Le Tout P'ti FC

Seconded Cloisters. But don't let the secret out!

The lottery grant has some conditional payback or it won't sit on the balance sheet of QP. I don't know what the T&C are and nor does anybody else not privy to the contract but I'd surmise the chat is akin to "use this land for spectator football or other sport for XX years or grant is rescinded". This is why it's on their balance sheet today. If it was a straight "here's £XXm build a stadium" then QP would have had to recognise it as income immediately. (The irrelevant point here is if QP breach T&C how do they pay it back? I know, and everyone else knows, the grant is spent but the fact is QP can't recognise it at income until the grant period expires. Albeit if it's a say 25 year grant they release 4% pa to smooth that.) The BT Hampden money is different. I think that was naming rights and their name is off the South Stand now so they must get bugger all back if it all goes tits up.

Yes Toryglen is a good idea! I hadn't considered that. It would be an alternative way for QP to maintain their "difference" (first team to play indoors) and stay close to their roots. I'd personally hate to see them, and Scotland leave Hampden, but I understand some of the reservations others have about the place .

The value of the land it sits on is whatever a buyer is willing to pay to a seller when the buyer knows the seller needs out of there pronto before they get sucked into a financial abyss. What happens to the £22m (plus) that they owe to the grant funder if they knock the place down to build flats? (Or go cap in hand to government to get the whole lot waived.) Or the tax which they will presumably become liable for on sale of the asset? Or the legal and planning costs. What if GCC decide we've got enough housing stock in this part of town, you can't have your land rezoned for housing? Or we need three new schools and a medical centre, amd X acres of green parkland on your site before you can build a single house. What about the costs of upgrading Lesser Hampden or Cathkin or Shawfield or god knows where they end up after flitting? What if their preferred housebuilder goes a bit Carillion on them and they have to fire sale the whole site to GHA before they go bust? It's too simplistic to suggest that QPFC will be ok come what may. They probably will be ok, of course they will, but there's quite a few bumps in the road - you only have to look at something like Donaldson's College in Edinburgh which is perhaps comparable to a degree in terms of size and complexities to see it doesn't always go smoothly.

Putting aside that the accounts on the public record are now 14 months old: It's the £7.5m total funds balance which is more indicative of the true value of the company than the £29.4m TACL figure. The difference being primarily the £21.7m construction grants repayable under certain conditions. The caveat being the value of the TFA is booked at depreciated cost and not market value. The directors are implying the stadium asset isn't impaired, but still, it's an illiquid asset at best and valued at construction cost, as opposed to sale value as housing plot land, and no provision is made for cost of decommissioning the site. Some form of impairment becomes necessary when and if the SFA vacate their lease. The company had £514k in the bank and a rather substantial short term creditor balance of £4.7m. I see Note 8 from the full accounts isn't filed - the accountant has made a bit of a botch of producing filing/filleted accounts (e.g. mismatch B/S x-refs to supporting notes) under the new 1A rules but hey ho. I'd assume much of that STC to be more capital grants to be released to reserves, so still illiquid. The point being the financial statements look fairly positive to a lay reader, but their cash flow is fairly marginal all things considered. In the absence of the debtor and creditor notes - which is permissible - it's hard to infer the true liquidity position here. In approving these accounts, the Committee will have necessarily produced financial projections showing cash flow was in place to no less than April 2018, but what may be interesting is how they frame the uncertainties prevalent today when filing the December 2017 financials. Still the 12-month window this year ought to be within the period of the SFA lease, unless they have served notice to vacate, so December 2018 will be more interesting still. I'd be fairly surprised if some sort of emphasis of matter note wasn't added to these accounts in near future which may be more illuminating. The 2016 accounts were filed in April, I'd rather suspect the 2017 accounts may be less punctual in current circumstances.

Jolly Judge. Down a close near top of Royal Mile. Two mins to castle.

Game one was frozen off! Went to see the Churchill film instead and now repeating the mistakes of last night in the pubs of Inverness.

Yeah that's the point. The home sponsors. Instead of scrambling around with a week or so of notice the club can market sponsorship weeks in advance. It's a big difference.

