Potential takeover/new investor?

[Unseen work]

Seen a few posts on Twitter over the past 24 hours hinting at a potential takeover/new investment in Hibs.

Is this an actual rumour others have heard or nonsense?

[SRHibs]

Can you link to the posts about it please? What do they say?

[CapitalGreen]

Seen a few posts on Twitter over the past 24 hours hinting at a potential takeover/new investment in Hibs.

Is this an actual rumour others have heard or nonsense?

Minority investment not takeover.

[GloryGlory]

Can you link to the posts about it please? What do they say?

I was just going to ask the same. The Gordon family has invested a lot in Hibs in the past 12-18 months, with new hospitality suites, hybrid pitches and transfer fees. That suggests planning for the medium/long term.

[GloryGlory]

Minority investment not takeover.

So Gordon family willing to divest part of their shareholding? Would the new investor bring in new cash or would it just be a secondary transfer with no extra cash for Hibs?

[CapitalGreen]

So Gordon family willing to divest part of their shareholding? Would the new investor bring in new cash or would it just be a secondary transfer with no extra cash for Hibs?

Cash injection and access to sponsorship opportunities through his global sports conglomerate.

[Edinburgh Green]

Cash injection and access to sponsorship opportunities through his global sports conglomerate.

Who's global sports conglomerate?

[Mick O'Rourke]

I was just going to ask the same. The Gordon family has invested a lot in Hibs in the past 12-18 months, with new hospitality suites, hybrid pitches and transfer fees. That suggests planning for the medium/long term.

Yes GG
While searching for an addition to what was rumoured, i came across this thread created by Green Machine over on The Bounce.

https://www.hibeesbounce.com/threads/kit-and-ian-gordon-interview-in-todays-scotland-on-sunday.139716/

Kit and Ian were interviewed by the written press at Ron's 24hr football challenge event at EM during the close season.

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/hibs/ron-gordons-family-commited-to-taking-hibs-forward-as-colleagues-reveal-three-things-former-owner-believed-were-vital-to-clubs-long-term-success-4195980


So possibly new investment from another source/partner of the Gordon's US interests/contacts

GGTTH
HGSP

[Pagan Hibernia]

Cash injection and access to sponsorship opportunities through his global sports conglomerate.

Would it be new shares, thus diluting existing shareholders (such as HSL)? Or would the Gordons be selling part of their stake?

[CapitalGreen]

Who's global sports conglomerate?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Foley_(businessman)

[number9dream]

Who's global sports conglomerate?

Bill Foley (Bournemouth, Lorient - in for Auckland, wants a South American team too)
He's on record saying he's in talks with a Scottish club.
Recent stories from Daily Mail saying SFA are considering relaxing dual ownership rules.
For what it's worth, I've got a Dundee Utd supporting pal who reckons it's them...

[GloryGlory]

Cash injection and access to sponsorship opportunities through his global sports conglomerate.

Via a new share issue? Or the Gordons sell some of their shares, plus new investor puts in money (and gets seat on the board)? Or a mixture of both?

[bingo70]

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/men-in-blazers/id908407811?i=1000629097521

The podcast where Bill Foley discusses investing in a Scottish team is in that podcast, towards the end.

Really does sound like it’s us he was talking about.

Edit:- minute 43 onwards is the relevant bit.

[Daniel 1875]

Would it be new shares, thus diluting existing shareholders (such as HSL)? Or would the Gordons be selling part of their stake?

If you find out, do let us know!

[Mick O'Rourke]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Foley_(businessman)

If it is the Black Night,Bill Foley,our stadium announcer/dj might have to look out this old classic and old Clerry Jungle anthem for pre match sounds :greengrin

Our next away kit could well be Deep Purple :greengrin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZXhZ6Wejqc

[Jack]

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/men-in-blazers/id908407811?i=1000629097521

The podcast where Bill Foley discusses investing in a Scottish team is in that podcast, towards the end.

Really does sound like it’s us he was talking about.

Edit:- minute 43 onwards is the relevant bit.

Don't get carried away. You know how you felt the last time 😆

[BobbyT1875]

I was just going to ask the same. The Gordon family has invested a lot in Hibs in the past 12-18 months, with new hospitality suites, hybrid pitches and transfer fees. That suggests planning for the medium/long term.

Any money by Bydand sports has “invested “ are loans , which they have taken securities over Easter Road and east mains. Previously under Petrie stewardship the accounts would have been out now and AGM getting held in November. Sadly current regime is slow in getting accounts, litterly up to the company law deadlines. Will be interested to see the position to year end 30 June 2023 . As a shareholder, and from speaking to other more significant stakeholders, perception is bydand sports don’t care for other shareholders

[grunt]

While searching for an addition to what was rumoured, i came across this thread created by Green Machine over on The Bounce.

https://www.hibeesbounce.com/threads/kit-and-ian-gordon-interview-in-todays-scotland-on-sunday.139716/


Thanks. I didn't even know the Bounce was back.

[Jack]

As a shareholder, and from speaking to other more significant stakeholders, perception is bydand sports don’t care for other shareholders

I don't think Byland has EVER given a hoot for other shareholders.

[Jack]

Thanks. I didn't even know the Bounce was back.

The HibeesBounce has never been away 😀

[Pagan Hibernia]

If you find out, do let us know!

Sadly as a proud HSL member we'll be the last to know I'm sure.

4.5 years ago we were flying towards 20% (if I remember correctly) then with the stroke of a pen we were back to 15%, rug firmly whipped out from under us

[7Hero]

Don't forget we played Bournemouth Pre Season !!

We can stop dreaming, we're about to take it to the next level.

Cannae wait..

BRING IT ON ......

[7Hero]

I've got a Dundee Utd supporting pal who reckons it's them...

Not a chance, Hibs are the prime / only candidate in this scenario.

[Mick O'Rourke]

I don't think Byland has EVER given a hoot for other shareholders.

My understanding is that Byland Sports LLC was created/formed by Ron for the sole purpose of buying the club.

So are the Gordons not giving a "hoot" ? :greengrin
Has Chris Mueller bid for shares ?!

[Pretty Boy]

Reporting Scotland running with the story now.

[mutley]

Just been mentioned on the news !


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[Helensburghhibs]

Reporting scotland are going with it. American billionaire

[Just_Jimmy]

Coming up on BBC news in a bit.

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[TrinityHFC]

I don't think Byland has EVER given a hoot for other shareholders.

Why should they? It’s a small private company and they are supporting investment and taking risk over what is ultimately their own assets.

It’s a sports team that happens to be a business to support the sporting activities. Minor shareholders are fans that bought shares just to be part of the club and stick a certificate on the wall, not to be part of the risks or potential returns of being a shareholder.

I don’t get why some fans worry too much about the share capital of the club. In that respect I think HSL has made a huge mistake in positioning as being a vehicle to build up a shareholding. Totally pointless.

[Hibees1973]

Looks like there is going to be something about this on the BBC Scotland News just now.

[crash]

BBC leading with a “major investment in Hibs”

[CapitalGreen]

Bill Foley was at the Bournemouth game on Saturday. I wonder if he will be at Easter Road tonight.

[Golden Bear]

BBC leading with a “major investment in Hibs”

American billionaire apparently.

[ElginHibbie]

BBC leading with a “major investment in Hibs”

:hyper

[BobbyT1875]

Why should they? It’s a small private company and they are supporting investment and taking risk over what is ultimately their own assets.

It’s a sports team that happens to be a business to support the sporting activities. Minor shareholders are fans that bought shares just to be part of the club and stick a certificate on the wall, not to be part of the risks or potential returns of being a shareholder.

I don’t get why some fans worry too much about the share capital of the club. In that respect I think HSL has made a huge mistake in positioning as being a vehicle to build up a shareholding. Totally pointless.

Think mercer and think what you are saying

[SteveHFC]

:hyper

Time to buy my champions league final ticket for 2026. :hyper

[Northernhibee]

Time to buy my champions league final ticket for 2026. :hyper

I can’t wait for us to fill in the corners and open up the Monty Burns Casino in the East :hyper

[TrinityHFC]

Think mercer and think what you are saying

We aren’t owned by anyone remotely like Mercer and the current owners are unlikely to sell to anyone of that nature. It is worrying about a day that won’t happen and in HSLs case to the detriment of making an impact now. Outside HSL there are other minor shareholders who are just Hibs fans. As fans we already have the percentage they are concerned about.

[WeeRussell]

Reckon we’ll manage to get Mueller back?

[MagicSwirlingShip]

BBC leading with a “major investment in Hibs”

Link?

[SteveHFC]

Link?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-67280027

[ElginHibbie]

https://theathletic.com/5018301/2023/10/31/bill-foley-hibernian-bournemouth-knights/

[GloryGlory]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-67280027

That sounds like Hibs would be a feeder club for his other teams. Not sure I'd want to go down that route.

[WhileTheChief..]

Exciting times ahead.

[JohnM1875]

That sounds like Hibs would be a feeder club for his other teams. Not sure I'd want to go down that route.

Feel the same. Guys 78 as well so you'd have the risk of when he does eventually pass what would happen.

[flash]

Feel the same. Guys 78 as well so you'd have the risk of when he does eventually pass what would happen.

He won't be majority shareholder so not sure that's a major issue.

[JohnM1875]

He won't be majority shareholder so not sure that's a major issue.

Aye, I'm sure he won't be advertised as that.

[Waxy]

Feel the same. Guys 78 as well so you'd have the risk of when he does eventually pass what would happen.

This will all be accounted for.

[WhileTheChief..]

If he spends millions signing players for us that he then moves on to his other clubs, I'm all for it.

Could be a genuine opportunity for serious money coming into Hibs. Let's lap it up and reach for the stars.

[hibee-boys]

That sounds like Hibs would be a feeder club for his other teams. Not sure I'd want to go down that route.

In theory we’re a feeder club for every other football team. If any agreement improves the quality of player available for us then I’m in!

[Stairway 2 7]

Does this mean the man city deal is dead 😆 🤣

[Sgt. Hartman]

Very exciting times ahead folks

[WhileTheChief..]

Might find out more on Sportsound coming on now.

[Since90+2]

Seriously wealthy man Bill Foley. Makes James Anderson look like a pauper.

[Paul1642]

Fill in the corners already!

[Northernhibee]

If he spends millions signing players for us that he then moves on to his other clubs, I'm all for it.

Could be a genuine opportunity for serious money coming into Hibs. Let's lap it up and reach for the stars.

If it’s true that we got Vente because it’s easier to get a visa in Scotland compared to England, then this opens a lot of avenues for both ourselves and Bournemouth.

[GloryGlory]

If he spends millions signing players for us that he then moves on to his other clubs, I'm all for it.

Could be a genuine opportunity for serious money coming into Hibs. Let's lap it up and reach for the stars.

Or he sends other teams development players to us and insists they get played regardless of whether the manager thinks they should play, or he takes any decent players we develop for cut-price fees?

[MelbourneHibees]

If he spends millions signing players for us that he then moves on to his other clubs, I'm all for it.

Could be a genuine opportunity for serious money coming into Hibs. Let's lap it up and reach for the stars.

Why would he do that and not just sign them for the other teams then send them out on loan?

[Hibees1973]

Makes me nervous this kind of thing.

Will have to see how this plays out.

[Since90+2]

Or he sends other teams development players to us and insists they get played regardless of whether the manager thinks they should play, or he takes any decent players we develop for cut-price fees?

If he is pumping millions in he is going to want the club to be a success.

Whether that be by developing players and selling them for a big profit or us getting very good players we otherwise wouldn't get, it's a good thing.

He's not going to invest his time and money into a club to want to weaken it.

