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Player Budget

WXF

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Joined
Apr 2, 2004
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1,282
Most private shareholders (generally individual fans with one share passed down from grandad) in Exeter City own one nominal share and lets give this some context the highest minority stake is iirc 5%. The only say they have in Exeter City or any other private business is to speak at the Club's AGM. This carries less weight than you or I attending the Trust AGM and making a proposal to the AGM which could lead to meaninful change for our £24 a year. The only way a minority shareholder in Exeter City at this present time could put his money where his or her mouth was would be to make the Trust an offer to purchase a % shareholding which reduces the Trust shareholding to under 50%. Company law precludes those individuals from otherwise haveing any more say than as I say attending the Club AGM.
Yes, unlike Trust members, shareholders get to speak at the club's AGM which, in contrast to the Trust's AGM, should be attended by all the club's directors. They might potentially make a bigger impact there than through the Trust, or they could join the Trust and seek to influence through both channels. Some clubs have minority share holders who invest in them and take an active role. I imagine a fit and proper person willing to invest a sufficiently large sum, including a minority share holder, could join the club board. The Trust doesn't preclude this as possibility. So again, I don't understand why the Trust is held to such a high standard that, despite being the club's best ever shareholder, this is apparently still not good enough, while zero expectations are placed on the other shareholders. The double standard applied to the Trust is perverse.
 

ExmouthMart

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Jun 19, 2013
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Bristol
I may have missed the point here but as far as I know OTR is a separate legal entity to either the club or Trust and a quick search on companies house will tell you that there are no share holders as it is a Private Limited Co, limited by guarantee. There are four Officers Richard Knight, David Newberry, Julian Tagg and Michael Vandale. So unless there is another OTR related to our football club I don't see that the club do own it I also don't know what it would entail for the club to own it either as it is limited by Guarantee https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03567252
Did I imagine then that I saw an article in which Julian Tagg said ownership had returned to the club?! I don’t understand why it would still need to be outside of the clubs control. The club isn’t going to be taken over or fold anytime soon. So why the need for a private company to be involved in part of the club that the majority of us have no control over but pay a rent to as ‘owners’ of The Trust?! How much rent is being paid and where does it go?! The article I quoted before said it was going towards the refit of the building. Perhaps it’s a kind of Forth Bridge building……
 

grecian-near-hell

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Feb 12, 2009
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Cornwood
Did I imagine then that I saw an article in which Julian Tagg said ownership had returned to the club?! I don’t understand why it would still need to be outside of the clubs control. The club isn’t going to be taken over or fold anytime soon. So why the need for a private company to be involved in part of the club that the majority of us have no control over but pay a rent to as ‘owners’ of The Trust?! How much rent is being paid and where does it go?! The article I quoted before said it was going towards the refit of the building. Perhaps it’s a kind of Forth Bridge building……
I have no answers perhaps attend a trust meeting and ask them!
 

ExmouthMart

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Jun 19, 2013
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Mart, a Trust member carries far more weight than an individual holding one share in Exeter City AFC Ltd. I point you to the prime example of ending Tisdale's contract initiated by a Trust member and leading to significant change something that NO individual shareholder could ever do
But what does that tell you about the state of things that an individual Trust member had to initiate that?! Surely the people running the club should have taken that step to end a situation that was proving very costly and not having much return and would have gone on for ever. Tail wagging the dog.
I think you said you had the means to invest a considerable sum of money in the club. Wouldn’t you like that opportunity as a shareholder and then you would have a real voice?! Having your own money invested in something gives you far more weight than asking questions at a committee meeting where tokenism is the name of the game.
 

ExmouthMart

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Jun 19, 2013
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I have no answers perhaps attend a trust meeting and ask them!
I am asking the question on here. There’s enough people on here who claim to know all about the club from the old days or when they were on the board and back everything with a religious fervour, so surely someone knows!
 

grecian-near-hell

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Feb 12, 2009
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I am asking the question on here. There’s enough people on here who claim to know all about the club from the old days or when they were on the board and back everything with a religious fervour, so surely someone knows!
Effectively be hearsay as things move on, if you want an accurate answer ask the Trust itself, you can do it in person writing email I am sure someone would get back to you as they seem more open nowadays
 

Martin Lawrence

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Apr 6, 2005
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Whipton
Did I imagine then that I saw an article in which Julian Tagg said ownership had returned to the club?! I don’t understand why it would still need to be outside of the clubs control. The club isn’t going to be taken over or fold anytime soon. So why the need for a private company to be involved in part of the club that the majority of us have no control over but pay a rent to as ‘owners’ of The Trust?! How much rent is being paid and where does it go?! The article I quoted before said it was going towards the refit of the building. Perhaps it’s a kind of Forth Bridge building……
OTR was set up by those involved with the Club (long before the Trust became owner) and was effectively established as a shell company in order to enable those involved with the Club to gain access to commercial finance so that they could purchase the St James Centre building. This was all done because the Club (at the time) had no direct means of accessing commercial finance because of its horrible balance sheet and (presumably) rubbish credit rating at the time.

I am sure that the current Club Board would like to gain overall ownership of the building, but this would require the club to have the fund to purchase the shares from the remaining shareholders, and would also require them to sell.
 

Colesman Ballz

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Dec 28, 2014
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OTR was set up by those involved with the Club (long before the Trust became owner) and was effectively established as a shell company in order to enable those involved with the Club to gain access to commercial finance so that they could purchase the St James Centre building. This was all done because the Club (at the time) had no direct means of accessing commercial finance because of its horrible balance sheet and (presumably) rubbish credit rating at the time.

I am sure that the current Club Board would like to gain overall ownership of the building, but this would require the club to have the fund to purchase the shares from the remaining shareholders, and would also require them to sell.
Further to that I would add that my understanding is that OTR was set up in a way that requires a unanimous vote to any decision or to effect changes. There was a scenario where a lot of money that individuals involved put into the Club in other ways had been lost when the Club went bust. This is why the strategy evolved to purchase holdings over time, as and when the opportunity arose. Every penny was needed to keep the Club alive, and any attempt to purchase outright could have resulted in the Club effectively being "held to ransom" by just a single individual.
 

grecian-near-hell

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I am sure that the current Club Board would like to gain overall ownership of the building, but this would require the club to have the fund to purchase the shares from the remaining shareholders, and would also require them to sell.
As OTR is a company Ltd by Guarantee there are no shares apparently
.
 

malcolms

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Nov 16, 2005
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10,481
Effectively be hearsay as things move on, if you want an accurate answer ask the Trust itself, you can do it in person writing email I am sure someone would get back to you as they seem more open nowadays
I'm sure I'm not the only one who has these records IMG_20220929_1444218.jpg
 
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