West Bromwich Albion chairman Jeremy Peace today effectively put the club up for sale.
The Baggies boss insisted he will listen to any “substantive and sensible proposals which are in the best long-term interests of the club”
A statement released by the club today said:
“Following their promotion from the Coca-Cola Championship as champions, Albion are set to compete in the top flight for the fourth time in seven seasons.
Albion have been regularly praised in recent years for the way the Club has been run financially.
After the release of Deloitte¹s Annual Review of Football Finance 2008, Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, highlighted Albion as a good example of a Club who has invested their Premiership Œwindfall¹ wisely to create a strong financial base.
But the Club¹s Board feels that to progress as a successful Premiership club, further substantial backing is needed.
Jeremy Peace, Albion Chairman and Majority Shareholder, said: “We have always tried to organise the club¹s finances on a sensible and prudent basis and we will continue to do so.
“However, the reality is that to be successful in the Premiership a club of our size needs significantly more financial backing.
“We are now attractively placed to benefit from new investment and will listen to any substantive and sensible proposals which are in the best long-term interests of the club.”
Baggies fans what do you think? Post your comments below.
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71 Comments
WOW !!!!!
Is this the first step towards Baggies global domination ??
Does JP have a buyer up his sleeve ??
Does this move us from “five pinter” to “pole dancer” ??
Will JP get more than a tenner ??
JP has done brilliantly for Albion - he has steadied the ship, kept us in the black and got us promoted - again. He has also attracted one of the best young managers in the country… but we all know that to go to the next level will take a ghuge financial investment - and JP isn’t in that position.
We need an owner to compete with Al-Fayed ect… So, big question is - who we gonna get ??
Hopefully not more foreign ownership, or at least no dodgy Russian mafia boss using the ill-gotten gains of exploitation and dirty oil.
Just call us Star Ship Enterprize because we are going to infinity and beyond
Now that’s a headline!!!
The first positive step to not going straight back down next season!
Let’s just hope it works!
The other question after “who we gonna get” is “how long is it gonna take” ??
We could do without a long drawn out saga now - just as we are getting ready for the prem…
I hope whatever happens, happens quickly and ToMo can get on with his preparations for the coming season !!
Exciting times - LOVIN IT !!!
This was on the cards and be alot of intestered party’s as the club as is always in the black. The club needs big money to move on this is the right thing do if the right people come along. Well done JP and keep up the good work TM. Boing boing.
should be a good move for someone as you should quite happily stay in the prem, as 1 or 2 have said, you dont want a crook from the east buying you just to clean up a few billion roubles that are a good way short of being spotless!
Top four soon? we could be like Man City, signing galacticos!
I’ve heard eric clapton is again interested.
I have to say what a man JP is.. A very stable and now attractive club lets just hope we get someone with more than 30 million!!! And I don’t think we’ll go for a tenna… Boing Boing e i e i e i o up the premiership we will go when we get to europe this is what we sing, we are albion we are albion ronaldhinio is the king…
I’m sure JP will get a great price too having seen him fleece other club bosses with his overpriced sales of Kamara, Koumas, Ellington, Earnshaw, McShane etc. and oh, er, etc. Perhaps Curtis might make that list too.
But actually, doesn’t he say this every close season.
Also normally an investor goes to a club and first thing they do is wipe out the debt… not us… SOMETHING BIG IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This ‘could’ be exactly what you guys need to make the next step, but…..
1) Strange timing this, weeks have passed since the end of the season, & as far as i know you’ve not yet made any signings. Is this because JP understandably wouldn’t spend when he knew someone else was coming in ? If so, how much will there be to spend ? Does TM know how much he’s got ? Has this effected the planning of possible targets ? Has this got anything to do with Gera leaving, Alrechtsen still not signing…..will you now offer Phillips two years ?!
2) I hope to god you dont end up with a Birmingham or Liverpool saga - these take overs can seem so exciting at first, but just look at the state of those two clubs now…..sure, Liverpool are still a top four Prem club, but does anyone there know whats going on at board room level ? If Bruce was good enough to keep Wigan up, then Id wager BLues would still be in the Prem now had they not treated him so badly, will Mowbray be supported by whoever takes over ??