[Heisenberg]

Or he sends other teams development players to us and insists they get played regardless of whether the manager thinks they should play, or he takes any decent players we develop for cut-price fees?

By the sounds of it he wouldn’t have that kind of power.

[Aldo]

Or he sends other teams development players to us and insists they get played regardless of whether the manager thinks they should play, or he takes any decent players we develop for cut-price fees?

It’s a minority investment. I’m certain that this will only go ahead if this is all about Hibs and making us better. IG will make sure this is the case

[neil7908]

Hmmmmm. I'm pretty sceptical about these arrangements.

Sorry but I'm not interested in becoming a feeder club to anyone or becoming part of any group. We have a long and rich history and I don't want us to lose any of that.

A quick look at Bournemouths league position tells you these random foreign investments aren't always a success.

I'll wait for more details but I'd much prefer we go down fan ownership. Some of the madness going on down south at places like Chelsea and sports washing at the likes of Man City and Newcastle gives me the fear.

[Kato]

That sounds like Hibs would be a feeder club for his other teams. Not sure I'd want to go down that route.What would change?

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[Garymcl]

Been confirmed on radio he is going to invest but not a takeover Gordon family say not selling club we’re on a win win with this

[neil7908]

By the sounds of it he wouldn’t have that kind of power.

From the BBC article:

"BBC Scotland understands Mr Foley's Black Knight's sport and entertainment consortium is interested in referring players in and out of Hibs to other teams under its control, but would not be involved in the management of the club".

If that's the case it's a big no from me.

[Aldo]

From the BBC article:

"BBC Scotland understands Mr Foley's Black Knight's sport and entertainment consortium is interested in referring players in and out of Hibs to other teams under its control, but would not be involved in the management of the club".

If that's the case it's a big no from me.

BBC understands meaning they are guessing.

[Since90+2]

Hmmmmm. I'm pretty sceptical about these arrangements.

Sorry but I'm not interested in becoming a feeder club to anyone or becoming part of any group. We have a long and rich history and I don't want us to lose any of that.

A quick look at Bournemouths league position tells you these random foreign investments aren't always a success.

I'll wait for more details but I'd much prefer we go down fan ownership. Some of the madness going on down south at places like Chelsea and sports washing at the likes of Man City and Newcastle gives me the fear.

Bournemouth are a tiny club in English terms, they punch absolutely miles above their weight. They're probably league 1 in real size. They're league position is probably about 20_30 places above where the should really be.

We have always punched below our weight. Imagine what we could do if we not only met our potential but far exceeded it, like Bournemouth do.

[Mick O'Rourke]

It’s a minority investment. I’m certain that this will only go ahead if this is all about Hibs and making us better. IG will make sure this is the case

Was thinking the same
He obviously sees and respects what the Gordon Family have done here and recognises the worth and possibilities in a good wee investment at a well run club.
Or big !!

[Diclonius]

Meh

[Aldo]

Was thinking the same
He obviously sees and respects what the Gordon Family have done here and recognises the woth of a good wee investment at a weell run club
Or big !!

I cannot see it any other way.

Look at our stadium facilities. Up there with the best. Record returns on it. Yeah it cost money but people want to spend it and go.

We have the infrastructure and now the first team needs a tweak or two.

I can only see this as a positive move.

Can’t wait to hear the negativity from the media pundits around this

[neil7908]

Bournemouth are a tiny club in English terms, they punch absolutely miles above their weight. They're probably league 1 in real size. They're league position is probably about 20_30 places above where the should really be.

We have always punched below our weight. Imagine what we could do if we not only met our potential but far exceeded it, like Bournemouth do.

But he's had nothing to do with Bournemouths success. They have been in and around the EPL for years before he came along. They are now sitting one place above the relegation zone after take over last year.

I'm sure Chelsea fans were delighted when Boehly took over. Not sure if all that investment has worked especially well for them.

I'll see what else comes out but I'm not hugely convinced by what I've seen so far.

[Stairway 2 7]

Reading the investment group that would be investing in us has Chicago bears minority owners and Hollywood actor Michael B. Jordan. Easter Road to be a venue in the next Creed or Black panther movie?

[greenlex]

Bournemouth are a tiny club in English terms, they punch absolutely miles above their weight. They're probably league 1 in real size. They're league position is probably about 20_30 places above where the should really be.

We have always punched below our weight. Imagine what we could do if we not only met our potential but far exceeded it, like Bournemouth do.
He’s only been involved at Bournemouth less than a year. Currently building a state of the art training complex then onto a stadium. Anyone who has Irish roots and can bring the Stanley cup to the desert has a certain something about them. If it’s him and it’s us I’m all for it. If we don’t get proper investment by the right people we are going to be left behind.
Hes talking about finishing 3rd regularly and competing better in europe. It’s a win win for me.

oh aye and we’ve been a feeder club all our existence. I’m still not over Colin Stein.

[Lago]

I cannot see it any other way.

Look at our stadium facilities. Up there with the best. Record returns on it. Yeah it cost money but people want to spend it and go.

We have the infrastructure and now the first team needs a tweak or two.

I can only see this as a positive move.

Can’t wait to hear the negativity from the media pundits around this
It's already started on here. :greengrin

[Ozyhibby]

It’s a minority investment. I’m certain that this will only go ahead if this is all about Hibs and making us better. IG will make sure this is the case

I’m willing to bet it’s only a minority investment until the rules get changed on multi club ownership. If he’s investing, it’s for full control.


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[JohnM1875]

I’m willing to bet it’s only a minority investment until the rules get changed on multi club ownership. If he’s investing, it’s for full control.


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Exactly what I'm thinking as well

[Lago]

He’s only been involved at Bournemouth less than a year. Building a state of the art training complex then onto a stadium. Anyone who has Irish roots and can bring the Stanley cup to the desert has a certain something about them. If it’s him and it’s us I’m all for it. If we don’t get proper investment by the right people we are going to be left behind.
Well said :aok:

[Since90+2]

He’s only been involved at Bournemouth less than a year. Building a state of the art training complex then onto a stadium. Anyone who has Irish roots and can bring the Stanley cup to the desert has a certain something about them. If it’s him and it’s us I’m all for it. If we don’t get proper investment by the right people we are going to be left behind.

Genuinely can't see any downside to additional investment from a billionaire, and a proper billionaire at that. Not a the wee pretendy ones (Whyte, Romanov spring to mind) that have been around Scottish football in the past.

[Ozyhibby]

Hmmmmm. I'm pretty sceptical about these arrangements.

Sorry but I'm not interested in becoming a feeder club to anyone or becoming part of any group. We have a long and rich history and I don't want us to lose any of that.

A quick look at Bournemouths league position tells you these random foreign investments aren't always a success.

I'll wait for more details but I'd much prefer we go down fan ownership. Some of the madness going on down south at places like Chelsea and sports washing at the likes of Man City and Newcastle gives me the fear.

Bournemouth are in the EPL? Bournemouth![emoji849]


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[Since90+2]

But he's had nothing to do with Bournemouths success. They have been in and around the EPL for years before he came along. They are now sitting one place above the relegation zone after take over last year.

I'm sure Chelsea fans were delighted when Boehly took over. Not sure if all that investment has worked especially well for them.

I'll see what else comes out but I'm not hugely convinced by what I've seen so far.

Not sure how you can't say Bournemouth's league position isn't a success. Where do you think they should be?

[ekhibee]

Hmmmmm. I'm pretty sceptical about these arrangements.

Sorry but I'm not interested in becoming a feeder club to anyone or becoming part of any group. We have a long and rich history and I don't want us to lose any of that.

A quick look at Bournemouths league position tells you these random foreign investments aren't always a success.

I'll wait for more details but I'd much prefer we go down fan ownership. Some of the madness going on down south at places like Chelsea and sports washing at the likes of Man City and Newcastle gives me the fear.

Yes, you should wait for more details. Not all rich investors are corrupt Russian or Arab billionaires, sometimes they actually benefit clubs as well.

[Stairway 2 7]

I’m willing to bet it’s only a minority investment until the rules get changed on multi club ownership. If he’s investing, it’s for full control.


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I think so too. I don't think he'll do things by half like Bournemouths training centre and stadium. He says he it'll take 5-6 seasons to make them a top 10 club. When they bought the Las Vegas ice hockey team they said they want the Stanley Cup in 6 years, they did it in 3.

Michael B Jordan seems a bit of a Ryan Reynolds getting hands on, well see

https://www.essentiallysports.com/soccer-football-news-hes-a-lot-better-than-i-am-bournemouths-billionaire-owner-lays-out-plans-for-michael-b-jordans-role-at-the-premier-league-club/

“He’s a Lot Better Than I Am” – Bournemouth’s Billionaire Owner Lays Out Plans for Michael B. Jordan’s Role at the Premier League Club

[Since90+2]

Worrying about potentially losing players to Bournemouth is a bit of misnomer. We currently have zero players who are good enough to play in that league, I'd be delighted if we developed and sold players who were good enough for that level.

It would mean we are producing absolutely top drawer players (and then being suitably compensated for them).

[WhileTheChief..]

I’m willing to bet it’s only a minority investment until the rules get changed on multi club ownership. If he’s investing, it’s for full control.


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Yup.

And a multi-billionaire isn't going to invest in Hibs to try and make a few more bucks. If he gets involved it'll be game changing or there would be no point.

[gbhibby]

Interesting times ahead, the devil will be in the detail.

[Jones28]

If we’re a feeder club for someone like a Bournemouth who are punching well above their weight then sign me up.

[sleeping giant]

Yup.

And a multi-billionaire isn't going to invest in Hibs to try and make a few more bucks. If he gets involved it'll be game changing or there would be no point.

Stop it man.
I'm trying to stay calm about it 😁

[HFC93]

Hmmmmm. I'm pretty sceptical about these arrangements.

Sorry but I'm not interested in becoming a feeder club to anyone or becoming part of any group. We have a long and rich history and I don't want us to lose any of that.

A quick look at Bournemouths league position tells you these random foreign investments aren't always a success.

I'll wait for more details but I'd much prefer we go down fan ownership. Some of the madness going on down south at places like Chelsea and sports washing at the likes of Man City and Newcastle gives me the fear.

A quick look at who won the recent Stanley Cup tells me this guy doesn't mess about with his sporting investments.

[Stairway 2 7]

Worrying about potentially losing players to Bournemouth is a bit of misnomer. We currently have zero players who are good enough to play in that league, I'd be delighted if we developed and sold players who were good enough for that level.

It would mean we are producing absolutely top drawer players (and then being suitably compensated for them).

Yeah if we get a 21yo that they hope to start for a top 10 prem club your talking young McGinn level. A market we couldn't dream of shopping in even at that age

[neil7908]

Not sure how you can't say Bournemouth's league position isn't a success. Where do you think they should be?

Where I think is irrelevant.

But they finished 9th in the EPL a few years ago. This group took over last year and they are now 17th with one win in ten.

Bournemouths success has nothing to do with this group. They are not an example that can be used to show this guy knows how to run a football team.

[stoneyburn hibs]

The beginnings of new ownership.

[Stairway 2 7]

They are about to buy an Auckland expansion team who will join the Australian league, so easier access to a league we've bought from before

[Jones28]

Can I get “FOLEY” tattooed on my back yet?

[Jones28]

Hibs coloured Stetsons in the club shop?

[greenlex]

Can I get “FOLEY” tattooed on my back yet?

As long as it’s Axel.

[Ozyhibby]

Where I think is irrelevant.

But they finished 9th in the EPL a few years ago. This group took over last year and they are now 17th with one win in ten.

Bournemouths success has nothing to do with this group. They are not an example that can be used to show this guy knows how to run a football team.

The vegas golden knights is a better measure as they have owned that longer. Sign me up.
I watch NHL and the job they have done there is amazing. Was gutted the won the Stanley Cup mind you.


