Why aren't we on the billionaires list?

[Chali 2na]

Why aren't we an amazing opportunity?

• We're geographically at a disadvantage. (Southern, specifically London clubs are more attractive.)
• We're not a cut-price deal. (We're not in financial difficulty or have owners desperate to sell.)
• Until recently we've been a complete mess on the pitch.

We probabaly are an attractive proposition, but we're not the most attractive either.

Because stoke and Burnley, Watford and Bournemouth have all those thinks...

Stoke are owned by a local, wealthy (more so than McCabe) buisness man. They can also thank a decade of PL tv money for their financial position more than their owner.
Watford and Bournemouth are in attractive position, geographically.
Burnley haven't had massive financial backing, they're a product of a good manager: not daft spending.

excuse, it's more the reason that Mcabe doesn't want to sell, he's quite happy flogging our assets to keep us as a middle of the road club when we have the potential to be dare I say it, Massive! He will be the reason that Wilder walks, mark my words, and we'll lose him to a non descript club like Burnley or Bolton, or bloody Preston.

Mcabe needs to put up or bugger off and let this club flourish, we won't get another chance with the like of Wilder at the helm in our lifetimes.

What is it about losing money that McCabe likes so much? What's in it for McCabe?

Sheffield is well placed, especially being the gateway to the Peak District, that's a massive advantage over Leeds..

Yes, the first thing every prospective owner looks for in a club; "how close are we to the Peak District?"

If I were Kev i'd be asking for better sponsorship from the likes of McClaren or Boeing...

In order to get better sponsorship from Boeing and McClaren, wouldn't we need some sponsorship in the first place?

Do many aeroplane or super-car manufacturers sponsor football teams?

 

[TJB.]

Sheffield United F.C

There is something about this city that's not quite right. I've never been able to put my finger on it. We seem to have great ideas and intentions yet end up celebrating second best. It's more like a very large town than a city, maybe it's the geography which makes us feel small, I don't know. Either way, if I was an overseas investor looking to buy a Championship club, I think I would bypass Sheffield quite quickly.

The geography of the city and its history is very important to why we're always playing second fiddle to a lot of other cities.

Places like Manchester, Liverpool etc. used to have their traditional industries in or very close to the city centre, therefore a large mass of people lived in the centres so they could live close to where they worked. As traditional industry died down, these areas generally became their CBD's and thus there was a bigger demand for more 'stuff' in their city centres.

Sheffield's industry was outside of the city centre, so everything was spread out. When everything went to shit, places like Attercliffe (once a thriving community), died a death and there was next to sod all in the city centre to keep the place going. We still don't really have a CBD in the way that others do, to the point where when I just Googled it to see if one had sprung up without my knowing, the third result down was a link to Golden Harvest's website. They sell cannabis CBD oil. That about sums it up.

 

[Bladesman]

If I were Kev i'd be asking for better sponsorship from the likes of McClaren or Boeing now they are moving into the city rather than a shit 2nd hand car dealer or a holiday company everyone has forgot about anything to raise the clubs profile with global names. Who the fuck outside of the UK has even heard of Sheffield United let alone thought of investing.

McLaren struggle to get sponsors for their own F1 team these days. So I doubt they are in a hurry to sponsor a football club.

 

[snootyfenooty]

Sheffield United F.C

There is something about this city that's not quite right. I've never been able to put my finger on it. We seem to have great ideas and intentions yet end up celebrating second best. It's more like a very large town than a city, maybe it's the geography which makes us feel small, I don't know. Either way, if I was an overseas investor looking to buy a Championship club, I think I would bypass Sheffield quite quickly.

Sheffield is on the fringes of everything. Looking at it from a Yorkshire angle, everything is Leeds-centric and the focus is on everything around there. We are next to the Peak District yet Yorkshire tourism is focused on the Yorkshire Dales. The Tour de Yorkshire doesn't want to come anywhere near us. Yet when you see the Peak District tourism promos, Sheffield doesn't exist either, even though one third of the city is Peak National Park.

Sheffield's natural conurbation is Sheffield, Rotherham and Chesterfield and this where our efforts should be focused instead of hanging on to Yorkshire/Leeds' coat tails and begging for a few crumbs to be thrown at us. We're in a no-man's land where everyone drives past rather than drives to, hence this village mentality we all have and some radical thought is required as to where we position ourselves.

 

[Paisley Blade]

Burnley don’t have millionaires in charge. Watford is basically London, Bournemouth is a retirement home for millionaires a stones throw from Gatwick

You must have some throw on you.

 

[Harrisblade]

I meant sell the club to someone who's willing to invest, there you go plain English for you.

