Monday Nights Meeting with Paul Casson

[barrowfan_chris]

Some good things coming from the twitter comments so far I honestly think we should give it a chance.

[K-Man]

I presume PC reads the forum. What are the chances of putting this presentation he's done tonight( presuming it's on power point or similar programme) online for ex pats and people like myself who couldn't be there tonight ? I presume this wouldn't be a problem a simple to do and seeing as it was an open meeting there'd be no issue in sharing with anyone.

KHayman

[DaveC]

Interesting stuff tonight, the guy certainly knows how to sell his product well. Gotta say boys and girls, I'm sold!

[Tunnocks]

As one of the 500 who will be voting on whether to accept Mr Casson's takeover I was very dissapointed with tonight. I was expecting a detailed presentation from someone who runs a highly sucessful business but what we got was a tremendous amount of talking with very little said.

Paul seems a nice and likeable person but I was expecting so much more.

[Bigfathoss]

Count me in.
Whilst I agree that it would have been nice to see some details laid out I think I understand why there wasn't yet at this point. From the sounds of it there will be local people involved with the potential board and also people who have been directors of 'a' club before. I daresay they would want to see how things were received so far before making it more public.
I doubt he could have answered the questions any more honestly than he did, I certainly got good answers to the two I asked. Answering one of them he stated categorically that there would be no debts left should his move be successful. That was one of the most important points for me.
Even though he supports the shoite he made it very clear we would always be blue and white. Good man.
Giving Darren a fair shake was also something he seemed definite on. And his assertion that he wanted to see Barrow players living locally (NOT the same as local players playing for Barrow) was also good to hear.
He also clearly wants us to progress off the field into the virtual age and he is perfectly placed to make that happen. He has ideas, he has vision, he has drive and from this one showing I am (so far) very willing to cast my member's vote in whatever way enables this guy to give it a go.
If we don't take this option I am totally and absolutely convinced that two years from now we will have nothing but a field and a car park.
I think we have interesting and encouraging times ahead of us if we don't give into our fears (that I shared) that there was another SV waiting to happen.

[Gazza]

Well gotta say that before tonight I thought a takeover was the only way for the club/team to move forward. After listening to what Paul Casson had to say, I am now convinced. He came across as very sincere in his reasons for wanting to help move the club to the next level and further. I think tonight has proven that as well being prepared to wipe out all the current debt and stabilise things financially, he has a longer term plan for the club, something which had not been so clear before. He was more knowledgeable than I expected and has with his colleagues clearly done his homework regards what is needed initially and what is realistic in the longer term. I think anyone wanting promises that it will definitely work out can forget it because that is not reality but what is certain, staying as we are will only mean many more years of struggling with limited income, poor facilities and little or no hope of sustainable progress on or off the pitch. P.C' s initial talk of his upbringing and later admittance of wanting to achieve something his Dad could be proud of was very important as it confirmed to us that at the end of the day he is a local lad who has his hometown club at heart. Apart from not being able to guarantee success on the pitch (who can?), this is a no brainer for me and based on the applause at the end the same applied to the vast majority there tonight. So come on, get this meeting arranged and let's get this show on the road.

[Kieran]

I can understand the disappointment from those who wanted a bit more meat on the bones, but at the same time can fully understand why that maybe didn't happen.

For me, on a first showing there was more than enough there for me to want to give the bloke a go. He came across well, particularly as the meeting wore on and I think I'm as certain as you possibly can be that he has the best of intentions.

My only concern is that we apparently need 75% of the membership to vote for it, something I wasn't aware of prior to tonight. I think that very well could happen, but it makes things more difficult than I anticipated.

One disappointment is that some people seemed to have made their mind up before tonight even started that they didn't like the bloke. Mainly those more interested in protecting their own self importance than anything else and some of them embarrassed themselves with some of the comments made before the guy had even been given a chance.

[boyliegladbach]

Impressed by PC tonight.
I know which way my votes going. And the wife's when I make her take membership tomorrow.

[Adam29]

have to throw my vote of confidence into the hat
came across well enough to be given a chance.

As Kieran said as well its a real shame certain people couldn't go into the meeting open minded and were writing him off because of their own self importance

[Jonty]

It was a big turnout at the Forum. I thought he came across very well and clearly cares for his roots and for the club and has a vision to take us forward.

Wants to have the club embedded into the community and this means the core of a team living and training in the town. He was very clear about this as part of the overall aim.