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[Since90+2]

Where I think is irrelevant.

But they finished 9th in the EPL a few years ago. This group took over last year and they are now 17th with one win in ten.

Bournemouths success has nothing to do with this group. They are not an example that can be used to show this guy knows how to run a football team.

By your own admission he's only been there a year. They are making major investment to improve them.

We are also comparing apples and pears. The English football league is the toughest in the world to make big progress. Look at Man Utd and Chelsea, billions spent and still pretty poor.

The level of investment required in Scottish football to compete and regularly win things/qualify for Europe is miniscule compared to England. And this guy certainly has the required levels of wealth to hit those numbers needed in this country.

[Stairway 2 7]

Where I think is irrelevant.

But they finished 9th in the EPL a few years ago. This group took over last year and they are now 17th with one win in ten.

Bournemouths success has nothing to do with this group. They are not an example that can be used to show this guy knows how to run a football team.

They went into enormous debt after 9th and had to start again. He has cancelled the debt is building a training centre and new stadium. He's taking them up a few levels with the hope they maintain the Premiership place

[itslegaltender]

Hibs offer a potentially easier route into Europe than Bournemouth. Good opportunity to farm players to us to get that experience and increase their value long term.

[CropleyWasGod]

I think so too. I don't think he'll do things by half like Bournemouths training centre and stadium. He says he it'll take 5-6 seasons to make them a top 10 club. When they bought the Las Vegas ice hockey team they said they want the Stanley Cup in 6 years, they did it in 3.

Michael B Jordan seems a bit of a Ryan Reynolds getting hands on, well see

https://www.essentiallysports.com/soccer-football-news-hes-a-lot-better-than-i-am-bournemouths-billionaire-owner-lays-out-plans-for-michael-b-jordans-role-at-the-premier-league-club/

“He’s a Lot Better Than I Am” – Bournemouth’s Billionaire Owner Lays Out Plans for Michael B. Jordan’s Role at the Premier League Club

A whole new meaning to "Where's Wallace?":cb

[ScottB]

As was discussed when it was the City Group, there’s zero evidence that any of these groups are remotely interested in the teams they buy succeeding, indeed with the current UEFA rules it’d actually be a headache for them.

We’d probably get some players on loan, and Bournemouth would presumably get first look at any decent ones we have. I don’t see them funding a spending spree or anything, beyond perhaps some training centre upgrades etc.

[HendoDelivered]

Unsure what to think about this, see what happens over the next few days/weeks/months I guess

[worcesterhibby]

Can I be the first to say :hyper:hyper:hyper:hyper:hyper

[Vault Boy]

Christ, I briefly turn my back to watch a film and Hibs are getting ready to bid for Mbappe

[jws1875]

Cameras pointing towards the upper West stand from the pitch

[1875Sean]

The guy owns a stake at French side Lorient who bournemouth also played in august!

[Ozyhibby]

Christ, I briefly turn my back to watch a film and Hibs are getting ready to bid for Mbappe

Need cover for Boyle.[emoji106]


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[Hibbyradge]

Bournemouth are a tiny club in English terms, they punch absolutely miles above their weight. They're probably league 1 in real size. They're league position is probably about 20_30 places above where the should really be.

We have always punched below our weight. Imagine what we could do if we not only met our potential but far exceeded it, like Bournemouth do.

Exactly right.

We've got more season ticket holders than Bournemouth have seats in their stadium.

They should be our feeder club!

[Stairway 2 7]

A whole new meaning to "Where's Wallace?":cb

What a program

[Jones28]

Did Bournemouth not pump us in pre season? I wonder if this was in the pipeline then?

[Jones28]

Is this Chris or Brian McLaughlin? Only asking because the BBC article is by Chris.

Chris is the journalist.

Brian is the one who can’t wear a belt and a tie on the same day or he’ll turn in to sausages.

[HoboHarry]

Chris is the journalist.

Brian is the one who can’t wear a belt and a tie on the same day or he’ll turn in to sausages.
Sorry posted on the wrong thread lol - did he give the bums rush to the fat Jambo?

[The Modfather]

Does this mean the man city deal is dead 😆 🤣

Crossed wires, we’re about to become the new Man City.

Time to bring Super John home!

[Bridge hibs]

Chris is the journalist.

Brian is the one who can’t wear a belt and a tie on the same day or he’ll turn in to sausages.

🤣

[WhileTheChief..]

The level of investment required in Scottish football to compete and regularly win things/qualify for Europe is miniscule compared to England. And this guy certainly has the required levels of wealth to hit those numbers needed in this country.

This is what we've been saying for ages. Have we finally found that elusive billionaire that also sees it?!

Best news in ages. This time next year Rodney.....

[HoboHarry]

Sevco will be spewing, they need a billionaire even more than we do. ***** 'em......

[Aldo]

I’m willing to bet it’s only a minority investment until the rules get changed on multi club ownership. If he’s investing, it’s for full control.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Could well be Ozy.

[Aldo]

Sevco will be spewing, they need a billionaire even more than we do. ***** 'em......

Our chums along the road are. Loads of despair from them about our ***** turnover and breaching FFP rules blah blah

[EdinMike]

Our chums along the road are. Loads of despair from them about our ***** turnover and breaching FFP rules blah blah

That’s rich coming from them… which is about the only way to use the word “rich” in a sentence involving them !

[Aldo]

That’s rich coming from them… which is about the only way to use the word “rich” in a sentence involving them !

It sure is. Corruption and other words along those lines. They put themselves on a parapet looking from above with their high and mighty attitudes!

[Stubbsy90+2]

Chris is the journalist.

Brian is the one who can’t wear a belt and a tie on the same day or he’ll turn in to sausages.

Certainly a contender for post of the year here.

[weecounty hibby]

Feel a bit dirty but I had a look at kickback. They are taking this news well.

[Trinity Hibee]

Chris is the journalist.

Brian is the one who can’t wear a belt and a tie on the same day or he’ll turn in to sausages.

😂😂😂😂

[Pagan Hibernia]

Our chums along the road are. Loads of despair from them about our ***** turnover and breaching FFP rules blah blah

Anything on there about them buying two scottish cups with someone else's money?

[Aldo]

Anything on there about them buying two scottish cups with someone else's money?

What do you think???

[Ozyhibby]

Feel a bit dirty but I had a look at kickback. They are taking this news well.

Always the place to look for sound financial analysis. [emoji23]


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[Pedantic_Hibee]

Feel a bit dirty but I had a look at kickback. They are taking this news well.

Jealousy absolutely ripping out of them. They are beyond parody.

[Tambo]

Show me the money 💰🤑

Let's take over Scottish football.

[Haymaker]

A whole new meaning to "Where's Wallace?":cb

:agree:

[Rumble de Thump]

Have Hearts still got that weird cash cow thing at their stadium that they wanted fans to stuff their hard-earned cash into?

[weecounty hibby]

Have Hearts still got that weird cash cow thing at their stadium that they wanted fans to stuff their hard-earned cash into?
Anne Budge?

[greenlex]

Anne Budge?
:greengrin

[Jones28]

Have Hearts still got that weird cash cow thing at their stadium that they wanted fans to stuff their hard-earned cash into?

They changed it, it’s now the money-monkey, James Anderson dresses up in a costume and it’s a coconut shy style thing.

Hit the target and money monkey will drop a fiver in to the pot.

[WeeRussell]

Where I think is irrelevant.

But they finished 9th in the EPL a few years ago. This group took over last year and they are now 17th with one win in ten.

Bournemouths success has nothing to do with this group. They are not an example that can be used to show this guy knows how to run a football team.

His bank balance shows he knows how to run a business (or two) though, and that’s really what this is about? Or more specifically that he’s good at getting businesses to perform and grow financially.

He’s not going to be picking the team. Why should you or anyone be any more concerned about this than the Gordon takeover? We’re still to learn what the truth and detail is around it but surely we should be looking at it with a sense of excitement rather than concern?

[Bostonhibby]

Have Hearts still got that weird cash cow thing at their stadium that they wanted fans to stuff their hard-earned cash into?If you're looking for a farmyard animal to insert your "small change" into there is currently only one professional football club offering that opportunity

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[Joe6-2]

Chris is the journalist.

Brian is the one who can’t wear a belt and a tie on the same day or he’ll turn in to sausages.

Definite laugh out loud

[Joe6-2]

Anne Budge?

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[jamie_1875]

It is Hibs they are looking at, heard this a while back and they have been doing a lot of due diligence in the background. Been told they were not very impressed with the set up though.

[Aldo]

It is Hibs they are looking at, heard this a while back and they have been doing a lot of due diligence in the background. Been told they were not very impressed with the set up though.

What set up.

The superb stadium including modern hospitality suites and the ability to expand capacity

Or

Our own training facilities

Or

Owned by the Gordon’s and they’ve put a team in place to run the club?

[jacomo]

Hmmmmm. I'm pretty sceptical about these arrangements.

Sorry but I'm not interested in becoming a feeder club to anyone or becoming part of any group. We have a long and rich history and I don't want us to lose any of that.

A quick look at Bournemouths league position tells you these random foreign investments aren't always a success.

I'll wait for more details but I'd much prefer we go down fan ownership. Some of the madness going on down south at places like Chelsea and sports washing at the likes of Man City and Newcastle gives me the fear.


Totally agree.

Allowing owners to own multiple clubs creates such clear risks to sporting integrity. Football is getting wrecked by cash.

Enjoy your dream World Cup in Saudi Arabia folks!

[neil7908]

His bank balance shows he knows how to run a business (or two) though, and that’s really what this is about? Or more specifically that he’s good at getting businesses to perform and grow financially.

He’s not going to be picking the team. Why should you or anyone be any more concerned about this than the Gordon takeover? We’re still to learn what the truth and detail is around it but surely we should be looking at it with a sense of excitement rather than concern?

Football clubs are completely different from any other business though. And English football is very different from Scottish football.

Boehly at Chelsea is a billionaire and has been a disaster. Look at the Glazers at Man United.

I'll wait to see what the details are but I'm not interested in being part of any group, family of clubs or whatever.

I've been critical about this kind of stuff with EPL teams getting bought by billionaires and my stance doesn't change with Hibs.

I hope the guy knows what he's doing, respects our identity and history and we don't end up a vehicle for Bournemouth to test out some players.

Until I hear a lot more though I'll remain sceptical. Others can of course think whatever they want.

[Don Giovanni]

Foley is a serious operator. Securing a NHL franchise is no easy task. Nor is it cheap. It cost a £500M fee just to join the league. The consortium also had to fund and build an (incredible) arena.

Since their founding the Vegas Golden Knights have been historically successful for an expansion franchise - winning the Stanley Cup within 6years.

The ownership has been ruthless with management both in the NHL and at Bournemouth. They are willing to invest but demand success.

I think he'd be an excellent person / group to have on board.

[jamie_1875]

What set up.

The superb stadium including modern hospitality suites and the ability to expand capacity

Or

Our own training facilities

Or

Owned by the Gordon’s and they’ve put a team in place to run the club?

I believe more the people running the club in the background and the use of technology and data for analysis.

[Aldo]

I believe more the people running the club in the background and the use of technology and data for analysis.

Ah right. So they are not happy that we use technology and data for analysis. Why is that. Pretty much every team uses it

[jamie_1875]

Ah right. So they are not happy that we use technology and data for analysis. Why is that. Pretty much every team uses it

Most clubs will use it, do you think for example the technology and data East Fife has access to is the same set up that Man City have? They have the same resources etc? Course not. They think there is an opportunity to do more.

[random sub]

I like the sounds of this. We clearly have potential to grow as a club and do better on the park- new innovative forms of operation and investment could get us there

[Greencore]

Would we just get a bunch of loan players or are we talking serious investment ?

