SSDC

Plans to build 250 houses alongside Huish Park have been unveiled by documents released by South Somerset District Council.

The council has published responses to a request for opinions on whether the proposed development would have a sufficient impact on the local area that it would require an extra study being undertaken.

These responses refer to a proposals for “250 dwellings at land off Lufton Way/Copse Road, Yeovil, Somerset” and suggest the proposal is for the development to take place on land all around Huish Park.

In the original “request for a screening opinion” submitted by DLP Planning asking whether an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was required for the work, it describes the plans for “approximately 250 dwellings with ancillary open space, parking, soft landscaping and supporting infrastructure” – read in full here.

It adds: “Car parking arrangements provided will allow for sufficient parking to be delivered within the site in
compliance with the Council’s existing standards. Spaces will be provided to each unit and comprise a
mix of allocated spaces in private parking courts, private drives and garages.

It is acknowledged that the proposed development of this site will result in the loss of the former sports
pitches. Sports England have previously objected to proposals for the development of this site unless re-provision of these facilities can be provided.

It is understood that the sports pitches on site are not currently used and are of poor quality. It is noted that there is the opportunity to replace the existing pitches with a new 4G pitch on land to the east of the football club.

The ‘Location Plan’ submitted to the “request for a screening opinion” submitted by planning consultants, DLP Planning – everything inside the red line is the development site – oh, and there’s a football ground there if you look closely enough!

None of the statutory bodies – the kind of people who get asked about the impact of development on ecology, roads, archaeology and suchlike – raised enough objection for an Environmental Impact Study to be required in to the development.

However, the Highways Department at SSDC did raise “concerns” over the loss of matchday parking and warned it would put heightened the risk of accidents in the area.

In his response, Adam Garland, Principal Planning Liaison Officer at SSDC said: “Where such facilities are lost it will create indiscriminate parking in the new estate road, and surrounding roads.

The increase in manoeuvring, braking and turning movements, and higher levels of pedestrians crossing the local roads will increase the risk of collisions within the highway.

This is further exacerbated by dint of the fact that match days are generally at weekends where there is a higher risk of residents being at home, and children are more likely to be in the streets.

He added that if the authority were given “an amended proposal showing the retention of parking for match days further consideration would be given.”

So, now we wait and see what happens next as far as this development is concerned.

In May 2022 when the sale of Huish Park and surrounding land to SSDC was completed in a deal the authority says was valued at £2.8m, club chairman Scott Priestnall said in a statement: “When I first came into the club, I saw the opportunity to grow this already amazing club into an organisation off the pitch that could provide revenues all week, not just on match days. While I had very positive conversations with local planning (authorities), developers and funding partners, the pandemic delayed our options to grow, at the same time causing huge financial difficulties to our ongoing operations.

There is and has always been a massive opportunity to develop the club’s infrastructure, but over the last 30 years the custodians of this club have never been able to put a plan together that works for all related parties.”

Back in October 2022, we reported changes to the core and non-core land – basically land with restrictions on what development can take place on it (core land) and land without such restrictions (non-core land) – which had been agreed before the sale completed, but not publicised.

That means the area which is currently occupied by a 3G surface outside Huish Park could also be developed on.

Plans produced by SSDC showing the ‘core’ and ‘non-core’ land it owns at Huish Park.

 

The Glovers’ Trust has published the minutes of its recent meeting with South Somerset District Council (SSDC) from February 2nd.

The minutes are as follows:

 

In attendance – SSDC

Jane Portman (Chief Executive), Robert Orrett (Commercial Property, Land and Development Manager), Councillor John Clark (Portfolio Holder – Economic Development including Commercial Strategy.

In attendance – Glovers’ Trust (GT)
Roger Pipe (Chair), Jane Haine (Board Member and Secretary), and Andrew Skirton (Member).

Reasons for purchase:

SSDC Members were made aware by Scott Priestnall of the difficult financial situation facing the club and were concerned that it would go into administration and be sold, with potentially the loss of the club completely. The Council therefore agreed to purchase the Stadium and the surrounding land for £2.8 million. This was not the amount received by the club as payments such as the release of covenants were made and deducted from that sum.

SSDC made it clear it did not feel that it was their place to influence or control where the money given to the club was to be spent but were aware that some was used to pay debts.

