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From Bees United:
Trust Chairman David Merritt said: "On behalf of the Trust, I wish to thank the efforts of Bees United board members Brian Burgess and Chris Gammon for their tremendous hard work in ensuring the project is closer than ever to being delivered."
The vision of Brentford Football Club playing in a new stadium in Lionel Road was conceived by the Trust and publicly launched in November 2002.
The next year will see intense negotiations between the club and stakeholders of the development to ensure that the Lionel Road stadium project is a vision that can become reality.
From BBC Sport;
Brentford supporter Matthew Benham has paid out nearly £3m to take over some of the League One club's loans.
Benham has taken over a £2m bank loan and also paid ex-chairman Ron Noades' company £940,110 for a £1m loan.
Benham will hold both interest-free for five years, while Noades has written off a £250,000 payment due this week.
'This is a welcome boost to our efforts to reduce debts and survive until we can build a new stadium,' chairman Greg Dyke told the club website.
'The club is currently facing an uphill battle to stay in League One and as a business there are some tough challenges to face. Matthew Benham's wonderful gesture will immediately save us over £150,000 per year in interest charges.'
Supporters' trust Bees United took over the club last January and their chairman Brian Burgess said: 'We are extremely grateful to Matthew for his extraordinary generosity. Brentford fans have always shown their determination to help the club.
'In the past two months spontaneous fundraising efforts have come up with over £30,000 to help strengthen the squad with loan signings in the January transfer window.'
Also from BBC Sport:
Dyke becomes Brentford chairman
20-Jan-2007
Ex-BBC director-general Greg Dyke has been named as non-executive chairman of Brentford on the day the supporters' trust Bees United took over the club.
Bees United have acquired the majority shareholding from former chairman Ron Noades' company Altonwood and have raised £5.5m to refinance their debts.
Dyke is a lifelong Bees fan and loaned the club some money last autumn to help stave off a cash crisis.
He said: 'This is an exciting new start for Brentford. The fans are in charge.'
It is Dyke's second involvement in the game after a spell as a Manchester United director in the 1990s.
'It is very clear to me that the club's long-term future is best served by the majority shareholding being held by the people who care most about the club - its fans.
'Chairmen, board members, managers and players come and go in a football club but most of the fans are there for life.
'I have no doubt that a supporters' trust running the club is the future for the likes of Brentford.
'I have been a Brentford supporter for more than 40 years and know how much the club means to people in the area.
'The club is doing well on the pitch with great leadership from Martin Allen and his staff.
'As a business there are still some tough challenges to face and I am looking forward to working to help Brentford go from strength to strength.
'What this does mean however is that we have to live within our budget and the days when fans of clubs like Brentford could expect someone from outside to come and pour money into the club are over.'
Manager Allen said: 'Time will now tell if this club can move forward but it must be said it is an exciting opportunity to continue to move onwards and upwards.'
And Bees United chairman Brian Burgess added: 'Completing this project is a great achievement but the hard work has to start now to make sure that the club can continue to pay its bills and be successful both on and off the pitch.'
=================== Perviously ================
Supporters Take Control Of Club
20-Jan-2006
From Bees United:
Greg Dyke has been appointed as non-executive Chairman of Brentford Football Club by its new owners, the supporters' trust Bees United, who acquired the majority shareholding in the club today.
Bees United have raised £5.5 million to re-finance the club's debts and takeover a 60% shareholding from Altonwood, the company owned by Ron Noades.
Dyke, the former Director General of the BBC and Chief Executive of London Weekend Television, has been a supporter of the club since childhood when his brother Ian played in the Brentford youth team. He is a Bees United member and was one of the fans who gave the club a loan last autumn to help avoid a cash crisis. He was a Director of Manchester United in the late nineties but resigned when he joined the BBC.
Dyke said: 'This is an exciting new start for Brentford. It is very clear to me that the club's long term future is best served by the majority shareholding being held by the people who care most about the club - its fans. Chairmen, board members, managers and players come and go in a football club but most of the fans are there for life. I have no doubt that the idea of a supporters trust running the club is the future for the likes of Brentford.
