Gearing up for the World Cup

[Southampton Green]

Had things been slightly different, and England had won the bid for the 2018 World Cup, we would now have a 35,000 all-seater Home Park and would be gearing up to host some World Cup matches in a few months time. Sighs.

Well that's according to Roy Gardner and Keith Todd.

In my opinion they are little more than well educated confidence tricksters. I don't really trust a word that they said. The whole thing looked implausible from the start.

Personally, I think they would have asset stripped the club and disappeared long before World Cup, even if England had been successful in their bid. There was never going to be any 35,000 all seater stadium.

It wasn’t implausible in the sense that we had won the bid to be a host city, the award had been made. The international investment money almost certainly would have been transferred over to us if England had won the bid, and a disappearing act by Gardener and Todd with the money at that stage may have amounted to a serious criminal offence which would have become known on a global scale. I think it all would have been followed through had England won the bid. But then, who knows, as none of it happened.

 

[Southampton Green]

There is some bizarre myth that spending a few grand on a plan for a stadium, some balloons and the odd glossy brochure bankrupted the club. Lots of things went wrong but showing ambition to host the World Cup wasn’t one of them.

“Unconditional” money was promised from Japan and it was legitimate. Therefore, that money was spent on the team, not just balloons and plans, before the money arrived. How much value was there in the Damien Johnson deal for instance? The problem is that international companies will offer “unconditional” money to secure the investments they want, but the promises mean absolutely nothing when it becomes clear to them that they are not actually going to get what they want out of a deal. The English way of doing things doesn’t always work internationally.

 

[Presto]

To my mind this is a completely pointless thread. We did not win the world cup bid, Argyle were skinned alive by a grubby group of shysters who imo deserve to be behind bars. It all lead to the desperate and fortunate attempts to keep us afloat.

Lets forget about the what might have been, understand the lessons and never ever financially stretch ourselves beyond our means even if that means playing at a slightly lower level than we would ideally like.


Lets just move on.

 

[dennis the menace]

I'm sure it was going to be 53,000.

 

[davie nine]

Are Todd and Gardner still involved in football in any capacity?

 

[Presto]

Hopefully not for the sake of all football clubs.

 

[Lev Yashin]

Lesson learned -maybe!

 

[Presto]

What I find bizarre is certain people who post anti Brent stuff on here when the real ba----ds were Todd and Gardiner. They are the ones who nearly destroyed our club.

 

[davie nine]

What I find bizarre is certain people who post anti Brent stuff on here when the real ba----ds were Todd and Gardiner. They are the ones who nearly destroyed our club.

A very good point. Perhaps one, or more, of them could explain.
They know who they are.