The Court of Appeal hearing was heard by remotely by Lord Justice Lewison and Lord Justice Males. Lauren Kreamer appeared for Panorama Magic and Paul Chaisty for Lex Dominus again
The evidence was largely similar to the original hearing on 1st September, so I won't repeat those bits here
Chaisty argued that Judge Pearce had applied the law on balance of convenience incorrectly, and gave too much weight to the impact on the club.
Steve Gallen provided additional evidence about the impact of the injunction on the footballing side, but Chaisty claimed the hard transfer embargo has been in place since April?
Still no evidence from Mihail about the details of a deal that would be lost if the injunction granted, nor the position if the injunction was refused
Also no evidence that the club has spoken to the EFL about the position that would prevail in various scenarios as a result of the case.
Paul Elliott claims to be worth £12m (but provided no evidence for this, nor the source of the 500K he put into the club in June)
Allegedly Heller was offered £100k for the shares of ESI at one point (not sure why that was relevant)
The ruling was given by Judge Lewison, and seemed to hinge on whether Panorama could be adequately compensated by
damages. Pearce's conclusion was described as counter-intuitive.
Panorama's failure to provide evidence of an impending sale or its
terms proved crucial, and Lord Justice Lewison said "Panorama must live with its decision to remain silent" on that.
Lord Justice Lewison said Pearce adopted the wrong legal hypothesis in deciding against the injunction, so the appeal was allowed. Injunction is granted until the case on 23rd November
In other news, CAST published details of their meeting with the EFL this week, who were typically uncommunicative, but did explain the reason for the ODT appeal delay (basically their regulations don't stipulate any kind of timescale for the process to be concluded 🙄).
The EFL have also refused to make any comment after the Court of Appeal judgment.
Sandgaard will be coming to the Doncaster game, and says he still wants to buy the club, but won't deal with Lex Dominus.
The Court of Appeal Hearing was mentioned on the Price of Football podcast (recorded before the judgment) and Charlton Live (recorded afterwarsds)
CAST have published their weekly round up of events
CAFCFansForFans have handed a letter in to the EFL, informing them they'll be moving on to Stage 3 of their protests, which is targetting the EFL and their partners, and seems to have the codename #lightsout
Other fans have been lobbying Mind, the mental health charity, about their relationship with the EFL, given the detrimental effect their actions are having on fans of various clubs.
The EFL CEO David Baldwin, issued a message to supporters about the pilot programme for fans returning to games. It was not well received on the whole.
Charlton Times published an email they'd received from Marian Mihail following the result of the court case, which got a mixed reception, particularly as there's still been no official statement from the club about it
Lee Bowyer has decried "silly" offers from other clubs for Macauley Bonne and Alfie Doughty, which they think they can get away with due to our precarious financial position.
Rumours continue to swirl about developments this weekend, and Sandgaard continues to sound positive, although he is starting to get grief from some quarters. What actually transpires, we wait to see.
Sandgaard came to the Doncaster match and got a rousing reception, but reports vary as to long how he'll be staying for
Doncaster's third goal was scored by Tyreece John-Jules, the Arsenal loanee we missed out on due to the embargo, and Bowyer continues to be unhappy at the effect of the embargo
CAFCFansForFans held a protest against the EFL outside a local
branch of Screwfix, as part of their campaign to target EFL "partners"
ButtleJr has taken a commanding lead on the ITK table, but someone really needs to take the ReFace app off Dazzler21
The protests against EFL partners continue, and a late night Sky Sports News outage may or may not be related to it (more on that tomorrow probably)
Rumours continue to swirl about the possible solution to the ownership deadlock, but many of today's posts were instead inspired by some musings from @oohaahmortimer in the early hours, which lead to some fairly bizarre, somewhat NSFW contributions.
...My understanding is that some key parts of the deal TS wants have been completed.
One significant part remains undone over what, in the context a football club purchase, many would consider an insignificant amount of money.
But it's easy to say that when I'm not the one paying it.
My view is that it is very close but not done as of last night.
It could be signed, sealed and delivered very quickly but it could also drag on for days.
These things don't run to neat timetables.
I think you might have accidentally stumbled on the
secret truth behind the long-running takeover saga @TelMc32 !
SouthEastern Trains are the mystery benefactor, it all makes complete
sense now, just look at the clues....
Amongst all of the speculation, one thing that would seem a certainty is that TS has spent a significant amount of money, even for a millionaire, on getting this deal done. One would expect such a commitment to be carried through to a satisfactory conclusion. When TS suggests "patience", that would seem to be good advice.
TS has been quiet on social media and the ITK's haven't heard anything. I'm not ITK at all, but it feels like either TS has some really pressing business stateside, or we're entering the end game (one way or the other). Government announcements the last couple of days may have forced one or more party's hands. You'd imagine only the party with a long term plan would want to be holding the baby come pay day next week....
I don't for one second expect it'll happen today but even if it did I'm not sure it would be Olly breaking the news from his personal twitter account with a thumbs-up emoji
... Roland has moved the goalposts more than once over the past few days and it's causing problems. TS is starting to get a little agitated by it all but he is also determined to see it through to the end. Whenever that will be.
and given he's currently our most reliable ITK source, I'm happy to go with that.
Protests After last night's Sky Sports News outage, which was supposedly a result of the CAFCFansForFans action, there was a report in the Daily Mail about it.
There was also another blockade of a Screwfix store, this time at Greenhithe:
https://twitter.com/BenjyNurick/status/1308456205858353161 "For the second time in four days @CAFCfansforfans are blockading the entrance to @Screwfix
, a commercial partner of the EFL, this time in Greenhithe, Dartford.
Updates to follow...
#cafc #SaveCAFC"
and this seems to have got the attention of Simon Jackson,
Screwfix's Customer & Digital Director https://twitter.com/CAFCfansforfans/status/1308459809323319296 "Hi @simon8922 Thanks for the follow.
If, at some point in the near future, you or colleagues wish to engage in meaningful dialogue regarding your brand association with EFL, we would be more than willing participants.
Kind regards
CAFC Fans4Fans"
Wednesday 23nd September - "Daaaaaadd? Are we nearly there yet?"