Hope it works out guys, I really do, but I wouldn’t get too carried away until more details have been released.
Cov 3 - that was Buzz lightyear, not star trek.
Chaps
Lets be honest about this one admittedly it might look good at the moment if some big investor comes in but if we look at the immediate future is Peace really gonna fund Tomo when is is going to be selling. I do want to look positively but think we need to throw caution at it.
All you Albion fans are definately looking at the glass with a half full mentality.
This is going to scupper your transfer plans that’s for sure. JP is not going to invest anymore of his profits into a club which he is selling! Is his heart going to be in it anymore or is he going to offer your current players poor new contracts so they will jump ship? Hang on……….. hasn’t he done that already with Gera?
Some people are saying this is exciting times, i can’t see it to be honest. Why now when you just get a win fall of £60 mil or whatever it is, he wants more money, end of.
The mass exedus will now commence. My money is on Ishmal Miller, pompey want him apparently and i think they could get him for a couple of quid, that’s all Peace is interested in, he wants a new club with a bigger fan base to take global.
Although we are always in the black and are a great investment for anyone intrested in taking over we never seem to get the interest that other clubs do??
We dont just need someone who’s wealthy we also need someone who is passionate and wants to take the club to the level that the fans want!
Interesting times ahead I feel but I hope that none of this will effect Mogga’s preperation or transfer budget!! We have a premiership season to prepare for and we still need about 4 or 5 new players who are of the quality that premiership requires!!
WOW indeed Happy.
For the long term future, it is absolutely the best thing to happen, but there is a BUT.
What about the here and now,
Mowbray has without question identified transfer targets, is this pending sale the reason for the apparent lack of activity ?
Will transfer targets be pursued with the same
enthusiasm by JP in the aftermath of this announcement ?
This headline has left more questions than answers,
unless this is half a story and someone is waiting in the wings, someone with genuine financial clout ?
Bloody hell, more questions,
if there is someone with genuine financial clout, would Mowbray targets then change somewhat ?
15 - a wolves fan with a glass half empty mentality - what a suprise.
I agree that there are causes for concern - but your suggestion that a major finacial investment will see our best players leave is pathetic… I’m sure the players will be thinking about pay rises and securing long term premership football.
Just because wolves have not seen any real investment from Morgan, and players like Eastwood are being sold,you automatically think it will happen to us.
You say Peace won’t be buying players but you think he will be selling - that will really attract the buyers won’t it.
You really should think before you type this rubbish.
Wbaforever - I agree about the here and now… but who knows what deal Peace has already brokered to sell his shares…
Do we really believe that JP would announce this and then just wait for the offers ?
Knowing how JP works there will be something in the pipeline already.
Yes it may have an effect on our transfer targets - it may raise the bar…. It will be interesting to hear what ToMo has to say.
17. Quite right mate. You need big money to come in but what you don’t need is any interruption to your immediate spending plans to strenghten the team especially now Gera has gone. Any delay in strengthening your side is gonna make survival so much more difficult than it already will be. I have said before many a time that I think you can stay there if you get the right players to strengthen your squad……but now ? For your sakes I hope this doesn’t mess things up for you.
I am sure JP has had this in mind for a while.I am also confident that he will bring in the right people. Everything will be done in a controlled manner as it always is with JP and I dont see any dodgy deals being done. The club wil carry on progressing steadily.
I’m an investor myself and you to look at the facts from an investors point of view. You played the ‘best football in your history’ last season but yet 3000 tickets were ‘given’ to local schools = loss for police and stewarding those 3000 kids. you had to reduce tickets to a tenner to try and fill the ground = loss on ticket money when a medium size club would be packing out every game. I know im a wolves fan but you were superb last year. Now you have reduced the capacity and lost your best player for free= loss on transfer fee paid no money recouped.You need huge investment to be able to get close to staying up and peace is looking to make a substantial profit for himself its not a case of giving the club he loves away with a legally biding contract to the effect of at least 30 mil investment like wolves. I think peace’s timing is awful, although huge credit has to go to the way in which he has run the club financially, not forgetting you still had parachute payments.
