Who should control the Players' Fund?

[Gullscorer]

Well, now the season's over and we await the retained list and a review by management, staff and owners, plus the budget and plans for next season and indeed the long-awaited five-year plan, not to mention the conclusion of the Plainmoor freehold saga and plans for the new stadium, for which a fifty year plan might be more appropriate.

And, of course, we await action by G.I. and Clarke Osborne to assuage the suspicions of supporters as to his trustworthiness and his true intentions. He must surely know by now that supporters are aware of his (and G.I.'s) track record in sport and of the experiences of clubs with 'dodgy' new owners who also happen to be property developers.

To his credit, he obviously knows that simply throwing money at a problem will not necessarily solve it. On the other hand, to starve a project of its essential funding will starve it to death before it gets off the ground. A period of steady growth and progression up through the leagues is called for, concomitant with increasing revenue streams from other sources.

This should suit Osborne/G.I. as I get the impression that their available funds are not as great as the world seems to think. A new stadium for the Gulls will probably take as long to come to fruition as all their other stadia! The focus must therefore be, first and foremost, on achieving a promotion or two, along with increasing revenue streams, which will bring increased attendances and a sustainable financial footing. A new stadium should then follow more easily.

Which brings me to the Players' Fund. We know from Steve Breed that it had a separate bank account and should therefore be ring-fenced. We don't know what funds, if any, remain in the account. We can assume that it is Clarke Osborne, rather than Kevin Nicholson, who controls the Fund. And here's the problem. Is Osborne the right person to be controlling this Fund, given that he has yet to prove his trustworthiness and his true intentions? In the current situation, can anyone believe that the bigger the amount in the Players' Fund pot, the more he will be tempted to cut back on his own investment in the squad and in the club?

It's not difficult to envisage a situation where the more money is donated by supporters, the less will be invested by Osborne/G.I.. This is not quite what was intended when the Fund was set up. We need much greater clarity and communication. And we need the club's new owner to prove his worthiness and integrity.

Any thoughts?

[portugull]

Very well expressed Gullscorer.

I get the feeling that in the last couple of weeks Mr. Osborne has learnt a lot about TUFC and its fans.

The next 3 or 4 weeks will give a very clear indication of whether Gaming International are a professional outfit, which many think not, or are a bunch of businessmen who give business a bad name. The jury is waiting and watching your every move Mr. Osborne. Now is the time to show what you are made of but rest assured your track record is such that even the more open minded fans are deeply sceptical.

[lucy6lucy]

The atmosphere yesterday and crowd potential if the club is successful, must show GI that money can be made if run well, but it has to benefit everyone not just the bank balance. We are not a greyhound track we are Torquay United.

[TUST_Member_Rob]

I think at the moment you'd be pretty foolish to be paying into the players fund with GI around

[SenorDingDong]

Especially given it's barely publicised these days and who knows what is being done with it. A corporation like GI does not need help from the fans, nor should it receive help considering the Fans Fund was set up to help out fans that were underfinanced, it should have been closed down by now.

[Caldwellanddobson]

I cancelled my standing order today. Would be happy to start it up again once we have clarity over the existence of the fund and where the money goes (and it being additional money available to the manager, not just a revenue stream to be exploited saving the owners from investing their own money).

[Soupdragon]

Which brings me to the Players' Fund. We know from Steve Breed that it had a separate bank account and should therefore be ring-fenced.

What?

I thought we 'knew' completely the opposite: that the money went straight into the everyday TUFC account.

So far as I know (or care; I don't contribute), the money could go to pay Mr Osborne's Costa Coffee account, should he have such a thing.

I believe absolutely nothing that the Phillips/Breed administration told us. They proved they couldn't run a bath, let alone a football club.

[Gullscorer]

That's unfair on Steve Breed. See his posts on this page: http://www.torquayfans.com/viewtopic.ph ... &start=120
I've no reason not to believe Mr Breed; his integrity was never in doubt.

[Soupdragon]

It's not my intention to be 'unfair' to anyone, but I distinctly recall assertions on this site and others that the money was assimilated into the TUFC general account.

Perhaps you could provide hard evidence to the contrary? Account numbers and sort codes? That ought to do it.

As a postscript: I've found a post elsewhere, by a director from the Phillips/Breed 'administration' that gives an account number and sort code for payment to the players fund, and which also states that cheques should be made payable to 'Torquay United FC'. That doesn't seem like a 'separate' account to me.

[Scott Brehaut]

This one to start with:

www.torquayunited.com/news/article/play ... 75268.aspx

Then you've got this one:

http://www.torquayunited.com/news/artic ... 24861.aspx

[Soupdragon]

Cheers, Scott, but there's no evidence that those accounts aren't the general TUFC one!

[Southampton Gull]

"Anything paid into the players fund is very unlikely to end up paying for players."

I would advise people not to pay into this fund from now onwards.

[stephen breed]

Soup Dragon the players fund account was a separate account to the main Torquay United account I have answered this question before

[Southampton Gull]

I'm sure everyone who knows you will vouch for your integrity, Steve.

My concerns have been raised with who controls it NOW.

[Soupdragon]

With the greatest of respect, no evidence has been produced to support that.

And with the greatest of respect, you haven't been involved with the club for over a year, so will have little idea of the financial arrangements currently in place.

I'm not suggesting any wrongdoing, just that the arrangements haven't been substantiated, and I have seen no formal accounting in public for the monies received or the areas in which it was paid out.