Howlin' Wilf

I can't think of an owner of DFC in my lifetime that wasn't profit driven. The amazing thing was that most of them took a profit too.

The voting seems to have been along parochial lines though and not for the first time.

Or indeed "going forward".

If only the worst thing about that statement was the phrase "at this moment in time".

He was probably the last footballer to get email. I think he thought he was doing himself out of a job!

This'll be the one........

That's one for the Antiques Roadshow Wullie! Was it 98/99 you were ever present at right back apart from one game?

I've made a few errors today on the designation of shares etc. It's been 12 years since I was involved at any meaningful level on such things so I should have checked before submitting to print instead of relying on dodgy memory. The main points however, remain. I have said all along that someone would seek to realise the value of the ground occupied by the stadium, even though that value is less than was envisaged at one stage, it is still significant. The refusal of planning consent for Dalmoak doesn't make the attempted sale less likely IMHO and anyone who doesn't think that should read the Clydebank FC court case I posted earlier. The thing about that was that it was really the Steedmans who had been custodians of the club for more than 30 years who pulled the plug. The golden share might still be a vehicle with which to prevent a sale. Of course as OKI has postulated, Brabco might be inclined to just write it off as a bad deal. The way they have chopped and changed and made every effort to get a return on their money would not suggest that as a likelihood. The cup run and final has probably given the club enough liquidity to get to the end of the season. It's then that we need to be vigilant I think. I might be wrong and I genuinely hope that I am.

If we can raise over £2 grand for single use polythene flags, I would suggest crowdfunding.

Expert legal opinion is very much divided on that.

That would indeed be a good, if highly improbable, way forward.

On the C shares, the 75% is a minimum assuming four directors of DCS Ltd. In fact at the time I was involved there were five directors which meant that an 80% majority was needed.

Thanks for the clarification!

If that is so, I wonder who owns the 6,000 ordinary A shares at £1 each? There are 6,000 A shares at £1 which are all issued and 1,988,000 B shares at 50p according to my share certificate issued in 1992. I don’t know how many B shares are issued. I would have to check back what the differences are in A and B shares . My 200 B shares are numbered 429161 to 429360 inclusive. There are 100 special category C shares which are held in entirety by Dumbarton Community Stadium Ltd ( the independent company set up by McFall, not the Brabco subsidiary)

Here’s how it was all done.....legally. £2.3 million for Kilbowie. https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/search-judgments/judgment?id=b24087a6-8980-69d2-b500-ff0000d74aa7

It’s my understanding that Brabco owns something like 75% of DFC A shares.

There were other shareholders yes. The Steedmans and the other shareholders had bought land on 13 acres of green belt between Hardgate and Drumchapel for a new stadium. Planning was rejected. The Steedmans then sold Kilbowie and pocketed the money. They then sold the club to Hall, who after trying unsuccessfully to relocate to Dublin and Carlisle, sold the league place to Airdrie United for a reputed £100,000.

Brabco and the club are indivisible. You wouldn't credit the ways that money or assets can be diverted, away from the public gaze. Remember Clydebank?

Not so much the way you have portrayed it. If Brabco can find a buyer for their shares then that buyer would, in effect own the stadium. However for Brabco to sell to a genuine buyer with the club's interests at heart would be unlikely because of the debt and maintenance issues the club faces. Unless Brabco were prepared to take a pretty massive hit on their "investment" of course. I can only repeat that Rankine had the club up for sale for eight years in a much more favourable economic climate than now. He had zilch interest from anyone who wanted to keep the club in its current location.

Depending on who you believe, anything between £600k and £1m. I suspect something towards the top end of that if you include the £200k owed to Rankine. However, I'd imagine that significant money has been spent again during the process of public consultations, putting applications together, Gilbert Lawrie's annual salary over several years, Roddy's retention as a consultant and the planning process. The shares are worth nothing. They (the shares) are in a loss making company with a significant debt (although we don't know what that is because there has been no AGM for years). There is now a schedule of maintenance and renewal which will have to be attended to (circa £250-300k). The company has one heritable asset, worth nothing in its current use. Unless there's a white knight out there, any potential buyer would arouse suspicion.

I'd guess they might be involved with local clubs who have supported the plan.

I have always been of the view, expressed over several years here over the various plans, that the move not going ahead would have more serious consequences than it going ahead. That is where we are now. Funnily enough, I think the upshot of today's meeting would have had the same outcome no matter the decision. Both I think would have seen Brabco sell. If approved they'd have sold the idea with permission, to a developer and recouped their losses. As it is, unless they go for an appeal to the Scottish Government or a judicial review, (both high risk and high cost) then the only way that they have of recouping any of their money is to sell their shares in the club or selling the club's asset. Neil Rankine tried to sell the club for eight years and he had not one nibble that included the club staying where it was. Brabco have absolutely no chance of recouping their money by selling the shares. There could be trouble ahead.

Planning refused at Dalmoak. Narrow vote mind you, 10-9.

To be fair there isn’t a player within ten yards when he blows. Three then approach him. How likely is it that he’s going to change his decision?