| Simon Sadler 17:51 - Jun 9 with 7279 views | BringBackTheRedRoom |
Think it needs its own thread now......
Simon Sadler - the Hong Kong-based businessman thought to be the frontrunner to take over Blackpool Football Club - has set up two new UK-based companies relating to sports.
Rose 123 Investments and Lily 123 Investments were both incorporated on May 29, 2019, according to Companies House.
Both are registered to an address in Altrincham, Cheshire, while a man named Brett Gerrity - thought to be a solicitor - is listed as an interested person in both companies.
Under the nature of business, Rose 123 Investments is described as “activities of sports clubs” while Lily 123 Investments is described as “operations of sports facilities and hotels”.
Sadler, who was born in Bispham and attended Warbreck High, founded Hong Kong-based hedge fund Segantii Capital. It is claimed the hedge fund’s assets are in excess of $1billion.
Sadler, who attended the home game against Peterborough United in April, is thought to be keen to keep current board members Ben Hatton and Michael Bolingbroke at the club.
Receiver Paul Cooper, of Rubin and Partners, told The Gazette on first arriving at Bloomfield Road in February that the entire sale process would likely take three to four months.
It’s understood mid-June is the target the club are working towards, meaning news could be forthcoming in the next week or two.
Sadler was featured in an old article in The Gazette on May 22, 2010 - the day the Seasiders sealed their remarkable promotion to the Premier League with a 3-2 win over Cardiff City in the Championship play-off final.
It included an interview with Sadler, then aged 40, previewing that famous day at Wembley.
The story reads: “Did you know there was a hedge fund on the stock market in Asia named after Blackpool? You do now.
“And the man who operates it is a Seasider who has flown back to the UK to watch the big game.
“Bispham-born Simon Sadler, a former Warbreck High pupil, was a regular in the old West Paddock throughout the 80s, watching the likes of Eamonn O’Keefe and Paul Stewart, as well as his all time favourite Oooh Andy Garner.
“Trips to Bloomfield Road became a bit of a problem though as his banking career flourished and he moved to Moscow and then Hong Kong.
“The 40-year-old operates a hedge fund which is the fifth largest in Asia - Segantii Capital — named after the original tribe of Blackpool and which has a tangerine and white corporate colour.”
https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/sport/football/blackpool-fc/hong-kong-based-b
and here's the link to Companies House
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/12022758 | |
| ‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’ |
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| Simon Sadler on 18:24 - Jun 13 with 699 views | janegallagher |
Nice one mr Sadler | |
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| Simon Sadler on 18:49 - Jun 13 with 691 views | BringBackTheRedRoom |
& still people moan. You'd dread being asked to one of their parties, real bundle of laughs. | |
| ‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’ |
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| Simon Sadler on 19:46 - Jun 13 with 671 views | Lala |
I wouldn’t be invited, thank god 👠| |
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| Simon Sadler on 19:54 - Jun 13 with 669 views | BringBackTheRedRoom |
Welcome Simon Sadler, local lad & fan who's done well for himself. Time to look forward not back.  | |
| ‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’ |
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| Simon Sadler on 19:58 - Jun 13 with 666 views | Imperial |
It's finally over. Roll on the new season . | | | |
| Simon Sadler on 20:12 - Jun 13 with 664 views | spell_chekker |
Happy and optimistic for the new season.  | |
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| Simon Sadler on 21:13 - Jun 13 with 642 views | Hannibal |
Wow it’s actually happened! Never thought I’d see the day.
A nice welcome back to the UK for me🙂 | |
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| Simon Sadler on 21:29 - Jun 13 with 641 views | BringBackTheRedRoom |
Like many Blackpool fans all over the world, members of Blackpool Supporters’ Trust are delighted with today’s official club statement that Blackpool FC has a new owner, with a 96% shareholding. Welcome Simon Sadler.