'I have been a Brentford supporter for more than 40 years and know how much the club means to people living in the area. Three of my children are big Brentford fans as are many of their friends. Living locally, I get to matches at Griffin Park in 15 minutes and attend regularly.
'The club is doing well on the pitch with great leadership from Martin Allen and his staff. As a business there are still some tough challenges to face and I am looking forward to working with the board and the staff at the club to help Brentford go from strength to strength. What this does mean, however, is that we have to live within our budget and the days when fans of clubs like Brentford could expect someone from outside to come and pour money into the club are over. The fans are now in charge.'
In the past six months supporters have raised funds to provide a £1 million interest-free loan to the club through fundraising initiatives, with individuals taking out loan notes and several fans contributing six figure loans.
Altonwood have provided a £1 million interest-free loan with a further £2.5m from Barclays Bank, £0.5m from Hounslow Council and £0.5m from a company representing a supporter covering the club's overdraft and creating a £1 million cash injection.>
Bees United chairman Brian Burgess believes the historic takeover was the best chance to secure Brentford's future as a professional club.
'It has been a difficult project to complete and we are extremely grateful to those who have helped to make it possible,' said Burgess. 'These include a number of very generous individuals and of course the thousands of fans who have contributed to the Back the Bees campaign, Ron Noades and his colleagues at Altonwood, Barclays Bank, and Hounslow Council.
'It is a great achievement but the hard work has to start now to make sure that the Club can continue to pay its bills and be successful both on and off the pitch.'
Manager Martin Allen said: After a lot of uncertainty and a great deal of work, the takeover is finally complete. Time will now tell if this Club can more forward. But it must be said it is an exciting opportunity to continue to move onwards and upwards.'
================= Previously =============
Bees fans agree deal with Noades
30-Sep-2005
From the BBC:
Brentford's supporters' trust Bees United has agreed a deal with owner Ron Noades which will see the fans taking ownership of the club in January.
The agreement with Noades' company Altonwood enables the trust to exercise its option to acquire the 60% majority shareholding in the club.
The trust had two years to restructure the club's debts and release Altonwood and Noades from bank guarantees.
And they now have four months to finish the legal and financial arrangements.
A Trust fundraising campaign is well on the way to raising £1m to use as an interest-free loan to the club.
Altonwood have agreed to match this with their own £1m interest-free loan and to maintain a £1m bank guarantee against a reduced level of bank borrowing of £2.5m.
Hounslow Council have also agreed in principle to provide Bees United with a £500,000 interest-bearing loan.
Bees United chairman Brian Burgess said: 'I must express my thanks to Ron Noades and his colleagues at Altonwood for the flexible approach they are taking in helping us to exercise the option and to make progress towards completing the acquisition of the club.
'The extra time gives us until January to complete our fundraising and sort out the legal details.'
=============== Previously ============
Back The Bees - £1m needed by September
22-Aug-2005
For full details, see Back The Bees.
The Back the Bees campaign is seeking to raise GBP1m to enable the Brentford FC supporters' trust Bees United to strike a deal to refinance the Club's debt. If this can be achieved, Bees United will then be able to purchase Altonwood Holdings' majority stake in the Club.
Like many other clubs, Brentford has been through a succession of owners over the last few decades, with varying results. Through some of the strategies adopted, the Club is now left with an overdraft of GBP4.5m secured against its Griffin Park home. While financially this means that the Club is solvent and this asset could be sold to clear its debts, the reality is that selling Griffin Park without a new stadium available would result in Brentford being forced to pay substantial sums for the right to groundshare elsewhere, probably a significant distance away from the town of Brentford itself.
Bees United is made up of and run by Brentford fans, and acts in the best interests of the Club rather than its own financial imperatives. Its democratic nature means that if enough supporters want to change Bees United's leadership and policies, they can do. Fans of many clubs will realise this is a much preferable position to chanting 'sack the board' in vain.
