Palace Tkts/Lincoln AGM/Lee Bowyer/Cardiff Suspend

[QPR Report]

Selling Season Tickets at Crystal Palace

When Saturday Comes (WSC)/Andrew Scowcroft

Crystal Palace desperate for cash

4 December 2009 ~ During Crystal Palace’s 4-1 win over Blackpool, my friend Chris and I had the break-up conversation, the one in which I said: “I’m not renewing my season ticket.” Although October 3 seems ridiculously early to bring it up, it was the date that Crystal Palace published its season ticket brochure for 2010-11. The marketing department has developed the same affliction as supermarkets. If the Christmas displays go up before the season ticket prices, heads will roll. If I feel so inclined I can buy a season ticket up to the end of the 2014-15 season. However I don’t, which probably isn’t great news for the players who are suffering as a result of Simon Jordan’s cashflow crisis.

So the win over Blackpool has not led me to reach for my debit card. Nothing about the win was exceptional. Blackpool’s defence gifted us goals, the slip to allow Alan Lee a free header for the first being the funniest as most Palace fans assumed that even free headers were a skill too far for him. In 2006, I renewed my season ticket on the back of one of Palace’s best displays in recent years as Ben Watson tore through Norwich showing a range of passing beyond his years in a 4-1 win. The next week I felt cheated by a turgid display at home to Leeds.


It is, of course, an overactive imagination that leads me to imagine that Jordan might offer incentives to the players linked to season ticket deadlines, especially as paying the players at all is proving to be a problem. October is too soon to renew. Even a good performance cannot take away from the memory of the 2008-09 season when Palace scored 26 goals at home – with 13 coming in just four games.

The price of the ticket is due to rise steadily throughout the season. This, obviously, rewards the committed, the financially confident and the financially risky. The steady decline in average attendances over the last four seasons, from a post-Premier League high of 19,457 to 15,220 last year suggest there aren’t many of those.

Palace fans like to laugh at away fans who pay high our high prices but we don’t do enough to question where that money goes. Or ask what happens to our season ticket money or the £29.50 plus home fans pay for Category A match tickets. When the season ticket cut-off points were introduced the first rise was at the end of January, then December. The constant creeping of these dates does not inspire confidence in the finances of the club. Although I’m confident that the guarantees about safeguarding season ticket payments until that season begins, I’m worried that the club is borrowing against future income, or at least guaranteeing its overdraft.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the wages crisis is all the creation of the marketing department. Perhaps that’s why the club keeps writing to me to let me know it has extended the first deadline, exclusively for me. Andrew Scowcroft

www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/4134/38/

[QPR Report]

An AGM and fan involvement, again, at Lincoln

Lincoln Official Site

Lincoln City Football Club AGM
Posted on: Fri 04 Dec 2009

A large number of shareholders were represented at The Club AGM which was held on Thursday evening in the Trust Suite.

The main items of business were to approve a special resolution that the Club adopt a new up to date set of Articles. The reason for doing this was simply to bring the Club up to date with the 2006 companies act.

Alongside this approval shareholders also voted in favour of re-appointing directors Chris Travers, Stuart Tindall (on behalf of Lindum Group) and Jean Foster (representing the Supporters Trust gold membership).

Following on from the official meeting The Lincoln & District Football Supporters Club gave a donation of £5,000 and a fans' forum was held which gave manager Chris Sutton his first opportunity to discuss issues with supporters.

The Directors would like to pass on their thanks to all those who attended and those who sent apologies and proxies for the meeting.

www.redimps.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10440~1895940,00.html

[QPR Report]

Poor Lee Bowyer

Guardian/Daniel Taylor

Lee Bowyer: 'I could score 20 goals but there is no way I'll be on that plane'Birmingham City's Lee Bowyer is in the form of his life but he believes he is still paying for people's misconceptions of him

First things first, Lee Bowyer is very aware that there are readers of the Guardian who will not want to flick through the sports pages to find an interview with one of the Premier League's more demonised footballers talking about how great life is, and how he is in his best form for almost a decade. He knows, too, there will be people who simply roll their eyes when they hear that a rare interview, two years in the chasing, has been arranged to coincide with a community event in which the man whose career has been pockmarked by allegations of racism would be spending an afternoon at a school predominantly made up of Asian pupils.