The announcement confirms the end of the Oyston regime at our football club and removes the spectre of any further involvement from that quarter. For years, we as supporters have campaigned with vigour and with decency to see the regime change at Bloomfield Road, with little support from the football authorities. This feels like a moment of victory for the principled manner in which we have continued to fight for the club’s future. It is certainly a moment to savour.
The Trust has today written to Simon Sadler to congratulate him on taking ownership of the club. While there will undoubtedly be challenges ahead, he is afforded a rare honour in taking on the custodianship of the one the most famous clubs in the land. It is as special a moment for him as it is for us, and we wish him well. We will also look to see if it is possible to arrange an Extraordinary General Meeting and extend an invitation to Mr Sadler to share his plans and aspirations with fans.
This is a watershed for Blackpool FC, and a chance to put the recent past behind us. We hope that as a Trust we will in future be able to spend rather more time focussing on positive developments, helping to put our football club at the heart of the community from which it draws most of its support and working actively on behalf of that community.
It will be a welcome change from being a conduit for protest, though the Trust will continue to scrutinise closely the workings of the new board in line with our stated aims to hold any owner of Blackpool FC to account to be an ethical custodian.
As a Trust, we will continue to campaign with energy for wholesale regulatory reform of English football. Our recent troubles are hopefully a thing of the past, but we owe it to colleagues at Coventry City, Bury, Bolton Wanderers and all the other clubs who have been failed to make sure that their plight continues to be highlighted.
Today however, our focus is on ourselves, and a new partnership with the club that we hope will bring huge benefits to both. Mr. Sadler, welcome, and good luck from all in Blackpool Supporters’ Trust. UTMP!
https://www.blackpoolsupporterstrust.com/Site/LatestNews.aspx?NewId=206 | |
| ‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’ |
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| Simon Sadler on 22:33 - Jun 13 with 624 views | Lala |
Great stuff.
I wonder how many league clubs are owned by genuine fans born and bred in the clubs town/city.
I do feel quite lucky today. | |
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| Simon Sadler on 23:53 - Jun 13 with 614 views | TwelveAngryMen |
The end of a great day
We’ve had our dark moments but our fans determination to effect change always shone through
No club’s fans have done more
Enjoy the moment all after which we have a club to rebuild
UTMP | |
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| Simon Sadler on 00:59 - Jun 14 with 610 views | BringBackTheRedRoom |
If Blackpool fans had dreamt of the perfect owner, and I’m sure plenty of them have during the last few years, there’s a good chance he might have looked something like Simon Sadler.
Given the current state of the English game, with rogue owners seemingly permitted to do as they wish, clubs falling into administration, failing to pay their players and fulfil their fixtures, I’m always reluctant to talk up the people that are in charge of our clubs, our institutions.
I vividly remember feeling a sense of uneasiness at the sight and sound of the four sides at Sheffield Wednesday’s iconic Hillsborough stadium standing up as one and chanting “there’s only one Milan Mandaric”.
Owners are there to take care of our community assets, not seek hero worship.
Surely it’s the men on the pitch who deserve the adulation, not those in the directors’ box? Although there are obvious exceptions.
There are good owners out there, of course. You only have to look across the county to see the sterling work Andy Holt is doing at Accrington Stanley for starters.
You don’t necessarily have to be a local lad done good, either. Those in charge at Leicester City, the Srivaddhanaprabha Family, appear to ‘get it’. But is there such a thing as the perfect custodian of a football club?
Yet, saying all that, if you were to draw up a list of requirements for the person to take over your beloved club, there’s a good chance Sadler would tick every box.
Born in Blackpool? Tick. Educated in Blackpool? Tick. A genuine lifelong fan? Tick. A successful businessman? Tick. Well connected? Tick. Doesn’t already own a club? Tick. Someone who isn’t interested in the limelight, as some owners seem to be? Tick.
As soon as Sadler’s interest in the Seasiders was made public, it became clear - in my mind anyway - that he was the best fit.
