy guarantees.

Fair play to the board of Hertford, between the lines I'd say right decision.

[No13]

Be interesting to see if this company re-surface, especially as locally there are clubs such as Cheshunt, Ware, Hoddeson if you like, or as COYS stated was getting the lease to the ground their initial plan?

Nice bunch the Hertford faithful are, hope they can prove in time that success doesn't need an injection of reddies

[Rhodes]

Lets face it, if a guy called Kem Kemal approached you on the street offering to invest 300k you wouldn’t give him the time of day would you, Hertford Town have done the right thing, Crawley Town made that mistake with the infamous Majeed brothers.

[Rhodes]

Be interesting to see if this company re-surface, especially as locally there are clubs such as Cheshunt, Ware, Hoddeson

Yes, good point but can you see Roger getting involved with someone like that at Lowfield, I don’t think so!

[Jonno]

Oh I don't know cliff. We've entertained a few shady characters over the years, especially when hosting Haringey, Kentish Town and Tik Tok Manor.....

[The Mayor Of Simpleton]

Looks like they've dodged a bullet.

 

£300k is probably enough to buy a Step 2 side, never mind a Step 5 one, but with those stipulations attached it would never have worked and would they really have stayed in the background?

 

On NLM, somebody was asking why Kem Kemal sounded so familiar.

[wisezola]

Looks like they've dodged a bullet.

 

£300k is probably enough to buy a Step 2 side, never mind a Step 5 one, but with those stipulations attached it would never have worked and would they really have stayed in the background?

 

On NLM, somebody was asking why Kem Kemal sounded so familiar.

He was to do with Bush Hill Rangers who play in the prem of the Herts county league, they play out of Brimsdown Rovers old ground.

Google throws up some interesting directorships and careers

[Savagebee]

When i was at our recent game at Hertford Town i spoke to a guy at the game who was a local man who said it was his first ever visit to watch Hertford Town and he said something to me about maybe putting some cash into the club and he was asked to come and have a look at the place he said he was a Spurs supporter and that the ground needed to be brought up to date. I wonder if he had anything to do with the Hertford Town FC take over bid.

 

For what its worth i think the Hertford Town committee made the right decision.

[tringarmy]

Be interesting to see if this company re-surface, especially as locally there are clubs such as Cheshunt, Ware, Hoddeson if you like, or as COYS stated was getting the lease to the ground their initial plan?

 

Wasn't sure if Wares ground was their own or council owned but they would have half the infrastructure in place already. As we've seen in recent seasons Hertfords ground is prone to flooding - assume to be on a flood plain, so any pitch redevelopment would need to take this into account. This would however as I understand make it more difficult a process to develop the ground. Aylesbury FC seemed to have a lot of problems doing what they wanted at Haywoods Way

[SG24]

From what I remember about Hertford's ground (only visited once, 2 years ago), it would need a lot of money pumped in to get it up to standard for higher leagues. Access and parking would need looking at as well.

[No13]

 

 

Wasn't sure if Wares ground was their own or council owned but they would have half the infrastructure in place already. As we've seen in recent seasons Hertfords ground is prone to flooding - assume to be on a flood plain, so any pitch redevelopment would need to take this into account. This would however as I understand make it more difficult a process to develop the ground. Aylesbury FC seemed to have a lot of problems doing what they wanted at Haywoods Way

That was the point I tried to put across tho, if its about getting a non-League club up the pyramid ladder then your Cheshunt's or Ware's are obviously a step closer and not a lot of money maybe on the ground would need to be spent, which basically leaves the alternative that it maybe was for something other than purely football purposes.

Only those in the know will have the answers, however a bold decision taken by the HTFC committee of which one I feel they won't regret.