Club up for sale. What next?

[Perton Pitman]

...so the keyboard warriors have got their way. Now what...?

[Glyn]

Not exactly for sale, it's free of charge! Sort of...

[Dobba]

...so the keyboard warriors have got their way. Now what...?

Absolutely, I hope they're happier than I am this evening.

Admittedly, that's not a particularly high bar.

[Perton Pitman]

Having the read the statement I am concerned. The ground appears to be owned by a third party and there is a distinct possibility that the club will now fold. I am concerned at the prospect of the owners giving the club ( playing side and associated elements) to the first joker that comes along.
The fact that the ground is not part of the equation is a worry as the owners are giving something away that largely has no value.
No idea why the owners would throw groundsharing into the mix. That is not a decision for them either all due respect to them.
I thank them for their tenure, but feel that they should have shied away from those forums where criticism can be found. Their willingness to walk away leaving the club in a bigger mess than they found it is reckless, but I guess it is not their problem.
Not surprised by the news as they have threatened to leave on countless occasions. I suspect the club was more of a challenge than expected. They bit off more than they could chew.
Without wishing to be too blunt they have left us in s**t and appear to care less for the club than Mr price.
140 plus years of history and the club is under threat now more than ever.
An orderly exit should have been the order of the day. If we have a club next season I doubt it will be even at step 4

[bix_the_dog]

Hednesford Town Football Club

Foundered 2023

[PitmanKeith]

Apart from the ending Mr Lincoln what did you think of the play?

[bix_the_dog]

Having just reviewed the minutes of the fans' forum, kindly compiled by CDS:

"He reminded the room that they were the only buyers last time out and that there is no interest in the club now so no-one to sell it to. If they choose to leave, the club will die."

Surely nobody would put so much at stake based upon thoughtless social media comments from morons?

I'm gutted, too many emotions and facts to try to rationalise right now.

[Perton Pitman]

Having just reviewed the minutes of the fans' forum, kindly compiled by CDS:

"He reminded the room that they were the only buyers last time out and that there is no interest in the club now so no-one to sell it to. If they choose to leave, the club will die."

Surely nobody would put so much at stake based upon thoughtless social media comments from morons?

I'm gutted, too many emotions and facts to try to rationalise right now.

They got the excuse they wanted to bail out .. that is one perspective

[J shez]

The ground share comment is a real worry for me.i get why they both feel like it's time to step away but it comes across as they know that nobody will want to take the club on with the cost of running the ground added in,im no business man so I hope I've misinterpreted this.i would hope the fact theve given themselves until the end of the season that there is atleast somebody who is interested ,although that wasn't suggested at the forum.im behind alot of fans but I'm in my 30th year following now and it's a really worrying Friday night .thanks to Graham an ade for there efforts especially during covid,let's just hope somebody suitable is found soon .

[Del]

If some of you can remember way back, a situation such as this under Mr Price was what a small group of us formed the HTFCSA for.
Sadly that was all wrecked by a change in the HTFCSA Chair and all funds raised spent.

Now it is back to square one.

[Jay]

"Who owns the ground? There has been a lot of talk about this amongst fans and it would be great for this to be cleared up
GJ - a bit confused as to why this keeps coming up; this was cleared up in the previous meet the manager. They own the ground, end of story. GJ visibly unhappy at this constantly being questioned when this has been addressed previously"

From the minutes.

"With regards the Stadium, we have therefore decided not to complete the purchase which has been ongoing"

From the statement.

Am I missing something here?

Still trying to digest this quite devastating news. Hundreds of people turning up to games, putting money into the club (not enough to sustain the club without the owners of course) outweighed by the social media criticism, quite a lot of which is from people who don't even attend games

[Del]

...so the keyboard warriors have got their way. Now what...?

Maybe, but it was always going to happen. Unless you are a multi millionaire, nobody can continue to pump money into a lost cause - owning a football club is not an investment but a never ending pit which needs filling with cash on a day to day basis.
This is why I have harped on about a Commercial Manager so many times.

I guess Graham and Ade have realised that their funds aren't endless and enough is enough .. which was always going to be the sensible decision, it was just a matter of when.

[Perton Pitman]

"Who owns the ground? There has been a lot of talk about this amongst fans and it would be great for this to be cleared up
GJ - a bit confused as to why this keeps coming up; this was cleared up in the previous meet the manager. They own the ground, end of story. GJ visibly unhappy at this constantly being questioned when this has been addressed previously"

From the minutes.