Bees United's option to buy the Club expires in September 2005. Unless the money needed to facilitate the purchase of Brentford FC is found by then it could be sold to anyone - from property developers to asset strippers.
============== Previously ============
Bees United - making progress
05-May-2005
At Brentford the Supporters' Trust, Bees United, continue to grapple with the complex problems besetting the West London Club.
Bees United currently have an option, due to expire at the end of May 2005, to acquire the majority shareholding of Ron Noades' company, Altonwood. Bees United are hopeful of having this option extended, at least to the end of September 2005. The main condition that Bees United need to satisfy to exercise the option is the release of £4 million bank guarantees currently provided by Altonwood to support the Club's £4.5 million overdraft.
Having acquired the Football Club in 1998 with minimal debts, Noades' stewardship, initially as Team Manager and Chairman, saw the Club's debts spiral - some estimates put the Club losing as much as £20,000 per week at its peak - to reach the current ceiling of £4.5 million.
Noades always contended that Brentford had no future at Griffin Park. Whilst in the Club's glory years, immediately prior to the Second World War, the old stadium frequently boasted crowds in excess of 30,000 it was well past its best. Capacity at Griffin Park is reduced to 12,000 and, hemmed in by housing, the potential to gain commercial revenue is severely restricted.
Noades' solution had been an ambitious stadium at the site of Western International Market, close to Heathrow Airport. After failing to come to an agreement with the Local Planning Authority, Noades turned his attention to other sites in the immediate vicinity. Frustrated with the Local Authority, Noades declared his intention to tear the Club away from its heartland and groundshare with non-league Woking in leafy Surrey.
Whilst Noades claimed that this Woking proposal was only a mechanism to put pressure on the Local Authority, supporters were outraged and saw this as no more than an exercise in debt repayment - debts largely accrued as a result of Noades' vanity.
Fans groups, mobilised by BIAS, organised themselves into a slick opposition campaign which scuppered the plans. Undeterred, Noades turned his attentions to another non-league stadium, Kingstonian, and paid a generous retainer to the Surrey Club for the privilege. In the face of equally stern opposition, Noades was forced into another climb-down.
Thoroughly disillusioned with life at Brentford, Noades declared in 2003 that he wanted a speedy exit from the Club, but was prevented by his companies', and his personal, guarantees supporting the overdraft, thus the offer to Bees United to acquire his interests in the Club.
There was a common consensus among fans' groups that a new stadium is necessary, they just didn't share Noades' tactics in achieving it and were, rightly, suspicious of his motives. Bees United unveiled their own plans for a new stadium at Lionel Road, a site close to Kew Bridge, just half a mile from the Club's current stadium.
Lionel Road continues to be the long-term objective, and it is widely accepted that realising this project is key to the long-term prospects of the football club. Progress is painstakingly slow, but Bees United are optimistic they can deliver a 20,000 seat community stadium on the site, which would also serve as a major transport hub in West London. The Supporters' Trust and its commercial partners believe they have the basis for a viable project which including the Enabling Development could add up to over £100 million.
With Noades standing down from his daily involvement at the Club in 2003, Bees United stepped into the breach and have made significant progress on a number of thorny issues that have beset the Club for many years.
By virtue of having invested more than £400,000 into the Club, Bees United now have four directors including two executive directors on the Clubs board and, crucially, have managed to stem the losses to the extent that Brentford FC is now trading at a close to break even. Rumours have it that, thanks to FA Cup exploits in the 2004/5 season, they may even turn in a small surplus.
Servicing the overdraft is another matter, and Bees United are having to find something like £300,000 per annum just to keep the Club within its overdraft ceiling. The threat of Administration continually hangs over the Club; hence the continuing fundraising efforts by supporters, such activities include bucket collections, fundraising gigs and an historic sponsored walk to Hartlepool.