SUMMARY FOR THOSE WITH SHORT ATTENTION SPANS:
A possibly tongue in cheek message from Sandgaard that got leaked on
twitter caused a flurry of discussion as to whether he's tiring of all
the social media interaction
The suggestion from a Danish paper that we might be signing Ronnie
Schwartz from FC Midtjylland, sparked further hopes that the transfer
embargo might be lifted soon
And just when I thought it was safe
to go to bed, Sandgaard popped up on twitter with an update, indicating
the property side of things was the stumbling block at the moment
Something Of A Sense Of Humour Failure As something of a follow-up to his tweet about a possible
Belgian protest, Darren New tweeted the following: https://twitter.com/dneventslogist1/status/1308639024400289800 "It’s the messages like this that get sent to our fans that rightly have them getting more than pissed off. This was sent to me from a worried fan in a DM last night and it needs to stop. If it is true would you still wish to wait before you acted? Ask yourself how long do we wait"
... We’re in the final furlong of this, and fans sitting by their phones, expecting Sandgaard to reply within a certain SLA is a joke. It’s being done, these things have
delays, and they take to resolve. A week ago, there was an injunction that some thought was fatal for the club, and now we’re a lot closer then we’ve been before....
Was that really only a week ago? It shows how mad all this is that it feels significantly longer.
... We all want the takeover done and we all want it done ASAP but that's not how the real world works.
It will be done when it's done. Things are, so I'm informed, progressing but there are still relatively minor issues to be resolved. I doubt it
will take a year but it will take as long as it takes.
Then suddenly, the news will be on the official site.
Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. The intercompany debt position is
like a bombsite and we all know from the original leaked LVT/MS email exchange how important tax efficiency (i.e. maximising losses to carry forward) is for Roland. Good way to save cash by not doing anything. What could be better for his tastes.
... As to why I am not commenting or predicting takeover outcomes, there's little point in trying to engage in this flurry of informal social media contacts in which interested parties are sharing partial information, however well intentioned. There are too many moving parts for any of it to be completely reliable and while some of it is interesting the aggregate effect is to confuse fans further.
If Thomas Sandgaard is able to get the club into a better place by removing some or many of the leeches hanging around it then he deserves our support and regardless he deserves our thanks for trying. I doubt if his present level of engagement on social media is sustainable in any event and commentary on it by fans is probably best ignored in the meantime.
TS only mistake has been thinking it can’t be that difficult to buy a
football club from a couple of chancers and an eccentric businessmen. A
mistake anyone lacking an intricate knowledge of the recent history of
Charlton Athletic could have made, if we’re honest. Had he had advance
warning I’m 99% sure he wouldn’t have bothered.
There's some confusion as to what his "Plaffminister" nickname actually means, with Google translate suggesting "Minister of Public Works", which is really quite weird, or “The Minister of shooting hard balls” according to @flyingkiwiDK, and @Scoham and @Callumcafc had footage of him in action. Normally, I wouldn't include transfer rumours here, because there's far too many of them, but given that @flyingkiwiDK said this:
Schwartz completed his medical this morning btw. He'll be able to join us as soon as the deal between TS and RD goes through and our transfer embargo is lifted
it may be more indicative of progress than the usual paper talk.
An Update From Sandgaard After the discussion earlier in the day about Sandgaard's social media interactions, just after midnight we got a tweeted update:
https://twitter.com/SandgaardThomas/status/1308906241121562626 "Wanted to give fans an update. Discussions have been moving forward positively so far, however the property piece remains an obstacle."
https://twitter.com/SandgaardThomas/status/1308909038663593984 "If we can’t agree immediately, the players we have lined up to sign will go elsewhere and that would ruin our season. I personally don’t want to be part of a scenario where we cannot sign the players lined up. Let’s get this done."
Given the lateness of the hour, immediate reaction was somewhat limited, but Thursday's bound to be a different matter.
Friday 25th September - Late night TAKEOVER mini bitesize
At just gone noon, Sandgaard tweeted out a photo of himself wearing last season's shirt, followed by an open letter to Charlton fans signing off as "Proud Owner of CAFC"
Apparently, he's bought the club itself from ESI (rather than buying ESI itself, which was not possible due to the injunction) and extended the lease on the Valley and Sparrows Lane
For the true believers of the Church of WIOTOS, the takeover has been announced by the @CAFCOfficial twitter feed, there is a statement on www.cafc.co.uk confirming it, and an interview with @Sandgaard on their youtube channel
The EFL have released a statement that confirms Sandgaard passed the ODT last Friday and has confirmed source and sufficiency of funding, although it makes no mention of the transfer embargo
Elliott and co are reportedly considering their legal options following the announcement
Bowyer confirmed in his press conference that the transfer embargo has been lifted, and is hopeful of getting 2 or 3 players signed for the weekend - Ben Watson has been confirmed already on the CAFC website
Companies House has been updated for CAFC Ltd - Sandgaard is now shown as the person with significant control and ESI is marked as "ceased", and he is now the only active director.
The much discussed Ownership page on the OS has now been updated to show Sandgaard as owner.
Meanwhile, over on LinkedIn, Matt Southall is trying to take credit for finding "an investor that will be able to provide the much needed stability the club requires"
Elliott Pops Back Up After a Sunday where the focus was firmly back on the football for a change, even if the result wasn't one we wanted, on Monday BBC Sport's Simon Stoney had a reminder of our former prospective owner:
https://twitter.com/sistoney67/status/131050065628598681 "Sounds like Paul Elliott's lawyers have have asked for clarification around the terms of the sale of @CAFCofficial to Thomas Sandgaard before deciding next steps. Legal options being considered."
This caused a degree of confusion, but not necessarily surprise. As Sage asked
Legally, are they required to have the information of how the sale happened? The injunction was for the shares of ESI, the sale was of the asset that it held at the time. As the sale and agreement is undisclosed, why would they legally have the right to see the documents and how it happened?
Fact is, they lost and now could be heading to court (if it ever gets there) fighting over a shell company that holds no assets. Especially as it looks like, they didn’t even own ESI in the first place...
“For those reasons I am going to allow the appeal. There will be an injunction until trial – or further order – prohibiting the disposal of Panorama’s shares in East Street Investments. The cross undertaking will include a personal undertaking by Mr Elliott to pay any damages up to a limit of £50,000 in the event that the cross undertaking is enforced.”
No mention of shares in Charlton Athletic Football Club Limited held as an asset by ESI.