Sounds great doesnt it ? or does it ?
I for one do not like the idea of somebody owning our club and maybe turning it into a circus, one look at Leeds utd and I feel sick to see how they got shafted by the money men.
It will most likely happen but hopefully it WILL be somebody like JP who will not let the club get ruined and somebody like EC who loves and supports the club.
Does anybody know if Skinner or Chilesey has any spare ??
Surprised and hopeful that JP is already in the last stages of a deal—-BUT—-if not we are in stuk. Cause we don’t have a sponsor—why not? we haven’t bought anyone yet—why not? we said that we would have the time to make deals since we were automatically promoted but nought so far. Gera has gone and we still haven’t signed KP and we are desperate for defenders a goalie a midfielder or now maybe 2 and a Prem striker —-thats 25-30 million minimum I would estimate.
So if its a done deal great if its a punt to see who might bite—worrying
I wouldnt get carried away. Birmingham City were an established premier league club b4 last year and no-one came in for them.
You probably wont admit it but they are a bigger club with a massive catchment area.
it is about time he went so we can get someone in to give us some money
Laughing - a suprisingly coherant post from you for once…..
Now i am not an investor so this is just my opinion, but to get your customers involved with your product by havibg special offers is nothing new in business - and thats what tickets for schools and cheap tickets is - a long term investment as a % of those people will become regulars !!
Also - gera was NOT our best player (or main asset) - we have plenty of other assets that would fetch many millions. Sometimes these things are done for football reasons - I think Gera wanted a guarantee of 1st team football that TM wouldn’t give.
The timing looks bad - but its actually the ideal time to attract a new investor… it may slow us down but players will know there is a huge investor coming and sign anyway…
Bottom line - who knows, but watch this space !!
In case anyone is missing it, the reason he is selling is because he can get more money for a Premier Club than a Championship side he may end up with at the end of next season………..Jack Hayward tried the same thing.
Ultimately, this will hold up transfers and no big money will be spent until new ownership is in place. By then it may well be too late……………….
A winning formular last season is no longer in place for this one so I wouldnt see it as a good step really.
15 & 18, thats what happened to us when we got promoted, sir jack left it & left it, and then came out in the october of that season and said club is for sale blah blah.
so the transfer window had finished and money wasnt spent in that transfer window, so investors looking in “thought hey up, these guys are bottom, spent no money and looked doomed, im not going to buy them” so come the january transfer window we spent no money and no new owner and got relegated, and only last season did we find that owner!!
one thing i applaud morgan for is even though he didnt own the club he still knew the deal would go through so sanctioned money to be spent!
the thing peace as done though is gave the new owner if installed in time, plenty of opportunity to buy and maybe buy big in the transfer window, and thus hopefully for your point of view obviously gave you more chance of avoiding relegation!!!
but like ashley at newcastle, if a new owner comes in will he want his own men, i.e his pick of boss??? this could leave TB in a bit of limbo!!
on a lighter note imagine if you get a morgan/ abramovich type owner, wonder how gera will feel???
Happy - the fact that I am a wolves fan commenting about your club has instantly put your back up and you have gone into defensive mode! WBA forever has said similar things to me but the fact that he is an albion fan seems to make you talk about football rather then attacking him.
I have never said that a major financial investment will see players leave, i did say that having peace still at the helm will see them leave due to him not investing in the club. Get your facts right before your start barracking me. I say you are pathetic for getting your knickers in a twist for someone having a different opinion to you!
i believe jp is clearing the way for a certain Oleg Deripaska (remember the article a few weeks ago), rumored fortune of approx 28 billion! If we get someone like him, im sure Gera will be devastated!
Shatpanks - I agree and disagree with various bits of your post 28… but thanks posting the funniest thing so far today… “a morgan/ abramovich type owner” - yeah, you can hardly tell them apart.
Cheers mate.
come on terry mate you got millions,go on invest and buy the club,,terry is our sugardaddy,,,EUROPE ERE WE COME,,IN STYLE OF COURSE,,OOOOOOOOOOOH YES.
