Putting our money where our mouth is

It's an interesting idea which provides benefits to the club (lower rate of interest paid compared to bank funding) and to the fans - higher rate of interest received compared to a bank with the added bonus in QPR's case, if the club is promoted. It might work for some. Wimbledon did something similar as part of the funding of their new ground and Burnley did about 6 or seven years ago to buy back Turf Moor and reinforce the squad. The repayment of the Burnley bond was conditional on them reaching the PL. It isn't without risk however since a bond is simply a fancy name for an iou! There is no guarantee it will be repaid and no compensation scheme from the FCA.

I remain to be convinced that this would be an attractive offering if City were to do something similar. The club currently has little if any free cash flow to even pay the interest on the bond. I'd have hoped that if the club had any free cash, it would be used for other purposes including strengthening the squad! Equally important, if it were successful, there'd be no pay off in cash terms until we reached the land of plenty in the PL. Until we reached those giddy heights, getting promoted to either Div 1 or even the Championship is unlikely to generate any additional cash sufficient to repay the iou.

 

Was that the famous Billy Bond?