This does rather lead to the question as to why Lex Dominus didn't ask for the injunction to include the club in the first place, and MattF reckoned:
Can only assume it must have been seen as impossible for anyone to be able to pry the club out of ESI, and that with RD holding those cards no one would be able to do it
It might have been a gamble as part of the punt. Obtaining an injunction prohibiting the actions of ESI, an entity which had never entered into any legal relationship with Lex Dominus, from disposing of its assets would have been more challenging to obtain and ultimately could have delayed to such an extent that the sale was in before it. Even in that case there was a possibility that a buyer could buy the business and assets of CAFC as opposed to its shares so the injunction would've needed to have involved 3 distinct parties to give a full lock...
... Let's not forget that Mihail gave evidence that was factually wrong, re disqualification, had written to the EFL in June describing the ESI2 takeover as complete - when it wasn't - and allowed the statement that it was complete to remain on the club website until the day before the hearing, despite having argued the opposite in written evidence. He may have been well intentioned but he was well out of his depth and being played by Farnell from April to August.
... Not a chance, IMO, that it was a cunning plan by PM or a stroke of genius by MM.
That would credit Nimer and his stooges with way more intelligence and guile than they displayed at any time hitherto....
If Lex Dom has no further legal recourse, other than perhaps for damages against PM, it is indeed a staggering oversight ... that was a gift out of the blue to PM and a nothing short of a miracle for us.
But then which football club other than the Addicks could this unbelievable snatching of victory from the deepest depths of despair be about?
https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1310857151716491265 "Sounds as if Charlton have two right-back options - one of those is Adam Matthews.
In the words of Highlander "there can only be one". Set to be resolved today/tomorrow in terms of which way the Addicks go."
Companies House Update Around Tuesday lunchtime, @Airman Brown tweeted out details of a further Companies House update relating to the club:
https://twitter.com/airmanbrown/status/1310911422197649408 "Charge over CAFC Limited which was issued on January 23rd in favour Duchatelet to secure debt to him has just been released."
https://twitter.com/airmanbrown/status/1310916799962263560 "What this means is that Staprix (Duchatelet) no longer has a claim on #cafc assets to secure money he was owed. Not clear that the charge was strictly lawful in the first place as it did not have the needed consent of ex-directors. Looks like a tidying up exercise, but who knows!"
... the best outcome would have been for the charge to have been marked as "Satisfied". The filing of an MR05 here as opposed to an MR04 implies the debt has been moved rather than discharged. Need to keep an eye on Companies House in the next couple of weeks to see what clues it gives about the "new" RD deal structure.
Staprix/ESI deal from January being ripped up and redone. TS has said this in various interviews. This is proof it's happening.
The leases are going to be redone. The intercompany debt is going to be dealt with. The purchase option presumably binned or renegotiated and re-documented.
As to how it's happening, keep an eye on Companies House and the Land Registry in the next few weeks.
Museum Exhibits Returned Late on Tuesday afternoon, the Museum Trustees announced:
https://twitter.com/CHATHMuseum/status/1310981728845074436 "Some months ago the museum trustees felt that in order to protect and preserve the valuable items we own and the collective heritage of @CAFCofficial
which they represent, which belongs to all #cafc fans, we had to remove many items from the museum for safekeeping. 1/2"
https://twitter.com/CHATHMuseum/status/1310984283713081350 "2/2
We are now delighted to say that the items, including FA cup winners and other medals, play-off trophies and England caps, are back in the museum and on display ready to be viewed when Covid19 restrictions allow. @CAFCofficial #cafc"
https://twitter.com/BenHayes77/status/1310997942522834946 "So glad these items are back where they belong.
But it is a thrill (and a responsibility) to have Don Welsh's FA Cup winners medal and Clive Mendonca's 1998 play-off final boots in your care.
Now these items are part of another, very recent, episode of #cafc history as well."
There was some question as to whether the items were under real threat, but as cafc999 said
Looking at what Elliot(t) done at that girls school we thought the best action was to remove our most valuable items. Remember, most items are not ours, we are just the trustees
...It was a small risk perhaps but still a risk.
It was not a decision we took lightly.
Personally, I was more fearful that if we had gone into administration we would have had to prove all the items belonged to the charity, or are on loan from generous fans, not to the club.
We will shortly be preparing a new series of exhibits covering the recent events, so watch this space.
Podcasts and Radio Broadcasts: The recent and current ownership situation has featured on several different radio shows and podcasts over the last few days.
Sunday's Charlton Live had discussion of the takeover announcement in addition to the reaction to the Lincoln game
The takeover was also the lead story on Monday's Price of Football Podcast (on Spotify or Apple)
Jim White and Simon Jordan also discussed the takeover on Monday lunchtime on TalkSport (from 7m30)
Radio 4's File on 4 had an episode on the issues of Football governance, and had a segment on the ESI shenanigans from 22 minutes
Sandgaard went on TalkSport on Wednesday to announce he'd be back in the UK for the Sunderland game, and has now arrived.
Marcus Maddison has signed on a free for a year, with an option of an additional 12 months
Companies House has been updated to show Tahnoon Nimer, Marian Mihail and Claudiu Florica are no longer directors of ESI
Macauley Bonne has been sold to QPR for an undisclosed fee, although values of £700k and £2m have been suggested by various sources.
Charlie Barker has signed a 3 year deal to keep him at the club until 2023
The Supporters Trust have produced their final weekly update, and Heather McKinlay was interviewed by the Price of Football podcast to give the Trust's view on the takeover.
The new Voice of the Valley is going out in the post today, with Sandgaard on the cover.
Given the Southall/Nimer era has now officially ended, this seems like a good point to abandon regular bitesize updates. I've got to go back and fill in a few details along the way, and if something major happens, (such as one of the protagonists gets struck off, arrested or made bankrupt, or if the Lex Dominus v Panorama Magic court case goes ahead) then there'll be the occasional random update, but other than that, that's all folks!
---------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY FOR THOSE WITH SHORT ATTENTION SPANS:
Sandgaard was over for the Sunderland game and spent a bit of time commentating for Valley pass
He's also announced he wants to set up a fans' "advisory board", but how this will differ from the Fans' Forum is currently unclear
Peter Varney has announced he won't be involved with the running of the club moving forward.