Nathan - I have no problem with wolves fans discussing this - other wolves fans have posted genuine thoughts based on the info - you have just gone straight for the old shinking ship garbage.
Your paragraph about a “mass exedus will now commence” just makes you look like someone who knows nothing about football but just hopes that everything we do goes wrong.
By all means discuss, but if you are going to just post what you hope will happen, be prepared to have that ridiculed.
31. what i meant was in hard cash, abramavich and morgan are the wealthiest men in football.
look it up you find im right!!!!
and is peace going to hoping to attract one of those type character
To happy and all Albion Fans!
What strange timing! Surly this is not good news for the immediate future i agree in the long term yes. But the short term is the most important factor, the next 12 months can shape the clubs future.
Remember 5 years ago now when we won promotion and sir jack put us up for sale, didnt help us did it! Lack of investment for Dave Jones meant that we ultimatly were relegated however we did make a 3m profit that year.
Surley Mr Peace would have been better taking the risk of selling in 12 months as we all fancy you to stay up, west brom would be a much more attractive proposition to players and buyers if they stay up. Look at the players Bolton, Wigan have attracted since there establishment in the prem.
This will not happen over night either, i would be most concerned.
I see the excitement is that you will attract the latest russian billionaire, reality is slightly different.
As for Gera he is a good player but he has moved for money and London to be honest. There is a wage structure i understand but going back to your cometition in the mini league, stoke, hull, wigan, fullham, bolton, boro. you will have to pay wages otherwise you may drag yourself into trouble.
31- I have to agree as a Wolves fan, saying Morgan in the same line as Abramovich is funny. Morgan has not pushed the boat out too far yet, we are struggling to afford the number 1 target in Lafferty…………If we were flush we would have stumped up the cash and nailed the transfer by now not risk losing out on someone the manager obviously believes in.
I hope WBA stay under the ownership of an Englishman (or a Brit, at least). Hate seeing all “our” clubs sold to foreigners as play-things or cash-cows.
(see, a Wolves fan can post on an Albion thread and not be abusive)
To placate the fans concerns over whether squad
strengthening is effectively put on hold, or not,
whatever the case may be,
the club should be forthcoming with a statement of intent.
If the club issue no such statement, then it would be reasonable to assume there will be a lack of incomings until the sale is resolved.
Thats the negative stuff out of the way.
I happen to think it is highly plausible that a buyer/buyers are already identified, simply because the timing of JP`s announcement, some five weeks after the final game, just would not make sense.
Guy’s lets just wait and see.
I for one don’t think major investment is needed in the team for us to survive so the transfers that TM wants will be here soon. Gera was always going to go and good luck to him he was great for us while he was here.
As I have always said the only constant at any club is the supporters and we are powerless to stop players, managers or directors moving on. If JP does sell up I thank him for his work in moving the club forward and I trust he will sell to someone who will take us to the next stage. We have however all seen what can happen if clubs fall into the wrong hands, The “mysterious” Bhati brothers, The Kumars at Blues, I just hope we avoid that but I am optimistic JP will do the right thing by us.
Ah i see, it’s one line that has got to you! Pity you haven’t replied to any of the other 12 or so paragraphs.
Oh well your boring me now!
Does this means ToMo’s job is in teh balance?
Very rarely does a manager stay when ownership changes - can anyone name one?
What was all that a couple of weeks ago about that Russian billionaire wanting to buy us?
I don’t think Peace would announce this today, without something in mind….he’s probably been in negotiations with someone for ages and now he’s trying to up the price.
Remember when he tried to buy the majority of the shares last year too?? He’d only have been doing that to make a profit because he had something in mind.
He might look like an idiot, but JP is an extremely good businessman as we’ve all seen.
36 i have to disagree with a fellow wolves fan. Morgan is a shrewd businessman and although many fans do not like moxey, he is also a very astute businessman. We will not stump up 4 mil for a young player with an unproven record and we have assets or liabilities (depending on which we are looking to sell) so as part of a deal to bring a player with huge ‘potential’ would mean medium investment and elliott and potter which we would take them off our wage bill and not parting with anymore cash than neccessary, that is how business is conducted by professionals not just football fans. ‘happy baggie’ I think in terms of age, stature and ability if all of your players were put up for sale i cant think of another player that would of fetched more than gera.