Quick, send McCabe an email - he's probably never thought of that

 

[Grizzly blade]

Because stoke and Burnley, Watford and Bournemouth have all those thinks...excuse, it's more the reason that Mcabe doesn't want to sell, he's quite happy flogging our assets to keep us as a middle of the road club when we have the potential to be dare I say it, Massive! He will be the reason that Wilder walks, mark my words, and we'll lose him to a non descript club like Burnley or Bolton, or bloody Preston.

Mcabe needs to put up or bugger off and let this club flourish, we won't get another chance with the like of Wilder at the helm in our lifetimes.

Jesus wept there are some seriously dim people.
What the fuck do you think he’s being trying to do for the last 10 years?
Bugger off where? Just abandon HIS money??
Tell you what, how about you just walk away from your house...or perhaps just give your car to someone....empty your bank accounts and leave your cash in the middle of the street.
It’s exactly the same. Why should he just walk away? And perhaps you could say why not just sell? Well he has had the chance to do that on several occasions, but in each there has been an issue with the prospective buyer either being a crook, a charlatan or worse.

Just friggin grow up cos those are the ramblings of a person who’s either 14, or acts like one!
We are an honest club, with a hard working owner, manager and players. We deserve some investment but in terms that won’t risk the values and future of the club.
I’m happy for the right moment and person to come along, u til then we continue to work hard and support the lads who put on that jersey for 90 mins.

 

[Fanny magnet]

Truth is in my lifetime whenever one of the club's has pushed the boat out a bit and spent a few quid for relative success it's resulted in a long period of paying through the nose for it

We spent a bit ( a bit ) got into the prem and that had ten years of utter shite to follow
The oinkers got fat ron funded a quality side after not spending anything for decades and then after a spell of competing for trophies theyve never really recovered from that spend

 

[Sean Thornton]

Quick, send McCabe an email - he's probably never thought of that

Push comes to shove, there's always those who don't want to invest as well.

Sure whoever it is will be "happy" throwing money away. .....

 

[GrayBlade]

All good valid points, but if as some say the problem with United attracting serious investment is the ‘Sheffield’ bit, how come Milan Mandaric managed find a billionaire who was happy to throw money at that shower of shite with it’s crumbling stadium and poor location? Happily it’s not working out for the Pork in fact it has turned into a nightmare but nevertheless, he didn’t seen to have any problems filling his pockets and selling them off, so it sort of disproves the ‘never in Sheffield’ theory. Barnsley have also found rich investors which could see them a force to be reckoned with if it works out.

I’m not saying that new ownership will be good for us or theorising why it hasn’t already happened, that’s for a different thread, but my own view is that if McCabe really wanted to find a wealthy buyer and move on it would have already happened, and it still could reasonably quickly.

 

[Harrisblade]

All good valid points, but if as some say the problem with United attracting serious investment is the ‘Sheffield’ bit, how come Milan Mandaric managed find a billionaire who was happy to throw money at that shower of shite with it’s crumbling stadium and poor location? Happily it’s not working out for the Pork in fact it has turned into a nightmare but nevertheless, he didn’t seen to have any problems filling his pockets and selling them off, so it sort of disproves the ‘never in Sheffield’ theory. Barnsley have also found rich investors which could see them a force to be reckoned with if it works out.

I’m not saying that new ownership will be good for us or theorising why it hasn’t already happened, that’s for a different thread, but my own view is that if McCabe really wanted to find a wealthy buyer and move on it would have already happened, and it still could reasonably quickly.

Gray, I'm sure that most wealthy investors would throw money at a club that could guarantee a PL place and probably when Mandaric bailed out, it may have seemed likely that Wednesday would.
The real question, which I think that K Mc cares about and MM almost certainly didn't, is what happens if the PL dream doesn't come about?

 

[Bartleby]

Yes, the first thing every prospective owner looks for in a club; "how close are we to the Peak District?"

Quoting me out of context a bit there as I was on about Sheffield's demise generally, in response to a post that said "It’s not just the football clubs that have struggled to attract investment It’s the city itself".

The point about the Peak district is that a town like Skipton makes money from tourism based on it's "gateway to the Dales" reputation.

 

[Chali 2na]

Quoting me out of context a bit there as I was on about Sheffield's demise generally, in response to a post that said "It’s not just the football clubs that have struggled to attract investment It’s the city itself".

The point about the Peak district is that a town like Skipton makes money from tourism based on it's "gateway to the Dales" reputation.

I appreciate that; I took that quote out of context to get the joke out of it really.

