Post by Macmoish on Apr 23, 2014 22:13:45 GMT
Daily Mail
Blackpool exclusive: Club owners accused of paying themselves £26m after Premier League promotion
By Jack Gaughan and Nick Harris
Published: 16:46 EST, 23 April 2014 | Updated: 16:55 EST, 23 April 2014
The owners of Blackpool Football Club have siphoned off millions of pounds since the club’s promotion to the top flight.
The Oyston family have paid themselves and companies they own £26m since Blackpool’s one-season stint in the Premier League four years ago.
Angry supporters blame the family for the club’s plight, saying they have been more interested in lining their pockets than spending on players. Blackpool currently face being relegated to the third tier.
Ball boys: Blackpool players threw back objects chucked on the pitch
+5
Ball boys: Blackpool players threw back objects chucked on the pitch
Ecstasy to agony
2009-10: Promoted after winning play-off final
2010-11: Impress in top flight but relegated on final day
2011-12: Reach play-off final but lose to West Ham
2012-13: Boss Ian Holloway leaves and they finish 15th
2013-14: Currently 22nd and on the brink of relegation
The Oystons appeared to mock fans when chairman Karl Oyston was pictured smiling alongside a ‘cash cow’ banner that suggested they use the club like a personal ATM.
Blackpool were relegated on the final day of the 2010-11 season, but the squad have been pulled apart since and are now overloaded with loan players and free transfers. Fans say barely any of the £80m given to promoted clubs has been invested.
Now in the Championship’s bottom three, they have won two of their last 28 games and haven’t scored more than once in a game since November.
Blackpool’s majority owner Owen Oyston and son Karl hold the only major directors’ positions within the company. The last accounts showed one received £542,562.
Making their point: Blackpool fans threw tennis balls and tangerines and held banners objecting to the owners
+5
Making their point: Blackpool fans threw tennis balls and tangerines and held banners objecting to the owners
Not happy: Blackpool fans protest over the clubs ownership
+5
Not happy: Blackpool fans protest over the clubs ownership
In the money: Owen Oyston pocketed £11m after Blackpool were promoted to the Premier League in 2010
+5
In the money: Owen Oyston pocketed £11m after Blackpool were promoted to the Premier League in 2010
Another £3.1m went to non-related Oyston-owned companies, including £323,000 to Oystons Ltd and £68,000 to Yorkshire Riding Ltd, a magazine publishing business with which Coronation Street star Bill Roache is involved.
More than £5m of football money earned is sitting in parent company Segesta Ltd. That account, which looks after the club’s properties, has been used to pay other Oyston businesses.
The Oystons are understood to have bought up land — owned by Blackpool FC — for £650,000 and sold it back for £6.5m after a lease for a Travelodge had been secured.
This all comes on the back of Owen Oyston pocketing £11m after Blackpool were promoted to the top flight in 2010.
Angry fans threw tangerines and tennis balls on to the Bloomfield Road pitch during last Friday’s defeat by Burnley in a protest aimed at the hierarchy. This was then overshadowed by coach Bob Malcolm slapping substitute Stephen Dobbie on the sidelines.
Tim Fielding, chairman of the Seasiders Independent Supporters’ Association, said: ‘My concerns surrounding the club started the moment we were promoted. The focus in the transfer windows was about preserving what they had rather than investing.
‘The perception I had was that they would look after themselves rather than the club. That manifested itself in what’s happened. Ian Holloway had enough, Michael Appleton (manager for three months) realised what the club was like, and we ended up appointing Paul Ince, who seemed a last resort. There are also broken promises with a new training ground.’
Man in charge: Karl Oyston is the chairman of Blackpool
+5
Man in charge: Karl Oyston is the chairman of Blackpool
Blackpool still train at the base Sir Stanley Matthews used 60 years ago, labelled a ‘hell-hole’ by Holloway.
Karl Oyston faced demonstrations in a game against Derby two weeks ago, months after he called the club ‘the envy of the Football League’.
Karl’s son, Sam, in his twenties, runs the club’s four-star hotel which made a loss of £182,000 last year. The hotel, run separately from the club, is used to feed players and host loanees. Oyston quipped: ‘Sam is grounded and has had his pocket money stopped,’ sparking more fan fury.
Resentment in the stands is mirrored by bemusement in the wider footballing world.
Ex-Liverpool chief executive Christian Purslow said: ‘Blackpool are the only club in the history of the Premier League who didn’t give their manager a chance. They just trousered the money and said,“Sod it, we’ll just go straight down”.’
Blackpool are indebted to Holloway and Latvian businessman Valeri Belokon for their rise. Sportsmail understands Belokon, whose combined loan of £7.2m to the club still hasn’t been repaid, is growing ever restless.
