West Ham appear to have embarked on something of a credit spree, securing a second lending facility just weeks after arranging one for up to £145 million.
In a move described as “mysterious” by football finance expert Kieran Maguire, the Hammers now seem to be borrowing heavily against land and buildings owned by the club.
Documents published at Companies House today reveal West Ham have registered a charge to borrow more money secured against property at Chadwell Heath, Rush Green, Little Heath, and the Beckton clubhouse. The funds are coming from Rights and Media Funding Limited and represent a multi-million-pound credit facility.
This follows a similar arrangement with Barclays Bank last month, where borrowing was secured against Premier League basic awards and potential parachute payments.
The amount of the new borrowing has not been disclosed, but Maguire suggested the deal raises eyebrows:
“West Ham borrow from Rights and Media Funding Limited, a company with no employees, hardly any assets apart from loans to companies, and which owes about £290m itself to creditors.”
From a PR standpoint, it’s hardly a good look for West Ham—especially when the board of directors includes three billionaires.
With the first facility allowing borrowing of up to £145 million mortgaged against future income, the question remains: why does the club now need to seek even more millions?
I have no idea how that Man Utd thing worked but didn’t the Glazers buy the club with the clubs money ?
Is it possible Kretinsky or another is going to do it ?
I’m an Everton fan – rights & media funding should raise the alarm bells. They’ve had us by the balls for years at extortionate interest rates. That loan was a huge part of our psr problems and nearly sent us into administration. We only just shook them off as our new owners were generous enough to clear the debt. You guys really need to start protesting.
If it’s to finally make some decent transfer offers…great….but we all know it isn’t! 😡
So what murky, machiavellian plot is afoot?
The club is riddled with debt , the selling of our beloved UP wasn’t about taking the club forward , it was about realising an asset , cashing in on it then renting a soulless athletics track and shoe horning a football ground into it.
Now the only assets left are a couple of porta cabins in Chartwell heath , we are in financial doo doo, there is no way this club should be struggling to buy players but we are no better off then a league one side.
Could be a sham arrangement whereby the billionaires have a company offshore that lends to the RIghts and Media enitity who then lend to WHUFC. This enables interest to be paid back up the chain to the billionaires without having to show it for what it is to the supporters who would no doubt give them (the billionaires) a lot of grief. – maybe or maybe not – I don’t know…
This chairman has only ever put loans in.
He was charging 6% when everyone else was getting 2% on investment/ return.
He’s used it as a cash cow for years.
It’s all catching up like all Ponzi schemes do on the end….
Weird! Surely the financial experts out there have a logical explanation for this move, even if there is a sinister reasoning for it.
Before anyone calls me a part timer or worse I’m 69, been going since 61/62 up the back of the south bank on an orange box standing beside me long gone dad. And I’ll bet I’ve been to more away games than most including Europe
I’ve never been more disenfranchised from West Ham than what I am now. It’s a 3 ring circus. Sully and the Duchess are disgraceful people as well as carp business people. I’ll be glad if we go down and end up playing in front of 20 odd thousand people in that vast polished turd.
It’ll show the pair of failures up for exactly what they are. Useless. I think it got worse when David Gold died and the barrow boy flexed his muscles but not his brains. The whole football world knows he’s a dummy. All it needs is an empty stadium in the chpionship to.prove it. Bring it on
You might be p****d off with the board like we all are but to say you would be glad if West Ham got relegated is just stupid talk.
Que sera sera……… No point in any of us getting our jockstraps in a twist, is there?
Great. Let’s hope they’re borrowing the money to buy players.
The club is rotten to the core. Sullivan’s and Brady’s financial mismanagement of this club is criminal and really needs to be looked into. 3 billionaires on the board and not one of them prepared to put their money into the club. So only what West Ham generates by selling assets and mortgaging the club up to the hilt. Something is seriously wrong at the club and questions need to be asked about this. Sullivan is loading this club with debt that could be a real problem in the future.
Let’s hope they give it to Potter to spend and not line their own pockets. Why hasn’t Kretinsky put any money on the table 😱🤷♂️⚒️
Ya think the club maybe in serious trouble soon and Sulivan is leading the way down the slippy hill
I would not trust Sullivan as far as I could throw him
Don’t understand it.
Does this mean floodgates are about to open for incoming players?
From a search of the web, Rights and Media is rumoured to be owned by Michael Tabor, a bilionairre who apparently is a lifelong West Ham fan and tried to buy them in 1996. Interesting
All owners of all football clubs do not use their own money to fund their clubs. They loan or borrow from elsewhere to fund the day to day running of the club. Their interest in the clubs amount to ensuring that the clubs can keep paying the repayments.
Total business sense. Should the club fail and collapse financially, the ‘owners’ lose nothing. They hope that they can convert their finances into cash. If a club is taken over by new owners, they merely undertake to cover any debts by borrowing money for the takeover. Rich people buying a club for cash and running it with their own money at risk only happens at grass roots level. Even that is a rare occurrence.
Good Lord, finally a sensible comment amongst the nonsense!!
There is something rotten about this. This is not the first time the board have borrowed at extortionate interest or mortgaged future income.
I am sick of hearing about PSR from the board when it’s obviously false. I am sick of hearing about wage bill issues when we cut more players salaries then we’ve added.
The Sullivan regime has been propped up with smoke and mirrors and friendly journalist’s covering up for him.
Where is in the increase in commercial revenue. Why is our commercial revenue growing at snails pace under lady brady compared to the projections thr club put forward.
They may be getting the mortgage payment together for buying the stadium. The club would be very appealing to a new owner with a payment plan for potentially the 3rd biggest stadium in the country. I’ve had friends borrow from credit cards for their deposit payment. Untidy, but can become practical once you have equity
We all know it won’t be used for the club to bring players in or improve infrastructure. The money will magically disappear like everything else. It always seems to end up in the pockets of a little person in a Russian hat. He is draining the club dry.
It seems as if sullivan has completely given up investing in the club and this is a way of covering any investments he is going to have to make over the next year until a buyer is found or hes about to start asset stripping.
No end to the confusing chaos is there Gonzo We are all fed up with it We just want our W ham back NOT ASKING A LOT
I hate this story Mick. Three billionaire owners and we’re taking out what amounts to a second credit card. Really odd mate 🤔
Maybe they are going to buy London Stadium or Sullivan is going to buy a yacht !! can’t see any of it going on players
Wonder if they are using the funds to buy out the gold family and raising the debt to do it.
My moneys on a yacht