He talked of a Supporters' Trust, with a trust member voted on to the board, which is what I wanted to hear. He would want to hold off on that initially, until such a time when he would (I presume) issue a share option for any supporters trust to invest in. 2 years was mentioned. I think our existing members scheme could develop into a supporters trust in this time frame.

- could be the best opportunity we'll ever have to take the club forward. I'm in

[John Very Little]

The evening was split into 2 parts, firstly we heard about PC's life story and living in Barrow and going to the club when he was younger before getting down to his proposals.

Initially he would increase the playing budget then look at improving the ground to make it a better experience to visit with the toilets and look at putting a roof (or a lid as he kept referring to it) on the Holker end. In addition he'd like to see more things to buy at the ground (relating to replica tops). Within 2 seasons he would like us to be in Conf Prem or at the very least challenging. There would also be long term development plans in the background. He couldn't give a definite plan as he didn't know how things would work out.

As he would be investing lots of money himself he would 100% own the club (ground and licence to play football) and then after perhaps 2 years open it up to others who may want to get involved such as a Supporters Trust or similar groups/individuals with a rep from that group on the board. It was felt that there had been little on detail but after a short break he then threw it open to a Q&A session where a few more things were clarified.

The main questions related to who would be on the board and said it would be few to none of the present board but he'd ideally have a board of around 8 people with possibly even a woman but later clarified that some of those who are directors will have experience of being football directors (but couldn't give any names) and 6 would live locally. He also expected Edmo and some of the players to live here.

When asked about being an investor or benefactor he didn't see himself as a benefactor because he said he'd like to see the club at least break even or have a positive return and he said he'd do this by growing the assets. Also mentioned sustainability and said that if he has no intentions of leaving after 2 years. Also said that all his board would be contactable by the various electronic media such as facebook, email etc and all directors would be responsible for a specific area. Initially Jamie Reid would be here for 6 months as a transition period then will see what happens after that once a board of directors is up and running.

However the biggest issue will be that in order for him to take over then 75% of the membership will have to vote for it (incidentally its Company Law for members clubs not the clubs constitution that says this).

PC seemed to win over most of those in attendance and I think he came across well but there are still so many uncertainties in the detail so I handed PC some more questions after the meeting. However the last sentence above could mean that even if a large majority vote to accept then it may not get accepted anyway unless 75% of the total membership vote for it. May have missed a few bits but will edit where necessary.

[John Very Little]

I presume PC reads the forum. What are the chances of putting this presentation he's done tonight( presuming it's on power point or similar programme) online for ex pats and people like myself who couldn't be there tonight ? I presume this wouldn't be a problem a simple to do and seeing as it was an open meeting there'd be no issue in sharing with anyone.
KHayman

There was no powerpoint presentation. He explained his plans and then there was a big Q&A session after it.

[Bingo]

I didn't attend the meeting and I am not a member so I'm probably not even entitled to an opinion

I followed tonight on twitter and i have a good feeling about this - it could be our best hope - It might be our only hope - the alternative might be no club in the long term -

I also hope that a place can be found for some of the people involved in the club right now.

[russell_anderson]

I've always believed this is the best chance Barrow have of being successful. This chap is no Stephen Vaughan. Vaughan is a convicted criminal and allegedly has connections with Curtis Warren, a serious underworld criminal in Liverpool with multiple convictions for murder and drugs trafficing who claimed to own the club when Vaughan was in charge. Casson is a Barrovian who has made his money legitimately. The two people don't even warrent comparison. The only thing I would say is that if he expects part-time professional footballers to live in the area then he is naive in the extreme. In the non-league world he would have to have full-time players and pay them well over the norm before they would even contemplate re-locating their homes.

[Big E]

As one of the 500 who will be voting on whether to accept Mr Casson's takeover I was very dissapointed with tonight. I was expecting a detailed presentation from someone who runs a highly sucessful business but what we got was a tremendous amount of talking with very little said.

Paul seems a nice and likeable person but I was expecting so much more.

Can you expand on what exactly you were hoping to hear? I think what we've had is the plain English version, not the legal and official bluff that I'm sure is in the pipeline.

Sometimes in life you have to go on gut instinct and trust that instinct. A lot of folk that have my respect are saying very positives things about what is being proposed, I for one believe this is the most serious option at taking the club forward we've ever had. I think the backlash from a failure of this to get the go ahead will tear the club apart.