"With regards the Stadium, we have therefore decided not to complete the purchase which has been ongoing"

From the statement.

Am I missing something here?

Still trying to digest this quite devastating news. Hundreds of people turning up to games, putting money into the club (not enough to sustain the club without the owners of course) outweighed by the social media criticism, quite a lot of which is from people who don't even attend games

Simple fact is owning the club isn't the fun hobby they thought it would be and the dreadful abuse they got has given them an excuse to walk away.
Nobody will come in now and take on the club in time to rescue it from the abyss before next season comes along.
As exit plans go this is a pretty poor one.

[Lee K]

Social media criticism has been used as an excuse to get out because they’ve realised how much money they are losing. I know their first intention to come in probably happened before Covid came but still. They may have saved the club but they’ve killed it too.

[Foxinthebox]

Genuinely gutted.

I can’t see the club existing next season, absolutely horrible thought.

The thought of going elsewhere next season on a Saturday! Stafford, Chasetown?

[Pitmenftw]

before people come at me for my not been a true htfc supporter id just like to say i have been a season ticket holder for many years except for the last 5 years or so since the death of my uncle (another lifelong supporter) and due to work and the dreaded life commitments. i was also a member of the original junior pitmen before the club won promotion in the mid 90’s to the conference. htfc has always been close to my heart since my first game when i was 4 years old i think my first game as against either armitage or paget rangers (4-2 win after been 2 goals down if i remember correctly)

it is indeed a sad day to be a htfc fan but part of me cant understand how things have got as bad as they have. i understand what had gone on the last few years with covid etc and it been a struggle. but for the owners to do this after what one full season? s?£t happens in football.
have the owners had enough of all the crap spouted by “fans” and true fans expressing their opinions on social media (and yes i agree theres no place for personal digs at the owners on social media)
are they jumping before they sink
have their heads ruled their hearts in this decision (understandably family items and abuse are a factor)
have the owners just had enough already?
or have the keyboard warriors won the war? is that why commenting on the facebook post was not permitted?

i for one cant understand the owners putting as much as they have into the setup just to walk away and “give the club away” to any tom dick or harry that comes along and to include the ground share option in the post on facebook tells me the end is near after 140+ years.

when the new owners took over i was over the moon and excited to see what the future held for this club. to me the previous owner was only interested in selling the land around the ground for houses but ill give him his dues he stood by the club and ran it despite the climb up and spiral down the pyramid. thats as much as ill say about that as thats only my personal opinion.

i thought the future plans were amazing. yes some of them have been knocked on the head due to covid effects etc
the youth set up seemed to be going from strength to strength, the vets team did an amazing job in their first season and the ladies set up are also doing extremely well. i e always wanted to see a ladies team turning our in the black and white kit.

ive barely scratched the surface of my thoughts and what has gone on or has been planned for htfc but i just cant for the life of me think why would the current owners just walk away at the end of the season after all their hard work and input surely this means the nail in the coffin and the death of this much loved club.

my only hope now is that there will be a team next season regardless of what league they are in and the owners allow time for a new custodian of the club to be found that wont include the club having to ground share with someone else.

clubs have risen from the dead before look at the likes of macclesfield, accrington stanley, bury etc etc i just hope htfc can survive with the owners seeing through the transition to someone that can take the club forward for the next 100 years

again i think the current owners have done as good as they have off the field its just a shame on the field hasnt gone to plan. if we were top of the league they would be heroes but i guess thats the way football works.

ultimately i wish the both of them all the best for the future and god willing the long future existence of our much lived football club

im still thankful it wasnt called cannock town fc

[Perton Pitman]

"Who owns the ground? There has been a lot of talk about this amongst fans and it would be great for this to be cleared up
GJ - a bit confused as to why this keeps coming up; this was cleared up in the previous meet the manager. They own the ground, end of story. GJ visibly unhappy at this constantly being questioned when this has been addressed previously"

From the minutes.

"With regards the Stadium, we have therefore decided not to complete the purchase which has been ongoing"

From the statement.

Am I missing something here?