On Saturday it was announced 17 year old Aaron Henry has signed a 3 year contract
Celtic continue to have bids for Alfie Doughty rejected, while the Ronnie Schwartz transfer fell through on transfer deadline day.
Former Burnley left back Ali Koiki is back on trial with the under 23s, while Welsh right back Chris Gunter was reportedly set to join us according to the BBC (now confirmed)
Companies House has been updated to show that Southall and Heller are no longer directors of ESI.
Sandgaard As promised, Sandgaard was at the Sunderland game, and spent the first 20 minutes in the press box with Terry and Greg from Charlton Live:
https://twitter.com/LouisMend/status/1312392033156374529 "The new boss is here. @SandgaardThomas
arrives for his first home game as official #cafc owner, joining the boys over on @Valley_Pass"
...David Brent (the character) has nothing to back up his bravado and confidence (which is what made him a sad character). TS is a multi millionaire, fronting a NASDAQ listed company. He can do what the fuck he wants and is loving it.
Richard Cawley was disappointed by this:
https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313782705142861824 "Think that is a real shame that Peter Varney not involved moving forward. Genuine expertise on how to run a football club. Was very pivotal to knitting things together when Chris Powell's side rampaged to the League One title."
'Being largely USA based' was an unnecessary dig.
No need to put it in there, other than being told he wasn't needed by Sandgaard and being a little bitter about it.
... I don't think it's a dig, he's saying that the culture of the club has suffered a lot because in the absence of strong leadership, people like burger boy have stepped in and morale etc. is at a dangerously low level. Not just morale, but the club's lost a lot of knowledge (what Varney calls "cultural and structural changes"). It's organisational atrophy. And it will need someone to devote full attention to correcting it.
I think Peter Varney is a great man but seems odd to cast aspersions on Sandgaard because he doesn't want to bring someone who he barely knows into the fold of running a business he's just spent a fortune on.
Aspersions? I think we all agree that TS has earned the right to make his own decisions. Equally it’s a bit strange to believe the business can be run by Zoom from the US with the people currently on the ground, excluding the football management...
It’s worth remembering that it wasn’t Varney who talked about his getting involved under TS; it was TS unilaterally to multiple outlets. Otherwise there would be no need to roll it back...
I can understand if TS wants to be hands on at first, but I do think he needs professional help to run a football club, as it's unlike anything he's ever managed before.
Especially as the (non football) management has been hollowed out in the last few years. For a start we need a strong and competent Chief Financial Officer/Finance Director
Squad Updates On Saturday morning another new contract was announced:
https://twitter.com/CAFCofficial/status/1312306466288791555 "📜 More good news from the academy this morning as highly-rated youngster Aaron Henry commits to the club until at least 2023. #cafc"
Following hs transfer to QPR (and scoring an injury time equaliser on his debut) Macauley Bonne tweeted out:
https://twitter.com/MBonne9/status/1312476440701530112 "To all of #CAFC, it's been fantastic. As all chapters end, another starts for us both. I'm thankful for every moment. I wish you well for the future!"
Then on Tuesday, after the international transfer deadline had passed:
https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313374937995005952 "Charlton are not signing FC Midtjylland striker Ronnie Schwartz.
Deal had looked dead yesterday morning, then back on again yesterday evening.
But it didn't happen."
https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313375259916148736 "Probably another example of why Charlton don't want these things massively playing out in press. Salary cap is making life difficult enough.
Still plenty of time to get deals done. Addicks want to bring in two frontmen.."
Yet More Companies House Shenanigans On Tuesday, Richard Cawley had news of another Companies House update:
https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313442828979183616 "Latest Companies House alerts - Matt Southall and Jonathan Heller no longer directors of ESI. Also another one saying "cessation of Matthew Southall as a person with significant control"."
Kieran Maguire of the Price of Football podcast provided the relevant screenshots:
https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/status/1313462493726093312 "Matt Southall, formerly in charge of Charlton’s holding company East Street Investments, ceases to have control over that company. #CAFC"
Thursday 12th November - the return of the mini bitesize
I was hoping I wasn't going to have to do one of these again until the court case on the 23rd of this month, but sadly, here we are.
Farnell has won his appeal against his EFL Owners and Directors' Test failure, or at least it was effectively commuted to a suspension until 14th September (this was announced on the 28th of October)
Also on the 28th October, Farnell and Kashashy announced that they were bidding to take over Burnley for £200m
CAST and other Charlton fans have been communicating with the Burnley supporters to warn them of the issues relating to Farnell and co, although this has had a variable reception
The Sunday Mirror on the 8th of November was claiming that El Kashashy was worth £9.65Bn, which coincidentally is exactly what Roman Abramovich is worth. We've not been able to find any evidence that this is true.
Today, Elliott is claiming that due to Nimer failing to follow certain directions from the court, that the court has ruled in his favour that the ESI Sale and Purchase Agreement is valid. His press release says this means that Lex Dominus is the true owner of CAFC, but it's not clear whether that's just his assertion or part of the judgment, which I've not been able to find.
The press release also says that "Mr Sandgaard has been given notice to leave the club immediately", although as Lauren Kreamer points out it's only really a notice or an order if it's been issued by the court, otherwise it's just a letter. (Perhaps she's seen the judgment? 🤞 )
Tuesday 17th November - It's another Talksport Tuesday
---------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY FOR THOSE WITH SHORT ATTENTION SPANS:
There's been further reaction to the Paul Elliott letter
Thomas Sandgaard was on the Jim White Show on TalkSport this morning, and did not sound remotely worried about Paul Elliott's claims of ownership of the club.
Simon Jordan was also unconvinced by the validity of Elliott's claim, and described it as "a shakedown"
Tahnoon Nimer has reappeared on Instagram claiming to be a "World Peace Ambassador"
There was also a bit about our situation on Monday's Price of Football Podcast, (audio from roughly 14m30) although sadly Kevin Maguire's description of his opinion of Farnell in his pre-show notes failed to make the edit.
The reaction to Elliott's demand that Sandgaard leaves the club continues to be one of suspicion of his motives and the legitimacy of his case, verging on outright hostility, and @aliwibble suggested:
Perhaps if Mr Elliott wishes to reassure Charlton fans that he is acting in good faith he could:
Show us the evidence of the money he claims he has already invested in the club earlier this year.