This is the way life has been for Bowyer for longer than he cares to remember. He has had to get used to the funny looks, the snide comments and everything else that comes with being written off, in the language of his native east London, as a wrong 'un. Ask him what the average football fan makes of him and he will reply matter-of-factly that he is seen as "some kind of animal". Which hardly fits with the image of the new dad with the photograph of eight-month-old twins, Charlie and Amelie, inside his wallet. Or the kid‑friendly chap at Wyndcliffe Primary, a long goal-kick away from Birmingham City's St Andrew's ground, asking the pupils to "be nice please" as he referees a game on the all-weather pitch he has just opened.

The man depicted in that unforgettable Daily Mirror front-page headline in December 2001 as "boozing, pot-smoking, violent, racist, cowardly, unapologetic, odious, transfer-listed Lee Bowyer" with the caveat "now try to sue us you little scumbag" is polite, unaffected and generous with his time; charming even. And this is no PR stunt. Bowyer knows the perception of him is already crystallised, and that there is little he can do to alter it. He is here simply because he wants to be. And the glossy pieces of paper he hands out like sweets are not, contrary to the popular caricature, BNP-campaigning leaflets but complimentary tickets for Birmingham's next home game.

It was strange to see someone who had been so reviled being so hands-on in Birmingham's community work and the Premier League's Places for Players initiative. "But that's what everyone always says when they meet me," Bowyer says. "They spend time with me and then they go, 'Gawd, you're not like the person we thought you were at all'. It's OK, I've got used to it by now. But the difficulty is that it means events like this get thrown back at me. I can't win — people just think I am doing it as a stunt to get people onside and more negative stuff gets said about me.

"I'm happiest, I suppose, when I can do nice stuff and nobody gets to hear about it other than the people involved. But I'd rather people didn't think I was this animal that I've been made out to be. I'd rather they thought, 'Oh, he's not a bad fella'."

The first flecks of grey can be seen in his hair and the 32-year-old Bowyer is more mature, wiser, calmer, comfortable within his own skin. But his body language is a little tense, too. He is not at ease talking to a journalist and avoids eye contact. There are glimpses of hurt, a sense of slow-burning anger.

Few footballers have had their characters assassinated so brutally as Bowyer since the two trials that followed that infamous night in January 2000 when the brothers Sarfraz and Shahzad Najeib were chased through Leeds city centre and attacked by several people – Sarfraz so savagely he was bitten on the face and suffered a broken leg, nose and cheekbone. The perceptions of Bowyer may originate from when he tested positive for cannabis as a 17-year-old at Charlton Athletic and, shortly after joining Leeds in 1996, when he was fined £4,500 for affray after an allegedly racial incident at a McDonald's on London's Isle of Dogs. But it was the court case in Yorkshire that defined his professional life, even though he was acquitted of affray and causing grievous bodily harm.

Jonathan Woodgate, his Leeds team-mate, was convicted of affray and did community service. Bowyer, conversely, has been punished in other ways. In his own words he is "still thought of as guilty".

He has scored five times already this season, including the winner in Birmingham's last two games, in an era when box-to-box midfielders seem to be going the same way as the dodo. "It's the best form I've been in since Leeds," he says, and the one-time scourge of referees has been booked only once. "I've found that the nicer you are to referees, the nicer they are to you. I'm learning, even if it has come late."

Yet he becomes unusually animated when it is put to him that, ordinarily, this would be talked about as potential England form. "Listen," he says, voice rising, "I'm not ordinary, am I? I could score 20 goals this season but there is absolutely no way I am going to be on that plane to the World Cup. No way whatsoever. There are too many people who have made up their minds about me and wouldn't want me anywhere near the England team. That's been the case for nearly 10 years now, so why would it have changed now?"