[Haymaker]

Would we just get a bunch of loan players or are we talking serious investment ?

Probably access to a better scouting network, the potential to invest in players we wouldn't usually have the ability to get with the view of selling them on after exposure to regular European football. I'm sure if they are McGinn types, we would be selling them to Bompey first.

[hibee19]

Make no mistake, a minority stake is a stepping stone to ownership. This was always the issue with selling to the Gordon's. I didn't think they were a danger to the club, the danger would always be when they wanted to get out and who they might sell to.

We'll always be a selling club like nearly even club in world football but theres a difference between a selling club and a feeder club. When we sell a good young player we've developed it should be to the benefit of Hibs so we can reinvest that profit into the playing squad.





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[Stairway 2 7]

After watching that piss bring on the Hollywood roller coaster

[Hibs90]

Chris is the journalist.

Brian is the one who can’t wear a belt and a tie on the same day or he’ll turn in to sausages.

Outstanding :greengrin

[hibee19]

"If I’m going to acquire players, why don’t I acquire them from myself? It’s a lot less expensive."

I'm unsure how that can be spun as a positive for Hibs herehttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231031/30ea58df974f406b295803e7e7ad8b74.jpg

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[Col2]

Feel a bit dirty but I had a look at kickback. They are taking this news well.

Simone has at last worked out that the fans ownership model (75%) isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be when it comes to new investment. The rover driving cardigan wearing clowns won’t want to give up the “part owner of Heart of Midlothian Football Club” social media tag. Not when they have pissed away £1000s on a share certificate and Budge’s vanity projects.

[Ozyhibby]

"If I’m going to acquire players, why don’t I acquire them from myself? It’s a lot less expensive."

I'm unsure how that can be spun as a positive for Hibs herehttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231031/30ea58df974f406b295803e7e7ad8b74.jpg

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Because if he is talking about buying players good enough to play in EPL then he is going to have to improve the quality we have. Can’t remember last time we sold a player to the EPL?


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[mcohibs]

"If I’m going to acquire players, why don’t I acquire them from myself? It’s a lot less expensive."

I'm unsure how that can be spun as a positive for Hibs herehttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231031/30ea58df974f406b295803e7e7ad8b74.jpg

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I don’t understand the ‘only one can play in Europe’ part?

[Hibs90]

I don’t understand the ‘only one can play in Europe’ part?

Some sort of UEFA rule where you can't hold majority stakes in multiple clubs in European competition. It's probably the reason Qatar didn't buy Man Utd.


I guess he maybe sees Hibs as an easier pathway to Europe than Bournemouth, however this current squad ain't getting Europe this season unless major surgery is carried out in Jan.

[CapitalGreen]

I don’t understand the ‘only one can play in Europe’ part?

It wouldn’t impact us if he only has a minority stake. UEFA rules prevent 2 clubs controlled by the same person playing in Europe, however there is talk they are going to loosen these rules.

[hibee19]

Because if he is talking about buying players good enough to play in EPL then he is going to have to improve the quality we have. Can’t remember last time we sold a player to the EPL?


Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkHibs fans complained about selling off McGinn and Porteous cheap when there were obvious mitigating factors. How would we react if a key player is sold to Bournemouth on the cheap?

I'm all for relationships and agreements with clubs but I want the priority for the people running the club to be running this club.

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[banchoryhibs]

How will Foley actually invest in our club? Any money spent in acquiring shares goes to the person selling them.
Will he simply gift money? I doubt it.
I'm not sure I'd like to see us laden in debt. Additional share issues might be an answer - interesting times!

[ScottB]

I don’t think Hibs would be a place to blood youngsters headed for the Prem, given, well, nobody is really loaning that quality of youngster up here.

More likely these multi club models have an eye on the profit some sides are making selling off youth players who aren’t quite good enough. Even Championship sides down there have deep enough pockets for that to work as a market to sell to.

So they’d have;

Bournemouth
Lorient
Hibs
Auckland

Probably in that order in terms of player quality. The odd one might make a big leap up the ladder, sure. More likely Hibs become a place for players they think aren’t quite good enough for League 1 in France or the Prem, or perhaps guys who have shown something at Auckland etc.

[Donegal Hibby]

Not really sure what's going on with this tbh . Article here if you haven't seen it .
https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hibs/bournemouth-billionaire-to-make-hibs-undisputed-third-force-in-scotland-4392839

[Criswell]

I'm of the opinion, if it sounds too good to true, then it probably is too good to be true. The devil is always in the detail.

[greenbelly]

The guy owns a stake at French side Lorient who bournemouth also played in august!

thnx mate. When I first read lorient, I just guessed somebody was bored of writing leyton orient in full!

[neil7908]

Because if he is talking about buying players good enough to play in EPL then he is going to have to improve the quality we have. Can’t remember last time we sold a player to the EPL?


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Plenty of players have come to Hibs from EPL teams on loan with big reputations and failed. There was the CB from Arsenal (was it Boateng?). I remember being dead excited at Islam Feruz coming in.

But using Hibs to blood players for the EPL would be a wild strategy given how large the gap is. Another poster said it correctly I think - we'll be a feeder for Lorient if anything.

They always talk about a group of clubs. That isn't accurate - it's a hierarchy. And we definitely aren't at the top.

I have major concerns about a ownership model where Hibs success is not the no. 1 priority.

[GloryGlory]

Some sort of UEFA rule where you can't hold majority stakes in multiple clubs in European competition. It's probably the reason Qatar didn't buy Man Utd.


I guess he maybe sees Hibs as an easier pathway to Europe than Bournemouth, however this current squad ain't getting Europe this season unless major surgery is carried out in Jan.

RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg managed to get round it easily enough and both played in Europe.


https://talksport.com/football/1339014/why-rb-leipzig-red-bull-salzburg-both-play-europe-uefa-manchester-united-psg-qatar/

[7Hero]

[QUOTE=neil7908;7498626

I have major concerns about a ownership model where Hibs success is not the no. 1 priority.[/QUOTE]

But he wouldn't be the owner ?

[Pagan Hibernia]

But he wouldn't be the owner ?

Then what interest does he have in us? What does he want in return for his investment? Money? This is scottish football, there isn't any.

[Gatecrasher]

This sounds a bit naff to be honest, becoming a feeder club for an English team is something we should be looking to avoid, not even a good English team either. **** that.

If this is the direction the Gordon's want us to go in they can gtf.

[Stairway 2 7]

Then what interest does he have in us? What does he want in return for his investment? Money? This is scottish football, there isn't any.

There is if your constantly third which is what he says he think could be relatively easy to get consistently with a little investment each year, he might have underestimated that.

[Bridge hibs]

Then what interest does he have in us? What does he want in return for his investment? Money? This is scottish football, there isn't any.Signing players that would have us winning cups, finishing 3rd, qualifying for europe on a regular basis where there is potentially plenty ££££s. Packed ER adding to the already successful hospitality, attracting bigger sponsorship packages etc etc

[Vini1875]

What is our model for success though? We occasionally get a young player who we develop and then sell on and hope for additional benefits through sell on clauses. Meanwhile we hope to gain entry into European competitions.

If these guys can give us access to better players then we maybe actually win a cup more often and get into the group stages in Europe. Don't think this guy seems like a Romanov type and if we start to improve the quality we would be delighted and grateful. Who knows winning trophies might make us more interesting than Bournemouth, but who's kidding who how many of their fringe players would improve us. I'd say the majority.

[flash]

This sounds a bit naff to be honest, becoming a feeder club for an English team is something we should be looking to avoid, not even a good English team either. **** that.

If this is the direction the Gordon's want us to go in they can gtf.

What direction would you have us go in because at the moment we are bumping along the bottom.

[GloryGlory]

There is if your constantly third which is what he says he think could be relatively easy to get consistently with a little investment each year, he might have underestimated that.

Being "best of the rest" in the SPFL is rather a low level of ambition, IMO. Who outside the club concerned actually cares that much?

If we are to get even a bit more investment I'd hope it is with at least aiming to upset the cosy Old Firm applecart now and again.

[Stubbsy90+2]

Being "best of the rest" in the SPFL is rather a low level of ambition, IMO. Who outside the club concerned actually cares that much?

If we are to get even a bit more investment I'd hope it is with at least aiming to upset the cosy Old Firm applecart now and again.

That would take absolutely massive investment.

Even Hibs finishing third each season would probably require him to nearly treble our turnover imo, I don’t think doubling it would be enough. That would be showing huge ambition.

[Not In The Know]

I reckon it’s a long, long term plan. There will be some kind of European league soon. Getting a head start building hibs up for that will be his aim. Edinburgh is one of the great capital cities of Europe and would be ideal for a team in the top league. Potentially we could become the main team in his portfolio.

Just sayin…

[GloryGlory]

That would take absolutely massive investment.

Even Hibs finishing third each season would probably require him to nearly treble our turnover imo, I don’t think doubling it would be enough. That would be showing huge ambition.

I don't think "massive" investment is necessary if you get the coaching, recruitment and set up right. The Rangers are not any great shakes at the moment, despite all their spending, and Celtc have shown more vulnerability this season than for a long time.

[Stubbsy90+2]

I don't think "massive" investment is necessary if you get the coaching, recruitment and set up right. The Rangers are not any great shakes at the moment, despite all their spending, and Celtc have shown more vulnerability this season than for a long time.

Look at Hearts turnover when you consider the donations from FOH and Anderson each season compared to ours and look how far they are from Celtic and Rangers. Of course there’s the argument they’re getting it all wrong, but it would take a budget that would even dwarf theirs to be able to challenge the Old Firm.

I honestly think £20m extra a season would be good enough to almost guarantee third and probably leave us closer to Rangers than 4th. I still don’t think we’d genuinely challenge rangers with that though.

[Pagan Hibernia]

Look at Hearts turnover when you consider the donations from FOH and Anderson each season compared to ours and look how far they are from Celtic and Rangers. Of course there’s the argument they’re getting it all wrong, but it would take a budget that would even dwarf theirs to be able to challenge the Old Firm.

I honestly think £20m extra a season would be good enough to almost guarantee third and probably leave us closer to Rangers than 4th. I still don’t think we’d genuinely challenge rangers with that though.

There's no question hearts have made an absolute hash of their financial backing over the last five or six years and have pished countless millions down the drain.

They wouldn't catch celtic even if they ran a tight ship, but I don't believe it's impossible to catch rangers if clubs get their recruitment right, spend money well, and have a wee bit of luck. Rangers aren't a very well run club either

[Hibrandenburg]

Next step would be to take over Hearts and use them as a feeder club for our team. Or am I getting ahead of myself? :turnevil:

[neil7908]

I don't think "massive" investment is necessary if you get the coaching, recruitment and set up right. The Rangers are not any great shakes at the moment, despite all their spending, and Celtc have shown more vulnerability this season than for a long time.

But the coaching, recruitment and set up are the hard bits. If we get those done correctly now we should secure 3rd no bother. We already have a top stadium and training facilities and a decent player budget.

The guy is mega rich but a look around England and across Europe shows plenty of clubs failing badly despite being owned by guys with huge wealth.

I know I'm flogging a dead horse on this thread but there is no serious money to be made in Scottish football and I just can't fathom a billionaire with no connection to us investing for altruistic reasons.

I'm definitely wary hear until we hear a lot more about their plans and strategy for the club.

[bingo70]

But the coaching, recruitment and set up are the hard bits. If we get those done correctly now we should secure 3rd no bother. We already have a top stadium and training facilities and a decent player budget.

The guy is mega rich but a look around England and across Europe shows plenty of clubs failing badly despite being owned by guys with huge wealth.