Bees United recognise that the Club cannot continue servicing this overdraft at current levels and are making efforts to get this reduced to around £2.5 million. As a starter the Trust are setting themselves a target of raising £1 million over the coming months and are urging supporters to redouble their giving in the form of Standing Orders, Loan Notes and other fundraising schemes.
Despite Ron Noades' pronouncements that Griffin Park could not be redeveloped, the Club have also made significant progress here. Recognising that any progress on Lionel Road is at least five years away, the Club have recently received planning permission for lounges at the back of the New Road stand and a roof over the Ealing Road terrace, these developments which will be largely financed by grant aid give the Club the opportunity to improve spectator facilities, generate additional revenue and increase capacity.
Bees United are holding a Forum for Trust members at Griffin Park on Thursday 26th May to give supporters the opportunity to hear at first-hand about all these changes and to question the Trust about their plans for the future of the Club.
================= Previously =============
Bees Walk To Hartlepool
09-Feb-2005
On Friday 11th February five football fans will set off from London on a three hundred mile walk north, arriving at The Victoria Ground, Hartlepool, twelve long days and almost three hundred miles later. The Brentford supporters aim to raise over £10,000 for two very worthy causes in the process.
The money raised from the walk will be split between Bees United, the Brentford Supporters Trust, and Heal, the Helen Rollason Cancer Care Appeal. It is hoped to raise well in excess of £10,000 for the two organisations.
Representatives from Brentford Football Club and Heal will be attending the start of the walk, and it is hoped that there will be good media coverage of the event, both at the start and en route. The press are invited to join us at Griffin Park, Brentford between 9.00 and 9.30 on Friday 11th February. The walkers will be joined by Brentford manager Martin Allen and the first team squad, who depart Griffin Park on the team coach at the same time - ironically their destination is also Hartlepool (FA cup replay on Saturday).
If you cannot join us at the start but would like to feature the story, or get updates, while we are walking then please call Rod Gowers on 0774 0946545. Any help you can offer in raising the profile of our marathon walk would be very much appreciated.
Walkers; Pete Hayward, John Dempsey, Peter Atkinson, Dave Lane and Rod Gowers thank you in advance for your support.
For further information, please visit our website www.beeswalk.com, www.beesotted.com or www.brentfordfc.co.uk or call Rod Gowers on 0774 0946545.
The walkers would also like to thank the following companies who have kindly donated their services to help us achieve or goal: Travelodge, Mitchell's & Butler PLC, McDonalds, Jako [UK], Amida Health Clubs, BIAS
============== Previously ============
Noades steps down as Chairman
21-Apr-2003
Events of the last few weeks have seen some dramatic changes in direction at the club reports the Bees United website.
The proposal to ground share at Kingston has been scrapped, and the new stadium site at Lionel Road has been given full backing by the board.
In addition to that, Altonwood have made an offer to give a further option to Bees United to buy the majority shareholding in the Club and Griffin Park Stadium Limited. The details have not been finalised yet, but are likely to be on more favourable terms than previously. Altonwood have also agreed with the Club's bankers to continue to guarantee the overdraft at its existing level for two more years.
As part of the deal Ron Noades stepped down as Chairman, and as a director; with Bees United board members Andrew Wainwright and Stephen Callen joining John McGlashan as directors on the Club's board. They bring valuable legal and financial skills with them, which will benefit the club enormously in the future.
The directors have also decided that the day-to-day management of the Football Club will be handled by three Executive Directors; Gary Hargraves, Stephen Callen, and John McGlashan, who also becomes company secretary. Gary will remain as Managing Director until the end of the financial year on 31st May, when the new option is expected to commence. He and John will work full time, with Stephen working in a part time unpaid capacity. Eddie Rogers has been elected as the Club's new Chairman in a non-executive role.
Following his appointment as secretary John resigned as Chairman of Bees United saying, 'Everyone needs to be accountable, so my work for both the Club and Bees United will now be monitored by the Chairman of each organisation.'
