The club officially up for sale on pools website now

https://www.hartlepoolunited.co.uk/news ... portunity/

At the very least this ought to mean that the real state of the club's finances will get into the public domain.

So the plan to slowly move towards fan ownership was just a distraction while they tried to sell it?
I don't blame them for trying to get something back after they saved the club, albeit in their own interests. If Pam goes it would be hard to say a bad word about her, she got her hand bitten off like the rest of us and tried her best.

now this news has broken maybe I can explain why its so worrying. OK so Pools are up for sale but what would a would be buyer getting?

It is widely reported that the club are £1.5m in debt, but at least half of this debt is a combination of fraud fby Gary Coxall and poor business strategy by sage for loaning Coxall money for the mill house master plan. On top of that there are the numerous claims against Pools from Coxall ranging from introductory fees, solicitor charges, management fees etc. Are Pools responsible for this? Any of it? I suggest not. Yet it will all be in the sale price no doubt.

So ask yourselves who in their right mind would buy a football club in debt, with all of these extra over fees and costs that frankly have nothing to do with Pools or football. I have no doubt that the new owner would be left with the liability of resolving the Coxall invoicesand charges too.

There are those out there still claiming Pam and Co are great, and that it was this place that casued Coxall to leave when he had done nothing wrong so unless they quickly open their eyes to reality there will be club left.

Sage and Pam are just a culpible as Coxall.

I thought pam was brought in as a troubleshooter after the cash leaked......seems unfair to blame her for the fook up.

just to clarify. I wasnt blaming her but her and Sage are culpible to an extent. Can I also just say when Coxall left there were plenty defending him, and I believe a few still are. As I tried to explain, any buyer has a right to know how much of the debt is football club related, and how much is down to criminal behaviour from Coxberg.

She isnt to blame, but like the manager, that she appointed, she is out of her depth. The club will continue to leaki money whilst she is in charge , making it even less attractive than it already is to a potential buyer.

No one was willing to buy us except a london based con man the last time we were for sale so why would anyone buy us now when we have 'liabilites'?

I've genuinly just seen a guy on facebook say well its a good thing because now London investors know we are for sale.

Yes im sure fleet street is fucking bouncing with this news.

DIDNT A LONDON BASED BUSINESSMAN GET US IN THIS PROBLEM IN THE BLOODY FIRST PLACE!

The thing is though that in the clubs current existence is our only hope. Fan ownership isn’t realistic with the clubs current debt. Especially as we were no longer a league club. The only way the Trust are going to take over is if the club is liquidated and we start again.

Every avenue has to be looked at because holding out for this rich sugar daddy is a long shot.

Obviously this is not the bad news some were expecting, but its hardly good news. It suggests Pam & Co are fed up and want out and for me its another step towards the inevitable.

This is starting to look like a re-run of when Darlo went tits up, it never happened overnight , it was a slow death over 5 or 6 years, they found a buyer or investors/s , consortiums or whatever you call them these days, but they bailed and another one came in, all the time things getting worse, until BOOM!

Totally Yubep, but finding one who is willing to have a supporters Trust on board is an even bigger one.

What the Trust can’t do is throw good money (which Darlo did) at bad, it’s got to be there for when the worst happens.

The only avenue is a Trust run club, not a Trust working alongside Capitalists. That will secure our future but it will probably be the end of any dreams of Championship football , title wins and FA Cup upsets as a Football League club. Our future existence will be as a National League/League 2 yo yo club.

Dont knock it, that would be some acheivement under a Trust run club

Maybe I am on the wrong track here as I have read numerous comments claiming this isnt as bad as predicted, because I think it is extremely bad news. There are three options here:
1. Someone with too much money buys the lot and all the debts. Perfect.
2. Sage find a sucker/dodgepot and sell and escape with some cash. Another coxberg situation.
3. No one is found and Sage/pam lock the door and walk away losing their money. Awful prospect.
4. Administration, relegation and the trust take over the club debt free. Possibly the best result, bar No.1 above.

