Peter McGuigan?

[Keith]

I wonder if he ever looks back at us, and recognises what an absolute mess he made of his legacy?

[Phoenix Shrimp 2017]

Peter McGuigan was brilliant for our club during his tenure, until 2017 that is when he had a complete meltdown. He was completely suckered by Lemos and I can only imagine he looks back on that now with great embarrassment. He must recognise what a mess he left us in and that has continued through till today with no sign of an end to the problems. A great shame that his legacy ended this way.

Thank goodness that the remaining Directors have steered us through some incredibly difficult times or I feel the club would have ceased to exist several years ago. To get where we did in EFL1 was amazing in the circumstances.

[KenH]

H

Peter McGuigan was brilliant for our club during his tenure, until 2017 that is when he had a complete meltdown. He was completely suckered by Lemos and I can only imagine he looks back on that now with great embarrassment. He must recognise what a mess he left us in and that has continued through till today with no sign of an end to the problems. A great shame that his legacy ended this way.

He was brilliant until he spunked all the Sainsbury money on Westgate and put an incompetent baffoon in control of building and operating it in the first few years.

He guided the club to what could have been a golden legacy of selling Christie Park and navigating all the legal hurdles it entailed with the JBC trust etc.

Then it all went wrong. Grossly over spent on a stadium that wasn't (and still isn't) fit for purpose, costly changes to the plans during construction causing delays and over-spends. Spunking money on a gym and artificial pitches with no business plan in mind meaning they never even started to reach any money making potential, mostly due to lack of marketing and management. Same with the bar, hospitality suite and function rooms - all good in theory, but again poor marketing and management. Wasn't the bar offering stupid things like buffalo burgers? The lack of facilities behind both standing stands is well known. Awful small crowded concourses in the main stand. It should be documented and used as an example in business schools for how not to spend £10 million!

The overspends and failures of many aspects of the new "business plan" is what caused the club to have to sell off the parcels of land for a song, caused it to hive off the gym building and pitches to a separate company to secure loans against them, etc etc.

So, no, he wasn't doing well till 2017 at all. It all went wrong from the moment in time just after the sale to Sainsbury had been finalised and the JB Trust had been moved to Westgate. From the moment the first sod of Earth was cut to build the stadium, it started to go wrong under his mis-management!

[redrobo]

H

Peter McGuigan was brilliant for our club during his tenure, until 2017 that is when he had a complete meltdown. He was completely suckered by Lemos and I can only imagine he looks back on that now with great embarrassment. He must recognise what a mess he left us in and that has continued through till today with no sign of an end to the problems. A great shame that his legacy ended this way.

He was brilliant until he spunked all the Sainsbury money on Westgate and put an incompetent baffoon in control of building and operating it in the first few years.

He guided the club to what could have been a golden legacy of selling Christie Park and navigating all the legal hurdles it entailed with the JBC trust etc.

Then it all went wrong. Grossly over spent on a stadium that wasn't (and still isn't) fit for purpose, costly changes to the plans during construction causing delays and over-spends. Spunking money on a gym and artificial pitches with no business plan in mind meaning they never even started to reach any money making potential, mostly due to lack of marketing and management. Same with the bar, hospitality suite and function rooms - all good in theory, but again poor marketing and management. Wasn't the bar offering stupid things like buffalo burgers? The lack of facilities behind both standing stands is well known. Awful small crowded concourses in the main stand. It should be documented and used as an example in business schools for how not to spend £10 million!

The overspends and failures of many aspects of the new "business plan" is what caused the club to have to sell off the parcels of land for a song, caused it to hive off the gym building and pitches to a separate company to secure loans against them, etc etc.

So, no, he wasn't doing well till 2017 at all. It all went wrong from the moment in time just after the sale to Sainsbury had been finalised and the JB Trust had been moved to Westgate. From the moment the first sod of Earth was cut to build the stadium, it started to go wrong under his mis-management!

Sorry to disagree but without the financial input of match days from hospitality suite in particular which is on the majority of games well attended the clubs finances would be in an even worse positions.

Yes there are faults with the stadium design but it is what it is and to continue with such a negative narrative does nobody or our club any good.