GT’s representatives made it clear that despite repeated requests no breakdown of how the money received has been spent or allocated has been received by the supporters.

Due Diligence
SSDC engaged independent advisers to ascertain the commercial value of the land and also undertook an evaluation of the club’s finances. No DD has been undertaken on the owner.

Rental
Yeovil Football and Athletic Club (YFAC) are obliged to pay the rent that will commence in May this year. The rental figure is 7% of the purchase price.

Buyback
The option to buy back rests exclusively with the Holding Company and extends until May 26. There are two leases one with YFAC and one with Yeovil Town Holdings Ltd ( YTH). SSDC stated that in their eyes both companies constituted Yeovil Town as they had shared interests. Both leases are linked meaning that one company picks up the obligations of the other. Failure for the club to pay the rental therefore would mean the Holding Company would be obliged to do so.

“Core land”
The area defined as the “core” i.e., that area needed to enable the club to function has changed from that set out in the Council report to members in December 2020. SSDC stated that this had been necessary to enable flexibility in the development. Potentially enabling the artificial pitch to move to the other side of the ground on land that was previously leased to the Club on a 999-year lease from SSDC. This land is subject to restrictive covenants preventing certain uses, so could be an area to relocate the artificial pitch and the two top pitches.

Development of the land previously owned by the Holding Company
SSDC stated that little had appeared to have happened since the purchase last May. It was suggested by GT that a meeting with planners to discuss and initial plan had taken place. GT does not wish to see a development up to the front and back doors. SSDC indicated that they would not influence the proposal that would be brought forward, and that proposals would be considered by the planning department.

GT expressed concern that the planning process does not offer the club sufficient protection.

The valuable option to buy back the land and the stadium rests exclusively with the Holding Company and extends to May 2026. It seems likely that Scott Priestnall will use this time to seek to gain valuable planning permission to develop the land surrounding the ground.

GT recognise that if such planning permission was achieved the value of the land could increase substantially. SSDC indicated that in such a scenario they would have no powers to influence where any of the windfall profits from any future sale of the land could be allocated. GT members expressed concerns that this could enable the owner to retain all profits without investing in the club.

GT members made it clear to SSDC that far from safeguarding the club the structure of the purchase has benefited the owner and will continue to benefit the owner.

SSDC agreed to answer any other questions put to them in writing.

 

South Somerset District Council has insisted it has “a number of safeguards” in place to protect Huish Park from development.

The authority has issued its second statement in a week defending its purchase of the land upon which the stadium stands and the land around it in a deal valued at £2.8m back in May.

It is a pretty wordy statement which references “comments on social media” which we assumes refers to ongoing questions posed by Martin Hellier, the local businessman who has made no secret of his desire to buy the club.

The statement gives a lengthy chronology of how it came to buy the land and then refers to Yeovil Town Holdings Limited (YTHL), a company controlled by club chairman Scott Priestnall, which has the buy-back rights to what it calls the “non-core land” at Huish Park – essentially the land around the stadium.

The council said: “YTHL cannot sell the non-core land for development while the freehold is owned by SSDC. Due to commercial confidentiality, we will not be debating hypothetical situations regarding sales or disposal but a number of safeguards are in place to protect the core land, i.e. the stadium.”

Plans produced by SSDC showing the ‘core’ and ‘non-core’ land it owns at Huish Park.
Hellier’s criticism on social media has centered on the fact that he says he is willing to buy the land from the authority, but is yet to make any progress in his efforts.
In its statement the council said it would “carefully consider any proposal to buy the freehold outside of the buyback option” it has with Priestnall, as the majority shareholder of Yeovil Town Holdings Limited.
It adds: “Bearing in mind the Council’s reasons for buying the land in the first place, it is highly unlikely SSDC would sell its freehold of the stadium or remaining land unless it judged that was part of supporting the future of the club. This would therefore probably have to be linked with a transfer of ownership of the football club.
But a potential buyer would need to agree terms with the current owner and jointly approach SSDC with their proposition.
The option for the buy-back was to the owner prior to the SSDC purchase and leaseback, but would apply to any successor. SSDC was always clear that it was not going to become involved in the running of the football club via this transaction, and that the owner can manage the club as it considers appropriate.
The “potential buyer” referred to in the statement could refer to an unnamed “preferred party” with which it has an exclusivity agreement to become a majority shareholder of the club.
The saga continues……

The Glovers Trust has called for clarity from Yeovil Town and South Somerset District Council about the future of the club and land around its Huish Park home.