I know I'm flogging a dead horse on this thread but there is no serious money to be made in Scottish football and I just can't fathom a billionaire with no connection to us investing for altruistic reasons.

I'm definitely wary hear until we hear a lot more about their plans and strategy for the club.

Did you listen to that podcast I posted earlier?

Sounds to me like European football excited him. That’s the bit that would stroke his ego and excite him to an extent I think.

From a purely numbers perspective, the return on investment comes from capital growth, i think the term is anyway. He’s not going to make money on an ongoing basis but if he buys a club getting x turnover a year and he is able to increase that significantly, by getting into group stages of European football then when the time comes to sell the club, that’s where he’ll make his return. Apparently very common in American owners just now.

David Low spoke about it on a podcast I listened to a while back as well.

[BobbyT1875]

Why should they? It’s a small private company and they are supporting investment and taking risk over what is ultimately their own assets.

It’s a sports team that happens to be a business to support the sporting activities. Minor shareholders are fans that bought shares just to be part of the club and stick a certificate on the wall, not to be part of the risks or potential returns of being a shareholder.

I don’t get why some fans worry too much about the share capital of the club. In that respect I think HSL has made a huge mistake in positioning as being a vehicle to build up a shareholding. Totally pointless.

33% isn’t a minor share holder.

[BobbyT1875]

We aren’t owned by anyone remotely like Mercer and the current owners are unlikely to sell to anyone of that nature. It is worrying about a day that won’t happen and in HSLs case to the detriment of making an impact now. Outside HSL there are other minor shareholders who are just Hibs fans. As fans we already have the percentage they are concerned about.
Yiu don’t know what yanks could do, or if they were to sell their 67%. Essential circa 26% of hibs shares belong to hibs fans to stop asset stripping. I’d expect

[Daniel 1875]

I don’t get why some fans worry too much about the share capital of the club. In that respect I think HSL has made a huge mistake in positioning as being a vehicle to build up a shareholding. Totally pointless.

Just to clarify, Hibernian Supporters hasn’t ‘positioned’ as being a vehicle to build up a shareholding - it’s what Hibernian Supporters is and has always been about.

The express aim is to obtain 25.1% of the shares in the club - if shares aren’t available now then we need to be in a position to move towards this as and when they are. Now, next week or next year.

It’s about the long term future of our club, and safeguarding that long term future for the people who matter most - the fans.

Fans worked incredibly hard to obtain a 20% share of the club of behalf of the support, in order to ensure the club is run in the interests of its supporters. Due to circumstances outwith our control last time there was a significant change to the ownership structure we were diluted to the 15.4% we currently hold.

We continue to receive significant support from fans who share the view that a collective holding of 25.1% is of benefit to the club and the supporters.

[Onceinawhile]

Foley is a serious operator. Securing a NHL franchise is no easy task. Nor is it cheap. It cost a £500M fee just to join the league. The consortium also had to fund and build an (incredible) arena.

Since their founding the Vegas Golden Knights have been historically successful for an expansion franchise - winning the Stanley Cup within 6years.

The ownership has been ruthless with management both in the NHL and at Bournemouth. They are willing to invest but demand success.

I think he'd be an excellent person / group to have on board.

They made the final in their first year as well. Totally unprecedented for an expansion team. (though they lost it to the caps).

If he can bring Marc-Andre Fleury in as goalie, I'm happy.

[Walter]

Call me naive but I don't know what benefit a billionaire would get from asset stripping hibs, makes more in interest than he would from that. Most likely seems a bit of a plaything for a 78 year old billionaire

[Stairway 2 7]

Just to clarify, Hibernian Supporters hasn’t ‘positioned’ as being a vehicle to build up a shareholding - it’s what Hibernian Supporters is and has always been about.

The express aim is to obtain 25.1% of the shares in the club - if shares aren’t available now then we need to be in a position to move towards this as and when they are. Now, next week or next year.

It’s about the long term future of our club, and safeguarding that long term future for the people who matter most - the fans.

Fans worked incredibly hard to obtain a 20% share of the club of behalf of the support, in order to ensure the club is run in the interests of its supporters. Due to circumstances outwith our control last time there was a significant change to the ownership structure we were diluted to the 15.4% we currently hold.

We continue to receive significant support from fans who share the view that a collective holding of 25.1% is of benefit to the club and the supporters.

Can't they just dilute HSL massively with a stroke of a pen when they want by creating shares

[Daniel 1875]

Can't they just dilute HSL massively with a stroke of a pen when they want by creating shares

They can (but nothing to suggest they will at this stage) - which is why it’s really important we continue to keep ourselves in a strong position financially to at very least retain the 15.4% we hold.

Plenty people worked too hard to get us to 20% to then be diluted for it to happen again.

Any share issue at any time will require all shareholders to buy in to retain their own level of shareholding.

[Dashing Bob S]

You never know with those things but the bedwetting disguised as scorn over on Kickback makes me feel pretty damn positive

[Stairway 2 7]

They can (but nothing to suggest they will at this stage) - which is why it’s really important we continue to keep ourselves in a strong position financially to at very least retain the 15.4% we hold.

Plenty people worked too hard to get us to 20% to then be diluted for it to happen again.

Any share issue at any time will require all shareholders to buy in to retain their own level of shareholding.

Keep up the good work and hopefully we can keep that percentage up

[TrinityHFC]

Just to clarify, Hibernian Supporters hasn’t ‘positioned’ as being a vehicle to build up a shareholding - it’s what Hibernian Supporters is and has always been about.

The express aim is to obtain 25.1% of the shares in the club - if shares aren’t available now then we need to be in a position to move towards this as and when they are. Now, next week or next year.

It’s about the long term future of our club, and safeguarding that long term future for the people who matter most - the fans.

Fans worked incredibly hard to obtain a 20% share of the club of behalf of the support, in order to ensure the club is run in the interests of its supporters. Due to circumstances outwith our control last time there was a significant change to the ownership structure we were diluted to the 15.4% we currently hold.

We continue to receive significant support from fans who share the view that a collective holding of 25.1% is of benefit to the club and the supporters.


Don't really agree with that.

Tom Farmer decided to allow fans to effectively donate cash to the club and to get shares in return for this - diluting his own holding in doing so. The rules on selling shares directly to fans were complex and so HSL was a great vehicle to allow fans to donate and to get an equivalent shareholding in a vehicle that would own shares in Hibs. I don't believe at the outset there was any great thought of needing to have a shareholding body to buy shares and represent minority shareholder interests. There was very little appetite in buying shares really, a lot of people who could do so bought direct and are very happy to do so just to own an actual bit of the club and get the certificate. Fan ownership and representation by a body like HSL I think is low down on what fans are interested in.

As I said I think on another thread it is worrying about a day that won't happen. The shareholder register is a hugely different thing now from the Mercer days, the environment is different, our ownership have been been clear on their intentions and also what type of buyer they would sell to. Ownership has been secure for decades.

The low take up of HSL tells a story - I think it was a mistake to stop donations to the club and really entrench back to being a vehicle that just wants to own shares at a future point. There's little interest in it really and it closed off an avenue that if it had ben done in a better way, could have provided some additional income in the same way as Hearts and Aberdeen get.

We aren't a listed entity with a mixed share register, we aren't at any particular risk of asset stripping, we have a very healthy fan owned percentage when looking at direct holdings and I think growing HSL is way down the list of things anyone should be worried about. I actually think if we do want to be able to grow and have our owners invest in us, we need to allow them the flexibility to structure their ownership in their favour as Ron did.

[Northernhibee]

Call me naive but I don't know what benefit a billionaire would get from asset stripping hibs, makes more in interest than he would from that. Most likely seems a bit of a plaything for a 78 year old billionaire

I don't think it's a plaything as such.

What makes me more comfortable with this over the City Group is 1 - a lack of a Saudi link and 2 - it's a smaller group of teams we'd be a part of.

With the groups that own Man City, Newcastle etc. there are so many ways to get a player into a top team. If they fall out with one of the clubs in their group for underperformance, they can bypass them easily.

If it was as simple as Aukland to Hibs to the team in France (forgotten which one it is) to Bournemouth, then each link in the chain has to be strong for it to work. There would be a greater will for us to be performing as well as possible in order to make his significant investment in his group work.

[ScottB]

Call me naive but I don't know what benefit a billionaire would get from asset stripping hibs, makes more in interest than he would from that. Most likely seems a bit of a plaything for a 78 year old billionaire

Pretty much, there’s no money to be made here either, finishing third and maybe a Euro group stage? Pocket change for a billionaire and still orders of magnitude less in income than Bournemouth will make a year.

So it’s part play thing, part creating a network to support Bournemouth, which is where the real money is generated.

[matty_f]

Did you listen to that podcast I posted earlier?

Sounds to me like European football excited him. That’s the bit that would stroke his ego and excite him to an extent I think.

From a purely numbers perspective, the return on investment comes from capital growth, i think the term is anyway. He’s not going to make money on an ongoing basis but if he buys a club getting x turnover a year and he is able to increase that significantly, by getting into group stages of European football then when the time comes to sell the club, that’s where he’ll make his return. Apparently very common in American owners just now.

David Low spoke about it on a podcast I listened to a while back as well.

He’s not looking to make his money from Hibs - at least not any time soon.

We are/will be a way to get players to Bournemouth where he can make money, but it’ll be far cheaper for him to get a player from a club he’s in with than it would to get them on the open market.

We’ll get good players, develop and sell - as we plan to do now but at a much higher standard. He’ll use recruitment data and systems that they use at Bournemouth to give our recruitment a leg up and we’ll benefit from that.

If we can get third consistently, we’ve a chance of second or even first if the OF have a bad season.

I’m really excited about the prospect because the whole thing is aimed at growing Hibs and making us better even if there’s another team that also benefits from the process.

[Daniel 1875]

Don't really agree with that.

Tom Farmer decided to allow fans to effectively donate cash to the club and to get shares in return for this - diluting his own holding in doing so. The rules on selling shares directly to fans were complex and so HSL was a great vehicle to allow fans to donate and to get an equivalent shareholding in a vehicle that would own shares in Hibs. I don't believe at the outset there was any great thought of needing to have a shareholding body to buy shares and represent minority shareholder interests. There was very little appetite in buying shares really, a lot of people who could do so bought direct and are very happy to do so just to own an actual bit of the club and get the certificate. Fan ownership and representation by a body like HSL I think is low down on what fans are interested in.

As I said I think on another thread it is worrying about a day that won't happen. The shareholder register is a hugely different thing now from the Mercer days, the environment is different, our ownership have been been clear on their intentions and also what type of buyer they would sell to. Ownership has been secure for decades.

The low take up of HSL tells a story - I think it was a mistake to stop donations to the club and really entrench back to being a vehicle that just wants to own shares at a future point. There's little interest in it really and it closed off an avenue that if it had ben done in a better way, could have provided some additional income in the same way as Hearts and Aberdeen get.

We aren't a listed entity with a mixed share register, we aren't at any particular risk of asset stripping, we have a very healthy fan owned percentage when looking at direct holdings and I think growing HSL is way down the list of things anyone should be worried about. I actually think if we do want to be able to grow and have our owners invest in us, we need to allow them the flexibility to structure their ownership in their favour as Ron did.

I’d argue the many, many fans who contribute monthly would suggest there is far more interest than you’re giving credit for.

You talk about preparing for a day that ‘won’t ever happen’ - how do you know that? While it may not happen under the current majority ownership, who’s to say what happens with the next majority owner, or the one after that?

Who’s to say that we’ll continue to find individuals willing to invest and risk their own wealth in a Scottish football club? Should we rely on a rich individual or collective to keep us going for the next 10/20/50 years or should we organise as a support to be ready for any eventuality?

