Steve Brown Standing Down

[Strawman]

I m not so sure the club will be sold for a big sum, might be wrong but it would go against everything they ve ever done up til now if they sold the club for huge personal gain.

Thats not me saying I don’t think they deserve it for the years they ve put in, just can’t see them doing that.

I m also not convinced there’s a load of investors waiting to buy a football club for millions of pounds, especially one which has probably reached their potential. Even with serious investment there’s no guarantee we would match the success of the last 10 or so years.

A foreign investor wanting to invest in Scottish football, there’s clubs like Falkirk, Dunfermline, Partick Th who with the proper leadership should be able to match what we’ve done and would give better returns.

I think it’s much more likely the club will pass to someone the Browns trust and that like a lot of Saints business, we ll only be told it was an undisclosed fee. I m thinking a potential buyer would need to give a lot of assurances rather than lots of cash. Not based on any fact though so could well be proved wrong.

[blueheaven]

8 hours ago, Strawman said:

I m also not convinced there’s a load of investors waiting to buy a football club for millions of pounds, especially one which has probably reached their potential. Even with serious investment there’s no guarantee we would match the success of the last 10 or so years.

This is pretty much where my thinking is at the moment. There can't be many local options who would be willing enough and wealthy enough to take Saints on. So then you're looking further afield - but most foreign investors would much rather take on an English club where there's way more potential. Or you're left with the dodgier types, which is where Dundee, Livingston and Raith Rovers have been before us.

[THE LARK SAINT]

1 hour ago, blueheaven said:

This is pretty much where my thinking is at the moment. There can't be many local options who would be willing enough and wealthy enough to take Saints on. So then you're looking further afield - but most foreign investors would much rather take on an English club where there's way more potential. Or you're left with the dodgier types, which is where Dundee, Livingston and Raith Rovers have been before us.

GB taking over as chair on june 1st on temp basis , selling his shares and building a community hub

[Brian Potter]

Might be a stupid question but will we have the chance to buy shares? 

[THE LARK SAINT]

16 minutes ago, Brian Potter said:

Might be a stupid question but will we have the chance to buy shares? 

Don't think so as it just GB shares for sale as I understand it anyway so unless a fans group emerges I cant see individual sales

 

[blueheaven]

49 minutes ago, THE LARK SAINT said:

GB taking over as chair on june 1st on temp basis

...only if he hasn't managed to sell his shares by then, going by today's announcement. 

[Ginger Bakers rebel army]

14 hours ago, Pat McGroin said:

It’s tough to price, but I would assume 8 figs as it sits. 
 

This “sunshine and unicorns” idea that the Browns won’t look to profit or take a fee is nonsense.
 

They have invested nearly 40 years in a business without taking a salary. 
 

This is where they get paid. 
 

Otherwise, it would absolutely be picked up by an asset stripper. 

Geoff has confirmed proceeds from the sale of his shares going to St Johnstone community trust, this is brilliant and the money will do good things for the community for many decades to come, hats off. 

[rik2304]

Steve Brown must have some kind of record for length of time in post and never sacking a manager.

[PSJ.84]

28 minutes ago, rik2304 said:

Steve Brown must have some kind of record for length of time in post and never sacking a manager.

Still time yet!

[Sergei]

I have a hazy memory of Geoff saying in the past that he'd gladly 'sell' the club for £1 if the right buyer was found and they would put any money into the club rather than his pocket. 

The rumours had been around for a while that something like this was happening behind the scenes. I wonder if the next part will now come to fruition too, Binn Group taking over. Given the club's ethos I don't think we could ask for better than another successful local business owned by a genuine Saints fan if so. 

[PSJ.84]

https://twitter.com/robertthomson55/status/1601180441587109888?s=46&t=meFsa96Gaq49y2totODq0A

[Tranmere Saintee]

19 hours ago, Ginger Bakers rebel army said:

Binn Group have been a great sponsor but can’t see them diversifying into football ownership.

I had always hoped the Browns would not profit financially from saints and put a structure in place that allowed the club to at least continue as is. For that to happen Geoff would need to put complete faith in someone to manage his shareholding, that   Won’t be easy. 

The Browns don’t need to profit financially from saints I am sure Geoff will do all he can to secure our long term future.

Geoff has already stated that any money raised from the sale  of his shares will go to  the Community Fund.

[MySpazz]

Football is a beautiful game and an ugly business. 

 

Get the flats built on the astro and the training pitch and use the money to get a community place elsewhere with a state of the art training facility. Failing that sell the whole thing, and repeat what we did in 1988!

 

 

Edited December 9, 2022 by MySpazz

[Aitchy]

The Browns confirmed this afternoon at the AGM that at the moment there is no buyer waiting in the wings. They plan to market the club and said they would be surprised if anyone local had the finance to take over the club. They indicated that they expect that new owners to be foreign.

One thing that was abundantly clear is that the Browns will do their due diligence to ensure that any new owner has the best interests of the club at heart. They stated that they will offer our new owner as much assistance as possible

They confirmed that they will not take a penny from any potential sale and it will all be invested in the creating a community and sporting hub via our community trust.

It was noticeable that selling the club has been a tough decisions for the Browns and they were very emotional about their decision to part way with the club. 
 

End of an amazing era and they leave our club in a fantastic place. Nervous but also excited about what potentially lies ahead.

[Strawman]

The Browns will sell the majority shares to a new owner but I d love to see a small proportion go on sale to fans, maybe say 15/20% even . I think there would be an appetite for these to sell well. Maybe blocks of £500 or £1000. I m not a rich man but would love to invest £1000 in the club even for a very small holding if the opportunity was there.

