Post by Neko Bazu on Jan 8, 2008 19:31:51 GMT -1
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/luton_town/7177839.stm
Absolutely fantastic news, if this application gets accepted This is probably the closest we're ever gonna get, short of a Trust share-buyout, to our club being run 'by fans, for fans' - Gary Sweet in particular has proven his worth, as he led the Trust when it ousted Gurney, and by the sound of things the other investors are doing very well for themselves on a business level. I can't see Sweet or Owen working with anyone looking to make a quick buck... so there's hope!
Rumour is that the other bidder is Cliff Bassett - a former member of Jayten. C'mon now, surely that bid can't be taken credibly after all Jayten did to us over the last few years?!
Television presenter and lifelong Luton fan Nick Owen is fronting a bid to buy the troubled League One club.
His consortium is funded by local and overseas businessmen and they expect to get a decision from the administrator by lunchtime on Wednesday.
"I cannot wait for us to get the go-ahead - I'm very hopeful," Owen told BBC Three Counties Radio.
Luton entered administration on 22 November and the deadline for bids to save them was 1700 GMT on Monday.
It has been reported that a number of potential purchasers submitted formal offers and the administrator Brendan Guilfoyle is due to announce which of them will be granted an exclusivity period as the preferred bidder.
Owen confirmed that his consortium's bid is backed by the three principal supporters' groups, including the supporters' trust which helped oust former chairman John Gurney from power in 2003.
"It is a great lift to know they are right behind us," said the 60-year-old presenter of the BBC's Midlands Today.
"The people in the consortium are all lifelong Luton fans. The main players will be familiar to a lot of Luton fans - Gary Sweet, Anthony Brown and Stephen Brown.
"These guys have worked so hard over a few weeks now to put together a very impressive application - 64 pages of it. They are big Luton fans and have pulled together some very successful businessmen who are Luton fans.
"It blew my mind away when I read the application"
Some of the investment is being provided by former Luton youth player Mick Pattinson who is now president and chief executive of US housebuilder Barratt American.
He is joined by other long standing season-ticket holders and two unnamed former players who now have successful business interests.
"They're coming in because they want to see this club survive," said Owen, who added that former Watford and England manager Graham Taylor was acting as a football advisor to one other group which, he claims, has not made a bid.
There is at least one other offer on the table, though, thought to come from a developer.
"I'm very positive that we could well be the only credible bid," said Owen.
"I'll be surprised if we don't know before Wednesday lunchtime but it could be sooner."
His consortium is funded by local and overseas businessmen and they expect to get a decision from the administrator by lunchtime on Wednesday.
"I cannot wait for us to get the go-ahead - I'm very hopeful," Owen told BBC Three Counties Radio.
Luton entered administration on 22 November and the deadline for bids to save them was 1700 GMT on Monday.
It has been reported that a number of potential purchasers submitted formal offers and the administrator Brendan Guilfoyle is due to announce which of them will be granted an exclusivity period as the preferred bidder.
Owen confirmed that his consortium's bid is backed by the three principal supporters' groups, including the supporters' trust which helped oust former chairman John Gurney from power in 2003.
"It is a great lift to know they are right behind us," said the 60-year-old presenter of the BBC's Midlands Today.
"The people in the consortium are all lifelong Luton fans. The main players will be familiar to a lot of Luton fans - Gary Sweet, Anthony Brown and Stephen Brown.
"These guys have worked so hard over a few weeks now to put together a very impressive application - 64 pages of it. They are big Luton fans and have pulled together some very successful businessmen who are Luton fans.
"It blew my mind away when I read the application"
Some of the investment is being provided by former Luton youth player Mick Pattinson who is now president and chief executive of US housebuilder Barratt American.
He is joined by other long standing season-ticket holders and two unnamed former players who now have successful business interests.
"They're coming in because they want to see this club survive," said Owen, who added that former Watford and England manager Graham Taylor was acting as a football advisor to one other group which, he claims, has not made a bid.
There is at least one other offer on the table, though, thought to come from a developer.
"I'm very positive that we could well be the only credible bid," said Owen.
"I'll be surprised if we don't know before Wednesday lunchtime but it could be sooner."
Absolutely fantastic news, if this application gets accepted This is probably the closest we're ever gonna get, short of a Trust share-buyout, to our club being run 'by fans, for fans' - Gary Sweet in particular has proven his worth, as he led the Trust when it ousted Gurney, and by the sound of things the other investors are doing very well for themselves on a business level. I can't see Sweet or Owen working with anyone looking to make a quick buck... so there's hope!
Rumour is that the other bidder is Cliff Bassett - a former member of Jayten. C'mon now, surely that bid can't be taken credibly after all Jayten did to us over the last few years?!