 

[I should coco]

All good valid points, but if as some say the problem with United attracting serious investment is the ‘Sheffield’ bit, how come Milan Mandaric managed find a billionaire who was happy to throw money at that shower of shite with it’s crumbling stadium and poor location?

We were in the third division when the dolphin killer rolled up and got his pants pulled down by Mandric. Arguably we are a much better proposition now than SWFC.

Barnsley have also found rich investors which could see them a force to be reckoned with if it works out.

Not sure how 'rich' they are. Flowing cash has been conspicuous by its absence and the 'moneyball' guy in the consortium suggests they will try to do it on the cheap. They obviously have more money than you or I, but I genuinely doubt whether they will commit even what KM and HRH have put in since 2013.

 

[super_pig]

Sheffield is on the fringes of everything. Looking at it from a Yorkshire angle, everything is Leeds-centric and the focus is on everything around there. We are next to the Peak District yet Yorkshire tourism is focused on the Yorkshire Dales. The Tour de Yorkshire doesn't want to come anywhere near us. Yet when you see the Peak District tourism promos, Sheffield doesn't exist either, even though one third of the city is Peak National Park.

Sheffield's natural conurbation is Sheffield, Rotherham and Chesterfield and this where our efforts should be focused instead of hanging on to Yorkshire/Leeds' coat tails and begging for a few crumbs to be thrown at us. We're in a no-man's land where everyone drives past rather than drives to, hence this village mentality we all have and some radical thought is required as to where we position ourselves.

Sheffield is in an unfortunate position geographically. i'm in IT .. there are no jobs in Sheffield (unless you count Plusnet who's wages are a joke because they can get away with it in Sheffield).. and why i'm stuck in the fucking Scottish Highlands atm.. all the stuff north of us goes to Leeds.. west of us goes to Manc land and south of us goes to Nottingham. we're kind of stuck in the middle
one thing though. the overall Sheffield 'attitude' doesn't help . it's very negative.. it took IKEA ten years to get planning permission. We were the only major city without an IKEA in bloody Europe.. took us years to decide on an airport (by which time everyone else had one).. people are still nitpicking about HS2 'cos it would mean knocking down some allotments in fucking Consiborough. what does that say to people outside the city??..
our council are totally incompetent, they are too busy supporting fringe left wing groups worldwide than get proper investment into the city. makes my blood boil.
gets them nice free jollies to Cuba and Colombia i suppose. c*nts.

 

[Carlton Blade]

Sheffield is in an unfortunate position geographically. i'm in IT .. there are no jobs in Sheffield (unless you count Plusnet who's wages are a joke because they can get away with it in Sheffield).. and why i'm stuck in the fucking Scottish Highlands atm.. all the stuff north of us goes to Leeds.. west of us goes to Manc land and south of us goes to Nottingham. we're kind of stuck in the middle
one thing though. the overall Sheffield 'attitude' doesn't help . it's very negative.. it took IKEA ten years to get planning permission. We were the only major city without an IKEA in bloody Europe.. took us years to decide on an airport (by which time everyone else had one).. people are still nitpicking about HS2 'cos it would mean knocking down some allotments in fucking Consiborough. what does that say to people outside the city??..
our council are totally incompetent, they are too busy supporting fringe left wing groups worldwide than get proper investment into the city. makes my blood boil.
gets them nice free jollies to Cuba and Colombia i suppose. c*nts.

Sheffield is a massive city but conducts itself like a tiny village. Drives me insane. You only have to spend half an hour in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham etc to see how far behind it is.

Geography, reliance on declining industries, generally being quite insular all contribute.

 

[super_pig]

Sheffield is a massive city but conducts itself like a tiny village. Drives me insane. You only have to spend half an hour in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham etc to see how far behind it is.

Geography, reliance on declining industries, generally being quite insular all contribute.

i had the misfortune to visit Liverpool a couple of months ago. i was 'stunned' by how good it looked these days. they've overtaken us as well

 

[Carlton Blade]

i had the misfortune to visit Liverpool a couple of months ago. i was 'stunned' by how good it looked these days. they've overtaken us as well

I haven't been for about 10 years but even then the docks area was nicer than anything in Sheffield at the time so I'm not surprised

 

[Davalon]

I've had 3 separate conversations with business people from closeish cities in the last couple of years.

All love Sheffield as a place and the people but gave up opening businesses here due to the council and difficulties working with them.

Just one of many reasons I have major issues with our council over many years.

Not enough questions get asked and too many people are happy just to blame everything on Tory cuts.

 

[Sean Thornton]

If the city advertised its little known tourist attractions a bit more it would help. I mean, we've got

The Ogre Leon, who's never been dropped. Unlike Billy Sharp Gruff.

