Mem meeting tonight anyone there?

Almondsbury Gas on twitter has put out a couple of updates from tonight.

Have a read of the replies to this. Imagine they will keep coming

I went.

First things first, the owners son is called Abdullatif. Maybe out of respect, fans should get that right.

Can confirm:

Two tier Thatchers was mentioned. Safe standing mentioned, not terracing (there is a difference and that will be connected to pricing, my comment not Abdullatif's).

They want the business of the Blue Diamond and the former players group to come back to the club. They were a bit shocked that those organisations existed and were using the cricket ground. Obviously some argument in the past between the two groups and the club. I don't know any more than that.

Going for tier 1 academy for a couple of reasons:

1) Attract local talent
2) Turn that talent into first teamers and revenue stream
3) Remove the premium we are apperently paying for loan players

Yes I went .
Investing 30-35 million into club , 30-40% coming from selling land for housing at quarters .
Owners son spoke well and was very open .
Cat one training ground academy is the aim .
He waffled a bit about kids prices and tried to compare Man City and Man Utd with us and the Teds. Basically, kids will choose us over them if we’re doing better than them . But then says it’ll take 3-5 to get to Championship with a decent enough stadium to stay there. So in the meantime, just swallow the high prices I guess 🙄
Good night though and the future sounds bright , but talk is cheap.

oh yeah , and we’ve signed a few commercial deals which will be announced soon. Big screen being installed in summer.

My view:

I thought Abdullatif talked well and said the right things. However, Hanif Rahaman asked a couple of questions that pretty much showed up what was being said still needed to be thought about more (the numbers just don't add up with a 16k capacity ceiling).

'Our friends' south of the river were mentioned a couple of times and were give as examples of where we want to get to.

The elephant in the room to those that look at these things is that even Championship clubs make a loss. The sh.it make a considerable loss. Abdullatif said that losses the size of the one this year (around £5m apparently) are not sustainable and will mean the club will not exist. It would only take 2 - 3 years for the club to fold at that level.

I spoke to him afterwards and the plan is for revenues of £16 to £20M in the Championship with a £1M to £2M loss and that would be sustainable for a very long time.


A couple of things that were also said that I found interesting was the other board members. A CFO and someone that was involved in running a football club before (in Kuwait, I think he said) that person has been brought on board specifically for their academy development expertise.

All in all, the villigers put their pitch forks down and left reasonably happy.

Only time will tell.

With extra pixels!

Some good replies to those tweets and it seems that the new people have walked into a big old mess.


My question….what on earth have we actually done to warrant such eye watering losses the last few years?

I went and was very encouraged by what was conveyed. The owners have said they are funding most of the developments from their own pockets with 30-40% coming from the housing built at the quarters.

Abdullatif was very open to meeting with various groups to resolve their concerns and issues.

He talked through the investment already spent on neglected areas of the stadium like the kitchens and said  they have signed a contract with a company to improve the EPOS system so that payment points throughout the ground will be more reliable and have back up.

There will be screens on the South stand concourse area so fans can watch the tv football pre match and at halftime/full time catch the results.

There will be a new stage in the fan zone and all food outlets will be brought in house.

He was adamant that they will only make the plans public when it is certain they will be delivered (i.e. planning will be granted and everything is agreed) I am sure we will all be pleased with the improvements.