Nick - where are you seeing 10%+ bond interest rates !

On a separate but related point, iirc the same survey suggested bond repayments in 2027 would be £1.7m, and I suspect actual number will be closer to £2.5m

DD- we shall see, perhaps I will be proved wrong and there will be a late rush of donations. I am definitely in the “no way” category now, as this makes no sense as a rational investment and I no longer feel motivated to donate to support fan ownership, which is now transparently a sham given the flaws in the election process. Fair play, though, to those who are still believers and willing to put up their money to support this.

Nick: hard to know, really, although maybe there is expertise out there on how people actually behave relative to pledges. Airsy, if an investor thinks we lack liquidity to meet our obligations, and that all their money will be consumed by debt repayment (and may still not be enough), then that will discourage them from investing.

DD- fair enough, though I think that assuming that we would get over 50% of what people said they would give in a casual survey was still highly imprudent, given that at thus point this is somewhere between a donation (the market rate for debt of this kind would be well over 10% not the 5% on offer) and a gamble on us being taken over. In fairness you might reasonably hope to raise 20% of what people “pledged” (£600k) and we will probably get to that, but 50%+ was never going to happen.

Ryan McLean has just been signed by Worcester City- quite a drop in standard for him.

I may be missing something, or be a bit dim, but how does the show of how well our fans raise money make us look stronger to potential investors?

There is about $257,000,000,000 available to invest in Liverpool FC: [Link]

To be fair, Nick, they (not quite) halved the amounts people indicated in the survey. One thing the DT could usefully do (if the data captured from the survey can be used in this form) is remind people how much they individually indicated they would subscribe for. I think I've subscribed for what I indicated, but it's not like I took a record of how I filled in the survey.

I said no chance in the survey so have not 'misled' anyone. I'm too old, not sure I'll be there to collect in 5 years but more I don't trust our leadership to keep us out of administration and the point they steer very clear of making is that administration means your investment is gone.

If we really budgeted the new PLB purely based on replies to a survey saying “ would you invest in a new PLB?” that is incredibly negligent- there is always going to be a massive shortfall between people casually saying that they will do something in a survey and actually paying the cash over. To some extent the PLB now is a gamble on the club being taken over - if this happens then bond holders will be repaid, if it doesn’t then I think that any money put into the PLB will be at least partly lost, as without investment we will be very unlikely to avoid administration. The point about “we have always paid our debts on time up to now” could have been said by most bust companies, right up until the day that they defaulted and is absolutely no indication of what will happen in the future.

Keefy, there's loads of money around but we live in a "have & have nots" world. Take a wander or drive round here! But it's one thing people responding to an online survey and another thing parting with the readies ...

That bond email I just got through is a bit worrying! Hopefully they people who said they would reinvest will do so!

The last sentance of the bond update covers the unthinkable. The cost of living is soaring and no relief in sight. Any idiot must realise this. No spare money for bonds.

Egg, on that basis it could be played on the Tuesday, but it's marketed as Fulham, not Fulham B. Suspect they will be play most of their benched players

I know people are only semi serious that it could have been played on the Wednesday because of the number of changes Fulham would make but neither the PL clubs nor the PFA want a precedent of games being scheduled after only two days rest.

They could’ve played the game on the Wednesday because we all know Fulham will play a completely different team to the side they put out on the Monday 😩

Aren't the bonds due in May 2027? There's still time. I suspect it has taken a while to get going because it launched over the summer, world cup, people on holiday and it just didn't get the coverage.

Definitely think it’s a year too early for Nkeng but his choice really. I don’t see why we wouldn’t take the offer, believe he has 1 year left anyway.

“ Thank you to everyone who has already backed the Plough Lane Bond this year, it means a lot. We wanted to share where things stand and why the next few weeks matter. Earlier this year, following a supporter survey, 700 supporters told us they wanted to invest, around £3 million in total. We budgeted cautiously against that, at £1.7 million, and planned this season on the basis that money would come in. So far, £355,500 has been invested, leaving a shortfall of just over €1.3 million, largely because many of those who said they'd invest haven't yet done so. That's why this shortfall matters, it was built into the plan. Since the Bond began, the Club has never missed an interest payment or a repayment, and closing this gap is how we protect that record. If it isn't closed, we'll likely need a commercial loan instead, at a much higher rate and probably secured against the stadium, something we're working hard to avoid. We're on track for record revenue again this season. But that revenue funds football operations, it doesn't cover bond repayments, this gap can only be closed by the Bond itself. A strong Bond also puts the Trust in a stronger position in ongoing talks with potential minority investors, negotiating from strength rather than weakness. This is not a donation. It's a financial instrument with real terms. You choose how much to invest from £1,000 upwards, your term from a minimum of five years, and your own interest rate up to 5%. You get your money back at maturity, unless you'd rather roll it over or gift it to the Club or the Trust instead. And if the Club ever left majority member ownership, bondholders have an automatic right to get their money back.“

OI - I’m not happy losing another Saturday 3pm and I feel for Wigan fans who have already made plans. But it’s a Bank Holiday weekend which will lessen the impact.

Panic about the Plough Lane Bond is setting in.

I'm sure many people hate it but I'm happy with the Wigan game on the Sunday and it looks like my trains will be running

Luton vs Chelsea scheduled for the same day. 7.30pm kick off. Travel to and from will not be fun.

6 members of the 82/3 promotion winning squad will be at the Reading home game