But being the right man for the job to begin with, on the face of it at least, is one thing. Proving it is another. The proof will very much be in the pudding.
But Sadler has certainly got off to an excellent start. Not only has his arrival produced a surge in positivity across the Fylde coast, which should surely spark a huge rise in season ticket sales over the coming weeks, he’s also made quite a touching gesture, too.
This afternoon, just an hour or two after he was confirmed as the club’s new chief, Sadler donated over £1,300 to the Muckers Supporters’ Group’s charity bike ride, helping them reach their £5,000 target in the process.
A small gesture, perhaps, but it would have won the hearts and minds of the supporters in one fell swoop.
Sadler doesn’t appear to be sort of the person to label himself a Blackpool fan just for the sake of it, unless like his predecessor.
He attended his first game at Bloomfield Road in 1977 with his father. He later became a regular on the West Paddock, naming Andy Garner as his favourite player to watch.
Even when he moved to Hong Kong, via Moscow, for work purposes, he still made the effort to fly back for the Seasiders’ memorable play-off final triumph at Wembley in 2010.
He is also the proud owner of Stanley Matthews’ 1953 FA Cup final winners’ medal, which is currently on loan to the National Football Museum in Manchester. His attachment to the club is clearly genuine.
A quick (very quick) word for the man Sadler is replacing, the man who from now on shall remain nameless.
The deal Sadler has struck means he has a 96 per cent stake in the club. The 20 per cent, formerly owned by Valeri Belokon, which could have transferred to the ‘Blackpool fan since he was two’ had he ever repaid his debt, has now been wiped out.
That ugly chapter in the club’s history can now be forgotten, for good.
To make Sadler’s transition into ownership as smooth as possible, he’s made the very wise decision to keep on the current board - at least for the next few months, anyway.
Michael Bolingbroke, Ben Hatton, Ian Currie and Tim Fielding have done a marvellous job in getting the club into a fit state for the new man. One can only imagine what they had to deal with in those opening days and weeks.
Possessing people of their talent can only be a good thing for the football club, and from what I’ve experienced I’ve no doubt they will continue to be a resounding success.
A word for the receivers, too, who not only managed to navigate themselves through the minefield that was Blackpool Football Club back in February to get us to this point, to sell the club on schedule, but also ended up virtually completing two sales in the same day.
Rubin and Partners, who are also administrators at Bolton Wanderers, appear close to agreeing a deal with a new consortium.
Some feat, as my colleague from the Bolton News Marc Iles put it. It’s about time these two proud Lancashire clubs, who shared the Wembley turf back in ‘53, enjoyed some good times once again.
And last, but by no means least, I leave my final words for the supporters. Those thousands of battle-weary individuals who have appeared victorious.
As Christine Seddon, chair of Blackpool Supporters’ Trust, so eloquently put it to me - this is the fitting conclusion to their long battle. The icing on the cake, if you will. An end to a spell of turmoil no football fan should ever have to go through.
The most despised owner in British football history is toast and the football club now has a genuine fan in charge. If that doesn't make you happy, nothing will.
UTMP.
https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/sport/football/blackpool-fc/gazette-opinion-h
Remember when Nick Hancock sold that medal at auction for over £200,000. Finally know who bought it now.
Keep the good work up TAM, enjoy these next few weeks, you've earned it. | |
| ‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’ |
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| Simon Sadler on 05:50 - Jun 14 with 598 views | Lala |
Cheers TAM and thanks for all your hard work over the years and going forward  | |
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| Simon Sadler on 06:31 - Jun 14 with 593 views | BringBackTheRedRoom |
The appointment of Simon Sadler as Blackpool Football Club’s new owner is the perfect way to conclude the supporters’ struggle.
That’s the view of Christine Seddon, chair of Blackpool Supporters’ Trust, who has been at the forefront of the fans’ battle to force regime change at Bloomfield Road.
