Plastic Hawk wrote:
It doesn't follow if you assume JB is the disreputable businessman that he's painted as and that he'd be selling the freehold for a pittance. If you take him at his word and assume that he's got the best interests of the club at heart then he will sell the freehold (for a fair price, not a pittance) to someone he thinks has the best interests of the club at heart. Even if you don't assume that, then (as he won't live forever) at some point the market value of the land will become more valuable to him than the accumulated rents for the rest of his life. At that point it'll be in his interest to sell the land at a fair price.
The comment about disreputable businessmen lining up to get their snouts in the trough was slightly flippant, but it is undeniable that JB makes money out of the club year-on-year. Personally I do think that he's worth it, but that's not really relevant to the argument. If he makes £350k a year then a new investor could make back his money on the club and the ground in, say, 20 years and then sell the club (and ground) on for a clear profit. Is that any different from any other landlord?
Who's painting JB as a 'disreputable businessman'? Not me! Being charitable, JB is an opportunist who took on Walsall FC out of a desire to see the club prosper whilst simultaneously guaranteeing a tidy income for himself as long as the club stayed afloat. Whether this scenario should have been allowed to happen to a club which had just sold its ground for £4.5 million is a whole other discussion.
Nevertheless, JB now finds himself a very wealthy man because of his shrewd business acumen/good fortune in buying the Bescot freehold. And with retirement on the horizon this assessment of what is in 'the best interests of the club' is crucial. Selling on the freehold to the highest bidder is manifestly NOT in the best interests of Walsall FC - it is in the best interests of Jeff Bonser. Making the freehold a gift to the club would simultaneously thank the club (and us supporters of course) for making him a millionaire AND put the club on a sound financial footing for the future with an extra £350,000 freed up in the budget each year.
If he does this I'll have nothing but respect for the man. If he chooses to grab one last big payday I'm afraid one can only conclude that his time in charge has always been about Jeff Bonser first and Walsall FC second. And those who see Uncle Jeff as the club's knight in shining armour will be left to defend a man who will have taken much more from the club than he has given.