saturday so boring without football. was looking at and found another forum with Hastings and saw this on there? should we be worry? do you think Wilson will get job?
I notice that seasider didn’t answer the question about who now owns all the shares. Like brownie I think the share ownership is a sensitive matter in view of what has gone on in recent years. As far as the club’s finances are concerned, while David Walters was in charge the finances were in good order, helped of course by the cup run. Before that we had 2 multi-millionaire lottery winners as owners, Mick Maplesden and before him, Mark Gardner. But before that the club found itself in some £200,000 worth of debt and would have collapsed if Gardner hadn’t come to the rescue. Who was responsible for getting the club into that state, £200,000 was a massive amount of money back in the 1990s. So, can anybody tell me who was in charge at that time. Who were the Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and Manager?
the answer was below is it true anyone know
Just got in from work and seen your question inquisitor. Can I hazard a guess - Messrs. Nessling, Cosens, Ormerod and Wilson. Hmmm!
-- Edited by Peter R on Saturday 9th of May 2015 12:43:19 PM
I think the question of ownership is true but I don't think the implication is accurate. I understand the concern but probably misplaced. Furthermore there were always stories of the very personal financial support that people took to protect and ensure the club was as successful as possible. These people are Hastings through and through, pretty confident the club is in the best hands.
Just an opinion.
Even if we do appoint Gary Wilson again and the above line up is complete that was probably near 20 years ago and the club finances in the bank are very strong now. Also we have additionally Pat and Simon as directors who are both very strong at financial management. All of the above 4 are 20 years wiser in these matters too, not a worry for me.
Semi pro football is littered with financial casualties - and we saw this with United back in 84/85 when Town took over the Pilot Field the following season. I don't know what the situation was when Gardiner came in throwing his money and big ideas around 12, 13 years later and an awful lot of the numbers bandied around are based on hearsay - it's only the people who were actually involved who know for sure. I do know that at least two people had their homes down as security on the club which, if nothing else, showed total dedication to the cause.
What would United's situation be today were it not for the FA Cup run? Who knows. But an awful lot of clubs have fallen by the wayside - Hereford possibly the main casualty, Rushden & Diamonds, Salisbury, Kettering, Merthyr Tydfil - all Conference clubs, and two of em Football League - semi pro football is a fragile place to be these days.
I think United are in a good situation with dedicated people having taken over and I'm sure plenty will happen over the close season. If Garry Wilson comes back that will be just fine - he was Hastings through and through and showed what he could do just along the road where a patient board backed him over a period of years as he took Eastbourne Borough from the County League to top tier Conference football - probably one step too far but still a hell of an achievement. Be good to see Terry White back on the coaching front too.
What does worry me is how to get out of the division - upwardly...... You have to aim for 1st place but then there is the lottery of the play offs plus there is always a club that comes out of nowhere to shake up the promotion favourites etc - but let's see what the close season brings. I think we have good blokes in charge.
thank to ss and hammerfan for your thoughts and stubb and Dan to. much more information than someone trying to pick a fight not hard was it chrisb. guess any club can get in problem and hope it never be our club
I don't think anybody should worry. We have the right people in charge who know what needs to be done and they will not run up huge debts to achieve it. We can all help by continuing to promote our club to friends, colleagues, so we can start to rebuild profile on and off the pitch. Better times are ahead, I honestly believe that.
Hopefully the safety net is for there to be greater transparency in the way that the clubs affairs are conducted.
I am sure that the new board will support this.
You are probably aware that there was an earlier attempt by a consortium to acquire the club from DW as we were concerned about a number of issues. The consortium included Dave Ormerod and I was also a member. I purchased 100 shares in order that I could attend the annual shareholder meeting which is when accounts are prresented. They are available in the public domain at a cost as well
The Annual Meeting for shareholders had become unsatisfactory in that questions were posed but not answered to the degree that provided assurance and for the last few years I was not sent an invitation to attend
In the past more distant past, when transparency existed, the Observer briefly reported on the financial position as extracted from the accounts
Incidentally I am happy to dispose of the 100 shares to any supporter who wants to keep a watching brief on proceedings