In a statement issued to members on Wednesday night, the Trust has called on the club to end nearly three months of delay to hold a fans’ meeting and called on council representatives to be in attendance to answer questions.

It follows a confirmation by Councillor John Clark, Portfolio Holder of Economic Development at SSDC, that the buy-back option on the land around Huish Park lies with Yeovil Town Holdings Limited, the business controlled by chairman Scott Priestnall.

The Trust said: “We call on the club ownership to stop hiding behind the quoted ‘period of exclusivity’ with a preferred investor and to schedule as a matter of great urgency the Fans’ Forum that was promised, by the current owner, on 14th October 2022, some 89 days ago.

The Glovers Trust fully understands that certain questions may not be able to be answered at the event but this should not be used as an excuse to hide from fan scrutiny across other areas.

Councillor John Clark, ortfolio Holder of Economic Development at South Somerset District Council.

It was October 14th that Priestnall said “we will be setting up a meeting next month for supporters to have their voice heard and raise questions” but then on New Year’s Eve 2022 he confirmed the club had an “exclusivity agreement” in place with an unnamed group which was seeking to become majority shareholder of the club.

At that point, the chairman said: “These ongoing discussions continue to delay an announcement for the supporters meeting but a time and date will be confirmed as we approach a conclusion.”

The Trust’s statement also calls on SSDC to attend any forum – if/when it ever happens – to discuss its plans to develop Huish Park and surrounding land which it bought for £2.8m in May.

The Trust adds: “We call on SSDC to commit to attend the Fans’ Forum, once scheduled. Those who conceived and agreed the deal to purchase the land from YTFC are best placed to answer fans’ questions.

We appreciate that the Fans’ Forum is not a Glovers Trust event and for us to invite others to an event we are not running could be seen as overstepping. We have therefore today sought a meeting with SSDC to raise further questions. We will provide a further update to our members in due course.

Our football club is more than just land. It is more than companies registered, and accounts filed. Our club is our fans and our history. Our club is our town, and our county.

More eagled-eye readers of this website will note this we were told that it was Yeovil Town Holdings which had the exclusive buy-back option for the land at Huish Park by Robert Orrett, Commercial Property, Land and Development Manager at SSDC, back in August – see here.

Speaking then, he said: “It is correct that Yeovil Town Holdings Limited has a four-year period during which they can buy back the whole of the YTFC freeholds that have been purchased by SSDC. In broad terms, that would reverse the purchase.

“Beyond that, there are continuing arrangements that are linked to the structure that enables consented non-core land to be sold off by SSDC, with the non-core lease surrendered, and the sale proceeds to be used to repay the capital SSDC has put in.

These are following the approach summarised in the report and continue in the longer term. If the land sale price for the non-core land is high enough, then the rent for the core land that is left, reduces to a peppercorn and essentially the club can buy the core land back for £1.

A business controlled by Yeovil Town chairman Scott Priestnall has exclusive rights to buy back land surrounding Huish Park from South Somerset District Council, the authority has confirmed.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the council confirmed that Yeovil Town Holdings Limited has the option to buy-back the land which it acquired for £2.8m in May.

It follows days of pressure on social media led by Martin Hellier, the local businessman who has publicly stated his desire to buy the club.

The Gloverscast has also been in regular contact with the council regarding different aspects of the deal.

The statement said: “The proposal gives YTFC the option to buy-back the land the club occupies in the future when its financial outlook has improved.

For full clarity, the option to buy-back is with Yeovil Town Holdings, the organisation that formally held ownership of Huish Park and its associated land.

Yeovil Town Holdings Limited is the company set up by former owners Norman Hayward and John Fry in 2010 when they separated the ownership of Huish Park and the land around.

It was bought by Priestnall when he completed his takeover of the club in 2019, together with Yeovil Football & Athletic Club (YF&AC) which runs the club’s football operations and previously owned the land upon which Huish Park stands. However, as with YTFC Holdings, YF&AC owns nothing since all the assets of both companies were sold to the council in May.

YF&AC is also the business which club director Stuart Robins has a 20% shareholding in, and the one which Simul Sports, the group fronted by former Cardiff City director Julian Jenkins, was negotiating with Priestnall to buy up until it ended its bid earlier this year.