Still trying to digest this quite devastating news. Hundreds of people turning up to games, putting money into the club (not enough to sustain the club without the owners of course) outweighed by the social media criticism, quite a lot of which is from people who don't even attend games

It appears that the issue of ground ownership hasn't been clear from day one. In terms of assets owned by Graham and Ade perhaps all they do own is the footballing side which is more or less worthless.
One thing that can be argued is that they have left the club in a worse state than they found it. Yes, I am grateful that the club was supported during Covid but the simple fact is that the club is now drawing its last breath after 140 plus years as a result of their decision tonight. They are entirely within their rights to walk away, but the country is littered with clubs that have had owners who have come in with a huge fanfare about what they were going to do only for things to turn sour and those same clubs going out of existence. They can add their names to this list.

[bigbryg1]

You are spot on

[C D S]

Gut-wrenching to think that there’s now a very serious chance the club will now fold in the summer. It’s always felt a little far-fetched to consider up to now, but not tonight. In the current economic climate, you just can’t see where a white knight will ride in to save the day; one look at the heinous running costs of KP and any serious bidders will be hot-footing out of the building. What’s in it for them? Why would you willingly take on a project where all you get is constant criticism from dim-witted simpletons on Facebook who have no business nous or experience, giving you unsubstantiated gip? Who needs that crap? Most sane people would go and spend their money on something positive.

Congratulations to the absolute weapons online who have, in part anyway, made Graham and Ade’s mind up, I hope you’re all very satisfied with yourselves now that a whole town and community is potentially robbed of a grand old football club due to your brainless actions.

Completely dejected at the situation tonight and how it’s all come about. What an embarrassing and amateurish way for it all to (potentially) end.

[Perton Pitman]

Gut-wrenching to think that there’s now a very serious chance the club will now fold in the summer. It’s always felt a little far-fetched to consider up to now, but not tonight. In the current economic climate, you just can’t see where a white knight will ride in to save the day; one look at the heinous running costs of KP and any serious bidders will be hot-footing out of the building. What’s in it for them? Why would you willingly take on a project where all you get is constant criticism from dim-witted simpletons on Facebook who have no business nous or experience, giving you unsubstantiated gip? Who needs that crap? Most sane people would go and spend their money on something positive.

Congratulations to the absolute weapons online who have, in part anyway, made Graham and Ade’s mind up, I hope you’re all very satisfied with yourselves now that a whole town and community is potentially robbed of a grand old football club due to your brainless actions.

Completely dejected at the situation tonight and how it’s all come about. What an embarrassing and amateurish way for it all to (potentially) end.

The issue of ground ownership is an issue for me. THe situation has been confused by conflicting statements from the owners. Steve Price may well own the ground still , but it appears our owners covered running costs and footed the bill for the footballing side. In effect Steve Price was their landlord. Whilst the ground is owned by Steve Price there is no prospect of someone coming in. I've no idea whether he charged the club to use the pitch or whether it was free of charge (a bit late now to seek transparency on this). THe more you think about is the more likely it was that this day would come. Clubs that don't own their grounds are destined to miserable times as they are at the mercy of their landlords.
I have sympathy for the owners - nobody deserves abuse, but they haven't helped themselves along the way. They've decided it best to finance the footballing side out of their own pockets and have largely excluded other options. Many people have commented on this forum that this isn't sustainable and have rightly been concerned.
If the club does exist next season then it may find itself being forced to play away from Keys Park due to the costs associated with running the ground (and possibly hiring the pitch off Mr Price)

[bix_the_dog]

Theoretically, it should be possible to query the land registry for details of ownership? Although the entity that is registered as owner may make things totally clear. 20 quid to search the LR though, and I need that for alcohol right now.

[Pitmenftw]

last time i used land registry it was £3 for the title and £3 for the deeds

[bix_the_dog]

last time i used land registry it was £3 for the title and £3 for the deeds

Maybe I've stumbled upon an expensive pretender.

[Perton Pitman]

Not exactly for sale, it's free of charge! Sort of...

The statement issued to announce the departure is pretty cringeworthy in parts. No recognition of the fact that they are killing the club off and more of an exercise in self-congrstulation. The 'achievements' are totally worthless and have no meaning. On reflection their tenure has been punctuated with spats with various parties and quite often a "we know better than you" stance has been adopted.

[Pitmanchester]

What next? Who knows?

But looking back, the way that long standing volunteers have been treated by these two and how the supporters association was hijacked have been absolutely appalling.

Lot of talk about how Steve Price stood by the club. Perhaps his multi million pound profit from the land sale that was secretly enabled by a back door deal with the NCB, putting a time limit on the covenant for the land, was a motive for keeping the club going?