The Money Trees of Bramall Lane

McCabo the magician "see him make bricks and mortar disappear from balance sheets with a flick of his biro"

Blutadoon, a singing section that only appears every 100 years ( sorry Ricky)

The famous scapegoat herd of Shoreham Street

The Poundland Prince who turns £1 into £17m and then back again.

 

[Liverpool blade]

I'm certain that there are investors out there who would love to pump money into the club despite the geographical location. I'm certain that McCabe will eventually sell up but will only do so when he finds the right buyer and he recoups some of the money he's invested over the years. We currently have the uncertainty in the boardroom which doesn't help matters!!. It will all be sorted out eventually but in the meantime we just need to give Chris and the lads our continued support. He's done wonders for us in such a short space of time!!!. UTB

 

[Harrisblade]

i had the misfortune to visit Liverpool a couple of months ago. i was 'stunned' by how good it looked these days. they've overtaken us as well

Wasn't that started off by a certain M. Heseltine?
We only had an N.Clegg

 

[itsinyerblood]

If the city advertised its little known tourist attractions a bit more it would help. I mean, we've got

The Ogre Leon, who's never been dropped. Unlike Billy Sharp Gruff.

The Money Trees of Bramall Lane

McCabo the magician "see him make bricks and mortar disappear from balance sheets with a flick of his biro"

Blutadoon, a singing section that only appears every 100 years ( sorry Ricky)

The famous scapegoat herd of Shoreham Street

The Poundland Prince who turns £1 into £17m and then back again.

Ricky, ignore him. He's not sorry, he's heartless and should be cast away deep in a cold, unforgiving dungeon in the bowels of Pigsborough.

 

[super_pig]

If the city advertised its little known tourist attractions a bit more it would help. I mean, we've got

The Ogre Leon, who's never been dropped. Unlike Billy Sharp Gruff.

The Money Trees of Bramall Lane

McCabo the magician "see him make bricks and mortar disappear from balance sheets with a flick of his biro"

Blutadoon, a singing section that only appears every 100 years ( sorry Ricky)

The famous scapegoat herd of Shoreham Street

The Poundland Prince who turns £1 into £17m and then back again.

how we didn’t get the football museum is a disgrace

 

[derfblade.3]

I doubt that billionaire owners care what the crowds are. Gate income is small compared to the dosh bandied around the Premiere league.

 

[Isar]

Sheffield is in an unfortunate position geographically. i'm in IT .. there are no jobs in Sheffield (unless you count Plusnet who's wages are a joke because they can get away with it in Sheffield).. and why i'm stuck in the fucking Scottish Highlands atm.. all the stuff north of us goes to Leeds.. west of us goes to Manc land and south of us goes to Nottingham. we're kind of stuck in the middle
one thing though. the overall Sheffield 'attitude' doesn't help . it's very negative.. it took IKEA ten years to get planning permission. We were the only major city without an IKEA in bloody Europe.. took us years to decide on an airport (by which time everyone else had one).. people are still nitpicking about HS2 'cos it would mean knocking down some allotments in fucking Consiborough. what does that say to people outside the city??..
our council are totally incompetent, they are too busy supporting fringe left wing groups worldwide than get proper investment into the city. makes my blood boil.
gets them nice free jollies to Cuba and Colombia i suppose. c*nts.

I was going to post something similar, "the overall Sheffield 'attitude' doesn't help . it's very negative"
Like super pig I am Sheffield born and raised, but moved away for work many years ago, and didnt go back. I love Sheffield, and the people are very friendly. That said it is and always has been a glass half empty place. It is almost like for Sheffield folk, it is very bad to be seen to be positive.
It was hard hit in the 80s and maybe never fully recovered.

 

[Tom Bott]

how we didn’t get the football museum is a disgrace

We had the National Museum for Popular Music - briefly.

World Student Games had some wonderful fireworks, especially when Mrs Astronaut tripped and extinguished the mystical torch flame.

Too many fail to see the positives.

We also had the superb Crab Industries, though there may be some kind of takeover in the offing I've heard.

 

[super_pig]

We had the National Museum for Popular Music - briefly.

and it was w*nk

 

[itsinyerblood]

and it was w*nk

Cat out of the bag SP? You'd prefer a National Museum For Wanking? Might rub some locals up the wrong way?

 

[Bladesthorpe]

Wasn't that started off by a certain M. Heseltine?
We only had an N.Clegg

I've been to Liverpool quite a lot recently and it's quite stunning now but it's certainly not due to Hestletine or the conservatives. If you care to look there are blue plaques everywhere confirming the improvements were paid for by European grants before we made the brain storming decision to leave.