A Club in crisis?
You decide!
For the past 3 years, Trust in Luton have worked with the Club’s board and have been supportive in helping to take our great Club forward and up the leagues. Over the past six months we have been sidelined and the Club have made promises to supporters but have failed every time:
• Losses have escalated;
• Running costs have increased out of control and even the Chairman does not know why;
• Over £13 million of transfer income has been swallowed up;
• The planning application for a new stadium has been delayed three times and the fans don’t know why;
• The cost of the new stadium has increased by over 100% and we do not know how it will be funded and what debt the Club will be left with;
• We have been told we own our new training ground when it is in fact leased from Active Luton;
• We have been told that David Pinkney has invested £6m in the Club but he will not tell us where or what on. The last time we were told he had invested money, it turned out to be a loan of £300,000 that was repaid to him weeks later.
Look at what we as supporters have been told this year and how the story keeps changing…..
THE ACCOUNTS
“The Club is losing no more than £1.2 - £1.5m p.a.”
Board of Directors, Fans Forum, Autumn 2006
"The Club is losing £2m p.a."
John Mitchell, Jan 07, 3 Counties Radio
"The Club is losing £2m p.a. and it will reduce to circa £1.2m p.a. unless Dave [Pinkney] wants to spend loads on players"
John Mitchell, May 07, Luton News
"I am in full control of the Club, I have done due diligence and it loses £2m p.a."
David Pinkney, July 07, 3 Counties Radio
“Running a football business is much more complex than I thought!”
David Pinkney, Sep 07, 3 Counties Radio
"We are losing over £3m p.a. and we are trying to get to the bottom of it"
David Pinkney, Oct 07, Herald & Post
TiL says: Is Jayten competent to run this Club? Why are the losses increasing after the sale of players, and playing in a lower division? How come the Club are now losing twice the amount that put us into administration, and nearly saw the end of the Club for good just 4 years ago? How can the board make proper decisions if they don’t know the financial state of the business? Why did the CEO approve player wages when the Club didn’t have the money?
THE STADIUM
"The new stadium will cost £33m & that includes fit-out, i.e. ready to handover to the Club"
John Mitchell, Jan 07, 3 Counties Radio
“The stadium will cost £50m”
David Pinkney to supporters, Sep 07
“The stadium will cost £70m and I am not sure how it will be funded! David [Pinkney] has said he has ‘ways’ to fund it”
Richard Bagehot to TiL, Oct 07
TiL says: Why are costs escalating? Where is the money coming from? How much does the Club end up owing, or will we have an unmanageable debt from day one?
YOUR SHAREHOLDING
"TiL can have access to the books and we will be open and transparent"
John Mitchell, May 07, Luton News
"All the information TiL have requested will be available for collection on 1 October"
Club Official Website, 30 Sep 07
"We want to build bridges to a 'we' position, not a 'them and us' position"
David Pinkney, Oct 07, Luton News
“We have made it clear to TiL we have no intention of appointing any new directors to the board”
Club Official Website, 19 Oct 07
TiL says: Why does Jayten want to ignore the views of all supporters? We do not have all the information we requested (legally as a shareholder) and there are important parts missing. When will we get it? Nearly five months on and the books have never been 'opened' up to us as promised - when will this happen? Comments by the management and board of LTFC criticise fans, why are they doing this when we love our Club and they want to 'build bridges'? Why are they refusing to allow a TiL representative on the Club’s board (a position we have held for 3 years) if they want to ‘build bridges’ and correct the ‘them and us position’? What do the board have to hide?
We are not moaning or being difficult for the sake of it!
For three years we were supportive of the board
We just want answers to straightforward questions
ANSWERS EVERY FAN HAS BEEN PROMISED
ANSWERS WE HAVE BEEN PROMISED
ARE YOU HAPPY YOU HAVE LOST YOUR RIGHT TO A SAY IN YOUR FOOTBALL CLUB?
Are YOU happy that the story keeps changing?
Are YOU happy that promises keep being broken?
Are YOU happy that no one at the Club has any idea what the losses are?
Are YOU happy that the board do not know how the new stadium is going to be funded?
Are YOU happy that for the first time in 3 years you are no longer allowed to know what is being decided behind closed doors?
Are YOU happy that no independent feasibility study has been carried out to find the best stadium site for Luton Town?
Are YOU happy that no one knows what has happened to OVER £13 MILLION of income from player sales?
Are YOU happy that Kevin Blackwell has had so little of the promised transfer money to reinvest in the team?
If you answer ‘no’ to any of these questions, come and join us and get your voice heard. We represent a huge range of fans with one common purpose – TO MAKE THIS CLUB GREAT AGAIN
Join TiL and come to our AGM 7.30pm 15th November 2007,
Eric Morecambe Lounge, Kenilworth Road Stadium.