I'd describe this news as shit with sugar on, its being dressed up as something positive but the reality is sage are at the end of the line and without an investor soon who knows.

With a game tomorrow and a busy christmas period the club dont want fans to stop giving money or turning up or asking questions.

The echo article goes into more detail, even mentions off field issues effecting performances, which you'd assume is wages.

Totally agree, i dont want another guy in a suit with digial money to rock up and promise us this n that, i'm sick of it, its not gunna happen.

If we have to go back to go forward then so be it, we still have a ground, something darlo never had.

Is there any truth in the rumour that players and Staff have been told they are only guaranteed their wages until the end of December?

The non replacement of the deep fat fryers at the start of the season was the clearest indication of our plight..........chipless.

Could certainly explain some of the recent performances.

Cant confirm, but this 'virus' that the squad has is a bit convenient.

Official Statement from HUST
The Trust notes the statement from HUFC this morning, which we hope brings a degree of clarity around the current financial situation at the club. While we are concerned that debt levels have continued to rise, a change of ownership presents an opportunity for supporters, and everyone who cares about the club, to assess what type of club they want going forward.
We as a Supporters Trust exist to ensure that a professional football club continues in Hartlepool. To that end as a Trust we will now look at:
• Consultation- Survey of supporters to understand what people really want. We want to unite fans of the club and understand what level of fan involvement that they want moving forward
• Financial Assessment – If a buyer cannot be found we need to explore the possibility of a Trust owned club. This would involve high level discussions around what working capital would be required to turn the club around from the current loss making business model. We would also need to explore whether the current owners would genuinely want to sell to The Trust. In May 2017 the club made an undertaking to let The Trust have sight of the financial accounts. To date this has not happened.
• Public Meeting- If The Trust ends up in a position where it has to step in we would host an immediate Public Meeting to discuss whether there is a genuine will within the fan base for this to become a reality, and what we would need to do to make it happen.

We will be having an informal Board Meeting tomorrow evening after the game, and will update further in due course

Time for people who love the club to stand up and be counted.

Option 4 isn’t quite as easy as that.

I would like to think The Trust will see a rise in membership in the next few weeks, of at least between 200-500. I think to function properly it needs 2000 members, 3000 ideally.

The situation couldn't be clearer and those dissenters need to wake up and smell the coffee, and start preparing for the doomsday scenario of the club going bust.

However this is Hartlepool and I won't be holding my breath.

I would like to think The Trust will see a rise in membership in the next few weeks, of at least between 200-500. I think to function properly it needs 2000 members, 3000 ideally.

The situation couldn't be clearer and those dissenters need to wake up and smell the coffee, and start preparing for the doomsday scenario of the club going bust.

However this is Hartlepool and I won't be holding my breath.

So basically they are saying they have run out of money half way through the season again due to poor financial management and them having to honour debts run up by Coxall.
They are desperately trying to find a buyer but make no mention of the fact that buyer will need to go through due diligence and all the checks put in place by the league which will take time. That buyer will want to see the books, the same books Pam has spent the last 6 months not being able to produce.
There is absolutely no mention of what they will do next month if they cant find a buyer, there is no mention of what was said to staff and players yesterday, which I believe was nowhere near as positive as this statement, or how they reacted. There is no confirmation that wages will be paid to the end of the season if a buyer cannot be found despite Pam telling everyone at the start of the season they had a realistic budget in place.
Unless a sugar daddy appears from nowhere I don't see how any of this could be good news. Especially when the prospect of the fans rallying behind The Trust if they were left holding the baby is nil.
Local press need to ask Pam the question- were players and staff told wages are only guaranteed for a month and if so who is going to pay them after that ?

whatever happened to the transparency pam promised ?
backtracking on the supporters trust seeing the books says it all for me
and i dont buy this poor pam poor sage twaddle either
they're saddled with the club because they wanted to make quick money out of it and it all went badly wrong
their only interest is to try and at least get some of it back
the plan is not working and this is the last throw of the dice before they cut and run
they are no charitable foundation and the claims of genuine empathy for the club the town and its people are a con

If they are skint, why don't they send the loan players back? or are we not paying their wages ? which would suggest why they are fookin shite.

