Eastleigh FC Announcement

[Eastleigh Fan]

Eastleigh FC can confirm that following the relevant meetings the club has received permission from shareholders to issue up to a total of 10 million shares in the company. At the meeting a resolution was passed agreeing that Chairman, Stewart Donald’s loan of £4,852,394 would be transferred into shares.

Eastleigh FC is now completely debt free.
The club is hoping to be able to offer fans the ability to invest in the club in the not too distant future.

Stewart Donald commented “I am delighted that I have been able to transfer my debt to shares. The reality is that I already owned over 50% of the club so on a day to day basis it will make no difference at all. What it does mean for the fans though is that they do not have to worry about the club owing anyone any money, including me. They can relax, safe in the knowledge that funds are already in the club to continue building the infrastructure and to cover the next 2 years running costs. It is important to me that the fans know the club has no debt and that although we are spending money we are investing it to try and achieve sustainable success. It is clear it is not self- sustainable without my finances just yet. However, we have increased season tickets to almost 1200 from less than 50 and have gates of over 2000, up from around 500. This coupled with commercial revenues in excess of £1 million means that it is starting to make Eastleigh a much more viable model. There is a long way to go but by ensuring all the funds I invest are done so without creating debt, I know this will give Eastleigh FC the best possible chance of long term success.”

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

I can now sleep again. Thank you Eastleigh.

 

[Luke Imp]

Nearly £5m.

I thought he was already putting it into shares anyway.

 

[eightiesrobin]

Hang on, didn't you say Eastleigh weren't bankrolled?

 

[WokingTillIDiet]

Looks like Mister Donald is clearing the decks with a final magnanimous gesture before concentrating on Oxford United.

 

[Bendubz]

This may be proof of bankrolling, but fair play to Mr Donald for making sure when he does eventually leave he won't kill the club, too many investors would want their loans paid back to them on top of the money made from selling shares in the company.

 

[Bigluke]

I don't mind the principle or practice of a sugar daddy as long as it is sustainable, and you cant argue, he has continually put his money where his mouth is. Fair play to him

 

[Monkey Tennis]

"It is clear it is not self- sustainable without my finances just yet. However, we have increased season tickets to almost 1200 from less than 50 and have gates of over 2000, up from around 500. This coupled with commercial revenues in excess of £1 million means that it is starting to make Eastleigh a much more viable model. There is a long way to go but by ensuring all the funds I invest are done so without creating debt, I know this will give Eastleigh FC the best possible chance of long term success."

All of those points make it sound like he's not really convinced Eastleigh is a viable model at all!
Just sounds like he's trying to move away from a day-to-day running of the club?

 

[Silver Stone]

"It is clear it is not self- sustainable without my finances just yet. However, we have increased season tickets to almost 1200 from less than 50 and have gates of over 2000, up from around 500. This coupled with commercial revenues in excess of £1 million means that it is starting to make Eastleigh a much more viable model. There is a long way to go but by ensuring all the funds I invest are done so without creating debt, I know this will give Eastleigh FC the best possible chance of long term success."

All of those points make it sound like he's not really convinced Eastleigh is a viable model at all!
Just sounds like he's trying to move away from a day-to-day running of the club?

Right, but at least absolving the club of its debt means they won't go belly up should he leave. They can just release the high earners and play with their own income.

 

[Luke Imp]

Right, but at least absolving the club of its debt means they won't go belly up should he leave. They can just release the high earners and play with their own income.

That's not strictly true unless he puts something in place to cover the duration of any existing contracts on his departure (of course, what his done will help a lot). Or at the very least, those 'x' amount of higher earners if they still have time remaining on their contracts.

We had a similar situation this way on with Peter Swann and Gainsbrough Trinity. His money went in via shares/donations but when he sold up, he made sure he left enough in the bank to cover all contracts so any higher earners weren't accounting for half the budget or something daft. It effectively gave them a season or two grace to get back to paying normal wages.

 

[Harrier94]

"It is clear it is not self- sustainable without my finances just yet. However, we have increased season tickets to almost 1200 from less than 50 and have gates of over 2000, up from around 500. This coupled with commercial revenues in excess of £1 million means that it is starting to make Eastleigh a much more viable model. There is a long way to go but by ensuring all the funds I invest are done so without creating debt, I know this will give Eastleigh FC the best possible chance of long term success."

All of those points make it sound like he's not really convinced Eastleigh is a viable model at all!
Just sounds like he's trying to move away from a day-to-day running of the club?

That's what happens if you give free entry to games.

 

[Mark kavanagh]

5p a share? 4p a share more expensive then millwalls launch price.... Eastleigh are values 5 times more valuble then the lions?

Or am i getting this wrong?

 

[Jemfy]

"It is clear it is not self- sustainable without my finances just yet. However, we have increased season tickets to almost 1200 from less than 50 and have gates of over 2000, up from around 500. This coupled with commercial revenues in excess of £1 million means that it is starting to make Eastleigh a much more viable model. There is a long way to go but by ensuring all the funds I invest are done so without creating debt, I know this will give Eastleigh FC the best possible chance of long term success."

All of those points make it sound like he's not really convinced Eastleigh is a viable model at all!
Just sounds like he's trying to move away from a day-to-day running of the club?

How many conference clubs are currently viable without outside input? Maybe 5, if that? (at a guess, not thinking of any specific clubs).

It's a positive step from an awful position to just a poor position - being reliant on heavy investment every season.

Looks like he's trying to find ways to subsidise the income without putting in more money himself.

 

[Jemfy]

5p a share? 4p a share more expensive then millwalls launch price.... Eastleigh are values 5 times more valuble then the lions?

Or am i getting this wrong?

You forget to account for the total number of shares. If coca cola had a buisness model where it had 5 shares at a billion pounds each and pepsi had a billion shares at 5 quid each they would still be worth the same as companies. That's why a share issue doesn't immediately raise the value of a company - old shares are diluted and new ones find a market price if traded freely.

 

[The_Boss]

Maybe I'm being cynical but is he doing it just to ensure he is officially the major shareholder, and puts him in a position to sell his share at a high price, as opposed to having to write off any debt should he wish to move on? Which we know he's well wanting to do as soon as he can get into Oxford.

 

[slaphead]

Not at all anything to do with National League rules the don't allow for Directors loans over £5000 for more than 18 months then. Any such loans then need to be repaid or, as in this case and as in our chairman's case, be converted into shares. Great news for Eastleigh's fans though as it will provide a bit of security in the event Donald does decide he's had enough.

 

[Kim Mitten]

This is all utterly pointless unless they stop losing big sums of money. Might be debt free today but last accounts showed a debt of £1.6M (which isn't bad tbf) but a loss of just over £600k for the year. Unless they are going to continually do share dividends or actually cut back their unsustainable wage paying then they'll be back at their same level of debt in under 3 years.

 

[Davidimp]

Letting people in free wont help much either!