I’ll bet Gera’s gutted!!!!!!
SELLIN YA CLUB FOR A PIE AND A PINT!!!
SuperMaths
You are correct, and without a great deal of thought, i cannot name a manager who has remained after a takeover.
However, our and TM`s position is probably somewhat different, in as much that the club is being sold from a position of strength and relative success, rather than a failed campaign.
Managers who have stayed after a takover… - O’Neill, benitiz, Ferguson, Coleman (for 2 seasons) ….McCarthy (LOL).
41 and 46
I can name one !!
Mick McCarthy
43 - being an Albion fan and attending the games, Happy, along with many other Albion fans, such as myself, could possibly be in a better position to say who our best players are.
Yes, Gera was one of them, but Koren, Teixeira, Greening, Bednar etc may actually get other peoples votes and be seen as better ‘assets’ or superheroes as we like to call them!!
48. yep correct, youre stuck with that muppett are you not.
An interesting face about you Albion lot.
The factory workers who founded the club in 1879 didn’t have a ball and they couldn’t find one. So they had to go to nearby Wednesbury to buy one.
- You were a joke then, and nothings changed believe me.
Maybe the fans can buy the club, like the situation at Liverpool. Seeing as no one else will be interested. (example; Every player your linked with seems to snub a deal to play for you. So why would a chairman be any different when it comes to buying you? Good luck with that)
And If you did have a new chairman, what would you expect? a new stadium? - Yeah right, you wont fill the one you’ve got now, so certainly expansion is out of the question (Unlike us)
Quality players? - who’s gonna wanna go to Sandwell Town…
It just makes me laugh how you lot think your big timers now… Sign another Slav or two, and you’ll be just fine I’m sure.
Wenger too to an extent. Not a full takeover but that Ukrainian(??) guy bought a lot of shares. Newcastle didn’t sack anyone until results fell too.
if an investor come in and sacked tom it would be stupid and nobody will (unless you get the man city chairman!) as it is albion are the 4th biggest club in the midlands and if somebgody comes in for the long term they will have to compete with villa, wolves, blues for future fans. I can see a time in the not too distant future when all 4 clubs are in the prem and the midlands will be known as a strong football area, i agree with giving away 3000 tickets to schools is a good idea but lets not kid ourselves if you were a big enough club to fill those tickets at full price or even a tenner then you would of. with the big 4 games and villa aside fans will not be as keen to watch you getting beaten most weeks to when you were top of the championship and i think an investor will be aware of albions limitations as a relatively small club
Again another person warned a transfer taget off coming to the hawthorns this is also a problem for albion and a new investor, tomo has brought wisely but the step up is huge.
Fair play - always been a bit jealous of the long-term planning that Peace has done for your finances compared to the day-to-day cashflow management that has gone on at the Mol. Despite being a bit of a yo-yo club over the last seven years, Peace has managed to maintain a strong financial position and not get drawn into the Leeds/Leicester/Southampton position. In fact, when you look at the profits made from the likes of Davis/Kamara/Koumas (even McShane for God’s sake!), he’s been able to invest in players and certainly not see the value erode when you’ve come back down to the Championship.
Question is clearly who’ll be interested now. I doubt that the £30m committment that Morgan made to SJH would be enough to buy the club given you’re in the Prem. So, who would have deeper pockets than this?
Villa will always get bigger crouds than WBA and since they are clearly more established in the Prem (and occasionally Europe), I can see why Lerner bought them. He spent £65m on Vile - so somewhere between £30m and £65m would be a realistic price to be looking at.
I would guess that one or two ’strategic’ investors, buying part of the shareholding might be what is needed now with Peace continuing to run the business. Nowhere in the statement (from what I can see) does it actually say that the whole club is up for sale. I can’t see Peace risking the value of his investment by not investing in players now - he’s a bit too astute for that.