His argument seems to be that a player should be judged on form rather than personality. Others would remind him that there is maybe no footballer apart from Joey Barton with such a long list of indiscretions, including that on-field fight with Kieron Dyer when they were Newcastle players, and there is the lingering sense that Bowyer, like so many who think the world are against them, has never been willing to express public remorse for his "mistakes". The case for the prosecution is that someone with such a magnetic attraction to controversy can hardly complain about not being asked to represent his country. But Bowyer disagrees.

Sven-Goran Eriksson gave him his only England cap, in a friendly against Portugal in September 2002. "It was a brave thing for an England manager to do at that time, but everything was dredged up in the media and, after that, I didn't get another look-in. I've got one cap but it should have been 20 or 30, maybe even more, and that's not me being big-headed. I just think I deserved to play for England a lot more.

"I got three player-of-the-year awards at Leeds in a side that got to the semi-finals of the Champions League. I scored six goals in the competition, which made me the joint top scorer, and Uefa put me in their team of the tournament. But I got nothing in England. I wasn't on any shortlists. I didn't get named in any team of the year. Instead they just brought in some rule from nowhere that said a footballer shouldn't be allowed to play for England if they were involved in a court case.

"I thought there was a saying in this country that you were innocent until proven guilty. I was the exception. I was seen as guilty even though I was innocent. And that's what I was – innocent. But they made up this new rule that had never been used before and that seems to have been mysteriously dropped now.

"It was like a campaign to keep me out. There have been loads of players who have had problems, court cases etc, outside of football and they have still been allowed to have international careers without always being reminded of it. Some have even captained England. But it's one rule for them, and another for me. Why is that? Why? Please, I'd like someone to tell me because the honest answer is I don't know. Why is it that a court case that happened so long ago is still held against me when I was innocent anyway? And what makes me so different that something from when I was a kid 15 years ago is still being talked about?"

A typical story: Bowyer is watching Match of the Day 2 when the presenter, Adrian Chiles, jokes that even Birmingham's fans have trouble liking him. "I'm not sure if he thinks he is a comedian but I didn't appreciate it," Bowyer says. "I am sitting there thinking, 'Why can't you say something positive?' But I'm used to it by now. I don't get the papers any more and I don't do many interviews because whatever I say doesn't seem to make much difference anyway. I've tried to put the record straight without it working."

And yet he has not given up on the idea. "Maybe I will write a book one day. There are a lot of things I'd like to put straight. A lot has happened behind the scenes that people don't know about. But it would be a big book."

www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/dec/05/lee-bowyer-birmingham-city-interview

[QPR Report]

BBC
Cardiff boss Dave Jones backs chairman's criticism

Cardiff manager Dave Jones says chairman Peter Ridsdale is free to criticise any of the club's staff.

Ridsdale told a fans' forum this week that he felt midfielder Joe Ledley was "playing like he is somewhere else already".

Wales international Ledley has been locked in a stalemate with the club over a new contract with his current one running out in the summer.

"The chairman can say what he wants," Jones told BBC Sport Wales.

"I would be very surprised if any player at this football club hasn't been playing well and a fan on the terraces hasn't said something.

"But as soon as someone in the club said it, it shouldn't be said and whatever.

"We are all big boys in here. If someone says something about them then do something about it.

"If they are saying they are not playing well, then go and play well and stop people saying that."

Ledley has seemingly been made a scapegoat for Cardiff's poor form as the once Championship leaders have dropped out of the play-off zone.


Interview: Cardiff boss Dave Jones
It follows three successive defeats in a win-less November - which culminated in a 2-1 loss to struggling Ipswich Town last Sunday.

The 22-year-old has claimed his form is being hampered by a hip injury and Jones said the injury is similar to the one former defender Roger Johnson suffered.

But he added: "If Joe is at the stage where he felt he couldn't play then we would do the right thing.

"At the moment, we are not at that stage."

Jones is instead focused on halting a run of a draw and three straight defeats at home to Preston North End that has seen them slip from second to eighth in the Championship.

"We know we've got to get back to winning ways," he added.

