12 years ago today... the 8-1

[Grassland Blue]

If there's a colder windier place to build a football ground I'd like to know where it is?

Oldham!

 

[berryblue]

Oldham!

OOOOH I don't know. That bloody icey NE wind coming off the North Sea takes some beating.

 

[petrusha]

Agree with all of this. I worked for a Bank that was involved with City at the time (we were trying to get out because of Thaksin - as were many others). We refused to lend to the club following the takeover and an American investment bank arranged a bond issue, that took out all the historic traditional bank debt but we were still involved with the mechanics of the finance, even that we wanted out of. The money was coming in at first through various dodgy channels and with Thaksin's wife's name on the paperwork. Those 'assets' were eventually frozen quite possibly because of the high profile nature of buying the club. If he had hidden his millions in a Panama trust fund he might not have lost it all. When the money stopped flowing there was no where to go, the club was toxic in financial circles due to the ownership. I don't think they ever failed to pay the wages but they were basically borrowing money to pay the creditors threatening to go legal, paying out the bare minimum from funds scraped together. We would not have gone bust as someone would have bought the club the question is who if the current owners had not.

Thanks. This is very interesting. At the time, I will in contact with someone who was a professional adviser doing work for the club. He told me that, at the beginning, Thaksin was funneling money into City from offshore accounts whose existence was disclosed by way of Thaksin offering proof of funds when buying the club. However, the intention was always for Thaksin to invest in the club using money he had in Thailand. IIRC, he had a couple of billion quid frozen there, but he expected the party loyal to him to win the Thai general election in December 2007.

He thought that victory would then trigger two developments: (1) the unfreezing of his billions in Thailand, which he could then withdraw from the country through MCFC outside the scope the restrictions of general Thai currency control legislation using an exemption concerning investments that enhance the prestige of Thailand internationally; and (2) the disbanding of a body called the AEC (Assets Examination Committee) which had been set up by the previous military government to look into Thaksin's offshore funds. But, though the largest single party in the Thai parliament, his allies fell short of an overall majority and neither of these things happened - which had serious repercussions for MCFC.

As discussed in another thread, MCFC had set up a deal to bring Nicolas Anelka back to the club in the January 2008 transfer window and that transaction fell through, obviously. He ended up going to Chelsea, where he in effect understudied Drogba, but he'd have opted to be the main striker at City under Sven had that option remained on the table. At this stage, Thaksin no longer was prepared to channel funds into the club from his offshore accounts lest he alert the AEC, watching on closely, to the provenance of the cash.

Thaksin's preferred solution was to bring money into MCFC by finding a partner who'd subscribe for a minority shareholding at a hefty price, and it was this plan that first brought ADUG into the picture. Thaksin's adviser Pairoj Piampongsan, a director at City, was based in the UAE and had top-level contacts over there. I believe that, even at this stage, ADUG regarded MCFC fairly favourably as a potential investment but their plans didn't involve playing second fiddle to anyone (and Thaksin's valuation of the club coupled with the amount of control he was prepared to cede didn't enhance the prospect of doing a deal with anyone).

As 2008 moved forward, it became clear that Thaksin's political woes in Thailand, his resultant inability to finance MCFC and the British government's decision to side with his enemies meant that he was always likely to have to sell the club on. Unfortunately, he was very slow in recognising the fact, believing for months that a solution would present itself and allow him to retain control of the club. That nearly cost us the ADUG takeover. I suppose we should thank the Thai military for ending up putting Thaksin in a position where, just in time, even he couldn't deny that he needed to get out. ;)

 

[manimanc]

Thanks. This is very interesting. At the time, I will in contact with someone who was a professional adviser doing work for the club. He told me that, at the beginning, Thaksin was funneling money into City from offshore accounts whose existence was disclosed by way of Thaksin offering proof of funds when buying the club. However, the intention was always for Thaksin to invest in the club using money he had in Thailand. IIRC, he had a couple of billion quid frozen there, but he expected the party loyal to him to win the Thai general election in December 2007.

He thought that victory would then trigger two developments: (1) the unfreezing of his billions in Thailand, which he could then withdraw from the country through MCFC outside the scope the restrictions of general Thai currency control legislation using an exemption concerning investments that enhance the prestige of Thailand internationally; and (2) the disbanding of a body called the AEC (Assets Examination Committee) which had been set up by the previous military government to look into Thaksin's offshore funds. But, though the largest single party in the Thai parliament, his allies fell short of an overall majority and neither of these things happened - which had serious repercussions for MCFC.

As discussed in another thread, MCFC had set up a deal to bring Nicolas Anelka back to the club in the January 2008 transfer window and that transaction fell through, obviously. He ended up going to Chelsea, where he in effect understudied Drogba, but he'd have opted to be the main striker at City under Sven had that option remained on the table. At this stage, Thaksin no longer was prepared to channel funds into the club from his offshore accounts lest he alert the AEC, watching on closely, to the provenance of the cash.