[pezza70]

13 hours ago, Ginger Bakers rebel army said:

Geoff has confirmed proceeds from the sale of his shares going to St Johnstone community trust, this is brilliant and the money will do good things for the community for many decades to come, hats off. 

A saintee through and through, I’d be happy to see the stadium named changed to the Geoff Brown Park or the community hub named after him 

[Strawman]

8 hours ago, pezza70 said:

A saintee through and through, I’d be happy to see the stadium named changed to the Geoff Brown Park or the community hub named after him 

With the stadium being named after Bruce McDiarmid who donated the land it’s built on, we can’t change that.

I like the fact we ve never renamed it to a sponsors name as a result.

The main stand , a statue outside, any other gesture would be very appropriate. Would be amazing if done in Geoff Browns lifetime so he gets to see it happen,. Probably has to be fan led though, the last act of an owner isn’t going to be pay tribute to themselves and equally it’s perhaps not something a new owner is going to want to do either, look how great the guy before me was,  may be though, depends who new owners end up being.

[Ginger Bakers rebel army]

19 hours ago, Tranmere Saintee said:

Geoff has already stated that any money raised from the sale  of his shares will go to  the Community Fund.

Brilliant hope you are keeping well. 

[pezza70]

30 minutes ago, Strawman said:

With the stadium being named after Bruce McDiarmid who donated the land it’s built on, we can’t change that.

I like the fact we ve never renamed it to a sponsors name as a result.

The main stand , a statue outside, any other gesture would be very appropriate. Would be amazing if done in Geoff Browns lifetime so he gets to see it happen,. Probably has to be fan led though, the last act of an owner isn’t going to be pay tribute to themselves and equally it’s perhaps not something a new owner is going to want to do either, look how great the guy before me was,  may be though, depends who new owners end up being.

A statue is a great idea surely it would have the support of everyone within the local football community and even P&K Council

[Cagey]

3 hours ago, Strawman said:

With the stadium being named after Bruce McDiarmid who donated the land it’s built on, we can’t change that.

I like the fact we ve never renamed it to a sponsors name as a result.

The main stand , a statue outside, any other gesture would be very appropriate. Would be amazing if done in Geoff Browns lifetime so he gets to see it happen,. Probably has to be fan led though, the last act of an owner isn’t going to be pay tribute to themselves and equally it’s perhaps not something a new owner is going to want to do either, look how great the guy before me was,  may be though, depends who new owners end up being.

Not into statues. Surprised he hasn't at least received an MBE or something for what he has done for Perth and  St Johnstone.

[Aitchy]

13 minutes ago, Cagey said:

Not into statues. Surprised he hasn't at least received an MBE or something for what he has done for Perth and  St Johnstone.

Received an OBE earlier this year.

[OldPoster]

The Cynic in me says that GS Brown will be building the "Hub" and the money will just flow back to them that way 

[Sergei]

17 hours ago, Aitchy said:

The Browns confirmed this afternoon at the AGM that at the moment there is no buyer waiting in the wings. They plan to market the club and said they would be surprised if anyone local had the finance to take over the club. They indicated that they expect that new owners to be foreign.

So not Binn as rumoured then. Interesting that he expects the new owners to be foreign even though nobody's lined up and they haven't started officially advertising the sale yet. Scottish football's not that attractive to Scots let alone someone from outwith these shores.

Red Bull love building up a diddy club but expect Scotland would just be a dot on a sales map to them. Bigger clubs buying smaller ones in different countries to use as a feeder is a bit of a trend at the moment but doubt Anderlecht or Malmo would be interested. I'm all for Dino and some of his mates having a whip round to take over.  If nothing else the music would improve. 

4 hours ago, Strawman said:

With the stadium being named after Bruce McDiarmid who donated the land it’s built on, we can’t change that.

I like the fact we ve never renamed it to a sponsors name as a result.

The main stand , a statue outside, any other gesture would be very appropriate. Would be amazing if done in Geoff Browns lifetime so he gets to see it happen,. Probably has to be fan led though, the last act of an owner isn’t going to be pay tribute to themselves and equally it’s perhaps not something a new owner is going to want to do either, look how great the guy before me was,  may be though, depends who new owners end up being.

Out of interest, why can't the stadium name be changed? Is it written in the deeds somewhere or is it an emotional viewpoint?

I'm not a great a fan of naming stands/grounds after players/people unless it's for something extraordinary. Bruce certainly deserves his accolade but I'd say Geoff also deserves recognition at that level, if not greater, but they wouldn't rename the ground. That's the problem when you go down that route. We now have two managers that achieved the club's holy grail of major trophies yet we'd never rename the Ormond Stand for the emotion attached to Willie and that team.

I also don't think sponsoring an existing stadium really works, only when it's a new build. They're too established under their existing name that most fans would still just call it that no matter what it was officially changed to.  I'd take the money if anyone was daft enough to throw it at us.

[Templar Saint]

Expected new owners not to be local.

Step up ByeBye Dundee...........might get that handshake from Steve Brown!!!

[Wendy Saints]

I can’t be the only fan to be a bit sad! We have had 2 chairmen who at the end of the day have been Saints fans! Run the business as a business and you always felt the club was in safe hands! I was at a meet the Chairman a few years back and left wondering how the club managed to pay the utilities never mind buy players! 
I suppose if you are going to go it’s the perfect time! Club in the black and 3 cups 4 if you count the Challenge cup! I just worry that the club won’t be so lucky with Chairmen in the future. Or Chairwomen ;-)