While the shareholder register may be different now to the Mercer days, there is nearly 10% of the club owned by anonymous ‘nominees’ - which isn’t allowed at Companies House and yet has been the case at Hibs for years.

You mention the % of shares in the hands of fans - while that is true, do you not agree a collective ownership of 15.4% contributed heavily to this? Therefore if there’s a share issue tomorrow, you don’t agree it’s in the interest of the fans that we are well-placed to retain that level of shareholding, and therefore continue to have a strong level of shares held by supporters?

We have taken explicit instruction from our last two AGMs to stay true to the purpose of Hibernian Supporters - we’re a shareholding organisation acting on behalf of members, not a donation tool to hand money to the club month after month.

If fans want to simply donate money to the club they can do, but Hibernian Supporters isn’t the vehicle to do that. We answered the desire from members to create a platform to support the club financially during the Covid pandemic - and did so with huge backing from fans - but that was a one-off response to a very specific set of circumstances and isn’t what the organisation was ever set up to do.

[bingo70]

He’s not looking to make his money from Hibs - at least not any time soon.

We are/will be a way to get players to Bournemouth where he can make money, but it’ll be far cheaper for him to get a player from a club he’s in with than it would to get them on the open market.

We’ll get good players, develop and sell - as we plan to do now but at a much higher standard. He’ll use recruitment data and systems that they use at Bournemouth to give our recruitment a leg up and we’ll benefit from that.

If we can get third consistently, we’ve a chance of second or even first if the OF have a bad season.

I’m really excited about the prospect because the whole thing is aimed at growing Hibs and making us better even if there’s another team that also benefits from the process.

I’m excited too, it would be in everyone’s interest for us to be good and I do think relatively talking he could make a significant difference here for the price of a reserve full back down south.

One thing I’m not sure of though is why it would be cheaper for him to buy a player from one of his own clubs. Unless we’re bringing that player through then surely we’d just be paying the fee as we wouldn’t be buying from within the multi club structure?

[Aldo]

You never know with those things but the bedwetting disguised as scorn over on Kickback makes me feel pretty damn positive

They are scrambling about looking for every negative going. The FFP popped up again but they don’t realise this doesn’t apply in Scotland.

Fan Owned club is definitely the way ahead. Well that’s what they are telling themselves anyway!

[Dublin07]

I think buying a player from his own club would be hibs buying a player with huge potential for say £1m then selling him to Bournemouth for £5m when they would normally pay £20m for the same level of player. Hibs get a profit and benefit from the player like we did with mcginn. Bournemouth get a bargain and hibs continue to grow.

[matty_f]

I’m excited too, it would be in everyone’s interest for us to be good and I do think relatively talking he could make a significant difference here for the price of a reserve full back down south.

One thing I’m not sure of though is why it would be cheaper for him to buy a player from one of his own clubs. Unless we’re bringing that player through then surely we’d just be paying the fee as we wouldn’t be buying from within the multi club structure?

Because we get them earlier, so Bournemouth aren’t paying to develop him and then when he’s EPL ready, he moves at a lower price than if he’s not come through the group of clubs.

Say we get someone like Jota at Celtic, they picked him up at a price they could afford (and we might afford with investment). Celtic develop him and sell him for £25m

While he’s developing he’s not good enough for Bournemouth, but they might have bought him from Celtic at the time they sold him because he’s ready to play EPL, but not at £25m.

If he’s at Hibs, they can buy him for much less.

[Bridge hibs]

They are scrambling about looking for every negative going. The FFP popped up again but they don’t realise this doesn’t apply in Scotland.

Fan Owned club is definitely the way ahead. Well that’s what they are telling themselves anyway!The watery farts have the cheek to laugh at anyones finances, ****ing bitter charity thieves 🤣

[matty_f]

I think buying a player from his own club would be hibs buying a player with huge potential for say £1m then selling him to Bournemouth for £5m when they would normally pay £20m for the same level of player. Hibs get a profit and benefit from the player like we did with mcginn. Bournemouth get a bargain and hibs continue to grow.

Yeah, that’s what i meant :greengrin

[Pagan Hibernia]

I’d argue the many, many fans who contribute monthly would suggest there is far more interest than you’re giving credit for.

You talk about preparing for a day that ‘won’t ever happen’ - how do you know that? While it may not happen under the current majority ownership, who’s to say what happens with the next majority owner, or the one after that?

Who’s to say that we’ll continue to find individuals willing to invest and risk their own wealth in a Scottish football club? Should we rely on a rich individual or collective to keep us going for the next 10/20/50 years or should we organise as a support to be ready for any eventuality?

While the shareholder register may be different now to the Mercer days, there is nearly 10% of the club owned by anonymous ‘nominees’ - which isn’t allowed at Companies House and yet has been the case at Hibs for years.

You mention the % of shares in the hands of fans - while that is true, do you not agree a collective ownership of 15.4% contributed heavily to this? Therefore if there’s a share issue tomorrow, you don’t agree it’s in the interest of the fans that we are well-placed to retain that level of shareholding, and therefore continue to have a strong level of shares held by supporters?

We have taken explicit instruction from our last two AGMs to stay true to the purpose of Hibernian Supporters - we’re a shareholding organisation acting on behalf of members, not a donation tool to hand money to the club month after month.

If fans want to simply donate money to the club they can do, but Hibernian Supporters isn’t the vehicle to do that. We answered the desire from members to create a platform to support the club financially during the Covid pandemic - and did so with huge backing from fans - but that was a one-off response to a very specific set of circumstances and isn’t what the organisation was ever set up to do.

:top marks

Personally, I wouldn't have joined HSL if it wasn't for the motive of a collective supporters shareholding. Money going to the club was a bonus but make no mistake, it was the shares I was interested in.

Worth mentioning that while it's true that progress was at times pain stakingly slow... things were not helped by a ridiculous, malicious campaign against it from the start by a group of supposedly hibs supporting liars and wasters. It got off to the worst possible start. Despite that, I am very proud of what was achieved and hope it continues to progress in the future.

[CapitalGreen]

The reason a Scottish club would be attractive to a multi-club model with an English team at the top is our favourable work permit rules compared to England.

Using Dylan Vente as an example. There were a number of English Championship sides interested in him during the summer but he was ineligible for a work permit under the English FA’s strict rules. This opened the door for Hibs to sign him as SFA rules around Work Permits are much more favourable.

Since Brexit, English clubs have been prevented from signing young European talent unless they are exceptional players who have managed to build up enough points in their early careers to receive a work permit.

Hibs would essentially become a UK entry point for players into the multi-club model. The idea is players would gain enough WP points in Scotland to then move to the English market for a sizeable profit or if they are Premier League standard, Bournemouth.

You might ask why Bournemouth don’t just sign the players themselves and loan them out to other clubs until they are eligible for a work permit? While this is what clubs like Chelsea and Man City have done in the past, new FIFA rules have been brought in to reduce the number of outgoing international loans a club can have.

[greenpaper55]

The best Hibs team I have ever seen was bankrolled by the millionaire Tom Hart, worked well back then.

[chippy]

Look at Hearts turnover when you consider the donations from FOH and Anderson each season compared to ours and look how far they are from Celtic and Rangers. Of course there’s the argument they’re getting it all wrong, but it would take a budget that would even dwarf theirs to be able to challenge the Old Firm.

I honestly think £20m extra a season would be good enough to almost guarantee third and probably leave us closer to Rangers than 4th. I still don’t think we’d genuinely challenge rangers with that though.
£20 million extra per season would allow us to sign players on wages of 20-40k per week. We’d be stuffing Rangers and challenging Celtic for sure in that fantasy

[TrinityHFC]

I’d argue the many, many fans who contribute monthly would suggest there is far more interest than you’re giving credit for.

You talk about preparing for a day that ‘won’t ever happen’ - how do you know that? While it may not happen under the current majority ownership, who’s to say what happens with the next majority owner, or the one after that?

Who’s to say that we’ll continue to find individuals willing to invest and risk their own wealth in a Scottish football club? Should we rely on a rich individual or collective to keep us going for the next 10/20/50 years or should we organise as a support to be ready for any eventuality?

While the shareholder register may be different now to the Mercer days, there is nearly 10% of the club owned by anonymous ‘nominees’ - which isn’t allowed at Companies House and yet has been the case at Hibs for years.

You mention the % of shares in the hands of fans - while that is true, do you not agree a collective ownership of 15.4% contributed heavily to this? Therefore if there’s a share issue tomorrow, you don’t agree it’s in the interest of the fans that we are well-placed to retain that level of shareholding, and therefore continue to have a strong level of shares held by supporters?

We have taken explicit instruction from our last two AGMs to stay true to the purpose of Hibernian Supporters - we’re a shareholding organisation acting on behalf of members, not a donation tool to hand money to the club month after month.

If fans want to simply donate money to the club they can do, but Hibernian Supporters isn’t the vehicle to do that. We answered the desire from members to create a platform to support the club financially during the Covid pandemic - and did so with huge backing from fans - but that was a one-off response to a very specific set of circumstances and isn’t what the organisation was ever set up to do.


The interest in HSL is very limited compared with other clubs schemes. It has been a fairly confused vehicle since inception, despite the good work and intentions of those involved.

I agree that the current membership appears to be behind the current model which is to take in money to fund potential share purchases. I very much disagree that this is something that is needed or sensible. That cash will only ever got to current or future owners it isn't the same as when Sir Tom was giving up his shares with the cash going to the clubs, not him.

I also disagree that we need to worry about our share register. We have a healthy enough holding - it doesn't need to be combined in any one body and you can see with Hearts that these bodies just become another committee with a lot of faffing and little they can really do.

The nominee holdings has been talked about for years and is a total red herring. Fans with a bit of cash and other investments will have utilised these to buy their shares at the time they could. There's virtually no plausible way that anyone with with nefarious purposes would be holding those shares. What do you mean that nominee holdings aren't allowed?

I understand there is part of support that care about building this up - as I said i think that focus could and should have been on how we could financially support the club rather than this.

[TrinityHFC]

£20 million extra per season would allow us to sign players on wages of 20-40k per week. We’d be stuffing Rangers and challenging Celtic for sure in that fantasy

Are you aware of the size of the Old Firm wage bill and then transfer spending on top of this? £20m per year doesn't buy you dominance over either of them unfortunately.

[Daniel 1875]

The interest in HSL is very limited compared with other clubs schemes. It has been a fairly confused vehicle since inception, despite the good work and intentions of those involved.

I agree that the current membership appears to be behind the current model which is to take in money to fund potential share purchases. I very much disagree that this is something that is needed or sensible. That cash will only ever got to current or future owners it isn't the same as when Sir Tom was giving up his shares with the cash going to the clubs, not him.

I also disagree that we need to worry about our share register. We have a healthy enough holding - it doesn't need to be combined in any one body and you can see with Hearts that these bodies just become another committee with a lot of faffing and little they can really do.

The nominee holdings has been talked about for years and is a total red herring. Fans with a bit of cash and other investments will have utilised these to buy their shares at the time they could. There's virtually no plausible way that anyone with with nefarious purposes would be holding those shares. What do you mean that nominee holdings aren't allowed?

I understand there is part of support that care about building this up - as I said i think that focus could and should have been on how we could financially support the club rather than this.

In reality we will never see the likes again of a majority owner who is willing to sell shares to fans while also allowing that money to go straight to the football club. It’s an arrangement which, regrettably, wasn’t taken advantage of due to a number of ill-advised campaigns against it at the time.

On the nominee shareholders - these organisations don’t exist with companies house. They are made up names which mean nothing and can’t be traced. Collectively, they also own more shares than one individual was supposed to be allowed to buy during the share issue.

[chippy]

I’d argue the many, many fans who contribute monthly would suggest there is far more interest than you’re giving credit for.