Playing weakened teams and getting knocked out of both cups wouldn't of helped.

Neither would the revenue lost through having the worst club shop in the history of football.

Shambolic !

SNAFU is the American term I believe.

We didn’t play weakened teams in either cup tie.

Not weakened as in playing the reserves, but certainly not the strongest. Though to be honest its difficult to tell what is what with Harrison, the unnecessary changes he makes on a game by game basis. Playing Adeloye who looks like a 14 year old kid at Workington in a game we knew would be a battle isn't playing your strongest team in my book

That's a new one on me, just googled it, sounds about right

Someone willing to come in and pay that kind of money, and incur those kind of costs for the rest of the season just does not exist.

With hindsight running the club as a football league team in the conference this season was a bad move, a big squad, full youth system, full set of coaches. I can see why she did it, to ensure we bounce back, but it hasn't worked.

I dont have a scooby what the hells gunna happen and the best way to go, i dont have any answers, but fans have succeeded in this position before at other club and if the club is to survive then plans need to be made.

Where's the transparency? What "huge financial legacy issues"? Open up and tell us what the **** is going on with our club. Is this all Coxall? I doubt it, but if it is out him.

Where's the transparency? What "huge financial legacy issues"? Open up and tell us what the **** is going on with our club. Is this all Coxall? I doubt it, but if it is out him.

I imagine if it is him (99% certain it will be) then it could well be a legal issue which is what is holding up the books etc.

Just a guess like.

I think Pam has to take a fair portion of the blame for the timing of this announcement fair enough she was misled to get involved in the first place.

However, at the start of the season, you have to put in place financially stable squad to be able to last the season. If you were going to gamble why would you get 29 players? if you had 17 and one or two quality loan players you had to pay for you would probs win the league (if you could choose properly), it might put some fans on the gate and we might be entertained. Instead we have got any waif and stray that is from or wants to be in the NE that is out of contract.

Some clubs blow their future on Benito Carbone we did it on Conor Newton.

Pam has done little to utilise any of the avenues to her to raise cash apart from flogging shorts on eBay.
The club shop is never open and has stocked everything in the wrong shade of blue. (the trust gear is far better than these Chinese knock offs)
The food at the ground is still selling out before kick off.

Pulling the plug mid season after you laid out all these plans is a shitty trick.

As a member of the trust here are my thoughts: -

Statement from the club is worded as "The Club needs more investment. . . club has spoken to interested parties . . . However, no firm proposals forthcoming . . . net needs to be widened beyond the town to attract the necessary investment".

This is a concern as my interpretation of that statement is that at this point the club does not view the sale of the club to the Trust as a viable option. Not entirely surprising.

The Club haven't been open with the Trust which is disappointing, but to an extent this doesn't matter, it does not detract from what the Trust is trying to achieve - to purchase a stake in the club.

The focus of the Trust must solely be on raising as much funds as possible, we had 800 members and now we seem to have been derailed by issues which have detracted from our aim.

We now require strong leadership, I personally would love to see someone put themselves forward and say 'in 3 months time I would like the Trust to have raised £250K, 6 months time £500K and 12 months time £1M' or something to that effect. If the figure of £120K per month is correct, and that the club is available for next to nothing, we won't be too far off the mark - assuming we can continue to raise funding on a monthly basis.

I believe there have been conversations with people within the town who combined can raise this type of money.

We need someone bold with conviction, with a strategy on how to raise those funds, with a team to support them so that there is credibility to those target driven statements. There are 800 members already bought in, more would join with momentum and there will always be a minority who want to disrupt and cause problems as with any football club.

Discussing whether it is financially viable, whether fans want to or not is wasting precious time - we someone bold enough to get on and do it (if it doesn't come off, then the money being 'held' to invest in the club can be returned).