Tell us the reason he failed the EFL Owners and Directors' Test earlier this year
(plus 7 further points)
For those of us who are struggling to get our heads round the merits of Elliott's case, @Blucher has written a long detailed post discussing the legal position, which is worth reading in full, but can probably be summarised by this snippet:
Freshfields have presumably told LD’s solicitors to ‘put up or shut up’ and we shall now have to wait and see whether LD is prepared to roll the dice. Given that Elliot and chums have neither the funds, nor the remotest wish, to own the club, the potential upside for them is the ‘ransom value’ of CAFC (less irrecoverable legal costs); the downside - in addition to time and reputational issues - is the very substantial costs liability they would incur in respect of their own and Thomas Sandgaard’s costs should any action fail.
After the call was broadcast he retweeted this from the TalkSport twitter account:
https://twitter.com/talkSPORT/status/1328669215826399234 "I'm the legal and rightful owner of #CAFC."
"I'm not going anywhere. We will continue to win games and get promoted."
"Everything was done correctly and legally."
@SandgaardThomas assures Charlton fans that he won't be leaving the club.
(with a clip of the conversation from TalkSport)
while the club's official twitter account nailed its colours to the mast in a way they've not done for previous owners as far as I can remember:
https://twitter.com/CAFCofficial/status/1328737919511703560 "“@SandgaardThomas is the legal and rightful owner of Charlton Athletic.”#cafc
ⓘ 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲"
and Paul Breen drew an interesting comparison for Paul Elliott's behaviour:
https://twitter.com/CharltonMen/status/1328714265142980608 "Paul Elliott is fast in danger of becoming like some mad stalker who thinks he's the boyfriend of some woman he was never in a relationship with in the first place."
And Finally: @carly burn spotted that Tahnoon Nimer has reappeared on Instagram, claiming to be a "World Peace Ambassador"
If the mis-spelling of Emirates on the certificate wasn't enough to have you smelling a rat, the selection of his fellow ambassadors that @carly burn spotted on their website do seem incredibly random to put it mildly. And if you go to https://www.peacetracts.org/our-team/(which shows as one of their first search engine results, as well as Nimer appearing on the top row, another familiar face shows up 8 rows down. Weird.
Elliott was interviewed by Jim White on TalkSport today,
pre-recorded rather than live, possibly because he was afraid of getting
grilled by Simon Jordan
Sandgaard was also interviewed again on Talksport and said the club was losing about £1m a month at the moment.
The
club has announced it has repossessed the infamous Range Rovers (and a
Mercedes!), and one of them is being raffled off to fans buying match
streaming passes up until Christmas.
Comments
Court Case: SLP, BBC Sport, Sky Sports (slightly garbled)
Podcasts: Charlton Live, Price of Football (on Spotify), Price of Football (on Apple)
Embargo/Effect on Squad: SLP
Embargo: SLP (Bowyer on the team), SLP (Bowyer on John-Jules)
General Chat: Charlton Live
Podcasts: Price of Football (on Spotify), Price of Football (on Apple)
With progress appearing to have ground to a bit of a halt, speculation has continued as to what the cause of the problem is. Henry Irving had some pointers:
One significant part remains undone over what, in the context a football club purchase, many would consider an insignificant amount of money.
But it's easy to say that when I'm not the one paying it.
My view is that it is very close but not done as of last night.
It could be signed, sealed and delivered very quickly but it could also drag on for days.
These things don't run to neat timetables.
https://twitter.com/SamBurgess3/status/1308348267873398785
"Cracker of a report yesterday Olly. We on for some bigger news today? 👍 or 👎🏼"
"👎🏼"
👏👏💰🍾🔴⚪
Later in the day, FULLERpromise provided some screenshots of a chat with Sandgaard:
Protests
After last night's Sky Sports News outage, which was supposedly a result of the CAFCFansForFans action, there was a report in the Daily Mail about it.
https://twitter.com/BenjyNurick/status/1308456205858353161
"For the second time in four days @CAFCfansforfans are blockading the entrance to @Screwfix , a commercial partner of the EFL, this time in Greenhithe, Dartford.
Updates to follow...
#cafc #SaveCAFC"
"Word has clearly traveled throughout @Screwfix across the region, if not the country.
The manager of this @Screwfix in Greenhithe had already been briefed as to the possibility of a @CAFCfansforfans protest from higher-ups in the company prior to today.
#cafc #SaveCAFC"
"Sign at @Screwfix says “We know time is money...”
@CAFCfansforfans have currently taken up about 45 minutes of @Screwfix ’s time.
#cafc #SaveCAFC"
https://twitter.com/CAFCfansforfans/status/1308459809323319296
"Hi @simon8922
Thanks for the follow.
If, at some point in the near future, you or colleagues wish to engage in meaningful dialogue regarding your brand association with EFL, we would be more than willing participants.
Kind regards
CAFC Fans4Fans"
Media Coverage:
Daily Mail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8758947/Moment-Sky-News-forced-air-fire-alarm-sounds.html
- A possibly tongue in cheek message from Sandgaard that got leaked on
twitter caused a flurry of discussion as to whether he's tiring of all
the social media interaction
- The suggestion from a Danish paper that we might be signing Ronnie
Schwartz from FC Midtjylland, sparked further hopes that the transfer
embargo might be lifted soon
- And just when I thought it was safe
to go to bed, Sandgaard popped up on twitter with an update, indicating
the property side of things was the stumbling block at the moment
----------------------------------------------------------------As something of a follow-up to his tweet about a possible Belgian protest, Darren New tweeted the following:
https://twitter.com/dneventslogist1/status/1308639024400289800
"It’s the messages like this that get sent to our fans that rightly have them getting more than pissed off. This was sent to me from a worried fan in a DM last night and it needs to stop. If it is true would you still wish to wait before you acted? Ask yourself how long do we wait"
No I don't know why I felt the need to message him, but I specifically stated no reply was needed...
It ain't over til it's over.
It will be done when it's done. Things are, so I'm informed, progressing but there are still relatively minor issues to be resolved. I doubt it will take a year but it will take as long as it takes.
Then suddenly, the news will be on the official site.
WIOTOS
If Thomas Sandgaard is able to get the club into a better place by removing some or many of the leeches hanging around it then he deserves our support and regardless he deserves our thanks for trying. I doubt if his present level of engagement on social media is sustainable in any event and commentary on it by fans is probably best ignored in the meantime.