With Hong Kong-based Sadler acquiring 96.2 per cent of the shares in the football club, including Valeri Belokon’s 20 per cent, the prospect of Owen Oyston making an unlikely return has been wiped out for good.
That news, coupled with the arrival of a Bispham-born lifelong Blackpool fan as owner, makes for an exciting future, according to Seddon.
She told The Gazette: “We did fight this fight for many a year and we already had an outcome up to a point.
“But there was this uncertainty hanging over the club while we didn’t know who the new owner was going to be.
“And of course there was the potential issue of Valeri’s 20 per cent share reverting to Owen Oyston at some stage, which had caused so much uncertainty among fans who weren’t willing to buy season tickets until they knew for sure he wasn’t coming back.
“So to find out it’s Simon Sadler, who is genuinely a lifelong Blackpool fan, you feel he’s one of us.
“To know he’s acquired all of the club bar the small percentage of minority shareholders is just beyond our wildest dreams. It’s wonderful, wonderful news.
“I think it’s a fitting conclusion to a very principled stance taken by so many people.”
Interim board members Michael Bolingbroke, Ben Hatton and Ian Currie will continue in their roles for the next few months, while Sadler familiarises himself with operations at the club.
Tim Fielding will remain as an adviser and his close friend Brett Gerrity, a Poulton-based lawyer, will also join the board.
Seddon added: “It does look good for the future. How many football clubs end up being owned by one of their own fans?
It does happen but not that often. We’re in a very fortunate position now.
“It’s very ironic how we’ve gone from one extreme to the other but I’m pleased the board are being kept on, in the short term at least.
“I don’t think we should underestimate the size of the task they were given when they walked into the building. They probably weren’t prepared for it.
“But they’ve kept their heads and they’ve just got on with it, and they’ve already made so much progress and put so many things in place.
“We have to be very mindful of that and very grateful so we can now build on this.
“We’ll see what Simon Sadler wants to do but at least there’s going to be that consistency in the short term. Then we’ll see what happens further down the line.”
https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/sport/football/blackpool-fc/blackpool-fans-le | |
| ‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’ |
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| Simon Sadler on 10:51 - Jun 14 with 576 views | spell_chekker |
I'm expecting imminant announcements about Preece and signing players.
Season Tickets sales will surely get a boost. That'll be interesting. | |
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| Simon Sadler on 11:41 - Jun 14 with 572 views | BringBackTheRedRoom |
Problem is Spell, when clubs & agents think you've got money to spend then just stick an extra zero on their demands. | |
| ‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’ |
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| Simon Sadler on 12:07 - Jun 14 with 562 views | Lala |
Just been doing my homework on this Brett Gerrity fella. CPS chief prosecutor with some very serious cases under his belt. Think we have very credible representation on this new board. Really excellent stuff. | |
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| Simon Sadler on 12:17 - Jun 14 with 559 views | TwelveAngryMen |
Brett's a good guy
We went to school together ( though he was two years younger ) and also started our legal careers at similar times | |
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| Simon Sadler on 12:29 - Jun 14 with 555 views | Lala |
Good to know TAM.
Certainly reads as though he has excellent credentials.
As I say, a board that shouts calibre to me. Very exciting times for us all. | |
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| Simon Sadler on 13:58 - Jun 14 with 543 views | BringBackTheRedRoom |
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| ‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’ |
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| Simon Sadler on 14:01 - Jun 14 with 540 views | Lala |
He has a kind face  | |
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| Simon Sadler on 15:11 - Jun 14 with 527 views | Lala |
You back in Blighty then H? | |
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| Simon Sadler on 16:46 - Jun 14 with 508 views | Hannibal |
Yep. | |
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| Simon Sadler on 17:10 - Jun 14 with 510 views | Lala |
Argh, good luck with the new venture then 👠| |
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| Simon Sadler on 18:38 - Jun 14 with 501 views | janegallagher |
He does have a kind face. He looks a like a very nice man. In fact could he not be our new PM 🤔 | |
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