The Bees United board immediately elected Brian Burgess as Chairman, and also elected Bruce Powell into a new position of Vice-Chairman. Brian said, 'I feel honoured to take on the role of Chairman as the club moves forward into a new era. I hope at last we can all work together to achieve the aims we all share.'
================= Previously =================
BIAS in support of Hounslow Council Shock!
In local press reports recently Bees Chairman Ron Noades once again seeks to blame people other than himself for the current problems at the football club. We at BIAS are now accustomed to being targeted in this way, but now it seems he is coming after Hounslow Council for their refusal to sanction a relaxation of the Section 106 Conditions on redevelopment of Griffin Park.
We at BIAS (Brentford Independent Association of Supporters) share with the Council (as well as with other interested bodies such as Sport England and the Football League) the desire for such conditions, indeed we see these as absolutely essential given the current ownership of the football club.
BIAS have not always been in such agreement with local politicians, hence our decision to field candidates at last year's Council Elections. Since last May, however, and the change of leadership at the Council, we have seen a new openness in their relations with Brentford supporters' groups and we have nothing but praise for hard-work and endeavour of the Council Executive, in particular Cllrs John Chatt, Colin Ellar and Ruth Cadbury.
They have demonstrated a willingness to work with the Supporters' Trust, Bees and have always been prepared to go that extra mile in offering their assistance and practical support.
================== Previously ==================
I have copied this from the Beesotted website, it says it all
On the 1st February when Brentford entertain Huddersfield Town, BIAS (Brentford Independent Association of Supporters) are asking Brentford fans to show their opposition to Ron Noades' plans for their club.
* NO to groundshare in Surrey, or anywhere else, with no new stadium secured.
* NO to the sale of GP whilst no new stadium has been secured.
BIAS will be producing 5,000 red cards which display the message:
Side 1: NO To Kingstonian with supporting text.
Side 2: YES To Lionel Road with supporting text
BEES fans at the game will be asked to hold the red card aloft as the players enter the pitch, thus showing the RED CARD to Ron Noades' plans for our club.
After the match fans will be asked to assemble in the Braemar Rd forecourt to say:
NO TO KINGSTONIAN & NO TO SELLING GRIFFIN PARK.
The protest will be peaceful at all times.
It is intended that Ron Noades will be left in no doubt that BEES fans do not support his plans for our club and furthermore they amount to the biggest threat the club has faced since 1967.
Out of respect to the position of BEES UTD, the supporters' trust, in their negotiations with Ron Noades over the future ownership of the club, BIAS has kept a respectful silence on a number of key areas affecting the stewardship of the football club.
However as a result of Ron Noades' recent displays of utter contempt for BEES fans and our club's future, we are mindful that this position could be akin to fiddling while Rome burns:
* The refusal to extend BEES UNITED'S option.
* Consistent criticism of BEES UNITED, BIAS and Lionel Road Scheme in the matchday programme.
* The censorship of fans' articles in the club's matchday programme.
* Publicly stating at the BFC AGM that he does not care where BFC plays.
* Refusing to admit in anyway that his gamble with the clubs finances was a massive mistake and one that now threatens the very existence of Brentford FC.
Losses have been allowed to accrue to such an extent that it now threatens the club's very existence; with an overdraft approaching £4m and the sale of its only remaining asset as the only viable option to clear that overdraft: its home for the past 99 years.
The gamble obviously had been that with transfer revenue, any trading losses could be offset. This was however against the background of the European Courts' decision in December 1995, on the case of Jean-Marc Bosman, which effectively spelt the end of transfer market in the form that we knew it. What is particularly galling, though, is that Mr Noades took control of Brentford FC two-and-a-half years later, in the Summer of 1998, surely in the knowledge that the days of transfer revenue subsidising such losses would soon be a thing of the past.
This doesn't appear to have stopped the gambling with our club's heritage however.