"We know we've got to work hard on what we're not doing that what we were doing that was getting us results.

"We all want it rosy and nice and clean, but it doesn't always happen."

Meanwhile Cardiff have confirmed they have suspended club secretary Jason Turner.

The club say the matter is being ''dealt with internally'' and they will make no further comment.

news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/8395444.stm

Wales online
Cardiff City suspend secretary Jason Turner
Dec 4 2009 WalesOnline

CARDIFF CITY club secretary Jason Turner has been suspended from duty, WalesOnline can reveal.

Turner, who was in charge of the day to day administration of Bluebirds affairs, is not at the club today, although the reason for his departure is unclear.

We understand, however, it is over a non-football matter.

A Bluebirds spokesman told MediaWales: "I can confirm Jason Turner has been suspended, but we are making no further comment."

The news about Turner, who has played a pivotal role at the club, comes at the end of what has been a challenging period for the Bluebirds.

The club appeared in court last week over an unpaid Inland Revenue tax debt. City chairman Peter Ridsdale then appeared in front of supporters at a Q and A forum on Monday night to answer fans' concerns about the club's finances.

Ridsdale is trying to push through a Malaysian deal which is believed to be necessary to secure the future of Wales' capital city club.

www.walesonline.co.uk/footballnation/cardiff-city-fc/2009/12/04/cardiff-city-suspend-secretary-jason-turner-91466-25322171/

[QPR Report]

The Times/James Ducker, Helen Power

Glazer family hit the wall over refinancing of Manchester United -

The Glazer family, the owners of Manchester United, are struggling to refinance their enormous debts amid concerns about the impact they are having on the club.

The Times understands that the Americans have been trying unsuccessfully to secure a refinancing package for part of the club’s £699 million debt for months, having failed in 2007 and last year, because of the bleak global economic climate.

Fans’ groups have cast doubt over whether they will ever see the £80 million raised from the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portugal forward, to Real Madrid last summer reinvested in the squad.

Dragan Djuric, the Partizan Belgrade president, meanwhile claimed this week that United pulled the plug on a deal to sign Adem Ljajic, the Serbia Under-21 midfield player, because “maybe they are in financial crisis”.

United dismissed Djuric’s claims and a spokesman for the Glazer family has maintained publicly that there is plenty of money available for Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager, to spend on players, but supporters are unlikely to be pacified until they see the arrival of some big names or evidence that the spiralling debt is under control. The main concern is understood to centre around the £175.5 million worth of debt that the Glazers are personally responsible for, not the £518.7 million of loans secured against the club.

It is these so-called Payment In Kind (PIK) notes, money borrowed from US hedge funds that “rolls up” at an annual interest rate of 14.25 per cent, that the Americans are believed to have been trying to refinance.

The intention was always to pay off these loans within a few years of the takeover in May 2005, but while they managed to redeem some of the original PIK debt of £275 million, the credit crunch has made this difficult.

By the time the debt matures in 2017, it will stand at £580 million unless the Glazers can pay part or all of it off before then, or secure a preferential rate of interest. With the club also facing rising capital repayments from 2013, the PIK debt is a concern. It grew from £152 million to £175.5 million in one financial year.

Previous reports that the Glazers could persuade the banks to refinance by offering securitisation against future match-day revenues are said to be wide of the mark; ticket sales are already factored into the borrowing.

As such, given that the 14.25 per cent interest rate was agreed the last and only time the Glazers have been able to refinance, in August 2006 when the financial climate was rosier, they will do well to secure a lower rate unless they have something tangible to offer would-be lenders.

It is understood that United are operating well within the financial terms set by their lenders. However, Perry Capital and Citadel — the two US hedge funds that provided the Glazers with PIK loans — get a range of rights over the club in the event that their financial performance falls beneath a certain level, including the right to appoint their own directors to the board.

Ultimately, they could seize control of the club should revenues plummet.

Documents obtained by The Times also reveal that the terms of the loan put a cap on United’s spending.

A spokesman for the Glazer family said: “We continue to keep our financial options for the club under review just like any other business.”
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article6945421.ece