Lord Ryan, Watson and Bramall

[Norfolk N Chance]

Contributed £21 million in 15 years.

I for one are extremely grateful gentlemen!!

Maybe freedom of the town for all three?

[GazLaz]

Not a lot really in footballing terms and I'd say JR has put in half of that or more. Where would we be without it hey.

[hoolahoop]

Not a lot really in footballing terms and I'd say JR has put in half of that or more. Where would we be without it hey.

Not a lot considering what we have achieved but nevertheless they could have spent it on other things. Thanks gents and to all the other past directors who chipped in from time to time.
We are truly blessed.........

[oggycompton]

Conference or lower Gaz, I bet.

[Rovers-on-Thames]

Football should not be a game controlled by a few rich individuals, but sadly it is. The worst expression of this is the Premier league where clubs are now owned by individual nation-states.

We are dependent on the Ryan-Bramall-Watson troika, and would bob around the lower two divisions without them. I thank them for their individual efforts but do not have anything good to say about the system. I certainly won't be wearing a t-shirt with Ryan's face on it like some of the sheep on here.

Only way to make Football sustainable in the long term is to reduce player wages, cap transfer fees, reduce ticket prices across the board, limit foreign ownership and implement tighter financial regulations. None of these can be achieved by the English game alone which competes with other leagues on a global scale. Rovers are basically beholden to the globalisation of football.

There is nothing either any one single fan can do about this situation. The club is out of our hands, but we like to pretend it isn't.

[Norfolk N Chance]

Conference or lower Gaz, I bet.

Or worse !

My mate supports Stockport who sometimes get watched by 6k plus and they look like slipping into Conference North!

No investment and this is what can happen!

Like how we dont think £21 million is alot of money?

[scuzzer]

Football should not be a game controlled by a few rich individuals, but sadly it is. The worst expression of this is the Premier league where clubs are now owned by individual nation-states.

We are dependent on the Ryan-Bramall-Watson troika, and would bob around the lower two divisions without them. I thank them for their individual efforts but do not have anything good to say about the system. I certainly won't be wearing a t-shirt with Ryan's face on it like some of the sheep on here.

Only way to make Football sustainable in the long term is to reduce player wages, cap transfer fees, reduce ticket prices across the board, limit foreign ownership and implement tighter financial regulations. None of these can be achieved by the English game alone which competes with other leagues on a global scale. Rovers are basically beholden to the globalisation of football.

There is nothing either any one single fan can do about this situation. The club is out of our hands, but we like to pretend it isn't.

Amen! That post describes exactly why the game most of us fell in love with is utterly shafted!

Edit - the bit about the game in general is the point i'm in agreement with, like most others i'm most grateful to our benefactors for allowing our team to compete in this new football rich list league ladder and would hate to imagine how we'd gone the last few years without JR at the helm!

[GazLaz]

That's just over £1.3m a year. Compare that to what the parachute payment from the PL is. It's a fraction of it.

[Norfolk N Chance]

Football should not be a game controlled by a few rich individuals, but sadly it is. The worst expression of this is the Premier league where clubs are now owned by individual nation-states.

We are dependent on the Ryan-Bramall-Watson troika, and would bob around the lower two divisions without them. I thank them for their individual efforts but do not have anything good to say about the system. I certainly won't be wearing a t-shirt with Ryan's face on it like some of the sheep on here.

Only way to make Football sustainable in the long term is to reduce player wages, cap transfer fees, reduce ticket prices across the board, limit foreign ownership and implement tighter financial regulations. None of these can be achieved by the English game alone which competes with other leagues on a global scale. Rovers are basically beholden to the globalisation of football.

There is nothing either any one single fan can do about this situation. The club is out of our hands, but we like to pretend it isn't.

THe club is in our hands cos JR and Watson love the club as much as we do - Bramall to a lesser degree but helps out because he wants to put something into the town where he made his fortune.

So yes please Ill gladly wear a t shirt with all 3 on - Large please?

[Rovers-on-Thames]

THe club is in our hands cos JR and Watson love the club as much as we do - Bramall to a lesser degree but helps out because he wants to put something into the town where he made his fortune.