It was rather ironic that in the Derby match programme Mr Noades suggested a voluntary cap of 75% of turnover going in a club's salary. Ironic because the tenth annual Deloitte & Touche report into football finances showed that Brentford had a wage bill at 146% of annual turnover, the second highest such turnover in English professional football. So, if anyone wants to know how it is that the club should be so heavily overdrawn then you don't to look too far.
Such figures, also, do not record that Mr Noades took a reputed salarly of £168,000 per annum as a rookie manager, with the support of three top coaches.
Other examples of such largesse were confirmed in the local press recently, when it was recently confirmed that Brentford had spent £90,000 in options to groundshare with Woking and Kingstonian.
It is worth considering that in both cases neither ground would have approval from the Football League.
In the case of Woking because it did not fulfill the criteria of being in the same conurbation as Brentford.
In the case of Kingston as it does not have a licence from the Local Authority for the necessary 6,000 capacity; whilst the club are said to be considering building work to get around these restrictions, they would still probably need planning approval and it is known that the local police would have serious reservations about league football at that stadium because of public access issues.
Mr Noades' plan for Brentford FC would appear to be alarming simple: get any restrictions on the development on Griffin Park lifted; sell Griffin Park for residential redevelopment; release his financial guarantees with the Bank; Brentford FC share at Kingston; with any monies left over we live on the interest payments and then in a couple of years a new stadium will fall into our laps. Easy.
Except for the fact that our gates will probably drop by half, with the club torn away from the heart of its traditional community.
In all this we are reminded of clubs like Wimbledon, Brighton, and Clydebank who have moved away from the stadiums, with the promise of brand new homes on the horizon. None of these stories have happy endings . . . no, not even Brighton; they have plans for a new stadium at Falmer but on the edge of a soon-to-be designated National Park there is considerable resistance to these proposals which is going to a costly Public Enquiry.
Mr Noades criticises Bees Utd and their Lionel Road proposals as being irrelevant to the club's immediate cash problems. Lionel Road is, of course, a long way off, but in securing the land it would trigger an easing of the planning restrictions which have been framed in such a way to secure the club's very existence.
BIAS understands that Bees Utd representatives have recently met with the members of the football club's board and that as a result of that meeting have asked for planning restrictions to be eased so that they are capped at three years. We are sure that BEES UTD will always act in what they perceive as being in the best interests of Brentford FC and must draw the conclusion that they were presented with an ultimatum which threatened the club's future.
As a result of the above BIAS now feels it is time to tell RON NOADES the following:
'We do not support your plans for our club. They may release your collateral, but you will kill our club in the process'
Please obtain your RED CARD on the day of the game from the BIAS Info Point (outside the Griffin Public House), local GP hostelries, or from volunteers when entering GP and please attend the protest after the match in the Braemar Road forecourt.
For further details or if you want to help distribute the RED CARDS, please contact: BIAS (The Brentford Independent Association of Supporters) PO Box 19346, London, W4 4WW
Tel: 0790 4375051
Web: www.bias.org.uk
E-Mail: info@bias.org.uk
================= Previously =================
At a press conference at Griffin Park this afternoon (6 November 2002), Bees United Chairman John McGlashan announced plans for a new stadium for Brentford FC at Lionel Road South. The stadium will be located at the site of the eastern terminus of a proposed monorail scheme, linking a park and ride car park at Western International Markets, near Junction 3 of the M4, with the Piccadilly line at Osterley and the rail service into London Waterloo at Kew Bridge.
The press conference was given jointly by Bees United, their partners, Ambersham Group and Millhouse Group, and Hounslow Council, represented by the Leader, John Chatt and ABeeC member for Brentford ward, Luke Kirton. The stadium will have a capacity of 23-25,000 and form part of a leisure complex that will attract visitors (and monorail passengers) at weekends and in the evenings. During the week the monorail will attract passengers from the extremely busy West London roads.
(From Bees United, The Brentford Supporters Trust web site - address below)
====================== Previously ======================
Hounslow council has given outline planning permission to build homes on the Griffin Park site.