It has not been made public which company an unnamed “preferred party” in exclusive talks with Priestnall and the club is seeking to acquire – but only by buying YTFC Holdings would the owner be in control of the destiny of ni the land around Huish Park stadium.

Priestnall has been YTFC Holdings’ only director since the resignation of Glenn Collis last summer. There are a number of minority shareholders who hold a stake in the company, but the chairman holds a controlling share.

The 3G pitch at Huish Park has been removed from land restricted from development, South Somerset District Council (SSDC) has confirmed.

The change to the ‘core land‘ identified agreed as part of the deal to sell the stadium and surrounding land in May means that only the stadium and surrounding access are restricted from development.

The council and club chairman Scott Priestnall have confirmed to Gloverscast that the change leaves the option for the 3G pitch to be relocated, freeing up the area it currently occupies for development.

No plans for the development of the site have been made available as yet and therefore these changes appear to be leaving options open rather than representing any concrete plans.

Robert Orrett, Commercial Property, Land and Development Manager at SSDC, said: “I can confirm that the lease of the core land contains restrictions as to use so that it can only be used for football club and ancillary purposes. The lease is for 24 years 11 months and those restrictions apply for that period.

The core lease boundary was revised to exclude the 3G training pitch as the detailed legal work led SSDC to require its original freehold land, which was already on long lease to YTFC, to be entirely excluded. The thinking around the core lease was that it allowed flexibility for the 3G pitch to be relocated onto the long leasehold area if required.

This information and the reason for the change was confirmed by chairman Scott Priestnall, who added the change had been made “prior to the completion of the deal“, which was announced on May 20.

The council owns a four-acre strip of land which runs between Western Avenue and the club’s main car park which is leases to the club on a 99-year lease – which could be described as a “long leasehold area.”

The updated plans shows the new boundary in red. SSDC says the other coloured lines relate to “detailed rights of access or parking“.
The plans as they were before the completion of the deal in May, with the land in red showing the previous boundary of the core land.

In August, Mr Orrett confirmed “initial discussions about the preparation of development proposals” for the land acquired by SSDC had commence and he declined to provide an update on this at this point.

Last month, the chairman told a meeting of Yeovil Town Supporters’ Alliance that details of the preferred scheme to develop the Huish Park site “should be available before Christmas” and would also include the redevelopment of the stadium.

The minutes of the meeting – read in full here – showed Mr Priestnall gave the following update: “He updated the meeting on the proposed developments during the last few months. He has been working with architects, consultancy firms and the council to produce drawings and to find out what developments are possible. The plans will go to public consultation before being submitted. There has been a lot of activity with the council during the past year. The details of the preferred scheme should be available before Christmas, but no formal application will take place this year. SP explained that he is not looking to just develop the land but to re-develop the stadium.”

A planning application has been submitted by Yeovil Town for the “relocation and reduction in size” of the marquee at Huish Park.

The club has applied to (its landlord) South Somerset District Council for permission to relocate and reduce in size its “refreshment marquee from the existing external location to within the stadium secure compound footprint.

The application was submitted to the authority on at the end of September, although it appears the application was only validated by the council last week, and therefore seems likely to be dealt with within an undetermined timescale.

The marquee in its current location at Huish Park.

However, it ties up with comments made by club director Stuart Robins a couple of months ago when he spoke about using the marquee to create “a fan zone behind the Thatcher’s Stand” at Huish Park.

Speaking to Three Valleys Radio’s ‘In Conversation With…..’ programme, he said: “In the short term we are trying to take part of the marquee and create a fan zone behind the Thatcher’s Stand.

We still have to apply for a licence and then we can move part of the marquee to behind the Thatcher’s to create a better environment.

It’s a semi-permanent structure, but it will be better than what we have at the moment. Our goal is to have some form of fan zone.

One assumes that a planning application is a step towards that goal of a semi-permanent structure.

Yeovil Town director Stuart Robins has said the decision of owner Scott Priestnall to sell the Huish Park site is the reason the club has survived the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The shareholder, who owns a 20% stake in the club, said the sale of the stadium and surrounding land to South Somerset District Council in a deal worth £2.8mhad to take place for the club to survive.”