Despite repeated calls from Sportsmail, Karl Oyston and Blackpool refused to comment.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2611556/Blackpool-exclusive-Club-owners-paying-26m-Premier-League-promotion.html#ixzz2zkZXxAZX
Follow us: @mailonline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2611556/Blackpool-exclusive-Club-owners-paying-26m-Premier-League-promotion.html
Blackpool exclusive: Club owners accused of paying themselves £26m after Premier League promotion
By Jack Gaughan and Nick Harris
Published: 16:46 EST, 23 April 2014 | Updated: 16:55 EST, 23 April 2014
The owners of Blackpool Football Club have siphoned off millions of pounds since the club’s promotion to the top flight.
The Oyston family have paid themselves and companies they own £26m since Blackpool’s one-season stint in the Premier League four years ago.
Angry supporters blame the family for the club’s plight, saying they have been more interested in lining their pockets than spending on players. Blackpool currently face being relegated to the third tier.
Ball boys: Blackpool players threw back objects chucked on the pitch
+5
Ball boys: Blackpool players threw back objects chucked on the pitch
Ecstasy to agony
2009-10: Promoted after winning play-off final
2010-11: Impress in top flight but relegated on final day
2011-12: Reach play-off final but lose to West Ham
2012-13: Boss Ian Holloway leaves and they finish 15th
2013-14: Currently 22nd and on the brink of relegation
The Oystons appeared to mock fans when chairman Karl Oyston was pictured smiling alongside a ‘cash cow’ banner that suggested they use the club like a personal ATM.
Blackpool were relegated on the final day of the 2010-11 season, but the squad have been pulled apart since and are now overloaded with loan players and free transfers. Fans say barely any of the £80m given to promoted clubs has been invested.
Now in the Championship’s bottom three, they have won two of their last 28 games and haven’t scored more than once in a game since November.
Blackpool’s majority owner Owen Oyston and son Karl hold the only major directors’ positions within the company. The last accounts showed one received £542,562.
Making their point: Blackpool fans threw tennis balls and tangerines and held banners objecting to the owners
+5
Making their point: Blackpool fans threw tennis balls and tangerines and held banners objecting to the owners
Not happy: Blackpool fans protest over the clubs ownership
+5
Not happy: Blackpool fans protest over the clubs ownership
In the money: Owen Oyston pocketed £11m after Blackpool were promoted to the Premier League in 2010
+5
In the money: Owen Oyston pocketed £11m after Blackpool were promoted to the Premier League in 2010
Another £3.1m went to non-related Oyston-owned companies, including £323,000 to Oystons Ltd and £68,000 to Yorkshire Riding Ltd, a magazine publishing business with which Coronation Street star Bill Roache is involved.
More than £5m of football money earned is sitting in parent company Segesta Ltd. That account, which looks after the club’s properties, has been used to pay other Oyston businesses.
The Oystons are understood to have bought up land — owned by Blackpool FC — for £650,000 and sold it back for £6.5m after a lease for a Travelodge had been secured.
This all comes on the back of Owen Oyston pocketing £11m after Blackpool were promoted to the top flight in 2010.
Angry fans threw tangerines and tennis balls on to the Bloomfield Road pitch during last Friday’s defeat by Burnley in a protest aimed at the hierarchy. This was then overshadowed by coach Bob Malcolm slapping substitute Stephen Dobbie on the sidelines.
Tim Fielding, chairman of the Seasiders Independent Supporters’ Association, said: ‘My concerns surrounding the club started the moment we were promoted. The focus in the transfer windows was about preserving what they had rather than investing.
‘The perception I had was that they would look after themselves rather than the club. That manifested itself in what’s happened. Ian Holloway had enough, Michael Appleton (manager for three months) realised what the club was like, and we ended up appointing Paul Ince, who seemed a last resort. There are also broken promises with a new training ground.’
Man in charge: Karl Oyston is the chairman of Blackpool
+5
Man in charge: Karl Oyston is the chairman of Blackpool
Blackpool still train at the base Sir Stanley Matthews used 60 years ago, labelled a ‘hell-hole’ by Holloway.
Karl Oyston faced demonstrations in a game against Derby two weeks ago, months after he called the club ‘the envy of the Football League’.
Karl’s son, Sam, in his twenties, runs the club’s four-star hotel which made a loss of £182,000 last year. The hotel, run separately from the club, is used to feed players and host loanees. Oyston quipped: ‘Sam is grounded and has had his pocket money stopped,’ sparking more fan fury.
Resentment in the stands is mirrored by bemusement in the wider footballing world.
Ex-Liverpool chief executive Christian Purslow said: ‘Blackpool are the only club in the history of the Premier League who didn’t give their manager a chance. They just trousered the money and said,“Sod it, we’ll just go straight down”.’
Blackpool are indebted to Holloway and Latvian businessman Valeri Belokon for their rise. Sportsmail understands Belokon, whose combined loan of £7.2m to the club still hasn’t been repaid, is growing ever restless.
Despite repeated calls from Sportsmail, Karl Oyston and Blackpool refused to comment.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2611556/Blackpool-exclusive-Club-owners-paying-26m-Premier-League-promotion.html#ixzz2zkZXxAZX
Follow us: @mailonline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2611556/Blackpool-exclusive-Club-owners-paying-26m-Premier-League-promotion.html