Norm: I have a dream

I'm interested in what one poster has said about HS2 land development, if Crewe will return to its former pre-eminence as a rail hub.

Is the potential value of the Gresty Road complex being accepted as collateral against loans to PLC members, all of which will suddenly come right if the ground is sold for development, with plenty left to build us a dinky, 5,000-capacity Legoland stadium down Weston Lane (not even necessary for it to be all seated for whatever low tier we've sunk to by that time)?

Is this the long game that's being played? Does anybody know? You almost wonder why the Seth Johnson stand was ever built if the plan dates back years and years.

If it is, I think many of us would welcome short-termism, of whatever kind, that would enable us to preserve our status.

The Ground was bought in the 1966/7 season for 15,000 so The Directors are sitting on a nice little profit no wonder there all silent.

I too have had a similar dream.

In mine, the club Crewe Alexandra FC, continues to suffer from a lack of investment and is on a downward spiral in performances. This spiral continues and results in relegation to the lower tier. Support dwindles, income from attendances suffers badly and still no effort appears to be forthcoming to stabilize the Club. My dream becomes a nightmare as relegation to the non league divisions becomes a reality.

The same management philosophy continues, income is virtually non existent, and the final act is the Club cannot find the money to pay the ground rent to Crewe Enterprise Ltd. The Club is forced into administration and having no assets (which have all been previously been transferred to Crewe Enterprise), the Club ceases to exist.

My nightmare finishes with a Taylor Woodrow hoarding advertising new homes called Gresty Court.

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Originally Posted by itwasin

The Ground was bought in the 1966/7 season for 15,000 so The Directors are sitting on a nice little profit no wonder there all silent.

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Very few of them are sitting on a nice little profit

They don't have enough shares!!!

...and if they are waiting for that, some of them have waited all their lives. The ground has value but its not prime residential land is it? If there is validity in the HS2 point then maybe things change?

Is there something we should know?

As I see it, NH holds 57% of the shares and is therefore the major holder and stands to make the most.

In order to sell the Stadium he would have to first find another ground for CAFC or create a situation whereby it ceases trading and since the only assets CAFC have are the players then it has little value other than goodwill.

Selling the Stadium is more interesting as this asset belongs to Crewe Enterprise Ltd, again NH is the major shareholder. I guess this asset could be released in two ways. Firstly have a developer take over Crewe Enterprise by buying the shares which would benefit all shareholders, or Crewe Enterprise Ltd could just sell the Stadium and show a healthy balance sheet with the income to be used in any way.