Another Transfer Embargo Omen
Over on the ITK thread, @flyingkiwiDK had some news that raised hopes that the transfer embargo might be lifted soon, with a Danish football website report suggesting that we could be signing Ronnie Schwartz, a 31 year old striker from FC Midtjylland, the Danish team who have links to Brentford:
https://acefootball.com/da/fodboldnyheder/avis-charlton-er-interesserede-i-ronnie-schwartz/ (Google translate version here)
An Update From Sandgaard
After the discussion earlier in the day about Sandgaard's social media interactions, just after midnight we got a tweeted update:
https://twitter.com/SandgaardThomas/status/1308906241121562626
"Wanted to give fans an update. Discussions have been moving forward positively so far, however the property piece remains an obstacle."
"If we can’t agree immediately, the players we have lined up to sign will go elsewhere and that would ruin our season. I personally don’t want to be part of a scenario where we cannot sign the players lined up. Let’s get this done."
Media Coverage:
Ace Football (Danish): https://acefootball.com/da/fodboldnyheder/avis-charlton-er-interesserede-i-ronnie-schwartz/ (or English translation)
General Chat: Charlton Live
Takeover Announcement: BBC Sport, Sky Sports, SLP, SLP (EFL statement), SLP (Bowyer interview) Evening Standard, The Independent, The Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph (paywalled) or (local copy), The Times (paywalled) or (local copy),
Sandgaard Interview: CAFC Youtube video, Sky Sports video, TalkSport (audio here) The Sun (partly lifted from TalkSport),
Embargo/Transfers: SLP (Bowyer interview) SLP (Watson transfer), The Sun
Protests: The Independent
Sandgaard : SLP (CAST), BBC Radio London (from 22mins), SLP (BBC interview)
Embargo/Transfers: SLP, BBC Sport
- Elliott's lawyers have reportedly requested clarification about the details of the sale
- Companies House has been updated to show that the charge over CAFC held by Staprix has now been released
- Lee Bowyer has admitted we would have had to sell a player to pay the wages if it were not for the takeover.
- The Charlton Athletic Museum trustees have now returned the items they'd
removed for safekeeping during the uncertainty of the Elliott
"ownership"
- The recent and current ownership situation has featured on several different radio shows and podcasts over the last few days.
----------------------------------------------------------------Elliott Pops Back Up
After a Sunday where the focus was firmly back on the football for a change, even if the result wasn't one we wanted, on Monday BBC Sport's Simon Stoney had a reminder of our former prospective owner:
https://twitter.com/sistoney67/status/131050065628598681
"Sounds like Paul Elliott's lawyers have have asked for clarification around the terms of the sale of @CAFCofficial to Thomas Sandgaard before deciding next steps. Legal options being considered."
Fact is, they lost and now could be heading to court (if it ever gets there) fighting over a shell company that holds no assets. Especially as it looks like, they didn’t even own ESI in the first place...
No mention of shares in Charlton Athletic Football Club Limited held as an asset by ESI.
If Lex Dom has no further legal recourse, other than perhaps for damages against PM, it is indeed a staggering oversight ... that was a gift out of the blue to PM and a nothing short of a miracle for us.
But then which football club other than the Addicks could this unbelievable snatching of victory from the deepest depths of despair be about?
Transfer Embargo Hangover
Then on Tuesday, Richard Cawley had some further information about the on-going effects of the transfer embargo:
https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1310856670541684736
"Charlton Athletic have money now that Thomas Sandgaard has bought the club.
But Lee Bowyer has spelled out why it is hard to spend it under the EFL's salary cap at League One level.
https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-athletic-boss-lee-bowyer-weve-got-money-now-but-spending-it-isnt-easy/"
"Sounds as if Charlton have two right-back options - one of those is Adam Matthews.
In the words of Highlander "there can only be one". Set to be resolved today/tomorrow in terms of which way the Addicks go."
"Lee Bowyer admits that Charlton were going to be forced to cash in on a player - to pay wages - before Thomas Sandgaard's takeover at the end of last week.
https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-athletic-boss-lee-bowyer-we-were-close-to-having-to-sell-a-player-to-pay-wages/"
Companies House Update
Around Tuesday lunchtime, @Airman Brown tweeted out details of a further Companies House update relating to the club:
https://twitter.com/airmanbrown/status/1310911422197649408
"Charge over CAFC Limited which was issued on January 23rd in favour Duchatelet to secure debt to him has just been released."
"What this means is that Staprix (Duchatelet) no longer has a claim on #cafc assets to secure money he was owed. Not clear that the charge was strictly lawful in the first place as it did not have the needed consent of ex-directors. Looks like a tidying up exercise, but who knows!"
The leases are going to be redone. The intercompany debt is going to be dealt with. The purchase option presumably binned or renegotiated and re-documented.
As to how it's happening, keep an eye on Companies House and the Land Registry in the next few weeks.
Museum Exhibits Returned
Late on Tuesday afternoon, the Museum Trustees announced:
https://twitter.com/CHATHMuseum/status/1310981728845074436
"Some months ago the museum trustees felt that in order to protect and preserve the valuable items we own and the collective heritage of @CAFCofficial which they represent, which belongs to all #cafc fans, we had to remove many items from the museum for safekeeping. 1/2"
"2/2
We are now delighted to say that the items, including FA cup winners and other medals, play-off trophies and England caps, are back in the museum and on display ready to be viewed when Covid19 restrictions allow. @CAFCofficial #cafc"
"So glad these items are back where they belong.
But it is a thrill (and a responsibility) to have Don Welsh's FA Cup winners medal and Clive Mendonca's 1998 play-off final boots in your care.
Now these items are part of another, very recent, episode of #cafc history as well."
https://twitter.com/SandgaardThomas/status/1311156518515998720
"This is good to hear."
It was not a decision we took lightly.
Personally, I was more fearful that if we had gone into administration we would have had to prove all the items belonged to the charity, or are on loan from generous fans, not to the club.
Podcasts and Radio Broadcasts:
The recent and current ownership situation has featured on several different radio shows and podcasts over the last few days.