So yes please Ill gladly wear a t shirt with all 3 on - Large please?

"Love"

You talk like a fan.

Do you think Fenway Sports Group, Malcolm Glazer, Stan Kroenke, Venky's London Limited and the international finance and hedge funds that sustain them feel the same way as you do and can express the same emotions? If you think Rovers have nothing to do with this system and depend only on the "love" of local business-men then you are sadly deluded and part of the problem.

If we get promoted on Saturday, I will be clapping. You will be happy clapping. Two different ways of celebrating the same thing.

[Norfolk N Chance]

THe club is in our hands cos JR and Watson love the club as much as we do - Bramall to a lesser degree but helps out because he wants to put something into the town where he made his fortune.

So yes please Ill gladly wear a t shirt with all 3 on - Large please?

"Love"

You talk like a fan.

Do you think Fenway Sports Group, Malcolm Glazer, Stan Kroenke, Venky's London Limited and the international finance and hedge funds that sustain them feel the same way as you do and can express the same emotions? If you think Rovers have nothing to do with this system and depend only on the "love" of local business-men then you are sadly deluded and part of the problem.

If we get promoted on Saturday, I will be clapping. You will be happy clapping. Two different ways of celebrating the same thing.

You seriously think John and Dick dont love the club?

Are you for real?

John Ryan went on record to say he was driven to make as much money as possible to help his beloved club?

You my friend are ungrateful!

[Rovers-on-Thames]

You seriously think John and Dick dont love the club?

I don't really know where I said that in my posts? That is certainly not what I intended to say. Quite the opposite.

If you think I should be 'grateful' by being spoon-fed something someone much richer than me is telling me to like, then you're more potty than Stoke-on-trent.

Listen, enjoy your foam hands, Ryan T-shirt and ticker tape on Saturday. I will be watching in a different way.

[vaya]

You seriously think John and Dick dont love the club?

I don't really know where I said that in my posts? That is certainly not what I intended to say. Quite the opposite.

If you think I should be 'grateful' by being spoon-fed something someone much richer than me is telling me to like, then you're more potty than Stoke-on-trent.

Listen, enjoy your foam hands, Ryan T-shirt and ticker tape on Saturday. I will be watching in a different way.

... undoubtedly from onboard the Black Pig.

[Sheepskin Stu]

Some excellent points there Rovers on Thames.

[IDM]

You seriously think John and Dick dont love the club?

I don't really know where I said that in my posts? That is certainly not what I intended to say. Quite the opposite.

If you think I should be 'grateful' by being spoon-fed something someone much richer than me is telling me to like, then you're more potty than Stoke-on-trent.

Listen, enjoy your foam hands, Ryan T-shirt and ticker tape on Saturday. I will be watching in a different way.

You may not have intended it, but it does come across like you are saying JR doesn't love the club...

[Norfolk N Chance]

You seriously think John and Dick dont love the club?

I don't really know where I said that in my posts? That is certainly not what I intended to say. Quite the opposite.

If you think I should be 'grateful' by being spoon-fed something someone much richer than me is telling me to like, then you're more potty than Stoke-on-trent.

Listen, enjoy your foam hands, Ryan T-shirt and ticker tape on Saturday. I will be watching in a different way.

Answer the question will you !!

Does JR love the club? Yes or No ??

You talk in riddles man!

[Norfolk N Chance]

Some excellent points there Rovers on Thames.

Couldnt disagree more?

Very poor points indeed and ill thought out!

Our trio of investors truely love the club and community.

They are not overseas investors who have picked a team with the intention of making millions.

Christ they have put 21 million in of their own money !

[ReadingViking]

Back to the original post - I do think that some Civic recognition for JR is long overdue. I for one would back a campaign to give him the freedom of the borough.

[Norfolk N Chance]

Back to the original post - I do think that some Civic recognition for JR is long overdue. I for one would back a campaign to give him the freedom of the borough.

Of course he should but JR admits without the others Championship football not possible!

[ReadingViking]

Back to the original post - I do think that some Civic recognition for JR is long overdue. I for one would back a campaign to give him the freedom of the borough.

Of course he should but JR admits without the others Championship football not possible!

