Fans hit out at Banks’s Stadium sale
Tuesday 22nd March 2011, 11:25AM GMT.
Angry Walsall fans today hit out at the controversial sale of the Banks’s Stadium.
The Walsall Supporters’ Trust have called for the freehold to be returned to the club after it was put on the market last week.
The Saddlers revealed in a statement they had been informed by landlords Suffolk Life Annuities Limited of their intention to sell.
But they are unlikely to have moved without the say-so of chairman Jeff Bonser, who is understood to have a SIPP invested in the Banks’s, and the Trust have made their feelings clear.
A statement read: “The Walsall Supporters’ Trust were dismayed last week by the decision to put the freehold of the stadium up for general sale.
“We have been in discussions with experts in the field of pensions, who have informed us there are legal and financially viable ways for the freehold to be sold to the club, or even vested in an ‘arm’s length’ third party, with only minor detriment, if any, to the beneficiaries of the Self Invested Personal Pensions involved.
“Our advisors have been in touch with the beneficiaries of the pension fund pointing out these options to them.”
Bonser is yet to comment to the local media about the sale and the Trust urged the chairman to re-think alternatives to the plan.
They said: “We would call on those beneficiaries of the pension fund to instruct Suffolk Life and the company handling the sale to take further advice and actively seek alternatives to the general sale, in order to assuage the fears that all Walsall fans have contemplating an uncertain future.”
“There has been a wave of initial interest since the Banks’s was put on the market last week with the site likely to fetch between £5.5million and £7.5million.
The Saddlers have a lease of 17 years on the site and have an opportunity to extend it for another 33 years after that, but the Trust don’t want to run the risk of losing their club.
They said: “We feel that the best place for the freehold of the stadium is under the control of the football club, or in the hands of a third party, held in trust so there is no possibility of the land being used for any other purpose on the expiry of the current lease.”
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poor article.
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#1 Why?
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Poor article that has been put together using cut and paste from other press statements and articles.
The club have already reported that they are NOT in a position financially to purchase the freehold, this seems to be convieniently overlook by the majority.
What really makes me laugh is the section of so called walsall supporters who have categorically stated for years that they will not set foot in the Bescot as long as the club pays into the pension fund. So now that Bonser is trying to sell the freehold (and thus stop rental payments going to his pension) there is a considered and concerted effort to discredit the sale.
How can any investor interested in potentially buying the land, and subsequently perhaps the club itself, seriously want to continue once he sees the bile that will be aimed at him in the future.
The muppets havn’t been happy with the status quo that has besat WS1 for nearly 20 years, and they have been calling for a change. Now that that change could be realised they want to stop it!!!
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Desben
Why poor reflects what the Trust put out in its press release for what is worth. Reflects the situation e.g the freehold is up for sale not the club itself… what don’t you like – come on pray tell….
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Timned,
Are you really clueless or just a sad wind-up?
Nobody is denying the club cannot afford to buy the freehold. The very reason they can’t is due to the ever increasing rental payments the pension fund has demanded we pay.
Who says they want it stopped? The main objection is that the pension fund does not care who they sell it to as long as they teceive their wedge. And by the way, that is more wdge on top of the very thick wedge that has been paid to the pension in rent over the years.
Those of us with an ounce of forethought just want to make sure we are better off after any sale. Sticking our heads in the sand like you would have us do could likely result in the club no longer existing.
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I think this is a positive move by the Trust and this issue really does need to have the shadow dispelled from it. Not everyone will have been aware of the situation regarding the freehold so at least this is bringing some light on the issue. The problem however is the chairmans lack of public comment, which is beyond belief. If he genuinely has the clubs best interests at heart I don’t see why there hasn’t been any assurances or clarity from him regarding the issue. Oh and ‘Timned’ you really do need to stop hiding behind a username so closely related to a well known messageboard user who opposes your views. It is juvenile and pathetic and you lose all credibility with any valid reasons you may have when you do so.
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I don’t think it shows a true view of how much the freehold issue concerns, angers and upsets so many of the Walsall fans. I’m not with Tinned. I think article doesn’t go far enough, and is lazy.
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