I live in Dalkeith and have sadly been solidly part of the ambivalence towards the football team part of the town. The main reason for this on my part is lack of fixture lists. I'm generally going to commit to something else on a Saturday rather than wait and see if there happens to be a game in town. And if I do find I have a floating Saturday then I have seven teams playing in the county, not to mention Edinburgh on the doorstep, so I'll take my pick. At the moment there is only one Dalkeith home game scheduled, while the EOSFL has fixtures planned through to end of April. I think having a fixture schedule in place will be really positive locally, and definitely in regard to the bookings for the wee hospitality cabin. I'm not saying I'll become a super fan overnight, but I do expect I'll make more than my 2-3 games per season if I have something to plan towards. I wish them a lot of luck. For them to jump up the pyramid like these before the juniors will eventually move en masse is I think a smart move. Time will tell if that advantage lasts!!

Working through Black Isle tap list. Dry January has been flooded out.

Just bought tickets for AZ game in April. Seems to be availability for most games between now and then: https://www.visitajax.com

Clach v Brora in January. Salford City v Bradford Park Avenue in February. Ajax v AZ in April.

This went down well last night. Too well.

Not their best tonight. Poor sound. One or two tickets unsold! Going to see them in Manchester in a few weeks in a smallish room and I am absolutely certain it will be significantly better than the Hydro. Fosters / Hot Dogs / Selfies....

Spot on!

Guildford Arms tonight. An Edinburgh institution! The guy behind me is talking about 1314 with much fury. He may have been around then. I'm enjoying it whilst I'm waiting for my pint, his swearing is a thing of wonder.

That red wine Kilchoman is wonderful. Top choices there!!

Plockton Hotel is excellent for food, good beer selection also (photo attached). I had the Cromarty Happy Chappy. They do a pint of prawns, fish landed at harbour in village - brilliant food. Service is so/so. I've stayed there as well on a previous trip, and room was ok. Worth paying extra for a sea view. Plockton Shores is good for food, only doing dinners now though, lunch done for season I think. Plockton Inn also, never had food there but found it really friendly for pints last time I stayed in town. The seal trip boat is finishing up for season at end of week. Back in April. Finally, the BBC Out of Doors podcast of last Saturday was about the Kyle line and worth a listen if you're doing the trip. Enjoy it if you go!

£10 return Inverness to Plockton yesterday (no concessions or railcards used), booked not that long back. Took a wee boat trip in Plockton, saw some seals, had a pub lunch, came home. Trains were clean and punctual, staff were friendly. Scotrail at their best.

Congratulations to Kinlochshiel, League Champions!

Anyone else missing the Scotland game in the pub on Sunday to do bedtime? I've not seen R since Wednesday morning - been at a conference for work - and won't see him much tomorrow either for another unavoidable thing. I imagine me 20 years ago being told you'll willingly miss a Scotland World Cup qualification decider (sort of) for your kid. I'd have been outraged and I'm sort of outraged on behalf of that guy then. Sorry 1990s me! But I'm really missing him and hopefully next time we get a big game the times will be kinder (or I'll bite the bullet and buy Sky!). All I want to do on Sunday is spend time with him and by time he's down I'll check score and that will be that. Or I'll break and take him to the pub with me on Sunday! Four years old is ok to go out on lash isn't it?! I must admit I'd felt a wee bit outgrown from watching Scotland and caring much - that Norway "miss" game broke me it really did - but by Christ it came flooding back last night! At 80 mins i was texting my Dad to berate him for making me Scottiah. But still, Sunday game is out for me and it's my choice.

Standing area has a nice slope to it so you'll get a decent view. Feels quite intimate for the size of room it is. Bars get quite congested. I usually loiter in the Blue Blazer until close to stage time to avoid the queues inside. Sound should be good quality, the room is designed to make the big chamber orchestras which normally play there sound good.

This has went from keek to classic. First half was one sided, then Lovat turned good all of a sudden. Enjoyed the second half thoroughly, think Newtonmore deserved the win.

Bad day at the office for a driver today. Ran a red light near Waverley and buckled a set of points. More or less all trains cancelled from Waverley until 12, some getting in and out through a secret tunnel or a black hole. My train to Inverness was eventually cancelled. Now waiting on a bloody Mega Bus instead. Coinciding with engineering works and closures elsewhere I'd hate to be in their customer services team right now.

I was visiting an office recently and they had Forth 2 on. I was stuck in there all day listening to that music Woolworths sold in a 99p bin, adverts for funeral tea venues and bloody multiple choice quizzes. You can't possibly as a visitor say for the love of Christ will you turn that shite off. So on and on it went. Awful.