I appreciate that without them the next step up would be impossible but without him post R********n we wouldn't have a club at all. 

[BobG]

Sorry Norfolk.  Henley has most of the right of it. The point he made was NOT that JR does not love the club. Rather that t'other two don't. From memory, they've both said that they're motivated by giving something back to Donny - that's not love. And, given the sometimes odd behaviours dating back many months of Watson and Bramall, and the large changes in their claimed motivations and actions, there is a legitimate question as to just what their overriding objectives are. Personally, I'm glad they're here. I hope they stay. But I do find very odd soeme of the things they've said and done.

And, by the way Norfolk, the club is not 'in our hands' as you allege. It is a privately owned company : PatienceForm. I'm not aware that any of us hold even a single share in that company. We, therefore, do not have our hands on anything to do with DRFC. We are paying customers. No more. No less. And that is it.

BobG

[IDM]

I take your points Bob, but forgetting those two, JR is DRFC through and through.  I am sure that all clubs, particularly at our level, would rather have a lifelong (rich) fan as chairman.

As for paying customers, no, we're more than that - we're supporters.  DRFC is in our blood too, otherwise we'd pick and choose which teams to watch week in week out.

We're paying customers for what supermarkets we use, what brand of drinks we buy etc (see the marketing thread), but to DRFC our bonds are much stronger than that, aren't they???

[GazLaz]

Comparing our lot to the Arabs and Russians is ridiculous. Dick and Terry put money in to give something back to the community of Doncaster, in the same way they donate a vast amount to charity. I'm intrigued to know how Thames will be celebrating this promotion....

[RedJ]

Back to the original post - I do think that some Civic recognition for JR is long overdue. I for one would back a campaign to give him the freedom of the borough.

Of course he should but JR admits without the others Championship football not possible!

I appreciate that without them the next step up would be impossible but without him post R********n we wouldn't have a club at all. 

Saying that, when you think about it, as daft as it sounds, had it not been for that Kitson we may never have had the last 10 years' success.

I know we might not even have had a club at all because of him, but without Richardson it's unlikely we'd have been in a position where only JR would have been willing to buy the club.

Not that he's not a Kitson.

[RobTheRover]

The truth,  as usual,  sits amidst all the information.

What sets John Ryan apart from all those other club chairmen listed is the fact he was a Rovers fan LONG BEFORE he had any involvement with the club. This is the 'love' Norfolk,  I think,  refers to. As we all know,  when it's in your blood it's there to stay.

Honestly,  would any of us have not stepped in after Richardson if we had the financial means to do so?

[BobG]

Of course JR loves the Rovers. That's been self evident for a quarter of a century or more. He wasn't the point of the debate. Watson and Bramall are. Norfolk claims they love the Rovers too. I beg to differ. That doesn't make them any less important - or any less valued. But it does change the basis upon which one makes judgements of their values, behaviours and actions.

BobG

[TheFunk]

Personally I believe Messrs Watson and Bramall withdrew due to them being fed up of seeing their investment being squandered by our previous chief exec. Of course they don't love the Rovers, although I'm sure they are very fond of Rovers.

[Norfolk N Chance]

Personally I believe Messrs Watson and Bramall withdrew due to them being fed up of seeing their investment being squandered by our previous chief exec. Of course they don't love the Rovers, although I'm sure they are very fond of Rovers.

Obviously dont go to forum and hear how much Dick loves the club?

He travels home and away which is more than I do and speaks about how depressed he was last year when they were losing all the time!

Brammall loves the community hence his involvement as football is not really his game!

[TheFunk]

No you're right I haven't been to any fora. I live 50 miles away and only travel down for matches.

[bobjimwilly]

And, by the way Norfolk, the club is not 'in our hands' as you allege. It is a privately owned company : PatienceForm. I'm not aware that any of us hold even a single share in that company. We, therefore, do not have our hands on anything to do with DRFC. We are paying customers. No more. No less. And that is it.
BobG

The VSC holds shares in PatienceForm, although it's only a couple of percent of the total shares at present.
The more members in the VSC, the more chance we have of increasing our share! So here's a link to sign up