He also told Three Valleys Radio‘s ‘In Conversation With…..’ programme on Tuesday night that he “had it on pretty good authority” that no bidders for the club, including the Simul Sports consortium led by former Cardiff City director Julian Jenkins, put “any money on the table” despite months of takeover talks.

Robins said: “We all have to remember COVID was devastating for so many clubs, including our own, there was no revenue whatsoever and only costs, except obviously there was furlough and whatever.

The losses are substantial for a club at this level and it had to be financed and we are still here.

Asked about the sale to SSDC completed in May, he said: “A transaction of that type had to take place for the club to survive. There was always the opportunity before the SSDC deal that a developer could have come in and done goodness knows what.

That was certainly said by (SSDC portfolio holder Councillor) John Clark when he’s been interviewed a number of times and the club has survived because of what Scott has done.

There were a number of debts that had to be settled and that was driven by the council. Some money has gone in to the football, but there was some moneys that went in to buying the convenents back, so there was a number of areas where that money had to go.

We certainly know of one interview conducted by Councillor Clark on the Gloverscast back in May, which you can listen to – here.

Julian Jenkins, who was part of the Simul Sports consortium which was in talks to takeover Yeovil Town.

Robins was asked by Three Valleys Radio presenter Adrian Hopper, a former club press officer, whether he had thought he might be going in to business with a group including Simul Sports, well, he referred to him them as “this fella Jenkins.”

For your recollection, the Simul consortium also including former Yeovil Town midfielder Marc Bircham, investment specialist Darren DeLandro and, following the collapse of the bid, Damien Singh, the Chief Financial Officer of online graphic design tool firm, Canva, revealed himself as part of the bid. And “this fella Jenkins“, of course,

In response, the director said: “I was pretty confident it was only going to be with Scott (I went in to business with) because there were a number of parties that had not put their money where their mouth is.

I have heard a number of parties had put money on the table, but as I understand it that never happened, I have it on pretty good authority.

The difference with me was I did and when the time was to sign the cheque, I did it, as you would with any transaction of this nature.

There was never any danger of working with the other parties you have mentioned, because they simply did not put the money where it should have been to conclude that transaction.

He added: “From what I know now, a lot of the stuff you read and here whether it’s on Twitter or via other parties simply is not true.

I know on very good authority I was the only one that was prepared to put the money in.

He spoke about his introduction to Priestnall via a mutual friend, saying: “My pal, Dave, introduced me to (Scott), I was invited down to have lunch, one thing led to another and one day Scott asked if I would like to be involved.

I said I would like to be involved at a meaningful level and I am quite prepared to invest, that’s how it all started and we concluded the transaction four to five months ago.

South Somerset District Council has confirmed that “initial discussions” are underway around the development of land around Huish Park

It is now more than three months since the council bought the home of Yeovil Town FC and land around it in a deal believed to be worth £2.8m, which sees the club now rent the stadium and “core land” around it under a 30-year lease.

In response to an enquiry from the Gloverscast, Robert Orrett, Commercial Property, Land and Development Manager at SSDC, said: “I can confirm that I have joined some initial discussions about the preparation of development proposals so it is fair to say that aspect has been commenced.”

Our query followed the publication of the minutes of a Supporter Alliance meeting held at the end of June which were published by the Glovers Trust last week, which included reference to chairman Scott Priestnall saying: “There are temporary plans for new amenities in the new season, but planning permission is required to develop the club’s footprint for the future.

The process towards achieving planning permission in order to develop the site has begun.

The chairman also stated that any money raised through the development of the site would be “used to invest in the club in order to make it more sustainable.

The council deal would see the ‘core’ (red) and non-core (blue) land bought by SSDC.

The minutes also included reference to Scott Priestnall telling the Alliance meeting: “The club has a four-year period to buy back the land from SSDC.”

To at least our memory on Gloverscast, we were not aware of this detail and enquired about it with SSDC and received the following response from Mr Orrett: “It is correct that Yeovil Town Holdings Limited has a four-year period during which they can buy back the whole of the YTFC freeholds that have been purchased by SSDC. In broad terms, that would reverse the purchase.

 

“Beyond that, there are continuing arrangements that are linked to the structure that enables consented non-core land to be sold off by SSDC, with the non-core lease surrendered, and the sale proceeds to be used to repay the capital SSDC has put in.

