More totally and completely justifiable abuse of Franchise FC and the cocks that still work there. It’s been 10 days since my last update, and that means the Admin people are owed another £100k. Things have been quiet from them, but their position seems to be more precarious day by day. Firstly, there has been NOTHING from Grant Thornton, not even a little pro-MK thing on the Franchise OS. I know they’re probably busy trying to sort out Hammam’s companies in the British Virgin Islands (their tourist motto is “BVI : where the only thing you need to file is your nails”) but their silence is deafening.
Secondly, it looks like the promised threatened firesale is about to occur. Already, Reo-Coker and probably Jobi McAnuff are Premiership bound, Pompey is their destination. In fact, Reo-Coker went there instead of Spurz because “Portsmouth are a team going places”. Hmm, downwards I presume. Anyway, they’re going for the low sum of £500k each, which I don’t think will cover their wages and the Admin fees. Perhaps more damaging is Connelly reportedly Reading-bound (no, not Reading Town bound), again for £500k. Nuff sed on this score, but really, who will they have left? The longer this goes on the lower the transfer fees will be, as the Admin people get more desperate.
Thirdly, perhaps the most damning insight into Franchise’s glorious predicament : hidden away in one of this week’s Daily Telegraph was the news that the Admin people have decided that MK isn’t a viable option any more. Which if true (and it hasn’t exactly been shouted from the rooftops, which surprises me) is Game Over as far as I am concerned. This may explain a couple of things from this week : firstly, Franchise will probably be playing their first game against Crewe at ……. Selhurst. Oh, the irony. Now, typically, it clashes with the Sutton friendly, which majorly annoys me. There could have been a chance for a final two-fingered goodbye, but I am sure something will be done on that score.
Secondly, it’s been rumoured that Koppout himself is hinting at keeping Franchise in South London. While this would prove fatal for them, it also puts us at AFCW in a difficult predicament. Do we stay at AFCW or will some drift back to Franchise? I’m sure that such talk, as repeated verbatim by mouthpieces like Mellor, is partly trying to unsettle us, I have no qualms about the sniping tactics that Koppout can still use. My own feelings are this : read my WISA piece on the last game at Selhurst for them (you’ll have to search through the archive for it) and you’ll see why I think that people will go for a couple of games then go back to AFCW. The stench at SP on that day still gets up my nostrils, and I’m not referring to the smell coming out of Koppout’s cum-filled arse either. Will we put up with it for long? As said above, the whole place is a firesale and in truth, there is nothing at Franchise I would want to put up with again. Even the first division place, I genuinely believe pro football in this country isn’t worth saving.
Of course, I doubt if it will come to that, if comments by Gurney (the Luton Town bod) on Radio Dive Live are anything to go by. He’s mentioning a merger again. Yup, despite Football League rules, which as we all known are adhered to and binding, this has come up. Now, why is he mentioning it? After all, there’s moves to move the club back to South London, surely? I think this is manoevering (all right, face saving) on certain people’s part. Don’t believe me? OK, Wankelmann is increasingly pissed off, Franchise are now a joke (and a particularly unfunny one at that) and are IMO permanently damaged. Luton are in shit, and the merger of the two sides gives Koppout a bail-out, Wankelmann his team (let’s face it, they’ll move to MK) and Luton can simply use another 3 man commission to over-turn the merger rulings. Unless somebody is throwing money at Franchise incognito, there aren’t many other ways I can think of that will resolve Franchise’s problems. Shame.
Anyway, some AFCW stuff if I really have to. After all, that’s why we’re here aren’t we? Firstly, we’re in the CCL again next season. Now there’s a surprise. More intriguing is the likely launch of the AFCW Share Issue, probably this Thursday. AFCW are holding a press conference at Ks that evening anyway. Basically, as you should know, a PLC has been formed for this share issue, which is going to be dealing with the ground and AFCW entity. Now, being a PLC means that anyone can buy shares, which may be problematic. Not because of who owns the shares, but the likelyhood of raising the necessary dough. This year, the stock market has taken some pretty heavy slumps, and shares in football clubs are about as worthy as a Charles Koppout press statement : I’m sure the whole thing has been thought out thoroughly, and given the links to some blue chip people that a couple of people at AFCW PLC have, there should be a couple of major investors seizing the opportunity to invest in a prime bit of real estate in South West London community based organisation, though I would urge anyone who thinks that raising the dough will be easier with this share issue to just temper their enthusiasm. Remember, investments can go down as well as up. Your home is at risk etc etc.
There will doubtless be some comments made about the setup of this. Personally, I’m going to keep out of discussions about voting, constitution matters etc for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the mere mention of the word “constitution” sends me into a coma and brings on my legendary ADD just a little bit more quicker than normal. Besides, why have meaningful discussions about where commas should go when a good old fashioned kneecapping will suffice? 🙂 As for the other reason, I won’t specify what it is, because if I did I would find it very hard to go to AFCW games again. And no, I am not joking.
Elsewhere, good that Kris (winner of the Hero Of The Season in the SW19 Poll) is finally getting money. If AFCW can afford to pay it without jepordising anything else, it won’t harm. I’m sure even small charities don’t have a 100% volunteer taskforce, so why should an organisation about to embark on a £3m+ fundraising scheme with a client base of 3k at least expect the people at the top to work for nowt?
Oh, and we’re playing Dulwich Hamlet again. Be there 🙂