Thaksin's preferred solution was to bring money into MCFC by finding a partner who'd subscribe for a minority shareholding at a hefty price, and it was this plan that first brought ADUG into the picture. Thaksin's adviser Pairoj Piampongsan, a director at City, was based in the UAE and had top-level contacts over there. I believe that, even at this stage, ADUG regarded MCFC fairly favourably as a potential investment but their plans didn't involve playing second fiddle to anyone (and Thaksin's valuation of the club coupled with the amount of control he was prepared to cede didn't enhance the prospect of doing a deal with anyone).

As 2008 moved forward, it became clear that Thaksin's political woes in Thailand, his resultant inability to finance MCFC and the British government's decision to side with his enemies meant that he was always likely to have to sell the club on. Unfortunately, he was very slow in recognising the fact, believing for months that a solution would present itself and allow him to retain control of the club. That nearly cost us the ADUG takeover. I suppose we should thank the Thai military for ending up putting Thaksin in a position where, just in time, even he couldn't deny that he needed to get out. ;)

Thanks for that, that was a really interesting read.

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

Thanks. This is very interesting. At the time, I will in contact with someone who was a professional adviser doing work for the club. He told me that, at the beginning, Thaksin was funneling money into City from offshore accounts whose existence was disclosed by way of Thaksin offering proof of funds when buying the club. However, the intention was always for Thaksin to invest in the club using money he had in Thailand. IIRC, he had a couple of billion quid frozen there, but he expected the party loyal to him to win the Thai general election in December 2007.

He thought that victory would then trigger two developments: (1) the unfreezing of his billions in Thailand, which he could then withdraw from the country through MCFC outside the scope the restrictions of general Thai currency control legislation using an exemption concerning investments that enhance the prestige of Thailand internationally; and (2) the disbanding of a body called the AEC (Assets Examination Committee) which had been set up by the previous military government to look into Thaksin's offshore funds. But, though the largest single party in the Thai parliament, his allies fell short of an overall majority and neither of these things happened - which had serious repercussions for MCFC.

As discussed in another thread, MCFC had set up a deal to bring Nicolas Anelka back to the club in the January 2008 transfer window and that transaction fell through, obviously. He ended up going to Chelsea, where he in effect understudied Drogba, but he'd have opted to be the main striker at City under Sven had that option remained on the table. At this stage, Thaksin no longer was prepared to channel funds into the club from his offshore accounts lest he alert the AEC, watching on closely, to the provenance of the cash.

Thaksin's preferred solution was to bring money into MCFC by finding a partner who'd subscribe for a minority shareholding at a hefty price, and it was this plan that first brought ADUG into the picture. Thaksin's adviser Pairoj Piampongsan, a director at City, was based in the UAE and had top-level contacts over there. I believe that, even at this stage, ADUG regarded MCFC fairly favourably as a potential investment but their plans didn't involve playing second fiddle to anyone (and Thaksin's valuation of the club coupled with the amount of control he was prepared to cede didn't enhance the prospect of doing a deal with anyone).

As 2008 moved forward, it became clear that Thaksin's political woes in Thailand, his resultant inability to finance MCFC and the British government's decision to side with his enemies meant that he was always likely to have to sell the club on. Unfortunately, he was very slow in recognising the fact, believing for months that a solution would present itself and allow him to retain control of the club. That nearly cost us the ADUG takeover. I suppose we should thank the Thai military for ending up putting Thaksin in a position where, just in time, even he couldn't deny that he needed to get out. ;)

Yes - Thaksin's time at the club coincided with the ramping up of anti corruption measures globally. Banks were increasingly subject to KYC\AML regs and audits (Know Your Customer \ Anti Money Laundering). Right from the start Banks in the UK did not want to touch Thaksin. An american Bank arranged the finance (i remeber it as Bear Sterns but PB has another name) i think was around £50m. It was a bond so it was underwritten initially but once issued that type of debt is essentially sold on to the market and not something you can easily renegotiate, if all your funding is via a bond and you get in to difficulty you have no where to go. You cant ring up your bank manager and beg and plead, all the Banks were out and staying out, we had links due to the historic current accounts / payment systems but that was it.

 

[lazza]

Living in the North East, I have a mate who's a Boro season ticket holder with his parents and brother. His brother couldn't make it that day, so I took the spare ticket. I remember in the car he was talking about how crap Boro had been all year and hadn't scored more than 2 goals in a game at home the whole season. As we had nothing to play for either, when we had a flutter before the game, I put a few quid on 0-0!!

Anyway, this was the game where I learnt how hard it is to not stand out as an away fan in the home end when the home team is battering you. BY the end, I reckon the whole block knew there was a City fan in their midst, and enthusiastically directed their scorn in my direction! IIRC, when Elano scored, some City fans in the away end were singing "we're gonna win 8-7" which got an appreciate reaction in the Boro end.