You talk about preparing for a day that ‘won’t ever happen’ - how do you know that? While it may not happen under the current majority ownership, who’s to say what happens with the next majority owner, or the one after that?

Who’s to say that we’ll continue to find individuals willing to invest and risk their own wealth in a Scottish football club? Should we rely on a rich individual or collective to keep us going for the next 10/20/50 years or should we organise as a support to be ready for any eventuality?

While the shareholder register may be different now to the Mercer days, there is nearly 10% of the club owned by anonymous ‘nominees’ - which isn’t allowed at Companies House and yet has been the case at Hibs for years.

You mention the % of shares in the hands of fans - while that is true, do you not agree a collective ownership of 15.4% contributed heavily to this? Therefore if there’s a share issue tomorrow, you don’t agree it’s in the interest of the fans that we are well-placed to retain that level of shareholding, and therefore continue to have a strong level of shares held by supporters?

We have taken explicit instruction from our last two AGMs to stay true to the purpose of Hibernian Supporters - we’re a shareholding organisation acting on behalf of members, not a donation tool to hand money to the club month after month.

If fans want to simply donate money to the club they can do, but Hibernian Supporters isn’t the vehicle to do that. We answered the desire from members to create a platform to support the club financially during the Covid pandemic - and did so with huge backing from fans - but that was a one-off response to a very specific set of circumstances and isn’t what the organisation was ever set up to do.
Very well put Daniel

[NAE NOOKIE]

From the wee bit I heard last night this guy's take on it was Hibs are a club who can be made competitive at the top end of their league and regular European participants for a fraction of the investment it would take to get an EFL club to the same position.

The reason a billionaire should invest in Hibs I've been giving on here for years and been laughed at for ..... so :na na:

[Spike Mandela]

Could this story be like transfer speculation whereby link to Hibs is reported relatively vaguely thus bringing other clubs into it tryimg to court his investment or do you think this will be quite far down the road with Hibs?

[nonshinyfinish]

They are scrambling about looking for every negative going. The FFP popped up again but they don’t realise this doesn’t apply in Scotland.

Fan Owned club is definitely the way ahead. Well that’s what they are telling themselves anyway!

There's no FFP in the Scottish league, but UEFA's FFP absolutely does apply if you want to play in UEFA competitions.

[Glasgowhibby95]

I’d argue the many, many fans who contribute monthly would suggest there is far more interest than you’re giving credit for.

You talk about preparing for a day that ‘won’t ever happen’ - how do you know that? While it may not happen under the current majority ownership, who’s to say what happens with the next majority owner, or the one after that?

Who’s to say that we’ll continue to find individuals willing to invest and risk their own wealth in a Scottish football club? Should we rely on a rich individual or collective to keep us going for the next 10/20/50 years or should we organise as a support to be ready for any eventuality?

While the shareholder register may be different now to the Mercer days, there is nearly 10% of the club owned by anonymous ‘nominees’ - which isn’t allowed at Companies House and yet has been the case at Hibs for years.

You mention the % of shares in the hands of fans - while that is true, do you not agree a collective ownership of 15.4% contributed heavily to this? Therefore if there’s a share issue tomorrow, you don’t agree it’s in the interest of the fans that we are well-placed to retain that level of shareholding, and therefore continue to have a strong level of shares held by supporters?

We have taken explicit instruction from our last two AGMs to stay true to the purpose of Hibernian Supporters - we’re a shareholding organisation acting on behalf of members, not a donation tool to hand money to the club month after month.

If fans want to simply donate money to the club they can do, but Hibernian Supporters isn’t the vehicle to do that. We answered the desire from members to create a platform to support the club financially during the Covid pandemic - and did so with huge backing from fans - but that was a one-off response to a very specific set of circumstances and isn’t what the organisation was ever set up to do.

Excuse me for going a little off topic but there is a way of finding out how much funds Hibernian Supporters currently have accumulated?

[WhileTheChief..]

Just to clarify, Hibernian Supporters hasn’t ‘positioned’ as being a vehicle to build up a shareholding - it’s what Hibernian Supporters is and has always been about.

The express aim is to obtain 25.1% of the shares in the club - if shares aren’t available now then we need to be in a position to move towards this as and when they are. Now, next week or next year.

It’s about the long term future of our club, and safeguarding that long term future for the people who matter most - the fans.

Fans worked incredibly hard to obtain a 20% share of the club of behalf of the support, in order to ensure the club is run in the interests of its supporters. Due to circumstances outwith our control last time there was a significant change to the ownership structure we were diluted to the 15.4% we currently hold.

We continue to receive significant support from fans who share the view that a collective holding of 25.1% is of benefit to the club and the supporters.

There was always the danger that HSL owning that much of the club would deter future investors.

Remember, a lot of Hibs fans don’t want fan ownership at all.

If HSLs shareholding is diluted due to serious money money going into the club then so be it.

[Aldo]

There's no FFP in the Scottish league, but UEFA's FFP absolutely does apply if you want to play in UEFA competitions.

Cheers for that NSF

[Stubbsy90+2]

£20 million extra per season would allow us to sign players on wages of 20-40k per week. We’d be stuffing Rangers and challenging Celtic for sure in that fantasy

£20-£40k a week players come with millions of pounds of transfer fees and huge signing on fees.

You could sign 4 players for £3m and give them £40k a week. That wouldn’t be enough to get our side challenging either of the Old Firm.

[Daniel 1875]

Excuse me for going a little off topic but there is a way of finding out how much funds Hibernian Supporters currently have accumulated?

Unable to share that on a public forum but members will be updated in person and via email at our next AGM

[Daniel 1875]

There was always the danger that HSL owning that much of the club would deter future investors.

Remember, a lot of Hibs fans don’t want fan ownership at all.

If HSLs shareholding is diluted due to serious money money going into the club then so be it.

There is, but you’d only be putting off someone who viewed not having carte blanche on all aspects of the club (including any special resolutions that require a 75% + vote).

If reports are to be believed then the latest investor isn’t being put off by coming in underneath a shareholder who owns 67% of the shares, so unsure how having 25.1% would prevent any others of a similar view.

[erin go bragh]

£20-£40k a week players come with millions of pounds of transfer fees and huge signing on fees.

You could sign 4 players for £3m and give them £40k a week. That wouldn’t be enough to get our side challenging either of the Old Firm.
No so sure about that as adding 4 superstars to our squad would have us at least challenging Rangers for 2nd imo.

[USA_Hibee]

Exciting times potentially. Wonder if this will actually happen though.. If it is in the media already I wonder if it is close to happening?

As mentioned before it makes sense (to me) to invest in a Scottish team. If you can invest a bit of money to make a firm 3rd force in Scotland that near guarantees group stage football each year it makes sense. Also it would cost a tiny amount compared to trying to do this in the EPL.

[Greencore]

Don't think anything will happen until the sfa relax rules.

[coldingham hibs]

Exciting times potentially. Wonder if this will actually happen though.. If it is in the media already I wonder if it is close to happening?

As mentioned before it makes sense (to me) to invest in a Scottish team. If you can invest a bit of money to make a firm 3rd force in Scotland that near guarantees group stage football each year it makes sense. Also it would cost a tiny amount compared to trying to do this in the EPL.

Anyone who thinks a bit investment will guarantee 3rd spot YoY is living in cloud cuckoo land. We are currently in a better financial position than plenty other teams but cannot outperform them. Also, any investment Hibs receive will end up being matched or bettered by Hearts & Aberdeen funders. The investment required would need to be huge and almost match Rangers & Celtic for us to have any hope of sustaining or achieving 3rd spot.

[Islington Hibs]

From the wee bit I heard last night this guy's take on it was Hibs are a club who can be made competitive at the top end of their league and regular European participants for a fraction of the investment it would take to get an EFL club to the same position.

The reason a billionaire should invest in Hibs I've been giving on here for years and been laughed at for ..... so :na na:


I agree. The Gordon's got Hibs for a snip and good luck to them.

There are only four and half clubs in Scotland with any potential. Celtic and Rangers obviously but they come with baggage, Hibs and dare I say Hearts and up to a point Aberdeen, but Aberdeen is less appealing as Edinburgh is a world class city and Aberdeen has a smaller catchment area. The others, and that is not to demean them at all, simply do not have the population base, facilities or underlying support to challenge consistently.

On the face of it Scottish football is dull - small market dominated by Glasgow but there is a strong interest in the game and the European window is massive. Frankly if you are a billionaire it is small change for a genuine window in Europe each year. The owner may not make money out of that but it greatly increases the value of the club. Compared with England the price is tiny. Everton (bigger than us I accept but without the European opportunity regularly at least) sold for £500m I think!!

Hibs have a great stadium, structure and history with arguably more scope to expand than Hearts. Hibs has also demonstrated a decent base support and a surprisingly large latent support. In the right circumstance I think Hibs could be capable of over 20k a week and possibly quite a bit more which is as good as many EPL sides. To my surprise interest is far higher than I would have believed 10 years ago.

There are a couple of problems however - money does not necessarily buy success - unless it is so much you can simply buy the best - but that won't happen. Even an extra £10m a year, which seems way more than is likely, might not guarantee 3rd spot. Culture and leadership are equally important obviously.

The other problem is its a dynamic situation. This will force our close rivals to look at similar deals which ups the anti further. There is also the issue that I would prefer clubs were organic rather than plastic (Man C or similar) but that is unrealistic. Its now big brand business, albeit a strange one and not a grass roots game.

So I can see why the club is attractive and why it even possibly makes business sense but unless its a lot of money the benefit may not be as great as we hope. That said seems good to me.

[chippy]

£20-£40k a week players come with millions of pounds of transfer fees and huge signing on fees.

You could sign 4 players for £3m and give them £40k a week. That wouldn’t be enough to get our side challenging either of the Old Firm.

Fair enough but **** and Celtic sign many of their players on frees. Do we reckon Rangers pay 20k per week to anyone , Celtic might for few but I’d guess most of there wages are 10-15k

[USA_Hibee]

Anyone who thinks a bit investment will guarantee 3rd spot YoY is living in cloud cuckoo land. We are currently in a better financial position than plenty other teams but cannot outperform them. Also, any investment Hibs receive will end up being matched or bettered by Hearts & Aberdeen funders. The investment required would need to be huge and almost match Rangers & Celtic for us to have any hope of sustaining or achieving 3rd spot.

When I said 'near guarantee' I was more meaning that the team would obviously not finish 3rd always.

I get what you say about the Hearts and Aberdeen's funders but why wouldn't they be doing this now? I'm not sure a big investment in Hibs would spur them to invest more.

Probably wont happen though :greengrin

[Phil MaGlass]

If this does happen at Hibs then it will happen with other Scottish clubs aswell, at the same time maybe making Scottish fitba a more attractive package for tv companies.

[GloryGlory]

Don't think anything will happen until the sfa relax rules.

The investment - at least initially - is for a minority stake, which isn't against the rules. The SFA is looking at the rules on one individual owning more than one club.

[ScottB]

I’m not sure I follow the argument that buying a club like Hibs is an easy route to Europe, in the sense of that being a good investment with some sort of return.

I mean, yes, it’d be relatively small beans to finish 3rd / 4th and get into the qualifiers, but beyond that? Look how Celtic and Rangers fair in Group Stages now, so when you say Europe, at best it’ll be a relatively unspectacular group stage campaign at the very best, unless this new owner is going to put down some serious cash, and even then, how much is the group stage of the League / Conference worth? Couple million? There’s just no realistic return on investment to be had, even from European football. It’s the Premier League that makes bank.

Case in point, todays Athletic podcast noted how little interest these rich types have in the Spanish league, if ‘being in Europe’ was a desirable investment goal, these guys could snap up a Valencia easily enough and have a much better platform to be in regular European football, but there’s just no interest in it.