For me there are two outcomes

1. We go the route of Darlington 1883 and drop down the leagues (we need money).
2. The Trust takes ownership in a realistic timeframe.

Any other investor from outside of the town will almost certainly be bad news - no investor wants to lose money which is what a football club like HUFC will almost always be - a loss making business.

Spot on ! everything done on the cheap, even BLK , which other football clubs do they supply? probably a friend of a friend type of arrangement. Sometimes you have to speculate to accumulate, there was no way Pam was ever going to do this. Fans still standing in the freezing cold drinking beer, club shop only running at 20%, little choice of stuff, what there is , is badly designed and poor quality, and in a colour that we dont play in, cheap Blackpool gift shop tat. Ran well the club shop could of made us an extra 50k. As you say, food sells out, lottery and programme sellers nowhere to be seen, the whole thing reeks of decline and ultimate death.

It wont be easy. Hartlepool is an isolated insular town, its amazing how many people from other parts of the North East have never been there. Those that have it has generally been for football, not many have much good to say about it. Hartlepool doesn't engender itself to the likes of people from outside who may want to help us through taking over of the club. In other parts of the country you would maybe get someone like Sir John Hall or Alan Shearer showing an interest in a struggling local club, but not Hartlepool. Decades of players and managers have generally lived out of town and been picked up at motorway service stations on way to games. The club train out of town .The ground is dead as a dodo on non matchdays. The whole club lacks heart , soul and a real community purpose. We have a passionate almost rabid hardcore support , most from the town, those from out of town are greeted by Hartlepool based supporters " why do you come here " ( as opposed to Boro or Sunderland ) as though they almost feel sorry for themselves ). Most other people, certainly businesses in the town don't give a damn , we have the only traditional brewery left in the NE, and a successful one at that ,yet they have little to do with the club. This insular, inferiority complex has to change, whoever takes over.

So what chance do we have of attracting investment from an outsider, save those with ulterior motives.

I am clearly a bit dense but when I read the statement this morning I thought to myself 'this changes nothing'.

Haven't we always been up for sale since Pam took the reins? She's always maintained we need investment and we've always known her involvement was forced rather than chosen.

How I see it she's done her best to bring money in via local business but even when coupled with the gate income it's just not enough to keep us going and is now at the point where whoever has been plugging the holes won't do so anymore so we now need outside help from wherever that may be.

I just don't think this is Earth shattering news as we've really known this all along.

Of course we can raise questions about why wasn't the club run on a tighter budget but I suppose with us being run by someone with no prior knowledge / experience it was always going to be a case of suck it and see - but who knows? I'm not a member of the 'inner circle' so for me, it's guesswork.

Reading the statement negatively this could be read as the first steps towards administration of course.

How very convenient that would be. I dont buy this at all. Smoke and mirrors.

Why do i get a 'Voice of Reason' type vibe from this person?

If any of the loans are written off is there not a chance that this will lead to a taxable charge on the limited company? A further cash flow challenge for any incoming party? Or will all of the lenders opt to not take the tax deduction for their losses? And given the need to complete this quickly (whatever it is), putting aside the need for d/d and the likelihood that there will be legal questions over outstanding claims between the company and former shareholders/ directors/ managers, who is going to cash flow the PAYE on 21 January?

Yeah from post one this bloke has been Dibble to me.

For me its a non statement and doesn't either tell us anything we don't already know. It also avoids the main points about debt and operating costs until a buyer is found.

There is much more to this and it would be a mistake to read into this situation anything other than HUFC is on the brink.

Unfortunately there is no part of Mr I's posting that I can argue with.....................is that the Fat Lady clearing her throat that I can hear?

Just a thought, but would the club be up for sale if we were up near the top as contenders, because the present situation on the feld worsens week by week.
We, the fans, did our bit, we turned up, only to be disappointed. Can't blame the owners either given the connection to the club is tenuous.
I reckon our pampered team and management are going to do for us.

This is what I was trying to say only much shorter....and a bit different

From the receiver?