However, can’t help chuckle when I think of the following two words: David Sullivan!!!
sorry guys this is my strong point but also your academy needs HUGE investment when was the last player to come through your system and play in the 1st team regularly or be sold on for huge profit?
55 - Sullivan - NOOOOOOOOO !!!
56 - Why is that important ?? Who was the last chelsea academy player - or wigan, bolton, newcastle, blah blah….
Whilst its great to have these lads coming through for the fans I don’t think its relevent for an investor.
nathan Wolves, leave it alone sunshine, youre out of your depth, or should I say out of your league!
Maybe Happy_baggie could invest, cuz you’re either loaded or on the dole, the amount of time you spend on here. Yo-yoing in style the Mowbury way, up-down-up-down, boing boing indeed
49. Bless, you sound a bit proud of that…I wouldn’t be!
Moxey and Morgan READ THE BOOK and take notes! Naturally, Wolves are the small bottom feeders in the big world of football but at least there is a program here which works.
“Deloitte, highlighted Albion as a good example of a Club who has invested their Premiership Œwindfall¹ wisely to create a strong financial base.”
Well said and stated. Look at the debacle when Moxey last was involved with us in the Premiership and we were relegated. Geez, almost got relegated down another division the next year!
The only way Wolves can possibly make it up and stay there is with Moxey going and MM following ten steps behind.
Cut and run Jeremy, Gera’s gone and time to push the panic button.
#15 Nathan, you must have been taking a whizz when wolves went down after being promoted. Remember what they did? pee’d away the cash and ended up still in the Championship. This is why the real professional teams who come down have a good management team to have a good chance of getting back up. It’s why the payments are made! Wolves have what we had during that time frame.
Do you really think we have the managemrnt to either get into the Premiership, nevermind staying there? Didn’t last time and I remember Moxey being there then…
33 WORCESTER mate.
Can’t agree with you about Terry Loadsamoney Baggie buying the club. It never works when fans do this they’re to close to it. He’d go out and buy Ronaldo, Gerrard, Ronaldino, Drogba etc and it doesn’t necessarily come off.
Laughingwolf - if you are an investor then surely you wouldn’t make ANY appraisal without viewing the Companies Accounts? If you have then you can’t fail to have noticed the millions of ppounds of negative goodwill on the balance sheet. You seem ignorant of the fact that a players transfer fee is amortised over the length of his contract. Any loss on Gera has already been accounted for. The Academy has only only recently come on-stream and been the subject of significant investment. I’m an investor - and I’ve invested a few thousand in Albion shares. It has been impossible to get any further shares over the past couple of years despite having an order placed with the sole brokers ( they are now sold on a matched basis). I’ll admit that some people seem to be getting carried away but Albion has been operated on a very shrewd - and profitable basis. The decision as to whether it represents a good investment will be judged solely upon the price paid for that investment.
wolves a big club , don’t make me laugh,they’ve always been on the outside looking in on the big thee with envey.
Seeing how JP works,ime wondering if he allready has the buyer in the pipeline
Good move, JP has taken this club as far as he can. WBA now need big investment if they are to stay in the PL and attract quality players.
Loyal-Cannock-Wolf - 52
You sir are an idiot. Maybe we are not big timers compare to Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, hell even West Ham and Villa but we most certainly are compared to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
There is absolutely nothing us Albion fans look over at the custard bowl for and feel jealous and before you start about crowds, you averaged 800 more than us this season. It was only a few years ago you were getting 2000 for league games so do not give me that loyal supporters rubbish. We averaged 14000 in the old 3rd division.
The fact that you have to com on this page to comment proves that you are so envious of our position right now you can’t bear it. We Albion fans are still envious of other teams. namely the ones above us but that is why the talk of potential multi billionaires buying us has us so excited, because we might, just might, have a chance of competeing.
Can’t see WBA, Stoke or Hull staying up even if you were given £20m to spend. Anybody who wanted to buy either of those clubs would be wise waiting till the end of the season when they can aquire them as a championship side at a much cheaper price. Syas it all that Baggies best plyer has joined the premiership worst remaining club from last season.