[Wild Bill]

I don't know Peter at all, but I suspect he has many regrets from how things ended for him at MFC. He obviously had passion for the club and was largely responsible for us making the EFL. However, he will always be remembered for selling to Lemos and the chaos that followed.

I think he does deserve some flack for the ground too, but the fact it got built at all during a financial crisis deserves some credit. He did though cut corners and priorised hospitality and the main stand over the core fanbase. This was a massive own goal as at CP it always felt like all fans were treated equally. Can't be many clubs that move ground and give fans worse facilities than they had previously.

[redrobo]

What worse facilities are we referring too?

The only facility that was better than the Maz was the superb home stand which should have been dismantled and reconfigured at the Max.

CP had no bar open to all. No hospitality or conference suites. No private boxes providing annual revenue.

[Wild Bill]

The North Stand at CP was way better than the shed we currently stand in. I am over six foot and cannot see all the action from the back of the stand. Its also far smaller, less imposing and the acoustics don't seem as good either. Square barriers were also more comfortable and you could stand your brew on it too

Up until recently at the Mazuma there was zero cover. Catering wasn't the best at CP but they did make a temporary bar area with cover when you were no longer able to access JB's Bar.

I'd be surprised if half the money went into the new home end as apposed to the North Stand.

Anyway, water under the bridge...

[Billy bodger]

A complete overspend on the money!! Then it was maybe relying on the local community to use the plastic pitches round the back of the stadium and the Gym in the corner of the Berlin Wall. Probably the use on the plastic pitches never happened because Westgate Wonderers FC moved to pastures new and took all the factored in use (and income), to where they ended up.

For me the main stand is great and brings in vital income to the Club, so no qualms with that. It is though as hasbeen said, water under the bridge.

Any new owners for me must have a vision for the ground and have to make use of the land that is left around the stadium. I would like so see substantial improvements annd upgrade to the Berlin Wall side of the ground. Even making it a seating stand with a roof and concourse behind it with bars and lounge that generates income. I think something then can be done behind the Halo Stand alongside the same lines. Then two good fan-zone near the front of the stadium or buy out the Hurley Flyer.
Of course the first investment has to be on the players side.

[Keith]

I was under the impression that all of the Globe/Mazuma would be owned by Morecambe FC via the Christie Trust. It was only later that I found out that huge swathes of the new ground were not owned by the Christie Trust. In fact, I'd be amazed if the land that the Christie Trust now owns, has anything close to the value that Sainsbury's paid for Christie Park? If the money received was used to build the new ground, then when doesn't the Christie Trust own it?

The old North Stand could not be taken down and moved. It wasn't 'modular' like Northwich's 'Dane Bank', so that was never an option. However, the new stand is poor. We could/should have ended up with something like Burton Albion's new ground.

Then the sale/gifting to Lemos that really moved forward with the chaos that we still find ourselves in.

Peter McGuigan should have a legacy close to that of J.B.Christie in terms of transforming our club. Instead, the final chaos could ultimately see the club ceasing to exist. His legacy could be a disaster.

[marky No.1]

The old Christie Park, now Sainsbury will be worth 3 times what the Mazuma is worrh.
There were so many Directors loans paid back after the money was received and I presume that part of PMGs payment was the Gym and 3G pitches.
Westgate FC were also relocated at a cost and at the time building costs rocketed and the interest rate received off the money plummeted hence the scaledown.
Corporate was all they were interested in, bison steaks my @rse , have a pie instead.
Also miscalculated the grant for an all seater stadium, look what Chesterfield got for similar money

[BerlinWaller]

The old Christie Park, now Sainsbury will be worth 3 times what the Mazuma is worrh.
There were so many Directors loans paid back after the money was received and I presume that part of PMGs payment was the Gym and 3G pitches.
Westgate FC were also relocated at a cost and at the time building costs rocketed and the interest rate received off the money plummeted hence the scaledown.
Corporate was all they were interested in, bison steaks my @rse , have a pie instead.
Also miscalculated the grant for an all seater stadium, look what Chesterfield got for similar money

It all needs looking in to.