Media Coverage:
Radio: TalkSport (from 7m30), File on 4 (from 22m)
Podcasts: Charlton Live, Price of Football (on Spotify), Price of Football (on Apple)
SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-athletic-boss-lee-bowyer-weve-got-money-now-but-spending-it-isnt-easy/
SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-athletic-boss-lee-bowyer-we-were-close-to-having-to-sell-a-player-to-pay-wages/
SUMMARY FOR THOSE WITH SHORT ATTENTION SPANS:
- Sandgaard was over for the Sunderland game and spent a bit of time commentating for Valley pass
- He's also announced he wants to set up a fans' "advisory board", but how this will differ from the Fans' Forum is currently unclear
- Peter Varney has announced he won't be involved with the running of the club moving forward.
- On Saturday it was announced 17 year old Aaron Henry has signed a 3 year contract
- Celtic continue to have bids for Alfie Doughty rejected, while the Ronnie Schwartz transfer fell through on transfer deadline day.
- Former Burnley left back Ali Koiki is back on trial with the under 23s, while Welsh right back Chris Gunter was reportedly set to join us according to the BBC (now confirmed)
- Companies House has been updated to show that Southall and Heller are no longer directors of ESI.
----------------------------------------------------------------As promised, Sandgaard was at the Sunderland game, and spent the first 20 minutes in the press box with Terry and Greg from Charlton Live:
https://twitter.com/LouisMend/status/1312392033156374529
"The new boss is here. @SandgaardThomas arrives for his first home game as official #cafc owner, joining the boys over on @Valley_Pass"
"Can tell @KillersBeard is rubbing off on Sandgaard already, can hear the Dane moaning about a linesman on comms
⏱ 8' 🔴 #cafc 0-0 #safc ⚫"
https://twitter.com/SandgaardThomas/status/1312730323013304320
"Great to be at the Valley yesterday! The team is improving. Up from here. #CAFC #UpTheAddicks"
https://twitter.com/SandgaardThomas/status/1312778089169125376
"For those asking, here are a few notes. It's a start... #ValleyFloydRoad
https://twitter.com/mattjobob/status/1312835871553527813
"Charlton fans: What we need most from our new owner is stability; a focus on getting #cafc back on an even keel and being run sensibly.
Thomas Sandgaard: Let's ROCK!!!!!"
(quoting this tweet from @SandgaardThomas)
https://twitter.com/JackPittBrooke/status/1313008519571017728
""There will be less stress and drama at Charlton now"
I spoke to Thomas Sandgaard about rebuilding the club after nine months of chaos. And looked at how close Charlton came to being the next Bury.
https://theathletic.com/2104638/2020/10/05/charlton-owner-sandgaard-interview/"
On Tuesday, an interesting proposal was announced:
https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313774580364972033
"Thomas Sandgaard wants to be able to gauge the views of Charlton Athletic fans - and is considering setting up an 'advisory board'.
https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-owner-thomas-sandgaard-wants-to-set-up-advisory-group-of-fans/"
Varney Update
https://twitter.com/_PeterVarney/status/1313755135215054849
"An update from me around the current situation with #CAFC and moving forward."
https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313782705142861824
"Think that is a real shame that Peter Varney not involved moving forward. Genuine expertise on how to run a football club. Was very pivotal to knitting things together when Chris Powell's side rampaged to the League One title."
No need to put it in there, other than being told he wasn't needed by Sandgaard and being a little bitter about it.
It’s worth remembering that it wasn’t Varney who talked about his getting involved under TS; it was TS unilaterally to multiple outlets. Otherwise there would be no need to roll it back...
Especially as the (non football) management has been hollowed out in the last few years. For a start we need a strong and competent Chief Financial Officer/Finance Director
Squad Updates
On Saturday morning another new contract was announced:
https://twitter.com/CAFCofficial/status/1312306466288791555
"📜 More good news from the academy this morning as highly-rated youngster Aaron Henry commits to the club until at least 2023. #cafc"
https://twitter.com/BenjyNurick/status/1312325320553398273
"Another important step in securing the immediate future of the club.
Congrats Aaron Henry! Big things to come!
Check out his story below 👇
#cafc https://medium.com/@benjynurick/aaron-henry-mr-confident-as-told-by-charlton-academy-manager-steve-avory-a4ffa65c94d5"
https://twitter.com/MBonne9/status/1312476440701530112
"To all of #CAFC, it's been fantastic. As all chapters end, another starts for us both. I'm thankful for every moment. I wish you well for the future!"
https://twitter.com/airmanbrown/status/1312766852410544128
"NEW FROM VOTV - Why Macauley Bonne's departure from #cafc barely raised a ripple: trust has been restored in SE7. Read it now at http://votvonline.com"
Then on Monday Richard Cawley had further updates on Doughty and Phillips:
https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313045561113743361
"Lee Bowyer says Celtic have had another bid rejected for Alfie Doughty.
There is also an English club who are keen on the 20-year-old.
https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/celtic-get-another-transfer-knock-back-as-charlton-reject-fresh-approach-for-alfie-doughty-english-club-also-interested-in-winger/"
"Lee Bowyer says Dillon Phillips runs the risk of being "forgotten" if he doesn't get a move out of Charlton Athletic before the end of this transfer window.
https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/lee-bowyer-dillon-phillips-could-be-forgotten-if-he-does-not-get-move-away-with-charlton-athletic/"
https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313374937995005952
"Charlton are not signing FC Midtjylland striker Ronnie Schwartz.
Deal had looked dead yesterday morning, then back on again yesterday evening.
But it didn't happen."
"Probably another example of why Charlton don't want these things massively playing out in press. Salary cap is making life difficult enough.
Still plenty of time to get deals done. Addicks want to bring in two frontmen.."
https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313375528867581954
"Ali Koiki set to play for Charlton U23s today.