BIAS have issued the press release copied below
BIAS welcomes the decision of Hounslow Council's Sustainable Development Committee to grant Outline Planning Consent, for the residential development
of Griffin Park.
Clearly there will remain a great of negotiating before a legal framework can be established that balances the need for the football club to maximise revenue from the development; the understandable concerns of local residents and the protection of the football club, which has been a focus for civic pride for more than a century.
This is not the end of the process, but it concludes and important, and long drawn-out step in establishing a productive valuation. Vital in all this has been the work of supporters' representatives who have campaigned actively on
this issue, the patience and flexibility of the planning officers at Hounslow Council and the co-operative attitude shown by the Griffin Park Residents' Association.
====================== Previously ======================
Brentford Football Club have announced that they have signed an option agreement with Kingstonian Football Club over the use of The K's Kingsmeadow Stadium.
The deal gives Brentford an exclusive two-year option
on Kingsmeadow Stadium in the event of The Club having to leave Griffin Park.
The option can be exercised at any time within the two-year period. The agreed license period for tenure of Kingsmeadow Stadium is for a maximum of seven years upon commencement - which includes a twelve-month notice period if Brentford wish to leave before such time.
Brentford Football Club would like to stress to its supporters that this option agreement has been signed only as a 'fall back' position in the event Brentford cannot move into a new stadium within the near future and is working hard to achieve this goal.
The Club wishes to add that the option agreement signed with Woking Football Club last year for the use of Kingsfield Stadium will not be exercised.
This would appear to allow Mr Noades to procede with his plan to sell Griffin park and build houses on the site. No doubt somebody will make a lot of profit from this, the only question has to be will it be Brentford or Ron Noades?
===================== Previously =====================
Brentford have elected a supporter onto the council in Hounslow!
Luke Kirton polled enough votes to oust one of the sitting councillors, and his colleagues in
13 other wards polled thousands of votes in a major election upset.
Brentford supporters now have their own director on the board and their own councillor. A magnificent achievement well done to all involved
=================== Previously ===================
from the Nationwide's Football Site (www.football.nationwide.co.uk)
Brentford supremo Ron Noades has threatened to pull the plug on his financial backing of the second division club prematurely if supporters continue to question his plans to relocate away from Griffin Park.
Noades has reacted angrily to a campaign fronted by fans' group BIAS who want the club to remain at their historic home and he has delivered a stark warning in an open letter to the group's chairman Pete Johnston.
The Bees owner is still undecided as to whether or not he will remain as chairman after the current season, but he has warned that he will stop funding the club in the summer and they will have to break even.
'If your organisation and the supporters work against what I am trying to achieve for Brentford I feel I have no obligation to even fund it for the remaining months of this season,' he said. 'Clearly this funding is not appreciated by you in particular and you have some strange notion that the club would be better in administration than with me in charge and funding it. All your campaign is doing, in my opinion, is providing the local authority with more and more reasons to be difficult with what Brentford is trying to achieve and your group's actions threaten Brentford's chances of achieving a new stadium suitable for us to compete at any level in the Football League.'
And Noades has also reiterated his stance that if the club is to survive an alternative to Griffin Park is the only way forward.
He added: 'I am not the slightest bit interested in assessing Griffin Park with a view to remaining here simply because it is totally outdated and has no room to be developed to a level which would allow us to compete with other clubs. If you and your members are really concerned about the club's future, I urge you to have more confidence in the board of directors and back their efforts to secure Brentford long term future and viability.'
(see the BIAS web-site, listed below, for their response)
================== Previously ==================
It has been reported that Ron Noades has submitted outline planning permission for houses to be built on Brentford's Griffin Park. This will give the fans even more reasons for concern, they had already lost all faith in Mr Noades so the news of this outline planning permission with no news on any new suitable sites for a replacement home for the club will make them ask what his plans really are. All smacks of Mr Archer to me. He promised Brighton a new stadium, and sold the Goldstone without any agreement regarding a 'home ground'