[hibbydog]

I agree. The Gordon's got Hibs for a snip and good luck to them.

There are only four and half clubs in Scotland with any potential. Celtic and Rangers obviously but they come with baggage, Hibs and dare I say Hearts and up to a point Aberdeen, but Aberdeen is less appealing as Edinburgh is a world class city and Aberdeen has a smaller catchment area. The others, and that is not to demean them at all, simply do not have the population base, facilities or underlying support to challenge consistently.

On the face of it Scottish football is dull - small market dominated by Glasgow but there is a strong interest in the game and the European window is massive. Frankly if you are a billionaire it is small change for a genuine window in Europe each year. The owner may not make money out of that but it greatly increases the value of the club. Compared with England the price is tiny. Everton (bigger than us I accept but without the European opportunity regularly at least) sold for £500m I think!!

Hibs have a great stadium, structure and history with arguably more scope to expand than Hearts. Hibs has also demonstrated a decent base support and a surprisingly large latent support. In the right circumstance I think Hibs could be capable of over 20k a week and possibly quite a bit more which is as good as many EPL sides. To my surprise interest is far higher than I would have believed 10 years ago.

There are a couple of problems however - money does not necessarily buy success - unless it is so much you can simply buy the best - but that won't happen. Even an extra £10m a year, which seems way more than is likely, might not guarantee 3rd spot. Culture and leadership are equally important obviously.

The other problem is its a dynamic situation. This will force our close rivals to look at similar deals which ups the anti further. There is also the issue that I would prefer clubs were organic rather than plastic (Man C or similar) but that is unrealistic. Its now big brand business, albeit a strange one and not a grass roots game.

So I can see why the club is attractive and why it even possibly makes business sense but unless its a lot of money the benefit may not be as great as we hope. That said seems good to me.

Well balanced post.

[Hibernian Verse]

Fair enough but **** and Celtic sign many of their players on frees. Do we reckon Rangers pay 20k per week to anyone , Celtic might for few but I’d guess most of there wages are 10-15k

Rangers wage bill is £54.8m a year, Celtic's is £59m. There are 100% players on well over 20k a week.

[NAE NOOKIE]

What is being talked about here is making Hibs a consistent 3rd force, nobody is making wild claims about challenging the Uglies.

What you are looking to improve on is a club who have finished 3rd only 5 times since the SPL / Scottish premiership was founded not far off 50 years ago. A club who win a major trophy on average once every 15 years.

Never mind challenging the Uglies for the league Imagine a club who can win a Scottish cup and a League cup once each every decade, that would be a huge improvement on our current average.

Imagine 3rd once every 2 or 3 years instead of once every 10 years.

Imagine group stage European football .. easier to achieve than it's ever been and yet something we have never done.

There's folk citing billionaires pumping cash into clubs in leagues where that club is up against similarly or better financed clubs and saying that shows doing the same at Hibs might not work. For obvious reasons that's comparing apples with oranges. If you could raise Hibs spending power to about 20 million a year .. an absolute pittance to folk running clubs in the big 5 leagues .. you would need to have absolute morons running the club for it not to significantly improve on it's historic record, not only in the league, but in the cups too.

Hell, even if the input from this guy leaves us with a full sized indoor training facility and the stadium finished it will be a gain.

[Ozyhibby]

But the coaching, recruitment and set up are the hard bits. If we get those done correctly now we should secure 3rd no bother. We already have a top stadium and training facilities and a decent player budget.

The guy is mega rich but a look around England and across Europe shows plenty of clubs failing badly despite being owned by guys with huge wealth.

I know I'm flogging a dead horse on this thread but there is no serious money to be made in Scottish football and I just can't fathom a billionaire with no connection to us investing for altruistic reasons.

I'm definitely wary hear until we hear a lot more about their plans and strategy for the club.

What was his connection to Vegas? And he has delivered them a Stanley Cup.


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[Glory Lurker]

I don't want Hibs to be in a group, particularly if we're down the pecking order of it. If that's where this goes I'll feel that a lot of the club I have loved all my life has gone. Let's see what happens, I just hope it's not that.

[Stubbsy90+2]

Rangers wage bill is £54.8m a year, Celtic's is £59m. There are 100% players on well over 20k a week.

I’m sure I remember hearing Brown was on about £40k and that was a few years ago.

I’d suspect there’ll be Celtic players touching £50k like Kyogo, Carter Vickers, Joe Hart, McGregor. Wouldn’t be surprised if the likes of Cantwell, Danilo, Butland, Tavernier are on £30-£40k at Rangers either.

[Ozyhibby]

I don't want Hibs to be in a group, particularly if we're down the pecking order of it. If that's where this goes I'll feel that a lot of the club I have loved all my life has gone. Let's see what happens, I just hope it's not that.

I think if it’s this guy then it’s too late. We will be part of a group. And we won’t be the last Scottish team to go this way.


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[He's here!]

What is being talked about here is making Hibs a consistent 3rd force, nobody is making wild claims about challenging the Uglies.

What you are looking to improve on is a club who have finished 3rd only 5 times since the SPL / Scottish premiership was founded not far off 50 years ago. A club who win a major trophy on average once every 15 years.

Never mind challenging the Uglies for the league Imagine a club who can win a Scottish cup and a League cup once each every decade, that would be a huge improvement on our current average.

Imagine 3rd once every 2 or 3 years instead of once every 10 years.

Imagine group stage European football .. easier to achieve than it's ever been and yet something we have never done.

There's folk citing billionaires pumping cash into clubs in leagues where that club is up against similarly or better financed clubs and saying that shows doing the same at Hibs might not work. For obvious reasons that's comparing apples with oranges. If you could raise Hibs spending power to about 20 million a year .. an absolute pittance to folk running clubs in the big 5 leagues .. you would need to have absolute morons running the club for it not to significantly improve on it's historic record, not only in the league, but in the cups too.

Hell, even if the input from this guy leaves us with a full sized indoor training facility and the stadium finished it will be a gain.

Agreed. I think what Foley's saying makes a lot of sense. I'm quietly excited by this.

[SickBoy32]

I don't want Hibs to be in a group, particularly if we're down the pecking order of it. If that's where this goes I'll feel that a lot of the club I have loved all my life has gone. Let's see what happens, I just hope it's not that.

Totally agree, soulless nonsense - and would be a real turn off from the club IMO. Hibs are currently (in my eyes anyway) one of the last bastions of the traditional game, as are most Scottish clubs - the EPL / Champions League / City Group etc are just a truly awful concept, all geared towards making rich guys richer.

Let's hope and pray this doesn't come to fruition

[WhileTheChief..]

From the wee bit I heard last night this guy's take on it was Hibs are a club who can be made competitive at the top end of their league and regular European participants for a fraction of the investment it would take to get an EFL club to the same position.

The reason a billionaire should invest in Hibs I've been giving on here for years and been laughed at for ..... so :na na:

Yup, exactly right.

We're finally gonna get what we've been dreaming about for years. I for one will embrace it, no room for doom and gloom on this topic!!

[Lago]

From the wee bit I heard last night this guy's take on it was Hibs are a club who can be made competitive at the top end of their league and regular European participants for a fraction of the investment it would take to get an EFL club to the same position.

The reason a billionaire should invest in Hibs I've been giving on here for years and been laughed at for ..... so :na na:
I've never laughed :cb

[Gmack7]

When Foley fills in the corners what will our capacity be? 27/28K? Canny wait 👍

[Stairway 2 7]

Yup, exactly right.

We're finally gonna get what we've been dreaming about for years. I for one will embrace it, no room for doom and gloom on this topic!!

If we finish 3rd regularly then the few put off will be replaced in the stands by people more who are wanting to see it.

Plus it's not like Newcastle going with the Saudi government its an older American and a Hollywood actor ha

[Aldo]

When Foley fills in the corners what will our capacity be? 27/28K? Canny wait [emoji106]

I’ll not be happy until we have a
Helipad

[SaulGoodman]

Don’t care who our owners are or what group we are part of or who is putting money into the club if it means we win games and do well.

[Renfrew_Hibby]

www.bbc.com/sport/football/67143889.amp

Something similar to this would be good imo

[Tyler Durden]

I’m not sure I follow the argument that buying a club like Hibs is an easy route to Europe, in the sense of that being a good investment with some sort of return.

I mean, yes, it’d be relatively small beans to finish 3rd / 4th and get into the qualifiers, but beyond that? Look how Celtic and Rangers fair in Group Stages now, so when you say Europe, at best it’ll be a relatively unspectacular group stage campaign at the very best, unless this new owner is going to put down some serious cash, and even then, how much is the group stage of the League / Conference worth? Couple million? There’s just no realistic return on investment to be had, even from European football. It’s the Premier League that makes bank.

Case in point, todays Athletic podcast noted how little interest these rich types have in the Spanish league, if ‘being in Europe’ was a desirable investment goal, these guys could snap up a Valencia easily enough and have a much better platform to be in regular European football, but there’s just no interest in it.

It's not about "return on investment" in that sense. The perceived value would be us blooding players in a competitive league and Europe, which the group then own/develop/trade.

The regular European involvement would mean the owners wash their face investment wise. It would keep the club ticking over without making big losses.

[ScottB]

It's not about "return on investment" in that sense. The perceived value would be us blooding players in a competitive league and Europe, which the group then own/develop/trade.

The regular European involvement would mean the owners wash their face investment wise. It would keep the club ticking over without making big losses.

Depends what investment is required if the goal is Hibs being a fixture in group stage football each year. If the prize / TV money from that is, say, somewhere between £2 and £5 million, is that amount invested into our current budget enough to make that a likely prospect? Assuming we’re well run (Hearts have had a budget noticeably bigger than that for years now), even then, I suspect the owner would have to be putting in more money than that for this goal.

Blooding players… possibly. I think there’s a market out there that we see, for example, City and Chelsea work in, where they are producing lots of youngsters that then get sold to smaller clubs in the Prem, Championship etc; basically guys they know aren’t going to make it with them, get sent out on loan to put them in the window etc. the ones that are potentially good enough for them aren’t likely to be sent up here. I’m not sure what sort of academy Bournemouth have / want to have, but I’m guessing it’s not at the scale where they’d be doing something similar.

The point another poster made about getting signings a work permit via playing in Scotland might be the more likely case for us…

[HoboHarry]

It's not about "return on investment" in that sense. The perceived value would be us blooding players in a competitive league and Europe, which the group then own/develop/trade.

The regular European involvement would mean the owners wash their face investment wise. It would keep the club ticking over without making big losses.
If that is all true (and I'm not arguing against it) then he could have gone for Sevco no? They are broke and relatively speaking he would get them for little output and he would have a bigger fanbase and platform to work with. That he hasn't does (I hope) mean they are still a financial basket case and that their accounts are a train wreck.

[McD]

Work permits are a solid reason to invest in us, as the owner of an EPL club. There’s also the opportunity to let players settle into the culture, climate, language, training?, etc


From a Hibs perspective, if we’re bringing in (firstly) a better standard of player, but there’s also the situation at the other end of that equation, players in the group who aren’t maybe not quite going to cut it at EPL level, could we be in pole position to acquire high level players for our level? Would the additional income from this guy, or earnings, also put us in a better place to resist rangers or Celtic from trying to poach our players?

[Kato]

If that is all true (and I'm not arguing against it) then he could have gone for Sevco no? They are broke and relatively speaking he would get them for little output and he would have a bigger fanbase and platform to work with. That he hasn't does (I hope) mean they are still a financial basket case and that their accounts are a train wreck.Maybe he did his due diligence, looked at the set-up and culture and thought, "perhaps not."

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