If he does well then a decent chance the former Burnley left-back will get a deal.
https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/former-burnley-man-set-to-feature-for-addicks-as-he-aims-to-land-deal/"
Yet More Companies House Shenanigans
On Tuesday, Richard Cawley had news of another Companies House update:
https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313442828979183616
"Latest Companies House alerts - Matt Southall and Jonathan Heller no longer directors of ESI. Also another one saying "cessation of Matthew Southall as a person with significant control"."
https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/status/1313462493726093312
"Matt Southall, formerly in charge of Charlton’s holding company East Street Investments, ceases to have control over that company. #CAFC"
Media Coverage:
SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-athletic-agree-long-term-contracts-for-two-of-their-rising-stars/
SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/celtic-get-another-transfer-knock-back-as-charlton-reject-fresh-approach-for-alfie-doughty-english-club-also-interested-in-winger/
SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/lee-bowyer-dillon-phillips-could-be-forgotten-if-he-does-not-get-move-away-with-charlton-athletic/
SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-athletic-interested-in-deal-for-former-reading-and-forest-defender-chris-gunter/
BBC Sport: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54422719
SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/former-burnley-man-set-to-feature-for-addicks-as-he-aims-to-land-deal/
SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-owner-thomas-sandgaard-wants-to-set-up-advisory-group-of-fans/
- Farnell has won his appeal against his EFL Owners and Directors' Test failure, or at least it was effectively commuted to a suspension until 14th September (this was announced on the 28th of October)
- Also on the 28th October, Farnell and Kashashy announced that they were bidding to take over Burnley for £200m
- CAST and other Charlton fans have been communicating with the Burnley supporters to warn them of the issues relating to Farnell and co, although this has had a variable reception
- The Sunday Mirror on the 8th of November was claiming that El Kashashy was worth £9.65Bn, which coincidentally is exactly what Roman Abramovich is worth. We've not been able to find any evidence that this is true.
- Today, Elliott is claiming that due to Nimer failing to follow certain directions from the court, that the court has ruled in his favour that the ESI Sale and Purchase Agreement is valid. His press release says this means that Lex Dominus is the true owner of CAFC, but it's not clear whether that's just his assertion or part of the judgment, which I've not been able to find.
- The press release also says that "Mr Sandgaard has been given notice to leave the club immediately", although as Lauren Kreamer points out it's only really a notice or an order if it's been issued by the court, otherwise it's just a letter. (Perhaps she's seen the judgment? 🤞 )
----------------------------------------------------------------Farnell: SLP
Burnley Takeover: BBC Sport, Sky Sports, The Guardian, The Times (paywalled)
El Kashashy: Sunday Mirror (screenshot)
Elliott: Evening Standard, BBC Sport, CAST
SUMMARY FOR THOSE WITH SHORT ATTENTION SPANS:
- There's been further reaction to the Paul Elliott letter
- Thomas Sandgaard was on the Jim White Show on TalkSport this morning, and did not sound remotely worried about Paul Elliott's claims of ownership of the club.
- Simon Jordan was also unconvinced by the validity of Elliott's claim, and described it as "a shakedown"
- Tahnoon Nimer has reappeared on Instagram claiming to be a "World Peace Ambassador"
----------------------------------------------------------------https://twitter.com/airmanbrown/status/1327215066668806146
"NEW FROM VOTV: reality will drown out the noise from the north - why Paul Elliott's latest intervention over the ownership of the club is unlikely to trouble #cafc fans. Read it now http://votvonline.com"
http://www.votvonline.com/home/the-2020-21-blogs/13-11-reality-will-drown-out-the-noise-from-the-north/
- Show us the evidence of the money he claims he has already invested in the club earlier this year.
- Tell us the reason he failed the EFL Owners and Directors' Test earlier this year
(plus 7 further points)On Monday evening Thomas Sandgaard tweeted out:
https://twitter.com/SandgaardThomas/status/1328403555632492544
"Just had a great call with @JimWhite with TalkSports confirming there is no need to worry. #cafc"
https://twitter.com/talkSPORT/status/1328669215826399234
"I'm the legal and rightful owner of #CAFC."
"I'm not going anywhere. We will continue to win games and get promoted."
"Everything was done correctly and legally."
@SandgaardThomas assures Charlton fans that he won't be leaving the club.
(with a clip of the conversation from TalkSport)
https://talksport.com/football/efl/790491/thomas-sandgaard-letter-leave-charlton-no-merit
while the full audio can be heard here from 3min 30s and it's worth listening to this rather than the shortened version if you can, for Simon Jordan's particularly trenchant views on the "shakedown" he believes Elliott is trying to get away with.
https://twitter.com/CAFCfansforfans/status/1328682589922729986
"Good Morning Ladies and gents, Great listen this morning for those who have not had the chance yet. Again I can only emphasise the breath of fresh air and calmness which we have not had the pleasure of previously. COYA. ❤ 🤍💯. Brett @SandgaardThomas"
https://talksport.com/football/efl/790491/thomas-sandgaard-letter-leave-charlton-no-merit/
https://twitter.com/CAFCofficial/status/1328737919511703560
"“@SandgaardThomas is the legal and rightful owner of Charlton Athletic.”#cafc
ⓘ 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲"
https://twitter.com/CharltonMen/status/1328714265142980608
"Paul Elliott is fast in danger of becoming like some mad stalker who thinks he's the boyfriend of some woman he was never in a relationship with in the first place."
@carly burn spotted that Tahnoon Nimer has reappeared on Instagram, claiming to be a "World Peace Ambassador"
Media Coverage:
Radio: TalkSport (from 3m30)
Podcasts: (Price of Football (from roughly 14m30)
Voice Of The Valley: http://www.votvonline.com/home/the-2020-21-blogs/13-11-reality-will-drown-out-the-noise-from-the-north/
TalkSport: https://talksport.com/football/efl/790491/thomas-sandgaard-letter-leave-charlton-no-merit
SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/thomas-sandgaard-says-there-is-no-merit-over-paul-elliotts-claim-he-is-rightful-owner-of-charlton-athletic/
Radio: TalkSport: Elliott (from 4m40) and Sandgaard from 18:50
TalkSport: https://talksport.com/football/efl/791240/charlton-athletic-thomas-sandgaard-dismisses-paul-elliott-claims/
SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/motoring-charlton-athletic-fans-stand-a-chance-of-winning-one-of-infamous-range-rovers-as-thomas-sandgaard-makes-it-prize-in-competition/
Evening Standard: https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/charlton-thomas-sandgaard-ps90-000-range-rover-b73215.html
Sky Sports: https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11684/12135776/new-charlton-owner-thomas-sandgaard-in-range-rover-giveaway
Daily Mail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8962013/Charlton-raffle-one-infamous-90-000-Range-Rovers-bought-former-owners.html
The Sun: https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/13236403/charlton-giving-away-100k-range-rover/