These are following the approach summarised in the report and continue in the longer term. If the land sale price for the non-core land is high enough, then the rent for the core land that is left, reduces to a peppercorn and essentially the club can buy the core land back for £1.

Simple right?! If you are struggling to remember what constitutes core and non-core land as part of this sale, join the club. In simple terms, the core land is indicated in the red on the map, above, and basically covers the stadium and 3G pitches outside it, with the non-core land covering the car park and top pitches at Huish Park.

Mr Orrett’s email to us concludes: “You will have noted that I refer to Yeovil Town Holdings Limited not Yeovil Town FC as the property contracts and leases were with Yeovil Football & Athletic Club Limited and Yeovil Town Holdings Limited.

Again, to refresh your memories, Yeovil Town Holdings Limited, this is the business set up by former owners Norman Hayward and John Fry to develop land around the ground which now only has Priestnall as a director.

The other business linked to the club is Yeovil Football & Athletic Club Limited, the business which runs the football operations in effect and lists Priestnall and fellow shareholder Stuart Robins as its directors.

 

Prior to recording our interview with Councillor John Clark for episode #172 of the Gloverscast, he shared the below detail with us regarding SSDC’s purchase and leaseback of Huish Park and the surrounding land.

Below you will find a summary of the situation and answers to questions put to SSDC by The Glovers Trust.


The purchase and leaseback by South Somerset District Council of the ground at Yeovil Town FC – summary and questions answered

  • In late 2020, after serious financial losses due to Covid, YTFC approached South Somerset District Council (SSDC) for help. At this point, the owners had made substantial borrowings to survive, but danger of liquidation was threatening continued operation
  • As SSDC considers the football club to be of great economic and community value, it agreed to look for ways it could help
  • SSDC considered the request alongside other constraints such as 
    • A solution of maximum benefit to the club in the short term, with good prospects of emerging from any obligation in the medium term.
    • A fair return on taxpayers’ money, in line with the Council’s Commercial Strategy.
    • Risk to taxpayers’ money adequately protected. In particular, if the football club were to fail completely, then the leases would become null and void and the Council would assume vacant possession.
    • SSDC did not wish to take any part in the operational running of the football club.
  • SSDC therefore made a purchase and leaseback offer to release funds to the club. This offer followed the transparent route of approval in a public District Executive meeting, and was scrutinised by the Scrutiny Committee (also a public meeting). Features of this offer were: –
    • Separate leases for the core footballing area and the ‘non-core area’
    • Annual rental to be paid for the footballing area, but with no payment in the first year
    • A financial allowance to buy out restrictive covenants
    • A route for the club to take back the freehold as soon as possible, by development on the non-core land with the assistance of SSDC (within planning policy constraints)
    • The property titles that passed to SSDC must be free from any charges related to lending (thus some of the loans would have to be redeemed).
  • Many months followed during which attempts were made to seek other buyers for the club. According to the Chairman, one such offer was accepted but the money was not forthcoming. During this period, the SSDC offer remained on the table
  • Earlier this month legal agreements were completed to finalise acceptance of the SSDC offer and the titles of the land and assets passed to SSDC

Answers to questions

  1. What is the name of the leaseholder?
    Both leases are in the name of the Yeovil Football & Athletic Club Limited (YFAC). 
  2. How much money from the deal will be used to cover debts that have been taken on to purchase and run the football club?
    The money to purchase the club is from the Capital Budget of SSDC, approved in a public meeting of the Council. How much of the money is used to cover debts that were taken to keep the club afloat is a matter for the owner, although as mentioned, any debts that have a charge on the land have to be paid off under the terms of the purchase and leaseback deal.
  3. After the first rent free year, what are the annual rental payments? What percentage of the annual budget will this represent?  What is the long term plan for making these payments sustainable?
    These are matters for the owner to respond if he wishes. As stated above, if developments on the non-core land successfully raise sufficient capital to repay the SSDC investment, then the rent is cancelled and the core area freehold returns to YFAC.
  4. What safeguards or guarantees (if any) are there within this agreement to ensure the club benefits from this deal, both in the immediacy and the long term?
    The agreement releases capital to the owner to help with financial viability, but as SSDC has been clear from the start that it does not wish to play any part in the operational running of the football club, the agreement does not control how the owner runs the club. However one may observe that it would not be in the interest of the present owner or any successor to default unnecessarily on the deal as any chance of upside on the developments would be lost.